All out and Over

Malory’s teeth gleamed in the fading light; candles flickered on their posts giving the night its mysterious, devious, glow. No one would expect this. Her Cheshire features couldn’t be hidden, but the black cloak from the magic man’s costume closet certainly shaded it. Xavier had earned his keep tonight. Maybe I should keep him around.

The way Xavier’s eyes moved subtly, back and forth, above the flame on his black candle until Cara’s mind calmed and accepted his innocent trickery burned in Malory’s mind. “You see, Love, I told you this would work.” Xavier sipped his tea slowly. Cara sat, wide eyed and zombie-like, at his mercy. “She will do as I ask, and now…” he leaned forward as his hand moved before Cara’s eyes, slowly moving her vision toward Malory, and snapped his fingers once their eyes locked. “She is yours.”

“How do I know you speak the truth, Magic Man?” Malory’s hands caressed her warm coffee cup as she watched Xavier lean back in his chair. The grin on his face was almost as devious as the one on Malory’s crimson lips. Cara’s eyes were dull and focused solely on Malory.

“Try her out; see for yourself.” Xavier crossed his legs, reminding Malory of the criminal in one of those old mystery novels she used to enjoy.

Malory stood from her chair, leaving the steamy mug on the side table behind her. She circled Cara as a true lioness would hunt her prey. “Stand for me, Firecracker.” Cara did as instructed, her arms dangling unnaturally at her sides. There was no fidgeting or squirming for once. Mal liked the improvement so far.

“Straighten your corset, Dear; you know how I hate unkemptness.” Slowly Cara’s hands moved over her torso, perfecting her messy outfit as Malory asked.

“How is this different from your normal routine, Love?” Xavier questioned. He laced his tea cup in its saucer on the table next to Malory’s mug before standing.

“What do you suggest then?” She threw back as her circling drew her closer to him. Her lanky fingers walked up his arm as she waited.

The corner of his mouth moved upward. “Is there anything she would never normally do for you? Something not in her nature?” He glanced between Cara and the dancing flames atop the multicolored candles around the room.

“How Clever!” Malory exclaimed with a short laugh. ‘Arsonists never put out their fires, but hers will drown soon enough.’ Malory thought. “I want you to first blow out each of the candles here, and then fetch our lion tamer. Go to the storage tent; give him what he asks for, until I say stop.”

Malory gave Xavier a curious glance, before stating, “she never blows out the…” A puff of smoke erupted in the air as Cara blew out the red and white candles on the mantle. With exhilarated excitement, Malory turned to Xavier as Cara reached the black candle used to hypnotize her. The firecracker’s lips puckered as she sucked in a gust of air. Malory’s hand moved behind Xavier’s neck. As the air burst through Cara’s mouth, Malory finally gave the magic man a preview of what he’d been longing for.



Malory slipped inside the storage tent. Only a strand of white Christmas lights lit the large space; three blubles were burned out causing the tent to be dimmer than usual. The partial darkness added to Malory’s ecstasy. “A man of words and not of deeds…” she quoted in a lilting tone as her eyes began to skim the room. Falling over chest and box alike, searching for this missing piece of her dangerous game. She needed something sharp. Something to rid her garden of suffocating weeds. A crimson smile lingered as she began her poetic lilt again.

“A man of words and not of deeds is like a garden full of weeds.”

Malory rattled through case after case searching, throwing discarded belongings every which way. Nothing would do justice here, not for her vision of this final act. All the men in her life caused her pain and ruin. She pulled a gray sheet from a tall. Oblong shaped object, hoping for another chest; she cringed at the fun house mirror.

Malory’s visions of a chubby, sagging old woman met her eyes with anger and dread. She leaned closer to her reflection; the roundness in her stomach moved to her thighs maker her waist too thin. She couldn’t enjoy the thought of having a tiny waist again though. A wickedly long silver strand gleamed in the dim light, fueling her anger as much as it stood stark against her black curls.

First she lost her body to gravity, and now she must battle old age. No she refused to let any more handsome devils ruin her. This was war. Malory picked up a silver dagger from inside the mirror’s hidden box. Freddy’s throwing knives.

Her memories began to bleed together as her thoughts stormed through her body. Caressed touches prickled her skin. Stinging slaps across her cheeks burned. The lies twisted and gnawed at her soul until her the mirror resembled a pale skinned version of a wart riddled witch.

Steven, her husband, appeared in one corner of the room while Dmitri appeared in the other. Each of them had strong, handsome smiles and open arms. They promised her the world. Steven offered diamonds and a life away from her unforgiving father. He swore they would have the life she always wanted. The young girl he fucked clung to his side. His voice rang in her ears. “Who would want you now? What are you good for except bringing in a few extra dollars? Your father was right about you.”

Malory pulled a sharp knife from the collection of daggers. “I never wanted you,” she whispered. “Marrying you got me out of that hellhole; your death, you bastard, kept me from going back!” Her voice grew louder. She drew her arm back, flinging the knife with all her might. It landed with a sickeningly beautiful thud in Steven’s head, in the wooden beam holding the tent up.

Dmitri’s laughter howled through her. She felt stupid. Lied too. His arm slumped casually over Cara’s shoulder. White paint smeared over her face, but it couldn’t hide the powder ruining her senses. “Who wants an old bag when they can have a young firecracker?” Malory flung the knife at Dmitri, landing the blade’s tip in the outer circle of Freddy’s spinning board. Cara laughed hysterically, as she sniffed the snowy powder lingering on her hands.

