The Circus Infinitus - Victoria 7 Read online

  “Midnight was when she changed!”

  Chapter Two

  A great flare of light blazed forth from my necklace, and once again I found myself enveloped in light. I gave a pitiful groan and fell back onto the bed, overcome by a sudden, debilitating weakness. For an instant I thought I was going to die. So low was my mood that I thought this would be a good thing. But scarcely had I begun to wallow in despair when the sensation faded, and a whole new strength flooded into me. It reached to my fingers and toes and I blinked, my vision swiftly returning. I realised I could see my limbs again. I was whole once more.

  I stretched my arms out in front of me, marvelling at the pale, perfect colour of my skin. It was creamy white and clear, not a single blemish or hair. “Dear Lord, what have I become?” I breathed. My voice seemed to resonate with strength. “Who am I?” I stared at Mr Crimpley.

  He stared back. He could not tear his eyes from me. His mouth actually dropped open in amazement. “You are … Lust.”

  “I need a mirror! I must see this new form!” I commanded.

  Crimpley scrambled to obey as though my words had come from the mouth of God. He found a mirror in my bedside table and brandished it before me.

  But it showed me nothing. I might as well have been invisible! I could see right through to the wardrobe behind me. “What the-“

  Crimpley began rubbing his hands together. “Ah, I’m sorry Ma’am, but this particular form has no reflection.”

  I stared at him. “No reflection? How is that possible?”

  He shrugged. “I have no idea. Perhaps your mother knew the answer, and wrote it down in that diary of hers. It could have something to do with the sin of lust – beautiful, but condemned to never be able to see your own form.”

  “Beautiful? I am ... beautiful?”

  Crimpley reddened. “Aye, Ma’am. That you are. Breathtakingly so.”

  “Can you describe me?”

  The lawyer grew even redder and shifted uncomfortably. “Ah, your skin is as pale and smooth as marble, your eyes like twin pools of darkness to the very bowels of hell itself.”

  “Very poetic,” I muttered.

  “And your lips,” He started to become breathless, ‘your lips are full and as red and blood.”

  When I lifted one hand I saw that my short, functional nails had grown and darkened to the very colour that Crimpley had just described. I drew a lock of hair forward to examine it and saw that it was now the colour of a raven’s wing and straight. It reached my backside and was as soft and shiny as silk. Was this what lust looked like?

  Crimpley had started to drool. He actually rose and took a stumbling step towards me, his arms outstretched. “Dear Violet, I must touch you, to make sure you’re real-“

  I pushed him back with an outstretched hand, and he was thrust half-way across the room. He stumbled and fell on his backside on the floorboards. “No, Mr Crimpley, keep your distance! I will become familiar with this new shape by myself.” Again I marvelled at how confident I sounded. Within this new body, I felt so strong and in control, nothing like the uncertain little creature I had been before.

  Crimpley scrambled over to his chair and flopped down, looking disappointed. But he still couldn’t tear his gaze from me. “You are magnificent. Violet. Even more than she was.” His eyes narrowed. “And she was quite happy to be with me.”

  No wonder he had stayed for so long. I fixed him with a deadly glare. “I am not my mother,” I told him coldly. “Do not come near me again unless I wish it.”

  He seemed to wither beneath my stare. I realised those twin pools of hell he had described had power behind them. He seemed to shrink into himself as he slunk back to his chair. “Yes Lady Violet,” he answered softly, meekly.

  At that point I didn’t feel like Violet any more. I felt like someone completely new. All of a sudden I wanted to go out into the night, to become one with the darkness. I strode over to my room’s single window and threw the shutters wide. An icy wind blew my long black hair out behind me. I imagined myself becoming one with that cold tempest, and suddenly – I was flying up into the night!

