Firetale (9 page)

“
For what?”

“
Mr. Bernardius, do you know the
big difference between angels and demons, other than that referred
to in the Bible?”

“
I have no idea what you’re
talking about,” said Lazarus.

“
Angels cannot have offspring.
Demons can. We were expelled from paradise and lost the privileges
that angels have, but some limitations of our nature have fallen.
Have you ever wondered why the victims of so-called demonic
possession are almost always women? And mostly young ones.”
Lazarus’s face turned white with a terrible guess.

“
At the time of possession, a
woman can conceive a demon? But this is absurd!” shouted
Lazarus.

“
Not at all. The results of such
a coupling are demionis, or mongrels. Mankind calls them evil
spirits. In some of the demionis, people see humans with amazing
abilities. Unfortunately, not all demionis retain a human form.
Some are more like beasts or monsters.”

“
Demionis? You’re saying that all
the vampires, werewolves, monsters of fairy tales, they’re all the
offspring of the possession of women by demons?” Lazarus refused to
believe such things.

“
Yes, Mr. Bernardius. All the
monsters that are considered to be of the devil are, in fact,
half-human offspring. Many women are forced to accept demons, it’s
true. But some voluntarily desire the spawn of Hell. What would
come to light as a result of demon possession is unknown to anyone.
This comes from the demon and its position in the hierarchy of
Hell. We only know that the blood of demons can manifest itself for
generations with very different effects. One child may have
incredible power or control the weather, and another may grow to
become an ogre or mermaid.”

“
And my …”

“
Your immortality, Bernardius? A
very curious case. It was not necessary for your mother to be
possessed. As I said, the blood of demons can manifest itself
through several generations. But immortality is a gift available
only to a very few lucky ones, even among demons. And almost never
to a mortal. It makes you a very special person. You do realize
this, don’t you, Lazarus?”

Lazarus did realize
it. In his heart he
believed in his own immortality, but his consciousness and common
sense had resisted this idea. He was lost.

“
Due to certain reasons, the
number of such creatures—demionis—is diminishing. They have no
shelter and protection; they are poorly adapted to the modern
world. Almost all of those whom you call evil spirits, from dragons
to vampires, remained only in fairy tales. Few survived. I’m
interested in finding them and helping them. With your assistance,
Mr. Bernardius,” Louis said with a smile.

“
Why should I help
you?”

“
Because, in some way, all of
them are your family. Because you will discover many of the
mysteries of the universe. And your immortality will make you an
excellent teacher and an advocate for these unfortunate creatures.
You will collect and transmit knowledge to them, protect them. You
will become their leader. You do not need to think about earnings
or hide your gift, because you will be surrounded by the likes of
yourself.”

Something in this speech made Lazarus’s
heart beat faster. Since childhood, he had been a loner, and
sometimes it seemed to him as if he did not belong to this world.
But he could never have imagined how true it really was. And now he
had the opportunity to do something special to help those like
him.

“
Helping the Devil. It’s too
much,” muttered Lazarus.

“
Look, Lazarus. Think about it
this way. You won’t be helping me. You’ll be helping those who
cannot survive without you. People do not like oddities. They do
not like what does not fit in their heads. Encountering something
unusual, they are likely to erase it from the face of the earth.
Normality, ordinariness, these are the protective mechanisms of
humanity, a form of security. You can help demionis. You can
protect them from the human world, and protect people from them.
Because, I’ll be honest with you, not all of them are harmless and
friendly. But you can reach out to everyone. After all, you are not
limited by time, Mr. Bernardius.”

“
Here we are,” said Mr. Star,
looking out of the window of the carriage. The announcement
interrupted Lazarus’s thoughts. The driver, clad from head to toe
in a black cloak, jumped from the box and lit a torch.

The light of the torch
penetrated the
darkness. They were in a silent forest far from the city. The only
sounds were a crackling fire and rustling leaves. The driver went
on a wide circle around the equipage, using a torch to ignite
lanterns mounted on high poles. It was getting brighter. Before he
lit all the lanterns in the center of the circle, outlines of carts
loaded with bales and chests, wooden columns, and bright patches of
fabric became visible.

“
What is it?” asked
Lazarus.

“
A traveling circus,” said Mr.
Star.

“
I don’t understand.”

“
That’s your job, Mr.
Bernardius,” said Louie Louis. “Your disguise and your shelter.
People hate abnormality. But only if it does not entertain them.
The circus has always been a salvation for those who are not
accepted by the society of normal people—cripples, freaks of
nature, and, in the case of the demionis, a certain kind of
mongrels. This is the only place where a group of strange creatures
will not arouse suspicion. With a traveling circus, you can move
around the country to look for the unusual and give it shelter and
protection.”

Lazarus walked among
the carts, looking
at bales. As a child, he had seen circus performances. But he had
never seen a circus not yet assembled. Now it seemed incredible
that the stage, the cells, the main tent did not appear magically
right before a show, but were collected and transported in
carts.

“
I don’t want to attract
attention, Mr. Bernardius,” said Louie Louis, as Lazarus wandered
among the carts. “Therefore, you have to use such gimmickry. There
are forces that will be happy if people continue to destroy
mongrels. And my demionis are too few. You won’t have to think
about money or food. But you must be careful. Inhabitants of your
circus will have to follow certain rules to guarantee their
safety.”

“
Inhabitants? But there is no
one, only staff and equipment!” said Lazarus.

“
And you have not said yes,” said
Louis with a sly smile.

Lazarus caught himself thinking
that he had already agreed to the proposal of
the lord of Hell. “I
agree.”

“
Perfect. I was counting on that.
Then I will give you a minute to satisfy your curiosity, and then
we’ll go back.”

