The Siren's Call

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"I know for definite it's a little girl, silly. No men exist in my kind, so a baby girl it is~ Not that I... I'm particularly confident I can be a mother. I'm so spoilt, I know that, but I suppose having you all helps, does it? I didn't think I'd even like you all, but you're a family to me. Gosh, I never thought I'd call humans family," she laughed to herself, a small crinkle in her nose as she leaned in to plant a kiss to Oscar's cheek. Like with Dolly, it was something she did to show her affection towards him, but with Oscar, some genuine feelings were involved. She may playfully flirt with most the men in the show, but Oscar... he meant something to her. She wasn't saying she was in love with him, but... there was definitely some affection in her behaviour towards him.​
 
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"Father, father look! Look father! It's going to be a mermaid performing tonight!" Shouted a little Clayton in his heavy, but cute accent. His father, Earl Eugene Nightingale paid little to no attention to his son as he spoke business to a man. Clayton, or better known as Clay, was the five year old son of the Earl. He was the only child, well known child, of Eugene.

Clay was the spit of his daddy. He had those dark black locks, they grayish blue eyes, that dimpled smile, and full pouty lips. Wearing a small tailored coat, shorts, and knee high socks, he was dressed to the nines, as always. Now Clayton was much like his father in many ways. He was charming, and at only age five he already saw girls as pretty. Most five year old boys saw girls as gross. Puffing out his cheeks, he folded his arms as his father led him to the benches of the circus tent. His father had promised to take him to this Freak Show, because this whole trip to America had been about business. That's all it's been about. Yet here his father was, speaking business yet again.

While Eugene was busy with business, Clay decided to sneak off, and see the mermaid before the show. Meanwhile, behind the scenes, Dolly was helping Olympia with her hair, as always. Giggling softly she grinned at her in the mirror. "As always Olly, you're just too darn cute~ I can't wait until your daughter begins performing. Wouldn't that be amazing, for the both of you to perform together! The mother daughter act of the century!" She cooed.
 
If anyone knew that Eugene was sat out on the benches, all hell would have broken loose. Olympia, especially, would have lost her patience. She hadn't at all forgotten what Eugene had done to her. In many ways, it was the best thing he had done, because this was her life, and she loved it. Hell, she had had an opportunity to leave the Freak Show a year ago, when a sailor arrived to the Show and promised her he could take her away if she wanted... but she refused. She had a home, a family... and this was where her precious daughter was born. This was her family now, and she didn't see it ever changing. Despite that, she hated how Eugene had used her and... made love to her when he always planned on selling her. That had never died down, and her hatred of him remained to this day.

It was hard to forget when her daughter had glimpses of her father. She had his greyish eyes and the same dimples in her cheeks, as well as elements of his cheeky personality. Luckily, though, she was a lot like her mother. She didn't have her hair colour (she inherited the dusty colour from her grandmother) but she had the almost breathtaking beauty her mother -and all her kind- possessed. The little girl was kind, caring and, overall, sweet... but she also could use her looks and her cute little whines to get what she wanted, just like her mother.

"Mm... I can't wait to, of course I can't. She's such a cutie, and she's already so confident-- where is she, Dolly? She was right here," groaned the woman, pouting her full lips and casting a glance around her tent expectantly. "I look away for two seconds..."

As her mother moaned, little Victoria had scarpered off to play in the little area behind the tents, where Gregory and some of the strongmen had set up a cute park - a slide and a set of swings. It wasn't much, but it was plenty for her. Sighing to herself as she sat up on the swing, she did pout childishly as she fiddled with the dress her mother made her. It was a mini-version of one of Olympia's dresses, though Victoria -or simply Tori- wanted to be able to wear it in a performance. Her mother told her that she couldn't perform until she was older, but the girl hated that. She wanted to be on stage like her family, performing with them... not sitting out on the sidelines.

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Just then little Clay found the park with excitement before sending the pretty girl sitting on the swing. His big eyes grew mischievous as he walked over glancing st the swing set. "Well, blind me, there's a pretty little girl here." Stated the boy, his thick accent coating his words. Grabbing the swing she was on, he leaned in close to her face with a cheeky grin.

"What ya doin' out 'ere by ya self? And why are ya here? Are ya part of the Show?" He asked as he circled behind her. Clay then began to push her on the swing slightly, before she could even say no.
 
Her hands immediately grabbed the ropes of the swing, clinging on tightly-- though the little pushes really didn't compare to the ones Oscar gave. Hell, Olympia would almost have heart attacks when she saw how high Oscar pushed the girl on the swing. Compared to that, this really was nothing, but she still clung on anyway. The last thing she wanted was to dirty her dress or tear it, even if her mother could fix anything with her sewing kit.

