The Circus of Chaos Book 1: Freak Show: Book One of the Circus of Chaos Universe

By S. S. Greene and Charles Landeros

For those who are fans of Steven King, Dean Koontz, and the horror/thriller genre: The Circus of Chaos Universe presents Book 1: Freak Show. When conjoined twins, Lena and Paulina, find themselves being sold off at a young age to a traveling circus as a part of their freak show, they find a sense of community and family in their new home...until, one day, tragedy strikes. Feeling most vulnerable after a tragic "accident," a visit from a stranger turns the twins' lives upside down as he offers one of the sisters the deal of a lifetime. When the promise of a new life with a body of their own is dangled in front of one of the sisters, will they take the deal of a lifetime, or will the deal be their ultimate demise as destruction and chaos continue to unravel around them? Will the sisters make it out alive?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Sep 27, 2023
• ISBN: 9781312412538

Book preview

Prologue

We didn’t ask to look like this. We were born this way…, Paulina sniffled as she shook her head, a tear running down her cheek. No one could possibly understand what she was feeling right now. They were rejected by their family and society.

As she continued to speak, the therapist nodded his head, noticing the scaring down the young woman’s left shoulder and arm. Paulina and her sister, Lena had been conjoined twins who were recently separated after an incident for which authorities needed more information, but Paulina still wasn’t talking about it. They knew of the horrifying event, but the officers didn’t have the details that they needed. Lena was so used to being connected to her sister that she never wanted to leave her side, which posed a problem because Paulina wanted to be independent. She wanted to go out and meet people. Possibly fall in love and get married, have kids. She wanted the life she was robbed of at birth. That was most, if not all, of all the information that Paulina would give the authorities.

I don’t think anyone understands how I feel…

The therapist shifted in his chair, looking at the young woman with curious, semi-bored eyes. He had seen cases like this previously: the patient didn’t want to talk about the traumatic event that they went through and took every opportunity to beat around the bush. Even so, it was protocol to listen to all patients and their needs whether he liked it or not. His expression turned to worry when she started blabbering about suicidal thoughts. He knew that this was not the ordinary plea for help from young adults, but her actual thoughts on her demise. The detail that she went into about the different ways that she envisioned herself dying was enough to make him think that maybe shock therapy was the only solution for this young woman. There was no other way to help this poor girl or to squelch her thoughts on the matter. The therapist closed his notepad and held up his hand.

I’m sorry Miss Thomas. I’m going to have to stop you there. I’m sorry that you’re still having these thoughts of yours, and I know that no matter what I say, it won’t help. So, I’m not going to give you advice quite yet, but I’m going to prescribe you a drug to help stabilize you until you can think clearly. Once you have a clearer head, we can move forward with a plan of action. If this doesn’t work for you, there’re other methods that we can try to help you think clearer. Until then, let me get to know you a little more…tell me, what was your childhood like…

Chapter 1

The doctor came into the room to break the news to the new mother. Her newborn babies were hideous, monstrous. They were conjoined twins that were joined from the hip to their lower thigh and from the shoulder to halfway down their arm. The twins had complete function of their own limbs. New advancements in medicine could fix them eventually so that they had their own bodies, but until then, they would have to live this way. They looked like a little alien creature from the sci-fi TV shows that he enjoyed watching on his days off. They had four hands and feet and limbs that were connected in all the wrong places.

Mrs. Thomas, I have some bad news for–, he started but stopped at the pained look on the young mother’s face. Dr. Jones had been in the medical field for many years but had seen nothing like this before. Sure, he’d seen conjoined twins previously, but not conjoined this way with all four limbs mostly separate from each entity. Most of the twins he’d seen like this were an extra head on a shoulder with two arms and two legs, but with maybe an extra kneecap or extra fingers on their hands and extra toes on their feet. Nothing like this monstrosity.

Doctor, what’s wrong? Is my baby ok? Am I ok? What’s going on? Laura Thomas was a beautiful young woman who was just shy of 20. Her eyes were green emeralds that shone in the light of the medical center’s room, and her long, straight, light brown hair fell perfectly over her shoulders and ended right above her breasts. Her lips were as red as roses and soft as petals, and her skin was pale and a milky white that was reminiscent of the moon.

