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From far back in the crowd, Matthew watched the performance intently, his eyes narrow and judgmental as everyone on stage executed their choreography. Low music played all around the room, attempting to create an experience for the audience. Lights illuminated the stage well enough for Matthew to make out his son on the stretcher carried by identical freak twins. When they stopped and flipped him off of it, Rowan stumbled to his feet.
That was the third time this night he's fallen, Matthew thought, his lip curling in embarrassment and anger. Rowan remembered and followed his choreography as well as he could, it was just his balance he seemed to have trouble with this time. Irregardless, his father couldn't fixate on anything but Rowan's shortcomings.
Now, Rowan twirled his cane and shuffled his feet towards the middle of the ring, where Seren was lowering from a hoop chained to the ceiling, of which she spun around moments earlier. Once he was close enough, Seren had planted her feet on the stage, and he reached out to slide his hand along her back before gripping her hand and twirling her in a circle. Seren's hair swayed gloriously, her brown hue shining underneath the stage lights as Rowan spun her around.
Matthew gritted his teeth behind tight, pursed lips. Whether that was a part of their choreography or not wasn't a concern to him, as he growled low enough to be drowned out by the music. Why's he getting so close with the freak? His dark menacing eyes glimmered underneath the brim of his hat. Seren glanced at Matthew, but was bent backwards as Rowan threw her back into motion.
The end of the performance wasn't too long after, the music descending and slowing as the freaks took their individual turns scurrying off the stage. Rowan bid the audience good night with a bow and lifting his hat off of his head for a moment before he, too, walked off of the stage. Matthew exhaled heavily and shifted to walk away, never having sat down the whole performance. Rowan was shrugging his black jacket off of his shoulders as one of the female workers entered the side room. Her hair was as short as her, and she looked older to a degree, at least compared to Rowan. He turned to glance at her and made an affirming sound.
Once he sat in the vanity seat, the worker tugged the skin on his face with quick swipes over and over again of makeup wipes. After a few minutes, the black makeup around his left eye was beginning to come off.. somewhat.
Silent and still, he was by far the easiest to remove his makeup. Putting it on was a slightly different story, but not too different. Rowan tried his best to remain unmoving to make it not only easier but quicker.
When she had finally removed the makeup, she offered him a smile in the mirror. Rowan uttered a quiet, monotone "thank you" and rose to his feet as soon as she left the room.
Now, Rowan began to undress himself, changing into a separate white dress shirt along with a different pair of black pants and heavier boots. He glanced at himself in the mirror for a moment. Then he sighed and shut the lights off in the room before leaving.
In another side room in the same building, a few hallways down was Seren, perched on the vanity seat facing away from the mirror. On her skin was a white gown draped from her chest to her knees, and her makeup had been removed. Now she was just sitting in the room by herself awaiting the driver who would take and put her back in the cage she was all too familiar with.
Rowan was approaching said side room as his father Matthew started to tread towards him, his brows fixed downward as his eyes were narrowed more than before.
"Rowan!" he called out. His son just turned his head slowly to the side in response and reluctantly swiveled around.
"Yes, father?"
As he was used to, Rowan was overshadowed by Matthew's booming voice even before he could finish his short sentence.
"What the hell was that?" He left the question open, as if there was any answer Rowan could give that would even remotely make him happy.
"What are you talking about?" Rowan was extremely skilled at remaining unphased. Twenty-one years gave him a lot of time to build up walls. His voice didn't raise an octave and his expression changed little.
Matthew's voice, in contrast, raised even more, enraged by the lack of emotion he was getting in reaction.
"You aren't trying hard at all. What's the fucking purpose of even having you out there to begin with?" He leaned closer to exercise control over his son. Rowan sighed softly in response.
"How would you like me to--" Matthew cut him off this time with a slap to the left cheek and laughed mockingly.
