The demon lunged at the gathered crowd, red eyes glowing in rage as the chain

attached to the collar on its neck snapped taut. Bat-like wings flapped furiously and it's

long tail thrashed, causing men and women alike to gasp in horror. One woman even

fainted into her husband's arms.

The crowd filtered out of the darkened tent, muttering in a mixture of shock and

fear as they left the circus for the night. When the last person had walked out the tent

flap, the demon onstage sighed and easily removed the heavy collar around his neck.

Rolling his shoulders, Johnny pulled a comb out of his pocket and swept back the blonde

strands that had fallen into his eyes during his act then headed out of the tent as well.

"Hey little man," Another member of the sideshow, Annie the tattooed woman,

stepped down from her stool to join him. As always, she was dressed in scandalously

little to show off the colorful artwork that covered her body.

"Aw come on, Annie, I ain't little," Johnny groaned when she reached down to

ruffle his hair. At 14, Johnny was the second youngest member of the circus, and the

other performers never let him forget it.

"So you keep insisting," Annie grinned as they stepped out onto the near empty

midway and headed for the trailers, "How was the crowd tonight?"

"Pretty good. I got one woman to faint, even," Johnny winced and rubbed at his

chaffed neck, " I've gotta see about padding that collar though."

Johnny yelped when he was suddenly grabbed from behind and hoisted into the

air, "Little John!"

"Hey, Big John," Johnny replied, a bit dazed from he sudden relocation to the

shoulders of Big John Henry, their seven-foot strongman.

"And how was your show today, Little John?"

"Oh, bout usual. Screaming, fainting. One man even threw a cross at me," He

pulled a necklace out of his pocket and dangled it so that Big John could see it, causing

the bigger man to rumble with laughter.

"They must have really liked your act."

Johnny snorted, "Yeah, `cause screamin' and having people damn ya is the best

applause. I've been workin' on my tumblin' though. Watch this." He carefully stood up,

then vaulted off John's shoulders. Johnny managed a complete front flip, then he tucked

and rolled when he hit the ground before popping back up onto his feet, "Tadah."

Annie and John laughed and applauded.

"You've been spending time with the Thomson's kids again, haven't you?" Annie

observed knowingly.

The Thomson children were Rita and her older brother Jamie, the only other kids

in the circus near Johnny's age. They were the son and daughter of the circus' Trapeze

act, and their current favorite past time was teaching Johnny how to do their act.

Fortunately, Johnny was turning out to be rather resiliant. He'd already taken a few falls,

and even missed the safety net a couple times. Which, of course, was why they weren't

telling their parents about it.

"Maybe you'll get your own acrobat act," Big John laughed.

"Like anybody wants to see a demon on the trapeze," Johnny snorted and stepped

up into the mess trailer for dinner.

"'Ey Johnny, how'd it go tonight?" Jamie sat down across from Johnny with his

tray of food, still dressed in his spandex jumpsuit from his show.

"Oh, not bad. Not bad a'tall. They didn't throw fruit at least," Johnny gave a wide

grin that showed off his pointed eyeteeth and took a bite of whatever indeterminable meat

the chef had served up, "How `bout you?"

"Near missed a catch. It wasn't good. Gotta practice that. You n' Rita kin help me

tomorrow."

"I'm still getting' over my headache from the last time I helped you two practice,"

Johnny rubbed his head. Last time, he'd taken a fall and gotten his horns embedded in the

main pole of the big tent.

Jamie snickered in remembrance, "That was great. It took Big John ta get you

unstuck."

Johnny stuck his tounge out petuantly, then flinched when someone sat down on

the bench next to him.

"Hey son. Y' mind if I sit here?"

Johnny scooched to the side and looked up at the man. He was older, with dark

skin and a greasy leather jacket, and Johnny had never ever seen him before.

"Who're you?" Johnny asked suspiciously. He knew every person who worked at

the circus, and strangers were never a good thing.

"The names Eugene Lanier. I'm a Hell Driver, me an' my boys are renting some

space for our act here wit' yer circus."

"oh," Johnny brightened immediately when he heard that Eugene was a fellow

performer, "A Hell Driver, huh? Them's the guys that crash automobiles through flaming

brick walls n' stuff, right?"

