Rina gasped as soon as she entered. Nothing particularly strange yet, just the fact that the rickety wooden stands were packed with people! Around the age of 14 like her, to old as the hills, all gathered to watch this so called freak show. Climbing up the stairs, they creaked with every step she took, and Rina winced every time. She was packed in with strangers at her sides like sardines, but she could hardly care, and her arms were literally shaking with excitement. Taking a deep breath, she told herself "It's nothing to get worked up about. Probably just some people in costumes". That's when she looked up and gasped. A young girl, no older than her, was walking up the stage. She looked basically normal.. until you saw her legs. They were the legs of a goat, and Rina had to suppress a scream at her limping gait. "Hello" the young girl said, tossing back her waist length teal hair. "My name is Kasumi. Welcome to the Dark Woods Circus. If you were expecting regular people in costumes, you expected wrong. I assure you that this" she paused to point at her legs "Is all real" After a moment of silence, the crowd roared in applause, Rina along with them. Kasumi gave a little bow. "Now, welcome to the show!"
Rina's violet eyes were glued to the floor as Kasumi limped off into the curtains. "And now.." a voice came from the wings, and Rina jerked towards attention to the voice. "The two headed twins.. Akane and Akihiko!". Rina clapped as a blonde stepped out. No, no, it was two. Or was it one? Confused, she turned her attention towards the stage, where the twins were standing in the spotlight, more half and half than two headed. Akane, the female, had shoulder length blonde hair with a white ribbon, while Akihiko had short cut hair of the same color. They wore a gray jumpsuit that showed where their bodies were fused together. Rina's eyes widened as the act began. The twins were twisting and contorting around eachother, doing backflips and making it look like they had six legs. Rina laughed and clapped the whole while. Bowing, the twins left the stage.
Further acts passed, including a snake-boy and a so called werewolf. Rina loved every second of it, especially the werewolf. It was just so wonderfully.. creepy! "And now!" announced the "ringmaster". "For our final act, the amazing stitched together cannibal man!" Rina cocked her head. Sounded like a fake, a bad end to a great show. As she thought, a cage was being rolled out onto the floor, carrying a blue-haired man, around seventeen, strapped to a chair and blindfolded. When she glanced closer, she could see that his arms and legs were all different skin tones, and yes, attached by sloppy stitching. Rina leaned up in her seat, suddenly intruiged. Unloaded from the cage, still strapped to the chair, a platter with.. what was that? A pair of human arms!? Was placed in front of him. "Now, this is why they call him the cannibal man" Rina said to herself, mentally preparing for the disturbing image. She looked around, and other people were doing the same, or covering their eyes. He bent down, and ripped a piece of flesh from the arm! Rina was thinking he wound spit it out, but he chewed it and swallowed it, blood dripping down his chin. Bile coming into her throat, Rina shielded her eyes from the rest of the act, simply listening to the dreadful ripping sounds.
Rina hurried down the stairs and through the doors, feeling the cool autumn air against her face. "Thank god that's over" she shuddered, her whole attitude changed by the sheer disgusting factor of the last act. Leaning against the walls to catch her breath, she heard a soft sobbing noise, and soon found it coming from a small peephole in the wall. Her curiosity taking over once again, she pressed her ear to the wall, and looked through the hole. She gasped. Hell was revealed.