These Wicked Things, a WIP series about a twisted circus crew under supernatural influence, by me and @reeseweston
“What happens behind the curtains, stays behind the curtains.”
Genre : horror, dark, paranormal
Setting : 1800s with mild alterations, grim and foggy, explores various towns and cities, PNW-adjacent
Lives are being claimed up and down the streets of Dustmire, seemingly without cause or criminal. Trails of blood lead authorities to more questions than answers, to a mystery deeper than the graves of the deceased.
In the nick of time, a traveling circus of mystery and mischief has arrived to lift everyone’s spirits, though some might say this is a misfortune.
Laughter and gasps abound as knives are tossed with extreme precision, ropes are walked without a misstep, jokes are spun quicker than a spider’s web, and no one dares to speculate this might all be a clever distraction from the carnage rampaging the town.
Until one fatal mistake bleeds an undeniable truth across the cobblestones.
Main and Notable Characters:
Leith — “Lethal Leith” — Knife Thrower
mischievous; flirty; vengeful; loves deeper than he hates and his hatred runs deep; collects knives — some for carving flesh others for carving wood; devoted to those he loves, to a fault;
Drystan — Presenter
reads and writes in his downtime; former nobleman; weaver of lies and spinner of tales; works most often behind the scenes; cleans up the rest of the crew’s messes … especially Leith’s;
Wick — Ring Leader
cruel; sadistic; believes himself superior to all others; founder of the show;
Josephine — Fire Dancer
can’t—orwon’t—keep a secret; nor can she speak the truth; manipulative; some say her kiss will seal your death;
A struggling addict for as long as Nirvana can remember and never one to keep a job or partner for long, it comes as a shock when Chance returns home to announce his sobriety, a budding relationship, and new career as a bouncer.
Not just that, but his new relationship is with a man.
Nirvana’s got no problems with that, but he’s always known his brother as a guy often seen with a woman on his arm, so when he’s introduced to Tommy, he doesn’t quite know how to respond.
Cover for @reeseweston’sSomewhat Damaged ♥ … I don’t know what to call it in relation to Lost Cause beyond ‘in conjunction with’ because it is neither a prequel or a sequel, though in some aspects it kind of is a prequel?
Whatever the case, I am in love with this novel and its characters.
Childhood traumas have plagued Nirvana for years—the abuse from his father, the loss of his mother. Easier to drown it in booze and the touch of strangers than to face what happened.
It’s the opposite of what he tells his clients to do, and he knows it’s not making anything better, but accepting what happened terrifies him almost as much as what he’d endured.
Even after his father’s death, Nirvana struggles to come to terms with it.
An hour later, Nirvana pulls his Accord along the sidewalk and waves through the windshield at Hope. She’s a striking sight out here in her flowery sun dress and too-large sunglasses, a weak smile trying to conceal the fact she’s been crying. Nirvana exits the car to accept her open arms, inhales the coconut scent clinging to her hair when he presses his chin to the top of her head. Holds her through another round of sobs, his own emotions trying to get the better of him.
Not because of Carter, but because he hates to see his sister cry.
The house might as well be abandoned, a ramshackle shell of warped walls and wasted childhood. Looks haunted from the outside, and Nirvana knows for a fact it’s haunted on the inside, too. Not by ghosts, maybe, but memories and echoes.
Even those behind the scenes can harbor just as much guilt.
In his search for an identity outside of his family’s wealth and nobility, Drystan instead finds himself lured into the charm and intrigue of These Wicked Things—and eventually into the bed—and heart—of Leith Gallows.
