The Dark Woods Circus

IV

"Rin, what's wrong?" Len burst into the bathroom and grabbed his sister by the shoulders. She stopped screaming and turned to look at the mirror.

"It's gone...," she whispered. Len turned away.

"What's gone?" He asked. Rin blushed and wrapped a towel around her naked figure.

"Len, there was something written on the mirror," she whispered, tapping his shoulder, "But it's gone now."

Len sighed. "Rin, it's okay. I think you're still just trying to deal with the shock of..."

"No, it's not okay!" Rin yelled at her brother, "Something is very wrong, Len! Last night, y-you were about to kill yourself!"

"What?" Len shook his head, "Rin, you must have been dreaming."

"I wasn't dreaming! I dragged you back to bed and held you down!" She spat out, "That's why I was in your bed, Len!"

"Rin...," Len stepped out of the bathroom, "Okay, fine. Whatever you say, you're right."

She grimaced. He didn't believe her, after all.

"Get dressed," Len continued, "And then read a book or surf the Internet or something. I'll sit with you. Everything's going to be okay."

"Len, I swear I'm telling the truth," Rin said through grit teeth.

"And I don't doubt your honesty, sis," he answered, "I just think that you're a little tired. You need to get some rest."

Rin exhaled. Maybe he was right. Maybe she was going crazy, and he was still sane. He kissed her forehead and walked out, leaving her to get dressed.

She quickly pulled a dress on and walked out. Len sat by the door with his cell phone in his lap. He looked up at her with a smile just as the phone rang.

"Neru!" He exclaimed, "I've been trying to call you all morning! Well, if your phone was messed up...oh, you were out..."

Rin scowled in spite of herself and went back into the room. Len's girlfriend was a nice girl, and she liked Rin. Since when did she start disliking Neru? Since the other day, perhaps, when she saw Len and her together? She didn't want her brother to break up, but maybe if he did, he'd pay more attention to Rin...

Rin turned on her laptop and searched for 'dark woods circus.' There weren't many results, which was strange, as the Internet had information on everything. Still, there were a few links, and Rin clicked those.

"Dark Woods Circus...," she mumbled, staring at the screen, "Some nineteenth century circus which was known for not using any sort of safety devices...rumours that the performers were dead, or maybe immortal...they wanted to die?"

"Hey Rin, what's up?" Rin jumped at the sound of her brother's voice. He was eating an apple, walking in and sitting down beside her.

"See, this is what I was talking about," she showed him the screen, "It's some freak circus with deformed performers..."

"Rin, the screen's blank," Len frowned. Rin looked at the screen and blinked.

"What? But it was just...," she pressed the power button, but the laptop wouldn't turn on.

"I think it's out of battery," Len smiled, "Let me plug it in."

Rin nodded slowly. How could it be out of battery? She was just using it, and it was perfectly fine.

"Wait, let me show you the pages once it's got some juice in it," she said, standing up. Len nodded. His phone rang again.

"It's Neru," Len smiled, his eyes glowing in that odd way again. Rin grimaced. Neru was sane, and she wasn't. She was a total nutcase.