Freak Show

[Narwhalia]

Lana frowned at him as he stole her blanket. "For one, I'm cold, and two I am not lovely." She finds her dress and slips it on, brushing her fingers though her hair. Her stomach growled as well, aching for food other then last nights cotton candy...and she also had a need to empty bodily fluids..."Um..Daniel...where exactly..is the restroom in this camp?" She asked, walked out from behind the curtained blanket. "And where can we get some food?" She blushed, not looking in Daniel's face.

She regretted the way she had over reacted the night before, and would try one more time to be nice and trust Daniel, despite her conscious.​

 

[buildingaspaceship]

Daniels eyes go over her again, smiling slightly. Her blush was cute, and he bites his bottom lip as he pushes hair out of his eyes. "I'll lead the way." He says, raising his eyebrows at her before nodding his head for her to follow him. He leads her out of the tent and into the sunlight, the sun only just rising. Damn, he was actually up ten times more earlier than usual. Most Sundays he wasn't even awake till noon. He walks through the silent camp with Lana at his side, and takes her to a tent that was used as a restroom. It wasn't as clean and nice as normal toilets in houses and villages, but it was enough to survive with, and all that Daniel had ever known. He opens the curtain for her, and stands, waiting outside, while watching the sun rise. Maybe he should get up early more often, the view was wonderful. Speaking through the fabric of the tent to Lana, he keeps his voice quiet so as not to wake the other workers and performers.


"What makes you think that you're not lovely? I certainly think you are, and I have a good eye for things like that." He says, folding his arms across his chest. He wondered whether or not the food tent would be open yet, though sniffing the air confirmed that it wasn't, as there wasn't the usual smell of sausages and other foreign foods filling the air. His stomach grumbled in disappointment. He'd have to find something for them both on his own. He digs into his pockets, taking out a cigarette and lighting it while he waits. "I think you're very lovely," he mumbles, cigarette between his teeth. He takes a drag of the cigarette and puts one hand in his pockets, while he looks around the camp.

 

[Narwhalia]

Lana scoffs. "I'm sure you tell all the girls that...." She said, finishing what she was doing and pulling her underwear back up. "I will need to wash my hands before..." She looks down at her feet and legs as well as her pantyhose. They were covered in mud. "Or maybe I should take a bath...oh dear." She had her purse, and pulled out her lipstick and hand mirror, applying the rose red onto her full lips flawlessly.

She came out of the tent, and smoke blew in her face. She had always liked the smell of her mother's cigarettes and her father's pipe tobacco, but had never had the guts to try it out. But this morning, she was feeling adventurous. She slyly takes the cigarette out from between his teeth, and wraps her red lips around the end, breathing in and coughing a little as she blew it out. Lana held it in between her slender left hand fingers while balancing her left elbow on her right wrist.

"Where's somewhere we can bathe before eating?" She asks, taking a smaller drag, trying not to cough. Her head began to spit lightly from the slight buzz of the tobacco. "I've got mud all over my legs, and my hair isn't quiet clean..." She said, attempting to fluff her hair with her hand without burning it with the stolen cigarette.​

 

[buildingaspaceship]

Daniel raises his eyebrows at her, when she takes the cigarette from between his teeth, and watches her intently as she tries it. He could tell it was her first time doing this because of the cough, and he wanted his cigarette back, but watching her with it was to entertaining to take away, so he wouldn't take it. "There's a lake pretty near, I'll take you." He says and wraps his fingers around her right wrist, before walking away and through the camp with her trailing behind him. He could still hear people snoring, and as they came out of the thick line of tents and into an even thicker mess of trees, Daniel felt at peace. He leads her through the tree line, and as they come to a large clearing, in which a lake was, he smiles. The sun shone on it, leaving a glittery pattern in the calm waters, and he could hear the songs of the birds around him.


