Chapter 264 Circus Family
He had been anticipating her arrival since the very beginning. It has been a while since she had been invited, but unfortunately, there had been some unfortunate delays.
But the guest was here now. And as the host, he must do his best to serve her.
"Artea Holmwood, correct? What a lovely name." He said, sitting on the chair opposite to hers. "Can I have it?"
"Mpfh!!!" The guest responded through the gag on her mouth.
"I take that as a yes." He smiled. "The meal will be served soon, we just have to wait before the entire family arrives."
They were at a long dining table meant for a large family of about 12 members. There were food and cutleries set beautifully in front of them. A butler arranged their cups every time the guest would accidentally knock it over as she struggled from her bounds, and he would always smile along with the maid.
"Here is the appetizer, Sir." The butler with smooth perfect skin said.
"Thank you." He would reply. "Now, while we wait.... I must look for a way to entertain our guest now, right?"
He did not wait for another muffled response from Artea, and clapped his hand.
"Oh, but of course! I should tell more about myself." He chuckled.
"My name was not always Ivan Ivanovich." He said. "The truth was I never had a name. I do not remember what name my former parents gave me. Perhaps it was Sam, or Joseph, Howard or George… I just had no way of knowing. My parents are rude, you see."
He chuckled. "They died before I was even old enough to ask them. Hahaha!"
Artea showed no interest in his story, so he skipped the humor and went to the more interesting bit.
"Despite being a little infant in a crib, I still recall a few things. Not really memories, just…. fragments. Impressions. I saw blood, fire, violence, pain….. They mock me in my sleep each night. My little crib was supposed to have also caught on fire, if it weren't for this couple. Or were they siblings? Twins? Or something else? Nobody knows."
"This pair…" He propped his two fingers together. "They knew a woman who had long awaited a child of her own. The woman wanted a child that she could teach to sing, dance, act, and most importantly... Could entertain guests in any form, whether in a show or in a simple, family gathering like this."
He tilted his head to the side. "The Mother had decided, dear guest, that you shall not be served after all. You shall be part of the family, not the food."
Artea stopped struggling, and her eyes widened. Ivan knew that she wanted to know what he meant.
"The Mother would give her performance soon, you see. It's a big stage, full of wonderful acrobatics and stunts, pure joy and fun. We want the whole city to watch it. We had set out invitations, and it would last for seven days. That is why we call it the Seventh Day Circus Extravaganza! And after that…."
He laughed, tapping his cane on the floor. "The whole world would join the fun! It won't be just for us, for the members of the family. Or even for the City of New York. Everyone will come to enjoy it! Together, we would build a new world full of thrills and excitement that everyone would forget their names!"
Tap, tap, tap.
Artea narrowed her eyes. She doesn't really understand the severity of the host's words. She had no idea how calamitous this 'fun performance' would be,? But...
She instead paid attention to the tapping of the cane.
"Now that you are a member of our family, you would also have to help me in my hosting duties. We would be the ones involved in sending invites. One of the most important people we have to look for is one Harker Jones. He is a very esteemed guest, and the Mother had reserved a VIP seat for him during the Seventh Day Circus Extravaganza!"
There it had started again. The same repeating taps.
One short, two longs, one short. The letter P in Morse Code.
"I believe that you are well acquainted with Mr. Jones, right? Through one Roland Faust. Unfortunately, due to unforeseen changes, Mr. Faust would no longer be invited in our Circus Extravaganza."
One short, one long, two short. Letter L.
One short, one long. Letter A.
One long, one short, Letter Y.
"We would also want to invite one of Mr. Jones' lady friend, the one that goes under the name Mina Murray now. Seeing how like minded she is when it comes to our belief in identity, perhaps she would have a more prominent role in the Circus too rather than just a watcher. It's a shame that Mr. Jones had abandoned her like a ragdoll he got tired of though."
Letter A again. And another letter L. And then three long ones for O.
Artea does not need to decode the rest to know what the message was. 'Play along'.
How exactly does this clown expect her to play along?
"I'm sure you must be wondering about another thing, though."
As he said that, the course of the tapping changed.
"You are wondering about Mr. Jones' other lady friend. Unfortunately, like Mr. Faust, she is no longer invited to our wonderful Circus Extravaganza."
Letter A. Then, a long tap, short, long, short. Letter C.
He did C twice.
Then just a short one. An E. And then a P.
She knew it was 'Accept'. Accept what? Her fate as a member of this 'family' of freaks?
"As fellow hosts, we must make sure to invite those invited and to keep away those who are not. The task of the friendly guard would be to our Brother Medved."
She turned to look at a giant man with a buzz cut approaching from the door. Like the waiters, he always wore a smile on his face, and he never blinks. He was wearing a bloody police uniform and aviator glasses.
"Hello, sister." He greeted me as he went on to the table.
"The one who would be securing our guest list is Brother Vydra over him. I believe you have met already." Ivan grinned with mischief.
Even so, his cane tapped his last message.
Long, short, short. Letter D.
Then an E, an A, and an L.
'Accept deal'.
The next person in the room was none other than Kian Shaw, who seemed to be grouchier than the rest who were all smiles. He gave Artea a scowl before saying.
"Hello, sister."
"There is also our lovely welcoming committee headed by Sister Lvitsa."
She also recognized who had arrived. It was the victim of the Felix Garcia murder case, Dahlia Nieves.
She sat right beside Artea. "Hello, sister. You look beautiful today."
She went to take a strand of Artea's luscious brown curls, and sniffed it, still not blinking and wearing that wide smile.
"And that only leaves you and I for the managing of the supplies needed for the Seventh Day Circus Extravanganza. What do you say, sister?" He smiled, approaching her to take off the gag.
Artea did not scream once it was taken, and only glowered at all of them. These members of this 'family'.
"And what's the alternative? What happens if I don't want to become part of your family?"
Brother Medved smiled. "You still will be with us. If not in spirit, then at least in body."
"Don't play dumb. You already know what happens, 'sister'." Kian Shaw'/Brother Vydra rolled his eyes. "You become a flesh sleeve. Somebody else will wear your skin and your face like a suit."
"I would love to have worn it…. I used to think this one was pretty, but I think your skin suits me better. Don't you think so, Brother Ivan?" Sister Lvitsa asked.
"We should always leave the decision to our future sister, of course." Ivan told them. "No rush, no pressure. Though, actually, we do have to rush because the first day of the the Circus Extravaganza is tomorrow."
Artea considered her options here. She was outnumbered, she had no idea where she was, and she knew now just how powerful and unkillable these monsters were. Even if you cut their strings, they'd still go back like an annoying itch. Just look at 'Kian Shaw' right now.
And besides….
She wanted to know exactly why they didn't want to invite Roland and Harker's girlfriend to this circus show. It's most likely related to his sudden disappearance.
Artea knew that accepting this deal was the only option left. She just hope the price won't be too much.
"Fine. I'll join your 'family'."
"Perfect." Ivan smiled. "It's great to have another member who I could relate to. You see, it's a little difficult to join in conversations about which skin suits one best when you haven't tried one yet yourself."
He took off her binds, and offered his hand.
"Shall we begin?"
"Begin what?" Artea frowned.
His smile grew wide as he said:
"Your training as our new sister, of course."
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