The Demon's Angel

Chapter 13

Kurt
           That last beer seemed to be one too many. Elizabeth began to sway slightly, and her eyes dulled noticeably. 'This was a bad idea,' I thought. I felt bad for Elizabeth; she would not feel good in the morning. I glanced over at Lance; he was already standing shakily. "I'm going to bed!" he announced. I watched him carefully as he stumbled into the back room and onto his bed. Then I helped Elizabeth up. She collapsed after a few seconds. "Oops!" she giggled. I sighed and scooped her up,  her wings dragging behind her.

   I left the trailer and began to walk through the grounds, carefully trying not to trip over her wings. 'I knew that this was a bad I idea!' I thought furiously. 'I should've stopped her at two, when I stopped!' Elizabeth suddenly laughed out loud. "There's a man following us!" she whispered happily. She had switched to English, probably because she had forgotten German in her state. "He's hiding in the trees!" I turned around sharply, only to see nothing. 'She's probably hallucinating,' I thought. That is, until I heard a twig snap behind us. Immediately, I teleported us to the trailer. I hadn't wanted to because Elizabeth might have gotten sick, but if someone had been following us, they wouldn't find us now. Thankfully, she didn't vomit.

   I lifted Elizabeth gently into her bed and sat with her until she was almost asleep. I was climbing up to my bed when I heard her murmur sleepily, "Goodnight, Kurt. I love you." I almost fell to the floor. 'She loves me!?' I pushed the thought from my head. 'She couldn't love someone who looks like this. It's probably the alcohol talking.' I fell asleep repeating that thought over and over again in my head.

   The next morning was just like I expected; Elizabeth was refusing to get out of bed, and I had to force her. We had a show at noon, after all.  "I'm never leaving this bed again!" moaned Elizabeth. "Why does my head hurt so much?" I rolled my eyes. "Maybe it has something to do with the five beers you drank last night. It's called a hangover, and it's very unpleasant. Now get up, Lizzie! We have a show!" I said impatiently. She groaned, but managed to get up. I took her to the trailer where we kept the medicine and gave her a few aspirins. After that, she seemed to feel a lot better. "Come on!" I pulled her to the main tent, and we performed once again.

We sold out for the next week of shows. Everyone was very shocked, but also pleased. We had been performing "Quand les anges et les démons tombent amoureux" for two weeks, when a man came to our trailer. Elizabeth and I were the only ones there, and we jumped up when he strode in without knocking. He smiled widely at us. Elizabeth was wearing a cornered look, her feathers fluffing up nervously. I gently pushed her behind me. "Hello," I said coolly. The man's grin widened. "The Incredible Nightcrawler!" he exclaimed. "So good to meet you!" He peered around me at Elizabeth. "You must be the lovely Falcon!" He peered at both of us thoughtfully. "Why are you wearing parts of your costumes...." he said. My eyes widened, and I began to share Elizabeth's panic. Before either of us could move, he reached over and grabbed my tail. "Let go!" I growled. He ignored me and gave it a huge yank instead. I let out a yowl and, without any thought, teleported across the trailer. The man went with me. Then, I proceeded to shout every curse word I knew in all five languages. The man looked shocked but delighted, and he let go. I snatched my tail up into my arms and began rubbing at my now extremely sore bottom. I had stopped shouting, but I glared at the man. Elizabeth was still staring straight ahead, her mouth hanging open slightly.

   "You are mutants!" he said triumphantly. I rolled my eyes. "Vhat gave it avay? Ze teleporting, ze blue skin, or ze tail?" I asked sarcastically, still rubbing the sore spot. He smiled apologetically and said, "Sorry about that. I was curious." I continued to glare. "Ju can't just go around yanking people's tails! Zat hurt!" He still smiled. "I'm guessing your friend's wings are real as well then?" Elizabeth walked up behind him and stuck one across his line of vision, blocking me from view before she stepped up beside me. "Yes, and 'his friend' can answer for herself," she said coldly. I grinned behind my hand. The man'a eyes widened. "And look at your hands! They're extrordinary!" he exclaimed. My smile slid away. "Look, if ju only came to goggle at us like zoo animals, kindly leave." The man flushed and cleared his throat. "I didn't come to see you originally, although I was curious, but I came to give-" He looked down at a piece of paper that he pulled from his pocket. "Margali Szardos this flyer. Your circus has been invited to Florence to perform along with several other amazing circuses. I hope you'll join us, and please forgive me. I did not mean to offend you, although I was foolish. You're right. You are not animals to be studied; you're humans. You're just... special, and I have always been interested in the mutants of the world. I do apologize for my curiosity." Elizabeth snorted, but she shook his hand when he offered it, before stalking over to the table to glare at him behind his back. I snickered. He shook my hand, all the while trying to sneak looks at it. When he left, Elizabeth muttered, "Inconsiderate Dumkoph....." I grinned at the German she had begun to add into her speech and rolled my eyes. "Ju can say zat again."

Margali was angry at the man for just entering our trailer without permission, but that all but vanished when we showed her the flyer. "You can meet new people and learn new techniques.... It's a good experience for young people like you!" She immediately went to work on designing shirts for all of us, as required in the list of rules (all circus members must be able to be identified with their circus when on the grounds). "She seems to be really into this," Elizabeth whispered. "I know," I answered grinning. I was excited too. Maybe I would be able to walk around in public there without hiding under a hood. I would be there with four other circuses. If I couldn't be myself there, then I couldn't be anywhere.

  The circus packed up after our last week of performances. Then, we were off to Florence. I hoped and prayed that maybe, for once, I wouldn't need to hide.