He knew that she was probably much more used to cleaner waters, and she could even think this was disgusting, but this was the way that he and the Cirque bathed, unless your trailer back at the permanent camp was big enough to accommodate a bath. Daniel wiggles his bare toes, again he had forgotten to put on shoes, and looks at Lana. Breathing in, he can smell the smell of nature that townspeople would rarely ever smell, the smell of damp grass and of flowers that were reaching the end of their bloom.

 

[Narwhalia]

Lana follows him, letting him lead her. On the way through the camp, she dropped the cigarette on the damp grass and stepped on it, putting it out. She looks at the water and smiles. Her father had never let her swim in the lake by their property, even though she pestered him everyday in summer. She stood, grinning excitedly, and began to take of her dress. Lana stopped herself looking at Daniel and pointing for him to turn around. As he did , grudgingly, she slid off her dress. Goosebumps formed all over her body and she quickly made her way into the lake, though it was just as cold.

"O-o-okay you c-can get innn noww" She said, shivering. She wrapped her arms around herself, rubbing her legs together to hurry up and clean herself, but still get clean despite not being fully naked. Her body was shivering so hard, the water vibrated around her.​

 

[buildingaspaceship]

When she says he can get in, he turns around again, looking at her shivering in the water and not being able to suppress the goofy grin on his face. "What's the matter? City chick never felt cold water before?" He laughs, teasing slightly. And he walks over to the edge of the water before he pulls his braces off his shoulder and then pulls his trousers off, throwing them into a heap next to Lana's dress, then pulling off his vest and doing the same with that. He wasn't exactly shy, but he had no reason to be. The cirque taught confidence in ones self and their actions, so it was drilled into him. He quickly walks into the water, until he was just above waist high.


The cold water didn't phase Daniel. Hot water was a privilege in the camp, and it was as though anyone who worked there for longer than a year seemed to get used to the cold waters of lakes. It was only ever on birthdays that the ringmaster would call for all the workers to boil hot water for the birthday boy or girl, so naturally, everyone loved their birthdays even more, and you usually wouldn't see them until the water in their bath got cold. Daniel rubs the dirt of his hands and looks up at Lana, plotting something evil in his head.

 

[Narwhalia]

Lana dunks her head, getting her whole head wet and quickly regretting it. "It's so cooold," She squeels. Lana turns around in circles in the water, feeling the pebbles beneath her toes. Closing her eyes, she slowly got herself used to the water, rubbing some one her arms and face, trying to clean her skin the beast she could. She still shivered, but ignored Daniel's mischievous looks, concentrating completely on getting less cold.

​

 

[buildingaspaceship]

Daniel laughed at her squirming and slowly swam over to her, his mischievous grin spreading. He was about to say something, and enact his little plan, when he thought better of making her even angrier with him. He stopped a few feet away from where Lana was and the mischievous smile dropped from his face when Hattie appeared from behind one of the trees in the clearing. Her hair was tumbling down to her waist and she was in a silk dressing gown that concealed nothing of her underwear, and a sly smirk was on her face as she wiggled her fingers to Daniel and Lana. "Surely you two aren't old enough to bathe together, are you?" She says. If Lana hadn't noticed it yesterday, then she definitely would now, Hattie's voice was thick with an accent that couldn't be placed, and the words rolled off her tongue like honey. Daniel groans, kicking off from the floor and floating on his back in the murky lake water as he tried to ignore Hattie, who simply looked like she was getting everything she wanted. "Did you sleep with her yet, Daniel? I know that's what you do on first dates." She says, a mean twinkle in her eye.

 

[Narwhalia]

Daniel had been very kind to her this morning, so Lana felt the need to defend him. "Excuse me, ma'am, but he was simply taking me to bathe. And seeing as I am now a..co-worker of yours...I feel it is no longer necessary to make such accusations." Lana crossed her arms, trying to hid the fact that she was going slightly numb. Lana had never been good at keeping herself warm from her size and weight being so small.

