A bit later than anticipated, but here's chapter 2!
Even with the two tall women out of sight, Miku felt dazed and strange. The circus's perfectly normal patrons walked around her, just as they had done on the forest path, but now their conversation had a new lilt to it. She couldn't pick out a single word from what they were saying – couldn't really focus on them at all.
It was that strange song, Miku realized. That was the crux of it all. Not the knowledge of the two impossibly tall women, or tents lit in odd colors by the paper lanterns, or the scent of the earth just barely hidden beneath the smell of cinnamon and roasting almonds. It was that song. Outside of the circus, it was distant, beckoning to her. Now that she was within the circus walls, it was overwhelming, almost intoxicating. It gave a new texture to the conversations humming around her, seemed to conduct even the wind that sometimes ruffled the various tents pitched in the ground.
And now, more than ever, there was a sense of familiarity, as though she had heard it before. It made everything feel scripted, almost dream-like in the way that her feet moved, leading her to a bright red tent on the heels of a small group of teenagers.
There were only a few people inside, but every eye in the small audience was trained on the girl at the front. She stood on a make-shift stage that seemed rickety and dangerous. If it frightened her, however, she didn't let on – in fact, her grin seemed to widen at every creak and groan from the wood beneath her feet. Vibrant was the only way to describe the girl. She had bright red hair and eyes, bright colors that could almost rival the fire-laden batons she juggled.
"Come on, come on, where is everyone? Scared of a little heat?" Her eyes flashed as she looked around at her captive audience. Her eyes scanned across the audience, from those closest to the front all the way to where Miku stood, still close to the entrance. She practically cackled with delight. "Don't be shy, now! I want everyone towards the front!"
Even those closest to the stage seemed to recoil at this, and Miku could see why. Maybe it was just the flames she juggled reflecting, but the girl's eyes seemed almost dangerous as the scanned over the crowd. She tossed her flames with reckless abandon, and it was almost too easy to imagine that whole rickety stage becoming only so much kindling.
Still, Miku drew a bit closer, to the fringes of the crowd gathered around the tiny girl. This seemed to placate her, and tossed her batons higher and higher. The flames whirled and danced, and it seemed like a miracle that she didn't burn herself.
She looked out at her audience with obvious glee. "What, you think this is a show? Check this out." She tossed one of her batons higher than ever, and Miku was sure for a moment that it would brush the high ceiling of the tent. Her attention was quickly diverted, however, by the girl on stage, who had the other baton gripped firmly in one hand. Before anyone in the audience had a chance to react, she put the flames to her pursed lips and roared.
Flames shot across the audience to a chorus of screams, and Miku was blinded by the light that seemed to envelop everything. Confusion reigned, and Miku was knocked to the ground by panicked patrons. She scrambled away on hands and feet, sure that flames were winding in her hair, the girl's mad laughter echoing in her ears.
It all happened so fast, before the thrown baton even had a chance to land. By the time Miku had gained some grasp of the situation, the girl on stage was pursing her lips and humming. "Awww, you guys are wimps! Come on, take a look! No one's hurt, see?" The baton she had thrown in the air finally landed in an outstretched hand, and this seemed to give the audience pause.
Miku looked around, half-expecting to see charred bodies at the front of the stage, or screaming patrons flailing flaming limbs. But everyone else was looking around, just as bemused as she was, and no one seemed hurt. As Miku slowly got to her feet, she saw several others who had been towards the back do the same.
The red-headed girl at the front cackled again, twirling a baton idly. "How does that make you feel, huh? To say that you looked death in the eye and survived? Can't you feel your heart racing? It makes you feel alive, doesn't it? Remember that feeling the next time you go to your boring jobs, your boring lives, okay? Remember that there's a girl named Cul out there who dances with flames without being burned." She grinned, and her eyes seemed soul-searching, boring into Miku's own. "Remember that the next time you don't feel alive."
Alive or not, Miku had no desire to stay in the flame-juggler's tent.
Miku stopped by a concession stand and decided to sit at a table to get her bearings, tearing pieces from a cinnamon-dusted elephant ear as she hummed along to the calliope.
The dream-like state she had been in before entering Cul's tent was still somewhat present, and Miku longed to ground herself in reality. Okay, get it together. That was weird, but not incredibly weird. It was probably an easy enough trick – if you know the secret behind it. And that's all these things ever are – tricks, illusions. Surely, you don't believe anything else.
It was hard not to believe anything else, though, with the memory of those two tall women and Cul's bright, piercing red eyes. Still, talking to herself helped. And the taste of the elephant ear was perfectly normal, at least, the texture of the cinnamon welcome and familiar. By the time she was finished with it, Miku felt ready to try another tent, this one blue and white striped.
The stage in this tent seemed a bit sturdier than Cul's, with a sign that advertised its occupant in bright, hand painted letters: The Amazing Miki. For a moment, Miku thought the girl on the stage was just some exotic sort of dancer, with a sparkling leotard and long hair that fanned out when she twirled. But then she grabbed at a bar hanging just above her head, pulled herself up, and twisted.
Her body moved in a completely unnatural way, but Miku felt almost relieved. This was the most normal thing the circus had to offer yet, and, besides, she didn't think a contortionist could do anything to greatly endanger her life.
Before Miku could enjoy the act for long, however, the girl looked out at the audience with an expression that seemed almost shocked. She fell from the bar, landing crouched on hands and feet, hair hanging in her face.
