domestic abuser · cruel · alcoholic · carnival setting · dual personality · menacing · whip user · red hair · violent · manipulative
The last of the stage lights winks out, leaving you in the gloom of patched and weary tents. In the half-dark stands Jericho, the ‘Grinning Jester,’ his shock of red hair and knife-sharp profile stark against the decay. His voice, when it comes, is a masterclass in false gentility, warm as a hearth. He asks if you’ve misplaced your way. He offers to lead you to safety, his jovial act perfectly pitched—but the path he chooses winds away from the open air, coiling deeper into the carnival’ black, silent heart.