"Would you like to introduce yourself to the class?" Peter stood at the front of the class shaking with anxiety. This was his first time going to a proper school, all his traveling life he had been taught by his older brother and he thought that would be enough. But surely enough, his brother couldn't keep babying him forever.
He had to be taught by people who knew what they were doing. It took him a while but Arthur finally persuaded the ring master to let him go to school for a week or 2. Peter looked up at his brother who was now heavily shrouded by a scarf and a hat to hide his identity. He nodded to him and Peter gulped dryly and introduced himself.

"I-I'm peter and…me and my b-brother are traveling with our family. I don't think I'll be here to long though seeing as we m-move quite a lot. I'm only young but I can juggle, throw knifes particularly well and-"

"I don't think they'd like to hear about that." His brother cut him off. He nods at the teacher. "He's all yours." He says to the teacher. His voice would hiss each time he said his 'S's. It put the whole classroom on edge.

"Well erm…thank you, Mr Kirkland…Peter if you would please take your seat next to ______." Before peter left Arthur bent down and whispered something in his ear while pointing to the girl who was daydreaming out of the window. Without another word he left. Peter nodded and walked to his space and sat next to the girl in a daydream. He chuckled.
"Why would brother want to invite her?" he slyly slipped the ticket in her pocket.

~~~Your POV~~~

God school was boring. You were glad to get away from it as soon as it ended. Home wasn't really any better either though. Scrap that, you didn't have a home. You lived at an orphanage but as you grew slowly reaching teen years, the more unadoptable you became. You rummaged through your pockets looking for your phone but your fingertips brushed a bit of paper. You grabbed it and read it out the beautiful bold hand writing;

DIE DUNKLE ZIRKUS DER WELT

You were certain that it was German for something but you were unsure just what exactly. It looked like a ticket for some show. It looked gorgeous too, the edges where trimmed with black spider webs and its colour was a dark red which was like the complexion of blood. You inspect the back of it and it was a little note in scribbly writing.

"Hope to see you there, I'll be waiting."
-A

'A? What the hell?' You shove it back in your pocket not bothering about it too much and trudged back home. You didn't bother saying hi to the receptionist or any of the parents trailing around shopping like you were dogs. You were tired of rejection and you couldn't be bothered dealing with it anymore. You made your way into the girls' dorm. This really was just one big room with beds.
Each girl got one small uncomfortable bed and a single trunk to put their clothes. You plopped on to your bed and sighed. Underneath your mattress however you had something precious, it was really the only thing you had of days when you were happy.
It was a picture of you and your friend. In the photo it was summer and you wore a cute pink summer dress (fitting for the season) your hair tied in a bun with a big bright grin. you were holding your friends gloved hands; he wore a large trench coat and a winter hat was stooped low covering his bushy eyebrows and a blue scarf wrapped around his face. He never dared showed his face he was always shy about his condition, you didn't blame him after all if you were part snake you be a little shy to. He only stayed a few months before he was adopted but you loved those months. And you loved him. You close your eyes and try to picture the day he left.

~~~LE DREAM SEQUENCE (your young 5-10) ~~~

"When do you think you'll leave?" you asked Arthur. Another family had come and taken a child day by day and it made you sad that everyone was leaving with families. You watched the happy family walk out hand in hand and you felt a tear trickle down your face.

"Don't cry ________! Their just stupid, I'm sure you'll leave before me. That much I know." He wipes away your stray tear and smiles widely. His smile warmed you it was always rare. He was the only family you needed right now, and that was fine. You hug him in his small arms.

"What happens if I stay here forever?" you ask him.

"You won't! I just said that!" he said irritated.

"What if you get taken away?" you say nuzzling you face in his shoulder.

"________, look at me. My own parents didn't want me; they made a point of telling me so. I doubt I'll get picked any time soon." He says with a grin even though his eyes where glossy at the mention of his old family. He had been through a lot with his old parents, so obviously he was more grown up and rejection didn't hurt him as much as it should have.