  I couldn’t believe my senses, but there I was, soaring up from my window. Looking down I saw Crimpley run to the ledge and gape up into the blackness, searching for me. I let the wind carry me away from my old ancestral home. Abruptly I desired to be rid of it. I wanted to soar like a bird, travelling to faraway lands. But as the chilly zephyr took me, a strange sensation began to claw its way up my throat. I began to feel hungry and thirsty at the same time. These needs soon became almost crippling in their intensity. I felt like I was drowning and needed air. I was about to turn and fly back to the manor when I noticed a soft golden glow beneath me. Some of the few remaining tenants on my mother’s – my – property appeared to be awake.

  I flew down from the sky and when my hands and feet touched the soft earth, they sprouted fur and transformed into paws. Suddenly I was a wolf, able to move swiftly and silently towards the closest of the houses. As I approached the front door I drew myself up and became human once more. What kind of a shape is this? I marvelled. It truly was miraculous, hardly a cursed form at all!

  I wanted to circle the house, look for a way in, and immediately I transformed again, becoming a flying creature that did not need to ride the winds. I was a bat, and I could “see” with sound, I flew around the house, but found all the doors and windows shut tight against me. Through the dusty glass panes I could see shadowy figures clustered around a roaring fire. Why weren’t they sleeping? What kept them awake? Even though I could only see outlines, I noticed a strange red glow coming from their bodies, as though their blood was on fire.

  It seemed to be calling to me.

  I scratched at the glass, trying to claw my way through it. I had no idea what I wanted to do with their wonderful blood; all I knew was that I wanted it. My nails elongated into birdlike claws as they met the glass and made an awful screeching noise. The occupants of the little room beyond leapt back and made some sort of defensive line, brandishing red-hot fire-pokers, flaming lumps of wood and mystical signs of the cross.

  Immediately I felt a bizarre swell in the power surrounding me, trying to push me back from the window.

  I couldn’t break through it! The power of their faith seemed to be repelling me! The force of their belief both shocked and sickened. How could I, such a wondrous creature, be controlled by their meagre, ephemeral urgings? But there I was, scrabbling ineffectually at the glass, unable to thrust through and join the wonderfully warm, human creatures beyond. As they beheld me through the dusty glass they huddled even closer together, seeming to draw strength from each other.

  They were united against me, and their faith grew in power to become a physical force. Against my will I backed away from the window. I struggled against the force of their convictions, but still I continued to move backwards until my feet crossed over some sort of invisible boundary, and I was free. However, when I tried to move forward once more, I bumped up against some sort of invisible barrier, like a wall of glass. I could still see the locals huddled together behind their window, staring balefully at me. What did I look like to them? Their stares revealed none of the lust that Crimpley’s had, only fear and horror.

  Resigned. I turned from that little house and fled into the night. Out of the corner of my eye I glimpsed a dull red glow in the undergrowth and surprised a scrawny rabbit. It bounded away in terror and I shot after it. I could use the faint life that burned in its tiny veins, even though I knew in my heart that it would be nothing compared to the hot, sweet vitae of humans.

  I pounced on that little creature like a hawk and sank a pair of long, sharp fangs into its neck. I stole its tiny spark, reducing it to a bloodless husk in seconds. It fell limp in my hands. The blood had been barely enough to wet the back of my throat, but it had sated the dreadful hunger that had threatened to turn me into a murderess. Now, more in control of my faculties, I realised who I had tried to attack; the Maples, one
of the Hollingworths’ oldest, most loyal families. My lust for blood had taken over completely. I shuddered as I realised how close I’d come to destroying that poor loyal family. This form was as wicked as it was addictive.

  How had my poor mother survived? By creeping through the undergrowth like I did, attacking small mammals? In shame I skulked back to the manor house, where I found Mr Crimpley still up and waiting for me at the window. He still looked upon me with desire as I flew in, but was smart enough to step out of his reach.

  “Ma’am, I certainly hope you did not do anything you will later regret.” He gestured towards my face.

  I lifted my fingers, encountering the warm stickiness of blood. “Nay, ‘twas only a rabbit, and a small one at that. The villagers seem to be very well protected.”

