In July of 2013, a call went out for submissions to a new anthology based on Clive Barker's Cabal (Nightbreed). Of the thousands of submission, only a few were chosen to be included. This was my submission. And while it did not make the cut, here is what the editors had to say about it;"[When}I finished it felt like I had read an introduction to a much bigger work (Cabal 2?)."
This story contains mature language and subject matter so if you are squeamish, it may not be for you. It is after all, written in a world created by the master of horror, Clive Barker.
image source: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0100260/
Side Show Part One
Some are born, some are made, but all are Nightbreed.
The caravan pulled into the campground stirring up a cloud of flies and dust in the midsummer heat. Seven rusty, beat up fifth wheel trailers attached to seven equally rusty and beat up old trucks. They formed a semi-circle around the one, shiny new RV in the lead. Three on each side like a crescent moon. The seventh held it's self back and parked a little to the side as gate keeper, and if such was needed, an early warning and last defense.
What piled out of the trucks and trailers could only be called a hodge-podge of the dregs of society. If you didn't look too close, they looked like your typical gypsies. Clothes worn thin, stained or torn in a few places, shoes barely covering their feet. Some seemed drunk in the glare of the afternoon sun. Others stumbled about their work squinting against sun tears streaming down their faces.
But, for those with the eyes to see, they were more than a rag tag band of carnies and freaks. For those with the Gift of true sight they could be seen for the wondrous and monstrous creatures they were. They were Nightbreed. They were the monsters that haunted the "Naturals" dreams and nightmares.
Their home had been destroyed in fire and blood by ignorance and fear. They had nowhere else to go, so they followed each other, in the stolen trucks and trailers of the same destroyers who butchered their friends and family. Midian was gone. It was nothing more than a pile of rubble and bones. They hadn't even had time to properly bury their dead.
Their God Baphomet and the Savior Cabal were nowhere to be found, and their leader lay dead with the rest of their brethren. The only semblance of order among them was kept by the old fortune teller. She had no name, or if she did nobody knew it. She was as old as time some said, and could see everything. The past, the future, into your deepest heart and even into those things that rattled around in most Naturals heads that passed for brains.
The door of the RV swung open and a barrel chested mountain of a man stepped down the metal stairs that groaned under his weight. His hair was a short grizzled mess above a high forehead and piercing hazel eyes. He wore the cast off leather jacket of a dead natural over a torn and faded cotton t-shirt and equally faded blue jeans. He pawed the dirt a few times with one booted foot as if to check it's solidity before calling up into the dim interior of the RV, "It's alright Grandmother." A gruff "hrmphff" was all the answer he got. And really, it was all the answer he expected.
The walking wall turned away from the open door and fixed his attention on the others as they went about their routine. And it was routine by now. After nearly a year on the road everyone knew their jobs. It left him without much to do. He pulled a pocket knife from his jacket and picked up a fallen branch from the low hanging oak above his head. He pressed the knife against the wood and began cleaning it in sharp, smooth strokes. He always loved the way the bark peeled back, like skin from flesh. It made him think of the days when he could hunt without distraction. Back before the naturals forgot their place and over ran the primal forests with their towns and filth.
He gripped the knife handle a little tighter and thought of how different the world was back then. When the naturals huddled around their crude little fires and feared to leave the silly circle of light. Their fire hardened spears across their laps in readiness should his kind decide that tonight was the night they were hungry. He missed the call of the pack on the wind and the nights of no moon when they were the only predator who could see in the pitch dark. The only nights when they could hunt the naturals without fear of their spears finding them.
The gentle rock of the RV broke his daydreams of blood and pack warmth. It meant it was near dusk and Grandmother would be getting ready for opening night. He always loved the first night in any new town. The uncertainty and scent of fear that hung around the first few naturals that let their curiosity get the better of them was almost as good as the Hunt. Almost.
The tent was nearly raised and Dani had begun laying out the strings of lights that would run between the tent and the tops of the trailers like the tentacles of some great beast. He didn't envy the campground when they got the light bill.
He followed her movements with his eyes. Her dancer's body was lean and he could see every tight muscle rippling beneath her pale skin. He didn't know whether he wanted to fuck her or eat her. Maybe both if he got the chance. But he'd have to get her away from that cursed redneck Peloquin if he stood any chance in hell of either.
