So I don't know whether or not this is going to make it pass the third chapter mark but reviews sure help convince me to push them to that extent :D
What? Am I whoring myself for reviews? Pff! Was it that obvious? T_T
Anyways, ENJOY!
After a rough month of working on one of the toughest cases of the London Police Department, Arthur Kirkland was more than happy to finally get a week's worth of vacation. Of course, anyone else would have left the city to go on a little adventure somewhere out of the country but that wasn't for Arthur Kirkland. The detective, head of his department, wasn't one for outrageous outings; he considered his work to be the only excitement he needed in his life and with that in mind he roamed the streets of his London. He skipped from one street to another, travelling to nowhere in particular and not too sure of what he was doing until he finally got lost in the place he thought he knew like the back of his hand.
He cursed beneath his breath to himself and grumbled sacraments as he sunk his head in his shoulders. He was in the poor part of London where the houses were horribly worn and threaten to fall on the head of their desperate tenants; where drug deals were done casually in the open because the police had long since abandoned hope in ever stopping them in said region; where no tourist or sane man would venture to if he had the slightest knowledge of beautiful London. That poor part of London was just that bad and when Arthur Kirkland noticed a man wearing strange clothes being beaten to a pulp in broad daylight, he wasn't too surprised. He almost even left the man to his doom until the encumbering sense of duty took over and caused him to dash forth and save the man.
"A-ah…Merci, monsieur…" the strange man thanked, he was clearly French and all Arthur could do was wonder why a Frenchman would wander in such a part of London.
"Right…" He said extending his hand to help the odd victim. "What are you doing in this part? Has no one told you it's dangerous here?"
"I could ask the same thing to you, could I not?" The Frenchman replied slyly taking the helping hand to stand. "The immortal Ring Master, Francis Bonnefoy. Pleasure to make your acquaintance." He bowed lightly and politely.
The title surprised Arthur but explained a lot about the man's showy attitude and the way he was dressed. "Ring Master?" The detective repeated.
"Immortal Ring Master." Francis Bonnefoy winked, smiling from ear to ear. "Well, heroic stranger, I wish to reward you for saving my life."
"I wouldn't say saving it…" Arthur replied sheepishly as he scratched the back of his head. "They probably would have just beaten the crap out of view, but nothing more."
"Oh no, I saw the death in their eyes." Francis insisted. "They wanted to end me, to kill me and they would have if it weren't for you." he dove his hand into his pocket and pulled out a ticket. "Here's an exclusive ticket to Le Cirque du Monde!" he gestured his arms in a grand fashion.
"The Circus of the World?" Arthur repeated reading the ticket.
"Ah, I see you are no stranger to French." The Ring Master chuckled. "Nevertheless I am sure my Freaks and I will be able to entertain you for all eve if you do decide to take us up on the offer."
"Freaks?" Arthur repeated surprised. "I didn't know even you circus folk referred to yourselves as such."
"You must take the hurtful things thrown at you and turn them into your shield. The world won't forget what you are so why should you?" Francis argued wisely. Without warning, he took the British detective's hand and kissed it softly in a sign of gratitude. "I thank you once more for your aid and hope to see you tonight."
It was as the circus freak left that Arthur understood the likeliest reason to why he was being beaten into a pulp moments ago. He blushed and looked away as the man disappeared around a corner to stare at the ticket in his hands. The orange paper tremble with the light wind and curiosity was soon born in the core of the dull detective's heart.
Said intrigue thus encouraged Arthur to go to the countryside bordering London to le Cirque du Monde where the immortal Ring Master awaited for him. Once he had arrived, he felt suddenly awkward and out of place for most of those presents were families or couples; there was no one alone like he. Keeping his head down he wandered to the large tent where the main attraction, the show, would be held soon enough.
He handed his ticket to the Freak in charge of guiding the spectator to their respectful area. He was a sweet boy with a lone tear painted on his left cheek while the other half of his face was covered in white. What was most odd, however were his amethyst eyes, the colour was just so bizarre for a human being that the only thing Arthur could think to justify it was that he was a Freak.
The boy blushed and looked away. "S-something wrong, sir?" He stuttered shyly. If it weren't for the circus's title, Arthur would have been surprised to recognize the North American accent.