She was the weed, the thorn, in Malory’s new life. She wanted to start over, but who could resist a taunt body fueled with hunger and fire? Who could resist the drugs? Why would they want to? “And when the weeds begin to grow,” Malory sang in that lilting tone, “it’s like a garden full of snow.” Soon the little firecracker will be in a different garden; a stone garden.

Malory imagined Cara sauntering around the room. She wondered what it would be like if she hadn’t hypnotized the daft girl. Would Cara be happy to please the lion tamer again and again? Did the stupid ingrate even think twice about Malory anymore? Was the sex really worth knowing that Dmitri was using her too? None of it matters. The lion tamer and the firecracker will fall. I will be free again

“And when the snow begins to fall,” Malory said as she turned in a wide arch, grabbing the dagger that went through Steven’s imaginary skull, “it’s like a bird upon the wall.” She moved, climbing on the latter step stool. Her long fingers latched onto the knife sticking out of Freddy’s rotating board. She could still smell his assistance’s perfume on it. Why did you never try to get your fun with these whores?

Malory felt free. Her skin tingled with excitement as she snatched the knife out of the board. She positioned the bungee cords into place; they would act as makeshift handcuffs. Dmitri was in for the ride of his life, and it would be his last. Who would have thought that I would have the last laugh over you, Lover? Oh…that’s right. I knew. Malory imagined the flashing lights, and the screaming. Which of Dmitri’s whores would morn him most?

“And when the bird away does fly,” Malory’s lilting song turned into an airy laugh, “it’s like an eagle in the sky.” She hopped from the step latter, spinning in glee. ‘Yes,’ she thought, ‘soon I will be free of all the weeds trying to suffocate my garden of enchantment.’ The word ‘enchantment’ brought Xavier back to mind. Malory hesitated to trust him with her secret revenge against Dmitri, but she shouldn’t have. The Magic Man was always someone she could trust; he guided her, even though he was still young himself, when she arrived at this circus. Now, in this moment, he helped her again. She no longer needed his guidance, but appreciated and resented his help destroying the lion tamer’s roar…

“And when the sky begins to roar,” the song turned into a growl as her palm squeeze the blade handle, “it’s like a lion at the door.” The lion tamer knocked on the wrong door that night. Malory tried to force the memory from her being but it floated just behind her eyes. Lingering as fiery as his touch, his gaze.

She never stayed open late anymore, but tonight was different. The crowed moved and ebbed in a way that she missed. Candle light’s flickered in the Old-English lamp posts, while nothing but a strand of white lights illuminated her doorway. She was heading outside, her second trip, to bring in the card table where she housed her crystal ball. It was too dark, and the customers would surely see the flickering light that produced smoke inside the ball. Malory felt eyes on her, roaming her body; she peered around her, expecting to see the magic man lurking. However, she was pleasantly surprised.

“I hear you’re a real seer, Fortuneteller.” His muscles were taunt beneath that black vest he wore so well. As her eyes caught his, he removed his infamous top hat that managed to suit him despite his long hair. Malory stood by the table, a sensual grin playing on the corners of her mouth. It had been too long since a pretty boy paid her any attention.

She put a hand on her hip, holding her posture so her body looked its best, as she answered, “I know you think you are brave enough to find out.” Malory leaned over the table, taking her tarot cards in hand while giving the lion tamer an eye full.

He stepped closer. His hands flattened against the table as he leaned toward her. “Tell me, Malory, why do they call you the queen of hearts?”

“You’re not brave enough to find the answer to that question, Dear; why don’t you try another?” Her eyes bore into his. Heat spread across her chest and through her limbs.

He leaned closer, the table shaking beneath their combined weight. His lips brushed against her cheek, and then her ear before he finally said, “Is there a dark haired, fortuneteller in my bed tonight?” He whispered.

“Oh, Lion Tamer,” Malory whispered as her knuckles turned white. “You should have never stepped on my turf, not if you were going to leave me for another toy.” She could still see the way he grabbed Cara when he thought no one could see. It made her stomach churn.

“And when the door begins to crack,” She said through gritted teeth, imagining the heel of her boot crushing Dmitri’s wind pipe. Malory could see his whip, just feet away from her; she could see it braking the skin on his back. Blood dripping down his taunt, rippling muscles. “It’s like a stick across your back.

“And when your back begins to smart…” Malory sat, her back against the funhouse mirror as she reached beside it, feeling the smooth whetstone between her fingers before striking a dagger against it. “It’s like a pen knife in your heart.” She longed to put that knife through his heart, through Cara’s heart. They deserved hell, and both would get what they deserved soon enough. No one fucks with the Queen of Hearts.

Malory imagined blood pooling on his lips, running down his chest. She imagined Cara’s beating heart in her palm, blood dripping down her wrist smearing to her elbow. The life fading out of that muscle. That warmth she felt the first night with Dmitri, the warmth she felt with Xavier’s hypnosis act, flooded her body as she thought about the sharp knife piercing the dark flesh, ending the lion tamer and the firecracker. The knife that would give her the freedom she wanted.

Her grin found its way back to the corners of her mouth. She stared at the gleaming knife blade, freshly sharpened in her hands. “And when your heart begins to bleed,” she sang, “You're dead, and dead, and dead indeed.”