Red Bow

The man ruffled a few spots on my outfit, then finished by quickly patting me down and swiping away any dust he could find.

“Well, well! Look at you now! Might I say you’re ready for the show!” He jubilantly exclaimed.

 Peering over his shoulder, I could see a tall, slender mirror, shining brilliantly with an eccentric silvery trim. In its reflection was myself. Starting from the bottom, a pair of snazzy black dress shoes concealing silk socks, blending smoothly into black hemmed slacks. Further up, I was wearing a wrinkled white button-up shirt, overlapped by a stiff black suit jacket adorned by a silver bow at the neck. Finally, my face, light grey and masterfully carved. A thick tuff of black fur served as a curly mustache. Beads of polished jet were placed to act as my eyes, and atop my head sat a wig luscious short black hair combed to my left side. There was a shrew smirk painted across my face, donning the only outfit I knew.

“Beautiful as always, sir.” I responded in turn, to the man I knew as The Showmaster.

“Alright then. To the stage! The show will be starting any minute!” The Showmaster spoke before turning and exiting the dressing room. 

His blurry figure drifted in place, slowly dissipating until he was out the door. I didn’t really know much about him, his motives or appearance. All of my interactions with him involved him simply preparing me to announce, and sometimes perform, in an elaborate stage play crafted by himself. Every day since I was created, exactly when the clock struck midnight, we performed the same play, which I heard is a “romance”. On occasion, I would eavesdrop on The Showmaster as I passed his office on my way to the stage, where I listened to him mumble about the play, but most of the time it was just silence.

I quickly followed after him, into a hallway where he ducked into the office, just like always. The door slammed shut and all I was left with was the ambient hum of faulty electric light bulbs and the subtle creaks of my joints. After a short moment, I creeped over to his office and leaned against the wall, pressing my head against it and listening once again. This time was different than usual, as I could hear two voices.

“When was the last time the stage was inspected?” A peculiar feminine voice asked, muffled behind the door.

“What does it matter?” The Showmaster responded, sounding irate.

“Sir, we need to make sure everything is in working order! There could be an accident!” The woman frantically pestered.

“I don’t care! We can’t postpone anything. The show must go on!” The Showmaster shouted viciously.

The sound of a flurry of papers erupted and footsteps began stomping over to the door. Before I could react, it was open and I was face to face with The Showmaster. I couldn’t decipher his face, but his tone swiftly changed.

“Well? What are you doing here? Go, GO!” The Showmaster demanded, flicking his hands.

I quickly turned and continued down the hallway, passing various grey doors blocking rooms I had no knowledge of, across a silvery checkered carpet, everything a blur. Crossing the threshold at the end of the hallway, I made it backstage, where the quiet whispers of an audience could be heard, viscous gossip in anticipation of the play. The lights cut on the other side of a large curtain, plunging the entire room into darkness, and I step out in front, centring myself out of instinct. The whispers ceased and all was deafeningly quiet.

It was showtime.

The spotlight flicked on, directly facing me, revealing me to the audience. I stood stoic, proud to announce the show once again, for countless days. I couldn’t see the audience, but I could feel their suspense.

“Ladies and gentlemen! I present to you a tale as old as time! A tale of love and hate! Light and dark! Life and death!” I proudly yelled, extending my arms outward, grinning from ear to ear.

Then I waited.

And I waited.

And I waited some more.

Nothing happened. I stood awkwardly, unsure as to what to do next. Normally, my compatriots would step out from the shadows and continue the show in earnest, but they were mysteriously absent. I waited even longer, not even a sound. The crowd began to grow restless, clearly distraught by delay. The whispers grew out of the darkness, some more aggressive than the others, but increasingly anxious. I looked around wildly, expecting to see something, anything, but it was just nothing. I heard some rustling behind me, frantic and hushed. An eerie creaking began to rip through the frigid air, slowly getting louder…

Then a loud crash.

The spotlight crashed down in front of me, plunging me into the darkness. I jumped backwards at the sight of it, the wooden floor fracturing beneath the weight of the electronics. The crowd screamed, and the many taps of panicked footsteps rushed around the darkness, as if more danger were at play. I was frozen in place, unable to see anything.

A peculiar glow began to emanate from my chest, something unlike anything I’ve ever seen. I looked down to see my bow, but it wasn’t its usual silver self. It was brilliantly warm, passionate even, it was a hue foreign to me. I’ve heard colour described by the others, but I could never fully understand their meaning. I think…

Was this red?

This red glow consumed my immediate surroundings, and this bizarre feeling overcame me. My chest began to convulse rapidly, as the screams only grew louder, drawing closer. These freakish screams were making me feel dizzy, they were so unnatural, this whole scene was going terribly wrong!

The spotlight fizzled and flickered, then shot back on, pointed straight at the crowd.

“Dear me…” I uttered.

There was no audience at all! All I could see were monsters! Countless of them, hellish abominations of distorted people. They had no feasible features aside from ethereal white outlines and glistening white eyes amidst their shadowy forms. They all seemed to meld together into a mass of darkness, swirling and sifting away. Some had horns, others claws, but all grinned the same terrifying smile. Some were running, but others…

There were several charging straight at me.

My bow glowed brighter, as these strange feelings only exemplified themselves, the red drowning out the shadows that got closer. I turned and ran back behind the stage, charging down the hallway, with the lights also shut off in there as well. The only light that guided me was the ominous glow my bow now took on, distorting the space into something I didn’t recognise. The sounds of violent banging echoed out behind me, and I didn’t ever bother looking back to see if they were still chasing.

The first thing I saw was the door into The Showmaster’s office, which I quickly rushed to. Without any hesitation, I slammed the door shut behind me, and the light suddenly switched on. The Showmaster was standing just in front of his desk.

“What the hell happened out there?! What’s going on?” He shouted.

“I…I don’t know! The spotlight fell, and…and I ran! What were those…those things?” I stuttered in, what I believe to be ‘fright’. 

The Showmaster’s tone quickly changed, as he turned to look at my bow, which was still glowing strangely. My joints and internals crackled subtly, and I shivered uncontrollably as he stared into…something inside of me. He started taking steps towards me, and I couldn’t help but recoil at each step, even taking steps of my own backwards until I was backed against the door. My eyes were wider than ever in anticipation, and my body convulsed more spastically.

Was this fear? Was this….emotion?

“What is this? Why am I feeling…this?” My voice began to break down, dreading The Showmaster’s input.

He finally reached me, then put out a hand, resting it on the centre of my chest, and his face distorted into something I could comprehend for once.

“Dear God…” The Showmaster whispered under his breath, face in pure and utter shock.

I knew why, for I could now feel a sickening beat from inside my chest.