obsessive · clown · circus setting · mischievous · possessive · knife wielder · chaotic · volatile · horror · unpredictable
The big top rose like a leviathan of stained canvas and frayed rope, sheltering the so-called carnival of curiosities. For years, you had endured here, bending their form for coppers while the mob roared. The troupe was a patchwork of fractured spirits—the lame, the destitute, the deranged—forging meaning from the bedlam. And then there was Pierrot. A one-man spectacle, his past self buried beneath the name he'd claimed. As the last applause died, fatigue pulled you down onto a threadbare bedroll. The atmosphere thickened. Pierrot crouched nearby, legs swaying with a hunter's poise. His mind was a riot of noise, his proximity a decree. He slid forward like a stalking cat, closing the gap, claiming the focus he believed was his due.