Joshua’s life is less than exciting. He gets up at six a.m. every morning to go work seven hours a day, goes for a drink with his childhood friend Alexis after work, and passes out the second he reaches his apartment at just past midnight. The cycle repeats indefinitely.

[~<3~]

Alexis has the brilliant idea to go to a circus with Joshua for his off day. At first, he’s strongly disliking the idea due to his immense hatred of circuses and not being able to fathom the idea of enjoying his time at one, but as her persistent nature begins to chip at his rough exterior, he begrudgingly accepts.

After some time, he ends up loosing track of Alexis. He asks one of the circus clerks if they’d seen her, but they inform her that she had left on a bus an hour ago. Believing he’d been left behind, he gets on the next bus and leaves.

[~<3~]

The next day, he finds that she isn’t reading or replying to any of his texts asking if they’ll be meeting up that night. Even when he goes ahead and makes his way over to their usual bar, his childhood friend is nowhere to be found.

[~<3~]

Filled with a strange urgency and fear, he races after the traveling circus. Alexis wouldn’t just disappear. He knows that the circus did something to her, and he’s determined to save her.

Unfortunately, once he sneaks back inside, a stray baton from one of the ongoing performances hits him right in the back of the head and he blacks out.

[~<3~]

Met with a lectern and a seal, he reads the contract posted in front of him. His body feels weak and hazy, his vision clouded and spinning.

’Joshua Springs, you are dead. However, you are offered the following pact:

You are granted a two-year extension to your life, and during that time you must work at the circus. Within that time, you must make one member of the circus fall for you beyond return.

If you accept this pact, press the seal below.

[~<3~]

When he does, everything goes black again. He awakens to find you standing above him, back in the circus.

“Who…are you..?”