She knew that she would love her baby no matter what. She had vowed that she would. Any life was beautiful and worth living. That’s what God taught her at church. That’s what good Christians believed. She and her husband, Wyatt, knew that. They would be the perfect little family. All the other church goers would turn their heads and be so jealous that they had the most perfect little family. They would raise their child with the church.Their child would play with the other kids at the church, learn to love God. Everything would be perfect. The thought played out in her head as she waited for the doctor to answer.

Wyatt stood from the chair he was sitting in across the room and walked to his wife to hear what the doctor had to say. His pale-white skin matched hers, but instead of light brown hair and bright green eyes, he had platinum blonde hair with piercing blue eyes. He was also young, but not as young as she. He was tall, towering over the doctor by at least a foot, and he was thin. He had a sinister look on his face as he picked up his wife’s hand and held it. The facial expression that Wyatt bore made Dr. Jones hesitant to continue.

Well…you see…there were two babies. Not just one…

How can that be possible? I saw you only take one bundle from the room. Wyatt was confused, and he didn’t like it. Not being a patient man, he wanted answers now and wasn’t about to wait for them. His wife, on the other hand, shot him a look, then motioned for the doctor to continue.

Excuse my husband, Doctor. We are both very tired. So, I guess that means we need two cribs now? Laura smiled and looked back at her husband.

Well, not necessarily…here. It’s a lot easier for me to show you. Dr. Jones struggled with how he wanted to explain this anomaly. He turned to the older nurse next to him and said, go ahead and get it from the other room. The nurse turned and left. Moments later, she returned with a bundle in a rolling bassinet and set it next to Laura by the bed.

Laura investigated the bassinet and saw two beautiful little infant heads peeking out from the swaddle they were in, not understanding why the doctor had referred to them as it. Nothing was unusual from what she could see. She unwrapped the swaddle. The doctor and Wyatt watched as the expression on her face went from smiling, to shock, then horror. What did you do to my babies? She glared at the doctor, clearly upset with the countenance of her children.

It’s nothing that I did, Mrs. Thomas. I understand that this is a shock, and if you wish to surrender them, we can make accommodations for them in the system as well, Dr. Jones walked over to the young couple who were still looking at the creature in the bassinet. He was so sure that they would not want to keep this abomination to existence. It made him feel bad for the poor children. It wasn’t their fault that they came out this way, and he knew for a fact that they wouldn’t survive a year in the system.

Thank you, doctor, Laura choked as she started crying. I could never imagine giving away my two beautiful babies. They’re God’s beautiful creation, and he wanted them this way. Why punish them for something that they couldn’t control in the first place? Right, Wyatt? She smiled to her husband who stayed silent as he looked at the two newborn girls that were supposedly his.

They’re…are you sure they’re mine? He turned to the doctor, Is there any way you could have mixed our babies up with someone else’s? Are you playing some sort of sick joke on us? The concerned look on his face started turning into one of panic, then rage.

I’m a hundred percent sure that these infants are yours and your wife’s, Dr. Jones retorted, annoyed that he was being questioned about such trivial things. He knew what he saw. He witnessed it with his own eyes only a couple of hours ago.

Wyatt, that’s enough. These are our beautiful babies whether you like them or not, and they are coming home with us. Do you understand me? Laura raised her voice, appalled that her husband would even say such a thing.

Yes, honey they’re coming home with us. I’m just concerned about how to raise them. What will other children think? How will we dress them? How will they function or work in society? They would be stuck at home their whole lives, and who knows how long they will even live? We must think about the quality of life we can give them. Do you really think we can do this? Wyatt genuinely didn’t feel like they were ready to take on this challenge, but he was not going to go against Laura’s wishes of bringing their daughters home. If she said she was ready for it, then he would believe her. They would take their daughters home and raise them to the best of their abilities.

We can give them the best home. We have everything that they would need. We will figure out the challenges when we get there, but for now, we need to shower them with love and happiness. Laura gazed back at him, silently praying that he would agree with her.

You’re absolutely right, my love. We will figure this out. In reality, he hoped that he wouldn’t regret this.

