Fear Factory / reddie circus au

Two - Lavender Insense

Behind the curtain was a large space lit by tea lights in jars that let off pinkish glows against the red tarp of the tent.
Along one side of the room were racks of props, messily stacked. Juggling clubs, hula hoops, several tatty unicycles and a massive grey cyr wheel.
And on the other side we're a line of mirrors carefully balanced on a long rickety table. The desk tops littered with various cups and bottles and cosmetics.

Standing to the right was a tall, muscular boy who was riffling through the piles of equipment. He was wearing a tight fitting periwinkle vest and a pair of black leggings accompanied by a big buckled belt.

"Mike," Bill said, leading Richie over to the boy, "This is Richie Tozier, a hypnotist,"

The boy stopped and turned, greeting Richie with a genuine friendly smile.
"Hello, I'm Mike Hanlon, nice to meet you," he offered Richie his hand. This time Richie took it and shaked it, feeling an overall better vibe from Mike.
"Mike is going to introduce you to the rest of our performers," Bill said, placing a hand on Richie's back and pushing him gently forwards towards the darker boy.

"Of course, no problem," Mike smiled as Bill disappeared back behind the curtain.
"Wow, I've never met a hypnotist before," Mike smiled looking at Richie.

Richie smiled uneasily, he wasn't a hypnotist he was just Richie Tozier. Just a normal boy. A normal boy who had no idea what the heck he was doing here.

"Soooo," Richie said awkwardly, "What's your act?"

"Oh I do a lot of floor based circus, juggling, fire eating excetera,"

"Woah," Richie gasped, suddenly interested, "You actually do fire eating!?"

Mike nodded, grinning.
"I sure do,"

"That's fucking awesome," Richie grinned, as Mike lead him out of the tent and into a small field located behind the crimson curtains. There were several simple trailers hugging the metal fencing.

The trailer directly ahead of them had a small porch where a figure sat sinisterly on a wicker chair. They were surrounded by what seemed to be many traditional domed bird cages, some hanging from the porches over hang and some sitting on the decking.

As the two approached Richie could see a curly haired boy looking down into his lap.
"This is Stanley, Stan Uris, he works with the animals... especially birds," Mike said gesturing to the array of cages, that Richie could now see they contained many different sizes and colours of birds.
Richie, who had a very limited knowledge of birds, could only identify an eerie looking barn owl and a large brown bird he thought may be a buzzard.

Stanley looked up, brushing a strand of his sandy unruly hair from his eyes. He raised his left arm out of his lap revealing a majestic eagle gripping to the sleeve of his rose suit.

"I'm Richie," Richie smiled, "that's a cool bird,"

Stan looked at Richie for a while without saying anything before uneasily turning to Mike, "I'd get him out of here if you want to keep him in one piece... I'm about to go and feed the bear and I'm not in the mood for talking right now."

Richie grimaced at the unnecessary malice from Stanley. That seemed like a good excuse to move on. Richie followed Mike to the next trailer.

The outside was decorated with long, bamboo wind chimes and colourful strips of material tied to the overhang.

Mike knocked on the door, which whipped open almost instantly.

A girl peered out from inside, her sapphire eyes looking straight past Mike and directly at Richie.

A grin spread across her face as she moved a hand up to push a loop of her auburn hair back into her headscarf, bangles clattering as she moved her arm.

"Beverly Marsh," she beamed, "I've been excepting you Mr Richard Tozier,"

Richie looked at her curiously, confused about how she knew his name.

She diverted her gaze for a second and reached out a delicate hand onto Mikes shoulder, "Do you mind if I finish showing Rich around?"

"Of course Bevvie," Mike smiled, looking at Richie to see if he was okay with the idea. Richie was clearly captivated by Beverly's long layered skirt and magenta cape.
"I'll see you later," Mike said, leaving Richie alone with Bev.

"Come inside Richie," she said beckoning as the lanky boy slipped inside, "I know you don't mind if I call you Rich, correct?"

"Ummm, correct," He said hesitantly looking around Beverly's trailer. Each wall had a different tapestry draped across it, covering the windows, meaning the only source of light came from a candle sitting on a circular table in the middle of the room. There was an almost overpowering smell of incense and lavender that made Richie feel the urge to sneeze.

"Richie...," she started, "Can you guess what my act is?"

He turned to look at her, "I- I have no idea," he said trying to be polite

"I am a fortune teller Rich, and I have to tell you something important. Something important about your future here."

He looked at her intrigued.

"There's something you need to know."