"Are you from the audience?" She asked in return, glancing back at the excitable little boy with a confident smile on her face. She was like her mother - she really wasn't afraid of approaching or talking to strangers, especially when they appeared the same age as her. "You must never ask a lady so many imposing questions," she huffed, using the long words Dolly had taught her. "I am a lady, and... your accent is funny. Where are you from? You don't sound American..."​
 
"I'm Australian, it's far from here. Like super far. I had to cross the savage sea just to get here. You see I'm a sailor, I'm Captain of me ship....Sort of." Mumbled the five year old boy. Grabbing the rope of the swing he stopped it, before leaning in close to her once again

Clay had a problem with that. He always invaded personal space a bit much, but hew as only five. "A lady? Why you're only a girl, not a lady yet. Ladies are taller than you, and older, and they all talk with this long drag in their voices with their noses in the air. I don't like ladies. But I like you. Because you're a girl." Cooed the boy with his boyish smile. "I'm Clayton Martin Anthony Nightingale. All my friends call me Clay." Grinned the boy. It was obvious he was rich. Simply by looking at his clothes. His clothes were made of rather food fabric. He even had a little cane that had a jewel on the top, but he placed it on the ground like it was nothing to play with her.

"What's your Name? I bet it's pretty. I don't have pretty girls like you where I'm from. They're all average in looks. Daddy says it's mean to call someone unattractive. But you should see them, they're dreadfully boring. And scared of boys! How terrible is that?"
 
"Hey, I am so a lady! My uncle Oscar says that I'm a b-beautiful young lady, s-so you shut up, Clayton Nightingale. You don't know a single thing. I can act like a lady, and my Mommy says I'm just like her, a-and she's the main act here, so you be quiet right this second," she announced with her nose tilted in the air, a fierce glare being sent back at the boy in retort. She could defend herself rather fiercely when she wanted to, and right now was one of those instances where she was determined to defend who she thought she was. "My Mommy won't be pleased that you're so rude. She's a star, a-and beautiful, and--"

"There you are-- Where have you been?! You silly thing, you had me worried!" Squeaked said woman, Olympia rushing into the private park and scooping her daughter up from the swing, holding her against her until she was sure she was okay. When there were humans around, she hated letting her daughter out of her sight. Outside of the Freak Show, she really didn't trust any human. They could easily scoop up Tori and sell her off somewhere when they realised she was the daughter of Olympia.

Eyeing the little boy, she at least reserved her anger. She wasn't going to yell at any child. Children were innocent, no matter what species they were. "Come on, Tori. You want to watch Mommy perform, don't you~?"​
 
"Tori? That's your name? Wait, can we pla-"

"Clayton Martin Anthony Nightingale!" Called a smooth, deep voice of Eugene. Obviously he was angry with his son for running off. "You beg me to come to this show and now you've-" He stopped suddenly, once seeing Olympia. He really didn't want to see her. He knew she would be furious with him. "....Clayton, let's go. We're going home."

"But, but daddy, I've made a friend! Look at her! Shes pretty right! And her mommy's pretty too! And I want to see the mermaid, so I refuse to go."

"Clayton, I'm serious." Hissed the man.

"But Daddy you promised! You said we would spend this holiday together, yet you've been working!" Whined the little boy, crossing his arms and puffing out his cheeks.
 
Almost immediately, the air grew tense and icy. It took another glance to the child for her to fully realise why he had filled her with dread. He was the spit of his father, and Olympia almost felt stupid for not recognising the characteristics sooner. Gently pulling her daughter behind her, she moved to block the only exit from him. If it wasn't for the children being present, she would have probably attacked him by now. Fortunately, he had Clayton at his side. No matter what, he was an innocent child who probably knew nothing of what his father had done. She wasn't going to be violent, not in front of children... but she was very clearly furious.

"Oh, Eugene. What a lovely surprise! Did you miss me, darling?" She sarcastically purred, pushing her black hair over her shoulders and protectively holding Tori's hand in her own. "...You ought to be thankful your son is with you. I'm sure you can imagine the pain I want to put you through right now."

"Mommy... M-Mom, let's go. You're ruining your makeup-- let me help!"

"Shh, Tori, Mommy's makeup is fine," laughed the siren, running her fingers lightly through Tori's dusty hair. "...Nightingale, I should let you know that you did me a great service in bringing me here. I've been rather happy. But using me? Taking my... virginity? You are very naughty, aren't you? How does your wife feel about that? I'm sure you have a perfect little family now."​
 
"Why would you want to put me through pain if your happy here. Look you have a daughter, and you seem very happy. See~ No hard feelings. And doll face, I didn't use you, not really. And you knew the type of man I was."