Chapter 2

The girls grew stronger with each passing month that their mother doted over them. After some time, their father left to go to work and never came back. He couldn’t take living with them anymore, it seemed. Though he went through the motions of being a loving husband, he never really attempted to be a father. He didn’t know how to be one. It was just Lena, Paulina, and Laura to fend for themselves. Laura worked three jobs just to keep a roof over their heads and food on the table, which was more than her husband ever did for them. He drank his paychecks away before they could even reach his bank account.

Both girls had mouse-brown hair and pale grey eyes with milky-white skin like their mother. They rarely left the confines of the house except to go to church every once in a while, on the holidays such as Christmas and Easter, and had to learn to care for themselves at a young age while their mother was away at work. They had a sitter who would watch them, but unfortunately, as the girls got older, the sitter charged more, and their mother eventually couldn’t keep up with the payments. There wasn’t much for them to do except play with their small, wooden figurines and watch the four channels on the TV that were provided to them at the time.

They had moved out of their nice home shortly after their father left and moved into a small shack at the edge of their town. It was just secluded enough for them to go unnoticed by people who might not accept Lena and Paulina for who they were.

One day, Lena asked her mother when she was tucking them into bed before going back to work, Mommy, why can’t we go outside much? We want to play and run in the sun like all the other kids do.

Sweetheart, there are many monsters in this world. They will do anything in their power to hurt you. They disguise themselves as humans and will do terrible things to you. It’s mommy’s duty to protect you both from them. Therefore, you need to stay inside when mommy isn’t home. Laura kissed Lena on the forehead.

Paulina pulled the blanket up to her neck and said while yawning, "Thank you for protecting us, mommy. We love you.

I love you both so much, Laura replied as she got up from the bed and started walking towards the door of the small room. The house only had one bedroom and a small living room and kitchen area with a tiny bathroom at the back that had a small sink and stand-up shower. Laura washed everything by hand. There was no other way to do laundry or dishes. Everything was washed in the sink with soap and water, then hung to dry or laid out on the counter next to the sink. No one seemed to mind the squalor they lived in. They were happy, and that was all that mattered to them.

Laura left the small shack that she called home and made the mile-long trek to her nighttime job as a hostess at a burlesque saloon. The girls didn’t need to know what she did at night. The important thing was that they were safe and happy. Their education was going to cost a fortune since her only option was an at-home teacher. There was no way that they would survive going to a public school, so some sort of private instruction was the only way Laura could ensure that they would receive an education. She couldn’t cut corners with this and saved every penny that she didn’t use to pay for the house, food, and clothing.

After Wyatt left them, she had left the church, acknowledging the fact that talking to God couldn’t get her the money she needed to live off. She needed to work to provide for herself and the girls. No one would help her with that. Not even God. She had no friends anymore and had cut herself off from her family in fear that they would ridicule her and her daughters. It was just the three of them protected by the small shack that they called home.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

A few years went by in a blur as the girls entered the stage of adolescence. They had started private instruction and began learning basic addition and subtraction as well as reading and writing once they had turned the age of five. Everything was still great, and life seemed to be perfectly normal, until one day when everything changed. It all happened so fast. Laura woke up from her brief stint of sleep short of breath and dizzy. She walked the mile trek to work like she did every night, but when the girls woke up the next morning, their mother was nowhere to be seen. The girls waited, but all who came was their in-home instructor. They told the instructor that their mother never came home, and the instructor called the local law enforcement who assured them that a search team would be dispatched shortly. After, their instructor left to continue her work with other families that she tutored for, and the girls were left to fend for themselves.

Hours went by until there was a knock on the door. By this time, it was late in the evening when no one expects visitors. The girls went to the door and cautiously cracked it open to see who was there but were unable to see much of anything in the dark night. They opened the door wider to view the horrifying scene of their mother face down on the ground and a police officer towering over her, a grim look on his face. The expression softened when he saw the girls. Are you girls the only ones at home right now? He asked in a deep voice, concern growing in his eyes.

The girls nodded too scared to speak. They had never spoken to an authority figure before. They kept their eyes on their mother who stayed motionless on the ground. What’s wrong with mommy? Lena asked with a sniffle, on the brink of tears.

I’m sorry for this, he said hesitantly, motioning to Lena and Paulina’s mother. I put her down to knock. Your mama’s real sick. I’m gonna call a doctor to come look at her for ya. D’you have a phone in there? The officer gestured inside the small shack-like house.