Introduction
The year was 1867 in Chicago, Illinois. Two brothers emerged from the middle of nowhere and bringing with them the Cirque du Mystique - with the promise of the most spectacular show the world has ever seen. They’ll let you travel back through time, experience the most thrilling shows and witness the most blood-thirsty acts there is to offer. On top of all of that, with a very small expense on your behalf, you may experience it all first hand, though the Ringleaders tend to be a bit picky with those they hire. The spectators in the crowd are drawn in by the bright lights, the dazzling performances and the captivating actors.
As the years went on, the circus slowly grew - with their once in a lifetime offer, Cirque du Mystique had earned the hearts of spectators all around. But with that still came the skeptics, the years started to pass and things were noticed about Cirque du Mystique.
The actors never seemed to age, some seemed as if they had come from another time long, long ago. Soon rumors of devil worshiping and witchcraft surfaced and spread throughout the town. Within a single night, in Chicago, 1871, Cirque du Mystique was set alight and burnt to the ground, killing off almost the entire circus’ worth of acts and staff, as well as burning down half the town. Many of the surviving immortals were taken to the stake, heads torn from their bodies - brutally murdered. The furious brothers who’d escaped the mobs and flames swore to refill their talent pool, fill the circus youth of those who came for blood, take the only revenge they knew how on the town. In the black of night all that remained of the circus disappeared, along with the children of those who burnt the brother’s dreams.
Nothing was heard of Cirque du Mystique for decades, but when they emerged once again in the year 1903, they had more spectacular shows, greater actors and even were an even greater threat to those against them. The children of Chicago have signed over their souls to the Brothers, and the pool of youth continues to take in talent from every circle of the globe.
You never know where the Cirque du Mystique will show up next, traveling from town to town, bringing the wonders and promises their circus has to offer, stealing the souls of those who burnt them years ago, taking the innocent souls from the naive and promising such great magic you can’t help but be captivated. Which of your loved ones will they take? Will it be you or your sister, your brother, your child or your lover? Welcome to the Cirque du Mystique, step inside and see the glorious world you can live in. Just remember when you sign that dotted line you pay the tiny price of your soul for the wonders that lie before you, everyone’s dream occupation.
But remember...You may be immortal, but you are certainly not invincible.
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The Story So Far... Write a Post » as written by 6 authors
The Darcy brothers are presenting Cirque du Mystique's last show in Miami, Florida. There has seemed to be a little rat who had managed to sneak his way in. But nobody knew nor did they care. Once the final act was over, the little rat left in the crowd of people. Staff members and performers do their usual tent clean-up, before going off to their own trailers for the night. The little rat decides to hides out somewhere near by, as it's already midnight. The next day, the Darcy brothers announce their next stop; Paris, France. The brothers also inform the circus crew that it seems like it'll rain, so they better hurry up and get packed. Don't want the equipment to get ruined. In the middle of the packing-up, it starts raining just like the brothers said. The little rat, who was watching the circus crew get packed, decides to take shelter from the rain in one of the storage trailers. Or so he thought. This little rat ends up going into one of the performer's trailers instead (Which will be my character, Mirabella's trailer).
This is where we start. As the little rat is unknowingly hiding away in Mirabella's trailer, the rest of the circus folks are still packing-up in the rain.
This is where we start. As the little rat is unknowingly hiding away in Mirabella's trailer, the rest of the circus folks are still packing-up in the rain.
William Issac Darcy
“The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not.”
“The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not.”
Standing upon a stage with his brother, in front of the group of performers and staff, William seemed to be in a surprisingly good mood. Yesterdays performances went on without anyone messing up or getting injured. Which was astonishing because at least one performer messes up on their act or gets some kind of injury every night. And that annoyed Will beyond belief. Half of these performers have been doing this for about a hundred years. Some more than that, other less. So, a majority of the time, it was inexcusable to mess up on a performance. As, anyone who did mess up would be reported to Will for some kind of punishment. And it usually wasn't very pleasant. His punishments were inhuman; they consisted of: extra work, loss of a meal or two and/or a beating of sorts. Although, the performers who have just recently got admitted into Cirque de Mystique, usually received a lesser brute punishment, one without beating. But once they hit 20 years of being in the circus biz, they get the same kind of punishment as the rest of the performers. How the punishments went were as such: little mess ups you do more than once you receive extra work. Mess up a whole performance you get extra work and lose one meal. Break one rule you have extra work and miss out on two meals. Finally if you mess up a whole performance and break one or more rules you get all 3 punishments; extra work, loss of two meals and some form of beating.
Another reason for William's upright attitude was being the last night in the town. As usual, when the circus is at it's last night in all towns, it draws a fairly nice large crowd to come and see them. Which means more money. As Will looked about the large group in front of him, he thought of the days duties. It was early in the morning. Everyone had just finished eating breakfast. He cleared his throat before speaking "As you all know, last night was out last performance here in Miami, Florida. Our next stop will be Paris, France. As usual, we are going by train and ferry. We will take a train from here to Penn Station, NY; which will be a little over days worth of traveling. Then a ferry from Port Washington, NY to Saint-Nazaire, France; which will take about 5 days. And finally, another train from Nantes, France to Paris, France; it should only take about 2 and a half hours." There were a few moans coming from the group. "We have rented out a few 18-wheeler trucks to get us to the Miami train station, to the ferry in Port Washington and to the Nantes train station. It shouldn't take long to get to either of those three, an hour or a little more. You will need to stay in your trailers during this part of the traveling." He paused, waiting to get the understanding nod from almost everyone, before continuing. "We have also rented out two trains, one from Miami to New York and the other from Nantes to Paris. Both trains will have one passenger car and the trailers will be on their own car. You are welcomed to stay inside your trailer when we depart on the train, but just remember if you want to eat, you might want to go in the passenger car. We will not be making any stops, so if you choose to be in your trailer, you'll be in there until we reach New York and/or Paris."
Once the whole traveling plan was told to everyone, William proceeded to instruct the crew about today's work. "Now, for what we have to get done today. You all may first make sure your trailer is in order to transport. That includes any personal belongings that were left out. Once you are done with your own packing-up, you will help pack-up the rest of the circus. That includes all the tents, the bleachers, concession stands, equipment, staff kitchen and anything else." Will was about to walk off, when James nudged him with elbow. There was still things to talk about and even though James could tell the crew that, Will being the Head Ringmaster, was the one whose suppose to do it. With a heavy sigh, Will faced the group again. "Lunch will be served at the usual time, around noon to just a little after 1pm. If you miss lunch, well too bad, you won't be able to eat until dinner. So you better keep watch of the time. Also, dinner will be served later, I'd say at 8pm to 9pm. Again, if you miss dinner, that just sucks because you won't get breakfast until we get on the train tomorrow."
William stopped once more, there was something else that needed to be said, but he couldn't remember. Now, what was that other thing again? He looked over at his brother, who just rolled his eyes. "The weather William. It was the weather." James told him, ever so slightly shaking his head. "Ah, that's right! If you can't already tell, dark rain clouds have filled the sky. So, it's probably going to rain soon. I'd hurry up and get packing. Wouldn't want your belongings to get ruined. Or anything else." Now Will started walking off the stage. He looked back over his shoulder. "If any of you need anything, I'll be in my trailer." He said, as if it was an after thought.
William made it back to his trailer, he'd give it half an hour to an hour before it started raining. There was a stack of papers that needed to be filled out. Stuff about their travel plans, expenses, rental payments, new equipment, etcetera. Sitting down at his desk, he began filling out the papers. His trailer was peacefully quiet as he worked, no outside noise could be heard from within. Time seemed to fly as he completed one paper after another, soon an hour has passed. That's when he could hear the slightly irritating pitter-patter of rain drops hit the roof of his trailer. Though it didn't take long for the sound to fade into the background as Will kept working.
Another reason for William's upright attitude was being the last night in the town. As usual, when the circus is at it's last night in all towns, it draws a fairly nice large crowd to come and see them. Which means more money. As Will looked about the large group in front of him, he thought of the days duties. It was early in the morning. Everyone had just finished eating breakfast. He cleared his throat before speaking "As you all know, last night was out last performance here in Miami, Florida. Our next stop will be Paris, France. As usual, we are going by train and ferry. We will take a train from here to Penn Station, NY; which will be a little over days worth of traveling. Then a ferry from Port Washington, NY to Saint-Nazaire, France; which will take about 5 days. And finally, another train from Nantes, France to Paris, France; it should only take about 2 and a half hours." There were a few moans coming from the group. "We have rented out a few 18-wheeler trucks to get us to the Miami train station, to the ferry in Port Washington and to the Nantes train station. It shouldn't take long to get to either of those three, an hour or a little more. You will need to stay in your trailers during this part of the traveling." He paused, waiting to get the understanding nod from almost everyone, before continuing. "We have also rented out two trains, one from Miami to New York and the other from Nantes to Paris. Both trains will have one passenger car and the trailers will be on their own car. You are welcomed to stay inside your trailer when we depart on the train, but just remember if you want to eat, you might want to go in the passenger car. We will not be making any stops, so if you choose to be in your trailer, you'll be in there until we reach New York and/or Paris."
