...
When the performance ended and the curtains closed, there was a brief pause, a moment of silence, before the lights came back on and everyone started to leave their seats.
'They finally seem like regular people again...'
Some left the hall, some stayed to chat about the performance, while others seemed to be waiting for something.
'Was it just my imagination?'
Nico was still seated, looking at the maroon curtains like he was still waiting for the show to start.
'For some reason...'
He didn't move.
His body refused to.
It was like waiting for a cue, a signal, before he could finally stand.
In that short amount of time, an endless stream of thoughts rushed through his head.
'What is going on?'
'Why am i not moving?'
'Why can't i leave?'
He managed to shut his eyes closed for a small moment before they popped opened again.
'I want to go home.'
He squeezed his fists.
There was nothing, nobody, waiting for him at home, but it was still home.
His home.
'...i just want to collapse in my bed right now'
'Everything is...spinning...'
*clack*
*clack*
The sound of someone walking towards him, caused his head to turn.
*clack*
...and stopped right infront of him.
"Dearest! How was my performance? Did i do well?"
A cheerful, elegant voice asked my character.
The shinning, beautiful, unsettling, lady.
My character immediately stood up and hugged her.
'For a second i thought he was glued to that seat'
"Yes, dear, You were the brightest star on that stage. My very talented ballerina!"
She laughed, a slight blush appearing on her cheeks.
"Come, dear!"
She held his hand as they made their way to the exit.
It was a bit too quiet.
When they reached the exit, she turned to face him and gave him a kiss, her eyes filled with an aching desire of some sort.
...like she was desperately in need of something.
"Dear, why don't you go to the restaurant first? I need to finish some things inside."
He paused while grabbing the door handle.
"Oh? What is it?"
"Nothing important. I just need to wrap things up after a show as usual, alright?"
"...alright, i will be waiting for you." He gave a small kiss on her lips, before turning to watch her pace back down the theatre hall steps and onto the backstage area.
His hand was still holding the door handle as he pulled the door open, just a small crack was enough for the cold outside breeze to enter the heated theatre, causing his arm to shiver.
He stood still, staring at his arm. The door was barely open, yet he looked pale, as if all heat was lost from his body.
'Why is he just staring at his arm..? Move you idiot! Get out of here!'
Nico felt something bad was going to happen, and his self-preserving cowardness was rarely wrong.
'Is he suprised he got goose bumps from the cold?'
"....."
Suddenly, he shifted his stance, closed back the door,
*click*
... and started to walk down the theatre steps, his eyes in a daze.
In that moment, he had spontaneously decided to follow his wife onto the backstage....for the first time.
'No...! Turn back! Turn back!!'
'This is how everyone dies in horror movies!!'
He was going to see what his beloved wife, whom he had worshipped as his whole world, was doing backstage after every performance in solitude.
...after everyone had left the theatre.
'...this idiot!'
Nico tried as hard as he could to make him stop, to change his direction, anything but follow this eerie possessed show.
But he couldn't. No matter how hard he tried to pull the strings, this puppet was already being pulled by stronger strings, fixed onto stronger hands.
'its hopeless.'
The character stopped walking at the entrance to the backstage, his face still looking somewhat lost as he stared at the two narrow black curtains that acted as its door.
'...i have a really bad feeling...'
The character, instead of immediately walking in, bent down slightly to look through a gap inbetween the curtains, a small peeking hole that allowed him to see just enough of the backstage.
'huh?'
Through his limited vision, he could see a heightened singular window that emitted a soft glow bright enough to light the whole area.
There were dusty worn-out props cluttered near a cabinet in the corner, along with large posters plastered on the walls that displayed old shows and performances that took place in the theatre years before.
His wife, stood at the centre of that dim room, but she wasn't alone.
Standing near her, were four other people whom he had saw stay back during the end of the show. They were all gathering around her as she stood at the centre of the natural spotlight created by the window-lit light.
'..what is going on..?'
