Blood Rush

Ch. 1: A Tale of Haley's Circus

Chapter One: A Tale of Haley's Circus

Delilah Valeska hated her name.

Of course, many people would think that she hated the fact that her name referred to the temptress who conned Samson into telling her his weakness to his formidable vigor.

That wasn't the reason. The whole "Hebrew Jezebel" seemed to fit her just fine in Haley's Circus as the provocative, 18-year-old fire dancer. No doubt her costumes brought in prying eyes of older gentlemen and younger boys just hitting puberty. It seemed appropriate that her name be coined as illicitly tempting as she drew in most of the crowd in her overture performance, the first act of the night to lure the unsuspecting crowd into awe and excitement: one of many acts to bring in the profit that allowed the Circus Family to keep the show going and performances to improve upon the income.

So Delilah appreciated her name as far as the job was concerned.

Maybe she hated her name because of the song "Hey There, Delilah"?

No.

She didn't hate her name because of the song devoted to a runaway beauty. Though obnoxiously chorused by drunks and jocks, Delilah thought the song was quite enduring, and honored to hear it in an innocent rhyme.

Maybe she hated her name because it bore the sound of Lila Valeska?

Yes. Right on the money.

~~~~

Delilah Valeska, born a year before her twin brothers Jerome and Jeremiah, was named so after her mother Lila Valeska, though Lila herself hadn't chosen to name her. That was out of the heartfelt courtesy of Paul Cicero, who had hopes that by giving her his failing relationship a shot in the dark of naming their daughter by the mother in question, Lila would come to love him more, while maybe loving their precious princess the most.

No such luck.

Lila Valeska, snake charmer, and quite probably the only thing charming about her, despised sharing the name with her daughter. Both Delilah and she could agree upon that.

"Harlot, slut, Jezebel, tramp, and trollop" had been Lila's favorite nicknames to use for her prepubescent daughter rather than use the birth name. Even before Delilah began to bleed, Lila damned the girl as nothing else but a teasing whore. "At least I don't lead them on," she'd tell Delilah, after a successful fire dance.

Always the dancer, never to enjoy the tango.

Paul Cicero, knowing that their one-year-old could not make Lila happy, tried again. This time, Lila bore a set of twins. Jerome and Jeremiah Valeska.

While Jeremiah was cherished as a mathematician and prodigal son, whom Lila was sincerely warm to, Jerome and Delilah took a backseat of their mother's affections.

Then, in the pit of night, Jeremiah was sent away for his safety, and Jerome and Delilah took a front row seat to a wave of emotional and physical abuse.

The Circus, though vowing that they took care of their own, ignored the bitter cries and angry squalls from the Valeska trailer home. One could hear Delilah and Lila screaming at each other in fury, while another set of voices—Lila's current charmer at the time and Jerome—echoing as beatdowns and berating took place at the opposite of the trailer.

Inside, Delilah would pit herself between the boyfriend of the day and Jerome, trying to separate the abusive gentleman of the evening from stomping her brother into the floor while Mother hollered in laughter.

Then a fateful day would rise when Mother would drag Jerome out of the house by the scuff of his neck, leaving the stranger alone with Delilah, and another round of screams would echo through the trailer.

But alas, the Circus could elect to ignore the ongoings inside the home.

Then Jerome would run back inside to find the man strapped on his pants and belt with Delilah seated against the wall with look of anger and fear in her eyes.

The days and years went on like this. Beatdowns, squabbling, anger, hatred, all the while Delilah would step in to pry Lila away from Jerome; only then to have Lila's fury revolt into neglect, turning away from her daughter's assault.

So…

To ask the question: Why did Delilah hate her name?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

18-year-old Delilah Valeska. Red hair. Green eyes...a recessive trait from dear old dad. Beautiful. But inside, rotting from a childhood of neglect and humiliation. A feeling of lesser than, but a dark mind lulling in a fantasy of one day returning Lila's lack of love tenfold.

Tall as she was fair, she held the Hebrew name of Delilah with certainty. Despite her past and present, she held her head up high, knowing that whatever didn't kill her made her ever much stronger...and perhaps more dangerous. Not to say she didn't suffer any scars; her close contact with lit torches and flying embers were the hazards of being a fire dancer. Sometimes only a few small embers landed on her. Sometimes, she had caught a bare foot in one of the ignited ribbons and came close to death. Though, lots of practice and a high pain tolerance made most of the scars only a trace of amateuristic mistakes.

Delilah's attempts to appeal to her mother's affections had long since been abandoned. Rather, when someone called her 'Lila' as a nickname, she cringed and met the auadicter with a disdainful "Deedee". So the Circus family referred to her as Deedee.

Deedee "Delilah" Valeska.

Jerome had become as dead inside as his sister.

Let Lila run around and be the whore she was. The bitch, too, had picked up strongly on her desires for flesh and booze—Fine, stay drunk and fuck.

Lila, the petty slut, provided only one bed in the room beside hers for Jerome and Delilah to share. Even as they became teenagers, she had remarked,

"No use in hiding the two of you. You and your brother are as good as you're ever going to find. Pathetic and a waste of time, a waste of mine."

A constant reminder that brother and sister would never find anyone whom they could be worthy, the two of them sought each other's company after the nights that left them bruised and beaten. And they both longed to see Lila dead.

But the Circus took care of their own.

To kill was to be killed. And exiled.

Jerome's nature was to keep up a good front. Pretend to be a sincere son who only sought his mother's happiness. Cleaned up after her. He was Shela's handler: Lila's snake and duo performer on stage.

While deep down, his true nature and sanity bordered just barely hanging on. Truly, he hated his mother.

Delilah shared in his hatred as well.

And then one day, something seemed different between brother and sister. Loneliness met comfort; an absence of love from their parents was replaced by a different kind of love.

This tale of Haley's Circus is one for the books.