"I'm sorry …" The music cut off abruptly, and Miku could hear a confused voice from behind a curtain. But the "amazing" Miki paid it no mind, instead staring out at the audience with eyes that kept widening, until Miku felt like they would engulf her completely. "I'm so sorry … That's it for the show. I hope you enjoyed it." Before anyone could react, she had rushed offstage.
People mumbled to themselves as they left, sure that she had been embarrassed from falling like she did. Miku let herself leave with the crowd, but she glanced at the empty stage before doing so, feeling oddly watched.
Come to think of it, she couldn't help feeling as though Miki had been staring right at her. But, then again, she had felt the same way in Cul's tent. She supposed it wasn't so unusual. A lot of stages worked that way. All the other audience members probably felt the same way.
She stopped by a large, dark brown tent. But she couldn't find a proper entrance to it. Only a small flap with several padlocks keeping anyone from getting in. Miku could hear the sound of voices inside. She decided that it was probably for employees only, a break room or something similar.
This, more than anything, humanized the place for her. If she leaned forward, she might have heard Miki talking about her mistake, or maybe Cul laughing over the fearful faces of her audience. Instead, Miku decided to go on to the next tent.
This one was small, a dark violet color, and it had a line of people coming out from it. A banner hanging from the entrance bore a picture of a crystal ball and an advertisement for "Mysterious Mew."
Miku followed the line as it got shorter and shorter. Some of the people who came out of the tent looked perplexed or anxious, others just looked amused. Miku figured that any fortune teller had to be right at least some of the time, but the ones who came out rolling their eyes and scoffing made her feel even more comfortable about the whole thing.
When it was finally her turn, Miku found herself in a darkened tent. There was a woman – presumably the "Mysterious Mew" – with long, dark hair and a blank expression. She was sitting at a small card table covered by a tablecloth. Her eyes didn't even glance up to Miku as she entered, but instead remained trained on a cracked crystal ball setting on the table.
Miku sat at the table across from her, clearing her throat. "Uhm – do you need me to, um …"
"The red string shortens."
Her voice held no emotion, but this only served to make Miku more unnerved. It felt like the two tall women all over again. "I'm sorry – I don't know –"
"Your red string," Mew said, "The one that ties you to your soulmate. It's getting shorter. That person is getting closer to you."
"Oh." Understanding now, Miku tied to calm her racing heart. It was a predictable reading, after all. "That's good. Any advice for how to meet this handsome stranger?" She attempted a small laugh that sounded fake even to her own ears, but the fortune teller didn't even look up.
"You don't need help finding your intended. Quite the opposite, actually." Mew slowly laced her fingers through her hair, curling them into fists.
Miku tried to decipher this. "I need help … not finding them?"
Mew squeezed her eyes shut, agitation gradually seeping into her previously blank features. "It's useless." She shook her head heavily. "The gears have already been set in motion. There's nothing more you can do except meet fate as you reach the end of that string."
Miku stood slowly, hands gripping the back of her chair. "Okay, great, thanks. I … look forward … to meeting my soulmate, then?" When the only answer Mew gave was a shake of her head, her eyes still squeezed shut, Miku backed out of the tent.
Mostly trying to find something to do, Miku approached what looked like a game, run by a cheerful looking girl with curly pigtails. When the girl saw her approach, however, she shook her head and tutted.
"Uh-uh-uh! We're closing up most of the games now. We have to get ready for the big act, yes we do!"
Miku looked around, noticing that the other game stalls were, indeed, closing up. "What big act?"
"Oh! It's in that big tent there in the back!" The tiny girl stood on her toes to point at it. "We're all going to set up now, but in the meantime, take a look at our other tents! They aren't part of the main act, so you can still see them while you wait!"
"I think I've seen most of them." Miku thought that she'd just hang around the big tent until the show started – or maybe she'd just head home. It had been alluring, but she was beginning to wish that she was safe in bed, where it would be easy to rationalize everything in her mind.
"Mmmm, maybe! Have you seen the freak show yet, though? Lots of people miss that one." She pointed at the dark brown tent, the one that had been locked earlier.
Miku looked at the tent, then back at the girl. "I thought that one was closed. There were padlocks on the entrance."
"Oh, yeah, it's a special tent. I keep telling Miss Ringmaster that we gotta get some instructions or something on the tent, but – hey!" She giggled, shrugging her shoulders. "What can you do?"
"Um." Miku bit the inside of her cheek. "I guess there's not much, is there?"
"You got that right!" The girl hopped onto the counter, untying things at the top of the stall to drop a curtain over it. "Anyways, if you wanna see what's inside that tent, you have to peek through the little holes on the side. It's worth seeing, really! Even though they gotta take the diva out for the main act, the other ones in there are really cool!" With the curtain untied, the girl hopped to the ground. "Check it out, if you want! Me and the others will let everyone know when the show is about to start, so don't worry!" Before Miku could ask any more questions, the girl was bounding away. "I gotta go, but enjoy! I'll probably see you later."
Then the girl was off, leaving Miku to face the brown tent alone.
And we've reached the end of chapter two! I'm sorry it took so long. I've been busy with work, and on top of that, I kept having a hard time with the voice on this chapter. In the interest of full disclosure, I have to admit that I'm still not crazy about the way it sounds, but I hope you enjoy it! And I'm very excited to introduce you to some of the lovely cast of our strange and wonderful circus. Next chapter you'll be meeting the "freaks," so I'm looking forward to that! And, of course, I can't wait to get to the main plot, and introduce you to our mysterious Miss Ringmaster ...
At any rate, please leave your reviews, follow, and what have you! I'll have chapter three of both this and Going Viral up as soon as I can, but audience feedback always motivates me to write faster! Thank you so much for reading!
- Jillian Maria