Her face wasn't clearly visible due to the limited light, but he could see the outline of her lips curve upwards as she mouted something to the air.
"ƐƐ ƐƐƐƐ"
"Ɛ ƐƐ ƐƐƐƐ ƐƐƐ""
As she whsipered under her breath, the four people around her started to get closer. Their legs grunted as they took one step infront of the other, like they were trying to resist the urge to move foward.
Slowly, the closer they got, the larger her smile grew.
They started to line up infront of her, their lips twisted into what seemed like a sad smile, their eyes started to dig deeper into their skull, melting into their skin.
The wife started to move too, but not in a natural way. Her arms flung to her back, shifting through her skin and tearing through her ballet clothes.
Her smile widened, growing large enough to cover half her face, as her eyes moved to rest near the area where her ears were supposed to be.
Her legs started to stretch, growing thinner and thinner till her back arched and touched the celiing, her silky smooth hair cascaded down as she faced the floor.
From her back, numorous packs of flesh started to surge out and form what looked like human arms with eyes on them.
They rested their palms on the ground, acting as extra legs to support her body as it continued to twist and turn its abdomen to form a widened gap, stretching from her belly button all across her stomach.
Like a mouth that had been sewed together, and was finally released, its skin push foward, and began to devour the people in front of it, while the rest of her body stayed suspended in the air.
The others, now like melted candles, simply stood and accepted their fate with a smile, as their entire beings were being swallowed one by one.
By the time the creature, that was his wife just moments ago, started to eat the last person, Nico caught a glimpse of a single tear running down their disoriented face, as they happily welcomed death to engulf them whole.
A completely helpless situation.
'...we need to run away...'
But his body stood completely still.
'Damn it! Why aren't you running?!"
Nico felt a growing string of worry echoing in his head, as his heart started to race uncontrollably.
He didn't want to die.
Not like this.
'Move...! We need to run!!'
Among his racing thoughts, Nico was too panicked trying to get his character to move, that he did not realise the sound of background chewing, had gone quiet.
Then, his character spoke.
"D-dearest....?"
'?!?'
Nico immediately brought himself back to the current situation, but it was too late. The wife, who was devouring human heads just a moment ago, was now fixed in a grusome form, levitating in the air, and head turned facing him.
All eyes were on him.
From her ears to hands and back, every dot that had onced remaied closed and asleep, were now wide open facing him.
Isn't that exciting?
'....'
Oh, dear.
Up until now, Nico was too actively immersed in the physical world to properly adjust his thoughts.
It had just blended in so well in the background, he didn't think he needed to be concered about it, but now, he was forced to ask himself the question that had been bugging him since he entered this character role,
'What...is that voice narrating in my head?'
Because that was certainly not him.
"Dear...why....Ąŕè... YôU ĤeŔě?"
"D I D Y O U S E E?"
An aching rumble burst from the creatures mouth.
"N-no! I-"
"L I A R !"
It stumbled over itself and slid on the floor to him, using its numorous hands to push its swollen body.
His character tumbled back as he immediately turned to run towards the exit.
'Just a bit more...'
I GOT YOU
The now disfigured ballerina grabbed his body and they both stumbled onto the ground.
"No..! Please–"
YOU SHOULD HAVE JUST STAYED ASLEEP, DEAR.
The large mouth on her stomach that had just finished chewing four whole people, was now opening wide for its next meal.
"Why–" in a panic, the man filled with complete confusion asked, "Why are you doing this?!"
"What are you?!"
The creature paused.
For a moment, it almost looked like it was thinking. Like it wanted to grant mercy to the person they had been happily married to for the last 5 years.
But...
I HAVE ALWAYS WANTED TO BE A BALLERINA.
It wasn't capable of feeling such emotions,
and swallowed the screaming man in an instant.
Nico's vision went black again, before it reopened to the familiar scene of the circus and its centre stage, where pieces of a bloody body scattered under the spotlight and a beautiful ballerina was bowing at the crowd.
