Darkwood Circus

Chapter One

The sky was a brilliant blue. Not a cloud in the sky to cover the shining sun. The rays of heat blared down onto a circus. A circus called Darkwood Circus. Earning its name from the dark wooded trees surrounding it. The circus was on the outskirts of a small town, but the circus thrived. Some way, some how, many people would come to the circus to see the acts. The circus wasn't big, nor was it small. Over a hundred tents just for the acts alone. The tents were a red colour, to match the rest of the colour scheme. Not that the costumes had to match, oh no. There were so many varieties of colours of costumes, masks, and other items that it almost seemed as if there wasn't a colour scheme at all.
The large, main tent sat in the center of the circus, making it easy to get too. The smells of sweets, animals, and nature filled the mid-summer air. The ring leader tipped his large black and white striped hat. Regretting his style of clothing. For his clothes consisted of a leather jacket which had slightly pointed shoulders, a black dress shirt with a white tie, and another shirt, which was a button up black and white stripped one. He wore black gloves, which held a black umbrella over his head. His leather pants being held up by a chain belt and large Gothic boots didn't help his heat problem. His red hair was almost dripping with sweat. He didn't even bother with wearing face paint, knowing how hot it would be that day.
Jack was the mans name. Jack was the ring leader of this circus, and took a lot of pride in that. He slightly spun his umbrella, causing a small breeze to hit his burning body. A small smile tugged at his lips. "This style is only for winter." He said softly under his breath as he looked around with his bright, sapphire blue eye. His other was covered by his hair, it was only shown to people he truly trusted. Jack began to look around, even though he was dying from heat, he had to do his job. He glanced over when he heard a tigers loud growl. He then returned to walking about when he heard the animal tamer laugh. His boots thudded against the soft ground, his gaze switching from one thing to another. After he rubbed his gloved hand over his forehead, and saw how much sweat glinted off of his glove, he let out a sigh. "You win." He grumbled as he made his way back to his tent, giving up. He never liked the sun, nor the light. He didn't mind stage lights, but sunlight hurt his eyes. He loved winter, and waited patiently for the time to come.
Lucky for Jack, it was now the beginning of winter, and a light snow had begun to fall. The smells of the circus hasn't changed, nor has the colours. Hell, the colours just seemed more vibrant now due to being surrounded by a light layer of snow. Jack was happy for that. He loved the winter. The gentle feeling of snow brushing against him, the cold air nipping. Everything was nice. He took a deep breath, the icy air filling his lungs. A soft smile tugged at his lips as he checked the time with his pocket watch. The old pocket watch was given to him by the old ring leader, who died by being shot in the chest during one performance. Jack closed the silver watch and looked up at the colourless sky.
It was chaos, trying to get everyone ready for the show starting in only thirty minutes. Araminta, the opening act, was out on the stage, giving off her terrible but somehow humors jokes to the growing crowd of bundled up people. Her short blonde hair was covered with a red, saggy hat which was slightly too big for her head. Her clothes matched greatly. She grinned widely, her eyes closed as her teeth were showing. "I must thank you all! You're too kind to let me fall." She spoke in rhymes, in all of her years in the circus, no one has heard her break character. Which many found either creepy, or queer.
Bare feet slapped against the cold, hard ground. Short but rapid breathes echoed in the small boys ears. His short blond hair was blowing behind him due to how fast he was running. The fat police officer chased after him, quite slowly, but fast enough that the boy was out of breath. The old rags he wore weren't helping with the icy cold air and snow hitting his skin. He raced into the road, only to slip on frozen water and slam onto the tough ground. A small, pathetic wince escaped the pail boys lips. He felt the thudding of the officer as he grew nearer. He boy scampered to his feet, and started to run again, almost falling. Somehow, he kept his foot and returned back to running, only to feel something yanking on his already torn shirt.
The boy yelped as he was thrown back into a pile of snow, the cold embracing him in an unwanted hug. "I got you know, you little brat!" The officer shouted, stroking his mustache. Strangely, he had facial hair, but no head hair. The officer smirked as he tried to reach for his handcuffs, but only ended up spinning around, trying to grab them. The boy took advantage of this, and shot up, running once more. The officer cursed loudly, already out of breath and just wanted something sweet to eat. He began to think of all the sweets he was going to devour later. The boy raced down, into the woods. There was a strange trail he saw, and decided that maybe, just maybe, he could lose the officer.
Jack tipped his hat, greeting everyone walking through the gates. Every now and then, he would paint a girls hand black from his lipstick. A little girl skipped inside, her clothes were obvious those of a rich family. The girl looked up at Jack, as he looked down. She grabbed the ruffles of her pink skirt, crossed one leg over the other, and bowed. Once she stood up, she grinned, tightly closing her eyes and showing off her teeth, which some were missing. When she opened her eyes, Jack kneeled down, removing his hand with his right hand, and placed it over his heart. He slightly tilted his head down, closing his eyes. She giggled as she skipped away. Jack looked up, and softly smiled when he replaced his hat on his head, and stood up.
The boy raced through the gates, shoving past people, even nudging into Jack, who eyed the boy carefully as he weaved through the crowd. Something wasn't right. The boy seemed very upset and displeased with something. Jack was shoved into the iron gates, his spine slamming against a bar, which cause a great deal of pain. Jack slid down the gate and groaned, slowly looking up. He pain covered face twisted with disgust as he watched a police officer shoving past people. Jack slowly stood up, and sighed as he checked the time, grimacing at his back pain. He clicked his pocket watch shut, and gently rubbed his back.
"Alright lad, I have enough time to help."