Wren

WREN

T he plan was in place. Everything was ready for tonight. I'd been on edge all day, but there was an undeniable thrum of anticipation in my blood.

Amélie's eyes sparkled behind her mask, and my lips curved upwards. My own mask covered the top half of my face, so she could see my smile. The crowd gasped and cheered far beneath us as we both paused in complete synchronisation and then crossed in the air in a flying leap we'd done hundreds of times—a leap that never failed to wow the audience. Swinging up onto my hoop, I tossed my head theatrically before tipping my body backwards to hang down, my arms outstretched. The hoop began to lower at the same time as the roar of the motorbikes sounded, signalling the next part of the show. Soon it would be time. Time to face him .

When I touched down in the ring, I bowed to the crowd, and then ducked behind the curtain, my heart pounding out of my chest with adrenaline. Amélie was there waiting for me, and when I reached her, she slipped her hand into mine, leading me out of the big top to the smaller tent that housed the fortune teller and mirror maze.

Everything was set up and ready. Now, all we had to do was wait.

T he big top had emptied out, the satisfied crowds had gone home, and the cirque members were assembled. It was time. Seated in the corner of the tent where the fortune teller would normally be, I traced my fingers over the heavy glass jug, brimming with a dark liquid. Two glasses were placed on the table next to the jug, the glow of the fortune teller's crystal ball reflected on the polished surface. I adjusted my mask, still a little nervous that my former guardian would recognise me before it was time. I reminded myself that it was highly unlikely, given the fact that a large portion of my face was covered, the lighting in the tent was dim, and most importantly, he wouldn't be expecting me to be here. From the information Teeth had provided, it appeared that he thought I'd run away, and rather than searching for me, he'd put me out of his mind and moved on to his next victim.

"Right this way, sir." Amélie's raised voice echoed through the tent, preparing me for his arrival. Pulling up the hood of the fortune teller's cloak, I readied myself. When she came into view, leading the man by the wrist, I swallowed hard, my hands shaking. I'd thought I'd been prepared, but in actuality, nothing could have prepared me for the sight of the man who'd spent years abusing me.

He looked the same as I remembered. The same as he did in my nightmares.

Stringy, greasy hair, greying at the temples. Harsh lines around the pinched set of his mouth. That flinty gaze. The large, hulking body that had pinned me so effortlessly in the past.

My ears were ringing.

I came back into myself at the touch of Amélie's hand on my arm.

"Take a seat, sir." She waved her hand towards the seat opposite me, and he leered at her, his sweaty palm daring to skim over the curve of her ass as she stepped around him. She flinched almost imperceptibly, and my nerves instantly dissipated, replaced with steel resolve. This man would pay tonight for everything he'd done.

"Welcome," I intoned, doing my best to disguise my voice. "Let us begin by sharing the sacred blood of the ancestors." Carefully lifting the jug, I poured a generous amount of the wine into the two glasses before sliding one of the glasses across the table to him. Catching his dubious expression, I continued. "You may know it as wine."

His expression cleared, and as I lifted my glass, he grabbed his own, tipping it to his lips and downing the contents, just as I'd anticipated him doing–having seen him do so countless times before.

As he watched me expectantly, I realised that I'd forgotten to prepare for one of the components–the fortune telling itself. I had no idea what to do, other than the line I needed to speak, which would be the cue for the second part of tonight's events. Amélie lightly brushed my back as she stepped into the shadows, and my confidence returned. This was the cirque, and we made our own rules, so I could do whatever I wanted.

Moving my hands over the crystal ball, I began.

"I see…a great change coming. I see…flowers. A reflection. I see–"

"Yeah, yeah. It's all bollocks. None of that shit's real, is it? Gimme some more of that wine." My former guardian swiped the jug, sloshing some of the liquid onto the table as he poured the rest of the contents into his glass, downing it in one go.

I held my breath. I wasn't sure how long the flowers would take to act, but based on the sound of his distinctly laboured breathing, they were already beginning to take effect.

His meaty paw came up to rub at his chest, and he frowned down at himself. "W-what's happening to me?"

"I foresee…darkness," I said, and at my words, the lights went out except for the glow from the crystal ball. This time, I wasn't afraid of the dark.

Because this time, I was one of the monsters.

His shout echoed around me. "What the fuck is going on? Get the lights back on, fucking now!"

Behind him, a tiny light winked on, and off, and on. The glow from the crystal ball was enough for me to see him spin around in the direction of the light. Amélie stepped up next to me, dipping her head to my ear.

"It's time to go," she whispered softly, and I nodded, climbing to my feet. As I did so, I flipped the hidden switch that would turn off the light emanating from the crystal ball. The only light remaining was the tiny, winking light, that became another light, and then another, creating a trail that led into the mirror maze.

"What are you doing? Turn the light back on!" There was a crash that sounded like a chair being overturned, and then I saw my former guardian illuminated in the faint glow, lumbering down the pathway we'd carefully laid out for him.

"Run, run, as fast as you can…" A sinister voice sounded from the shadows. "Don't look behind you." A mocking laugh came from behind our Chosen, and then there was a sudden scream as the lights brightened a little, and he caught sight of grinning sharpened teeth, the clown's painted face reflected in dozens of mirrors that had become visible. Amélie grabbed my hand, and together, we ducked out of the tent while Teeth did his job, chasing our Chosen through the mirror maze, getting his heart pumping to allow the poison to spread more efficiently.

We reached the circle that had been carefully prepared earlier, joining the other masked cirque members, silent and still as we waited.

The sound of screams grew nearer, and across the circle, Florin palmed his knives, bouncing on his toes in his excitement. The dogs paced up and down, on high alert, the bloodlust just as thick in their veins as it was for the humans.

