Authors: Kailin Gow
Kama,
Liam, and Torrid’s story continues in Volume 4 of Desire.
Frenzy
(Volume 4, Desire)
December
2012
Sneak Peek at Kailin Gow’s
Newest Dystopian:
Circus Summer
Circus of Curiosities #1
Releases July 2, 2012
Prologue
D
r. Dex Hightower stood on the sand in the
middle of the circus ring, milking the applause from the audience as it rose to
a crescendo behind the hard plastic barriers. The tiny town of Bent Roads had
plenty of people, it seemed, who wanted to see what his Circus of Curiosities
had to offer. In a world with so little else, full of war and the struggle just
to survive, could he blame them? Dex’s mouth quirked in a smile. He could see
them staring down at him in anticipation, but he kept them waiting.
He
knew what they would see. A man in his late thirties, tall and powerful enough
to command their attention as he stood there, his dark hair spilling down the
back of his long leather coat. The silver buckles and studs on it shone in the
big top lights with every movement he made, catching and dazzling, as bright as
the green of his eyes. His shirt was a deep red, the color of blood, while he
wore pants of tight fitting black, with high boots that were as much about
practicality as showmanship. Dex spread his arms as the applause built.
“Hello,
Bent Roads!” His voice carried easily throughout the tent. “These past five
days, you’ve seen wonders!”
They’d
seen the genetic monsters spewed from the broken labs.
“You’ve
seen strife!”
They’d
seen their own children fighting and occasionally dying.
“You’ve
seen the full gamut of things our broken world has to offer!”
Which
wasn’t much. Dex paused again. That was the key to being a ringmaster.
Not
giving
people what they wanted. At least not until they begged for it.
“So
are you ready for what we have for you tonight?”
That
got a roar that was almost deafening, and Dex whirled for a moment with his
arms outstretched, drinking it all in. Despite everything, even down to the
hate he felt for them for letting him do what he did,
this
moment was
always good.
“If
you’re ready, then I’d like to present to you a performer you all know very
well! Already, she has fought alongside other performers from your lovely town!
She has fought against them too, and she has won!” Dex very carefully didn’t
mention what had happened to the losers. The audience had seen it. It didn’t
need reminding. The people there were too busy cheering to need reminding.
“Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, I give you… Prima Thornsby!”
Spotlights
focused on the far side of the circus arena, on an ornate entrance that looked
like it was the kind of marble and gold doorway a Roman emperor might have
stepped through. The fact that it was really a mixture of painted plastic and
iron didn’t matter. It was what people
thought
that mattered.
The
girl who stepped out through that entrance was sixteen, her red hair tied back
into a ponytail, the glittering leotard she wore clinging to her to show off a
gymnastic figure. The costumers and makeup artists had obviously been hard at
work, because as well as the leotard, she wore silver gloves and boots, and her
face had streaks of all the colors of the rainbow painted on. Just one more
hint of show among the rest of it. She walked out with confident strides. She
had every right to them. She’d done well so far.
“As
you know,” Dex continued. “Prima here has come through almost all our
challenges for her. Now we have just one more before she can move up to our
national level of performance. Would you like to see what it is?”
The
crowd roared its approval. Dex turned to Prima, who nodded her readiness. Brave
girl. At a signal from Dex, assistants came forward dressed in a harlequin
patchwork, pieced together from scraps. They held a selection of weapons and
protective items. The girl chose a long, clear plastic sword sharpened to a
razor edge, along with a round shield of toughened glass. When she’d done that,
the assistants retreated while more wheeled in a large crate. Dex moved to the
side of the arena, behind the barriers protecting the audience.
“Ladies
and gentlemen of the audience! Prima! I give you… the hydra!”
The
side of the crate fell open, and a shape slunk from within. It was reptilian,
far larger than the girl before it, walking on six scaled legs, with nine necks
rising sinuously from its bulky body like snakes. The heads at the ends of
those necks were snakelike as well, and as Dex watched, one opened its mouth to
reveal vicious fangs.
He
heard the audience’s collective gasp. He saw Prima flinch, half glancing at him
to check whether it was real. It was. So very real. It and many more creatures
like it, thanks to the labs. The creature seemed to sense the girl’s
hesitation, because two of its heads struck out, snake fast.
Prima
reacted quickly, Dex had to admit that. She got her shield up to block one of
the heads, venom dripping down it to the tent’s sandy floor. Her sword lashed
out, slicing through the neck of the second, sending the head flying. She
stepped back, as though expecting the hydra to fall to the floor dead. Dex
shook his head at that. One head wouldn’t do it. Another minute or two, and it
wouldn’t even be injured. One of the gifts this one had was regeneration on a
scale barely comprehensible.
