TUESDAY


"…remember time is running out! Our shelters won't be…"

You wake up to instinctively to grab the remote to turn off the TV only to realize that you have no TV, yet you're still hearing those damn Ground Zero commercials.

You groggily sit up and look out a side window and see one of the carnies holding a radio, which is loudly playing one of those advertisements.

Just as well you're up anyway, now that you have actual responsibilities and will have to live these new people you should take this opportunity to meet everyone since despite getting acquainted with your co-workers and the boss, you didn't really interact with anyone else working here.

Still dressed in your outfit from yesterday (mainly because you lack anything else to wear right now) you go out and meet your brand new family full of hope that this will be the start of something wonderful!

The reality turns out to be much different though.

"Honey, why the hell are hanging around with those clowns? I'm sure you'd be better as a sword swallower; in fact I got a way you can practice if you come to my trailer right now!"
"Hey clown girl, I've got a way to paint your face white without the need for make up!"
"Nice tits!"

The female carnies aren't much better.

"So you're the new girl that got her own private trailer huh? Guess a blowjob gets you a lot preference nowadays. Was Roofie even sober at the time?"
"Hey Bozo the Hoe, you think you're hot shit wiggling your ass at everyone? Let me warn you right now, you take my man I'll make sure you won't need to wear a red clown nose at your next performance!"
"No, I don't have any extra clothes you can borrow, Miss Living Skeleton. Go away you anorexic bitch."

Life is never easy outside the basement is it Suzy?

Unfortunately that part of your life is over. You could go back to your trailer and hide you suppose, but it's not the same and besides you've already come to the conclusion that hiding won't solve your problems.

Still, you are feeling a little "ganged up" on so for temporary relief you return to currently the only people that are halfway decent to you now, your fellow clowns.

You enter the clown tent and see them all sitting around talking about something, but then when you enter all their attention is turned towards you.

"Oh hey Suzy, you're here early. We don't usually warm up until a few hours before showtime." Klepto remarks.
"Oh, I'm not here for that, I'm just here since half of the carnival seems to want to fuck me and barrage me with clumsy sexual innuendo."
"And… you came here to get away from that?" Lifto asks.

You chuckle a little.

"Yeah well at least if I stay in here part of it will be work related." You answer which causes a couple of laughs and smiles from the rest.
"Well considering you are one of us, maybe we should go easier on that now." Klepto says.
"I'd certainly appreciate it."
"Hey there are a lot of other women who work here, maybe you could go bond with them and do that whole sisterhood thing?" Lifto says.
"I tried that. They all insulted me and seemed to want to punch me. Well except for that woman with the short red hair that juggles knives. I think she wanted to punch AND fuck me. (Sigh) No, looks like you guys are my only tribe here for now."
"Hm, well get used to it I guess. Nobody likes us clowns that much. To be quite honest one of the reasons we decided to knock off the crude remarks toward you is because you'll be the first new person in years that will be civil to us. No point in making new enemies." Klepto says.
"Really? I thought all carnies stuck together." You say.

Now all the rest of the clowns laugh.

"Hardly. I mean yeah there's a certain unspoken rule that carnies stay united against outsiders and rubes. And we aren't supposed to kill one another, but…well lets just say this very carnival doesn't exactly have a spotless track record in that regard." Klepto says.
"People kill each other here?" you ask a bit alarmed.
"No! Well not in my time anyway…" Klepto remarks trailing off.
"What the hell does that mean? Look I don't want to be part of some murder circus!"
"Damn it Klepto you've scared the girl now! You should've just kept your mouth shut!" Shrimpy exclaims.

At this point the clowns begin arguing with each other, but after a few moments of this bickering you demand that someone explain the situation exactly. Once again Klepto takes it upon himself to be the storyteller.

"Look, I've probably blown it all out of proportion, but there are stories of how back in the day before Roofie or even his dad owned this carnival there was a violent power struggle for control over it that resulted in a lot of dead bodies afterwards."
"Weren't just stories, shit it happened! My family has been a fixture of this carnival for generations too and my grandfather told me about the blood that ran during that fateful day." Shrimpy adds as if Klepto didn't quite put as much stock in these stories and takes over as the storyteller.