Then, bursting from the tent at a staggering, pained attempt at a run, came the Chosen. Teeth stalked after him with a rictus grin plastered on his face, his creepy clown makeup giving him a horrifying, nightmarish look. His long black cloak swirled around him as he herded his prey into the centre of the circle, right where we wanted him. The Chosen's tattered clothes had several rips, courtesy of whatever mischief Teeth had been up to inside the maze, and as he entered the circle, Teeth caught up with him, his long, pointed talons tearing straight through the remains of the Chosen's shirt.

Ollie, another of the cirque members, was prepared with rope to bind him, but it turned out we didn't even need it. The Chosen collapsed to his knees, gasping for breath, his watery blue eyes vacant and glassy.

The Chosen hadn't yet spotted me, his bleary gaze focusing on Judge, who had stepped into the circle, a whip coiled in his hand.

"You are here tonight to face your crimes, and to pay for your transgressions," he began, his voice booming around us. A crack of his whip, and the Chosen jerked backwards, but I could see he no longer had the energy to move away.

Judge began listing the Chosen's crimes, some of which I hadn't even been aware of. Bile rose in my throat, and the cirque members shifted on their feet, restless and eager to see justice served for this man who had dared to hurt one of their own.

Another crack of the whip. Another flinch. Judge inclined his head, and as one, we removed our masks.

I stepped forwards. Blinking, the Chosen gazed up at me, and recognition dawned on his face, contorting with hatred.

"Y-y ou ."

"Yes. Me." Holding my head high, I looked down on my former tormentor.

"W-what have you done to me?"

"What have I done to you? What have you done to me? What have you done to others? The years and years of abuse. Killing your own wife in cold blood–"

"She w-was going to leave me," he gasped out, his lips curling into a snarl. "It's all…it's all your f-fucking fault, you little fucking bitch! You left, and everything went to hell!"

I stared at him, kneeling on the floor at my feet with the poison working its way through his veins. There was no redemption for this unrepentant man.

"Have you ever heard of Hemlock? It's a flower–no, a weed, really. Clusters of pretty little white flowers and bright green stems speckled with the most beautiful shade of purple. But its looks are deceiving. It's one of the most poisonous plants in the UK–maybe even the most toxic. Just touching it can be deadly, and to ingest it…well, that's fatal."

His eyes widened, the pieces falling into place, and I nodded.

"It was in the wine. The wine you were all too happy to drink and to help yourself to more of. It's been slowly making its way through your system, paralysing you from the inside."

"You…you monster ." Gathering every part of his remaining strength, he spat at my feet. "I should have killed you while I had the chance. Raped your dead body, just as I did with my wife." Coughing, he lunged forwards, but he was too weak, collapsing on the ground.

"Maybe I am a monster," I said softly. "But you are the most evil man I've ever known. You are our Chosen, and tonight, you will pay."

Florin darted forwards, flinging both his knives at once, striking the Chosen's kidney and groin with unerring accuracy. To my left, Ollie stepped forwards, giving Florin a wide grin as he threw his own knife straight at the Chosen's thigh. Distorted screams tore from the Chosen's throat as the knives embedded themselves in his flesh. Blood instantly bloomed from the wounds, a shocking crimson against the faded grey pallor of his skin.

Skipping over to the Chosen, Florin retrieved the knives, blowing me a quick kiss. Straightening up, he tapped one of the bloodstained blades against his lips.

"Hmm. Where next?" He cocked his head. "Here?" He slid the flat of a blade across the Chosen's cheek, and then twisted it, a line of bright red following the path of the knife as he dragged it downwards. "You bleed so prettily."

The Chosen screamed again, and that decided his fate. Flicking one of the knives out, Florin stabbed it straight into the Chosen's windpipe, his screams turning into a gurgle, and then there was silence. Rivulets of scarlet ran down the Chosen's throat and onto his body, and Florin moaned at the sight.

Then, it was a frenzy of blood, savage and wild, other cirque members striding forwards, and the snarling dogs bounding into the circle with their teeth bared, joining the fray.

When it was all over, blood pooling on the earth beneath the Chosen's remains, and the cirque members were disappearing in twos and threes and even fours, caught up in the bloodlust that put them into a sexual frenzy, I lowered myself to the dirty ground.

A tear trailed down my cheek. But it wasn't a tear for him . It was a tear for those whose innocence had been lost, thanks to his depravity.

"It's over, and you will never hurt anyone again," I said.

Rising to my feet, I turned my back on the body. I lifted my gaze to meet Amélie's, and she held out her hand, her lips curving into a tiny smile.

When I reached her, she tugged me into her, wrapping her arms around me. "I'm so proud of you. You're so strong, Hemlock. So fucking strong."

"Hemlock?"

She nodded, her smile widening. "Mmm. Only a few in the cirque earn a new name, and most don't want it. But you…if anyone has earned it, it's you. You're not that scared little bird anymore. You faced your demons and conquered them. You're incredible. What do you say? It's up to you, of course, but you deserve this. Tonight is both an ending and a new beginning."

I had no words, shocked to my very core as her words stripped me bare and remade me. She had seen into the deepest part of me and known exactly what I needed. As she said my new name again, it was as if the final strings tying me to my past had been cut. I was free.

Our lips met in a kiss, and as I lost myself in the delicious, slow slide of her mouth, I was suffused with a happiness I'd never known before.

"You're right," I said when I drew back to breathe. A smile curved over my lips. "I earned a new name, and I claim it as my own."

Amélie returned my smile before pulling me into another kiss.

I truly was a new me, reborn and remade on this night.

I was no longer .

I was Hemlock.