Once the whole traveling plan was told to everyone, William proceeded to instruct the crew about today's work. "Now, for what we have to get done today. You all may first make sure your trailer is in order to transport. That includes any personal belongings that were left out. Once you are done with your own packing-up, you will help pack-up the rest of the circus. That includes all the tents, the bleachers, concession stands, equipment, staff kitchen and anything else." Will was about to walk off, when James nudged him with elbow. There was still things to talk about and even though James could tell the crew that, Will being the Head Ringmaster, was the one whose suppose to do it. With a heavy sigh, Will faced the group again. "Lunch will be served at the usual time, around noon to just a little after 1pm. If you miss lunch, well too bad, you won't be able to eat until dinner. So you better keep watch of the time. Also, dinner will be served later, I'd say at 8pm to 9pm. Again, if you miss dinner, that just sucks because you won't get breakfast until we get on the train tomorrow."
William stopped once more, there was something else that needed to be said, but he couldn't remember. Now, what was that other thing again? He looked over at his brother, who just rolled his eyes. "The weather William. It was the weather." James told him, ever so slightly shaking his head. "Ah, that's right! If you can't already tell, dark rain clouds have filled the sky. So, it's probably going to rain soon. I'd hurry up and get packing. Wouldn't want your belongings to get ruined. Or anything else." Now Will started walking off the stage. He looked back over his shoulder. "If any of you need anything, I'll be in my trailer." He said, as if it was an after thought.
William made it back to his trailer, he'd give it half an hour to an hour before it started raining. There was a stack of papers that needed to be filled out. Stuff about their travel plans, expenses, rental payments, new equipment, etcetera. Sitting down at his desk, he began filling out the papers. His trailer was peacefully quiet as he worked, no outside noise could be heard from within. Time seemed to fly as he completed one paper after another, soon an hour has passed. That's when he could hear the slightly irritating pitter-patter of rain drops hit the roof of his trailer. Though it didn't take long for the sound to fade into the background as Will kept working.
When the rain began falling down on everyone, she swore she heard a curse from at least 3 people. Packing up in the rain was never fun, especially when you were wearing a skin tight body suit embellished in gems and other things. Today she was wearing her golden leotard with black tights. With what strength she had after her performance she helped carry equipment to the trailer. Though she was small, being an acrobat one had to have enough strength to push your own body - but had to be nimble at the same time. Sadie always tried to be helpful when she could be. It the wide eyed view, she was a rather new member of the circus being only 37. It was strange really. Knowing that the people around you were more than three times your lifetime. All of them winning immortality in Cirque du Mystique.
Immortality had its pros and cons. Like aging. No one knows that the girl they're watching is old enough to be a mother of a teenage child, or the person doing the other act could be their grandpa - twice. Not physically aging was strange. Because though one kept the appearance of a young person - they had the mental workings of someone older. The sad part of living forever was that your mistakes stayed with you. Sadie hasn't lived a full human lifespan yet, but she wondered if she would really want to live past that.
Sadie was never a religious person. Even in her youth being taken to church was always a burden. She didn't believe in a lot of what they said. So when she sold her soul, she thought little about what it would mean. Not believing in heaven or hell made the decision easier. Well as much as she tries to think of the circus as a decision - it was really her only choice. Either she would go to a shelter or travel the world for a living, bringing smiles to peoples faces. The choice was simple from that perspective.
While helping the rest of the crew pack up the circus she shivered at the cold drops that hit her. The stage outfit she wore at the moment wasn't much to protect against the droplets. She wouldn't go inside until the job was done though. They would be traveling for a few days, she would have plenty of time to relax and get warm in the comfort of her trailer.
The cloth slippers she wore made moving properly hard. With a box of various juggling materials in hand she headed to the equipment trailer, only to find herself falling on her bum in the process. Sadie knew it was a long day when she began slipping. She was an acrobat.
Chase had forgotten to close her window. It wasn't a normal occurrence, as she usually remembered to do so, especially considering the forecast for today, but somewhere in the confusion and excitement of the show, she had allowed it to slip from her mind. It had been nice yesterday, and allowing the wind to sweep the stuffy air from within the structure had seemed like a perfectly logical endeavor at the time. Röschen's cage had needed cleaning out, and with the cool breeze lapping at loose material in the confined space, the rosy boa had been happy to bask beneath the warm glow of her heating lamp.
Well, now Chase remembered. She remembered quite vividly, in fact. Was unlikely to forget for quite awhile.
The floor was soaked, the faux woods cheap laminate warped beneath the onslaught of liquid, and she knew with depressing certainty that it would cause the floor boards to swell. Anything not covered with a tarp or discarded clothes was wet, and she scrambled to move the books away from the water, before the tide could spread any further. Having already closed and bolted the window, she set to work, cleaning up. Towels would be needed, but half of the ones in her trailer were so soaked, they would simply make the situation worse. Asking for help was not in her nature, and it hadn't gotten to the point where she would seek out someone else to aid her. The task at hand was neither easy, nor particularly fun, but it was good, honest work, and as she siphoned away the pond occupying her space, it slowly shrunk to small puddles, and then streaks of moisture beneath her feet.
Chase wasn't quite sure how much time had passed, but when she stood up, her shoulders were tight, from where the muscles had been tensed to long, and her joints ached slightly. In the beginning, she'd worried about such slight pains, wondering if the brothers were true to their word, or if only her outer body would remain young, while her internal workings fell into decay. Now, she knew better. It had taken some getting used to, but after many, long decades, it no longer enamored her quite as much. The physiology behind eternal youth, however, continued to fascinate her, and she'd stocked her shelves with hundreds of guides on the human body. In her other window, she kept all 40 editions of Gray's anatomy, an investment that is likely worth tens of thousands of dollars. At least they hadn't been damaged.
To her dismay, one of the less sturdy books was disfigured beyond repair. She planned on letting it dry out, before burning it, which seemed less crude then tossing it in a dumpster to rot. It wasn't very old, just a copy of Moby Dock from the 1970's, but it was still a book, and it seemed a shame that it be ruined so soon.
"Fucking rain, god dammit," She muttered, laying it out in a fashion that was theoretically supposed to help it dry, before turning back to the rest of her stuff. It was, for the most part, okay, which meant she should probably get up, off her ass, and go back to helping pick shit up. At least it wasn't hot outside, although the sun doesn't tend to slip through your open window and ruin your stuff. Fuck.
After a moment of trying to get her temper under control, she opened the door, quickly closing it behind her. She used to lock it, back when Faren was younger, because she didn't want him getting into her shit (she'd made the mistake of telling him to 'stay out of her porn' once, before she knew him, because usually that got men to shut up long enough for her to leave), but that was like, 70 years ago, and now she assumed that he'd already done so, or hopefully, had better things to do.
Like help clean up. Yeah, she should probably get back to that.
This was a really stupid idea.
I mean, he'd had made some pretty stupid decisions in his life before. Like trying to remove a piece of bread from the toaster with metal barbecue tongs (Ouch). Or that time where he'd let his friends convince him to flush sodium down the the school toilet (Oops). But this was quite possibly the stupidest fucking decision he had ever made, in his short, miserable existence.
Except that one time where he thought that dude was a hot blond. Yeah, that was worse.
Why had he thought this was a good idea? Oh yeah, it was going to rain. And god forbid he suck it up and head back to his nice, wet, filthy alley way with Yolanda, the mentally disturbed nympho from Boston, and Crash, the creepy stoner who had offered to trade him some dirty magazines for new socks. Yeah, okay, this was better. At least he might be able to sleep a little while, without worrying his stuff would be stolen.
Not like there was much to steal.
It had started when he heard the circus was in town. When he was younger, he would have been thrilled. He could imagine it like the child he once was. His mother would come home early, and his Dad would take a day off, for the first time in three years. He'd empty out all the money in his worn out piggy bank (which he was pretty sure didn't look anything like any pig that had ever been born ever), and trade it in with his father for cash. They'd buy kettle corn, and other things they couldn't really afford, and sit together and watch the performers blow their minds. At the end of the day, they head back to their stuffy old trailer, smelling of sweat, and dirt, and sugary food. Dad would be dad for a little while, and Mom would look like she did when she was young, before the stress and drinking became too much. Back when she was really beautiful, and.. . .