---The next day---

"A family wants me?" Arthur says shocked.

"I'm just as shocked as you are." Mrs Morris says with a scowl on her face. "It's not really a family; it's more of some traveller gypsies. Fitting." She says with a scoff. "Get ready; I doubt anyone will want to take you home wearing THAT." Arthur remained still and he shook his head in disbelief.

"I can't be. Who would want me?" he mutters. You look up at him and smile comfortingly. "I'm sorry" he croaks. He looked like he was going to cry.

"Don't be Artie. You have a family now. And if you're happy then I'm happy." You say with a fake smile. It broke your heart that he was leaving you but you refused to show it.

"Their ready to see you now." Mrs Morris said with venom in her voice. Arthur gulped nervously and stood to walk into the room. He took a look at you and you just smiled back. He smiled shakily and walked into the room to be greeted by an albino with ruby eyes and a grin and another blond man with piercing blue eyes and a serious expression.

You waited outside quietly. 'It's all fine; they won't want him once he shows them how he really looks. He's a monster.' you thought to yourself. You realised what you had just thought and smack yourself. "How can I be so cruel?! Arthur deserves a family more than I do! So why aren't I happy…?" the door opens with the 2 men and Arthur. Another young man with blonde hair and a cowlick that came with the other men hugs Arthur violently.

"Welcome to the family little bro!" he yelled in his ear.

"Don't call me that! I don't even know you!" he says irritated as he shoves him off. He looks back at you and you've gone still.

"You're going away?" you mumble. It was like a bad dream; Arthur was being taken away from you. The boy who you loved like a brother so dearly was being taken from you. your heart was thumping and it hurt like it was broken in 2.

"_______, I-!" he cut off when you run into his arms hugging him. Your emotions where spilling out all at once and you didn't bother hiding your tears. Word's seemed impossible to say so all you could do was cry.

"A-Arthur! You p-promised!" you sob into his arms. "You promised me…" he looks at you sad and hugs you back. You stayed liked that for a few seconds and you savoured those few moments with Arthur, as they were going to be your last.

"I think it's time we left." The large blond man says his blue eyes looking at you sadly.

"NO! Arthur! You can't leave me! I don't want to stay here forever!" you yell.  Mrs Morris had you pry you from his arms and he stood there shocked crying as his new family escorted him outside.
You shook her off and grabbed the man with white hair. "Please! He's all I have! Don't take him away!" you weep as you clutch his leg.
"_______! Know your manners! You shouldn't attack the nice men like this this!" Mrs Morris shrieks. "This rarely happens Mr Weillschmidt." She said as she struggled to keep you still. He looked down at you with sadness but smiled.
"Don't worry little frau! You'll meet again, I'm sure of it." he pats your hair and walks out with Arthur.
You struggled to shake her off as you tried to reach for Arthur. "ARTHUR!"

End dream sequence~~~~~~

You woke in shock after that dream. Your heart raced and you where sweating. The photo you had once held was crushed in your hand. "Arthur." You breathe as a warm tear trickles down your face. You gulp down the lump in your throat and gingerly place the photo back into hiding.