Lana wrapped her arms around herself, emerging her self from the mouth down in the water as a way of keeping her body a bit warmer in the water the in the slight breeze in the air on her wet body. She glared at Hattie, raising her head only to say, "Why don't you go practice your contortions. You seemed kind of stiff yesterday, no?" She smiled with her mouth in the water again, giggling to herself.​

 

[buildingaspaceship]

Daniel grins at the insult that Lana gave Hattie, who seems offended by Lana calling her stiff. She crosses her arms across her chest and with a flick of her hair, she leaves the clearing, having not quite gotten the response that she had hoped for from the pair. Daniel stops floating and submerges his body neck downwards in the cold water, his hair now wet and sticking up in every direction. He smiles at Lana, before swimming closer to her, with no mischievous intent. "You two are gonna get along swell," he jokes, flicking water at her half heartedly, before biting his lip. It was weird to think that this girl was going to be a 'coworker' of his. She was part of the family of the cirque de lumiere now. He decides to question her on this.


"Say, Lana." He begins, reaching out and tucking some of her wet hair behind her ear, as it was falling in front of her face, "why have you joined the cirque? Don't you have anyone back home who'll miss you? Your mother? Father?" He questions, raising his eyebrows and resting his palms on top of the water as though they were floating. There was something peaceful about the lake that he enjoyed being a part of. He believed that humans were part of nature, they shouldn't destroy it like people did to build houses and buildings and shops. He believed they should be one with the earth like it was supposed to be. Most people in the cirque shared that idea, and the trailers back at the permanent camp reflected this, the nature growing around them and over some of them. His own trailer was hidden amongst bushes of flowers and thorns.

 

[Narwhalia]

Lana smiled as Hattie walked away, and backed away when Daniel splashed her simply to stop being splashed and she giggled. When Daniel asked her the questions about her family, her face got serious. She turned around, trying not to shake her voice like her body as she replied.

"Well..my family isn't exactly...the loving sort. They expect you to be a certain way, and when you aren't they feel as though you don't belong, and sort of just...shun you." She sighed. She had been fighting with her parents back and forth since she got home from college. She began to swim around, her skin now used to the water. She ignored the nagging at the back of her head that told her to cover her body and to act modestly in front of Daniel. She dived underneath the water, smiling mischievously. He may have been kind all morning, but she though she felt the slight need to toy with him.

Lana circled around Daniel under the water, disappearing from his sight. Coming up from behind him, she pulled down his underwear, quickly swimming way. She quickly took a breath and continued to circle around him popping up to splash him every couple of seconds or so.​

 

[buildingaspaceship]

Daniel listened to her, and was about to say something back to her when she disappeared under the water. Confused, he watched her body under the water, and his eyes followed her as she circled him. He laughed loudly when she pulled down his underwear, and quickly pulled them back up, moving his body round in the water as she circled him. He reached out and grabbed her wrists when she popped up, preventing her from splashing him, and grinned down at her. She was very small, compared to him. As he grins down at her, he doesn't let her change the subject.


"No, no. You've gotta say goodbye to your family, Lana." He thinks about how his entire life he had lacked a true mother and father figure. The cirque was a different kind of family, one that could provide love and support, but not like a mother or father could. "You've gotta say goodbye and let them know that you're safe, imagine how worried they'd be if they never saw you again? Even if they shun you, they still love you." He let's go of her wrists and puts his hands in the water, before continuing with a light joke, "and besides, if I tag along, maybe you can annoy them a little by making them think you're wasting your life with gypsy boys in travelling mystical shows." He chuckles slightly at the idea of Lana's parents being appalled by him, and desperately trying to convince Lana that she was making a terrible mistake.

 

[Narwhalia]

Lana laughed half heartedly, shaking her head. "I'm not too sure that's a good idea..." She thought of the look on her fathers face if she were to come home after simply staying home all night. She hadn't broken any of his ruled since she was 2, and quickly learned that it was a mistake. Lana's father was a man with a short temper, so everyone made it a point to keep him happy. They few times her parents had fought, she remembered seeing small, makeup covered bruises on her face. 'A box,' 'I fell,' She would say.

