Freak Show (standard:horror, 918 words)
Author: MJ Dayton	Added: Jul 20 2009	Views/Reads: 3429/0	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
Mutant children are being born to the carnival's staff.

Suspicion lingered in her mind and festered in her soul.  Was her first
child just an abomination of God's intent or were other forces at play? 
 Maria Zavala had spent sleepless nights considering this.  Zach was 
born five years earlier and his deformities were severe, although it 
was his third eye that earned him a place in the carnival freak show.  
The fact that one leg formed only to the knee was mundane and not of 
interest in Madam Zavala's circles. 

Initially resolved to the cruelty of a God supposed to bestow love, she
accepted Zach's deformities as punishment for her sins.  Not anymore.  
Her son was one of the carnival's freaks, and he wasn't alone.  Three 
eyes, extra arms, excess hair or bones, they all qualified for the 
freak show.  Occurrences such as this were supposed to be rare, but 
within the confines of The Brothers Grimm Sideshow, they seemed to be 
occurring with an alarming frequency.  She wasn't sure of the exact 
cause but she knew who was behind it all. 

Pretty little Tracy with her blonde hair and round blue eyes had joined
the carnival as a nurse shortly before Maria learned she was pregnant 
with Zach.  Ken Harck, the carnival's owner and operator seemed to be 
especially fond of Tracy and Maria had learned that he paid her more 
than any of the carnival's other employees.  Since Tracy had joined, 
there had been seven freaks born into the carnival.  She had no proof, 
but knew in her heart that Tracy was somehow behind these tragedies.  
Was it something in the food, the vitamins, the water?  Maria didn't 
know but somehow the carnival's freak show was being given a steady 
supply of stars from its own staff. 

Zach had been the first and Maria's heart had broken when she saw her
son for the first time.  She told fortunes for the marks that came to 
hear what life had in store for them.  If only she could really predict 
the future, she would have known to flee this God-forsaken pit of evil 
before the damage had been done.  But she and Zach were now both part 
of the carnival's lifers.  Others had stayed as well.  Only Shila had 
taken her mutant and disappeared from this life of oddities and scams.  
The rest, like Maria, had accepted the meager earnings offered to have 
their children become one of Grimm's freaks on display.  She hated 
herself for it but saw no way out.  Where would they go?  Zach was 
certain to be rejected by normal society, and Maria had no skills she 
could leverage to support the two of them outside of the carnival.  It 
was the only life she knew. 

Then it happened again.  Katherine took care of Grimm's animals.  She
cleaned the cages, and fed and groomed them.  She had hooked up with a 
carnie who had passed through in Baltimore and found herself knocked up 
shortly thereafter.  He never knew he had fathered a child but it was 
just as well; the child was born with two heads.  The mutant didn't 
survive even a week, but was still there, proudly displayed in a jar of 
formaldehyde. 

Of the twelve births to Grimm's permanent staff, only five had been
normal.  Tracy had overseen the care of all of them.  Maria didn't know 
how Tracy chose whose children to deform, or how she did it, but she 
knew she was behind the birth defects.  Tracy came on board a few 
months after the show had suffered a tragic loss of most of their 
freaks when a fire had ripped through the tent.  Harck had bemoaned the 
loss, not because he cared about the humans whose sad lives were cut 
short, but because he didn't have enough freaks left to entice the 
crowds and line his pockets.  Enter Tracy, and the supply began to 
grow.  Martin, with his lobster claws, Otis the frog boy, and Shannon 
with her pretty curls but an unfortunate tail were among Zach's peers 
and playmates.  The carnival had never had any medical personnel before 
Tracy and they had been better for it. 

Maria's fury had grown and finally busted loose two weeks ago.  Forced
to endure one of Harck's required annual physicals, Maria hissed her 
accusations to the attending Tracy.  Tracy hadn't denied the 
accusations or admitted to any wrong doing but had merely replied “Good 
luck proving that”.  Maria had lunged at Tracy but was pulled off of 
her by the bouncers brought running by Tracy's screams before she could 
inflict much damage.  Along with the reprimand, Harck threatened to cut 
her salary if there were any more outbursts. 

And now as the rain began to echo off Madame Zarvala's House of Fortune,
Maria's mood darkened with the sky.  She stood watching as carnies and 
customers alike ran for shelter from the storm that was gathering 
strength and a fury equal to Maria's.  She stepped back inside to avoid 
the splatters that would cause her heavy make-up to run and streak.  
Moments later, a wind gust blew the flap open and in with it came her 
nemesis, smiling and clutching a mottled cone of cotton candy. 

“It's you!” ,Maria screamed, “You wicked wench!  How dare you set foot
in my tent!  Out!  Get out now!” 

“Oh Maria,” Tracy crooned, “don't be so touchy.  I merely came by to
congratulate you.” 

“What are you talking about?” 

“Your physical.” Tracy replied.  “Your blood work came back.  You're
going to be a mommy again.” 


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