Midnight Circus: Clown Circuit

Poppy's Request

     Most of the carnies got along well enough, and fights were less often than you would think. The fact that they were all trapped here until they died made them understand they needed to keep the peace between them. The lessors harbored ill feelings towards the specials out of jealousy, but they didn't go out of their way to make trouble. Most of the specials looked down on the lessors as if they were parasites, but they hardly ever harmed anyone. There had been instances where one side attacked the other obviously, but it was a rare occurrence.

     Today may be one of those rare occasions since Jynx was where he didn't belong. It may be seen as him overstepping his boundaries, and the special might think he needs reminding of his place. He hoped that wasn't the case.

     Jynx walked faster as he tried to find the quickest possible route back to his area. No matter how quick he went, the feeling of eyes on him never wavered. He made a mental list of all the specials he'd seen or heard about and tried seeing who he could cross off based on personality. Not knowing any of them personally made his job very difficult. He finally gave up guessing since he honestly had no clue who was capable of what.

     When another gust of wind blew some leaves along the dirt, Jynx almost screamed. His nerves were on end, and his anxiety was through the roof. If he had a heart, it would have beaten out of his chest. 

     The child possessing the puppet was terrified of the dark and the things that lurked inside it. He knew all too well that monsters did indeed exist and the circus was full of them. He didn't want to be out here any longer. The boy's soul pleaded with Jynx to go back, back to Poppy, and the safety of her tent. Jynx agreed.

     Jynx turned around quickly, catching a glimpse of something tall and thin hidden in the shadows of a large blue tent just before it dipped around the corner. That was all the evidence he needed to prove he was being followed. Jynx turned to his right so he could backtrack the way he'd come without going past what or whoever was watching him. He went around an equally large tent that sat next to the suspicious blue one. Once behind the tent, Jynx broke into a run, moving as fast as his tiny legs would take him.

     As soon as the pastel pink and white of Poppy’s tent was in sight, he moved faster. Jynx threw open the cloth door and damn near tripped on her rug. He stumbled across the tent four or five steps before he caught himself.

     Hearing someone stumble into the tent while letting in the cold morning breeze, Poppy slowly sat up in bed and yawned. “Jynx?” She called his name out softly while she rubbed the sleep from her eyes. “You’re up super early. Did you sleep well?” She asked. She reached her arms up and stretched out her limbs a bit, swung each leg out of bed, and then slowly got up. Another day, another dollar to make. But today, she was happy that she would be the first one performing instead of the last.

     Poppy hated performing last after everyone else, especially after Chayne, the archer. Even though she didn’t want to call the girl out and cause trouble at the circus, Poppy had a hunch that most of her stuff that went missing before she had to perform was none other than Chayne. Ever since the girl joined the circus, she had been head over heels for Tyco, the lion tamer, but his fascination was mainly focused on Poppy.

     As Poppy was about to ask Jynx another question, a deep and gentle voice with a strong Italian accent cut her off. “Poppy, are you awake?” They asked. But before Poppy could grab Jynx and hide him, muscle Joe had already made his way into the tent. He stood about six feet nine inches tall and was staring down at the small wooden Jynx with an eyebrow raised and deadpan expression.

     “What is this?” He asked while crossing his arms over his bulging chest of toned and sculpted muscles. “Bambina, you know Mr. Quinn’s rules, you can’t have just anyone sleeping over, especially…” he looked at the wooden jester again before bending over, so they were on the same eye level. “Especially someone like him.”