The 1800's Freak Show

Lilith sped through the cobbled stone streets, her delicate heels clacking against the hard, cold paving as she rushed frantically to get home. It was dark out and way past her curfew. The atmosphere was as dead as a corpse and so quiet that the sound of her heels hitting off of the ground felt deafening and intrusive to her own ears. A crisp, icy chill wrapped around her body and cut through to her bones, as her breath puffed out in clouds in front of her face; like a dragon blowing out steam.

"Father is going to hang me when he sees how late I am!", she fretted, her power walking now turning in to light jogging as she passed the dimly lit gas lights dotted around the street. A slow haze began to accompany the icy air, almost making the little village seem harrowing and hostile to a Woman on her own in the dead of night. ​

Lilith continued to jog, out of breath and exhausted. She had been rushing on her feet for almost twenty minutes now. She hoped and prayed her Father would not be mad at her, but even more than that, she prayed for her safety and begged for her life to be spared as a dark, masked, towering silhouette appeared in front of her amidst the thick, foggy haze shrouding the alley way she was about to pass in to. ​

She stopped dead in her tracks, frozen in caution and fear as her blood ran cold. The silhouette twisted and contorted in ways that should have been impossible for any human to accomplish. Popping sounds and cracking of bones like a snapped wooden lolly stick abused her ears as she took in deep, ragged breaths and stepped back as though she were on a thin layer of ice that was about to break. The figure moved closer, tauntingly as she let out an ear bursting shriek of terror and darted out of the alley way entrance and back in to the gas lit square. ​

Scuttling and clawing like a cockroach, it crawled along the walls of nearby homes and raspy, inhuman noises followed behind her every step as she screamed even louder and tore through the streets, holding her long gypsy skirt up with one hand so she would not trip. The carnage that would follow if she were caught would be worse than the death itself and so she pushed herself to run as fast as her long legs could carry her in her already exhausted state.

Her eyes widened as she could see the door to her house up ahead. The lights were on. That meant her Father was awake and the door was unlocked. She screamed again, this time feeling her lungs deflate like a popped balloon as she reached her hand out for the door; a sharp, painful grip ripping her arm back as she latched on to the handle and tumbled through the door in to the entrance of her home. She screamed for help and looked behind her, panting hard as she saw that there was nothing there but the thick mist and bone chilling air. ​

"LILITH!" yelled her Father as he stomped in to the hall, looking down at his disheveled Daughter and frowning hard, his thick, bushy brows furrowed like the age filled creases on his forehead. "What is all this nonsense!".

Lilith looked down at herself, her breaths ragged and wheezy. She looked at her arm that was full of agonizing pain only moments ago. Surely there would be blood. There had to be. She quickly removed her cardigan, her eyes darting to her arm and growing wide. ​

"No! No! This can't be possible!", she fretted, backing away from the door and rushing to her feet, snatching her cardigan up from the floor, frantically tossing it around in her hands, looking for cuts or tears. ​

"Lilith", frowned her Father, his voice booming. "What in the World are you doing? Have you gone mad child?".

"Father!" she yelled, "Father, I was chased down the street by this-this thing! It looked human but it twisted its body in a way that made its bones pop out and back in again! It grabbed my arm!". ​

"Lilith Eaton!" barked her Father, his voice full of anger and concern as he slammed the door shut and locked it with frustration. "I will not accept deluded excuses as to why you are home three hours late. If you persist to tell such tales, I will have you sent to the mad house down the lane!" ​