You empty your pockets and stumble upon the ticket again; you observe it closer this time and read the front in greater detail. It said that it was only good for one night; the admissions price on it was £25. JESUS! Am I reading this right?! That's expensive! You consider going to it, you haven't really been to one so it might be fun. Besides it would be a nice thing to cross off your bucket list. It would mean sneaking out behind their backs, it was risky but you've done it plenty of times.

~~~LE TIMEKIP~~~

Mrs Morris always did nightly checks on the girls to make sure that they were asleep, she believed girls needed to be disciplined she was probably she always stuck her nose where it was not needed. She left the room and locked the door with a loud click. Almost instantly _______ sprang out of her bed full dressed in trainers, wearing black skinny jeans and a union jack top that looked withered and old and was 2 sizes too big. She crawled out of the small window with her ticket and ran.

"I finally made it!" you say panting. You had to run the last 10 blocks and you were out of breath. You look up and see an abandoned theatre which the front entrance doors where chained. "Then how the fuck am I supposed to get in?!" you gasp.
Then out of the corner of your eye you saw a bright yellow tail that slithered around the bend of the street. You followed it curiously around and the tail began to pick up pace as it twisted violently around the alley way. You twisted around with it until eventually you were caught in maze of alley ways. You came to a dead end (or so you thought) watched the tail disappear through a door which inside was only darkness. You took a deep breath and stepped through the doors.
The first few steps where in complete darkness and it made your heart race and your palms sweat. You saw a dim light up ahead that was constantly flickering on and off so naturally you walked towards it.

"Haben Sie Ihr Ticket?" the thick German voice said behind you, it made you jump and you snapped around to meet ruby red eyes with a mischievous grin. He wore a top hat and had white ruffled hair. He also wore a red cape that was the same red as the ticket, except it was stained with little black blotches which looked like blood. His image made you freeze in fear. The flickering light didn't help either.


"My apologizes for startling you fruling. But do you have a ticket for die dunkle zirkus der welt?" he asked in a velvety smooth voice that sent shivers down your spine.

"Y-yes…" you take out your ticket and show it to the albino. He looks at it and reads the message on the back a smile growing from ear to ear.

"Oh, so you know Artie?" he says handing the ticket back.

"Erm…no I think so…" he sticks a hand out to you.

"Please allow me to escort you to your seat frau." He says bowing. You hesitantly take his pale hand surprised at how warm it is.

"I don't bite frau, unless I REALLY like you ______." he whispers into your ear sending goose bumps down your body 'how did he know my name?' He clicked his fingers and the lights turned on without flickering, he yanked your wrist and drags you through the hallways until you come to a big curtain with double doors leading you inside.
To your surprise the theatre was completely filled with crowds murmuring different things. You look next to you and find that the albino had disappeared. You wonder where he went and then the stage suddenly lights up with that albino standing in the middle. He looks up to the crowd and places a finger to his lips telling them to hush.

"LADIES AND GERMS! WELCOME TO DIE DUNKLE ZIRKUS DER WELT! MY NAME IS GILBERT WEILLSCHMIDT AND I AM THE RING MASTER OF THIS MADHOUSE! THIS A PLACE WHERE GRAVITYS LAWS ARE MADNESS, WHERE WE DONT GIVE A FUCK ABOUT NEWTON'S LAWS OR THEROYS! So, SIT BACK AND RELAX WHILE WE ENTERAIN YOU. But be warned! This is a place where your nightmares have come to life. So we shall ask you to pay attention to what ever our performers instruct." He yells so that everyone can catch his attention. A cannon goes off through the crowd and explodes in glitter starting the show.
The rest of the show was amazing! There was a traipsing duo from Switzerland, a knife thrower from Belarus who performed with her sister, wild cat tamers from Greece and a snake charmer from Egypt, the world strongest man! (From America of course), a Chinese clown who moved with such finesse and beauty that you kept on questioning if he was a female, and a beautiful tightrope walker from Austria. After all the build-up the show seemed rather tame for a dark underground circus but you didn't complain.

The ring master stepped out on to the stage to perform his next trick. "Now my children, you have seen only the boring old things which can be made easily from illusions and spells, but now we shall show you something which I warn you this is no illusion." He snaps his fingers locking the all the emergency doors with a loud click. It was slightly eerie and it gave you the feeling that you were trapped like rats.

"Some things in this circus can be exceptionally horrifying, but we must remind you. This is not a freak show where we tie them down and force them to perform." He spoke with sadness and seriousness in his voice.