"Why'd God have to gift me the most retarded son on the planet?" he muttered in the midst of his chuckles, looking down at Rowan like he was rotten. "You can't even stand, dammit-- and what's all that with the snake freak? Are you out of your mind? Do you want to be that low? You really wanna be even more disgusting?"
Rowan blinked slowly. His lips didn't move a bit. The moment his gaze faltered to look elsewhere, Matthew found a way to chalk it up to Rowan rolling his eyes and threw a punch to the side of his head.
Seren curled up underneath the vanity in her room. Being born with snake blood, her hearing was exceptional. Those walls didn't mean much. She heard every shout and noise.
Rowan held his hand up to his ear, now bleeding and ringing at a piercing pitch, rattling his skull. His gaze peered downward, eyes narrowed as his vision spun, and Matthew shifted to grip his shoulders and pull him down. The dark curly-haired boy didn't even fight.
A backhand met Rowan's lips before he was shoved into the ground. When Matthew yanked him back up, his lips were busted along with his nose, a trail of blood crawling down his skin similarly to the trail coming from his ear. Seren in the room nearby held her arms around her knees, her head turned to the side as she listened with widened eyes. For once she didn't want her intense hearing.
Next, Matthew leaned forward swiftly and grabbed a handful of the cuff of his son's shirt. Matthew's next words were spat in his face.
"Think I'm gonna let you give me little freak grandchildren?"
A surge of anger filled him. Within moments his balled up fist met the side of Rowan's head again and again, pounding into his skull. After the third punch, Seren heard a pained grunt escape from Rowan's lips and she shuddered in response.
"Father," he tried to plea, his head bobbing to the side as blood poured from his head. Seren lifted her arms to cover her head, her entire frame trembling.
"Shut it," Matthew growled, removing his grip from the shirt as he traded it for a handful of his son's curls. Next he yanked him all the way to the opposite side and threw him to the floor. Rowan let out an agonized breath.
If he wasn't in enough pain already, Matthew plunged the toe of his boot deep into Rowan's ribs once, then hesitated before going back for a second time. Now he was coughing up blood. Matthew curled his lip in disgust looking down at his own son. His first and only born. He held him on his first day in the world. He saw him learn to walk. Two decades later and he had crippled him. Any progress he attempted to make, Matthew forced him back triple the steps.
When Rowan crumpled up and rolled over, disoriented and bloodied, Matthew directed his boot at his back. Rowan flinched in pain once again, still caught in an endless, excruciating cough.
The anger seemed to dissipate. Yet the damage had been done. Matthew huffed and turned, storming off to leave his son alone in the building. A few minutes later every light in the building switched off.
Rowan clutched his midsection, his face covered in blood along with a similar messy puddle below his lips. As his vision faded out, so did his tired coughing, his body losing its fight. At this point his memory was just feeding him the only times that had any hope of comforting him. Performances he had shared with Seren.
Seren herself remained hidden underneath the vanity, her glowing eyes paralyzed with fear as she kept listening to her surroundings against every wish to do otherwise. She could no longer sense Matthew, nor anyone walking in the halls, nor even the buzzing of the lights. The only thing she still sensed was Rowan's alarmingly slow breathing and the slight tapping of his blood dripping on the ground.
She finally crawled out from underneath the vanity, slithering to hug the door as her green eyes darted around the dark room. The doors were locked from outside, and it was horrifyingly obvious Rowan wasn't in any condition to unlock it himself. As she sensed his breathing slow even further, her urgency lifted, and her searching became faster and more panicked.
The brushes on the vanity wouldn't work, she thought. Too flimsy. Most not thin enough. The makeup brushes and pens were all useless too. Maybe she could use the tiny bristles on one of the hairbrushes and nestle them in the lock--
There it was. She spotted a package of razors, the thin plastic on top ripped off. The thicker plastic on the bottom was what she needed. After she peeled the thin plastic off, she tossed the razors on the vanity and began to cut the plastic with her teeth in a longer shape she could burrow in the door. Once finished she threw the plastic she didn't need to the floor and was quick to attempt her plan.