God fucking damnit, he went. He went because he'd never been able to when he was younger, and he didn't know when he'd get another chance. He didn't pay with money from his piggy bank, in fact, he'd didn't pay at all. He snuck in, waited for like ever for the perfect opportunity, and slipped by the ticket collector while she was arguing with some man for whatever reason (he really hadn't been paying attention to the two, cause he was busy, not getting caught by security or whatever.) He'd stuck to the back, even though it's not like people could tell he hd hadn't paid by looking at him, and the performers weren't going to call him out. It just seemed more low key to stay away from the set. It had been hard. The acts were amazing. Like, seriously, how did people do this shit? Man, he could like, play some Green Day songs on his guitar. And he could make an edible meal with just olives, cream cheese, and bacon. That was the extent of his skills. The performers were calm, collected, and confident in their abilities. And they were so fucking young. Like, some of these guys could of been his younger siblings, but they performed like pros (not that he could accurately measure that).
The people oohed and awed, and a few nastier occupants muttered about the lack of originality, but for the most part, his eyes had been for the show. Then it had ended. Way too soon for him. He'd stuck around for as long as possible, but eventually he'd been shooed away by one of the performers, and he'd found himself out. Alone. And about to rain,
So he hid. He'd looked for a place to huddle for awhile longer, but everything was being packed up so quickly, and he just wasn't ready to leave, and returned to Crash and Yolanda, his backstreet buddies. The storage trailer had been a welcome relief. He'd seen a few, but most were recently occupied. The one he entered seemed.... emptier.
Excluding the bed. A bed. In a storage trailer. It didn't look very storage efficient, now that he was inside. Also, the clothing looked important. Important enough to not be packed up in the not-storage-trailer. Yeah, leaving now seemed like a good idea. A real smart, fool proof plan.
Until, of course, he remembered this was him, and why would he be that lucky, oh wait, it wouldn't be. When he heard voices outside, he felt his heart quit working for a few seconds, and then he gracelessly collapsed, and crawled beneath the bed. Heart was working now, double time, wow he really hoped the cast didn't have super-human hearing because shit.
This was a really, really, stupid fucking idea.
Josephine grumbled incoherently to herself as she swept her finale dress' skirt up and tied it so it wasn't dragging on the muddy ground. On her shoulder, her pygmy monkey Einstein chittered at her, drawing his hood over his head so the rain didn't fall on him. For a monkey, Einstein was a bit of a priss when it came to getting his ha-fur wet. Josie sighed, holding an umbrella over her head, "I know, Einy, I know. We're almost home."
She was grateful that she got to wear boots instead of silk slippers or something that would get so easily damaged in a storm like this. On her way to her trailer, she double-checked on all of her animals. She knew they were technically the circus' animals, but she was the one that took care of them. She stopped for a moment in front of Nightmare's cage, petting the albino lion's mane. She had always had a talent with animals, even feral ones. It was a little strange when she thought about it. She could even get Nightmare and Einstein to be friends, which broke all laws of nature. Sometimes people would ask her about the animals after the show and how she managed to train them. For a little laugh, she would sometimes say Nearly a hundred years of practice. Because, despite the fact she looked like a sixteen year old, Josie Layton was actually ninety-one years old. She was old enough to be a great-grandmother.
When she pulled away from Nightmare, he grumbled in complaint and she laughed. "Sorry, boy. I gotta get out of this rain."
Even for an animal trainer, it was obvious that Josie talked to her animals a bit too much. She pushed Nightmare's paw inside the cage and he obliged without much of a hassle. She kissed his nose softly before pulling down the tarp so he wouldn't get more wet. She heard him walked around a bit before he settled down. Josie rolled her eyes before moving on. She counted the various animals, all of which had either fitting names or ironic names. There was Snow, the black stallion, Coal, the white mare, and S'mores and Cookies. She made sure her elephants Milk and Soda were also alright.
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When she was about to reach her trailer, she saw that one of the acrobats named Sadie had fallen on her bum. Josie chuckled to herself as she walked over to help the younger girl up. It was strange to say that, considering the fact that she looked two years older than Josie. She picked up the box Sadie had dropped before offering her hand to the acrobat. "Why don't you come to my trailer to dry up, it isn't far from here. And if you want to come back out, you can borrow a coat at least, and maybe a pair of my boots."
Einstein chittered next to her in agreement.
Faren lingered among his equipment, glowering at it really, as it was random and scattered around his tent. His performances were somewhat random, whether it were an organized act inside somewhere or something little to attract attention to passer-byers as they moved from act to act. Outside he'd left the tarp holding all the glass on it, which his barefeet walked upon for the sole purpose of other people's awe. When he really though about his job here, he hated it. He hated the majority of the people that came to watch them like animals at the zoo, and he didn't particularly like all the responsibility that came with it. But fuck it at this point - he'd already sold his soul; whatever the hell that meant.
A table beside him held all the knives swords and weapons Faren generally used for his acts. In a few clumsy movements he arranged them on a black velvet cloth and used small straps to secure the metals in place. He rolled it up fastened it shut, still setting it on the table. Faren was just not a weapons guy. Sure, before the circus he owned an old combat knife with a blade seven inches long, weighs about a pound, but when you get down to it he prefers to just whomp on shit with his fists. Being the clumsy asshole he is, he's cut himself on that fucking knife more than he's cut anything else. Now you'd think being so uncoordinated he wouldn't be very successful with his acts, but Faren had a surprising way of being able to flawlessly preform every task the brothers asked of him. Maybe it was all part of the soul-selling.
Occasionally he did an act of impalement arts, where he was to throw knives, shoot arrows, etc, at someone, but only to miss their body by mere centimetres. He'd probably be able to do that act more often if anyone around here actually trusted him not to kill them. But oh well, he still could do that cool thing with the motorcycle in the metal ball. He had already taken down that contraption with some help after the show yesterday, as well as returned his bike to his trailer.
He walked outside of the tent now, carrying his roll of weapons at his side. His boots crunched against the loose bits of cement on the cracked and battered ground as he trudged along, chest puffed out and face fixed into the sneer of a man who knew that every living thing around him was little more than a massive annoyance--in other words, Faren walked along as he usually did, his burly, tattooed arms, bare to the drops of rain, swinging carelessly at his side. He wore black pants, somewhat baggy but also jean-like, so he was able to preform with ease. Currently he wore a faded white wife beater, but he usually took it off during acts.
He crouched down beside a tarp holding broken glass across it, and folded it somewhat neatly. Good enough. He shrugged to himself and picked it up, putting it under his arm with the weapons. He managed to gather the rest of his equipment and place it in his trailer. Fuck. He thought, remembering his wallet, cigs, and lighter all sat on the table back at the tent, which would need taking down anyway - or did they have people for that? -- Did he really have to do fucking everything around here? He let out a small groan as he pushed open his trailer door again and hauled ass back to the tent.
By the time he got there he was pretty much damp all over from this rain, which only angered him, causing most of the water to probably turn into steam. Before leaving the tent he lit himself a cigarette, and took a couple drags before risking the rain again. He exited the tent to find it had eased up a bit, only drizzling now, although the clouds did not look promising.
As he walked back to his trailer, he saw Josie talking to her animals again. That's always what she's fucking doing. They can't even understand her; they're just fucking animals. Faren remembered to a time when they'd first gotten elephants for her to use, and part of him was a little excited there were beasts big enough to crush someone if they stepped on them. He'd been hopeful of their names, something badass it would have to be of course, but to his dismay she'd named them "Milk" and "Soda". Which made no sense to him whatsoever. What the hell did elephants have to do with either of those things? And what kind of names were those anyway? He'd shown some of his distaste for her choice, which she probably disliked. He wasn't really sure where he stood with a lot of the other members, mostly because he didn't care that much about what they thought, but he'd definitely cooled down over the years. There were much less fights.
He trailed behind her a bit as they were going the same way, but focused his attention more on his cigarette than anything else. He took long drags, sucking in as much as he could, to keep it lit and to finish it before the rain started to pour again. It was then that he noticed Josie reaching her hand out to Sadie. He almost stopped suddenly in his tracks, but caught himself and blew out the smoke he forgot he'd been holding. It was just one of the stranger aspects of the man who went by the name of Faren Daltroy: he wasn't a dick to Sadie. In fact, he wasn't anything to Sadie--avoided talking to her, avoided even looking at her if he could. He did stop now, only to toss his cig butt below and put it out with his boot. He almost lit up another one out of habit, but stopped himself and continued walking.
He offered a slightly nod of the head to both of the girls as he passed, although he didn't look at either of them in the eye and he wasn't even sure if they noticed. It didn't really matter though. Not much did to Faren.