"Got it in one. I'm actually a motorcycle daredevil though. I do acrobatic sorts of

things on my cycle and jump it over jalopies on fire n' shit like that." He mimed a

motorcycle jump with one hand.

"Woah," Jamie's eyes widened in awe, "That's killer!"

"If you boys want, I kin show you some o' my stuff tomorrow afore the circus

opens."

Johnny nodded vigorously, while Jamie groaned, "I gotta practice tomorrow

mornin.'"

"Ignore this drag, he don' know what a good time is," Johnny advised, kicking his

friend under the table, "I'll meet `cha tomorrow morning out in th' field behind th'

trailers."

"Ya gotta deal." They shook on it, then Johnny scarfed the rest of his dinner and

headed out to his trailer for the night.

The next morning, Johnny woke up bright and early with the sunrise. Outside, the

circus was already awake and bustling, preparing for the show that night. Yawning,

Johnny pulled on a fresh pair of pants and a shirt and stepped outside, heading for the

large field behind the trailers.

As the sounds of the circus faded, Johnny could hear the loud roar of a motorcycle

engine. He had heard motorcycles before, but nothing like the fire-y retort blasting out

the cut-down pipes of the machine Eugene was riding.

"Hey little man, right on time," Eugene passed right by him. Astonishingly, he

was doing a handstand on the handlebars of the cycle. Falling back down into the seat,

Eugene killed the engine and coasted to a stop at Johnny's feet.

"How'd you do that?" Johnny's eyes were wide as saucerplates, "How'd you

handstand like that?"

"You wanna learn how ta stunt ride?"

"You bet I do."

Eugene dismounted and turned the handlebars toward Johnny, "Well hop on, boy,

an' I'll show ya how to ride this cycle."

Johnny caught on quickly to the Excelsior's controls, though he stalled the engine

several times before he got comfortable removing a hand from the handlebars to operate

the jockey shifter. Despite this, he was doing slow laps around the field with Eugene on

behind him within the hour.

"Yer a natural, kid." Eugene commented proudly as they rolled to a stop and got

off, "You sure you've never ridden a cycle before?"

"Never in m' life," Johnny responded with a grin.

"Well mebbe tomorrow I kin start teachin' you some real cool stuff," They started

slowly walking back towards the circus, "Johnny, kin I ask you a question?"

"Sure," Johnny responded, a bit puzzled.

"Where're yer parents?"

"I dunno," He shrugged, "I was left here at th' circus when I was a baby. I dun

remember them none."

Eugene nodded, "Tell me, do you know why you look how you do?"

Johnny shrugged again, "Most people say I was cursed by the Devil. I ain't never

seen anyone else who looked this way, so I can't say fer sure."

"What if I told you that y' aren't cursed, and there's lots of others that look like

you?" Eugene had stopped walking and turned to face Johnny. This was the real reason

he had asked Johnny to come riding with him.

"I'd call ye a big fat lier," Now the line of questioning was getting a bit too

personal for comfort.

"Well, it's true," Eugene unzipped his jacket and wrapped a hand around the necklace

hanging against his dirty t-shirt.

Johnny's eyes widened in astonishment as a pair of leathery wings unfurled from

Eugene's back, joined by a long tail covered in dim purple scales. The nails on Eugene's

hands grew long and sharp, then, as a final touch, a pair of horns emerged from his hair to

curl gently behind his head.

"Y-y' look ju' like me," Johnny said faintly, somewhat in shock, "Y' look just

like me, but y' kin change ta look normal."

"I told you, you ain't alone. There's a lot of other folks like you n' me, the normal

folks just don' notice us."

"But why are we like this? An' how did you change like that? Can I do that too?"

Questions were filling up Johnny's mind, all fighting to be asked.

"There ain't no reason `cept that we ain't human. And there's no shame in that

neither," Eugene put a hand on Johnny's shoulder, "Tell ya what, there ain't a show

tomorrow. If'n you come inta town with me, I'll tell ya anything ya want ta know. An'

you kin meet the other boys in my troupe too."

Johnny didn't like the idea of being forced to wait another day, but he also didn't

seem to have a choice, "Fine. But I'm holdin' ya to that."

"I'll see ya tomorrow, boy." Eugene grinned and with a roll of his shoulders his

tail and wings melted away, leaving him looking like any ordinary man. Donning his

crash helmet, Eugene patted Johnny on the back, "Now get goin.' We both got shows ta

get ready for."