"No…" he mumbled.
"T-then you're seated in the front row on the left. The seat nearest to the Ring Master's podium." He guided with a shy gesture of the hand.
Arthur nodded a thank you and walked to his destine seat, he found it soon enough what with the Ring Master looming over it. The circus freak soon caught sight of him and waved him over flamboyantly with a few shouts that had Arthur blushing in embarrassment in a moment's notice.
"Quiet down!" he hissed quickly arriving to his seat and sitting down. "You're making a fool out of yourself!"
"No, that is Felice Pagliaccio's job!" the Frenchman joked pointing over at a clown peeking his head from behind the curtain. "But of course I jest, never the less I am glad that you made it. You seemed rather uptight when we met, thus I did not believe that you would actually come as I requested. Perhaps there is something more that came into play, oui? Like lo—"
"Quit your babbling! You speak far too much!" Arthur Kirkland grumbled slapping his hand over the other's mouth as to interrupt him. "Besides, we've just met—"
Francis had taken Arthur's hand with his own gently and kissed it before winking at the flustered man. "Have you ever heard of love at first sight?" he chuckled as he released the British man's hand.
Arthur jerked it back immediately and caressed it with his other one. "I hope you don't wonder why those thugs wanted to kill you earlier anymore." He barked in a mumble which came out as a mean remark if anything.
Francis laughed nonchalantly, "I never tried anything on any of them!" he defended, "Honestly, I'm just interested in women but there came some times where men had grabbed my interest. One of them is now."
Arthur hadn't known what to say; never had the detective known how to react to those who confessed their love to him because it never seemed credible and Francis was no different at the current moment. He glared and looked away, "This is some scam isn't it?" he asked in a whisper for others had started to invade the neighbouring seats and Arthur didn't want the others to hear the conversation. "You're going to try to get me into your bed and steal all my money right? That's what you're trying to do."
Francis laughed all the merrier, "Oh, you're very imaginative amour." He complimented patting his head, "But I am not a gypsy thus your money interests me not."
"But you're a Circus—"
"Let me interrupt you right there, mon cher." Francis quickly cut in, "I know the stereotype for us Freaks is that we are money grubbers but I started this circus because I wish to entertain the world."
Arthur held the other man's gaze but soon dropped it with a glance to his left, towards an empty seat. "Don't say that…" he whispered beneath his breath.
"Say what?"
"That you're a Freak…" Arthur mumbled, his cheeks brightening with pink once more.
"Why not?" Francis asked intrigued, he was now leaning over the barrier that separated the seats from the stage.
Arthur's face was now invaded with the romantic colour, "B-because you're too beautiful for that title…" he answered with a stutter.
Needless to say, he had felt like an idiot since he was saying rather flirtatious things to the Ring Master right after declaring that there could be no such thing as love between them.
"So you do believe in love at first sight." Francis rejoiced quietly before rapidly leaning close enough to plant a kiss on Arthur's virgin lips. "Then I would like to see you again after the show."
Arthur's heart leaped in his chest almost painfully as the Ring Master quickly skipped away declaring that he had to get in costume – as if he wasn't already in it – and that if he wanted to see him again he would have to wait until everyone else in the tent was gone at the end of the show. The detective merely stared at his feet and blushed darkly as he waited for the remaining seats to be filled and the show to begin.
Thirty minutes later, all the seats were filled and some others had managed to convince the ticket seller to let them see the show, that they would just stand instead of sitting. This had Arthur Kirkland believe that the circus must have had a near perfect reputation and good reviews for their shows and so was almost looking forward to its beginning.
"You know," a woman behind Arthur whispered to her lover, "I heard that the Ring Master is immortal, that's why they call him The Immortal Ring Master."
"Yeah, I heard the same thing." The man whispered back, "They say he's been doing his job for over two hundred years."
"Maybe it's true; this circus does have a lot of history."
Arthur rolled his eyes thinking lunatics before the lights dimmed and dust invaded the ensemble of the tent. People started to clap and cheer in anticipation as a loud, deep voice raided their ears, something Arthur considered as weird for he had not seen any speakers in the given area.
"Ladies and gentlemen thank you for purchasing tickets to the Show of the World!" he thanked immediately which had more people cheering and whistling, "Now, without further ado, I give you our Immortal Ring Master!"