"For our next trick I shall need a volunteer! Someone who is not afraid! Someone who came here hopefully on their own." There was an awkward silence that hung in the air and so much tension that you could cut it with a knife. You gulped dryly and decided to go out on a whim. You stood up as the spot lights hit your face. "YOU MY DEAR CHILD! DO YOU WISH TO PREFORM?" he yells with a large smile. You nod slowly and clenched your fists as you made it towards the stage. He saw your nervousness and smiled.

"Do not worry frau; I won't let you die, yet." He patted your hand and gave you a piece of raw meat that was so fresh it practically dripped with blood. "Now then! Here's what I want you to do!" he says loudly so the crowd can listen to. "All I ask is that you feed my brother, simple enough?" you nod.
'What kind of a man would eat this?! Unless of course, it wasn't a man…'

"Awesome! Bring him out!" he yells to the back stage. 2 men who wore masquerade masks brought out a cage which inside it was a beast. If werewolf's existed this is probably how it would look. It was big and had and spiky fur that was stained with blood and mud. Its savage teeth shone a sinister yellow in the bright light. His eyes where a piercing light blue. There was an audible gasp and cries of concern from the crowd and people slowly began to murmur. You stood there still with shock.

"Allow me to introduce my little brother! Ludwig!" he said with a big smile as if he was proud of this monster called his brother. "When he was born he didn't look like this! He was actually a strapping young man. So don't worry! He's not entirely a monster." His eyes where filled with sadness even though he smiled largely.

"You will put your hand out towards the cage and he will sniff it. He might pounce so please try to stay perfectly still. He won't bite your hands off but if you tease him with it he will get mad and leave you a few scars." He said as if it was nothing. You shakily put your hand with the meat towards the creature. It stood tall and straight and tilted its head slightly at the offer almost judging you about whether it was safe. He smiled almost a human smile except it was savage and brutal.

Without warning it pounced to the edge of the cage earning a few screams from the crowd. You yelp loudly stumble backwards taking the meat back. He didn't look too happy with and roars with anger and claws out at the bars trying to reach you. Cries of alarm rise from the crowd.

"Kesesesese~ you certainly made him angry!" the German laughs.    

"Should I still give it to him?" you squeak.

"Well if he doesn't get SOMETHING he'll be pretty mad." He says calmly as possible. You cautiously make your way back to the cage and stick out the piece of meat for him to eat. He looks at it for a while and the audience is plunged in silence as they wait for it to take it. He claws it out of your hands digging deep into the palm of your hand dragging it slowly along. You cry in pain and yank your hand back as he devours the dead flesh. 3 deep cuts where left in your hand as they gushed blood.

"LADIES AND GENTLEMAN! A ROUND OF APPLUASE FOR OUR BEAUTIFUL __________!" he yells loudly and a loud applause fills the room. You look at your hand and remain perfectly still. The sight of blood always scared you, even when you were little, and seeing so much just pouring out from your hand scared you. The beast roars again loudly and gilbert looks at him in alarm. As soon as you're within arm's reach he swipes at your shoulder nails digging deep into the flesh dragging you closer. The breath leaves your lungs as the pain is almost crippling.

Just as he was about to bite into head off with his large jaws he froze. You could feel him shake and struggle to move but he remained perfectly still. A large yellow snake had sunk his fangs into his shoulder, the venom paralysed him momentarily. The snake slithers out of the cage and backstage to his master unnoticed. Gilbert unhooks his arm from your shoulder and you howl in pain as his nails are removed from your flesh.

"I think you need some serious medical attention." Gilbert says shocked at the wound. He takes you into the darkness behind the stage. "Lili take her to the medical tent. She needs attention. NOW." He pushes you in the direction of a small girl from the traipsing act. She looked so fragile and small that she couldn't even hold you up but she was very strong despite her appearance. Your legs feel wobbly and you fall on to her.

"Wait what happened though?!" she cries to gilbert but he waves her away and returns to the stage.
"Just deal with that wound on her shoulder! I have a show to run!"

You start to cough and you cry from the searing pain in your shoulder. "What's your name?" she asks softly her gaze looking back at you.

"_-______." You mumble. Everything looks very blurry and dark, 'Either I'm watching Blair witch project or I'm passing out.' You think.

Your eye lids flutter and she begins to panic. "A-Arthur! Vash! Someone!" she shouts to the blackness of the backstage. "Just don't fall asleep okay?!" she looks at you with fear in her eyes but you shake your head as drowsiness hits you like a shovel.