A table beside him held all the knives swords and weapons Faren generally used for his acts. In a few clumsy movements he arranged them on a black velvet cloth and used small straps to secure the metals in place. He rolled it up fastened it shut, still setting it on the table. Faren was just not a weapons guy. Sure, before the circus he owned an old combat knife with a blade seven inches long, weighs about a pound, but when you get down to it he prefers to just whomp on shit with his fists. Being the clumsy asshole he is, he's cut himself on that fucking knife more than he's cut anything else. Now you'd think being so uncoordinated he wouldn't be very successful with his acts, but Faren had a surprising way of being able to flawlessly preform every task the brothers asked of him. Maybe it was all part of the soul-selling.
Occasionally he did an act of impalement arts, where he was to throw knives, shoot arrows, etc, at someone, but only to miss their body by mere centimetres. He'd probably be able to do that act more often if anyone around here actually trusted him not to kill them. But oh well, he still could do that cool thing with the motorcycle in the metal ball. He had already taken down that contraption with some help after the show yesterday, as well as returned his bike to his trailer.
He walked outside of the tent now, carrying his roll of weapons at his side. His boots crunched against the loose bits of cement on the cracked and battered ground as he trudged along, chest puffed out and face fixed into the sneer of a man who knew that every living thing around him was little more than a massive annoyance--in other words, Faren walked along as he usually did, his burly, tattooed arms, bare to the drops of rain, swinging carelessly at his side. He wore black pants, somewhat baggy but also jean-like, so he was able to preform with ease. Currently he wore a faded white wife beater, but he usually took it off during acts.
He crouched down beside a tarp holding broken glass across it, and folded it somewhat neatly. Good enough. He shrugged to himself and picked it up, putting it under his arm with the weapons. He managed to gather the rest of his equipment and place it in his trailer. Fuck. He thought, remembering his wallet, cigs, and lighter all sat on the table back at the tent, which would need taking down anyway - or did they have people for that? -- Did he really have to do fucking everything around here? He let out a small groan as he pushed open his trailer door again and hauled ass back to the tent.
By the time he got there he was pretty much damp all over from this rain, which only angered him, causing most of the water to probably turn into steam. Before leaving the tent he lit himself a cigarette, and took a couple drags before risking the rain again. He exited the tent to find it had eased up a bit, only drizzling now, although the clouds did not look promising.
As he walked back to his trailer, he saw Josie talking to her animals again. That's always what she's fucking doing. They can't even understand her; they're just fucking animals. Faren remembered to a time when they'd first gotten elephants for her to use, and part of him was a little excited there were beasts big enough to crush someone if they stepped on them. He'd been hopeful of their names, something badass it would have to be of course, but to his dismay she'd named them "Milk" and "Soda". Which made no sense to him whatsoever. What the hell did elephants have to do with either of those things? And what kind of names were those anyway? He'd shown some of his distaste for her choice, which she probably disliked. He wasn't really sure where he stood with a lot of the other members, mostly because he didn't care that much about what they thought, but he'd definitely cooled down over the years. There were much less fights.
He trailed behind her a bit as they were going the same way, but focused his attention more on his cigarette than anything else. He took long drags, sucking in as much as he could, to keep it lit and to finish it before the rain started to pour again. It was then that he noticed Josie reaching her hand out to Sadie. He almost stopped suddenly in his tracks, but caught himself and blew out the smoke he forgot he'd been holding. It was just one of the stranger aspects of the man who went by the name of Faren Daltroy: he wasn't a dick to Sadie. In fact, he wasn't anything to Sadie--avoided talking to her, avoided even looking at her if he could. He did stop now, only to toss his cig butt below and put it out with his boot. He almost lit up another one out of habit, but stopped himself and continued walking.
He offered a slightly nod of the head to both of the girls as he passed, although he didn't look at either of them in the eye and he wasn't even sure if they noticed. It didn't really matter though. Not much did to Faren.
Pulling her coat a little bit tighter around her, Chase eyed her surroundings with her usual distrust, and perhaps, if you looked closely, you could see the haunted gleam in her eyes. It was hidden well, tucked away behind a intricate mask of anger and age, a gaze piercing enough to see through poorly worded falsehoods, and hold the bitter to their brew. Chase's gaze flickered over the grounds, years of battle hardened instincts drawn to every unnatural flicker, or non-ambient noise.
Her eyes locked onto Faren, and she watched him swagger along, the toxic smoke of his cancer stick disappearing with the pitter patter of the rain, the scent of tobacco drifting towards her. Although it was muted by the humidity, she could fill the vapor tickle the interior of her nostrils, before coiling insidiously in her lungs. Immediately, she had to resist the urge to cough, considering Sadie and Josie out of the corner of her view. Chase bared her teeth in a primitive snarl as Faren dropped his cigarette on the ground behind him. What a fucking douche canoe. Jesus fucking Christ, was it really so hard to throw it in the fucking trash can? Not that she should be surprised; she'd been here since before Daltroy had joined, and except for when she was fighting, had been with him every step of the way. Chase could still remember him when he was a pissed off, clusterfucked adolescent, and while he wasn't as much of a fuck up now, he was still a major dick.
She waited until he'd passed by the two girls before stalking over to where he was standing. It took her a few moments to locate the blunt, and pick it up, lip still curled in anger. A black trashcan stood a dozen or so yards away, and she jogged over to it, her boots clinging to the slippery ground, and preventing her from slipping. Well, for the most part. She coasted several seconds after her planned stop, nearly crashing into the can, before reasserting control over her body.
"Fuck," She muttered, lifting the lid, and tossing the soggy fag inside. The treads on the bottom of her shoes must be wearing smooth. She'd have to buy a new pair before too long, and Chase hated shopping. It took forever, it cost a shit ton of money, and the stuff never lasted. Maybe the world was better in someways, but people took no pride in their product anymore. The only thing companies gave a flying fuck about were how cheap and quick something could be made.
Turning back, towards the two performers, she walked slowly over, noting the pattern of water saturation across Sadie's form. She must've fallen, like Chase herself nearly did. Chase didn't normally socialize with others, but when you know people for as long as she had known them, they stop being people, and start being family. Her voice was low, but it carried, making its way through the heavy air.
"Hey," Standing only a few feet away, her words were almost lost in the water. Looking around at the array of buildings and trailers, she considered a possible sanctuary from the onslaught. Especially considering the rain was starting to come down harder, no longer the calm, steady shower of precipitation, having commenced pelting the earth, along with their three, slim forms, with heavy projectiles. Squinting at her watch through the rain, she turned back to the two younger women, blinking hopelessly to clear her vision.
"It's almost noon. Why don't we have a lunch break, and see if the rain lightens up. Besides," She gestured vaguely at her surroundings, before finishing her statement, "this stuff isn't going anywhere." At this, she slipped her coat off, offering it to Jean. Chase didn't chill easily, and a little bit of water wasn't going to do her in.
Kitlin Hayes
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There was absolutely nothing wrong with rain. It allowed crops to grow; something Kitlin’s life had once depended on. What wasn’t so great was when really nice outfits that could be potentially ruined by the rain were. Luckily being a stage performer meant she only had to go out at curtain call in her last outfit. She also was quick to change because after having one of her favorite outfits ruined, she never wanted to repeat the situation.
Packing up started with chancing into a pair of loose dance pants and a tank top, bare feet and taking her outfit in a garment bag to her trailer. After that it was get to work helping everyone with what she could. Being her she usually just went back to the normal group she preformed with to help them. It was a lot easier because they never felt the need to talk to each other. They just worked knowing their places.
Kit held her face to the sky as the rain poured down around her. She didn’t rush back to help, but walked normally. She was going to get there regardless and soaked all the same. Besides, literary scholars believed rain was like purification, a new start. Maybe it was, maybe it wasn’t. She didn’t really want to bother trying to figure out her take on it. She just enjoyed the feel on her skin and the break it was giving her from having to help out.
All too soon she reached her area and started helping the others pack everything under the shelter of the heat. There were quite a few complaints about her water logged clothing, but she kept it from ruining anything. Once everything was packed up under the tent, the group decided to wait until the weather had cleared a bit before taking down the bigger items.
Glancing outside and the small amounts of people in the rain, it appeared everyone else had decided to do the same. Standing just inside the protection of the tent, Kitlin stared up at the sky as the rain came down even harder. A light smile crossed her lips until she lowered head and saw the world the rain was pouring down on.
She missed the open fields, the hills of green. She missed her home. There was just no place like it. There never would be. She gained a family, but she’d lost a home. The trips back to Ireland were when she was at her happiest. It had been a while since she’d set foot on her own soil that times like this was when she missed it the most.
With a small sigh, she just shook her head and stepped into the torrent. If everyone was taking a break then she was headed to find something to eat. Performances always brought on hunger and having to pack directly afterwards only made it worse. The ends of her pants were caked with mud and her tongues felt like they were coated in slime, a feeling that didn’t really bother her.