With the offer of him coming with her she pondered it and sighed. She needed to grab some things anyway. Might as well to it now. She nods, letting the water push her towards him. She lost all care for modesty and let his body warm hers, sighing at the feeling before realizing what she was doing and blushed. "So, um." She said, pulling away. "Let's get dried off and...find my car...I'll need to return that as well seeing as my father bought that for me..." She took a deep breath, readying herself for the upcoming trip...

(I will post on occ her parents, house, and car since this is the only time they'll ever show up i dont think they need to be in the character tab)​

 

[buildingaspaceship]

"Excellent!" He says enthusiastically, before wrapping his fingers around Lana's wrist and gently pulls her out of the water behind him. When he's on dry land, like a wet dog he shakes his head, water droplets flying from his hair in each direction, and when done he let's go of Lana's wrists and pushes his hair out of his eyes, smiling crookedly at her. He walks over to the pile of clothes on the floor, and though he was still wet he pulled them on. He'd go back to his tent and change into drier clothes before they left, though he wasn't sure about what to do about Lana. Sorting out his braces, he looks at her, before opening his mouth to speak. "Put that on for now," he says gesturing to her dress on the floor, "and I can get you some dry clothes for the meantime back at camp." He knew a girl who would gladly give him a dress in exchange for a smile and help cleaning the pots. Once Lana was dressed, he heads back to camp, worming his way through the trees, and when he got to the main camp, he told Lana the way back to his tent so she could get dry, and went off in the direction of Mistress Magda, the fortune tellers tent.

 

[Narwhalia]

Lana nods, making her way back as she squeezed the water from her hair. Some people had woken up and stared at her as she walked by. Some nodded with a friendly smile, others just watched her curiously. Some whispered, asking who she was, while the other would answer with a shrug. As she went back into Daniel's tent, she took off her clothes, tired of being wet and cold. She didn't have anyone to worry about comeing in anyway. She went back to the bed taking every blanket and and covering her naked body in the covers, hiding her head and face in the pillow so nobody would know if she was there if they where to come in. She dozed off waiting for Daniel to return.

​

 

[buildingaspaceship]

Daniel promised Magda that he would repay the favour if she leant him one of her dresses, and when she handed him one of her plainer ones, though still made of a foreign floaty material, he smiled at her and thanked her in her language, before hurting back through the camp and walking towards his tent. Before he could enter, however, Henry ran up to him, grabbing his arm and looking up at him with a joyous smile. The other children of the cirque called him back impatiently, but Henry told them to hush as he quickly explained to Daniel that he was very excited that Lana was staying. "That's great, kid, but I gotta get back to her," he says and pats Henry on the shoulder, before walking back into the tent and closing the curtain behind him. He walks over to his bed, looking down at Lana, and he reaches out a hand and shakes her shoulder gently to wake her from her dozing.


"Magda gave me a dress that should fit you, I'll uh... Put the curtain up again while you change, then we can get something to eat, and then see your parents, sound like a plan?" He says and smiles, before walking over to the middle of the tent and putting the curtain up again as a divider. He pulls off his clothes and grabs a towel, drying himself and his hair off properly before pulling on a fresh pair of black and grey thin striped trousers, and a cleaner long sleeved plain t-shirt. Again with his traditional braces, and even remembering to wear boots, Daniel looked slightly more presentable than a damp barefoot magician. When he had finished doing that, he walks over to a small metal cigarette box, opening it and pulling one out, he lights it and puts it in between his teeth before taking a drag, considering he hadn't been able to fully enjoy the one from earlier in the morning. He tilts his head up to the ceiling of the tent, blowing the smoke out of his mouth in rings, and closing his eyes in satisfaction.

