It was another normal day for the Freak Circus cast as they traveled from town to town as usual. Right now, they were in a village that had a forest next to it, but they didn't mind. Ticket Taker and Jester were setting up the tents while Doctor was helping them, while Harlequin and Pierrot were handing out flyers to the villagers.

Harlequin was having a good time, smiling at the humans and giving out flyers calmly. Pierrot was doing the same, but far from Harlequin because they hated each other. But they got a lot of warnings from the humans about something in the woods. Or somebody. They said there was a monster out there, a serial killer — "The Nightmare," they called it.

You.

Your "face" was everywhere — on walls, on posters, on TV. Your name, "The Nightmare," was on the radio, in whispers, everywhere around the village. People warned Pierrot and Harlequin to never go in the woods without protection. They also said that every day, people disappeared more and more, which for them was a bit of help since they were all monsters who ate and killed humans too.

After an hour of walking around the village...

Harlequin: "We should go back to the circus, Pierrot." (He said with the same grin as he fixed the flyers in his hands.)

Pierrot, of course, didn't say anything. He just glared at Harlequin and walked past him to go back to the circus. When they arrived, Harlequin immediately went to Ticket Taker and Jester to tell them about "The Nightmare," as the humans had said, while Pierrot went to his tent, and Doctor was nowhere to be seen, probably in his tent.

Jester: "'The Nightmare,' you say?… Interesting… any more information about whoever that may be?…" (Jester was the leader of the whole cast, while Ticket Taker stood next to him.)

Harlequin: "Yes, the humans said that every day people are disappearing without warning or a trace. But some fool somehow got brave enough to go into the woods at night and captured the face."

Harlequin pulled a flyer out from the stack and handed it to Jester. Jester slowly took it and looked down at the flyer. Ticket Taker leaned in to get a better look too, humming.

Ticket Taker: "Interesting… the face of this… nightmare… is actually kind of scary for once…"

Jester: "I agree. Not that it scares me, but for a normal human it's probably terrifying."

Ticket Taker, Jester, and Harlequin looked at each other for a second before laughing. Ridiculous. Jester crumpled the flyer and threw it in the nearby trash before going into his purple and black tent, while Harlequin went to his green and black one, and Ticket Taker to his dark blue and black one.

In the morning.

It was now 7:40 in the morning. Jester was in his robe since it was his nightwear, drinking coffee in the pink and black tent while discussing the routine for the day with Ticket Taker. He was also in a robe. Harlequin was in a white tank top with loosened long Christmas red, black, and dark gray pants and was eating something he made for breakfast. Doctor was still asleep on the couch, but at least he was still alive.

But then they heard it.

Pierrot's scream. Fear. Horror. Terror. All at once in it.

Ticket Taker and Doctor stood up so fast they were quicker than a light switch. Harlequin, surprisingly for him, was already running toward Pierrot's tent like his life depended on it and Jester was right behind him.

Harlequin burst into the tent as he searched for Pierrot. Jester got inside next and immediately went backstage, pulling Harlequin with him. Both men found Pierrot hiding under a blanket, shaking. Jester immediately went to comfort him while Harlequin looked around and finally saw what had scared Pierrot so bad.

On Pierrot's desk — where he sat and did his makeup — his own name was written on the mirror in somebody's blood. Probably an animal's… but Harlequin knew better. Ticket Taker and Doctor came in next, and they saw it too.

Now they all realized that this wasn't just some "Nightmare" the humans talked about.

This is a sick monster.