Who Holds The Devil - An Original Short Story

Who Holds The Devil

America, 1902

"Why would you be normal when you were born to be different?"

    Those were the words that greeted you when you first stepped into the Faustian Circus. The Ringmaster stood by the entrance, greeting people. "Welcome to the Faustian Circus!" He boasted. "Where dreams are reality and reality are dreams."

    Cadence Faust stood watching this from a distance, a frown on his face. He was cloaked in a dark coat, his arms crossed over his chest. "He's spreading his deceitful lies again," he informed his brothers. The oldest brother, Archibald, was doing his best to ignore his younger siblings. However, when he heard Cadence speak, he turned his attention to the conversation.

    "You'd know all about deceit, wouldn't you, Cadence?" Archibald smirked.

    "I have no idea what you are talking about," Cadence replied, his frown replaced with a playful smirk. Rafael, the youngest of the three, said nothing. He merely adjusted his top hat and quietly observed the scene around them. The carnival had just opened for the day, and the dirt roads lined with booths and vendors were clogged with pedestrian traffic.

The three brothers had joined the circus at a young age after discovering that their musical talents were borderline magical. As they approached the tent that housed the rest of the crew, Charity, a tarot reader, came to greet them. "I'm so glad you three are here," she gushed. Her gaze was strained. "There's something you need to see." Her gaze lingered on Rafael, before leading them into the tent. There, she handed them a newspaper clipping from the previous night.

    "Read this," Charity insisted, wringing her hands together. As Archibald scanned the page, his brothers peering over his shoulders curiously, his eyes grew wider and wider with shock.

    "What sort of made up slanderous filth is this?" He exclaimed. Archibald turned to the others. "You've heard about the child disappearances, haven't you? Well, this here article is blaming them on us!" He cried.

    Cadence raised a brow. "And what evidence did they have to prove themselves?"

    "Well, let's see here..." Rafael took the paper from his brother and traced a slender finger over the lines. "Says here a woman claimed after our show, she noticed her young daughter was missing. She's blaming you, Cadence."

    "Is that so," Cadence breathed, caught in a sudden moment of excitement as a grin spread across his face.

    "Cadence?" Charity placed a hand on his arm. "Are you alright? Do you need to sit down?"

    "We could lose our jobs for this!" Archibald put his head in his hands. "Oh, we're finished!"

    "I won't let that happen," Cadence snapped. Suddenly his moment of exitement was replaced with anger. "We can do something about this, can't we? We can get to the bottom of this."

    "I'll help," Charity chimed in. "I know how much the circus means to you, Cadence." She placed a hand on his arm, causing Rafael to narrow his eyes.

    "I don't like these rumors," Rafael insisted. "I'm fed up with this. After tonight, I'm quitting."

    Cadence sighed. "Well, I suppose I can't change your mind on that. But if someone is kidnapping children from our show, and it's every night... it has to be someone from the circus, doesn't it?" He mused. "After the show tonight, let's search the fairgrounds. We have to find something."

The band performed at midnight each night. As that time approached, Cadence, Archibald, and Rafael made their way to the entrance of the performance tent. The sea of onlookers split before them, watching as the band took their places onstage. Their music transcended reason. It transcended reality. It transcended time.

    People came to the circus for their show. Their music was known to sooth all worries and cares. It could even be said that the audience fell under a trance. It was a form of healing, in a way. But for the youngest brother, it was anything but. After the show, Rafael stormed off in a huff.

Cadence narrowed his eyes, though he made no move to stop his younger brother. "I'd be careful if I were you," he called after the boy. "If you leave now, you might never come back."

Rafael responded with a rude hand gesture.

The next morning Rafael Faust was found dead by workers packing up the tents. The ringmaster was immediately notified, and his body was to be carried to the nearby river.

"A shame it had to be this way," Cadence remarked as he watched his younger brother's body be carried away. Archibald had a hand over his mouth in shock.

Cadence felt a tap on his shoulder and turned to see Charity standing behind him. Her eyes were red from crying. "We must get to the bottom of this," she whispered. "I want to look in the tent where we sleep. Please, come with me!"

Cadence joined her at the sleeping tent. As he and Charity passed the performance acts' bedrolls, Charity pointed out something peculiar on the floor. "Cadence, come see! I think there's a trapdoor!"

Cadence rushed to join her. He gasped. "Wait! Don't just--," Before Cadence could urge her to be careful, she vanished into the dark. Hurrying after her, he made sure to leave the mysterious trap door open to provide light. After trekking down a tight, stone spiral staircase for quite a while, it opened up into a dimly lit corridor. "Where are we?" Charity breathed.

"Exactly where we need to be," Cadence responded, sounding amused. He grabbed her from behind and snapped her neck.

Just as he was about to continue down the corridor, he heard footsteps behind him and turned. Archibald and the ringmaster stood behind him, their eyes wide.

"We followed you from the river-- Cadence, what are you doing? Did you hurt Charity?" Archibald gasped.

"Cadence, you've been behind these disappearances, haven't you?" The ringmaster took careful steps towards him. "Why are you doing this?"

Cadence's eyes were wide, and for the first time, he appeared scared. "I just wanted them to experience what we never could," he whispered, addressing Archibald. "Happiness."

Archibald felt his heart melt. "You've been going about doing the wrong thing for the right reasons," he sympathized. "This is my fault, isn't it? I've always neglected you... I didn't realize you were hurting. I should have been a better brother. But... why?"

"Children love the circus," Cadence explained. "I thought they would want to be here... forever. We joined the circus to be happy, and escape from our past. Why would they not want the same thing?"

"Cadence, did you-- did you kill those children?" Archibald gulped.

"Cadence, we can't allow you to remain here," the ringmaster regarded the boy with a gaze devoid of any sympathy. "You have committed a heinous crime."

"I'm sorry," Cadence whispered, taking several steps back. "I'm so sorry."

"Cadence, wait--," Archibald lunged forward, but was too late as Cadence turned and sprinted into the gloom. "He's gone," the remaining brother whispered. He turned to look at Charity's body, lying crumpled on the floor.

"Good riddance," the ringmaster grumbled. "Let's go find those poor kids."

"Au revoir, little brother," Archibald muttered darkly. Then he turned to follow the ringmaster.

The circus was forced to continue travelling without their most popular act. One month after Cadence's disappearance, an article appeared in the newspaper that sparked Archibald's interest.

11 year old Boy Goes Missing from Local Fairgrounds

    "Not again," Archibald whispered, closing the newspaper. "It's happening again."