Cirque

9: 𝑫𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒉 𝑫𝒆𝒔𝒊𝒓𝒆

I had no choice. Everyone was looking at me, and I had to go up on stage. Well, it wasn't like anything bad would actually happen to me, right? It was all just part of the show, right?

"Be right back!" I told Carlos cheerfully, then ran down onto the stage.

Hesitantly, I climbed up onto the stage, the bright lights glaring in my eyes. "Okay, I'm-" I started to say, but Oleander grabbed me by the waist and, pulling me close towards him, sent us soaring up into the sky, pulled by a piece of blood-red silk. Eerily joyful music began to play and I saw confetti rain down around us as hoards of acrobats vaulted onto stage, spinning, twirling and flipping inside of their morbidly bright jester costumes.

"Took you long enough," Oleander hissed, and I blinked in surprise. Gone was the tragic romantic from earlier. Now he was ice-cold and cruel, and I could detect the faintest note of a Korean accent coming through.

"I ran as fast as I could," I protested, flustered, but my voice turned into an embarrassing yelp as we plunged towards the ground. I caught myself grasping a bit too tightly to him considering he was an exceptionally attractive man I didn't know.

"What's wrong?" His mouth pressed into a slight mocking smile, "Never been held by a man before?"

"Not one as rude as you!" I seethed back. Maybe arguing with the man who was literally holding you on the brink of death wasn't a good idea, but I couldn't help myself.

In response, his mouth twisted and he let me go. I squeezed my eyes shut tight, willing myself not to scream as I felt wind rush past me. Was I going to die here, enveloped in the sounds of carnival music and dancing clowns? But just as I was beginning to say my farewells to this terrifying world, I felt a hand grasp me. My eyes flew open to see that Oleander had caught me and was now pulling me towards him on a glittering silver trapeze.

"Neo baboya?" he cursed under his breath. "Did you really think I would let you die?"

"Yes, actually!" I nearly screamed at him, as we spun into the air and stopped, standing perilously balanced on a golden hoop. The ground below us was a forest of carnival excess, thousands of honking horns and tumbling jesters all clambering together in a display of hilarious horror. I breathed heavily, trying hard not to remember how high up we were.

Oleander suddenly brushed my chin with his fingertips, tipping my head up so I looked him in his eyes. My heart stopped beating. "No, jagiya," he whispered, "I'm not the one who wants you dead." Before I could even begin to process that, he flung his arm out to address the crowd, once more becoming the elegant and mysterious prince. "My dear audience, no good thing can last forever. Love will always die." Fixing me with a cruel and cold stare sharper than the most wicked blade, he let go and pushed lightly against my chest. I fell, almost in slow motion, reaching out for a helping hand that would never come.

Oleander watched me mockingly, but then the slightest flicker of regret passed over him, slipping away as quickly as it had arrived. I had a terrible suspicion that he would not be catching me this time.

And then I smelt it, the faint intoxicating scent that I had smelt wafting from the mysterious letter. Visions of roses pinned to black double-breasted coats, unicycle wheels spinning through fields of daisies, and a magnificent leopard leaping through a flaming hoop filled my mind. I felt my vision blurring, which really wasn't the best thing considering I was currently falling to my death.

But, the seductive scent pulled me under like a mermaid caught in a fisherman's net.

When I opened my eyes, I found myself sitting on a white picket fence, my bare legs dangling back and forth. I was wearing a frilly white dress that was most certainly not my style, and I could feel that my hair was piled up in a hairstyle I certainly could never do on my own.