Clayton was confused, looking between the grownups. He did catch one thing though, the lady said wife. "...Daddy doesn't have a wife. She lives in Heaven." Answered the little boy as he walked straight up to the woman with that boyish grin. "Your the mermaid aren't you? Daddy this is who I was talking about!" He grinned and looked back at him.

Eugene was quiet now. He had been the moment he saw his saw standing next to Tori. They looked similar. Far too similar. "....Clayton we're going home....Daddy doesn't feel good." He muttered, and hearing this Clayton ran to his daddy worriedly.

"What's wrong Daddy?" He asked as Eugene scooped him up, stroking his hair down.

"...Olympia...I'm sorry for what I did...But...I...I have to know something."
 
"Oh, what do you want to know, Nightingale? If she's your daughter? If I tell you that I've only had sex with one man, who happened to be a disgusting, horrible sailor, does that answer your question? Let's get one thing straight. She is nothing to do with you. She's nothing to you. She's my daughter-- I have every desire to call Oscar and have him break your pathetic little neck, but you're a father. I'm not that cruel," she admitted, though had pressed up close to intimidate him and make him realise how serious she was about that. She had had six years pass, where all she wanted to do was get her revenge... and now she couldn't because he was a father of a child who was solely dependent on him. In the past, she had killed many parents... but being a mother herself, it did change things, if only a little. Then again, she did want to hurt him, painfully, and probably would have done if Clayton wasn't there to witness it. The only way of hurting him was preventing him access to their daughter, but she imagined he wanted nothing to do with her anyway. She was a siren, like Olympia, and he hadn't been very accepting of that in the past. He only saw dollar signs when he met Olympia, and she didn't trust him near their daughter right now. He was a despicable person who she thought could easily sell Victoria for a few thousand dollars if he wanted to.

"Come along, Tori," she ushered gently, smoothing her daughter's crumpled dress in her maternal manner. "Let's go see uncle Oscar. He'll fix your hair for you, hm? He's great at that, isn't he? Or ask Dolly to put a little lipstick on your lips-- not too much, just a little. If you want to be like me, I can allow a little makeup now and then~"​
 
"You say you hate me, yet here you are pressing up close. Is it to get close to me?" He asked with a half hearted chuckle. "...Clayton let's go."


"Daddy what does she men by that's your daughter? What does that mean?" Asked the little boy as he was being carried off. "Wait lady! Wait!" He called to Olympia.

"Clayton Nightingale, can you behave just one day for me? The lady is busy."

"Who is she Daddy? You knew her? Is she mommy? Who is she!" He demanded as he squirmed however Eugene carried him out the tent.
 
Almost as quickly as he had left, Olympia hurried to Oscar's little trailer in what was genuinely a mixture of anger, fury and disgust. After all this time, and after what he had done to her, Eugene still had the audacity to insinuate that her pressing close was for flirtatious, adoration reasons? It infuriated her, and after ushering her daughter into Dolly's tent, she burst into Oscar's and collapsed down onto the sofa without asking to enter. She didn't need to, did she?

"Oscar," she began angrily, pouring herself a large glass of wine and pushing her hair back from her face, her feet resting up as she laid out comfortably on the couch. She was comfortable around everyone at the home, though Oscar especially. The two had a few kisses over the years, but nothing... serious. Not that she wasn't up for that. If he asked, she probably would admit that she would be happy dating him. "...Eugene is here. That... awful sailor I-- he's gone now, but I-I was so close to-- Ugh, massage my feet?"​
 
"That disgusting man was here?" He asked angrily standing up. "Why didn't you tell us? And what the hell Olympia why didn't you hurt him?!" Growled the man ready to go kill him. Olympia would be on stage in literally a few minutes so he took the drink from her. "Remember...No drinking before performance. You've got to get out there. I'll go handle the damn sailor. What's he look like?" Asked the man.
 
"Honey, he's got a child. I... couldn't hurt him in front of his son. It's Tori I feel for. Not that I want that man in her life, but she... knows about him now. I'll have to explain to her why her father's not in her life-- this is why we kill the fathers on my island. We don't have fathers. I never knew mine. He was killed after my mother had sex with him, I imagine-- it's so much easier," she bemoaned, reaching out childishly for the wine, though sat back grumpily when realising he wasn't going to allow her to drink before a performance, which was for her own good. "...Sweetheart, forget about it. He's not going to come back. He doesn't care about our daughter-- she's more your daughter than she is his. She used to call your father when she was a little toddler, remember?"​
 
"....Yes of course...But I still want to go find him and beat the crap out of him. And if he has a son that's worst. That means he raising him to be just like him. And we don't need another jerk in the world ready to just ruin women's hearts. I'll teach him a lesson one way or another. Now you go get on with your performance. Knock them dead." Oscar smiled helping her up.