At first, the plastic wouldn't fit. Too wide, she figured. She pulled it back and used her fangs to cut it further, and after that tried to insert it into the door again. This time it fit.
She sunk her fang into her lip softly as she arched her back, reaching up to shove the piece of plastic into the lock. It felt as if it fit, but the door wasn't budging. Seren exhaled heavily and tried to twist the plastic inside. A click. It felt tight. She pushed it farther into the nook, hearing another affirming click. Successfully, she had disarmed the door's lock.
Immediately, Seren shoved the door open. The same darkness permeated the surrounding hallways as did the dark room. Not exactly what she expected, but it didn't dismay her. What she hadn't realized was that she had completely lost sight of her senses, and once she got focused on unlocking the door, she was no longer focused on the speed of Rowan's breathing.
She took a few steps forward, reaching Rowan laid on his side with a blood pool accompanying his still body. Seren's gaze flicked to fixate on his face as she dropped to her knees. Next she leaned over, inspecting him. He was out cold. When she brushed his skin with her fingertips, he felt cold, too.
Maybe he was just asleep, unconscious like he often was. Seren tried to reassure herself by reminding herself of the times Rowan had gone unconscious and passed out. He always woke back up. Right?
Something wasn't right. He was too cold. He wasn't breathing anymore. Seren didn't intentionally lie to herself. Her brain just wanted her to not entirely break. Her brain didn't want the reality to be what was right in front of her.
She sat there, her eyes falling upon each of his injuries. His pretty dark curls dangled from his head, his eyes closed. The blood was starting to change color, as were his bruised lips. His hat laid on the ground, not a hint of blood soaked into its fabric. His white dress shirt was much of the opposite, stained crimson.
His chest laid perfectly still. In a moment of desperation, Seren placed her hand atop one of Rowan's. She began to frown upon realizing just how cold he felt.
Assured that no one would hear her cries, Seren started to wail quietly, her head hung down as she shielded his lifeless body with hers. As if she were trying with all of her might to stand in the way of his soul separating from his body. Pleading with everything she had for the soul to remain. He didn't deserve it. It wasn't fair. None of it was fair.
Just looking at his face sent a surge of pain through her body. Those pretty dark curls. Those still lips. She couldn't bare the permanence of it. How could she accept that she would never perform with him ever again? Never see him on stage, with his hat and his makeup, twirling her around and sharing proud glances?
Her heart throbbed. Seren couldn't remember the last time she felt so much at once. Her eyes fell beneath the unstable waters and her cheeks were painted with tears. Tears that fell peacefully down onto the back of his hand.
She writhed in pain, confronted with how hopelessly lost she felt. The knowledge she had gotten so used to the bits of freedom Rowan granted her, infuriated her, how something she was so dependent on was ripped from her hands in an instant through the wall. No matter the amount of pleading or clawing she did mattered. He was gone.
Seren was so, so loyal. She had found the one human -- or anyone, for that matter -- to consider her feelings just once and give instead of take. He put her before himself. She was attached to him since childhood, she had convinced herself by now. A bond unbreakable. She was left with the shattered chains and entirely on her own.
Anger began to bristle beneath her skin. You took him from me. She gritted her teeth behind her lips and narrowed her eyes, both her hands now resting on Rowan's side and shoulder respectively. The more time passed, the more she understood there wasn't much changing what had already happened, the more she felt unbridled rage about the situation she was forced to accept. You took him from me. Her eyes glowed bright in the dark, illuminated with a growing fire. You made me an animal. You thought I was an animal. I will show you an animal.
It was no doubt she was Nathara's daughter. The lengths and short time it took her to analyze and calculate things was admirable at the very least. Rowan did nothing but bring that out in her, encouraging her smart nature to navigate situations and problem solve or profit. The anger flowing through her blood was only fueling her thoughts.