<𝄞 And with that, my lovely audience...>
The voice of the ringmaster spoke.
<𝄞 The tale of the restless ballerina, comes to an end~>
Thunk Thunk
The sound of the spotlights turning off could be heard, as the entire tent was now covered in pitch darkness.
Nico, who was now struggling to keep a poker face, felt his gut turn upsidedown.
'....I should go.'
He tightened both his hands into fists to make them stop shaking.
'Now.'
As he was about to stand up, the spotlight appeared on the centre stage once again. The blood, body, and ballerina were gone. In their place was the ring master, now staring at an area of the audience where Nico was seated.
Nico froze. If he moved now, he would be caught.
The ringmaster's gaze did not falter, as if waiting to catch anyone who was about to stand up before it said so.
Having no other choice, Nico slowly sat back down and kept his head low, peeking through the crowd to see if the ringmaster had noticed him get up.
However, instead the ringmaster spun around in a circle and spoke,
<𝄞 My dear audience, i assume you are rather confused with this storie's ending, hm~?>
The entire audience gave a nod in unison as their smile maintained undisturbed.
<𝄞 Then, let me clarify the story a little further just for you~!>
The ringmaster exclaimed happily and snapped his fingers.
A puppet of a little girl with blonde hair appeared from thin air, as the ringmaster pulled the strings.
As the puppet moved, a semi-transparent background appeared behind it changing scenes accroding to the story, giving the illusion of an actual puppet play.
<𝄞 You see...this particular story held a certain creature that had been wandering for a long time, looking for a way to gain influence over large crowds of people, in order to eventually devour both their mind and their body.
But, this creature had a problem. Every town they went, every place they tried, no one would look their way because of a certain thing humans called 'social ranks' that prevented them from gaining enough power to penetrate into their society.
So, the creature changed their plans. They bid their time in places where large groups of people passed by, and one day just as it had planned, it found a host that would be willing to help them. A young boy.
The creature befriended the boy, eating his mind and soul in small amounts to maintain its form, before finally getting the support it needed to get a large enough crowd of people to stare into its eyes, and in turn become its puppet. In this case, this creature chose to be a performer, a famous ballerina.
The creature would do many shows, spreading its influence and popularity far and wide! Gaining more and more puppets, that were once living humans. Until eventually, the souls would cease to exist, and empty bodies became a burden for it to handle. So it devoured them.
Slowly, it lived for a hundred more years, dancing happily to its hearts content, until there were no longer any souls left to eat.
...and that was when, the creature realised it no longer had any more food to feed on. With just empty puppets left, the creature reached the end of its cycle and perished~>
'...what kind of story is this...'
<𝄞 And thus, with no other witness, it became a forgotten story of its own.>
The ringmaster concluded with a heavy heart.
The tent fell slient for a brief pause, before all the viewers seated began to clap frantically. As if the bonus show was enough to explain the story in its entirety.
The ringmaster lifted its head and the puppet disappeared back into thin air.
<𝄞 Thank you, Thank you! Oh, you are too kind~!>
The ringmaster gave a bow as the crowd clapped louder, with people positively cheering and whistling from all angles.
Nico clapped too, but not by choice.
'That was....disturbing.'
However he needed to blend in, so he also cheered along.
<𝄞 Please, everyone, lets all be calm~>
The ringmaster gestered for the crowd to quite down as it looked around.
<𝄞 Now, i know you hate this part, but i'm afriad...thats all for today>
The crowd started to frown, their smiles no longer upright or large.
<𝄞 Don't be like that. You have all been wonderful audiences and its been a pleasure to perform for you~!>
The ring master raised his arms, as he walked foward
<𝄞 I hope to see you all again, soon. Till then~!>
He gave one final bow, before the music started to play again.
(𝄞♫⋆｡♪ ♬ ﾟ.♪♫♪⋆˚࿔♫⋆˚࿔ ˊ˗ )
(𝄞 ⋆˚࿔♫⋆˚࿔♫⋆｡♪ ˚♬ ﾟ.)