 

[Narwhalia]

Lana, half awake, drags herself out of bed without opening her eyes. She grabs what she thinks is the dress, and slides it over her head. "It's I bit short..and the sleeves are rather long...oh.." She opened one eye as she stumbled to the front of the tent accidentally, showing what she had put on in her grogginess. She wore a white long sleeved shirt of Daniels that fit her loosely. She quickly covered her legs and backed back behind the curtain before changing into the actual dress she was given. Though simple, it was rather comfortable and fit her well, though not perfectly. She ran her fingers through her hair, wishing desperately for a brush.

"Um, thank you Daniel. Now I must go to Surini. He promised to find me a horse today." She smiled with excitement. Lana absolutely loved horses. As she made her way to the ring leader's tent, she realized the rest of the camp had awaken. The smell of freshly grilled sausage and toast filled the air as she past fires, surrounded by people sleepily eating their breakfast. Just outside Surini's tent sat Annie and Henry along with a few other children.

"Good morning, Miss Lana, right? My son Henry, and my husband, have told me so much about you. I understand you ride horses, yes?" She asked smiling as she handed a small wooden bowl filled with sausage and a piece of fresh toast to Lana. Taking it happily, she nodded and took a big bite of the toast. "Yes, ma'am," She said, gulping down the hot food just to refill her mouth, fighting to satisfy her hunger.

"I used to ride horses professionally and for fun before college." At the word 'college', Annie looked at Lana confused.

"You went to college, yet you want to join the circus? That doesn't make any since!" She put her hands on her hips. Lana found Annie looked so much like a house wife in her casual attire. She wore a pin striped blue dress with an apron, and had her long hair up messily in a bun, simply to keep it out of her face. It reminded her of her own mother in a way. Minus the constant frown.

"Well...It's a long story, but I will happily tell you later. But right now, I believe I need to speak with your husband about a horse," Lana smiled, handing the now empty bowl back to Annie who shook her head as she took it.

"He just getting dressed dear, he'll be out in a minute." She giggled. "So how was sleeping in a tent with Mr Daniel last night?" She asked.​

 

[buildingaspaceship]

Daniel burst into laughter at the sight of her in his shirt, and when she disappeared to get re changed he slowly stopped laughing and instead he simply grinned, before taking another drag of his cigarette, blowing the smoke out slowly and watching it. Before he could get her to come with him and eat first, Lana was gone, out of the tent with the promise of a horse, and so he shrugged his shoulders and trudged out of his tent after her, watching her head in the direction of the Surini's tent.


The camp was now alive, the smell of food and smoke filling the air, and the laughter of people of all ages sounded perfectly like a song to Daniels ears. He could go all the way to the food tent for breakfast this time, or he could steal some of the tents next to his. Not actually steal, obviously, but ask and receive. Thinking against it, he thought that Lana would probably get lost without him around to help her find her way, he began to slowly walk in the direction of the Surini's. While walking, he smiled at a few of the performers, and one of them stood up and quickly ran over to him. A red headed, young girl, who Daniel knew almost like a sister, they used to play together when they were younger. Her name was Tahlia, and she worked as, well... He didn't really know what to call it, but he knew that it was part of the knife throwing trick where the woman is on the spinning wheel. She puts her hands on his shoulders, looking up at him with narrowed eyes.


"Daniel, who is that girl who just... Appeared out of your tent?" She asks, a sly smile on her face, and he laughs slightly, before reaching up his hand and moving hair out of her face, playing with the ends of it. He knew that she didn't approve of his relationship with any visitor, or anyone other than a performer for that matter, though she would rather a visitor over Hattie, saying that he would be just like his father if he carried on like it. He smiles at her, "A new act, her name is Lana. And we're not sleeping together before you ask, we were sleeping in the same tent. I had the floor." He explains this to her but leaves out the detail of bathing together. Tahlia nods slowly and raises her eyebrows. "You never don't sleep with someone when we visit a town. What's the deal with you? Are you... Feeling okay?" She jokes, handing him a small stick, with skewered sausages on it.


