Electric Women
I marched outside after getting off the phone with Nick's sister and sat on the steps to the freakshow entrance. I sat out there just looking out over the boardwalk, thinking about the memories I had with Nick. Talking to him when he first showed up, asking about new projects, and the fight that happened between him and Morgue almost a year ago. I brought Nick here, I knew him before I really even got into the freakshow family. Before I started doing stunts and was just helping Morgue out, I met him at an event we had and he showed me some of his art. He came to see Morgue perform. I then brought him to the freakshow a few months later. He really fit in here and seemed to get along with almost everyone, despite how strange he was. Everyone loved Nick.
I was sitting outside for about 20 minutes or so when Morgue came over to talk to me.
"When are you planning on coming back inside?" He asked
"How about in a hundred years?" I muttered.
Morgue wrapped an arm around my shoulder and sighed, I knew he thought the whole exhumation thing was a bad idea, and he was here to talk me out of it more than anything else.
"You know uh, planning an exhumation is a big deal, like you can't just get permission from his sister and move on, there has to be a court case with a reasonable reason to take him out of the ground and-" he started to say.
I cut him off
"If that's all you came out here to say then you should go back inside, Morgen." I sighed, looking away from him.
He sighed.
"I know you're upset, we all are. I just don't think it's worth the effort. He's been dead all this time and you're just now feeling fishy about it?"
"Go away." I muttered, pulling away from him.
"Okay, okay, I'm sorry..."
We stayed silent for a little while, just sitting on the steps looking out over the boardwalk. Morgue eventually changed the subject and spoke up.
"Todd is thinking of doing a night show in the next few days, like a late night show instead of our shows during the day..." He mumbled.
"How come? Does he think it'll draw in more people?" I asked.
"I don't know...I think he wants to bring in an older audience, he said something about upping the level of danger seeing as that's more appropriate for adults."
"Guess that means I have to learn a new act, then." I sighed, putting my face in my hands.
"I could teach you something, I got some tricks up my sleeve" He said, wrapping an arm around my shoulder. He smelled like cigarettes and cologne.
"I'm not going to be vomiting out of a tube to make Todd some extra money, Morgue. That's your job."
"Hey, when was the last time you learned a new act, be honest. What acts do you have right now?" He asked, giving me a condescending look.
"Uh let's see. The stuff with the fire, sword swallowing, bed of nails, mouse trap stunt, uh...I think that's it. Variations of those things at least." I muttered.
"You need to learn something new." Morgue said, standing up and pulling me off the ground.
He led me back into the building and found Danielle and Asia at the front desk.
"This one needs to learn something new." He said, pushing me toward the two of them.
Geez, this guy wasted no time. Got straight to the point.
"Like what, exactly?" Asia asked.
"Well she said she doesn't wanna vomit out of a tube or anything like that so I don't know, come up with something. I'll be with Poncho and Lefty, I'll feed them for you, Danielle." Morgue said, walking away.
"Thank you!" Danielle called after him.
I turned back to Asia and Danielle and Asia quickly pulled me aside behind the stage.
"You want to learn something new? I've got something for you." She said, reaching into her bag of supplies.
She pulled out two torches and a jar of gasoline.
"Fire stuff? I already know how to do all this, Asia." I mumbled.
"No, not quite. I have a new act that I'm working on, and I want to prove to my dad that I can do more dangerous things. This is an act that I learned years ago that my dad wanted me to do at the night show. But I have something different planned. I think you should do this act, and I'll do my new thing." She said smiling, handing me the torches.
I saw a change in Asia after Nick passed away. I never really understood why we villainized each other so much. Maybe it truly was just fighting for Morgue's attention. But after Nick passed away and everyone saw how upset I was, Asia completely turned off the bitchy owner's daughter persona she had towards me, and now she was offering to teach me something new. I had a feeling this was who she really was and we were just being mean to one another because we both wanted Morgue. Maybe she and I were actually becoming friends.
Asia led me over to the electric chair and had me switch it on, to show how much electricity this thing could provide. She then sat down and had me flick it on again.
I dipped the torch in the gasoline like she'd instructed beforehand and she held out her tongue, I touched the torch to it and it lit.
"Holy shit, that's so cool!" I said excitedly, I switched off the chair and helped Asia up. She smiled and took both the torches and the jar from me and set them off to the side.
"Wanna learn how to do that?" She asked
"Uh, hell yes." I shouted, giving her a high five.
She smiled.
"How'd you learn?" I asked.
"Morgue taught me, actually. He meditates a lot, you have to be able to control your own body to allow that much electricity to pass through." She nodded.
"So should I talk to you, or him?" I asked.
She shrugged and thought for a second.
"I...I would talk to him. He knows how to teach this stuff better than I could. And I'm sure he'd appreciate the time with you."
I nodded.
"Hey, look, I'm sorry for how crazy things have been, not getting along between the two of us in like, the past year." I said, grabbing her before she could walk away.
"I think we both know why we acted the way we did, but I was a bitch to you, and I did sleep with your boyfriend, I'm sorry for that." She said softly
"I'm sorry I butted into your relationship with him when you guys dated for those couple months. And I'm sorry I passed you off as a bitch because you were the owner's daughter." I replied.
"After Nick died I didn't even really see much interest in pursuing anything anymore, I saw the same in you. I know you really loved him, Kate." She muttered. Her voice cracked as if she were about to cry.
I nodded to her and we hugged.
"And frankly, I don't think he killed himself either..." She whispered.
I nodded.
"Maybe we could be friends and work together more often?" She asked.
Of course I agreed, she smiled.
"Good luck with the new stunt, I'm glad I can get it off my shoulders and try something new." She smiled and walked away to get back to organizing our outfits for later in the day.
I walked into the break tent to find Morgue reading a book, lost in his own world once again.
"I heard you talking to Asia." he said, not looking up from the book
"You did?" I asked
He smirked and looked up from the book.
"I'd be glad to teach you to be the new electric lady."
