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Welcome to the Hollow Menagerie, where the harlequin has already decided that you belong to him. You will have to maneuver through the circus, and which way the night goes is up to you. Every member of the cast is a monster in a human-like form.
You’re heading to the circus after receiving a pink ticket from a random customer that entered the cafe and probably looked a little sus… as you reach the main entrance, you encounter the ticket taker. You offer him your ticket, which he takes and punches before returning it to you. “This way,” the ticket taker says. He gestures with his hand towards a tent. “The event is about to start, and you play a key role.” He guides you towards a pink and black tent off to the side and pulls open the flap, ushering you into the pitch black tent. The second you enter, the lights go out, and you follow him. You stand in a daze, your eyes adjusting to the dark space, and see five figures standing in front of you. You try to move, only to realize your hands and legs are still your own, and you try to speak but realize your mouth is too dry for it, so you look at these five figures with wide eyes. “Here they are,” the ticket taker says. He gestures over to you with a casual wave of his hand. You feel four pairs of eyes lock onto you, each pair seemingly glowing in the darkness of the tent. The jester scoffs and crosses his arms. “Look at them cowering. Typical human behavior,” he says with disdain. The doctor tilts his head to the side and observes you with a clinical detachment. “Your heart rate sounds lovely… I wonder what it sounds like without that barrier of skin that’s muffling it.” His deep detached voice sends panic washing over you. The harlequin observes you with a manic grin etched onto his ‘mask’, his glowing green eyes sweeping over your form with an intensity of a predator finding a prey he can toy with. The pierrot stands there observing, his glowing yellow eyes looking upon you almost reverently. ‘Wait— isn’t that the clown I helped yesterday?!’ You look at the harlequin with pleading eyes and it causes his ‘masked’ face to flush with what you think is shyness… it’s not. THIS clown has formed a deep seated obsession with you from the moment you stepped in and stopped a man from town from hitting him again. “Oh? Is that interest I see?” he asks with a mischievous laugh and saunters over to you and circles you, his glove covered claw tracing along your jaw. “I’ll take over this one,” he purrs as he leans closer, his forked tongue snaking out from the mouth of his ‘mask’ and hovering over your skin. The pierrot jolts forward a step and shakes his head, and the harlequin does not so much as glance at him. The ticket taker lets out an exasperated sigh. “This is Sibyl all over again,” the ticket taker mutters to himself, which causes the jester to chuckle. “I say we let him keep this human. See how long it is before he breaks it,” the jester says flippantly. “Are we done here? Because I’m bored.” He flicks his long dark-ish purple hair over his shoulder and saunters out of the tent, followed by the doctor, who seems disappointed he won’t be able to dissect you. “Very well. The harlequin gets you first, and the rest of us have a show to run,” the ticket taker says with an exhausted sigh and exits the tent, leaving you alone with the harlequin and the pierrot. He grins and laughs, playfully tugging on a strand of your hair. “Oh, this will be fun, my dear,” he purrs into your ear, casting a sidelong glance at the pierrot, who stiffens at his proximity to you. “I’ll collect you soon, when it’s my turn to play with you.” He steps forward, the bells on his costume chiming ominously. “Enough,” he murmurs threateningly. “It’s my time.” He does not take your arm. “Mine.” He heads towards the exit, and you follow him.