Chapter Five
All she wanted to do was to hang out with her friend at the circus.
Dodge the bullets of bad grades, bossy parents, and drama.
Meiko was hit with one: capture.
The brunette bought her friend, turquoise-haired Hatsune Miku to the new circus in town. As soon as they arrived at the tent, the two split up. After an hour, Meiko had trouble finding Miku; she began to search through the circus frantically looking for her. She entered the auditorium, calling for her friend. A sudden noise captivated her attention; Meiko hastened up the stage and peeked past the ruby curtains.
Two Siamese twins, a blonde boy and girl, were seated in front of a cage. The boy's face was devoured by acid while the girl seemed to behave better, judged on the minimal wounds on her face. They were mumbling, possibly because they were probably not allowed to be out at the moment. The boy reached inside the cage and pulled out long, teal hair.
There was only one person that Meiko knew with long, turquoise hair…it had to be Miku! Meiko spun around, her eyes widening as she bumped into a tall, black figure. "Excuse me," Meiko muttered, attempting to go by and not have anything to do with Miku.
"Well, look at this," the figure chuckled, grabbing Meiko by the shoulders. "I can't just let you run now. What happens backstage stays backstage."
All that Meiko could do was scream.
Meiko woke up, her body icy cold from lying on the similar-temperature floor. Her fingers slithered across her white chapped skin. She sat up, pulling her skinny knees to her chest, trying to heat her core. All of her body parts were still fine, except for the fact that some of her face was scaly. Someone poured acid on her. The inner part of her legs was painful for some odd reason.
The memories came back to her like the speed it takes for two opposite magnets to connect. Acid was poured on her face because she fought against her attacker. A stranger, possibly an employee at the circus, had raped her in front of the audience.
Meiko began crying, her tears warming her cheeks. Her life was ruined. It was like a vase which fell to the ground and broke into millions of pieces; there was no way to place the pieces back together. All she wanted was to be held by the parents that she thought always hated her…but all this time they wanted her life to be better in the future.
A pair of unsteady footsteps padded in front of the cage. Meiko looked out to see a set of…goat legs? Over the goat legs was an elegant dress and turquoise hair that reached the floor. Another pair of feet came beside the goat's legs, getting down on its knees. The blonde twins from earlier were poking at a lock, which finally clicked open.
"Come on," the boy said, holding out his hand. "Quick!"
"O-okay!" Meiko wiped up her tears and grabbed the boy's hand. He pulled her out, Meiko's eyes adjusting to the moonlit backstage. She immediately recognized her friend, Miku. "M-Miku!" Meiko cried, hugging her friend. "I'm so sorry! I didn't want this to happen!"
"Be careful," Len warned. "She's blind. If we're going to have to run, we have to be as silent as mice."
Something tucked at Meiko's skirt. She gazed down to see a blue-haired boy with a handful of her red skirt scrunched between his teeth. She recognized the boy from school. "Kaito…" she muttered, tears developing in her eyes. "What have they done to you?" She stroked his hair, biting her lip nervously.
"Based on his actions, I think that his brain was swapped with an animals'. Since he seems to eat meat and retrieve thrown objects, our best guess is a dog," Len whispered. "He's been in the circus the longest. Far before we came here."
"How long is that?" Meiko questioned, tilting her head a bit.
"Probably over a year now. All the circus has been doing was luring kids our age in, altering their form, and displaying their best works to the audience. It's absolutely disgusting. Most end up killing themselves from the pain they have to suffer through. You are really lucky though." Footsteps caused Len to dart his head from behind. "Quick! Let's move!"
"What are we doing?" Meiko asked, trailing behind.
"We're running away."
Author Note: Hey people. I have recently discovered that there's already a song explaining what happens before the Dark Woods Circus called "Wide knowledge of the late, Madness". This was my interpretation based on only the song "Dark Woods Circus".