The Snakeman

This Months Vamplit Friday Flash theme is the Circus and Freakshows are this weeks theme. Please enjoy.

The Snakeman

By Lisa McCourt Hollar

Sharona was in love. With each thrust that Leo delivered, she screamed out his name, begging him to keep going. Her body began to shake as Leo plunged into her one last time. Hanging onto him, Sharona dug her fingers into his back and rode out the orgasm.

“Oh my God, that was amazing.” Kissing his neck, she slowly moving up to his chin, searching out his mouth. Her tongue flicked across his skin and she paused, puzzled. It was rough...scaly.

Pushing away, Sharona swiped at her tongue with her hand. Rolling her eyes, she looked towards Leo and froze. His skin, no longer smooth, was covered in scales. He was watching her, his eyes staring into her’s...waiting. They weren't Leo's eyes. Leo’s were green and made her melt when she looked into them. These eyes were yellow, serpent like and made her skin crawl. When a forked tongue slipped out of his mouth, Sharona screamed.

“Sharona, wake up.”

Opening her eyes, Sharona looked into worried, green eyes.

“You had another nightmare.”

“It wasn't a nightmare. He was here. Again.” Sharona reached for the bottle of water next to her bed, desperate to wash the taste out of her mouth.

"And what...I just lay here sleeping while another man screwed you?"

"Raped me."

“From what you've told me, it's the best sex you ever had. Right up until I turn into a snake.”

“I told you, it wasn't you, it was him.” Sharona shuddered at the memory of the Snakeman slithering on top of her. She looked away from Leo, afraid to see the mixture of pity and disgust in his eyes.

Sliding across the bed, Leo put his hands on his girlfriend's shoulders, turning her around so that she was facing him. "I made an appointment for you to talk to a psychologist. Promise me you will go. Please."

Sharona sighed. "Fine."

Leo pulled her to him, wrapping his arms around her. Sharona stared over his shoulder at her reflection in the mirror and the patch of flaky skin just above the bridge of her nose.

***

It was raining out. Maneuvering the highway, Sharona kept her eyes focused on the road. It was noon, but it looked closer to evening. The circus would still be open though. There was always something under the Big Top. It was the freak show that drove her out into the rain though, traveling nearly a hundred miles to Grover City. That was where Lombardo's Circus was. After today, they would move on to Florida. It would be three more months before they came back this way. She wasn't willing to wait another three months to confront her stalker.

Sharona had first seen the Snake Man, when the circus came to her town. Leo was working, but she had gone with some of her friends. They were getting ready to leave, when she had seen the sign for the Freak Show.

"Come on, let's go in. It will be fun."

Her friends had agreed, but it was obvious they weren't getting the same enjoyment out of it that she was. When they got to the last attraction, they headed straight for the exit. Sharona hung back, captivated by the man covered in scales. He was sitting in a pit filled with snakes and the sign read, SNAKEMAN. He was, according to the sign, the offspring of Lucifer and Medusa. Sharona knew it was just a costume and cleverly applied makeup, but then she felt him in her head. He was whispering to her how beautiful she was. She felt his arms around her waist. She was in the middle of the snake pit with him.

"You are mine now. You will be my mate."

Then she was back outside the pit and her friends were telling her to hurry up.

That night the dreams began. She shrugged them off at first. Then she found a scale lodged between her teeth when she was flossing. She showed it to Leo, but he reminded her that they had eaten fish for dinner.

"Someone must have missed a scale when they were cleaning it."

When her skin began to change, Leo blamed it on too much time in the sun. Only Sharona knew the truth; the Snakeman was changing her.

The parking lot was nearly empty. Parking as close to the entrance as she could, Sharona bought a ticket and headed straight for the Freak Show.

***

Leo finished boxing up Sharona's belongings and loaded them into the car. It had been nearly four months since she'd vanished. She hadn't even left him a note. She just walked out one day and drove off in her car. The police looked for her, but after a while they stopped. Finally he came to the same conclusion everyone else had. She'd left him and she wasn't coming back. He didn't blame her. Sharona's mind was disturbed and she had been retreating further and further from him every day.

Loading the last box into the car, Leo pulled out of the parking lot. He was taking them to her parents. He'd met someone else and she would be moving in over the weekend. Passing a sign that pointed the way to a circus, Leo slowed down. Surprising himself, he turned in the direction the sign pointed, until he came to the circus.

Walking down the main fairway, he looked at the many offerings. A sign for the freak show caught his attention. He hesitated only a moment. The snake pit was in the last room. Inside was the man that had haunted Sharona's dreams. A woman sat next to him, her yellow eyes staring into his. Leo took a step back, the intensity of the gaze frightening him. His heart hammered in his chest and his throat tightened. Looking for the sign, he found it. Leo looked back at the Snake Woman, feeling as though he were going insane.

The sign read, THE SNAKEMAN AND HIS MATE, SHARONA.

Word Count: 998

Under The Big Top

This week’s vamplit flash fiction prompt is ghosts. You will find mine under the big top.

