Death March of The Circus

Chapter 2: The Show Begins

My mind is fuzzy... The only thing I remember was that I was hungry, and I needed to buy something outside. Other than that, I cannot seem to comprehend where I am---it is just bright, nothing more, nothing less. Slowly, I feel my body falling though there is no definite depth. Am I dead? Am I passing through the afterlife? At the very least, I would want to meet my parents even in this state. I would want to ask them how did I survive the accident, and why can’t I seem to remember them.

“Wake up boy.” I can hear a voice that seemed to be echoing from somewhere. If this is a sick joke, I'd be smashing their heads on concrete.

“Wake up!” Another person called me.

“You know no matter how hard we try to wake him up if we don’t take the initiative to do so he won’t wake up.”

“You have your point there. Besides isn’t that your job?”

“Yes it is, and will always be.”

After their exchange of words, I’m back on my feet. I opened my eyes and tried to regain my composure after that weird situation I was in.

“Am I in heaven?” I asked whoever they were.

“Nope. I’m afraid that isn’t your case as of now. If you think this is heaven, I'm sure hell would be a much better place, don't you think?”

From that reply, I immediately started to rub my eyes to see who said that and to assess where I am. As soon as I got a clear vision and saw my surroundings, everything was shady with numerous clocks stuck to the wall. Even the floor along with the extremely high ceiling looks like the front of a clock itself. I stumbled on the ground, surprised by the bizarre aesthetics of this place.

“You need to keep yourself calm.” A masked man wearing a white mask and tuxedo said to me.

“Even if you do, it won’t change the fact that you are dead.” Added by another masked man wearing black. Both of them are placed opposite to each other, from left to right. A large grandfather clock separates them from their position.

“I’m dead?” Why do I feel like it’s no longer a surprise for me at this point?

“Yes you are, at least based on your previous world’s logic.” Replied to me by the man in white.

“How did I die?”

Both of them looked at each other. For a good ten seconds, they just stared at each other until they laughed maniacally as if what I’ve said was a big joke. Staring at them, I just sat on the floor waiting for them to shut up and tell me everything I need to hear.

After a minute or so… “That’s the best laugh that we’ve had so far.”

“I’m happy for both of you...” Ironically speaking of course.

“Let’s cut off the comedy, shall we? To be honest with you, you are not dead, so to speak.” The man wearing a black mask said.

Standing up, “Not dead?” I don’t know how that’s possible, but this place isn’t something out of a park.

“Why, are my words not clear to you? I’m certain that I am speaking the human language.” There goes the persistent mocking.

“I can hear and understand you loud and clear. What I meant was, I was hit by lightning. That’s more than just a simple electric shock that one in a million might encounter.” Death by lightning isn’t something normal on an everyday basis, apparently.

“You were teleported, although death is a simple term used by most humans.” This black-masked dude isn’t making any sense.

“So am I really dead?” as soon as I asked that question, the man wearing a black mask got close to me and started pinching my cheeks.

“Oww, stop it!” This guy’s grip is totally out of a comic book. He let go of me as soon as I tapped his arms.

“See you are still alive. Only your physical body has been altered to the point that you can dwell and exist in this world. We’re just messing with you, although it is a fact that you can’t go back to earth since you’re here.” The guy wearing a white mask said as he pointed his thumb at the other freak wearing a black mask.

“It’s important to take note that you should always look for an explanation whenever that guy is talking, even I can’t get what it means sometimes.” He added. At least I now know what to expect from these guys… If they are even human in the first place.

“Speaking of world, where am I?” Finally, I got the chance to ask a relevant question after minutes of conversing with these freak shows.

The man wearing a white mask spoke, “This is the circus of fear, or should I say a place that's between the physical realm and the realm of the void.”

“Wait, is that even a world? From what I know about the word void, it means nothingness. How did this place become a circus?”

“You’ve been basing a lot of stuff from your previous world, and I’m telling you that logic doesn’t apply here.”

“Like what exactly?” Tutorial time I guess.

“First of all, how do we define the word void?”

Thinking about it, void means nothingness according to the dictionary. That’s just how simple the term is in reality.

Then he spoke suddenly. “Let me guess, you are using your worldly logic once again, are you?”

“Yes…” Can’t argue with these guys in any way.

“Logically speaking, anything that has no value is considered nothing. The void, however, based on how it was recorded here, is an amalgamation of things that have existed, yet to exist, and removed from existence. To put it simply, just think of this place as a submarine diving in a vast and endless sea. Water has no form until you take a scoop of it using a cup or even your hand. We know that water exists, but to dive into the deep abyss to know where the water came from, that's an issue that all living creatures are afraid of.”

“Why am I here if humans can't even enter this place?”

“Because this is the Circus of Fear. It is a gap that conjoins the two worlds. It's also our job to ensure that this ship is sailing till the end of time.” Responded the man wearing a black mask.

“Peculiar enough, originally you are not from earth either.” He added. From his answer alone, I knew there was a catch to everything they are saying.

“I’ll give you a bit of a recap. How many friends have you had since you existed?” This is a rather personal question that has always bugged me ever since I was an orphan, or at least for as far as I can tell.

“None, from what I can remember. I mean, I never considered having friends for starters.”

“The answer is simple, you are not from that world. Wavelength is what joins people on earth. If your wavelength is different from those around you, their emotions and their thinking will be affected directly without them even noticing.” His response shocked me to the point that my blood started to boil.

“So you are basically saying that I came to existence for nothing?! Are you bastards the reason why I don’t remember s**t?!” I blurted out my compressed anger. I feel restrained by my current situation and I have a lot of questions in need of answers.

“Finally some anger. I thought you weren’t gonna be mad in this situation.” Black took over and went in front of me. A while ago, he looked chill when he was teasing me, but in this case, I can hear the gears inside his body rotating like an overheating engine.

“Don’t give me that crap!? I’m sick and tired of your jokes!? Tell me the truth now or bring me back to my place!?” I don’t give a damn anymore! These two are annoying and insane to even say jokes about my life!

(To be continued)