She walked along, moving to a beat only she could hear in her mind. A beat she’d heard since she was a child, one made even louder when she joined the circus. Kit stopped when she saw three of the other girls. Sadie, Chase, and Josie. Past them walking away was Faren. Was she was only person who wasn’t really bothered or put off by his demeanor? Probably. She’d grown up with a lot of Irish boys turned into men just like him. It was a wonder they didn’t all beat each other to death, well a few had. But Faren was still alive and he hadn’t killed anyone, or rather no one here had turned on him yet.
Overhearing the words of food brought the woman back down to reality. She smiled as she walked over to them. Her bare feet allowed her to sink into the muddy ground without having to worry about falling and it wasn’t so deep that she was having to raise her legs any higher than normal to walk.
“Mind if I go with you for food?” She didn’t want to impose herself on them. If they’d rather have been by themselves, she was fine with it. She’d just grab something and head back to her trailer. But there came a point when she just couldn’t be alone again. She could feel it creeping up on her with the traveling to Paris looming shortly. She’d be so close and yet just as far from the place she wanted to be. It was depressing how easily her emotions were dependent on a single island she called home.
Chase blinked, turning away from Jean and Josie long enough to look over her the line of her shoulder, water streaming like tear drops down her forehead. The tiny beads of precipitation crawled brusquely over the curve of her cheek, slipping down the contours of Chase's mouth and chin, before completing their descent to the earth below. Almost unconsciously, she swiped her tongue over her teeth, hazel eyes narrowing against the weather. It did little to clear her vision, as the wind was beginning to pick up, altering the angle of liquid deluge.
Despite the momentary blindness, she recognized Kit's form, walking without hurry. Ireland was her home. The circus had spent time there, and it was one of her preferred places. She wouldn't mind if it rained every day out of the year, but coming back to a soaking trailer had been an unpleasant surprise. It made packing considerably harder, yes, but war didn't stop for snow, sleet, rain, or hail. She'd fought, knee deep in snow, with nothing but the clothes on her back, and the warmth of the person beside you, and she had been there when fellow soldiers lost their fingers and toes to the frost. Quietly, she reminded herself that the circus was in no way comparable to war, and she reluctantly let old memories slip away, washed from her mind by the words of her companion.
Chase only had to look for a second to take in the nature of the request, the guarded, unsureness of Kit's sentence. Make no mistake, Chase was no mind reader. But when spending decades with the same people, same faces, you learn to read between the lines. She distantly wondered if any of her fellow performers had picked up these same quirks, or if they had been too busy looking back, at a life long lived, to see what was happening now. Not that she was really one to talk; she still dreamt of death and destruction, and longed for the solace of alcohol. Perhaps she was no different than the rest of them. One thing was for certain though; she hated the constant uncertainty, as if nobody knew where they stood. Maybe Chase was too quick to judge, because she had joined the brothers when there was nothing and no one, had helped them bring their establishment back to life, rising from the ashes of the Chicago fire. She had stood in the shadows, always watching, waiting, scrutinizing every deal, every sad story and stolen soul. Chase had watched each and every one of them: Mirabella, fleeing from an abusive father. Thomas, who sought revenge. Faren, out of boredom, and the power immortality brought. Kitlin, hoping to find a family. Josephine, for the sense of safety it brought her. Sadie, for the promise of adventure.
Chase blinked at Kit, smiling, although it wasn't so much a look of happiness, and more of one indicating confused frustration, masked by a half-assed attempt to be civil. How old was this one? Chase knew Kit was older than Josie, but younger than Daltroy. In her late 70's, early 80's. Closing her eyes, she let the number come to her. 83. Old enough to be her great grandmother. Chase knew that this should startle her, but it hadn't in a long time. They were all older than their face, but whoever thought wisdom comes with age had never been to the Circus. Shaking her head lightly, she rolled her eyes, a gesture that, hopefully, Kit would realize, carried no heat. Chase had an angry, forceful disposition, and it permeated all aspects of her behavior, regardless of the individual. Taking a breath, she fixed the newer addition with a somewhat affectionate, somewhat annoyed glare.
"You're eighty three years old. I've known you since you were fifteen, and so has Josie. Just..." Rolling her eyes for the second time, she cast the others a meaningful look, before continuing, lips slightly pursed. "I don't mind if you sit with us, and i'm more than positive that they don't care, either. We spend every day of every week of every month of every fuckin' year together. You don't have to ask. You could've stopped asking, like, forty years ago."
Josie was a tad bit surprised when one of the other girls decided to join them. Now that she thought about it, Chase's invitation to go to lunch sounded like a good idea. She could always cook. There was a new recipe she had been dying to try out. She was about to accept the invitation when her eyes flickered over to adorable little Kit.“Mind if I go with you for food?” she questioned softly.
"You're eighty three years old. I've known you since you were fifteen, and so has Josie. Just... I don't mind if you sit with us, and I'm more than positive that they don't care, either. We spend every day of every week of every month of every fuckin' year together. You don't have to ask. You could've stopped asking, like, forty years ago."
Josie didn't quite like the way Chase had put it, but she was right. That was how Chase was anyways. Years of living don't exactly change a person's personality. "'Course you can join us, Kit. I'll cook. Won't take too long," she smiled warmly as Einstein switched sides on her shoulders. She held her large umbrella over Chase, who didn't seem to be enjoying the rain much, "If you wanna know the weather, just pay attention to how the animals are acting," her eyes slid over to Kit. "Snow's been missing you, Kit. You going to check on her before we leave for Paris?"
It was true. Kit got along well with the horses, which made her a good person in Josie's book. If Snow trusted her, she trusted her. It was the same way with all the animals. If more than one of the many creatures in Josephine's menagerie liked the performer, she knew that she would like them too. Eventually. Milk and Soda seemed to like Faren, but she still hadn't figured out why. Maybe it was just something about him.
"You're eighty three years old. I've known you since you were fifteen, and so has Josie. Just... I don't mind if you sit with us, and I'm more than positive that they don't care, either. We spend every day of every week of every month of every fuckin' year together. You don't have to ask. You could've stopped asking, like, forty years ago."
Josie didn't quite like the way Chase had put it, but she was right. That was how Chase was anyways. Years of living don't exactly change a person's personality. "'Course you can join us, Kit. I'll cook. Won't take too long," she smiled warmly as Einstein switched sides on her shoulders. She held her large umbrella over Chase, who didn't seem to be enjoying the rain much, "If you wanna know the weather, just pay attention to how the animals are acting," her eyes slid over to Kit. "Snow's been missing you, Kit. You going to check on her before we leave for Paris?"
It was true. Kit got along well with the horses, which made her a good person in Josie's book. If Snow trusted her, she trusted her. It was the same way with all the animals. If more than one of the many creatures in Josephine's menagerie liked the performer, she knew that she would like them too. Eventually. Milk and Soda seemed to like Faren, but she still hadn't figured out why. Maybe it was just something about him.
For an acrobat she felt pretty damn clumsy at the moment. She was beginning to get up when she saw a familiar hand reach out to her. It was Josie, the animal trainer.
"Why don't you come to my trailer to dry up, it isn't far from here. And if you want to come back out, you can borrow a coat at least, and maybe a pair of my boots." Josie offered. With a grin Sadie took her hand and got up, water dripping off of her. She wished for a long, hot, shower now. The monkey that seemed to be always with the girl seemed to like what its owner was saying.
"I think I'll take you up on that, though I do think we're almost done picking up the place. After doing it so many times I think this all becomes second nature to everyone" she said before seeing the daredevil, Faren in the corner of her eye. The daredevil never really came near Sadie in all the years they've traveled together. They've always kept things brief and distant. Listening around she hadn't heard many good things about the guy however. Seeing a slight nod her direction from him she waved slightly before seeing more people were gathering around the accident scene.
The next to be heard of was Eleanor, the rhythmic gymnast. Eleanor's words were almost unheard. Sadie squinted in the rain in hopes the drops would stop falling into her eyes, but there was no hope.
"It's almost noon. Why don't we have a lunch break, and see if the rain lightens up. Besides, this stuff isn't going anywhere." Eleanor said, Sadie quickly nodded in agreement.
"That's probably the best idea I've heard all day. I'm starving. Packing up and listening to what needs to be done sure takes it out of you" Sadie spoke, running a wet hand through her dripping black hair. The stage performer that went by Kit must have overheard the few words spoken in the cold rain when all three of them heard her ask if it was okay for her to come with for food. That seemed to humor Eleanor, as she was the first to speak afterwards.
"You're eighty three years old. I've known you since you were fifteen, and so has Josie. Just..." Eleanor rolled her eyes a few times before continuing. It wasn't a unknown practice of the gymnast. "I don't mind if you sit with us, and i'm more than positive that they don't care, either. We spend every day of every week of every month of every fuckin' year together. You don't have to ask. You could've stopped asking, like, forty years ago."