"Yeah, I gotta go make a monkey of myself in front o' crowds of regular folks,"

Johnny muttered, walking back towards the circus.

Johnny performed his act that night with none of his usual enthusiasm, too busy

wondering about what Eugene had told him. He hadn't ever spent too much time thinking

about his parents or where he'd come from. The circus folk had been more than a family

to him over the years, if a strange and unconventional one. Everyone here was equal from

the acrobats to the burlesque dancers to the sideshow freaks. They were all different,

separate from society. But now, to know that he wasn't human at all, that there were lots

of others just like him that lived normal lives like normal people. It was something he just

couldn't imagine.

That night Johnny barely slept at all, too excited about going into town the next day. He

was one of a small number that was very rarely able to leave the circus due to his

physical appearance, so any chance to go out and see the normal world was a treat. And,

if Eugene was telling the truth, then maybe Johnny wouldn't have to worry about getting

called out as a freak outside any more.

When the sun rose at 8am, Johnny was already up and ready, grabbing a quick

bath in the showers and getting dressed for the day. He then spent the next several hours

fidgeting and half-paying attention to a radio broadcast until he heard the roar of

Eugene's motorcycle outside his trailer.

"God, Eugene, it's near noon. What took ya so long?" Johnny demanded, pulling

on a coat as he ran out of his trailer.

"Hey, it was a Saturday night. Saturday nights ain't for sleepin,' that's what

Sunday mornin's are for." Eugene stifled a snicker when he saw what Johnny was

wearing. The boy had a fedora pulled low on his head to try and cover his pointed ears,

and a ground-sweeping duster concealed his tail and wings. He looked like a little private

eye. It was hilarious, "Well come on, boy, we got places ta get."

Johnny jumped up eagerly onto the back of the Excelsior, then they were off.

"Where we goin,' anyway?" One of Johnny's arms was wrapped around Eugene's

waist, with the other he held firmly onto his hat against the wind.

"You'll see, you'll see." Eugene grinned as they headed for the main road. They

rode in silence for nearly an hour, heading for the nearest large city. Johnny was nearly

vibrating with anticipation when they rolled to a stop at a stoplight on the main street of

the big city.

The streets were near empty and the storefronts dark. It was a Sunday, and it

wasn't even one o `clock yet. All the good God fearing people were still at church or just

heading home, no one was walking the commercial street. Eugene turned off the market

street into a back alley that wound behind the shops, dodging dumpsters and the

occasional automobile. The alley went on and on for several blocks, the buildings on

either side of it getting closer and less well kept as they continued until the place came to

a dead-end. Here, where the alley widened a bit as a turn around, there were tiny stores

sandwiched between the larger buildings around them, front windows full of odd bits and

bobs.

Eugene parked the motorcycle and dismounted, Johnny quickly following. The

place smelled dank, and Johnny could barely see the outlines of people lurking in the

dark doorways. They were definitely in the bad part of town.

"Why are we here?" Johnny whispered to Eugene. He wasn't afraid of being

attacked or anything, he was a circus freak after all, but he didn't understand what they

were looking for in a dirty alleyway.

"Our kind naturally drifts away from humans and groups together for protection,"

Eugene explained, walking toward one of the shops, "Every town has an out-of the way

place with stores and bars catering to the supernatural kind. And that's just what we're

looking for." He stepped up to one of the small shops and pushed open the door, "This

ain't something you can find in the Sears n' Roebuck catalog, kid."

They stepped through a curtain of beads into the store, which smelled faintly of

incense. Another beaded curtain covered the window of the store, making sure that no

curious window shoppers could peek in from outside. It was some little jewelry shop with

a kind of far east mystic-y feel to it, a glass counter in the corner displaying various kinds

of crystals and tiny wrought-iron figurines.

Eugene did that odd shoulder roll of his, letting out with wings and tail with a

stretch, "Johnny, take off yer coat n' hat."

Johnny cautiously obeyed, hanging his things on the coat rack by the door.

"And who do I have in my store today?" The shop owner came out of the back

room and Johnny couldn't help but stare. She looked mostly normal from the waist up,

but below that she was like a big snake. It was creepy, the way she swayed as she

slithered up to the jewelry counter.