"Battle lines were drawn that day. I mean you had dwarves, normals and freaks all siding against each other and the most hated group out of the bunch? The clowns. Now from what my grandfather told me, these clowns were definitely the reason why everyone today thinks of them as being monsters under the beds nowadays. Things of course have changed since then, but as they say the more things change the more they stay the same."
"What do you mean?" you ask.
"I'm saying there's going to be another power struggle soon and given that we're clowns, WE are going to be on the losing end no matter what happens"
"Wait a minute, what about Roofie? I mean isn't he one of us?" you ask.
"Roofie? The fact that he's a clown just makes everyone think we already get preferential treatment. He'll probably be the first one killed being the owner and all. He's old and doesn't have nearly the amount of control he used to anymore. Nope, I believe the change will be coming soon and it'll be truly be a dark day for clowns…well maybe I'll be able to get my people to take me back and YOU can offer to be someone's girlfriend, but the rest of you are fucked."
"Gee, glad to know we'll be able to count on your support Shrimpy, if something does happen." Klepto remarks.

You never realized that carnie "politics" was so complex and dangerous. Before you can panic too much about it Roofie shows up with a bottle in his hand.

"Hey, what're you lot still doing in here? We've actually got people showing up early. Apparently your little routine yesterday got people at that trailer park talking and they brought all the rest of their redneck buddies. Looks like we'll get to rake in one goodly amount of cash before leaving this place. Oh and Suzy, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the car you drove up in? Well looks like it was vandalized in the night."
"What?!" you exclaim.
"All the tires were slashed and someone wrote cunt all over it with face make up. It might be just a hunch, but I'd say Ranko felt like he needed to have to last word."
"(Sigh) Great." You say.
"Well anyway you all need to get out there and do what you do." Roofie orders and leaves.

While the rest get going, you remain sitting starting to worry about what you've got yourself into. Once again you start to wonder if you shouldn't just leave until Klepto touches your shoulder.

"Don't worry Suzy, Shrimpy has been going on like that for as long as I've known him. While things get tense around here at times, I don't think it's going to come to some bloodbath. Besides you can't spend your life worrying about the future, gotta live for the day I say, so let's just take our minds off our troubles by putting on a good show." Klepto remarks.

While Klepto's reassurance is nice, it doesn't really alleviate your concerns. Hell, you can't even leave if you wanted to given that Peter's car is trashed. You can only hope that perhaps in time peoples' attitudes towards you will soften a bit. Right now, you do have work to focus on.

Roofie wasn't lying when he said more people showed up today. You and the rest of the clowns spend a majority of the afternoon walking around keeping the people entertained

Eventually you take a break and decide to check out Peter's car and if it is at all salvageable. When you get to it, it's exactly as Roofie said, all four tires slashed and the word cunt painted all over it. You can't believe nobody saw any of this even during the night. Or maybe they did and didn't give a shit considering you haven't exactly been accepted by most here.

In any event you try to call Peter again, but you get no answer. He hasn't even tried to call you. He must really be involved with work or something. Or maybe he doesn't give a shit about his car. He could easily afford a new one. You also notice Bobby hasn't tried calling you either. You guess he got the hint.

You attempt to start to the car and just as you suspected Ranko must've sabotaged the engine or something under the hood as well. No matter, when you leave you weren't going to be driving this thing anymore anyway. Lacking anymore use for the car, you take a look in the trunk just to see what might be in there and that's when you find something useful. Namely a bunch of clothes…specifically YOUR clothes! Well some of them anyway.

Apparently Peter still had a lot of your old clothes that he stole from you in the past. The other stuff looks like S&M garb, though not all of it the traditional black leather or latex. Some of it is sort of colorful. Festive even.

Well at least you won't be walking around in the same stuff day in day out now. You pack up what you can and head back to your trailer to drop it off. Afterwards you find the rest of your new clown "family" and eat with them. You take the opportunity to tell them a little bit about your former life; you get a surprising amount of sympathy from the others.

"Holy shit, I thought I came from a fucked up family." Klepto remarks.
"Yeah well, like I said I did a lot of hiding in the basement for the most part. Not much of a life I guess, but it kept me sane for the most part." You say.
"Hey, whatever helps you survive the day right?" Shrimpy says.

