Crowley's Window (Novella) Read online

  “Why? Fucking gross, dude. You’re just hoping she’ll give you a kiss!”

  “Screw you,” Charlie joked, taking a half-hearted swing at Ray’s chest. His fist hit nothing but muscle and he tried his best to shake it off and not let his brother see how much it had hurt. His glasses nearly slipped from his nose, but he caught them in time, pushing the thick black frames back into place before slurping another drink. “Okay, big shot. What do you wanna see first?”

  “No idea. Let’s get in there, though. Times a wasting! Drink up!”

  The brothers quickly chugged down another Bud and with a pleasant buzz carrying them onward, made their way to the main entrance under the big red, white, and blue TOWNSEND banner and then dodged back and forth through the crowd heading for the circus tent on the right-hand side of the field. Taking a bit of a detour, they paused long enough to buy a mustard smothered hot dog each and to make fun of a few of their friends who they saw screaming in terror riding the same old rusty Tilt-O-Whirl ride that had been coming to town for decades. Charlie considered stopping to try his luck at winning a giant size Sponge Bob Square Pants but knew what Ray would say if he even considered it so he shrugged his shoulders to the carnie trying to coax him closer and followed his cooler brother past the rest of the games. Within minutes, the Jensen Brothers were standing beside the Sideshow Curiosity tent, checking out the full size posters of the various “freaks” and exhibits on display inside.

  “Step right up folks,” a carnival barker in a fancy red tuxedo coat climbed onto a makeshift wooden stage and began to address the crowd. He was a tall husky man with a big curly mustache that looked like the world’s largest caterpillar was crawling across his face. “See some of the World’s greatest mysteries unfold before your very eyes. Check out the medical marvels and outrageous oddities that defy modern science…as well as your imagination. Come on in, my friends, if you dare. See things you won’t find anywhere else on Earth. One ticket is all you need and you can have a front row seat to see Chollo, the World’s Shortest Man…Penelope, the Bearded Beauty…Mordran, the Fire Breathing Dragon-man…Lennox, the Lobster Boy…and Aurora, Mistress of the Dark. All these and more…”

  A chill ran down Charlie’s spine and he flinched enough that his brother noticed.

  “What’s the matter, dude?”

  “Nothing. I’ve heard of that Mistress of the Dark before and she creeps me out a bit, that’s all. Let’s go in and see the—”

  “What about her?” Ray interrupted him. “First of me hearing about her. What’s a mistress of the dark, anyway? Sounds like a porn queen.”

  “You wish. No, man, she’s blind. That’s where the name comes from, I guess. Lost her eyes years ago in some crazy ass accident or disease but get this…she can still see. She’s a fortune teller…a powerful psychic. She’s the real deal too, or so I was told.”

  “Get lost. How can she see if she’s really blind? She must be faking it.”

  “No, not according to Mick Carver anyway. He told me she’s young, not much older than us actually, and that she’s good looking. Sexy as all hell. Lost her eyes and was blind for a while but somehow ended up drawing pictures of eyes on the palms of her hands and realized she could see again. Something like that anyway. With her right hand she can see into the future and uses her left to look into the past. Fucking creepy, huh?”

  “Bullshit. Mick smokes too much weed, Charlie. These freaks all have made up stories like that. Bet she’s not even blind.”

  “One way to find out, Bro.”

  “Mick said she was hot?”

  “Smoking, dude.”

  “Then what are we waiting for? Let’s get a ticket.”

  * * *

  When the phone rang, it took the tall man several rings to realize it was actually his cell making the noise. With all the bells, buzzers, screams, laughter, and general craziness going on around him at the busy carnival, it was a wonder he could hear the phone at all. Frantic, he dug into his front pocket to retrieve his cell, deathly afraid he might miss the call. In the display window, it said one word. CROWLEY. It was the only person he’d been expecting a call from, but now that it was here he was reluctant to answer it, though he had no choice. His heart began to race inside his chest.

