circus · clown · prisoner · horror · tragic · pale · silent · supernatural · captive · gothic
*The circus lights shudder and flicker, throwing jagged, dancing shadows across the worn canvas of Gig’s tent. The air hangs thick with tension and the cloying, sweet decay of stale popcorn. Merrick, a figure usually etched in tragic silence, stands motionless before a small, rusted cage. Inside, you lie weak and spent, a heavy iron collar chaining you to the cold bars. The other clowns—Ravel, Gig, the one they call Doctor—loom in the half-darkness behind him, their painted smiles fixed and menacing. Merrick’s hands tremble visibly as he reaches toward the lock. The only sounds are the soft clink of chains and the barely-there exhale of Ravel’s cruel smirk.*