After a bit more chatting you all get back to work.

As time goes on, there is one person you keep seeing nearby throughout the day, a large man in overalls who while attempting to look like he's NOT staring at you, obviously is. This isn't the usual ogling either because you've gotten accustomed to that, you're getting a really creepy vibe from this guy.

"Maybe we should get Roofie to throw this guy out or something." You say.
"Roofie? I just passed by one of the tents when I got another snack and saw he's currently passed out as usual. Besides, he never throws anyone out as long as they aren't doing something violent. As far a he's concerned every low life that visits this carnival is a potential mark and worth putting up with to get their money." Fatty says.
"The guy looks like a retard. He's probably not used to seeing a girl as beautiful as you before. I mean even under the white face make up and clown clothing, you still look miles better than any of the trailer trash mothers that have come here with their spawn." Shrimpy remarks.
"Well he's really fucking creepy and I don't trust him." You say.
"He's not going to do anything in broad daylight, and even if he does, you know we got your back. Just stick near us and Lifto look extra intimidating." Klepto says.

The night the crowds start thinning out a bit. You imagine that after they put their illegitimate spawn to bed, trailer trash prefers to spend their nights at bars, strip clubs and getting high and/or drunk at home. As for the big retard that was staring at you all day, he seems to have left as well, but you still feel uneasy.

Meanwhile Roofie has reawakened from his temporary drunken stupor to tell everyone that today was a good day and that everyone should get some rest since you're going to be packing this place down first thing tomorrow morning and moving on. He then mumbles something about it all being pointless anyway and staggers back to his own trailer.

"Well looks like that's it. See you tomorrow Suzy." Klepto remarks as he and the rest head towards their trailer.

You on the other hand are still a little nervous about going back to yours.

"Uh, guys do you think I could sleep with you tonight?" you say which causes all of them to turn back towards you in disbelief.
"Wow Ranko would have had a field day with that remark." Klepto chuckles. "You know probably nothing is going to happen. That guy was just some goony retard. Hell, if the freak show still existed, he'd probably be one of the side shows here."
"Look, I'm just still feeling really on edge about that guy from earlier. I mean I could sleep on the floor, I don't care." You say.
"That would be incredibly uncomfortable and probably quite disgusting. Our trailer isn't exactly the cleanest. I mean I'd offer my bed, but given that we're going to need all our energy to pack up tomorrow, I'd like to get a good night's sleep." Klepto remarks.

"Why don't I sleep over in your trailer?" Lifto asks. "I know Ranko's trailer is big enough for one other person. I could stay over, you guys would get a little extra room tonight and you can sleep safely without worry."
"Hrmm, that's…generous of you Lifto." Klepto remarks.
"It's not like that, I'm just offering a solution." Lifto says though it does seem like he might be hoping this act of chivalry will lead to something more.

While you'd hate to cause hard feelings within the group or possibly lead someone on, you know one thing is certain; you still don't want to sleep alone tonight.

You stick with your idea

Lifto might mean well, but you'd rather stick with your original plan.

"No, I'm not going to feel safe in my trailer until we leave the damn area, so I still want to sleep in your trailer."
"Well, okay but I'm telling you it's going to be crowded and like I said that floor isn't something you want to sleep on." Klepto says.

You assure the rest that you'll be fine and head back with them to the trailer and that's when you truly begin to appreciate Klepto's warnings. The floor of their trailer is filthier than Ranko's. A lot of food leavings, wrappers and some dirty clothing. You imagine that Fatty is probably the biggest contributor to the trash.

Oddly the smell isn't that bad, but you're not sure about sleeping on the floor anymore.

"Uh, I see what you mean. I think you're right. If I slept on the floor, I'd wake up stuck to it." You say.
"I told you, so what did you want to do?" Klepto asks.
"My offer still stands Suzy and I swear I'm not going to try anything. The alleviation of your worries is my foremost concern." Lifto remarks.
"And that's sweet, but I'm still sleeping here and not on the floor. I'm taking one of those beds."

At this point the rest of the clowns are a little surprised by your demand.