"Greetin's, ma'am. M'name's Eugene, I've come ta get a piece of jewelry for my

young friend here." Eugene gave Johnny a smack upside the head, "Stop starin' boy, I

figure you of all people'd know that's rude."

"Ow, goddammit, Eugene," Johnny clapped a hand over his mouth, "Oh, uh, sorry

Ma'am. I `pologize fer that."

The shopkeep simply smiled and leaned down, placing a hand on Johnny's

shoulder, "Now, are you looking for premade or custom?"

"Premade, please. We don't got time for a custom."

"I shall go see what I have in stock," She straightened and slithered back into the

storage room of the store.

"What was that?" Johnny asked as soon as she was gone.

"She had to read yer energy," Eugene drew out his necklace with it's little crystal

pendent, "Ta change, we focus our energy through crystals, and she's gotta find one tha'

matches you."

Johnny was dubious. It sounded like some malarkey that Xavier the circus

magician would spout off.

"Don't give me that look. I don't know how it works, but it does."

At this point, the shopkeeper came back out from the storeroom, a necklace in her

hand, "Here, try this one."

Johnny took the necklace and peered down at the little pendant that hung from it.

It was a tiny silver gargoyle clutching a clear crystal, tail wrapped securely around it.

"Alright," Eugene knelt down in front of Johnny, "Now what y' need ta do is hold

onto that crystal real tight with both hands and close yer eyes and think real hard about

yer wings an' horns an' tail just goin' away."

Johnny snorted at the instructions, but obeyed anyway. He trusted Eugene.

Squeezing the little gargoyle tight, Johnny concentrated as hard as he could on looking

normal like everybody else.

The change wasn't painful, as he'd originally thought. It was more like his wings

and tail just went numb, then the sensation faded until he couldn't feel his extra limbs at

all.

Opening his eyes, Johnny twisted to try and look at his back, laughing. It felt

weird, but his wings and tail were completely gone. He looked completely normal, it was

great. Running a hand through his hair, Johnny reveled in the absence of his horns, "It

worked!"

"Indeed, it did," Eugene grinned and handed the shopkeep a couple twenties,

"Thank ye kindly ma'am. We'll take it." He turned back to his young companion, "Now

put that necklace on an' don' lose it. Let's hit the town."

"Yeah!" Johnny ran out the door, Eugene close on his heels.

"In fact, I'm feelin' so generous today, why don' you drive while I ride bitch?"

This day just got better and better. It took Johnny three tries to kick start the

Excelsior, then he eagerly threw on the helmet and goggles and jumped up onto the seat.

Eugene rolled his eyes and climbed up behind him, folding himself onto the small seat

with some difficulty.

"Alright, now head outta town. The bar don't open til six, so I figure I might as

well show ya some more stunt tricks."

With a whoop, Johnny gunned the engine and sent them shooting off down the

road.

The two spent the next several hours in a big empty lot, with Eugene patiently

coaching Johnny into standing up on the seat while the motorcycle was moving. It was a

common stunt for the bareback riders, but Johnny was having a hell of a time repeating

the stunt on a small, narrow motorcycle that didn't have brains or the training to keep

steady in a circle.

Fortunately, the necklace didn't seem to have negated his tough skin any, as the

two found the first time Johnny went flying off and bounced on the concrete. Despite

that, he was still sore all over by the time he successfully managed to pull the stunt off.

When Johnny was standing up on that seat though, the soreness didn't matter. He'd done

it, it had taken several hours and nightfall was coming but he'd done it.

Eugene pulled out his pocket watch and tutted, "Well Johnny-boy, looks we got

`bout half an hour before the pub opens, an' it'll take us about that long ta drive to the

next town ta get there. Let's get our rears in gear and git movin!"

Eugene took the driver's seat, then sent them flying out of the lot with a lot more

finesse than Johnny had earlier managed.

"This joint we're going to, what's it like?" Johnny shouted in Eugene's ear as

they hit the main road.

"It's what we call a creature dive or a fuzz bar. It's a place where all the people

like us that ain't human kin jus' get together n' drink n' let loose." Eugene steered them

onto a small road leading out of town.

"Ain't we goin' back to that alley? You said there was bars there."