“
That’s all? No contract signed
in blood?” Lazarus thought he was talking nonsense. And judging by
the reaction of Louis and Mr. Star, nonsense it was. Both
laughed.

Louis smiled, but his eyes were
serious.
“You’re immortal, Mr. Bernardius. I will not get your soul.
Your word is enough.”

Lazarus felt goose bumps on his back and
said nothing. He again looked at the bales and carts, wondering how
many were needed to transport the circus. He reminded himself what
he had agreed to. To his surprise, he felt no guilt or anxiety,
only excitement, like a child waiting for something new and
interesting. He always thought he was needed for something more
than keeping accounts on the plantation or in an office. The
thought flashed in his head that maybe the blood-of-hell
inhabitants had made him agree to such a venture.

“
Mr. Louis,” said Lazarus. “Will
I know my bloodline?”

“
In time, Lazarus,” Louie said
solemnly, and he disappeared into the carriage, making it clear
that the time to explore the circus had expired. Lazarus followed
the demon. He had so much to ask Louis and Mr. Star. But his
thoughts were floundering, and he didn’t know where to begin.
Before he was ready to ask the first question, they got to New
Orleans. Dawn had already risen over the city.

The carriage moved through the
unfamiliar streets, and Lazarus realized they were heading
toward the most
fashionable part of town. The lasher stopped the coach at an
expensive hotel.

“
Enjoy the pleasures of a big
city while you can, Mr. Bernardius. Life in a traveling circus is
interesting but lacks comfort,” said Louis. “The man who will lead
you into the swing of things will contact you tomorrow morning. In
the meantime, relax. Your room and amenities are paid
for.”

The
coach of demons left. In his room,
Lazarus found clean clothes and money. Without changing clothes, he
took the banknotes and went down to the street. He needed a coach
that would deliver him to Horns & Hooves. He was sure the
patrons of his expensive hotel often dined there. But to his
surprise, nobody had heard of such a place. Nor did any driver in
any other part of the city know where the restaurant
was.

Bernardius had traveled the
entire city before he met a driver at the port who agreed to take
him to Horns & Hooves.
The coach brought Lazarus to the door of a
dilapidated shack that smelled of spoiled fish and exotic spices.
Gathering his courage, Lazarus went inside. In the dim light he saw
several low and dirty tables where visitors of the eatery had
crowded, workers and blacks who looked with distrust and hostility
at Mr. Bernardius’s expensive suit.

Lazarus tried to find out from
the owner of the place, a small
and ancient Chinese man with a long thin
mustache, if he knew anything about Louie Louis, but the old man
only listed the names of the dishes and their prices. Realizing
that Lazarus was not going to order anything, he waved his hands,
as if to dismiss him.

Lazarus returned to
his hotel and
collapsed onto the bed, immediately falling asleep. The next
morning he was awakened by a short man in a funny embroidered hat
who introduced himself as Faulkner. Chubby and smiling, with small
spectacles on his nose, he smiled at Lazarus.

“
I am from Mr. Louie Louis,” said
Faulkner. “I’ll be working with you, taking care of all the
paperwork. I’m your first archivist. It’s time to hit the road, Mr.
Bernardius!”

“
I’ll pull you and pill you, I’ll
crueladeville you.”

Queen
, “Let Me Entertain You”

Faulkner be
came the circus’s first
archivist. Like those who succeeded him in the position, Faulkner
was mortal. He did not have demon’s blood or abilities—no power, no
disgusting appearance, no creepy habits. Usually archivists were
advanced in years when they came to the circus. They dedicated
their lives to studying the arcane arts, especially goetia—the art
of demon summoning. They learned languages older than Latin, in
which were written the most famous grimoires, and were able to
create talismans of summoning. Basically, archivists were a
communication device between the mortal world and the world of
demons. Lucifer himself rarely found time to talk with Lazarus and
the other circus inhabitants, so he appointed Mr. Star, or
Astaroth, as a curator.

The archivists were people of many
talents, and they served as a database, an encyclopedia, and a help
desk for the circus. No one in the world knew better than they what
demionis were, where they lived, and what approach and care they
needed. They kept a single written diary. Each new archivist
continued the previous diary, and every day they wrote about
traveling, shows, expenses, and tickets sold. They also recorded on
paper any event that in their opinion was out of the
ordinary.

Lazarus initially tried to talk
as little as possible
to Faulkner, taking him for a spy, but as the
circus grew, the little man’s help became apparent, and Lazarus,
who had not dealt with supernatural beings, appreciated
it.

On May 8
, 1871, when Ezra Sutton made the
first homerun in the history of baseball, in Cleveland, “Lazarus
Bernardius’ Circus” hit the road. Around the same time, Phineas
Taylor Barnum founded his circus, which ten years later would
become The Greatest Show on Earth. Barnum’s circus performances
drew full houses in large cities. Lazarus’s shows were in the small
towns and backwoods, where half the people thought they were a
cheap knock-off, and the other half was so poor that sometimes
Lazarus had to paper the house to create some semblance of an
audience under the big top. But money didn’t concern the
tentmaster.

Lucifer kept his promise, and
Lazarus
’s
circus was never in need of anything, even though the money from
ticket sales covered only a small portion of the costs. Lazarus
knew why the public was not in a hurry to see his shows. He himself
lacked the manners of an entertainer; he was leaden and words got
tangled on his tongue. The performances didn’t even look like a mud
show. Most of the carts with equipment were not even used, and a
few tents for housing were enough for the small troupe. Besides
Lazarus and Faulkner, at first the circus included only a rougaru
named Charles, the rarog Stepan, and a brainless joint
snake.