  “Aye, that they are,” he agreed. “They have been aware of Annabelle’s curse for many years, although they do not know its true nature. But they have taken many precautions. All their dwellings are blessed and proofed with rings of salt, cloves of garlic, wolfsbane and regular sprinklings of holy water.”

  “And their own faith,” I added, recalling how they had repulsed me. I looked up at the lawyer and fancied I saw a ghost of the red glow in his veins that had so seduced me earlier. I wondered if he would mind a little bite on the neck…

  Had he let my mother drink from him?

  No! I had to shake my head to clear it. I had no idea how to control myself, and would probably kill him. I could not afford to destroy such a valuable family retainer, since from now on I would be like my poor mother, shackled to this house for the rest of my very long life.

  I shuddered at the awful thought. No, I vowed when I was used to my news forms I would have to find a way to escape this dreary old house. Surely I would be talented enough to do that? This particular body was very powerful. The others had to have their own special abilities. Perhaps they would be different to my mother's, enabling me to succeed where she had failed. I could only hope.

  “Ma’am, I will endeavour to help you through this, but it won’t be easy,” promised Crimpley as he rested a hand on my arm. “Now Hobbs appears to have stolen your mother’s diary, you will need to discover everything on your own.”

  “Thank you Mr Crimpley,” I whispered, and looked out through the window. I noticed a soft glow in the East, the approach of morning. Had I been outside for that long? But when I checked the clock, I saw that it was only four, not five thirty as I’d first thought. But it was so bright out there already! “Dawn is coming,” I whispered.

  “You can see the light already?” asked Crimpley.

  “Yes, it’s very bright, and seems to be getting brighter with each passing second. Have my eyes become more sensitive?” I recalled how I had moved through the night. Now I was no longer suffering from that crippling hunger, I realised that I had been able to see perfectly; every tree, every branch and every twig.

  Crimpley stepped forward and closed the windows. Then he pulled the thick, dusty curtains across. “Ma’am, in this form you can’t go out in the sunlight. You will die.”

  I stared at him. “You mean I’ll be trapped in this house all day?”

  “I’m afraid so. Sunlight will burn you to dust.”

  Such a powerful body, yet so many disadvantages! “What about if I go out covered up?”

  “I think your mother managed to venture out completely robed from head to foot, but she found it very uncomfortable. The sun burned her skin even through thick wool.”

  I scowled. I didn’t want to spend all day roaming this old house! I’d done that before my mother’s death. As a child I’d explored every abandoned room, played with all the old toys of my ancestors and as I grew, read every tattered book in the library. Now I was expected to prowl around in this wonderful new form, when all I wanted to do was escape and soar with the wind?

  But when I shoved the curtain aside, the meagre light outside was already too glary for me. I yanked the cloth back and resigned myself to the dark. Perhaps I could rid the rickety old house of some mice and rats.

  However, as the sun rose – I could see its deadly light even through the heavy velvet curtain – I began to feel an odd weariness encroach. Even after all I had been through, and the fact I did want to hunt some rodents, I began to feel bone tired. I trudged over to my bed and flopped down. “I’m sorry, Mr Crimpley – I seem to need to sleep...” Scarcely had the sentence left my mouth before I was asleep and slumbering deeply.

  It seemed the vampire form of lust required rest during the daylight hours. When I finally woke it was dark again, and I could go out exploring once more. I needed more blood, so I found a couple of fat rats and took the edge off my appetite before I left the manor.

  For a while I simply enjoyed the peace of the night. It was a cool evening, but I found the chilly wind on my skin enjoyable instead of uncomfortable. I rode the winds as a wisp of smoke, already completely at home with my various vampire shapes. I didn’t need to learn how to change or control the new bodies – the knowledge was simply there, as though it had always been. Perhaps it was contained within the necklace instead of my own mind … or perhaps I had inherited all the background from my mother. Once again I marvelled at how well I could see. Everything was various shades of grey, but so clear and detailed – I could pick out field mice darting through the long grasses, owls perched high in the treetops watching them, a fox skulking through the undergrowth, convinced it was perfectly hidden from me… Even though I wasn’t hungry, and they didn’t glow with blood fire, I could see all the animals perfectly.

