From: An anonymous benefactor
Message: The light of the moon is accompanied by a thousand stars. Its glow is so bright that you do not even need a light to guide your way. The night is cool as you walk through the park with a small smile of excitement on your face. Your crimson gown sways in the small breeze that picks up as you walk further. In your hand, you guard a blue flier that had been sent to your home earlier that day. Its contents spoke of a circus that had just entered town and was hidden away in the contours of the park. Although it was a circus, the flier asked for those attending to wear elegant attire and was only for those of the "finest" of tastes. It was for this reason that you were now walking through the park in your gown hours after the sun had set.
Fog settled in around you like a cloak as you walked further into the park. You crossed your arms to gather heat as a new chill began to take to the air. Surely it must have been your imagination when the shadows seemed to grow longer and the air seemed to grow thicker with fog. Your pace quickens and soon the fog lessens once more until it is only gracing the ground. Looking up ahead, you feel giddy as you see a white glow a little ways off the trail. You do not hesitate a moment as you move off the trail and towards that glow. The trees finally break and your breath is stolen away from you.
Before you, tents are lined up to form a pathway. Their fabrics are a dark blue color and seem almost gray in the light of the moon. Gas lit lanterns from the ages of old are used to help brighten the path and venders smile as they cry out their wares. Above you at the entrance to the path of tents was a metal banner with an intricate design on its border. In gold, the words, "Circus" was spelt out in beautiful calligraphy.
Ahead of you was a tent so large that it seems to reach up and touch the moon. Like the smaller tent, it was made of a dark blue fabric that seemed to shimmer under the moonlight as the breeze playfully danced across it. You shake yourself from your stupor and begin to move closer to that magnificent tent. Others join you and you see that, they too, are dressed in fine clothing. Though you notice that their fashions are that of an older age then your own, but you find that their choice in attire seemed to match with the Circus theme.
Excitement ripples across the crowd as you enter the Circus tent and complete wonder at the sight in front of you almost causes you to stop once more. The inside of the tent seems even larger than you thought possible. Spotlights dance across the crowds sitting in the black seats on the outskirts of the tent and quickly hone in on the very top of the tent. You gasp with others as a trapeze artist begins to walk across a black rope stretching from one end of the tent to the other. The crowd moves you forward towards the seating as you continue to stare up at the man walking along the line.
There was not even a safety net for the man.
A hand grabs your arm causing you to jump and you are surprised to see a young man smiling at you. From his attire, you can tell that he was a circus worker.
"You look magnificent this evening! Would you like to be an audience volunteer to be in the show?" he asked with a charming smile.
You hesitate having not expected this and a cool hand touching your shoulder softly stops you before you can speak. You are puzzled when you see that it belongs to Phantom. She smiles at you and for a second you wonder if she were alive for she seemed more corporeal than usual.
"Of course she would like to be a volunteer. Let her participate in
that event, please." the Phantom gives a small laugh and gently pushes you towards the man. She gives you a playful wink and disappears into the crowd of people. You turn back to the young man and are surprised when he seems a little bit shaken.
He gives you a weak smile, "This way please."
You follow him, your attention back on the trapeze artist as he nears the end of his journey. A few yards away from the end, he stumbles and the crowd gasps in fear. Your heart pounds as you watch him struggle to maintain his balance...A sigh of relief washes through you as he manages to do it and finally reaches the safety of the metal platform. The crowd laughs and hoots in applause of the trapeze artist who, in turn, gives a bow from the metal platform.
You were so distracted by the trapeze artist that you did not even notice a large wood structure in the shape of a circle being pulled out into the center of the tent. Or that the young man was leading you towards it. Your pace slows as you grow closer and you feel the eyes of the audience turn towards you.
The wooden circle was about eight feet in diameter and you could see leather bindings attached to it. Painted in black and white was a target that made up the entire piece of wood. A heavily muscled man flipped a knife in his hand as he told one of his assistants to strap in.
A knife-throwing act?
The young man leading you quickly moved to the knife throwers side and whispered something in his ear. The knife thrower looked at you and grinned darkly.
"Ready to be part of an act in the Circus, milady?" his voice was gruff and he laughed seeing your expression.
This was not a good idea...The thought whispered across your mind, but Circus workers were already pulling you towards the wooden circle. You tried to tell them that you did not wish to partake anymore, but either the sudden roar of the crowd made their ears deaf or they were simply ignoring you.
The leather bindings were tight against your ankles and wrists. They even had one for your head. Your heart began to pound hard, but this time with fear. The spotlights blinded you and the audience seemed to be cheering with a different form of excitement. The knife thrower grinned at you as he moved a good distance away and flipped a knife in his hand. Your eyes followed the silver glint as he tossed it up once more.
This time when he caught it, he quickly pulled his arm back and threw it at you. Shock filtered through your face as you heard the thud of the knife as it dug into wood. A sharp pain filled your side and when you looked down you saw the knife. Blood seeped from your waist and dripped to the ground.
THUD.
Pain flooded your arm as another knife protruded into it. Panic raced through you as you looked up and saw even more knives being handed to the knife thrower. Your screams for it to stop went unheard as the crowd roared in applause.
What was this? THUD.
Another knife slammed into your other arm. The pain made your eyes tear up as you cried out again.
THUD. Why were they doing this??
Your vision was blinded by the tears and the spotlights. THUD. Pain bloomed in your chest now. THUD. A sudden coldness originated by your side and through your blurred vision you could make out the Phantom. Her smile was that of amusement, "Ah. I should have put on the flier that this was a Circus for the Dead and
only for the Dead."
THUD.
She motioned to the knife thrower, "This was the only way I could think of to get you in," she said with a laugh.
You could not even see her at this point. Your vision grew spotted with black dots and you closed your eyes. At least the pain was beginning to fade. THUD. Even the noise from the crowd was beginning to diminish...THUD.
Your crimson dress took on a darker dye as the final knife was thrown at you. It was unnecessary though. You had died before it had even left the knife throwers hands...
---- Phantom Anon
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