Hours after the show ended, it was probably midnight. Many of them were sleeping, some adults where up and celebrating. Why were they celebrating? Because they made a bunch of money at the show. So they had a little party for themselves. In the main tent with a picnic table out there. Many of the adults sat there drinking and laughing. Having a jolly good time.

And guess what little rascal snuck back to The freak show? Little Clayton. The boy was a minx, that's for sure. Just like his father. "Um you guys?" Called Oscar, nows holding the squirming little boy as he walked into the tent. "....I found this snooping outside. What do I do with em?" He chuckled a bit, finding the little boy funny. "Shouldn't you be at home? Your mommy should have tucked you in by n-"

"Put me down! I'm not a baby!" He whined, cheeks red from anger and embarrassment.
 
"Oh, this is-- this is his child," she cryptically sighed, the siren having been drinking happily and plaiting Dolly's hair into a cute hairstyle for her until the interfering child became into view. Having kept quiet about Eugene to everyone, with only Oscar aware, she had to be subtle when telling him who this boy was, and she did move to put the boy down before Oscar got angry about it-- though he wasn't a monster. He wouldn't hurt a child, and neither would she. She may hate Eugene, but this was her daughter's brother, regardless of anything else. She didn't want her daughter to ever know Eugene, and she didn't want her daughter to hang around Clayton because of the connection to Eugene, but she wasn't going to kick him out at midnight. Nobody should do that to a child.

"Here, come eat some cake," she tiredly murmured, setting the boy down on her lap and placing a plate into his hand. "You, my boy, are far too devious. Your father must be worried sick-- you can't run off like this, and not to this place, not again. Did you come to see Tori? I saw you playing earlier. She... has mentioned you a few times. She calls you rude. Said you don't think she's a lady, hm~?"​
 
"Well she isn't a lady, but I wasn't be rude!" He defended himself, before he began to stuff his cheeks with cake a soft our escaping him. "...Ladies are old, and rude, and always pinch my cheeks. She didn't do that. She's a girl...She's pretty. But I came to see You." He admitted. Turning around to look up at her with wide eyes, Clayton looked at her skeptically.

This child may seem like a normal five year old, and he was sometimes. But since Eugene wasn't around to mind him a lot, and the boy escaped from many nannies, he was a little streetwise. He knew a thing or to. And he caught on to a little of what his daddy and this lady were saying earlier. "Tori...Tori is Daddy's daughter....Meaning she's my sis? Right? And...You're my mommy?" He asked hopefully with a grin. "I...I never met my mommy, daddy told me she went to heaven...But you came here? Why didn't you take me?" He asked. Poor boy got it all wrong. But he was still only a child. He may be a little streetwise but not really.

Oscar was glaring at him, scoffing a bit. He couldn't really like him because of who child he was.
 
"Oh, darling, no-- no, I-- Tori isn't your Daddy's daughter, not at all. Not really. Your Daddy and I aren't friends, he did some... very mean and nasty things to me a while ago, so I don't really want to see him. See why you being here is an issue? You're a lovely boy, Clayton, but I don't want to see your father, and he'll inevitably come to collect you. I can't have that, because it'll make me very angry to see him again," she carefully admitted, deciding not to lie to him, but also to tell the truth in a more... reasonable way. She didn't go into details, being mindful that this was his child and she couldn't exactly tell him how horrible Eugene had been. She could at least allude to it and explain why she wanted him to go.

"...I'll have to see him again, I suppose. Only once more. You'll stay here tonight, but tomorrow, when he comes, you'll leave and I assume you'll go back to Australia. That's for the best, alright? Trust me," she sighed, urging him to finish up the cake as she eased back, resting her feet up on Oscar's lap and shooting her friend one of her signature grins, if only to calm him down. "...You can go and share a bed with Tori, if you want. She's asleep, like you should be, Clayton."​
 
Clay couldn't hide the disappointment on his face. He wanted a mommy, of his very own. He thought for sure that she was his but he guess not. "....Yes mam." He mumbled before going back to finishing his cake. His mommy must really be in Heaven. But why did she have to be there? Why not here? "....I'm sorry Daddy did something mean to you.... But...He's not mean promise. He sometimes seems that way. He's always busy with work...Ad sometimes can't play with me, but I know he loves me...Because he tells me everyday." Rambled the little boy.

Oscar let out tensed sigh as he knocked back some wine. "Well, little boy, you should get to sleep. It's way past your bedtime." He mumbled, still not being super friendly with the child. "I can't wait to finally meet your father run the morning." He mumbled with a slight smirk.

Clay looked up at the man, before blinking a bit. "I guess I'll go sleep with Tori. She's super nice! But we didn't get to play." Huffed the man a bit.
 
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