The Devil's Carnival

Who's Hunting Who?

Allen abandoned his search and headed in the woman’s direction. As he ran all the noise around him drowned out and not long after so did his common sense. It didn’t occur to him for even a moment that she might be luring him in nor did the ring master’s warning come to mind. In his head she had come to rescue him, not ‘eat him alive’ as he had been warned so many times before. Allen ran to the exit and once he was outside let the two flaps close behind him. In the distance he could still hear the cheering crowd and the out of key music all companied by the most horrendous of screeching and howling. It didn’t bother him. The only thing drifting though his mind was the woman, who now was nowhere to be seen. Frantically he looked around him for any sign of her, then he found her. She stood not far from him leaning against the support beam of another tent. She leaned against the metal rod, propping up her one leg and batting her eyelashes at him. Watching her Allen could feel a fire spark in his stomach. It was not gratitude for her getting him out or curiosity that drove him forward, it was desire. A hot blooded male’s desire to get his hands on her. Every step he took closer to her made his heart beat faster and faster. When he finally came close enough to reach out and touch her she quickly turned away from him. As she did she hissed slightly and looked at him over her shoulder with those striking yellow eyes. How the hell it had happened he had no idea, but he was completely smitten. “Easy girl.” He tried a little of what he perceived as his winning charm and smiled knowing full well he was being led on. She seemed to be enjoying their little game and after smiling as well she ran off to the side of the big top. Allen wasted no time running after her. He checked the other side of the tent where he was sure she would be hiding but there was no one there. There were several smaller tents, trailers and parts of what must be broken attractions but no girl. His heart sank. What was he going to do now? His heart and chest ached and the only thing his mind could conjure up were images of her and not all to savoury. Not a thing about her put him off, despite him giving very specific standards. He needed to find her, no he had to find her. If he couldn’t his heart would explode or at the least be broken beyond repair. As he stood wallowing in his self pity he heard more giggling, her giggling. How did he know it was her? He just did and instantly his spirits were lifted, among other things. He hit the ground running almost frantically as he tried to find her. He looked around every corner until he found her hiding behind a broken toy vending machine. She tossed her hair over her shoulder before she took off again. This time Allen had no intent of losing her and followed as fast as his buckling knees allowed. She led him past two more trailers and a broken bumper car before she ducked into a small gray tent. Now he had her. An arrogant smirk crossed his face as she slightly loosed his belt and adjusted his walk. He was not going to just stagger into a woman’s bedroom. No, he might be losing his cool just a little but he sure as hell wasn’t going to let it show. It was dark inside the tent. So dark in fact that he couldn’t see his hand in front of his face, which was the reason he tripped. Allen fell face down on to the ground with a soft cuss. His mood wasn’t sour for long as two hands slowly ran up his back followed by a familiar giggling. “Though I lost you for a moment.” She didn’t reply. There was only a soft hiss again as he got to his feet. Something had gotten tangled around his legs, which no doubt caused his trip and before he paid the lady any attention he tried getting himself untangled first. Whatever it was only got tighter the more he struggled until finally he reached down to get it off him. He had thought it was some or other kind of leant of cord or rope but instead what he found was freezing to the touch and covered in scales. He stopped struggling as he grew cold. Now, of all times he remembered the warning and realised it was more than just an expression. There was a moment of silence as the realisation dawned him. He had made a very grave mistake. There came an unholy deep hiss from behind him as whatever had him by the legs gripped even tighter and through him right through the tent. He rolled in the dirt a few feet before the girl was back on the attack. Her strange kind of beauty had melted away and was now replaced by claws and eyes that burned like hellfire. She wrapped her cold body around him and squeezed the very life out of him. Her legs were now gone and she was more serpent that than she had ever looked human. The last thing he saw was her jaw unhinged and her mouth widen ten times its size. As far into her throat as he could see were rows of thousands of tiny razor sharp teeth. The one thing that crossed his mind throughout this difficult time was the warning he had gotten that she would eat him alive. It was probably an act of mercy but he lost consciousness just as she bit down and severed his head, swallowing it whole. It was hardly down before she got started on the rest of him.