Circus De La Freak by Piper (short story to read TXT) 📕

I used to think that the world was a place of justice, love and peace, but now I know that it is a dark place, full of sin, pain and injustice. I never made a move to pursue vengeance. Not when our school was raided by The Fallen. Not when I was held back and forced to watch as every single one of my friends were brutally slaughtered and devoured by these sickening beasts. I did nothing. I remained silent for fear of my life. But not, I had to do something. Whether this was a journey for revenge or self-preservation I’m not sure, but one thing was for sure; The Fallen were going to pay.
That was one week ago to the day and still the burning grief and rage I felt had not subsided. It was exactly one week ago that my home was raided by The Fallen that were lusting after blood. One week ago to the day that I watched, petrified by sheer terror as my mother, my father, my elder brother and even my newborn sister were killed and consumed right before my terrified eyes. One week ago to the hour that I was left with a throbbing bite mark on my collarbone from where a Fallen that used to be my neighbor Phil had ripped his rotting teeth into my flesh. Now, one week later and I had dropped from cloud nine to ground zero in a matter of days. I had gone from living aloof to scrounging for food in New York’s dirtiest, darkest, most vile alleys. I was tried daily with packs of rabid and infected dogs along with hordes of marauders. The marauders were rogue gangs that were ruthless and bloodthirsty. I never stayed in one place longer than a day and a night, but I was unprepared. While others guns, bats, machetes, even homemade flame throwers, I had an old lead pipe and anything useful I found was taken from me by marauders. I was an easy target for the gangs. I practically reeked of a cushy lifestyle. They seemed able to track me and overpower me with ease, some even taking me as a specimen to ‘experiment’ on, which was a poor euphuism to mercilessly torture me for their own pleasure. And that my dear friend is where you will find me today. No one from my old life would recognize me now. All they would see would be a young girl, barefoot and dirty with nothing but pure terror in the eyes that used to be so vibrant and full of hope, her innocence of childhood stripped away in the brutal of fashions…

I used to think that all there was in the world was pain, sorrow and suffering, but now I know that there is hope for the future and perhaps the chance that we might survive. It’s strange that a total stranger can restore hope in a person’s being, even if it is just by stabbing a Fallen in the eye with a lead pipe…
I was raised to be a survivor, raised to be a fighter. It was these skills that enable me to survive for as long as I have with The Fallen rose, but nothing prepared me for the brutality of the gangs that formed or the marauders that partnered up together. They were as brutal (if not more) than The Fallen themselves. At least The Fallen were quick. Painful, brutal, but quick. Marauders and gangs were more likely to torture you slowly, kill you and then leave you unceremoniously in a ditch. I had been alone the moment the apocalypse started. My family, having lived in the lower district were one of the first killed. I had taken my eight year old sister and ran for my life. For months, I had protected her and kept her safe from The Fallen until one day, a band of vengeful marauders tracked me back to camp after I nicked some of their supplies. They murdered my sister and beat me, leaving me for dead in the side of the road. I had nothing left to live for after that. Nothing but a bitter, burning passion in my soul thirsting for revenge along with a bitter hatred for the world. I cut everything down in my path, forming no emotional attachments, but that changed when I met her…Wisteria
Wisteria and I had been very wary of each other at first, never letting our guard down around each other. Slowly though, we started to open up to each other. I found out that she too had been raised like me. Raised to be a fighter. Her parents and herself had lived in the old tenements near the graveyard, meaning they were killed within the first few hours of the uprising. Wisteria had come home from work to find her parents dead along with her younger brother and twin sister. She had managed to tear herself away from the gruesome scene and was now drifting from state to state, looking for a rumored ‘haven’, a place where The Fallen hadn’t risen. I thought it to be the futile of a girl grasping at threads of a hopeful wish so she wouldn’t have to tell herself that the world was over.
We stayed together for a week until we decided to go our separate ways. But then, the circus came to town. Literally.
