A/N: I got a subscriber. Who, you ask? RainKissedLeaves. Who's that? IT'S MY LITTLE SISTER! Gah! I did NOT appreciate that.
That aside, I recently have been obsessed with Paint Tool SAI. Does anyone know where I can get it and how to hook a tablet to it? Please PM me if you know. I'll probably ask a lot of questions, so if you don't want me to PM you back, just say so.
So, about the chapter. Rin's annoyed of Oliver, which may or may not be revealed in this chapter. Read on to find out! Plus, more of Rin's Diary. Enjoy!
Rin tapped her foot irritably. "Why'd you invite him to live here?"
Oliver shivered. Rin was really scary. Why did she instantly get annoyed by him?
"He doesn't have anywhere to go. I'm just doing a small act of kindness," Len shot back.
Rin shot Oliver a look of disgust. Oliver hid behind Len. He wasn't unused to looks of disgust, but there was some particular distaste in Rin's glare. "See? Look at him. He's scared of everything. Before you know it you'll be holding his hand the whole day."
Len took a deep breath. "Oliver, let's go check your eye out," he said pointedly, and pulled Oliver away.
Oliver sat down on Len's bed. Len left to get something. He came back with a long strip of cloth.
Carefully, Len looped the cloth around Oliver's eye, hiding the red eye. Then he sat back, and admired his handiwork. "Do you want to tell me what happened to you?"
Oliver was silent. Could he trust Len? He reached into his pocket and pulled out James, the little yellow bird. James chirped, and Oliver calmed down a bit.
"I came from a circus. It was called the Dark Woods Circus. They made freaks there. There were two siblings who shared one body, a disfigured diva, extraordinarily tall people, a man who could only eat cold things, and..." Oliver paused. "And there was me, the red-eyed boy with the singing canary."
Len tried to keep up with what Oliver was saying. Two people who shared one body? A man who only ate cold things? What kind of creations were these? "What do you mean by create?"
Oliver's eyes widened. "They built people. Literally. The two-people-one-body thing? They have people who actually cut the two in half and sewed them together."
Len swallowed, trying to imagine being cut and then sown to someone else. "And what did they do to you?"
Oliver clenched his fists as he remembered what they did to him. "They-they…they cut my right eye out. And they put a red crystal in its place. Then they handed me James and told me to sing nonstop for three days to him." His fingers absently stroked James' feathers. "It's strange. James was just a half-starved, crippled bird that they gave me. I must have been hallucinating, but after the three days of singing, James was perfectly fine."
Len thought it over, but he couldn't come up with a explanation other than Oliver had been hallucinating. "How did you get out?"
"I over heard them say that they were getting someone new. A pair of singers, a man and a woman. Together, their voices were amazing. Apart, they were horrible. A strange yet beautiful phenomenon. When they were added to the circus, it started getting crowded. So they threw out the least talented freak, which was me."
"Weren't they afraid you would tell what they did there?"
Oliver snorted. "They expected me to die before I could get anywhere. Turns out, they're wrong."
Len opened his mouth to ask another question. Out of the corner of his eye, Len saw a flash of blonde hair pass the door. Rin? Was she hiding there listening the whole time?
Oliver turned to look at the door. "What?"
"Ah…it was nothing. You must be tired. Get some sleep and I'll make you something to eat." Len let Oliver sleep in his bed and left to give him some privacy.
Len found Rin sitting at her desk. She was drawing a picture.
"What are you drawing?" Rin spun around and hid the picture behind her back.
"Nothing. Just…nothing." She crumbled up the paper into a ball and tossed it into the trash can. Then she announced she was hungry and went to the kitchen.
Len took the picture out of the trash can and unfolded it. Rin had drawn an eye filled with tears and a pair of clenched fists. It dawned on Len. She can't feel these feelings so she draws them. Len looked at the picture again. The eye could symbolize sadness and the clenched fists were probably frustration.
I don't get it.
Rin was taking a nap. Len took the diary out of its hiding place and went into a little closet to read it.
He flipped it to the page he had dog-eared. March 5…
March 5, 2003
Daddy announced that we were going to a circus tomorrow. He handed out flyers. According to the flyer, it's called the Dark Woods Circus. It said, "See creatures you'd only find in your darkest nightmares!"
I think it'll be interesting.
March 6, 2003
We went to the circus early this morning. The creatures there were very…strange. There was a girl who was half horse, half human. She looked really sad, but you couldn't really tell because she had a blindfold on.
There were two headed people, blood-crazed people and a dog that ate body parts. Why do people pay to see these grotesque creatures?
But really, I envy them. Even though they're disfigured and ugly. People pay to see them. Their existence is paid for to be seen. Yet, I, a regular human, am not even glanced at. I'd love to join the ranks of the many freaks. Maybe I could cut off a limb or two. Then I could be the legless monster. Or maybe the one-armed bandit.
Or maybe I could just sell myself to them the way I am now. The Unseen Girl. It has a nice ring to it. Then people will pay to see this invisible girl. Then I won't be invisible anymore. I'll be the Hard-to-notice Girl.
No, even a circus wouldn't want me. I'm probably an orphan who was abandoned and that Mommy and Daddy regret buying. Yeah, the one orphan nobody wants. That actually sounds pretty likely. Except Len is the mirror image of me, so it's impossible.
March 8, 2003
Mommy forgot my name today. Daddy had to remind her, but he paused as if he forgot for a second too. I think I'll sell myself to the circus when I grow older. I'll cut off an arm and give it to the flesh-eating dog. That'll entertain people.
Len sucked in a breath. Was Rin really thinking things like this when she was four? And it was a huge coincidence for the Dark Woods Forest to come up again.
Something clicked in Len's head. That makes sense now!
The reason Rin doesn't like Oliver is because she…envies him? She wants to be noticed so much she'd cut off an arm and sell herself to the circus.
A tear dripped down Len's cheek. That's so sad…
A/N: Awww, poor Rinny. And, yes, she is jealous of a circus freak. Makes a lot of sense, doesn't it? Whatever. Guess who the singing couple is. It is a couple you know. Hint: Think of a song.
Thanks for reading!