The dusty cottons faded and revealed a silhouette that then became Francis Bonnefoy, the Immortal Ring Master, dressed in flamboyant blue, white and black clothes that seemed to be crossing between a jester and a butler wearing a masquerade mask. He bowed deeply as the clatter rose and all those present in the room gave him a standing ovation which, again, surprised Arthur because he hadn't said anything yet.
He must just be that good…
"Please, settle down beautiful spectators." Francis hushed humbly even if it was evident that he wanted them to continue.
What a suck up…
"Now, we at the Circus of the World have always made it our duty to entertain you all, to have you laugh and cry tears of joy with our brilliant comedy." Francis explained as devious music began to linger in the background. "But this time, since we are nearing the most frightful of holidays, we are going to change our goals. Instead of your laughter, we want cries of fear, instead of joyful tears; we want the ones that taste bitterly of horror! Ladies and gentlemen hide your kids because this is a nightmare they will not want to remember!"
With that explosive ending a deafening sound screeched suddenly having the crowd cry in agony as their ear drums were mutilated with a high pitch sound for what felt like forever but was actually a few seconds. The lights dimmed completely and the room was now left in silence and darkness, Arthur Kirkland almost felt like he had died but the eerie sound of a toy box faintly resonating brought him back to reality.
A lone spot light appeared in the middle of the stage lighting the boy that once sold tickets. Arthur could see that he was smiling emptily as he watched the figurine twirl on top of the box beautifully. The sound suddenly started to lag and falter thus marking the end of the tune that the instrument would play and it was also when the boy had begun to sing.
"And when the music will cease…" He said bitterly slowly, "They will all die yelling please…"
A deafening shriek resounded in the darkness attracting everyone's gaze. Three spotlights opened revealing three people with bags over their heads strapped to a wheel that had started to spin. They were all moaning for help and, for a moment, Arthur Kirkland wasn't sure if they truly were in distress or not. Suddenly, the boy dropped the music box that exploded into bits and pulled out four knives with each hand. He yelled: "SCREAM!" just before throwing the knives with incredible speed towards the strapped victims. The crowd gasped and just before the knives would have pierced the soft flesh, the lights flickered out and all that was heard was the horrid sound of metal slicing through the bodies with a loud shriek.
When the lights opened once more, the victims had been detached from their prisons and thrown into a pile of bloody, dead corpse. The boy had then pulled out a match that he lit and then released an insane laugh that had frozen the blood in everyone's body for a moment.
"Burn!" he yelled but then there was the sound of a gun going off and the boy fell dead over the pile.
From the darkness emerged someone who looked exactly like the newly – supposedly – deceased but had shorter hair and blue eyes. He smirked resting the shotgun on his shoulder before snapping his fingers and having the weapon disappear along with the body with a cloud of magik.
"Enough with the petty killings that are of no interest to the audience!" He spoke loudly as to have everyone hear him clearly but Arthur suspected it was his natural voice tone. "They're all sick sons of bitches so the least we can do is entertain them with some creative killing!"
This time, he clapped his hands together twice; all the lights went on and revealed chained victims at one end of the stage and magic devices that had been alternated to become torture machines.
"Ladies and gentlemen of death, I present myself! I am the Great Alfred F. Jones or the sinister Praemorior!" he introduced boldly, "And why not have some fun with magic and death…?"
The show continued one as such; the circus would take certain tricks and traditions only to give them a deadly twist that ended up killing the victims present in the room. By the end of it, the stage was painted red with what Arthur Kirkland was easily able to identify as paint and was relieved to know that a mass murder hadn't taken place before his eyes.
Finally, the spectacle drew to an end once the last victims were dragged behind the curtains and Francis Bonnefoy reappeared in front of the audience that had been horrified but obviously entertained.
"Thus my twisted audience, I hope that your lust for blood has been appeased," he chuckled darkly as he spoke grandly to conclude. "If not, then I hope you were dearly frighten and, be warned, it's safest to keep an eye open at night!"
The lights turned off dramatically hence cueing the crowd to applaud and cheer for Francis and the other Freaks that had given them horror to see for a good hour and a half. When the lights reappeared, all those who had either died or committed a crime in the display were present in their makeup, smiling and holding hands as they bowed in gratitude.