He takes it and grins at her, before biting into one of the sausages despite the high temperature. "I'm feeling fine! I'm a changed man, honest." He laughs before noting her expression, her eyebrows were raised and her hands were on her hips, she shakes her head. "You? A changed man? If anything I'd say that that girl has a brain, and she didn't let you have your way," she says, smirking at him. Daniel pouts before biting into his sausage again, not saying anything to defend himself. With a grin and with a laugh, she runs back off to join her friends. "I'm sorry, again, Tahlia!" Daniel calls as he watches her go, she'd know what he meant by that. He was feeling his pride slightly damaged by the idea that his friend laughed at his inability to get this one girl, before he goes about his mission, eventually ending up at the Surini's tent, seeing Annie, Lana, and Henry outside, and hearing his name, he held back for a moment, eavesdropping on their conversation and waiting for the perfect time to appear. Magicians are good at that.

 

[Narwhalia]

Lana, blushing, shrugged her shoulders. "My clothing stayed intact, if that's what you mean. Daniel seems to be a very fresh young man. Is he so used to getting what he wants?" She asked Annie, genuinely curious. Annie grinned.

"As a matter of fact, he is, I'm sure that you have given him something to think about. You got a spark, Lana, and I like it. It's what makes you different from all these other floozies. You have pride in what you do and walk with your head held high. Not a lot of women I've met can say that at your age." She winks at Lana who is now smiling brightly at the complement.

"Oh you are too kind, Miss Surini," Annie put up her hand to stop Lana.

"Call me Annie, dear. You're, after all, part of the family now." She smiles warmly at Lana. "Haven't you got any family. A sweet girl like you doesn't just get thrown out to join the cirque, now." Lana's smile faded and she smiled, explaining how her and Daniel planned later that day to tell her parents as well as to gather some clothing. "Well." Annie said, a look of worry covering her face. "If anything happens and you need a ride, give us a ring. Daniel knows who to call." She smiles nodding. "Why don't you so this now? My husband enjoys taking his time waking up. You have a good hour and a half before he'll be doing anything productive this morning," Lana shrugged, supposing it'd be up to Daniel if he was finished with whatever he was doing.​

 

[buildingaspaceship]

Daniel raised his eyebrows at their conversation before letting himself be seen, walking into view with his stick, only one sausage remaining on it now. He bit into it and threw the stick to the floor, chewing as he walked over to them. "Used to getting what I want, am I?" He says with a serious expression of his face, before narrowing his eyes at Annie. "I seem to vaguely remember another man who used to be like this. I only follow in the best footsteps, Mrs Surini." Naturally he was talking about Arthur. Before he had met Annie, he had been just like Daniel. He couldn't count the amount of girls who walked in and out of his tent at night. But he decides to let this go, and offers a warm smile before messing up his hair casually.


"I presume you've eaten, city chick?" He says, calling her by his temporary nickname for her. He was going to think of a better one, but for now city chick seemed good enough. "In which case we can go soon, yes?" He smiles at the thought of going into town today, a much different plan than what he had initially thought. He also wondered what kind of people Lana's parents were, how they'd react to Daniel, and the news that she was becoming an act. He was most excited about seeing Lana's car. People like him, who travelled a lot, had a natural fascination and love for anything with wheels, but he had never actually been in a proper car before. Only wagons.

 

[Narwhalia]

Lana nods, walking to grab her purse from the Daniel's tent. As they walked to the now empty parking field, Lana realized how far back she had parked. She looked down and winced at the thought of what her mother might say to the way she was dress, as well as her reaction to the state of Lana's hair. They arrived at the teal car, and Lana unlocked the car doors, getting in the driver's seat. She turned to Daniel who had an excited look on his face.