Sadie couldn't help but laugh at Eleanor's words. Every time Sadie tried to remember that the girls around here were all pretty much older than her, she got rather puzzled.
"Dude don't say that sort of stuff. It makes my head hurt" Sadie said, adding a fake sigh for effect. Sadie was undoubtedly happy that Josie decided to cook. Sadie didn't really cook anything other than breakfast. Though when she did decide to put the apron on, her food seemed to always be appreciated. Josie said some things about how the animals missed Kit before Sadie finally looked around awkwardly.
"Great family reunion we have going here folks. My heart is feeling warm and fuzzy, and my ass is still wet. We should take this loving moment inside now" Sadie told them, holding her heart dramatically and with her other hand pointing to the trailers.
ღ Mirabella Grace Hallowell ღ
"People can live a hundred years without really living for a moment"
"People can live a hundred years without really living for a moment"
Mirabella didn't have much out that was her. Only a few things here and there inside the main tent. Her arms were full of two books, her sketchbook and a box of art supplies. She liked keeping herself busy inside the show tent when she wasn't performing. The rain had just started. Great. Now how am I suppose to get to my trailer without ruining my stuff? Her trailer being a couple yards away. Okay. I'll just have to run there and hope it doesn't ruin anything. After a quick count to 3, she ran across the dirt and got to her trailer in a matter of seconds. But not without her shoes and legs getting caked with mud in the process. Once inside, tossed her things on her bed. "I seriously shouldn't have been wearing a dress..." Sighing, Mira grabbed a towel that was on the table next to the door and wiped the mud off her legs, as well as taking her shoes off. She went to her closet taking out black skinny jean, a light tan sweater, red scarf and a red beanie. She quickly undressed and changed, putting on her dark brown combat boots. "Alright. Better get out there and start helping." Making sure her windows were all closed and locked, Mira grabbed one of her parasol's and left her trailer.
Mirabella headed over to a small group who were loading some boxes into one of the storage trailers. Parasol opened, she didn't get wet. Only her boots got all muddy. It was all equipment stuff, so most of it wasn't really all that heavy. The girl picked up a box of juggling items and walked the few steps from where she was to the trailer. She handed off the box to someone in the trailer, who organized and placed the boxes down inside. When she turned to get another, Mira let her mind wander, something she hasn't done in a while.
It's already been a hundred years since Mirabella has joined Cirque de Mystique. The memories of her life before the circus, were ones she wished to forget, but never could no matter how much time has passed. She remembered that unforgettable day. But that's not where her mind slipped to. Instead it roamed back to when she first had joined. It was a little over a week after her 17th birthday. There were only two first-string members at the time. Eleanor, being there for 43 years before Mira and Thomas, there for 9 years before. They didn't talk to each other much, or even at all. But that might of been Mira's fault. She choose not to talk to them, spending most her days practicing her aerobatic skills. Which, truth be told, she didn't have in the beginning.
When one of the Darcy brothers, James, first came to Mirabella. He asked if she had anything to give to the circus. She had always loved the aerobatic performances whenever she when to see one. So, she told him that she could do aerobatics. It was a big lie, she had absolutely no idea how to do them. But Mira had nowhere else to go. What else was she suppose to do? Go to the police about her dad? She'd still end up without a home. They'd put her in an orphanage. Who would want a 17-year-old? Plus, she knew how horrible orphanages were. She had a really great friend in one. Until he disappeared one day, and not from being adopted.
Anyways, it took Mirabella a good 5 years to be able to do any sort of aerobatic stunt. By then, she knew the Darcy brothers had probably figured out she was lying. Another 5 years and she was finally able to actually perform in the circus. It took about 12 years for her to become a first-stringer. Which first-string members were probably the "head" of a certain performing group. Thomas was the first-stringer of the fire performers. Eleanor, the first-stringer of the rhythmic gymnasts. And Mira, first-stringer of the aerobatics. Life at Cirque de Mystique was getting a little better as time passed, especially being a first-string member. The Darcy brothers started giving out monthly allowances, a bit more free time to roam the city they were in, and bigger trailers to live in. Though the punishments were the same as everyone else.
Once time hit 15 years for Mirabella, a new soul had been admitted into the circus. A medic by the name Alexandra. The Darcy brothers thought it was a good idea to bring in a doctor if they were getting more and more members. Because, even though everyone is immortal, that doesn't mean they couldn't get sick or injured. 2 years later, Faren joined them. Boy was he trouble. Mira made sure to keep her distance from him. He just reminded her too much of her father. But he became the first-stringer of the daredevils, which was fitting. 8 years after Faren, Josephine came into their family. She was the first new girl since Mira, being much easier to talk to then Eleanor. Turns out, she was the first-stringer of the animal tamers. Next was Kitlin, 7 years later, she sold her soul to Cirque de Mystique. Becoming the first-stringer of the stage performers. Lastly, the most recent member of the circus is Sadie. She was admitted into their family 49 years after Kitlin. Being the youngest, she is still kind of getting the hang of things around here. She turned out to be the first-stringer of the acrobatics.
Mirabella picked up the last box, but was slow to bring it over to the storage trailer, as she was still lost in her memories. The box had started slipping from her hands at it got more wet, but that didn't bring her back to reality. It wasn't until the box had slipped through her fingers and fallen into the mud, did she finally snap back. "Crap..." She said, under her breath, as she picked the muddy bottom box back up. When she handed the box off to the man organizing inside the trailer, her scowled at her. "Sorry." Turning to walk away, she noticed a group of first-string girls all talking. It was about noon, so they all are probably going to get something to eat. Might as well join them. Mira stopped just short from the group. She took a quick glance at the girls. Eleanor, Kitlin, Josephine, and Sadie. They were all drenched, Sadie having a little more mud on her then she probably liked. Even Mira was soaked, though she had her parasol, she needed to put it down when she helped with loading the boxes.
After hearing Sadie want a change of clothes, Mirabella looked to the rest of them. "So, after we get Sadie changed. Who's going to cook?" A small pleasant smiled formed. She's been with these girls for a pretty long time, she didn't care if she seemed rude by inviting herself to go eat with them.
Mirabella headed over to a small group who were loading some boxes into one of the storage trailers. Parasol opened, she didn't get wet. Only her boots got all muddy. It was all equipment stuff, so most of it wasn't really all that heavy. The girl picked up a box of juggling items and walked the few steps from where she was to the trailer. She handed off the box to someone in the trailer, who organized and placed the boxes down inside. When she turned to get another, Mira let her mind wander, something she hasn't done in a while.
It's already been a hundred years since Mirabella has joined Cirque de Mystique. The memories of her life before the circus, were ones she wished to forget, but never could no matter how much time has passed. She remembered that unforgettable day. But that's not where her mind slipped to. Instead it roamed back to when she first had joined. It was a little over a week after her 17th birthday. There were only two first-string members at the time. Eleanor, being there for 43 years before Mira and Thomas, there for 9 years before. They didn't talk to each other much, or even at all. But that might of been Mira's fault. She choose not to talk to them, spending most her days practicing her aerobatic skills. Which, truth be told, she didn't have in the beginning.
When one of the Darcy brothers, James, first came to Mirabella. He asked if she had anything to give to the circus. She had always loved the aerobatic performances whenever she when to see one. So, she told him that she could do aerobatics. It was a big lie, she had absolutely no idea how to do them. But Mira had nowhere else to go. What else was she suppose to do? Go to the police about her dad? She'd still end up without a home. They'd put her in an orphanage. Who would want a 17-year-old? Plus, she knew how horrible orphanages were. She had a really great friend in one. Until he disappeared one day, and not from being adopted.
Anyways, it took Mirabella a good 5 years to be able to do any sort of aerobatic stunt. By then, she knew the Darcy brothers had probably figured out she was lying. Another 5 years and she was finally able to actually perform in the circus. It took about 12 years for her to become a first-stringer. Which first-string members were probably the "head" of a certain performing group. Thomas was the first-stringer of the fire performers. Eleanor, the first-stringer of the rhythmic gymnasts. And Mira, first-stringer of the aerobatics. Life at Cirque de Mystique was getting a little better as time passed, especially being a first-string member. The Darcy brothers started giving out monthly allowances, a bit more free time to roam the city they were in, and bigger trailers to live in. Though the punishments were the same as everyone else.