"Uh look Suzy, I know you're concerned about sleeping in your trailer tonight even if I think there isn't anything to worry about and I know we've all gotten a little closer and we all like each other, but come on you don't seriously think one of us is going to give up our bed for a disgusting floor!" Klepto remarks.
"You don't have to I'm taking Shrimpy's bed."
"I'm not sleeping on the floor either!" Shrimpy remarks.
"You don't have to, I'll share it with you."
"WAIT WHAT?!" all of them say.

"Look, it's like this. I'm not going to take up that much room in your beds, which means Fatty and Lifto's beds are out since they themselves can barely fit in them. That leaves Klepto and Shrimpy. Personally I want as much room as I can get and with no offense to Shrimpy due to his size, he's got more room to spare."

Shrimpy smugly smiles at the others.

"Makes sense to me! Okay let's get to bed everyone!" Shrimpy says excitedly.
"Hey wait a minute! We didn't agree to this!" Klepto remarks.
"Yeah, it seems like you were worried about me trying something yet you're going to sleep in Shrimpy's bed? You might be waking up sticky anyway with that little perv next to you." Lifto says.
"Oh no I won't because Shrimpy is going to not only sleep with his back towards me, we're also going to sleep head to toe…well toe to waist anyway. And if I so much feel any sort of unwanted grope, fondle or bad touch during the night there will be severe consequences to his man parts. I might be a little nervous about sleeping by myself tonight, but I'm not nervous about punching a dwarf in the balls because he's perving on me. Understood?"
"I get it." Shrimpy remarks, but he doesn't seem any less disappointed in this arrangement though.
"And if anyone doesn't like it, well my trailer is currently empty for anyone. Lots of room to get a good night's sleep." You add.

Nobody takes you up on your trailer offer or says anything else though you hear some grumbling from Fatty who says he just wants to get off his feet and sleep and on that note you all head for dreamland.

You get in Shrimpy's bed first and get into a comfortable position, and then Shrimpy does likewise at the opposite end of the bed.

You're semi-awake for a while wondering if Shrimpy is going to ignore your warning, but he's asleep pretty fast. Honestly its Fatty's snoring that's more bothersome. You guess the others are used to it.

As you start to get sleepy you can't believe you're not only sharing a bed with a midget clown, but that you're going to leave everything behind tomorrow. The funny thing is you're getting a lot more comfortable with that idea now. You think this is the longest you've gone without constant Internet or TV stimulation and you don't mind at all.

Eventually you do fall asleep feeling almost as safe as you did in your basement.

Next day…

WEDNESDAY


"Hey Suzy get up, time to start packing up." Klepto says tapping your shoulder.
"Okay…" you reply groggily. You don't feel a small figure near the bottom your legs so you assume Shrimpy must've already gotten up.

"Well that wasn't that bad, Shrimpy even honored the agreement." You say sitting up.
"Or maybe you're just a really sound sleeper." Klepto remarks.
"Hrm, well if that's the case he better at least have the sense to not brag about it. Anyway, I suppose I'll take my leave to wash up a bit and change clothes."
"Wish I could come with you." Klepto says.
"Excuse me?" you say.
"Ha ha ha no not that, I meant it sucks having to share the small ass bathroom we have in this trailer. Fatty's in there right now and well you can figure out how it's going to be after he leaves."
"Yeah, I'd rather not have that mental image right now. See you around." You say and start to leave.
"Wait, uh Suzy…I…" Klepto calls out.
"Yes?"
"(Sigh) Look I know I probably haven't been showing exactly prince charming behavior, but I just want to say, I really like you. I mean REALLY like you."
"Yeah I got that impression a long time ago." You respond.
"Yeah, but I'm trying to say it's not just physical."
"I find that a little harder to believe…however I'm not really going to fault you for it, but I'm going to need a lot more proof that you want something deeper than just sex."
"Well what? Like a ring or something?"
"Heh, I don't think you're exactly in a financial position for all that. Look, I like you too, but this probably isn't the best time to expect anything more from me than just friendship. I'm still trying to get used to the fact of this being my new life now not to mention I'm just getting over breaking up with what was my first and only boyfriend. So I might prefer my own company for a while. However that doesn't mean you shouldn't TRY to gain my affection. But only IF you REALLY want something meaningful with me. If not, then I'd suggest that you not waste either of our time and you go find a less discerning mate. I don't need prince charming either, I just need someone I can count on and isn't going to be a complete jerk. And if it helps, so far you're doing a little bit better in that department than anyone else here."
"Okay." Klepto says with a nod and brief smile before you leave.