By now, the moon was comfortable high in the sky, midnight having passed an hour ago. Seren didn't move from her position, protectively curled up over Rowan on the floor with a sharp gaze apparent in the night.
Usually, she thought to herself, Matthew would be back in the early morning to get things started for training. Five a.m., or maybe a great bit later if he had been drinking the night before. Seren didn't mind waiting years.
She knew, too, that he and Rowan were the only ones with keys. In fact, the second pair were most likely in Rowan's pockets right there, but Seren wasn't interested in retrieving them. They served no use for her plan.
Moreso what the key owners meant is that none of the workers could enter without Matthew himself entering first. That meant she had a soft spot in the morning when he came in to strike.
After sitting and brooding over top of Rowan for four more hours, Seren shifted. Reluctantly leaving Rowan's corpse, she crept into the side room she had broken out of and left with something wrapped in her slender fingers.
In front of her was the perfect hiding spot, behind a table sat on one of the corners of the hallways -- leading to Rowan. Seren knew very well that Matthew would have to get rid of all of that before anybody else entered the building. She felt secure, crouched perfectly hidden by the wooden table. Even her hair didn't poke out. Her face had long dried by this point.
As soon as she heard a door swing open, her heart began to thump heavily in her chest, excited and agitated after waiting patiently for so long. She didn't so much as peer out from her cover, relying entirely on her exceptional hearing to prepare her.
Those familiar heavy footsteps. She heard her own heartbeat in her ears, the blood rushing in anticipation while she awaited those steps to approach her. Her body kept her on high alert, tracking each sound she heard... there, he was coming towards...
She noticed his boots turn and stomp down the hallway leading to the wooden table. Her muscles tensed up. Now she could discern his breathing.
Once he rounded the corner, she spotted him. As soon as his foot stepped past the table, like a trip wire set off, Seren leaped from the shadows and toppled the man nearly a foot taller than her.
Matthew felt a deep pain in his shoulder and instantly began to writhe against his attacker, but fell to the ground in the process. Seren lifted up her weapon -- a hairpin with a snake wrapped around the top -- and brought it down with force into his upper back. When he shouted in pain and keeled forward, Seren flipped over top of him and shoved him onto his back.
With her knees positioned around his sides, Seren proceeded to grip the large hairpin with both her hands and stab him repeatedly. Every time she heard the sharp end plunge into his flesh, she felt an intense surge further her to repeat her action. She was stuck in a loop. She had struck his heart long ago, yet she was still forcing the pin into a new spot and yanking it forth again. Even after she stopped stabbing his front, she leaned over and began to barrel his face with slaps and punches. Just like he had done to his son. The only one she really cared about.
With heavy gasps, Seren retrieved the hairpin once more, sticking it into Matthew's throat this time. With ruthlessness she tugged it through to the other side, blood spurting out all over her gown and skin.
Finished with her work, Seren crawled back over to Rowan's body, her own riddled with exhaustion and pain. Once she reached him, her head fell onto his chest, forcing a sigh from her lips. God, she was going to miss him. Pain grappled her heart like it had nothing else to hold onto. She couldn't even feel her fingertips anymore.
Seren lifted herself up. She left a small kiss on Rowan's cheek and proceeded to disappear, her silhouette gone before the sun started to rise. It was her call to flee. She felt there wasn't anything else left to do.
A couple of hours later, the circus workers shuffled into the building, entering through the front doors left unlocked. A handful shuffled through the hallways, discovering the tragedy occurring hours before laid upon them. In response they reacted with shrieks and disgusted noises.
All they had was a mess in front of them. The highest people in the circus, the owner and his only heir -- rotting and bloody on the ground of one of their buildings. Many more questions were left than answers... especially because the circus workers soon came to realize that there was no sign of Seren, along with the serpent hairpin and Rowan's hat.