Once time hit 15 years for Mirabella, a new soul had been admitted into the circus. A medic by the name Alexandra. The Darcy brothers thought it was a good idea to bring in a doctor if they were getting more and more members. Because, even though everyone is immortal, that doesn't mean they couldn't get sick or injured. 2 years later, Faren joined them. Boy was he trouble. Mira made sure to keep her distance from him. He just reminded her too much of her father. But he became the first-stringer of the daredevils, which was fitting. 8 years after Faren, Josephine came into their family. She was the first new girl since Mira, being much easier to talk to then Eleanor. Turns out, she was the first-stringer of the animal tamers. Next was Kitlin, 7 years later, she sold her soul to Cirque de Mystique. Becoming the first-stringer of the stage performers. Lastly, the most recent member of the circus is Sadie. She was admitted into their family 49 years after Kitlin. Being the youngest, she is still kind of getting the hang of things around here. She turned out to be the first-stringer of the acrobatics.
Mirabella picked up the last box, but was slow to bring it over to the storage trailer, as she was still lost in her memories. The box had started slipping from her hands at it got more wet, but that didn't bring her back to reality. It wasn't until the box had slipped through her fingers and fallen into the mud, did she finally snap back. "Crap..." She said, under her breath, as she picked the muddy bottom box back up. When she handed the box off to the man organizing inside the trailer, her scowled at her. "Sorry." Turning to walk away, she noticed a group of first-string girls all talking. It was about noon, so they all are probably going to get something to eat. Might as well join them. Mira stopped just short from the group. She took a quick glance at the girls. Eleanor, Kitlin, Josephine, and Sadie. They were all drenched, Sadie having a little more mud on her then she probably liked. Even Mira was soaked, though she had her parasol, she needed to put it down when she helped with loading the boxes.
After hearing Sadie want a change of clothes, Mirabella looked to the rest of them. "So, after we get Sadie changed. Who's going to cook?" A small pleasant smiled formed. She's been with these girls for a pretty long time, she didn't care if she seemed rude by inviting herself to go eat with them.
Kitlin Hayes
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"You're eighty three years old. I've known you since you were fifteen, and so has Josie. Just...” Chase rolled her eyes again. “I don't mind if you sit with us, and i'm more than positive that they don't care, either. We spend every day of every week of every month of every fuckin' year together. You don't have to ask. You could've stopped asking, like, forty years ago."
Did Kit expect anything less from Chase? Not really. A small smile formed as she thought about what she was saying. After so many years, even she thought she’d have gotten over asking too. But over the years she’d had found that some members of the circus didn’t mind if she just invited herself, but others did. So erroring on the safe side was a lot easier.
Then Josie popped into the conversation. “Course you can join us, Kit. I'll cook. Won't take too long," The thought of Josie cooking really brightened the day despite the cloudiness from the rain.
"Snow's been missing you, Kit. You going to check on her before we leave for Paris?" Kit’s small smile faded and she nodded her head.
“Of course. I planed on it.” During the week it was hard to indulge in pleasures outside of practicing and performing. With them packing up it meant she wasn’t likely to be able to ride Snow due to them packing up and leaving, which is what always sucked about packing up and leaving town. She never had time to do the things she wanted. She always loved the moments to herself where she could do whatever she wanted, but not be confined to her trailer.
"Great family reunion we have going here folks. My heart is feeling warm and fuzzy, and my ass is still wet. We should take this loving moment inside now."
Kitlin laughed. She was drenched all the way through. So was Chase. They weren’t complaining. Of course they hadn’t actually fallen into the mud either. But clothes could be cleaned, dried. So could bodies. What was the big deal? She didn’t plan on changing until she had to.
"So, after we get Sadie changed. Who's going to cook?” Mirabella’s voice popped up. So she wasn’t the only one joining the group. Except she’d asked and the other girl had done exactly as Chase had told her to do.
“Josie’s cooking.” Kit replied as if it meant they were going to have something edible. No one liked it when she cooked. It always had something with potatoes in it because those were the only things she knew. In eighty three years of living she hadn’t bothered learning anything else. Maybe she should.
“Let’s get going before we get yelled at for endangering our health so we can’t perform.” She had rarely ever gotten sick even before the circus. The rain wasn’t going to change that now, but she still didn’t want to be yelled at for standing out in the rain, soaked. She doubted the other girls did either.
Honestly, she didn’t want to leave. Nor did she want to stay. Packing up and moving to another town always invoked emotions Kitlin would rather not deal with. Particularly she felt as if she were abandoning one thing to move to something better, but at the same time she knew it was because she didn’t like moving around so much. She was always either confined to her trailer, which was good and all, but she craved being outside and doing something. Her trailer just didn’t cut it after so long. Then at other times she was constantly stuck around other people, which she couldn’t stand. Moving was a lose-lose situation in her book. One she just had to make the best of – all the time.
"Dude don't say that sort of stuff. It makes my head hurt."
Chase blinked unsympathetically, smiling a somewhat feral grin. It seemed that everybody here was still getting over immortality, and mentioning it was the ultimate taboo. Chase had never bothered; even though she hadn't been alive all that long, compared to the Darcy brothers, age had quickly become meaningless. A few times, she had to catch herself, when communicating with people outside of the circus. Letting slip that you'd been around since the Civil War was problematic, if you wanted to stay outside the walls of an asylum. Chase still sometimes found herself agreeing with people who were old by mortal standards.
Note to self: When someone tells you they were alive when Kennedy was assassinated, you don't agree, and continue with, 'Yeah, I was in town the day Wilkes Booth shot Lincoln."
"Great family reunion we have going here folks. My heart is feeling warm and fuzzy, and my ass is still wet. We should take this loving moment inside now."
At Sadie's insistence, she smiled, lips twitching from disuse. The idea was sounding more and more pleasant by the second, as she risked turning her eyes to the sky. The liquid spilled over her face as she looked over to where Josie stood, her expression crooked, as she said,
"I'm with Sadie on this. Has Einstein said anything about hail?" As Chase spoke, she offered her fingers to the small, curious animal, neither looking at it directly, nor smiling any longer. In her many years of research, she had learned a great deal about body language in both humans and beasts. No matter how well trained Einstein was, he was still a wild animal, and she knew that being smaller and weighing less than a human did not in anyway mean he couldn't rip a full grown man limb from limb. Still, she wasn't too worried. Jos was good with the animals, something Chase was not. She knew what to do, and what not to do, but other than the big cats, most creatures just didn't like her. Maybe it was because she smelled of snake, or perhaps her disposition still leaked into her actions. Chances, are her emotions were too complicated, and distressed them. She'd read an article about the connection between autism and animals, and why they often got along so well. It had said something about the fact that neither were inclined to associate more than one response to a situation or object. Good things were good, bad things were bad. It was why pets were so loyal.
Pulling away from her thoughts rather violently, she turned noticing Mirabella, but said nothing. She was one of the older performers, but she'd avoided Chase from the start. Probably because she was a giant asshole. Still, she hadn't really spent any time with Thomas, so maybe people just weren't her thing. Chase wouldn't be surprised; having an abusive father was probably a real turn off to the entire human race.
“Let’s get going before we get yelled at for endangering our health so we can’t perform.”
Looking around at the group of, people she gestured with her head towards the kitchen, not waiting to see if the others followed. Talking about getting out of the rain wasn't very productive if not combined with action.
“Of course. I planned on it.” Kit answered Josie's question with a small frown.
Josephine smiled warmly at the younger girl, "We'll make sure you get some riding time in Paris."
"Dude don't say that sort of stuff. It makes my head hurt. Great family reunion we have going here folks. My heart is feeling warm and fuzzy, and my ass is still wet. We should take this loving moment inside now."
Josie giggled a both of Sadie's statements. They really should have been moving inside. After all, she was the only even remotely dry, and that was only because she realized there was a storm coming. She wasn't lying when she said to trust the animals. They had much more instinct than the average human.
"I'm with Sadie on this. Has Einstein said anything about hail?" Chase asked reaching for the small monkey carefully. A little too cautiously, if you asked Josie. Einstein didn't like sudden movement, but he didn't like overly cautious people either. He was pretty smart for a monkey. Why else would she name him Einstein?
"No, otherwise the animals would also be a bit more cautious," she said with a small laugh and a smile as Einstein avoided Chase's fingers and curled himself around the umbrella.
"So, after we get Sadie changed. Who's going to cook?" Mirabella approached the group, her own parasol in hand.
“Josie’s cooking,” Kit replied with an almost relieved tone. She knew that the Irish girl didn't know how to make much of anything without potatoes in it, which Josie didn't exactly consider a bad thing. Some of her favorite dishes were Irish and she loved potatoes, but she knew not everyone had the same preferences.
Growing up during the Great Depression had made Josie very good at turning almost nothing into something delicious. She could make almost any meal you could think of and after all these years still had dishes she hadn't tried cooking. In her mind, she contemplated what to make. She knew there were some things they had all had a million times: spaghetti, beef stew, etc. She thought of trying something a bit more modern. "Let's go to my trailer," Josephine suggested and began walking toward the car.
