Ok so I really should not be starting another fic as I'm in the midst of like four or five other ones, but here I am making terrible decisions anyways. So this is a preview to my circus au! Reviews are nice to have, I know there won't be many for this chapter as it's just the prologue, but I'd love to know what you guys think of it! Thanks so much : )
Rumors had always swirled in the air like flies in a swarm when the circus came into town. It'd be there overnight out of the blue. Instead of an empty grass field a red and white, tattered and tired tent would be set up hanging together by only threads. Each year it would come- always at random times. No one knew how long the circus would stay and no one knew if circus was truly the right word. Freak show may have been a better description. It never failed to show in over forty years. The circus always came.
Yellow and pink rain stained fliers would be found stapled to posts and lying on benches in the dreary coastal town. They were the same every year just like the circus. Parents always nudged their kids away from the fliers if they were to ever catch their attention. Those red and white tents were a source of taboo. The older population of the town whispered of black magic being used. The religious side accused the workers of devil worship. And then there were those few daring people, the ones that had a spark of rebellion nested and fed in their hearts, the ones willing to see the much talked about circus. Those people varied though almost always they were teenagers. Teenagers with piercings up and down their bodies and tattoo clad arms. Teenagers in mini skirts carrying Gucci purses. Teenagers with ripped jeans and oversized college sweatshirts. It didn't matter what social circle you were from, only if you were daring enough to lift the heavy flap of the big top tent and sit in the rickety bleachers that were a law suit waiting to happen.
Admission was always free at the circus. There was no ticket man or greeter. One simply had to walk in and take a seat in the dimly lit area. It was damp inside the tent with a collection of moisture sticking to everyone's forehead and back. The humidity of the place was almost palpable.
Anxious chatter replaced the tent of its eerie silence. Friends would nervously talk with each other each wishing they could go home soon, but still holding a peculiar longing to stay and see the show. No one ever went twice to the circus. No one held that particular longing more than once. It didn't seem human if one were able to.
After everyone who was coming arrived the show would start. The air would become ten degrees colder, the teenagers holding their arms against themselves to brace their torsos from the sudden chill. A sparkler would light itself in the middle of the room. The crowd would jump back in fear than laugh and gawk at the mesmerizing light display. When the lights finally sparkled to their last ember he'd be standing their like the devil himself. The ringmaster was a short man with a round belly. Not noticeably intimidating at first. Inky black curls framed his face and his watery blue eye held a mad malice. His rosy lips would curl into something sinister as a vile snake. His gaze would lock on the crowd, boring into each member of the audience individually and seeing the crowd as a whole all at once. He was a magician in himself.
Then he'd deliver his famous line. A line that in itself was a death sentence and the path to enlightenment.
"Let the show begin."