Under The Big Top

By Lisa McCourt Hollar

"See, I told you!" Tyler Jenson was pointing to the circus tent that was standing in the middle of the field. Paolo Guigini had scoffed when his best friend had told him the circus had finally come to Benson's Ridge.

"A circus? What the hell would a circus be doing out here? What you been doin', smokin' some of that wacky weed your daddy been growin'?"

"Piss off Paolo. Come on, I'll show ya."

Now Paolo was rubbing his eyes to be sure he wasn't seeing things. The circus tent, as well as the rides that always accompanied these attractions, shimmered brightly through the dusk.

"Wazzit doin’ here?" Paolo's mouth watered as the scent of popcorn reached his nose.

"I dunno. You wanna get a closer look?"

Sticking to the shadows, the two friends made their way across the field. The sound of a concertina reached their ears and Tyler chuckled, pointing to a monkey that was sitting on a platform between the Ferris wheel and the carousel.

"Would you like to have him play anything in particular?"

The boys jumped at the sound of the voice. Turning, they found themselves looking into the wrinkled face of the circus ringmaster. He had long, dark hair and deep blue eyes that were overshadowed by a pair of bushy eyebrows. His handlebar mustache reminded Tyler of the villains in silent movies.

"I'm sorry," Tyler said, fearing they were in trouble. "We just wanted to get a closer look."

"Of course you were," the man said, tipping his tall black hat. "You're boys. What boy doesn't want a closer look at a circus?"

"What are you doing here," Paolo asked. "The circus never comes to Benson's Ridge."

"Never? Well then you two are in for a treat. Tonight, we are here to entertain you! Where should we begin?"

Clapping his hands together, the circus master was joined by performers who seemed to appear out of nowhere. There were women in sequined costumes, a strong man in a leopard print leotard, a woman with a very impressive beard and clowns with brightly painted faces. There were several human oddities and some of whom didn't appear to be of human decent.

They all started calling to the boys, wanting to be the one chosen to perform. Before long the two of them were sitting in the big top. The ringmaster called out for the boys to turn their attention on the ropes overhead. A spotlight lit up and hovered over a woman sitting on a swing. Slowly she began gliding back and forth. Tilting backwards, she lifted her legs, positioning her body upside down. She hooked one leg on the bar, leaving the other to hang free. She swung back and forth and then leaped through the air and caught herself on another bar. Paolo applauded the daring move, spilling his popcorn on the ground. He couldn't remember the last time he'd had so much fun and wondered if he might not be a little high. The tent, and even the performers at time, appeared to shimmer, as though they weren't completely solid.

Tyler was equally enthralled, although he wasn't watching the trapeze act. On the other side of the tent some clowns were putting on an act. Two of the clowns had begun to fight, hitting each other with oversized boxing gloves. Then one produced an anvil out of thin air and dropped it on another. Tyler laughed as the clown appeared to fold like an accordion beneath the weight. Another clown joined the fight, pulling a gun out of a pocket. Tyler was impressed by the number of colored rags that were tied to the end, and then whooped with joy when the trigger was pulled and a sign that read BANG shot out. At the same time the other clowns head exploded and confetti flew into the air. Amazed by the special effects, Tyler wondered how they had worked the trick.

Another clown entered the ring at that point. He was dressed as the Grim Reaper and pulled behind him a guillotine. The clowns then surrounded Tyler, urging him to join them. Enjoying this new turn of events, Tyler willingly knelt and put his head into the stock.

Paolo didn't notice the show his friend was now participating in. He was fixated on the trapeze artist. She was now riding a unicycle across a rope while holding a torch. She stopped in the middle of the tight wire and balanced herself in place. Looking towards the boy, she smiled brightly as one of the clowns ran across the ring, lifted a bucket and splashed Paolo, soaking him.

The clowns and the ringmaster laughed at Paolo's startled reaction. The boy frowned. The liquid smelled like gasoline. Horrified Paolo turned to run. From the tightrope, the acrobat dropped her torch, the flames sparking to life around Paolo's body.

Tyler frowned. Why did he smell something burning? He didn't have much time to wonder. The guillotines blade slammed into his neck, separating his head from his body.

When the sun rose the next morning, the sheriff was summoned. Two bodies were in the middle of the otherwise empty meadow. The burnt body was unrecognizable, but there was no doubt it was Paolo, considering the headless body of Tyler Jenson next to him.

"Same as it was the last time." The sheriff was puzzled. This was a strange serial killer. He didn’t strike every year, sometimes going as long as ten years between attacks and always dumping the bodies in Benson's field. The same field that Sam Benson had condemned a circus troupe to death after catching his wife screwing the ringmaster. Driven insane, Benson had snuck into the circus grounds the night before they were to leave and set fire to the ringmaster’s tent. The fire had spread quickly. Some had speculated when the killings first began, that the ringmaster had survived. That was over a hundred years ago. If it was anyone from the circus, they’d have to be ghosts.

If you liked this story, you might like The Carnival, available on Kindle and Smashwords.

Copyright© 2011 Lisa McCourt Hollar. All rights reserved.