He closed the knife and tucked it and the now smooth branch in the inside pocket of his jacket and swung back up into the gloom of the RV. Another night, another few dollars, another chance to find whatever it was Grandmother was looking for.
The cursed redneck in question was standing on the far end of the curve, staring at Dani's ass and wishing the night's work was done. He had plans for her. And they didn't involve that mangy cur Stephan. He'd seen the mutt looking. Well, maybe he could have what was left of her when he was done. He watched Dani swing up on to the top of the trailer next to him. Her tight ass and long legs flashed from beneath the short skirt she had on. Did she ever wear panties? No, there wasn't going to be anything left. That ass was his. He growled and pushed away from the trailer. It was almost show time and near time for those like him who couldn't hide their 'breedness beneath loose clothes or make up to go to work. Somebody had to play the freak in this three ring circus.
He just hoped the old lady found what they were looking for soon. He was tired of playing the animal in a cage. He wanted meat dammit! And one of these nights that fake cage wasn't going to hold him anymore. With steel bars being all that separated him from all that fresh, still breathing meat every night, it was all he could do not to rip every one of those walking cheeseburgers to shreds and damn the old lady's vision for it.
Twilight came and Dani plugged in the strings of lights to the box behind the lead trailer. The clearing lit up like Christmas. This was always the part she liked best. For just a minute, she could pretend that things were almost normal. It made her feel like her dad was still here. He was the biggest, strongest man she'd ever known. Growing up in the carny world, she'd met a lot of strong men. She'd even fucked a few when she got old enough. But none of them were as strong as her dad.
He was gone now. Buried in the rubble of Midian along with her step-mother and baby brother. They'd only been visiting her step-mother. She refused to leave Midian and join them on the road. No matter how many times her dad had begged her over the years. She said she was tired. She'd seen too many of her children taken from her, or killed by too many naturals. Lylesberg allowed her to stay in Midian, as long as she promised not to have any more half Breeds. But she'd gone against him and had one more. Dani's baby brother.
Lylesberg had tried to take the baby from her step-mom. He said Joseph went against the Law. It didn't matter how much arguing mom and dad did with him. It wasn't allowed. Baphomet's rules. She guessed it was for good reason. Most naturals wouldn't have let him live either. But she'd fallen head over heels for little Joey, and had she been given the chance, she'd have taken him to raise herself. But nobody asked her. Now they were all dead.
A sharp pain stabbed through her and she paused in climbing back up to double check the tie down on the last string of lights. Images of her father's broken body laying over her step-mom and tiny Joey in the smoke choked rubble of Midian flashed across her mind. She closed her eyes as a wave of nauseating hate flooded through her. Someday the naturals would pay for what they did to her family.
Dani might not be Breed, but she understood them more than most naturals ever would. She felt safer with the Nightbreed then she ever felt around humans. At least she knew where she stood with them. Some hated her for being natural, and she was fine with that. Some tolerated her for the sake of her step-mother's memory. And some, like Peloquin, she could read a mile away. That was why she liked Pel so much. She never had to guess what he was thinking about. For somebody who was so tough, he was an open book.
She looked up from the last light string and caught him staring at her from the back of his trailer. He just stood there, trying to look like he wasn't looking at her. But she knew, she always knew he was watching her. She shivered in anticipation. She couldn't wait for the night's work to be done so they could be alone. Pel did things to her that nobody else ever had. And no strong man, Natural or Breed, had ever made her feel like he could.
She turned around to climb down the ladder at the back of the old airstream trailer and caught another pair of eyes on her. It was Stephan. She shivered again, but it was in revulsion. There was something wrong with Stephan's eyes. The light in them was too feral. She was never sure, but sometimes when he looked at her she felt like a piece of meat at the butcher shop. It turned her stomach. She hopped down the last two rungs of the ladder and ducked inside the trailer to get ready for the night's performance.
Darkness finally fell. The lights lit up the little clearing in the middle of nowhere. The players in this little freak show took their places and waited. They never did any advertising, but somehow the naturals found them anyway.
It wasn't long before the lights and dust could be seen coming down the dirt road. A trickle at best, but it was enough. As long as they had money it would be enough.
Daryl, the one who could almost pass for human, had set up a table in front of the lead trailer. Five dollars got you a seat in the big tent for the main show. The usual carny circus, clowns, acrobats, and Dani doing her fire dancing. Twenty got you into the real show behind the tent. That was where Peloquin and the others were. Chained in steel bar cages that wouldn't hold a rabid dog if tested, but they put on a good show.