The music of the circus signaled an end for today's show.
The ringmaster waved, as everyone started to stand up and make their way to the exit.
'...!'
'Now, i can finally leave!'
Nico quickly stood up with the crowd as he made his way to the tent's exit.
'I thought it was never going to end or worse, what if i was caught?'
He sighed under his breath as he walked with the line of people.
'I need to think of something else. If i can't find a way through the circus, then i will find a way back to my story through the fores–'
Nico paused in his tracks.
It wasn't intentional, he wanted to get out of this tent just as much as any normal person who feared for their life would.
But...
'The exit. It's gone....'
All that was infront of Nico, was the tent's wall, painted in red and yellow strips.
'The exit. It was right here! I know it.'
'Where did it go?!'
Nico frantically started to dart his vision in all directions as discreetly as possible, but he couldn't find any other opening.
For a moment, he thought the tent's exit had closed on itself, but the people with no faces had no problem walking out the tent. They passed through the wall like ghosts with no body.
'Is it just me? Am i the only one that sees a wall?'
Nico stared at it.
'Perhaps...'
He moved his hand to feel the barrier. Hoping it was just an illusion that only his eyes could see. However,
'Its a wall.'
It was not a trick. Nico was the only one that could not leave this tent.
'No! No. No...'
As he was contemplating his life's choices and struggling not look out of place, a large hand placed itself on his shoulder.
"Eeekk!!"
He immediately turned around and backed up to the wall. It was too dark to see clearly, but a fairly tall and large figure was standing in front of him.
<𝄞 Oh dear, did I scare you? My apologise. It was not my intention. >
A familiar melodic voice could be heard from the figure.
"M-mr Ringmaster...?"
Nico managed to utter.
<𝄞 Oh my! >
The figure exclaimed.
<𝄞 What an intriguing title you have given me~ >
The Ringmaster started to laugh. Or atleast, it sounded like a laugh.
It then reached out its hand, urging Nico to take it.
He stared at the large hand waiting in the darkness.
'What is this? A threat? Does this thing know i am not supposed to be here?'
<𝄞 Oh, i wouldn't worry about that! >
Nico flinched at the response.
<𝄞 Only the invited can enter our circus and watch our show! >
'...can he read my mind?'
'...'
'Wait. That voice narrating in my head during the show...was that the ringmaster?'
<𝄞 Indeed it was! Aren't you bright? >
A smile could be seen forming on it's dim-lit face.
But it was the complete opposite for Nico.
'D-does...that mean it knew i was here the entire time?'
'But i...didn't have a ticket.'
The Ringmaster stared at Nico silently before responding.
<𝄞 Ah. It appears you have forgotten all about my previous invitation... >
The Ringmaster's voice sounded slightly deflated as he said this. Leaving room for a long pause to fill the air.
"O-oh, sorry for forgetting...."
It lifted its head.
"Thank you for the invite, Sir."
Nico gave a slight nod as he slowly reached out for the ringmasters hand.
'I don't know whats going on, but in order to survive, i should just go along with this...'
Seeing as how there was no exit and the fact that the Ringmaster had not killed him immediately, Nico placed his bet in surviving by playing along for now.
The Ringmaster's smile reappeared.
<𝄞 Very well then! Please, follow me~ >
The ringmaster took his hand and led him to the centre stage, where a large star was painted on the ground in the middle.
'Wait....did i make the wrong choice?'
'Is this the end?'
<𝄞 If you could, please stand in the centre~>
The Ringmaster gestured for Nico to stand where it was pointing.
'I guess...its too late to run, right?'
'Well, i lived a semi-good life...I guess...I wrote a lot and drank a lot of coffee so...'
Nico stood at the centre and shut his eyes.
'Oh, whatever! Screw my life!'
'Please, please....'
'Please don't kill me!'
He counted the seconds under his breath,
3
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