The circus was a ragtag band of survivors that traveled from town to town and put on shows. They had ulterior motives though. They too, like Wisteria, were looking for The Haven. They had been searching since The Fallen had risen and hadn’t stopped. They went to a town, stayed the night and put on a show. They always left the next morning though, never staying longer than twelve hours. They were drifters essentially. They would come, put on a show, pack up and leave. They did things a bit differently this time though…
It was nearing midnight and Wisteria and I had just bidden each other goodbye for the last time. I started down the street, my hands jammed in my pockets. I could hear the distant sounds of laughter as the circus entertained the oblivious town folk. I stayed to the side streets, want to get out of town as quickly as possible. I was rather caught up in my thoughts as I thought of Wisteria and where she would go, what she would do. It was probably why I didn’t hear the rustling behind me until it was too late. I turned around when I heard a garbage can being knocked over, a suspicious look on my face. The next thing I saw was the rotting face of a Fallen, the next thing I heard was its hoarse scream of fury and the next thing I felt was myself being knocked to the ground and the monster’s claws ripping through the flesh on the right side of my face. I kicked and fought, but its power was too great and I couldn’t escape. I could feel warm, wet blood dripping down my cheeks and I couldn’t help but feel revolted. I could distantly hear what sounded like someone screaming in agony and it was a moment before I realized it was myself. I twitched and jerked as I felt it drag its claws up my chest, tearing through my black shirt and skin with ease.
It’s strange really…when you’re close to death, you simply seem to just leave your body and hover right at the edge. Not alive, not dead. A sort of limbo. The in between. I could feel my physical ties to the real world slipping away as the monster attacked me, hacking and slashing at my body.
Finally, The Fallen either assumed I was dead or simply became bored of its sick, twisted game. As I lay in the filthy alley, surrounded by a pool of my own blood, I began to feel my vision fade. I saw the so called, ‘other side’, and it was everything I ever lost. I saw my parents, my sister and I wasn’t in pain anymore. I wasn’t alone any longer. I wanted to be back in their arms and never leave them again. I wanted to stay with them and protect them from being hurt ever again. I was almost there, almost about to slip over the edge when something from reality calling me back. A scared voice screaming for help. I felt myself drifting back to earth. I fought against the call, wanting to say with my family, the people I had missed so much…
As I felt myself enter back into my body, I drew in a shaky breath and cried out as I felt pain envelop my body like a tight blanket. My dull, glassy blue eyes flickered open and I met Wisteria’s terrified brown eyes. She was clinging to my hand crying as she brushed my blood stained white hair out of my eyes. As I looked around, I saw a red haired girl by my side, trying to stop the blood that was gushing out of my body. She appeared calm, even though her hands were trembling. In an even, steady voice, the red haired girl told Wisteria to run and go get someone called ‘Aria’ from the tent. Wisteria was up and gone in a flash. The red haired girl turned back to me and took my hand, looking worriedly at me.
“Hey,” she said softly. “I’m Piper. You’re going to be alright.” She promised, pressing her already blood soaked hands against my gaping wounds. It was the last thing I remembered before blacking out.
And that is how I got here today. Piper, as it turns out, was a dancer for the circus. After being permanently scarred across half of my face, Zed, the manager offered me a place in the freak show and Wisteria a spot as a stage hand. I thought on it for days before I finally said yes. That is how I became part of the traveling circus, aptly named, Circus De La Freak.
Even though I had a new family, I still had no hope for survival. Until today at least…
We were putting on a show in New in New York when I first saw her. I was walking down a desolate street with Wisteria when we heard a crashing sound in the alley behind us. I spun around quickly, moving protectively in front of Wisteria out of habit. There was a low growl from the alley, followed by a high pitched scream. I started forward, but Wisteria grabbed onto my arm to hold me back. I glared at her, but I didn’t dare make a sound for fear of attracting a Fallen. There was more banging and a girl’s cry, followed by the sounds of footsteps. A few seconds later, a girl burst out of the alley running