With a heavy sigh, I dragged my luggage after me and walked aimlessly around the shady neighbourhood. I have been kicked out by my fourth landlord now. Ever since I've come of age to be independent, I had to leave the orphanage I used to belong in, seeing as no one wanted to adopt me all my years there. But who knew life would be this hard on my own. For two years I have worked several jobs in order to secure shelter and food for myself on a monthly basis.

Without having the opportunity or ability to receive tertiary education, I was stuck with my general knowledge and mediocre high school results. It was not an easy thing finding any job offering good enough pay with my qualification, which is why I struggle to retain cheap accommodation and at least a meal a day. Somehow no matter how hard I work, my little to zero amount of possession will always find its own way to run away from me.

Each time I find myself a place I can afford to stay, they never let me stay long. It's as if people do not have sympathy or are just plain heartless, they tend to increase the monthly rental with the excuse of the deteriorating economic conditions. As if that wasn't enough, my bosses tend to cut my pay due to exact similar reasons regarding the economy of the country. With higher prices to pay and less income to spend, I always end up in the same position that I am in this very moment.

I guess I just am destined to live this unlucky life. I used to wonder why my own parents didn't want me, but now I think I understand. I wouldn't have wanted me as well, no one would ever want me. At the thought of my meaningless life, my throat clogged up as my eyes stung with tears. I chuckled bitterly to myself when I felt raindrops landing on me, I glared up at the sky and cursed under my breath as it began raining heavier and heavier.

Without an umbrella with me, I shielded my head with my palm and ran towards the closest shelter I could find. My way of shielding myself was completely useless as I was already drenched from head to toe the moment I was covered from the heavy downpour. I groaned and wrung the water out of my hair and clothes before letting my eyes wander around the place, scanning my surroundings only to realise that this place is actually a circus that looked closed at the moment.

Other than the circus props placed around, what caught my eye was what seemed to be mannequins standing inside a display. They were all dressed in suits and each posed weirdly, unlike the standard mannequin poses that you often see in shopping malls. And the creepiest thing was that they all had scary clown masks over their heads. With my heart pounding, I slowly stepped closer to observe these odd-looking mannequins.

One of them jumped and formed a heart with his arms, scaring the living daylights out of me as I yelped with fear surging through every fibre of my body. My entire frame trembled as I took small steps backward and planned to run away from this sick place. As I spun around, about to sprint out of the circus, I came face to face with another one of those guys with the clown mask on.

I was pretty sure my adrenaline level exceeded the normal limit as my eyes rolled to the back of my skull before I felt myself go limp after letting out a scream from the sudden scare. The last thing I remembered was a pair of arms holding onto me before I could hit the cold hard ground.

My head felt like splitting itself into half as the sound of loud and obnoxious piano playing brought consciousness back to me. With a groan, I propped myself up with an arm and pressed the other hand onto my temple, hoping to massage the ache away. All of a sudden, the sound of the annoying piano finally stopped. I peeled my eyes open to find myself in a room with walls covered in red. Everything in the room looked expensive, including the couch that I was laying on.

I gasped when a voice behind me spoke, "Ah, you're finally up, doll." I whipped myself around to face a man who looked around my age, or maybe a few years older than I am. He had messy blonde hair, thick eyeliner and more piercings than I did. He was dressed in a yellow suit. I would call him attractive if I'm not busy freaking out right now. I stared at him with wide eyes as his lips lifted themselves into a devilish smirk, "I was beginning to think you were never going to wake up."

He pouted and approached me while I tried to back away from him, "And that would make me really, really upset. We don't want that now, do we?" My heart slammed hard against my ribcage, it might as well jump out of my chest already. Scared was an understatement to describe how I felt at the moment and all I wanted to do was to get away from this place and this freak.

"W-Who are you?! Stay away f-from me!" I cried as I attempted to run away. Before I could reach the door, he turned me around and pinned me onto the door roughly. I winced as my back was slammed onto the door with force, "Hey, hey, shhh. It’s going to be alright, doll. I'm here, no one will hurt you." My eyebrows furrowed in confusion and terror. "W-Who the hell are you a-and what do you want from m-me?" My voice came out as a whisper as I weakly struggled against him to break free.

He tightened his hold on my wrists, "I want you to look at me, doll." My eyes darted around focusing on anywhere but his face, I was so terrified I couldn't even look at him directly. I winced as he dug his nails into my wrists, hurting me, "I said, look at me." He whispered lowly this time, clearly angry that I disobeyed his order. Not daring to once again ignore his wishes, I shifted my gaze onto him nervously. He stared straight into my eyes, looking dead serious.

"My love, the moment I set my eyes on you... It felt like hitting the jackpot." I trembled as he whispered into my ear, sending chills down my spine. A shaky breath escaped my lips when he yanked me closer to him by my chin, grinning like a mad man. Or maybe he is mad, after all. Tears threatened to fall as they pool around my eyes, blurring my vision. "Aw don't cry, doll. I won't be leaving you alone, ever."

Since then, I learned that his name is Zico and he runs the circus, along with his group of other six crazy friends. It did not make me feel any better that they were the ones whom I thought were mannequins when I first entered the place, their actions have proved how insane they all are. Are all circus owners like that? I guess this was why I was afraid of clowns since I was a child, and being stuck with them is not really helping.

I figured they weren't bad people as they only wanted me to be their new circus assistant. In other words, they were only offering me a job. Not only that, also a place to stay and it covers three meals a day as well. I was grateful for that and accepted, not that I was given much of a choice anyway. I do not want to begin imagining what Zico will do if I dare refuse the offer. In a way, I'm kind of thankful but that doesn't change the fact that they all acted like madmen. 

Their peculiar behaviour scared me but I guess I was slowly starting to get used to it. Having worked here for a few months now, it helped me accept who they are. Sure, they were a bit crazy but they are still nice people nevertheless. They have provided me with everything I have been struggling to obtain and keep in possession all my life; a job I actually liked, a decent place to stay and no longer having to starve. But they also provided me much more, company that I never had.

Throughout my two and a half months of working experience here, they have all managed to become my friends. Though I am still afraid of Zico due to his obsessive behaviour towards me, I'm still touched that he was willing to offer me this much. I felt horrible for thinking that they had bad intentions for 'capturing' me, but I guess you can't really blam