Sethyr's Sirkus

A New Visitor

Running under the rain.

Soaked to the bones.

These two sentences could very well describe the lost girl on the streets of Velvet City. Her name was Marna and she was one of those typical twenty year old that needed a job in order to pay their expensive phone bills.

That day, she had had an interview with a store manager downtown and didn't have trouble responding to his questions. However, before even getting there, she had woken up late and her dad had to drive her directly to the store. Now, she was supposed to get back home, but the interview ended later than expected and no bus was passing there anymore. She had to walk under merciless rain without an umbrella. Another big problem was that her phone was dead, nobody was outside or even awake at that hour on a Monday, and she didn't know the way home from here... Whoops

And so, she sought refuge in a bar. Not that she ever went in one.

It was almost midnight when she reached what she was looking for; a narrow alley only lit by a dying lamp and a flashy red sign that read:

[Sethyr's Sirkus - Come have fun with us, but beware of soul eaters ;)]

"Hmm. How reassuring, Marna thought. Well, do I have a choice anyways? I'm freezing outside."

She went up the small step and faced the black door. To her surprise, there was no knob! She then saw, at eye's level, a small red rose and above it, one word written in red:

[Press]

Thinking it was some kind of bell system and that someone would open the door from inside, she poked the flower. Weirdly enough, the rose felt natural. So natural that Marna felt a sharp pain in her finger; there was a hidden thorn in the middle. She jerked her hand backwards and looked at it. The sight wasn't what she expected.

Where she had been stung, there was no blood. Only a small scar abstractly shaped like a rose bud. 

"What the hell - "

Right as she pronounced that word, she felt attraction from the door and walked right into it - something she would never do in normal circumstances. Everything went black for a couple seconds and when she regained sight, she realized she had gone through the door and was now inside. She stood still while looking around her in total confusion:

She was at one corner of what looked like a vast bar. Round and square tables were spread out all over on the dark wooden floor. The ambient smell was indescriptible, a mixture of spicy and burned. The walls were covered in dark red wallpaper with the occasional gold rose pattern. Man, the owner of this place is really into roses. Small lanterns lit the place up with a nice warm glow.  At the far end, Marna could see an elevated stage bathing in darkness. Between her and that stage, dozens of people were chatting about, however she didn't pay attention to them, still under the shock she got from the radical change of decor. It was so cozy for such a secluded place! In front of her, there was a large counter with various drinks on it. Up until now, everything seemed almost  normal, except for the high temperature in the room that dried her hair quasi-instantly. 

But as she observed the barmaid behind the counter, Marna noticed something very strange. Instead of your regular female with tied up hair, she saw a girl with purple-ish skin and very long hair that went from pink to blue in a gradient. One more thing: She had jet black horns on the side of her head, pointing forward.

Feeling a presence, the creature turned around to stare at the new visitor. Her eyes, which were a mix of pink and blue, same as her hair, flashed with interest. She jumped over the counter with agility and announced in a detached yet weirdly enthusiastic tone:

"Hey guys, I think we have a new friend! And it's a human!"

This is when Marna noticed that everyone present was a demon.