**_PROLOGUE-:

_**

I rummage through the old boxes in the old car with my, _was secretary, _now wife.

I groan as I straighten up from squatting over a box, my legs never recovered from my past.

I look around, a sticky note written on one of the boxes that I dug up from the dustiest corner of the big trunk, catching my eyes.

I reach for it, pulling it in front of me.

_Grunt_.

I peel off the sticky note.

**_“A box doesn’t hide what you need to go back and fix”_**

What? I didn’t write this….

I open the box slowly, not remembering what is in here.

A mask. **_The_**** **mask.

My heartbeat starts quickening. Fuck. Why did I store it? When did I store it?

I quickly close the box, shoving it back in the corner. This car was gonna get driven into a lake anyways. It carries energy and memories of the past that no one needs to remember.

**_*later that night*

_**The clown is chasing me down through the darkness of the forgotten lands, only stopping when I bump into a big cold gate.

_Grunt._

The clown’s head gets chopped off, splattering blood everywhere.

I tremble as the blood soaks me.

I look above at the gate, stepping back to look around. Only darkness, except for the flickering lights of the big tent.

Flashbacks hit me like a truck. The once bright, colourful tent, now dull and grey, making my heart ache, but I’m still surprised it’s standing and no body found it.

The gate opens slowly, creaking eerily as it does. Low and behold, destroyed grounds with dead, rotting elephants that smell unbearable, making me gag. They still have their costumes on them.

Dried blood prominent on the dried grounds. I take a step in, covering my nose as I enter the tent.

I escaped this. I can’t imagine what would’ve happened if I didn’t. The toture and toxicity of this place, only to please smiling faces. Smiles that were fake. One fail, and their smiling masks turn upside down.

_Literally._

The day that we failed…. This circus and its people were never found again.

**_“A box doesn’t hide what you need to go back and fix”_**

The words of the note sound in my brain. I could almost hear them. Except…I was.

Clawed hands grip my shoulders tightly. Making me turn around faster than my knees can hold.

A big smiling face greets me, blood smeared down its plastic mask eyes. Tears. A soul?

I look behind him and find a thousand more of the same crying, smiling masks.

**_“Go back and fix it, Asher.”, the masked soul whispers

“How can I go back and fix it?”, I ask, my voice strained.

_**His massive, claw, hand wipes over my face, scratching my cheek.

I wince and open my eyes. It’s dark…chandelier…lamp…bed. . . I sit up, sweating and breathing heavily. My heart hammering against my chest. A hand goes to my shoulder and I jump, startled, but its a soft, short nailed, small hand.

I look down beside me on the bed and find, Suzie. My wife. It was a dream.

_“Are you okay, Asher?,” _she asks, her voice sleepy and cute.

_“Yeah. . . I’m fine. Just a nightmare. Go back to bed,” _i reassure her with a kiss although I’m not sure if my own words are real. The nightmare felt real.

I could _hear it._

I could _feel it_.

Everything about it felt. . . Uncomfortably real.

It’s just a nightmare Asher. I take a deep breath, smiling as I look at Suzie going back to sleep. I’ll go drink water. That should freshen me up. Maybe even wash my face. I reach out for the button of the lamp on the nightstand before shivering and pulling as I feel something frizzy, almost like…damaged or burnt hair.

I look down on Suzie, swallowing hard as I push away my fright and open the lamp.

**_Scream. _**

I jump off the bed and onto my feet, heaving as I look at the mask. It’s red, orange, and green short artificial hair, black eyes, big black void smile.

Suzie scrambles to sit up, startled as she looks over at where my gaze is.

Her face visibly pales. She knows the past. She was my secretary back then. Her pupils almost gone, leaving her hazel irises glowing against the lamp light.

_“Is that. . .”, she trails off, shaken._

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_“Yes. . .”, my voice strained, barely audible._

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_“I thought you burned it”, her voice trembling, breaking my heart._

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_“I did. . .atleast I thought I did”, I look away, I cannot meet her teary gaze right now._

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_“How’d it get here, Asher?”, she asks quietly, a tear falling slowly down her cheek. My heart aching_

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_“I don’t know. . .”, I trail off before continuing. “I dreamt about it, Suzie. This is serious.”_

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After holding her for a few minutes as she cried silently, still shocked, I told her about the dream, the note, and the box that was in the trunk.

We hold the mask, it sends shivers down our spines. It feels like souls and energy is attached to it.

I stare into it’s eerie smile and eyes, replaying the blood smeared masks.

I hold her hand tightly and put on the mask.

**_ . . ._**

Darkness.

I open my eyes and am blinded by the bright lights f the vibrant circus. Performers practicing everywhere with also practiced smiles.__

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The week before _The Night_.__

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_We’re in the past._

“_Suzie!-“,_ my words cut off as I look to my side and don’t find her.

_Suzie._

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**_ . . ._**__

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