7. Eden
SEVEN
EDEN
Weekends at the circus are hell. Friday and Saturday nights are packed, and there’s always some sort of disaster waiting to happen. We practice all week just to perform with no breaks, and none of us will ever see the money these rich, nasty assholes throw our way. I suppose I need to be somewhat thankful; I’ve never had to give a private dance. Those happen on weeknights as well as weekends, and the girls drone on and on about their despicable clientele as they douse their faces in powder and prepare to paint on fake smiles.
“Eden, where the fuck is my—oh, nevermind,” Chastity grunts, triumphantly holding up her tube of signature ruby red lipstick. I don’t bother with that shade, too pale for most of those colors to look decent on me anyways. I never had a mother who could teach me how to do makeup.
With my ankle still smarting, Daniel had threatened to double my debt if I didn’t get my ass to work tonight. It’s no secret I’m the best dancer, a tantalizing prize that the patrons aren’t ever allowed to touch. It’s not because Dick and Daniel are kind by any means, either. It’s all a business scheme. Show them the best, and give them something mediocre so they keep coming back begging for a chance at more.
If my father wasn’t on his deathbed, and if Dick hadn’t discovered my other deplorable secret, I wouldn’t be here. I can blame and hate myself for what I did, but I cannot ever bring myself to hate my father for succumbing to his disease. He saved me, saved us, and now it’s my turn to save him by giving him peace in his last days on this earth.
Reminding myself of that makes being here a little more bearable.
“Don’t you have prom soon, girly?” Jess asks, swiping blush on her cheeks as she puckers her lips in the mirror. I run a brush through my long hair until it’s pin straight, eyeing myself in the mirror surrounded by bare lightbulbs. Chastity snorts.
“Eden wouldn’t get invited.”
My teeth gnash together.
“Wow, rude,” Jess retorts.
“What?” Chastity says, pulling her lipstick away from her mouth and dabbing at the corners until the color sits just right. She’s always been a bitch to me, ever since my first performance when Daniel booted her from the main act and replaced her with me. All those years spent ruining my toes because I had girlish dreams of dancing my way to New York weren’t technically wasted, then. But the worst of it is knowing I’ve always been nothing more than a puppet on a string, controlled by vile creatures. Just when I thought life was turning around, I landed myself here.
As hopeful as I’m still able to be, something deep within me knows it’s going to get worse before it gets better. Just how much worse, I don’t really care to ponder at the present.
Jess pats my shoulder, ever the sweet, older sister type.
“Break a leg tonight, Eden. Heard Vic was letting the new guy have a go at you with the knives.”
My stomach nearly falls out of my ass, and the brush I’m holding clatters to the floor. Whirling around in shock, my eyes catch Jess’s. All the other girls stare, some with pity in their gazes, others with fear. I’ve proven I’m the only one capable of performing that stunt with Vic, because I’m not terrified of pain, or death. I trust Vic with my life.
It’s Teddy I can’t trust.
Jess bites her bottom lip, and the beaded bodysuit I’m wearing is suddenly a thousand degrees. “Sorry, I thought you knew.”
“He…he doesn’t…” I sputter pathetically. Chastity rolls her eyes.
“For fuck’s sake, Eden, wouldn’t you rather have some hot guy try to kill you over that old fart?”
It’s easy to ignore her, my gaze stuck on Jess.
“He’s pretty good, Edie. I’ve watched him. All week he’s never missed, not once.”
Her words do nothing to console me. Teddy being here, working here, is a thorn in my side I can’t ignore. I think it’s safe to assume he’s somehow being forced into this, but the way he breezes about the place so nonchalantly is unsettling.
As though he is one with the darkness of this world.
Everyone simmers down into frightened silence the moment Daniel’s frame fills the open doorway, but they shouldn’t fear; his eyes are on me alone. And draped over his arm is a new outfit, black and sparkly and as skimpy as a string. A sick smile curls his lips.
“Come, Eden. We need to have a little chat.”
Do this, or you’re fired.
Daniel’s harsh words rattle around in my skull like a pinball in a machine. It’s the only discernible thought I have right now, standing here at the end of the hall, wearing a robe, heels, a thong…and nothing else.
We have very high paying clientele tonight.
My stomach writhes and twists like worms in the grass after a downpour.
We needed to clean the main act up, make it more…sellable.
I attempt to swallow, but my tongue is stuck to the roof of my mouth. My palms are clammy, my hands clenched so tightly my fingers ache. Vic opens the door, his face blurring into view, blotting out the ring behind him. In his eyes are resignation, and sorrow.
I’m…I’m still in high school.
I’d pleaded, but the reminder of my father dying alone on the streets while I rot away for attempted manslaughter had me stripping out of my sequined bodysuit and into a single strip of fabric.
Vic holds out his hand, and I slip mine into his, needing to feel anchored to this world right now. Not only will my life be in Teddy Poe’s hands…
He’s going to see me nearly naked.
I suppose everyone is, but for some reason, it hurts knowing he’s about to witness my downfall. Being bullied over the years made me withdraw into myself until only a hard shell remained. Whenever I’d be getting kicked, I’d peek out, praying someone would intervene for once. Every time, I’d fall into those twin teal pools, and every time, they’d look away. He’s just as much my bully as the worst of them.
The thought of him seeing me this vulnerable makes me want to vomit.
Vic’s hand is warm and calloused against mine. He gives my fingers a gentle squeeze, a silent reminder that he’s still here, still on my side. There’s just not much anyone can do once they make a deal with those two devils.
The lights circulating the ring become blinding as I step onto the springboard. Vic releases me, my heart pumping so hard I fear I may faint for the first time ever during this stunt, and not because I’m afraid of the knives, or pain, but because this feels too intimate to be witnessed by so many salivating patrons.
And it feels far too intimate to be sharing this moment with Teddy.
He stands alone in the ring, tall and broad shouldered in an ebony suit that matches my g-string and heels. A top hat rests on his head, an addition that makes him appear somehow more sinister than ever before. Like some dark, evil version of the Mad Hatter. Those familiar eyes dance with glee and a touch of mischief, never straying from mine as I take my measured steps forward in time with my heavy heartbeats, the music thudding all around us and drowning out the whispers from the risers.
He holds out his hand, the daunting slab of wood an omnipresent force behind him. My skin crawls in an unfamiliar way, knowing he is the one who will be strapping me down this time. I try to swallow again, only to find my tongue somehow even drier, and place my hand in his, our skin barely touching. Eyes still locked, his fingers cinch down on mine, and he pulls me closer, so close our noses almost touch, and his scent swirls around us. It’s calming, those notes of juniper and leather and smoke, and as his impish gaze rakes over my face, my cheeks flame to life.
“I’ve always wanted to throw knives at a pretty girl,” he says, voice cutting just a notch above the rumbling music, so deep and rich and velvety smooth right now. It’s sinister, and should be illegal how sexy he looks like this, and I curse myself for finding him attractive at all, but especially right now. Baring my teeth as my last defense, I yank my hand from his.
“If you’re going to miss, Teddy Poe, be sure to fucking kill me.”
When his grin blooms, his canine teeth appear, longer than normal and vampiric in nature. Another thing about him I find sinfully attractive. He chuckles, the sound dark and foreboding.
“Not today, Eden Clemm. I’m just getting started with you.”
And for once in my life, I’m glad those knives never sink into my skin.