"Haven't you been in a car before?" She giggled, putting the key in the ignition to start it up. She put her foot on the clutch and revved the engine as it came to life, giving off a delightful purr. "Don't worry. I'm a very good driver." She smiles as Daniel gets in, putting the car into first gear and driving down the gravel road toward the main road.

Lana ignored the countryside, having seen it all before. She was bored of the flat, seemingly endless land. Lana wanted to see tall tree's and mountains. She wanted to see white beaches and skyscrapers. She had lived for so long on her father's plantation and the college campus and small town around it after that, but everything else was a mystery to her.

Lana also began to feel a pain growing in her stomach. It was the fear she had for going home and telling her parents what she was about to do. It was crazy. It was wild. It was abnormal. Everything her parents had raised her not to be. And she was doing it. The pain in her stomach seemed to worsen when she realized they where half way there.​

 

[buildingaspaceship]

Daniel grinned upon seeing the car, and when he got in he answered her question. "No. I've never been in a car before. We use horse pulled wagons and things, because we don't tend to be able to fit glass tanks and tiger cages in cars." He watched as they went down the road, his eyes filled with excitement that was only fading because of the idea that Lana's parents wouldn't be so... Accepting. He puts his hand out of the open window, feeling the breeze run through his fingers, a smile still on his face. "What're you going to say to them?" He asks her, turning to face her, and reaching out a hand and tucking some of her damp hair behind her ear, before moving his eyes back to the country that was whirring past.


He had always loved seeing and experiencing new places. The thing about being in a travelling show is that you could go somewhere completely new every week, never the same places twice. But when they did go back to some places, things would have changed. There was always something different to see when he was on the road. Obviously at times the towns weren't so accepting, and so they'd leave before they'd even done their Saturday show (the Cirque being a one night only attraction, miss it and it's gone). Some were hypocritical. The townspeople would shun the show, though attend it with scepticism. He looks back at Lana, moving his hand from out of the window. "Why are you leaving them behind?"

 

[Narwhalia]

Lana really thought about his questions. Not really knowing what she was going to say to her parents. But she knew why. "I'm sick and tired of being the proper girl who sits and smiles and act like everything is ok when it isn't. I don't want to be the girl who everyone looks at as an ornament, but as a person. I don't want to be proper and conformed, I want to be outspoken and different. Because that's what makes me happy.." She sighed. "But I would never be able to say that." As the neared the entrance to the front gate of her home, she stopped just in front of it.

This was it. This is where she would make the biggest decision of her life. She stepped out of the car, going to push open the gate.

Driving down the long driveway of her house, she remembered all the parties they used to have in the house when she was younger. How you could see the whole house lit up from the road. That was when she was very young though, and aloud to be a child. Before her eleventh birthday when her mother started teaching her how to be a proper lady. She wondered how her father would react, and also if he had started drinking already.

They reached the front of the giant white house, stopping right in front of the steps leading up to the porch that wrapped around the whole house. Lana sat in the car, staring at the steering wheel.

'what do i say? what will they say? should i do this? maybe i should just stay ho-' She stopped herself there, turning off the car and getting out, slamming the car door behind her. As she walked up to the door she took a deep breath and opened it, seeing her mother asleep in a chair in the entryway. She woke up as soon as the door opened and called out in a southern accent.

"Oh Lana! My princess where have you been all night! Oh I almost had myself a heart attack because of yo-" Her mother stopped looking at Daniel, and raising an eyebrow. "Lana, who is that, and why is he on my porch?" She asked. "Bernard! Come down here, Lana's come home, and brought her some...homeless boy with her!" Lana looked away from the stairs, not wanting to see her father, in fear of what he might do.

