demons

chapter 10

"Well, they are part of the circus of course! I tied you three up so as to not interrupt the exciting show and be able to sit back and relax." He said, then giggling like a maniac, making Ayano frown at him in disgust.

"For our first act, Yeona will be doing tightrope walking blindfolded without any safety gears or trampoline in case she falls!" He said happily, stepping aside as the once dark area slightly above the stage itself lit up, the spotlight shining onto Yeona who was wearing a blindfold with both of her hands handcuffed to each other, both clasping on to what looks like a stick. She could be seen visibly trembling in fear, of course she has no idea exactly what was happening and so needed to rely on her hearing instead.

An invisible force pushed her forward, making her stumble slightly and force her foot to go onto the rope. She was shaking a great deal, obviously still not able to balance on the rope or even have the experience to. She knew she can always turn back but for some reason she was unable to and has no choice but to continue forward.

The three girls watched her wide-eyed, noticing that Yeona just gulped in fear. A pang of worry shot Narin, instantly feeling the urge to save the maknae from up there somehow. She will definitely die from that height if she falls! "Let's try break out of this rope." She said softly in a serious manner which was rather rare to see her in. The girls nodded but none of them did anything since they didn't know how to get out of the rope.

"Let's try standing." Ayano suggested, tucking her knees in so that she could stand whenever her wanted to. The other girls followed suit and the trio started trying to, at least, stand, completely forgetting to keep a lookout for Yeona.

Yeona bit her bottom lip in concentration, trying to keep her balance as she used the stick, like a blind man, to figure out where the rope is. Beads of sweat started trickling down the temple of her head as she took another step. She screamed out loud when her foot missed the rope, loosing balance. Her scream caused all three girls to stare at her with shocked expressions. "No no no no." Chanmi said, starting to tear up.

Time seems to slow down during Yeona's fall, Sooyoung who was hiding in the shadows as instructed by the man didn't care at the moment and dashed forward, trying to catch Yeona and succeeded catching her though she fell along with her instead. The two suffered a few scratches and bruises, nothing serious. Sooyoung quickly took off Yeona's blindfold and hugged her tightly, bursting into tears on the spot. Yeona was still in shock, unable to process what just happened, neither did the three, how did Sooyoung managed to save her in time?

"You defied the rules, Sooyoung. I originally wanted you to be in the darts programme but now we have a change of plans; you will be in the tiger trainer programme." The man said, spearing out of nowhere in the podium, his black cloak fluttering slightly when he used his hand to wave it to one side.

"Bring it on." She hissed, cradling the younger who was still in shock but this time was crying. The man then signalled to the shadows and a cage that contained a tiger who seems to be looking at the duo hungrily, like one of a predator.

Narin got frustrated with the rope, reaching into her back pocket for her trusty pocket knife and started using it to saw the part of the rope that bounded Chanmi and Ayano togrther.

"Au revoir." He said in an almost polite and less threatening manner, tipping his head as a form of respect before stepping back into the shadows. A whiny creak sound was heard from the cage as the two looked back to see the cage unlocked.