There were the requisite freaks, the bearded lady, strong man, human knot, and others. But Peloquin was the star of the side show. "The Amazing Lizard Man". He never knew whether to laugh or be pissed as hell at Grandmother for giving him that stage name. Still, it was better than what the mutt had to put up with. Somehow Pel didn't think he appreciated being called a rabid wolf boy. He found it fucking hilarious though.
Grandmother had a small side tent set up on the end of the row of cages. She told fortunes for donations only. Never a fee, it wasn't proper to ask for a set fee. Yet some nights, they made more money from her donations, than both shows put together. It always amazed them all how much naturals were willing to pay for a glimpse of their future.
Tonight was a good night, Grandmother thought as she sat in her high backed chair and sipped her tea. It just might be the night they found what they were looking for. She could feel it coming down in her old bones. She didn't have the heart to tell the others what it was. Especially Stephan. He would go over the edge without her there to rein him in. Still, maybe it would be good for him to learn a little self-control. She wouldn't be around forever.
A faint ripple in the air around her made her sigh. She gently put her tea cup back on it's saucer and picked up the old tarot deck. The deck had been her mother's though nobody would believe that she'd had one. It was so long ago, that she wondered sometimes too. So, tonight was the night. Well, so be it. Who was she to fight fate? She glanced at the old burl wood box that rested next to her cup. She would miss it, and all of her friends, but she looked forward to what would come next. She didn't know what it would be, but the thought of something new after all these years made her almost as giddy as that chit Dani when Pel got within ten feet of her.
The tall blond paid the redneck at the first trailer for herself and her three girlfriends. It had been Haley's idea to come out here and for the life of her, Annie couldn't understand why. She'd never been one to go for these kinds of things. Haley and Sammy and Lisa had practically had to drag her into the car when they'd clocked out that afternoon. It was a thirty minute drive from town to the campground. She hadn't been all the way out here since she was a kid. It didn't look any different. Except for the trailers and lights. And the carnies and freaks of course.
Sammy flipped her long brown hair and grabbed Annie by the hand. "Come on Annie, it'll be fun." She half dragged Annie toward the big tent. The others followed close, laughing at Sammy's childlike eagerness. She had way too much energy for someone twenty five years old.
The flap of the tent billowed in the evening breeze. Annie could see the show was just starting. She could make out several clowns of all sizes running around the dirt floor of the tent. In and out of the crowd and generally making asses of themselves as they were supposed to. Clowns had never been her thing. She pulled back on Sammy's grip and dug in her heels. The breeze caught her attention and she followed it's direction with a quick turn of her head. The little beat up tent behind the big one caught her eye. She turned to Lisa who stood curling her copper curls between two fingers and crushing a cigarette out in the dirt with one stiletto clad foot. "You guys go on in. I'll be there in a minute."
Sammy dropped her wrist and shrugged, “suit yourself". She flipped her chestnut tresses again and ducked under the open flap. Haley followed Sammy while Lisa hung back. "You sure Annie?"
"Yeah, I'll be fine. You know I don't like clowns." She tried a halfhearted smile. She'd never tell anybody why she hated clowns. She heard other people say they were afraid of clowns. She wasn't afraid, she hated them. Lisa raised her shoulders and dropped them in a "whatever" way and headed into the big tent.
Annie turned back to the little tent. There was a small, gray haired woman standing in front of the tent. She raised a hand and waved to Annie like they were old friends. Then she raised the flap and went inside. Annie could see the warm glow of candles from where she stood. It took her all of a heartbeat to make the decision between pretending to like the clowns, or finding out who the old woman was. She covered the ten paces to the tent in a couple of breathes and ducked under the flap.
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To be continued....
This "short" story is actually well over 7,000 words so I am breaking it up into 3 parts. This is the unabridged version, not the one I was forced to submit for the anthology, which was much shorter and I felt left many crucial details out of my story for the sake of word count.
***This story is based on the world created by Clive Barker in Cabal and the movie, Nightbreed. That world and his characters remain his exclusive copyright, all other material in this story is mine, and as such remains copyright Tabz Jones all rights reserved. This work may not be duplicated in anyway without express written permission from me. ***
I welcome feedback and constructive criticism as always. I will post the next installment soon, that is if y'all want it. Let me know in the comments =D
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as always, be nice to each other♥
~Tabz
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