Still,
she’d gotten one head. Maybe the others would follow. Dex had high hopes for Prima.
She had obvious talent. The only question was whether it was the level of
talent they needed…
Prima
spun as the hydra struck again, slamming one of its heads aside, then darting
away as the creature lunged after her. She moved like an acrobat; so fast, so
graceful. She dodged another strike, bringing around her sword in a simple arc
to lop off another of the Hydra’s heads. The creature momentarily reared back
in pain, and Dex dared to believe…
Three
more of its heads flashed forward at once. Prima blocked one with her shield,
and managed to get her sword in the way of another, but the third grazed her
side with its fangs. She cried out, obviously holding onto her sword with an
effort, and lowering her shield just enough. More heads snapped past her
defenses, biting her again and again. She shrieked in sudden pain. Dex wished
he could do something for her, but it was too late now. With the way the circus
worked, it had been too late the moment she decided to sign up.
Prima
fell back, scrambling away from the hydra on her back. The creature let her do
it, as though knowing what came next. Out on the sand, the girl started to
shake, and the shaking became convulsions, the massive amounts of venom in her
body pumping through it with every heartbeat. Dex watched her there, not
because he enjoyed it-not because he enjoyed
any
of it-but because he
knew he should. In just a couple of minutes, she was still, her silver costume
looking far less vibrant while she sprawled lifeless on the sand.
The
crowd started to boo.
Dex
made a small signal, and his assistants did their job. A few moved in with
tranquilizers to bring the Hydra under control and get it back into the crate.
Two of the others, the ones who had brought the weapons, lifted Prima’s body
and took it away.
The
crowd was still railing against what had happened, some pressing against the
plastic walls as they yelled their displeasure. It was always like this. Dex
moved out into the center of the circus ring, standing absolutely still as he
waited for silence. He got it. His presence wasn’t the kind of thing people
could ignore, even if their hometown girl had failed.
He’d
failed too, of course. He’d been so certain about Prima. He’d had such high
hopes for her. It seemed now those hopes had been unfounded, the way they so
often were. Another young performer dead in the dust. Another wasted talent.
Dex shrugged, forcing himself not to think about it. In this world, people died
every day, and even the hydra was better than some of the things the war did to
people.
“Ladies
and Gentlemen,” he said at last. “It seems that our entertainment for this
evening is at an end.”
That
got another round of boos. Strange that they’d boo because more of their young
people weren’t being killed, but Dex knew as well as anyone what people could
be like. By tomorrow, they would probably deny that they had done it. They
would probably blame him for the whole thing, until the next time the circus
came to town.
“Don’t
worry, don’t worry!” Dex announced. “The show will go on!” He paused for just a
second to let them think about whether they wanted that. “Just not in Bent
Roads. Your town has provided some very skillful and brave young performers,
but we have exhausted their talents now, and none of them remain, so it is time
for us to move on. I hope you will join us when we are next in town.”
He
walked away through the circus, heading out through the door Prima had come
through, pausing just long enough to take a theatrical bow. Behind the scenes,
things were a lot less spectacular. There were wires and the remnants of
machines, circus hands working hard to get ready for the finish of the show and
to deal with its aftermath. The ones dealing with Prima Thornton’s body were
gone, and the hydra’s crate was out of sight.
Another
town. Another failure. That had happened so many times. Some days, it made it
hard to remember why they kept going. Dex turned to one of his assistants, a
woman in a costume of feathers and leather scraps.
“Another
failure Tia.”
She
shrugged. “The crowd got their entertainment. We made money. What more do you
want, Dex?”
A
lot more than that, but it wasn’t something to talk about.
“Maybe
things will go better in the next place,” Tia tried.
“I
suppose the show
does
go on,” Dex said, trying to sound upbeat.
“The
show goes on,” Tia echoed, with the kind of fervor everyone had in the circus
for that mantra.
The
show went on. The show
always
went on. What else was there? And who
knew, maybe there would be someone better than Prima Thornsby. Dex shook his
head, putting her from his mind. He didn’t focus on the ones who had failed.
There were far too many of them to think about.
“Get
ready to leave soon,” Dex instructed, even though he needn’t have bothered.
Everyone in the circus knew not to outstay their welcome. “There’s nothing else
for us here. It’s time to move on.”
“Yes,
boss.”
“And
Tia,” Dex said with his trademark smile, “remind me, which tiny town are we
dragging ourselves over to next?”
“You
were talking about Sea Cliff, weren’t you?”
Dex
nodded. Sea Cliff could work. Maybe they’d find what they needed, and maybe
not, but either way Tia was right. They’d make some money and entertain the
crowd. Maybe that was enough. The show had to go on, after all.
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