  He’d been here for about an hour already, but had stayed in the shadows, hardly moving, just silently watching the crowds scurry past and trying to not look too out of place. That wasn’t easy for him. He was nervous and sweating far too much, looking guilty of something even though he hadn’t done anything…yet. People’s eyes seemed to narrow when they gazed at him, not liking what they saw. Their eyes would invariably drop down to take in the large hunting knife sheathed on his belt too, and they’d make sure their family took a wide berth around him, instinctively not wanting to get too close.

  “Hello?” he shouted into the cell, plugging his finger into his other ear to drown out the chaotic din of the crowd. There was silence on the other end of the line. “I’m here, Mr. Crowley…at the carnival.”

  A cold, hard voice on the other end of the line simply said, “It’s time.”

  The tall man had trouble swallowing, the saliva gone from his throat. “Okay,” he said, but the caller had already hung up. Putting away the phone, he closed his eyes for a moment and took a long, deep breath. Then he opened them and began his search.

  * * *

  After waiting for years, the Jensen brothers were finally inside the Sideshow Curiosities tent and to be honest, they weren’t all that impressed. The circus tent had basically been sectioned off by plastic tarps, with a corridor open right down the center and the entrance to all the various freaks and displays off that. You found the exhibit you wanted to see, stood in line, and then got a few minutes alone, or sometime with a small crowd, inside. The crowds were fairly large, so they kept the lines moving as fast as possible, not really letting the people have enough time to enjoy themselves.

  “This place sucks,” Ray complained. “It’s too damn busy.”

  “Definitely, Bro, but that’s how they make their money, ya know? Get ‘em in…get ‘em out.”

  “Yeah, I hear ya. Plus it keeps everyone from seeing how fake everything is. If we could stand there and really get a good look, we’d all want our money back. Bastards!”

  They’d originally set out to see the Mistress Of The Dark first, but the line up to get in her section of the tent had been huge so they’d gone and seen three or four other “freaks” just to pass the time. Mister Chollo had been a dud. He might very well have been the World’s shortest man, as the posters proclaimed, but big deal. It was just this tiny two and a half foot tall dude that just stood there and waived to the crowd. He juggled a little and tried to do a little dance, but the brothers were bored within seconds. Lennox the Lobster Boy hadn’t been much better. They’d been expecting some half man, half monster with hard red skin or something, but all they got was a tired looking old man with deformed hands. Forget crushing bricks and cutting through steel cans, the old guy could hardly hold his coffee cup without spilling it. The fire breather was okay and the exhibit of mutant animals and medical curiosities was pretty cool, but they could only look at three eyed sheep and two headed cows for so long. Soon they were back milling around in the common area wondering what to do next.

  “Hey look,” Charlie said. “There’s no line in front of the fortune teller’s tent anymore. We can go see her now. Hope she’s as hot as Mick said she was. ”

  “Right on! And since she’s blind, she won’t be able to tell that we’re checking her out either! Let’s go.”

  “Jesus, Ray. Do you always have to be such a pervert?”

  Inside the small enclosure, there were several chairs around a small wooden table. When Ray and Charlie sat down, they were the only ones in the room. On the table in front of them sat a large crystal ball about the size of a soccer ball, dark inside and not giving away any secrets.

  “Where is she?” Charlie asked, but before Ray could
speak the lights in the enclosure dimmed and from behind a curtain emerged one of the most gorgeous women either of the teenage boys had ever seen. She was tall and moved with the grace of a dancer. Her hair was jet black, curling down to her bare shoulders and she was wearing a see through purple wrap over a sexy black bra and long black skirt. Her eyes were covered with a dark purple cloth tied around her head, a makeshift blindfold that did nothing to hide how beautiful her face was. Her breasts were large and full, and to the young men’s joy, nearly bursting out.

  “Wow!” was all Ray could say, much happier now with the Townsend Traveling Show than he’d been ten minutes ago. Charlie didn’t say a word. Just sat still and waited to see what might happen.

