The Graveyard Festival

Chapter 4 - Ink and Silence

"So... what was that place?" Thana asked, curiosity trumping all apprehension she felt in light of her new situation. She jogged lightly to catch up with the tattooed boy. A slow, lazy breeze rose from the still air and threaded through Thana's hair, and she took a deep breath.

"Someplace you really shouldn't have ventured into," the boy replied absentmindedly as he led Thana back the way she had come. He trailed a finger up his arm, lingering upon a particular tattoo, and, with a flick of his finger, swept the ink off his arm.

Thana's mouth became dry. She stared at the spot where the tattoo had been, and then watched in fascinated horror as the inked shape, suspended in mid-air, grew larger. Luminous black feathers inched across the body, over the wings. A pair of yellow eyes suddenly stared back at Thana, glinting under the moonlight.

The raven, once a tattoo, circled their heads, cawing softly.

"Send word to the Ringmaster," the boy said to the bird.

The raven cawed again, and took off ahead of them. Thana wished she could have said something smarter, but all that escaped her was, "What...?"

The boy casted an amused look at her, a small smile playing on his lips. "Don't expect things to follow logic here," he warned. "My tattoos are the least of it."

An awkward silence fell over them like a curtain after a show. Thana pulled her black coat tighter around her, twisting her fingers in front of her. Her stomach squirmed. This time, the sweet smell of caramel did nothing to calm her nerves, though it still played in the air. A part of her wondered where she was being taken, but a much bigger part was eager to see more strange things, unless, of course, they attacked her again.

At last they stopped in front of a tent. It was black, like all the others that surrounded it, but it was bigger, and that little bit grander. Its equally dark interior seemed to exude a haunting glow, and Thana suddenly thought of spidery fingers beckoning her forward.

"Go on," the boy said quietly.

Certain that she was going to regret it, she stepped through the flap and into the dark tent.

It took a while for Thana's eyes to adjust to the gloominess. When they did, she shivered.

The place basked in the ghastly light emitted from a small, skull lamp perched on the table, not unlike the taller ones that lined the ones outside. The light flickered like fire in the skull's eyes. On the left stood a bookshelf; on the right, a wrought iron bed. The boy's raven had settled on the bed frame, and upon seeing the entrance of the boy behind her, flew back to him, feathers falling gently like blackened snow. It rejoined the other tattoos on his arm, turning back to ink once again.

Thana's eyes fixed on the dark figure seated behind the desk, hands clasped in front of his face. The Ringmaster, Thana figured. He was dark-skinned, tall and bald, dressed in a black suit. His cape was lined with red on the inside, like blood.

As though suddenly aware of their presence, the Ringmaster looked up. Thana shifted uncomfortably. Amber eyes gazed back at her, seeming to glow in the darkness.

They studied her for a moment. Then, he stood up calmly and walked over to Thana. His eyes narrowed, as though asking, who are you?

"My name is Thana," she said quietly. Her heart was thrumming with a fervent sort of anxiousness within her chest.

"The vines trapped her in the Hall of Mirrors," the boy explained. "I found her before it, uh, went insane."

"You still haven't told me what that place was," Thana interjected a little impatiently. This was the third time she'd asked the question, and she was not getting any closer to an answer.