A door is heard bursting open somewhere upstairs, and the loud and uneven stomping of boots makes it's way down a hallway and to the first floor of the house. In walks Bernard Eyrhart. A 7'5" man with bloodshot eyes that wreaked of gin. He looked over Daniel briefly before walking straight over to Lana and slapping her in the face. Lana's mother scoffed, grabbing Lana to keep her from falling. "Now Bernard, that wasn't necessary!" Her mother yells. He snarls at her, raising a hand making her flinch as well.

"Damnit, Trudy, she was out all night long with this boy! Who knows what they where doin'!" He yells. His face is now red. He yells strait at Lana now. "Now nobody will want to marry you, you damn harlet!" He turns to Daniel now. "Get the hell out of me house, before I call the police on yeh, ya damn peasant!"​

 

[buildingaspaceship]

Daniel stood, shocked, but he had known that this was coming for him. But not for Lana. He didn't understand how someones family could be so cruel to them. Back in the Cirque, family was one of the most important things, and everyone was treat with respect and kindness. It was taken as an offence to everyone if one member of the Cirque treated someone like this so openly. When Bernard hit Lana, Daniel had to physically stop himself from reaching into his pocket and pulling out the pocket knife that he brought with him wherever (self defence is a must away from camp), as he didn't think that, though she was treat this way, that Lana would very much appreciate Daniel killing or hurting her father. Instead, he grabbed Lana's arm and pulled her away from him, and by his side, though one hand was in his pocket, fingers around the knife, incase it got worse.


"Call the police on me if you will, sir, it makes no difference to me, but if you lay another hand on Lana again I will personally bring hell down on your drunken ass." He growls back at him, his position defensive. He turns to the one known as Trudy, Lana's mother, "You may want to get your bloody husband a dictionary, if a 'homeless boy' can string a sentence up better than he can, you know you have a fucking problem." He says to her, slightly less harshly, before again turning his words to Bernard. "Your daughter is not a damn harlot. Nothing happened between us, nothing."


He wraps his fingers around Lana's wrist, pulling her slightly behind him protectively. He didn't know particularly why he was so protective of her all of a sudden. He shouldn't care less what happened to a visitor, but then... She wasn't a visitor. Not any more. She was part of his family now. But something in him knew that he wouldn't have cared if she had been a visitor or not, he would have stood up for her.

 

[Narwhalia]

Lana's mother laughed. "How dare you talk to me and my husband that way. Come, Lana. Let's get you cleaned up and tomorrow we'll go back to normal, ok?" Bernard stomped his foot.

"Things can't go back to normal, now that she's impure! Come Lana, maybe we can find a way for the lord to forgive your ways." This whole time, Lana had an emotionless expression on her face. She knew this was going to happen. She wanted to cry but knew it would only make matters worse. She didn't know what would happen to her mother if she left, but Lana knew what would happen if she stayed. Her father would forever label her as a harlot, a slut, a whore, and what ever other kind of name e could label her as.

This is when Lana broke.

"Father, shut up." The tall, drunken man stopped in his tracks. Never in her life had Lana ever talked to her father in that manner.

"Lana Elizabeth Eyrhart, what the hell did you just say to me?" He screamed. Lana removed her hand from Daniel's grasp, standing in front of him now.

"You heard me!" She screamed, fighting back tears. "For the first time in my life, I want to do something because I want to! Not because you or mother say so, or because it's 'lady like'. I don't want to be afraid to show my emotions to you like I always have. For the first time, I'm doing something to make me happy. And it has nothing to do with running away with a boy." Her mother looked at her questionably.

"What, then, are you doin', darlin'?"

"I'm joining the circus, mama." She smiled.

"Ain't no daughter of mine joining some FREAK show. What are you gunna do? Strip for the people?" Bernard chuckles, and begins laughing so hard he leans over, putting his hands on his hips. Lana punched him in the face harder then she'd ever hit anything in her life, right in the nose. He even fell back a little bit from the force. Lana's mother gasps as she runs upstairs to her room, pulling Daniel along with her.

"Hurry, help me pack some stuff!" She orders, leading him into her room.

​

Spoiler