  “Hello boys,” the young woman said. “My name is Aurora, Mistress of the Dark. Thanks for coming to see me.”

  “Hold it,” Ray said. “You’re supposed to be blind. How do you know who’s sitting here? We could be anyone. You got an assistant back there?”

  “You don’t need eyes to see everything, my friend. I can hear your hearts beating faster when you look at me. I can sense your youthful aura sitting before me.” In truth, she’d just heard them giggling and chatting as they entered her tent but they didn’t need to know that. It was all part of the show. Abigail Hawkins had been doing this Aurora gig for three years now, and she was good at it.

  “No offense, but I’m not buying it. Bet you can see right through that blindfold.”

  “Ray!” Charlie nudged his brother, horrified he’d just said such a thing. “Don’t be so rude. I’m sorry, ma’am. I believe you. I’ve heard lots of stories about what you can do. Is it true about your hands? I heard you drew eyes on them to help you see.”

  The fortune teller smiled. It was amazing how the stories got around. “I started with magic markers actually, but the pictures I’d get were fuzzy and cartoonish. I needed a more professional job. See…” Abby held up her left hand and the boys both gasped. On her palm, as lifelike in size and shape as could be, was a tattoo of an eye, its vivid blue iris surrounded by white. It was eerily realistic, almost 3-D in appearance, and it even had black mascara around it and inked on eyelashes. When Abby moved her fingers, the eye seemed to wink at them. “With this hand, I can see into your past.” She held up her right hand. The tattoo on that palm was identical, except the iris was colored emerald green. “With this eye, I can see your future. What would you like to hear?”

  Charlie wasn’t sure, but the past seemed somehow safer. “Tell me about something in my past.”

  “Okay,” Abby said, reaching out with her left hand to touch Charlie on the arm. She felt him shiver at her touch and knew he must be wondering how she could find his arm so easily. Deep down, no one really believed she could do the things she claimed, but that was what kept them coming back—that sense of wonder, the hopeful feeling that just maybe she was telling the truth.

  As soon as she touched the boy, she knew his name and most things about him. The trick was not giving too much away. You wanted to tempt and charm the customers with half-truths and things that might fit their lives, without actually telling intimate details about them. People wanted to believe you were psychic in a fun way, a way they could go home and joke about, but most people—even the believers—didn’t want to know your powers were really true. No one was supposed to find out what a “freak” Abby truly was, so she just said, “I’m hearing the letter ‘C’. Is your name Chad?”

  “Nope. Real close though. Wow. The C was right. My name’s Charlie.”

  “Charlie. Yes, that’s it. Now I see it clearer.”

  Ray laughed in the other chair, unimpressed, but Abby continued on without acknowledging him. “I see that you’re a kind person, Charlie. A real nice guy, but in the past I think you’ve had some bad luck with girls, right?”

  “That’s an understatement,” Ray said, laughing louder.

  “Shut up, man!” Turning back to the fortune teller Charlie said, “Umm…yeah, I’ve always been kind of shy I guess.”

  Abby smiled. “Don’t worry, Charlie. You’ll be just fine. I’m seeing lots of girls knocking on your door soon. Just wait and see.”

  “Hey thanks, Aurora. That was cool!”

  “Cool?” Ray said. “Don’t be an idiot. She didn’t tell you squat. It doesn’t take a psychic to look at you and know you’re a dork with no girlfriend. Anyone can see that. Okay Aurora…my turn. And I’m not as gullible as my geeky brother here so you’ll have to do better than that to impress me.”