Unlike most of the other cars, Josie's was very... homey. Truth be told, the trailer was about the same size as the apartment she had shared with her father, oh so many years ago. It had a small table and chairs set, a couch, and a door that led to her bedroom and bathroom. The entire area had cost her four years worth of allowance, but she found that it was worth it. She was immortal. Comfort was everything to her. Of course, despite the front area being a perfect display of cleanliness, she knew her bedroom was far from tidy.
Without a second though, Josie turned on the heater disguised as a woodstove, and closed her umbrella. Gotta go shopping in Paris... she thought to herself before looking at the other girls who were still by the door, "Take off your shoes and make yourselves comfortable while I get some dry clothes for you all."
At first, he was relieved. The voices he'd originally heard were a ways off, and slowly, he'd begun to think that he might actually survive this experience. Like, intact. Which was a nice thought, really. He'd really like to get out of this intact.
At some point, the rain had gotten progressively worse, which made him feel a little less ridiculous about skulking under some circus performers bed, surrounded by a legion of dust bunnies and forgotten knick knacks. Just a little.
Hey, maybe this wouldn't be as bad as he'd thought. Maybe the performers would do whatever the fuck performers do after the circus, and by the time they got back to their trailers, he'd be long gone.
Of course, this train of thought was rudely interrupted by the sound of all Greyson's recent hopes and dreams falling apart into minuscule particles, and silently stumbling out of the now open trailer door. His mind went blank for a moment, before taking up a simple, terrifying montage of 'fuckfuckfuckohfuckingshitgoddamnitfuck'. The chant of cuss words continued to play in his head, accompanied by the unfortunate side effect of forgetting how to breath. He knew it involved inhaling, but he was still having trouble with the second part of the equation.
Something about breathing out.
From where he was, he couldn't see the performers face, but the chill of the open door was almost enough to make him squeak. God damn he was cold. He was wearing a jacket, but it was ragged and covered with more holes than a sponge and like two sizes two small so yeah, not helping. At least he wasn't totally soaked.
Like the performer. Who was very wet, very muddy, and had very nice legs. Yeah, wow, okay. Not the time to stop and stare. Especially since he was supposed to be focusing on not breathing, which was getting progressively harder.
Greyson was slightly less likely to have a heart attack now that the door was closed, the performer hadn't noticed any of the things he may or may not have knocked over in his scramble to hide, and his heart beat wasn't doing triple time. He tried to convince himself that he wasn't being creepy, it wasn't like this was a thing he did, hiding under teenage girls beds while they undressed, he just didn't exactly have somewhere else to go. He'd just have to wait it out.
Which, as it happens, wasn't an especially long or grueling process. This was good, as between trying to hold his breath, and than struggling not to gasp in air, he was feeling kinda light headed, and he really didn't want to pass out here cuz' wow, that would be bad.
Like, even more bad than hiding under a teenage girls bed awake.
He waited to move until the performer had disappeared out the door, and he didn't relax until ten or so minutes had passed without her returning.
He knew he should leave. That was a close one. That was a really close one. That was so close, he wasn't sure he'd be able to differentiate with a compound microscope between the two. That was fucking terrifying.
But Greyson was not hiding beneath a teenage girls bed, 700 or so miles from his family and house, because he was a conventional, or rational person. So when he saw his chance to leave, he didn't take it and run like hell. The rain was coming down in cats and dogs, and the roof above his head pounded like a drum, but when he slipped from where he crouched upon the floor, the air was quiet, the storm raging on around him forgotten in the midst of intrigue.
He always knew that curiosity would be the end of him.
So he stayed.
ღ Mirabella Grace Hallowell ღ
"People can live a hundred years without really living for a moment"
"People can live a hundred years without really living for a moment"
Mirabella went with the three girls, heading over to Josie's trailer so they could swap their soaking wet clothes for dry ones. She hadn't realized that Chase wasn't following after them, until they reached Josie's trailer. They got to the trailer rather quickly as it wasn't that far from where they were standing. Upon entering Josie's trailer, she told them, "Take off your shoes and make yourselves comfortable while I get some dry clothes for you all." In which Mira was about to take her boots off, when she realized she had already changed once today and didn't feel like changing again.
"You know what guys, I don't really want to change. If anything, I'll go back to my own trailer and get some clothes. But thank you for your hospitality Josie." Mirabella smiled, placing her hand on the door knob. "I'll see you guys in the kitchen tent." With that being side, she left the trailer. Opening her parasol, she walked over the the kitchen tent. Inside were just a bunch of folding table and chairs placed all over. Also, in between the sets of tables were heater tubes and there were three mobile kitchens that everyone was able to use. Each filled with all kinds of food and kitchen supplies.
Mirabella closed her parasol back up once she entered the tent. There seemed to be piles of dry towels near the opening of the tent. Guess the brothers, or Alexandra, thought that everyone would get soaked. She took two towels from the pile. One to wrap her hair in and the other to wrap around herself in attempt to dry her clothes off. Looking around, she spotted Chase sitting at one of the tables. "Oh hey, Chase!" Mira called out, hurrying over to the other girl. "I was wondering where you went off to." She smiled, taking a seat next to her, making sure she was seated right next to the one of the heater tubes. "The other girls went to Josie's trailer to change, so they'll be here soon enough." Mira told Chase, as she started to feel a lot warmer now that she was by heater. "Meaning, we'll have to wait a bit longer until we eat. Since Josie offered to cook for us." She thought about just going to making something, but that would be rude to Josie.
"You know what guys, I don't really want to change. If anything, I'll go back to my own trailer and get some clothes. But thank you for your hospitality Josie." Mirabella smiled, placing her hand on the door knob. "I'll see you guys in the kitchen tent." With that being side, she left the trailer. Opening her parasol, she walked over the the kitchen tent. Inside were just a bunch of folding table and chairs placed all over. Also, in between the sets of tables were heater tubes and there were three mobile kitchens that everyone was able to use. Each filled with all kinds of food and kitchen supplies.
Mirabella closed her parasol back up once she entered the tent. There seemed to be piles of dry towels near the opening of the tent. Guess the brothers, or Alexandra, thought that everyone would get soaked. She took two towels from the pile. One to wrap her hair in and the other to wrap around herself in attempt to dry her clothes off. Looking around, she spotted Chase sitting at one of the tables. "Oh hey, Chase!" Mira called out, hurrying over to the other girl. "I was wondering where you went off to." She smiled, taking a seat next to her, making sure she was seated right next to the one of the heater tubes. "The other girls went to Josie's trailer to change, so they'll be here soon enough." Mira told Chase, as she started to feel a lot warmer now that she was by heater. "Meaning, we'll have to wait a bit longer until we eat. Since Josie offered to cook for us." She thought about just going to making something, but that would be rude to Josie.
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View All » Add Character » 13 Characters to follow in this universe
Newest
Greyson Anthony Carter
"The guy bugs me. Just look at his face.."
Eleanor Chase Fitzgerald
"I'm not saying you should respect me, I'm saying you will respect me, or I will shoot you in the goddamn testicles."
Thomas Lee
"..."
Kitlin Abigail Hayes
"You have to live the little moments. Otherwise, you miss the big picture."
Alexandra Jane O'Connor
NPC (Major WIP)
James Elliot Darcy
NPC (Major WIP)
William Issac Darcy
NPC (Major WIP)
Josephine Layton
"I'm exactly where I want to be."
Mirabella Grace Hallowell
"You don't have to live forever, you just have to live."
Trending
Greyson Anthony Carter
"The guy bugs me. Just look at his face.."
Alexandra Jane O'Connor
NPC (Major WIP)
Kitlin Abigail Hayes
"You have to live the little moments. Otherwise, you miss the big picture."
James Elliot Darcy
NPC (Major WIP)
Thomas Lee
"..."
William Issac Darcy
NPC (Major WIP)
Josephine Layton
"I'm exactly where I want to be."
Eleanor Chase Fitzgerald
"I'm not saying you should respect me, I'm saying you will respect me, or I will shoot you in the goddamn testicles."
Mirabella Grace Hallowell
"You don't have to live forever, you just have to live."
Most Followed
Mirabella Grace Hallowell
"You don't have to live forever, you just have to live."
James Elliot Darcy
NPC (Major WIP)
Alexandra Jane O'Connor
NPC (Major WIP)
William Issac Darcy
NPC (Major WIP)
Greyson Anthony Carter
"The guy bugs me. Just look at his face.."
Eleanor Chase Fitzgerald
"I'm not saying you should respect me, I'm saying you will respect me, or I will shoot you in the goddamn testicles."
Kitlin Abigail Hayes
"You have to live the little moments. Otherwise, you miss the big picture."
Josephine Layton
"I'm exactly where I want to be."
Thomas Lee
"..."
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Roles!!!
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Roles!!!
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Cirque du Mystique
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Personal and General Time Lines
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NPC and Other Character Collab
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