  As I flew I realised I had other powers. I remembered how I had glared at Crimpley and made him sit down, and wondered if I could control beasts as well. I focussed on the hiding fox and imagined looking into his mind. Then, suddenly, I was seeing through his eyes. I made him creep out of hiding and dart around in circles, chasing his own tail like a puppy.

  I laughed, but playing with dumb animals took no effort. I toyed with them for a few minutes, getting used to the power, then let them run off into the undergrowth to live until the next time I needed blood. I wondered how much I could control people. Crimpley had obeyed my stare, aye, but he had been smitten with me. Would everyone be so malleable? Somehow I doubted it. Those Maples had certainly shown a stoic resolve. I vowed not to hurt them, but I still wanted to test the power of their faith.

  I flew back to where I had been the previous night, but this time, the Maples’ little cottage was dark and quiet. Nothing stopped me from approaching and peering in through that window, where I had seen the happy family united against me.

  Despite the night I could see clearly into the room; furniture overturned, a few abandoned belongings strewn across the floor, some torn articles of clothing and a broken plate.

  It seemed that during the day, the Maples had very quickly up and left. I was able to creep into the house, but it smelled so strongly and sickeningly of garlic that I couldn’t stay long. I left and returned to the house, where I found Crimpley in the library, going through some papers. My mother had been buried that very day, but as I had been asleep, I hadn't been able to farewell her.

  “The Maples are gone,” I explained.

  He sighed. “Yes, I know. They were at your mother’s funeral today. They had stayed on for as long as they did because they had hoped Annabelle’s curse would die with her. But last night, when you visited them, they realised it had passed on to you. Your strength and ferocity frightened them. They decided not to stay any longer, and have moved into town.”

  I sighed. “So eventually I will be left here alone, with no tenants to look after my lands, and everything to fall into rack and ruin?”

  “Some will remain here, loyal. So long as there is money left.”

  I looked around at the dusty old library, with its sagging shelves and ragged books. There were gaps where more valuable volumes had stood, and I wondered who had taken them. No doubt they had been stolen over the years. Again I vowed that when I knew more
about my different forms, I would leave.

  “I have some papers for you to sign, Ma’am, since you are now officially the lady of the house.” Crimpley handed me a quill.

  I was still working, scrawling my signature down on those endless sheets of paper when the library clock started striking midnight. A dreadful weariness accosted me and I slumped forward over the latest yellowish sheet, knocking the inkpot with my hand. I closed my eyes as the damned amulet around my neck grew warm once more.

  Chapter Three

  Abruptly, I jerked awake. The first thing I noticed was the smell of ink, spilled across the table. I grunted in disgust and backed away, knocking over my chair. Crimpley gave a startled yelp at the noise and leapt to his feet. “Goodness! You’re even bigger than she was!” he cried.

  “Who am I now?” I opened my mouth to ask, but only a deep growl emerged.

  Mr Crimpley smelled sour, like fear. He backed up against a wall. “You’re … you’re the deadly sin of wrath, ma’am. You’re the werewolf.”

  Werewolf? I looked down at myself and saw brown fur. I was covered in it from head to toe. The dress I’d been wearing as the vampire lay in shreds on the floor. As I’d changed I’d burst right out of it! Slowly, carefully I rose to my feet – my back feet. I had a pair of enormous paws with formidable claws that gouged splinters out of the wooden floor as I moved. Soon I was towering over the hapless lawyer. I had to know what I looked like so I swung around, searching for a mirror. There was a small round one on the library wall.

  This time I could see myself. And what I beheld made me howl in horror.

  I truly was monstrous; part female, part wolf, with a long snout filled with needle-sharp fangs. A shaggy made of long brown hair hang over my shoulders and down my back. My ears had moved to the top of my head and grown long and pointed. When I lifted a hand to my face, I saw a huge paw, also festooned with formidable claws.