  “No problem. Why don’t we take a peek into your future?” Abby kept the smile on her face but didn’t like this guy one bit. He was rude and pushy and kept staring at her boobs thinking she couldn’t tell. She’d had a long night of guys ogling her body and although that was all part of the game too, she’d had enough and wanted rid of this jerk as fast as she could. Abby reached out with her right hand this time, but as she tried to move the crystal ball to the side a little so she could reach his arm, a powerful vision swept over her, the strongest she’d had in nearly a year. The vision hit her like a force–five tornado, catching her in its funnel cloud and pulling her up and out of her body, up and out of her fortune teller’s enclosure, up and out of the Sideshow Curiosities tent, and over to the entrance of the carnival where the crowds were beginning to trickle out into the parking lot.

  When Abby’s visions were this strong, the experience was much more than just a bunch of flickering pictures or shadow-shrouded images in her mind. For however long it lasted, she actually lived the moment—seeing, hearing, smelling, feeling, and tasting every second in blazing Technicolor as if it were happening to her in real time. Even more than the physical sensations, when Abby was really tuned in she could pick up the emotional heartbeat of the situations, the raw, soul-deep emotions of the people she encountered so no matter what she saw or heard Abby could see into their hearts to quickly decipher what was really going on. Tonight was no different. As soon as her mind’s eye swooped down out of the sky to land near the car park she immediately sensed the danger closing in on her long before she saw it.

  Oh my God! Abby thought, a chill not caused by the summer breeze enveloping her spirit body, as she looked back toward the carnival’s main entrance and prepared herself to witness whatever it was she’d been drawn here to see. Something was wrong though, something it took her only a moment to figure out. This carnival looked exactly like the one she worked in, no, make that was the one she worked in, but it had been altered here in the vision. That was unusual. Everything looked familiar, from the entrance to the ticket booth, to the enormous circus tent on the far side of the white picket fence. What had changed was that instead of the TOWNSEND sign that always hung prominently on display, Abby was looking at a banner strung above the entrance with the word CROWLEY’S printed in large block letters. Who the heck was Crowley? A man or perhaps a woman? Abby had no idea but just reading the mysterious name made her spirit tremble in fear and part of her was confused, thinking maybe she should recognize the name. For a moment she almost had it, almost grabbed a memory out of the dark night air, but as fast as it came it was gone again and Abby was left with nothing but the faint aroma of sickly sweet flowers in her ghostly nostrils.

  With no answers available to her, she tried to forget about it and pay attention to the people exiting the carnival but the growing terror within her couldn’t seem to find a home within any of the men and women of Westchester. There was a black cloud of fear descending around her, kicking in her body’s natural fight or flight response, rapidly elevating her heartbeat but still Abby couldn’t find the person that was so afraid, or who it was that was causing such dread.

  Then Abby saw the little girl.

  She was about six or seven years old and cute as a button with her long dark hair tied up in ribbons and wearing a pretty striped summer dress trimmed with lace. In her hand she carried a huge swirling lollipop, but not once did Abby see her bring it to her mouth to lick; holding it more like a shield
than a sweet sugary treat. The child had a strange look on her face, half smiling, half frowning, still trying to keep her fear from showing but if you paid attention to the way she kept looking around hoping someone would come and help her, her true feeling started to surface. Inside Abby knew she was frightened, completely confused, and wondering where her parents were. Her name was…Trisha. Yes, that was it. The last she’d seen her mother and father they were all in line at the hotdog booth but there were so many people crowding around and walking by that Trisha got separated from them and ended up wandering around the midway for twenty minutes until this tall man had come over to see if she needed any help. His large hunting knife strapped to his belt had frightened her a little, but at the time she’d been far more afraid of being alone than she was of this stranger. Abby could still hear the man’s soothing words in Trisha’s mind, asking her if she’d like a jumbo lollipop and promising to help find her parents and make sure she was safe.

  Bastard! Abby thought. Filthy lying scumbag!

  For a while, Trisha had believed him, trusted that he’d lead her to her parents and everything would be fine, but instead of heading further into the carnival where her mom and dad surely were, the man had begun walking her toward the exit. By the time Abby noticed them, the man was literally dragging her along, picking up his pace and telling her lies about seeing her father in the parking lot.