~~~LE TIMESKIP~~~

The pain in your shoulder was back but this time it wasn't as great. Your hand still hurt like hell though. You were swinging slightly when you realised you were lying on a hammock. You push yourself up slightly to take a look at where you were. It was a dark blue tent which looked neat and organised. Your chest was bandaged and so was your hand.

Your body felt numb and your reactions where slow you had no idea why. You felt something cold but soft slide across your leg and you took a look at it and saw a large blue python starting to wrap itself around your leg. You yelp and fall out of the hammock falling face first into the floor with the snake and it hisses in pain as it smacks into the ground. You scuttle across the floor away from the snake.  "What the hell?!" the snake watches your movements and encircles you, it was very long and slowly drew a large circle around you, it tilts its head and slithers its forked tongue out. It slowly launches itself back it an effort to prepare itself to attack you.

"Boelen! Stop being such a tease to our guest!" a British voice says from outside the tent. The snake narrows its eyes and slithers out of the tent before it got a chance to sink it teeth into you. You look at the boy who is entering the tent. He's heavily shrouded in a scarf and a trench coat with black glasses so dark you could see your own reflection. You smile at the image of him. It reminded you of your old friend and it made you trust him. "I'm sorry about his behaviour, he doesn't really like people."

"It's no big deal…why are you dressed like that?" you ask curious. He blushes flustered.

"I don't want to scare you away love." He says sheepishly. "So how are you feeling? Any improvement on the arm?"

"It hurts but its feeling a bit better…erm…where you the one who bandaged my chest then?" you ask a blush creeping into your face.

"What?! No! No of course not! I let Lili do that." he says shaking his head vigorously. "I'll take credit for the hand though. May I?" he says gesturing for the hand. You hold it out and he undoes the bandages as gingerly as possible but you still flinch. Once their all gone he inspects the hand, the wounds are very deep and they look purple and infected. "My, my. This isn't good at all is it?" he takes a bowl of a green liquid and soaks a piece of cloth in it. "This might hurt a little bit." He wipes the hand gently but thoroughly. You hiss in pain as watch as the purple is literally absorbed into the liquid.

"How'd you do that?" you ask confused.

"Magic." He replies bluntly. "Love could you close your eyes? This next trick, while amazing, is slightly disturbing." You stare at him and shake your head.

"If it's really amazing I want to see it." You say with a wink. He sighs.

"Fine just don't move!" he lowers his scarf and you catch a glimpse of his lips. They were a sickly pale blue. He brings your still wounded hand to his lips and he sticks out his forked tongue to the wound. You look at him in horror and fascination as you felt his wet tongue lick around the wounds. You yank your hand away in fear and watch your hand as the wound slowly closes to be replaced with 3 painful looking scars. You look up at him in shock as he pulls his scarf back up to hide his face.

"I told you it was disturbing." He grunted.

"H-how…how in the hell?" you mumble looking at your hand.

"Like I said magic." He turned to leave but you grab his wrist before he can.

"Wait!" he whips his head round to face you and you realise that he had bushy eyebrows like your friend when you were younger. You reach to his face cautiously to pull down the scarf and sun glasses. He doesn't stop you and as you do so. Your eyes widen in shock as you reveal his face. His deep jade eyes with deep black slits down the middle. He had turquoise scales going up his neck spreading to his face. "Arthur?" you gasp. He smiles at you and you stare at him in shock.

"I'm glad you came ________. I've been waiting for you." he says softly.

~~to be continued (aint i just a bitch?!)~~