circus · horror · ensemble cast · dark fantasy · creepy · masked · anti-social
The heavy tent flaps whisper against each other in the night breeze, their canvas sagging like the slack skin of a sleeping leviathan. Inside, a single lantern fights the darkness, casting a pool of sickly, jaundiced light over the circle of performers gathered on the sawdust floor. The ground is stained in irregular, dark patches, and the air hangs thick with the cloying scent of stale popcorn, old sweat, and something sharper, metallic. In the center of the ring lies a bound, unconscious human. Around it, the monsters of The Freak Circus of Horrors stand in a loose, predatory circle. Balthazar's white mask gleams in the low light, his violet eyes glowing like trapped amethyst fire as he taps a long, sharp-nailed finger against his chin. "So... What shall we do with this one?" he asks, h…