"Nah," Eugene shook his head, "My boys are still a couple towns over with the

vehicles and props for our show. They's waiting for the go-ahead from me to move stuff

to the circus."

A half hour of riding brought them into the next, much larger town. One large

enough that even though it was a Sunday people walked the streets and visited the

theatres and the stores and the restaurants and the bars. The signs over the businesses

were brightly lit and glowing over the moonlit streets.

"There, that's what we're lookin' fer." Eugene pointed up at a small sign that read

"The White Horse Tavern." Underneath that was a graphic of some odd, almost artistic

marks. It could've been a funny sort of symbol or an artistic addition, but somehow

Johnny knew it was a language. And he knew it said "The Centaur Club."

"Can you read that sign?" Eugene asked as he pulled up in front and parked the

motorcycle.

"Yeah, it says `The Centaur Club.'" Johnny hopped off the cycle, "But why can I

read it?"

"It's our language, so we can communicate without the humans knowing. You'll

be able to speak it too, with some practice."

Rather than going into the tavern, they slipped into the alley around the side and

down a set of stairs to what would be the building's basement. Eugene knocked on the

door and a panel slid open, a pair of golden eyes peering out. Wordlessly, Eugene held up

one hand that changed to become scaled with long claws. The panel closed, then the door

swung open and they were let in.

The club was a dimly lit, smoky sort of place, full of lively chatter and the sound

of a ragtime piano from off near that dance floor.

Johnny was awestruck. All around were people with wings and tails and claws.

There were people with faces like cats and wolves, or even with furry bodies that still

stood upright. And the waitstaff, they were all centaurs, trotting around the club to refill

drinks and serve food. It was amazingly unbelievable, but it was there.

"Well come on boy, this is a place to let loose," Eugene clapped a hand on

Johnny's back, bringing him out of his reverie, "Use that new necklace of yers and stop

looking so human."

Johnny frowned at the odd command and looked up at the older man only to see

that he had changed again. But now not only did Eugene have his wings, but even his

face had changed. It was now long and reptilian and covered in scales. A dragon.

Wrapping a hand around his necklace, Johnny tried to block out the noise of the

club to concentrate. It took a minute, but suddenly the feeling came back into his

extremities in a rush. It felt great, like the feeling finally returning to a leg that had been

asleep. Flexing his wings, Johnny hadn't even realized how wrong he'd felt without them

until he now had them back.

"There ya go, now yer really one of us," Eugene steered Johnny towards the

tables where a group of five men were occupying one of the large booths, "Boys, yer

leader has arrived!"

"Eugene!" A big man with several rows of shark-like teeth and an unruly mane of

hair turned to greet them with an unnerving smile, "Finally. God, whatever happened ta

bein' on time?"

"Aww, stuff it Dizzy. I brought my young prot‚g‚. Boys, meet Johnny." Eugene

slid into the booth and motioned for Johnny to join them, "Johnny, these are the boys.

Dizzy, Flip, Ski, Donny, and Charlie. All Hell Drivers of the finest caliber."

"So all of ya'll are crazy stunt men?" Johnny climbed up into the booth across

from Eugene, next to the big wolf that had been introduced as Charlie.

"The nuttiest," Charlie barked a laugh, "Wha' `bout you, boy? Where you find a

guy like Eugene? How old is you?"

"Fourteen," Johnny replied definitely with all the courage of a young teenager,

"An' Eugene found me. I work at th' circus in th' sideshow."

"The Sideshow?" Donny looked over at him from his place near the wall, "What's

a boy like you doin' in the sideshow? You sure you ain't an errand boy?"

"No way, I'm Johnny the Demon boy, son o' the Devil himself," Normally his

place in a sideshow wasn't a particular point of pride, but Johnny felt the need to defend

his place as an Important Person.

"Oh, a bon-a-fied Demon, eh?" Donny bared sharp teeth and laughed, the rest of

the table joining him, "Littlest demon I ever saw."

"Ey, boys. He ain't much now, but you should see `im on a motorcycle, "Eugene

came to his young friend's defense, "Give him another month or two and I say we could

put `im in our show."

"Oh really now. Well then we'll have th' youngest daredevil aroun,' won't we?

Gotta be worth somethin.'"

Johnny winced as he was given an affection noogie, then talk turned to plans for

their next show and newest stunts. He was in.