Well there it is, someone has openly professed a desire to be your boyfriend. You knew it was going to be one of them eventually though. You can only imagine the others will be attempting to woo you as well just like in your routine with them. Funny how life starts to imitate art.

You don't know how sincere Klepto is even if he has been pleasant for the most part. (Can you really ever trust a guy with the name Klepto?)

Attractiveness wise, Klepto probably is the best of the lot. Lifto would probably provide the best protection, but the guy is tough to look at even with clown make up on and as far as Fatty is concerned, the only thing that runs through your mind is potential sexual positions and only one of which doesn't result in you being crushed.

Part of you wonders if you're bad for being shallow, but then you remember they're all attracted to you mostly due to your looks in the first place.

Though for some reason you find Shrimpy's size adorable… in fact you might find some of the others dwarves that work here adorable as well if they weren't quite so vulgar with you. Maybe you've got a hidden dwarf fetish you didn't know about before.

Oh well, you're not going to worry about any of this right now.

As you head back to your own trailer, you see most of the dwarves doing all the labor of packing down the carnival; others are helping, but most are just packing down their own respective stages and such.

"Hey clown slut, if you're not actually going to be sleeping in your own trailer and just going to be playing cum dumpster to your painted freak friends, the least you can do is give it to one of us!" a tattooed lady with big black Mohawk and several piercings in her face remarks catching you off guard. A couple of other tattooed women stand behind her agreeing with her statement. You briefly remember her calling you names from yesterday. Her name's Razor and she does a human pincushion type act.

"I didn't use my trailer last night, because I didn't feel safe by myself." You say.
"Oh? Just a scared little babe in the woods huh? Well you're by yourself now. What're you going to do without your clown crew to protect you?" Razor remarks and pokes you in the chest with her finger.

You look around and while there are a couple of people standing by, none of them are helping you. While Razor isn't much bigger than you, she definitely looks tougher. Combine that with the fact she has two friends that also look like they'll join in and you don't think you'll stand a chance if it actually came down to a fight.

You run

Running was always a tried and true tactic when you had to deal with Kelly's bullying, no reason to change now…

You turn immediately to run to your trailer, but predictably Razor and her lot aren't going to just let you get away.

"Get that fuckin' clown bitch!" Razor shouts.

As you rush past the other carnies you can't help but notice none of them are trying to stop this. You start to think that maybe travelling with this fucked up carnival might not be in your future.

When you get to your trailer the door is slightly ajar. You also notice a couple things out of place from last time, not to mention it looks like someone spent some time in your bed and soiled it with their "essence".

You don't have time to notice anything else, but its apparent that someone was here last night and you dodged a bullet, unfortunately you aren't ducking twice.

As you attempt to lock your door, Razor smashes it open causing it to hit you in the face. While you reeling back from this, Razor has already picked you up and punched you in the face. The rest of her goons are right behind her.

"Lock that door, I wanna enjoy this!" Razor orders one of her crew and pulls out a straight razor.

"Now, I'm do you a favor. I'm gonna cut your mouth so wide that you'll be able to chug three cocks at the same time. You'll be able to make it part of your act, Sucko the clown!" Razor says and lunges at you.

Naturally you're not going to just let her give you a Glasglow smile, so you try to defend yourself. You manage to throw a few nearby items at her, but it isn't enough to stop her. In fact, your struggling makes her "accidently" stab you in throat and cutting an artery.

You fall to the bed clutching your neck, which is bleeding profusely.

"SHIT!" Razor shouts.
"Fuck! I didn't think we were going to kill her!" one of her goons says.
"I wasn't trying to, but the bitch kept struggling. Let's get outta here!" she shouts and soon all of them have left your trailer.

You on the other hand continue to bleed out and soon die from your wound.