Circus In The Wall 🗸

     A deep bell chimed, the sound of ticking becoming more audible with the quickened pace of time passing by, the clocks turning faster so that more bells rang out in rhythm. The old clock store almost seemed comfortable in its dark and cold atmospheric shades, the wind outside having no issues with breezing through the slightly ajar window and the cracks in the walls. The sound seemingly increased in volume as the clocks gradually became silent, the only nuance being the breeze and the creaking of old wood.

     Only a moment later, a sharp, high pitched cackle took over the mostly quiet space, overlapping the ticking and echoing in the old wooden room. Another joined, and another after that. In only a matter of seconds, a handful of high pitched, maniacal laughter filled the room. There was a rustling and a small creature, not any higher than a person's knee if not for the tophat, shot across the floor, sprinting fast with a wide, sharp-toothed grin on its face. It almost seemed like it were stuck that way, frozen in an ever-creepy smile.

     Another soon followed, another after that and another after that. A few were scattered around the room, collecting odds and ends and returning to a hole in the wall that hadn't originally been there, carrying objects and parts that they had grabbed. They stole items, broke a few to retrieve the little things from inside, clocks were gradually taken apart to get at these bits and loose ends.

     There seemed to be no rhyme nor reason to why or how they stole the parts, only seeming as though they were required and that they were simply doing a job that needed to be done.

     One had lagged behind, staring intently at this odd looking clock. A reflection stared back with a just as interesting smile, its own. It started another round of cackling, now loud and the little creature almost doubled over in hysterics. It, like all the others, had literal sharp features. Heads in the shape of triangles, the chin being a sharp corner. They were pale, grey-skinned. Suits were their attire, just as sharp as their faces. They wore monocles on their left eye and a Stovepipe hat was sat atop their head, perfect for their odd shape. They were the very description of crazy, bizarre and strange.

     One creature patted the previous over the shoulder, its hat covering its eyes. It seemed to be the only one that had a slight difference in appearance, and only that it wore no monocle due to where its hat sat, blinding it, but it could see. How? None of them knew nor seemed to care all the same.

     The two grabbed the necessities they had taken, with still no reason behind their actions, and rejoined the others, all scuttling back towards their hole in the wall. As soon as the gathering creatures past through the threshold, a mist clouded them as if they stepped through a transparent barrier. They grew, stretching out along with their clothes and items. 

     They suddenly seemed large, overwhelmingly so, what with their now gangly and overly stretched bodies. Far larger than the hole they had come through, a hole that had seemingly shrunk even further and now could be described as a hole fit for the smallest of mice.

     They were shoving and cackling at one another, forcing past each other to reach the large ring in the middle of a mass of old and overused bleachers. The layout seemed almost like that of a circus, bar for the darkly coloured curtains and tent-like walls, painted wood to appear as such. A dark circus within a wooden-walled building would be a far more appropriate example.

     One of the creatures suddenly turned on another, barking out some odd scolding through jabs and loud hissing and sharp biting and gritty sounds. No words were actually said that the human ear could understand, but the creature had clearly been irritated enough to scold another that had tried to push it aside.

     Once they began moving again, all crowding around the centre of the room in the shape of a circle. They dropped their stolen goods inside, each item landing on another. The creatures gradually returned to the outer circle, forming the shape and standing there, watching as if something were to happen.

     For a long few minutes, nothing did. They were all silent, awaiting... nothing. There were no twitches or subtle movement. They were unnervingly still, their sharp-toothed grins stretched widely across their just as unnerving features, curling around their triangular faces.

     A few more minutes and a loud snore bounced off of the walls, all heads creepily turning to the creature with the hat covering a majority of its face. They stared, still grinning as a bubble grew from beneath the Stovepipe hat and shrank, a snore slipping between its jagged, shark-like teeth. 

     One of the others growled, raising its arm to point and yell odd noises that could be considered a chastising and one beside the sleeping creature drew a steel pipe from its pocket. In one swift swing, a metal clang sounded, its body dropping hard with a 'gack' leaving its mouth. It fell face first onto the wooden floor and visible stars rose from beneath its hat. It was still alive, let alone awake. It groaned and forced itself to its knees and then feet.

     Though seemingly dazed, it snapped its creepy face towards the attacker, growling in return. It swiped the pipe and hit the other in return, yellings in their strange tongue. It hit again and again and again, unbothered if the other died, which it really didn't seem like it were possible. There wasn't even any blood. It only repeated grunt after grunt, a string of 'gack' sounds leaving it with each strike. 

     Others only cackled hysterically, a few doubling over and seeming as if they were about to wet themselves, one had even dropped to its hands and knees, slamming a fist repeatedly into the ground.

     Through all the intense laughter, a sudden flash caught their attention, their odd eyes darting to the centre of the ring and all fell abruptly silent as the flash pulsed over and over, growing in brightness and blinding them as it built. Arms raised to shield their beady eyes, a few yelling, another hissing, one even gawking in awe, unaffected by the burn its eyes received.

     Only moments later, the glow began to dull in shine, easing and leaving the creatures blinking and trying to adjust to the change. They babbled and hissed, hands rubbing at their faces and arms lowering to peer into the circle. It eventually dulled to nothing, a limp mechanical-like body sitting in the middle of the circle. A darkly shaded form with a Harlequin's hat and costume, dark purple and black mixed patterns forming the clothing.

     The doll gradually lifted her head, almost unnervingly slow and jittery until her eyed stared ahead. The group of odd creatures began cheering, all laughing madly and jumping around like this had been some kind of end-goal that had been achieved. For all anyone knew, it could have been.

     The mechanical ragdoll Harlequin began to laugh with them, sounding eerie, metal lightly screeching against metal, her tin face tilting a tad to the side before her laugh began to sound akin to an almost nightmarish high pitched noise.