"We're so lucky", Ashlyn whispered as they found themselves near the circus, hidden in a shade. "Look, they haven't finished assembling the equipment yet. We need to hide somewhere."

Next to the dismantled skeleton of the circus stood a train. Through the windows they could see colorful curtains, bright interiors of the carriages behind them and people bustling around.

Home.

This really looked like a home.

Wait a second..." she crept closer to one of the windows and peeked carefully inside.

The carriage looked like a small living room gilded with light from the chandelier, from which millions of crystals hung, casting colorful reflections. The furniture was a combination of baroque, boho and ethnic, with some strange additions such as creepy carnival masks hanging on the wall. A few teenagers in strange outfits were sitting on a table and sofa, playing cards and laughing.

Her heart was screaming with urge to be like them.

But she forced herself to look away and came back to Logan.

"Let's go to one of the back carriages. I think we could find there an empty one."

He nodded nervously and followed her. They dashed under the windows to the end of the train, where there was a small balcony covered by a metal railing, with small steps on the side.

"Are you sure there's nobody inside?" Logan's voice shaked a little. "I'm not sure if we do the right thing..."

Too late for hesitation, isn't it?

"I'll go check it", she decided to ignore his second sentence.

"Hold on, what if-"

"I'll be careful."

He sighed.

"O-okay."

Ashlyn climbed the steps to the balcony. No light filtered through a dusty glass of a rusty door leading into the train, so she opened it slowly and stepped inside. The door closed behind her with a muffled click.

She found herself in a carriage with curtained windows, filled with lots of strangely shaped things whose purpose she couldn't guess in the dark. There were some objects hanging from the ceiling, streaching endlessly. The end of the wagon disappeared into the darkness.

Ashlyn shuddered.

This place looked completely different from the room she had seen before. Well - the moon also has its dark side. Besides this place might be a perfect spot to hide.

Ashlyn took a few steps forward and pulled a flashlight out of her pocket. She lit it and almost screamed as a white face with bulging eyes and raspberry lips stretched into a smile appeared right in front of her.

She stepped back instantly and only then realized that it was the face of a puppet hanging from the ceiling.

"what the..." she opened her eyes widely and swept the flashlight around the interior.

She was surrounded by dozens of puppets hanging from the ceiling on hooks. Clowns with painted faces, dolls with scratched cheeks and curls, wearing long dresses, marionettes looking like Pinocchio with long noses and conical hats on their heads, and those with moving jaws - wooden and stuffed. The furniture around turned out to be a lot of broken things, doll strollers, cabinets and shelves with tools, limbless teddy bears and other toys lying on them.

"Wow." she whispered.

This place was... disturbing.

Ashlyn stepped back, intending to get out of there, and her back hit something. She felt someone's fingers on her arm and a breath on her neck. The flashlight turned off.

She froze.

________

Here's the playlist I made for this story in the comments >>

Thanks you're here so far <33