Slowly afterwards, the spectators left the room commenting on what they had seen, mostly expressing how they felt the whole time.
"The effects were amazing!"
"I couldn't tell if they were actually murdering people or not!"
"The World Circus really outdid themselves this time!"
"It wasn't their traditional, funny shows but this was still extraordinary!"
Arthur smirked mentally agreeing with the reviews and waited until he was alone in the tent. He had waited an extra ten minutes before the lights went out; Arthur groaned blushing slightly in embarrassment for believing that the Ring Master would actually remember him as he left his seat to return home.
"It still was a good show…" he mumbled to himself before bumping into a muscular chest.
Arthur was rather surprised that he could identify such a trait but immediately jumped back, ready to defend himself if need be. There wasn't supposed to be anyone left in the tent and so the person before him wasn't necessarily a curious soul that decided to wander into the place even if he had been warned not to before hand. A familiar chuckle reached the British detective's ears thus having him lower his guard for a few seconds which was long enough for the other to grab him by the collar and kiss his lips once more.
"Francis? Is that you?" Arthur asked shoving the man away and covering his lips with his fingers.
"Oui, who else would it be amour?" Francis purred moving closer to the detective. His arms snaked around Arthur's waist but were quickly fought off by the flustered man.
"Don't touch me like that! We're not a couple! We barely even know each other!" Arthur hissed, he was glad the area was dark so that the Frenchman could not see his perfectly pink face.
"Mais c'est adorable! You're blushing!" Francis chuckled poking Arthur's cheek.
"W-what!? How do you know!?" the latter stuttered.
"It happens when you get used to the darkness, amour." Francis explained with a grin that would not be seen. "All of the Freaks can see in the darkness without a problem because, for most of us, darkness was all there was before the World Circus."
Arthur flinched at the confession but then shook his head dismissing it and returned to why he had decided to stay after the crowd had passed and the lights had gone.
"Anyway, what did you want?" he asked clumsily changing the subject.
"What do you mean?" The Ring Master purred moving closer again, "Were my intentions not obvious from before? I am interested in you and would not mind taking you back to my bed—"
"So this is a scam!" Arthur exclaimed triumphantly while feeling a tad insulted.
"Non, just because someone wants to take you back to their bed does not mean they are after your money or anything of the sort, amour." Francis schooled tapping the tip of the British man's nose as a punishment for his exaggerated conclusion. "If someone wants you to return to their bed with them, it is to love you and nothing more."
"B-but why would you want to love me…?" Arthur asked looking at the ground, not that it changed his view since everything he saw was black. "We just met…"
Francis gently took either side of the other's face, cupping his cheeks and forcing him to look in his general direction as if to stare into his eyes. "You do believe in love at first sight, do you not?" Francis asked softly, his words now sounded like honey to Arthur who began to melt.
"I…"
"Just answer the question." Francis insisted with a small laugh.
There was a moment of helpless silence before the answer. "…I-I guess…maybe…" he mumbled sheepishly. "B-but you don't even know my name."
A pause then followed on Francis's part who had forgotten that the other had never introduced himself. "That is true, then tell me your name if it will allow me to love you like you deserve to be loved." The Ring Master replied leaning in for a kiss but stopping before pressing their lips together once more.
Arthur's heart was now pounding in his chest so hard that he thought it might actually break free and leap towards the man it currently desired. The detective had never been one for love or women, he assumed that it was just because he was beyond such petty affection but was now realising that it might have been because he was waiting for Francis all of his life.
"It's…" he brushed his lips against Francis's. "Arthur…"
Felice Pagliaccio – happy clown (in Italian)
Praemorior – die early/disappear (in Latin)
Mais c'est adorable! – but that's adorable! (in French)
I actually love putting French in my fanfics whenever I can because I'm a French-Canadian (born in Toronto - the most English city in Canada- so I don't deserve to be French-Canadian but whatever xD) so, for those who have read my other stories, they will notice that whenever I have a chance to shove in some French, I will xP
So of course I'm adding some FrUk into this because I love that couple and thought it would be more dramatic once the murder would occurre which should be next chapter guys so hold on tight till then xP
SEE YOU NEXT CHAPTER!