Thanks, Quickie. Floating heads FTW. Just ask Rayman (OR NiGHTS).
Anyway, a sneak peek at this new thing I'm writing that I mentioned in the What are you thinking now thread.
First scene of first chapter.
[spoiler]
In a huge circus tent, in the shadow of the night, stood a particular someone. This someone, not unlike a vile criminal, kept cutting away at something using a small saw. He did so for a time quite long, after which he giggled to himself with a voice most girlish, and left in a hurry.
Little did anybody knew, that the very next day, a typical circus show would spiral into a drama. One of magnitude which has not been seen or heard of before.
* * *
Deep inside an old and ruined castle, sat a man in a dirty white lab coat. The room in which he resided, could be possibly described as a laboratory of sorts. Not one of those tidy ones that you often see in movies, mind you. Because this place, while being a lab, belonged to a mad scientist.
"Damn! Another failed formula!" Said the man, and threw a crumpled piece of paper against a wall.
"Why?! I don't get it! To think I, Doctor Steinveiz, would be beaten by such a trifle!"
With that said, he got up from the table he sat at and began walking around the entire lab in circles.
He continued like this for few good minutes, until knocking at the door awakened him from his trance of thought.
"I'm too busy, right now. Come back later."
The knocking at the door stopped, however, the mad doctor knew this might not be the end. The person who knocked, namely his maid Karmilla, only did so when she tried to be nice. However, usually, if you denied her the permission to enter, she would suddenly kick the door down and waltz in anyway.
It would seem that this time, nothing of the sort took place.
"Well that solves i-"
"That solves what?"
Steinveiz jumped in place, almost letting out a girlish scream. He got concentrated so much on watching the door, that he almost completely lost self control out of surprise. When Karmilla whispered into his ear, his heart skipped a beat.
He turned around, backing away few steps. She just stood there, twirling a small strand of her black hair with her fingers.
"Damn her. She must have phased in through the walls." Thought Steinveiz.
He quickly noticed, that in addition to her black and white maid uniform, which was her standard clothing, Karmilla had a big red ribbon in her hair. It made her look cute, despite not really matching with her color scheme.
"If you're going to enter despite my plea, you could at least just walk in using the door. It's not like I lock them, or anything."
"Nevermind that, doctor." Spoke Karmilla, completely dismissing Steinveiz' request. "Miss Tweedletumb, gave us a pair of tickets to the circus." She said, taking out two small yellowish tickets from a pocket in her skirt.
Steinveiz raised an eyebrow.
"She did? That's awfully nice of her, considering what happened between us two days ago... and a week ago... and... hm."
Steinveiz paused for a moment, because he realized something else was off about his maid today. The cute ribbon distracted him so much, he failed to notice, there were stains of blood on her hands and left cheek.
"What did you do this time? Your hands and left cheek have blood stains." He asked, even though deep down in his heart he knew he's going to regret it."
Karmilla clicked her tongue angrily. She hoped her "master" wouldn't notice.
"Well, I might have simply killed that small dog which belonged to Miss Tweedletumb. He barked too much." She replied casually.
Steinveiz tried to control himself, otherwise he felt he's going to faint. Two days ago, poor elderly Miss Tweedletumb got her entire garden completely devastated, when Karmilla decided to take a shortcut through it. Before that, a whole week ago, Karmilla was supposed to test out Steinveiz' newest Homing Boomerang. Miss Tweedletumb was saved from decapitation only by the fact that the device malfunctioned. However most of her collection of porcelain figures wasn't so lucky.
Those were only two recent examples, since Karmilla's obvious torturous intent towards the poor old lady who simply happens to live down the hill, dates back to when they both first moved into this castle.
Now poor Mr. Poompernickles, the small and jumpy dog lost his small doggy life.
"Please tell me you at least hid the dog's remains somewhere."
"I hid the dog's remains."
Steinveiz let out a deep relieved sigh. At least now that poor old lady won't have to see-
"Inside Miss Tweedletumb's couch."
Upon hearing this, he almost choked on his own saliva. The cruelty of his maid seemed to know little bounds. Then again, she was much more than a human, and a lot older than Steinveiz was. As much as she fascinated him, she also managed to be utterly disgusting in her behavior.
"So... why did she gave you the tickets? There must have been a reason."
"Yes. She said (and I quote): "Go to the circus. You kids will feel right at home there, and who knows, maybe you both can find jobs as attractions there.""
There was a brief silence, Steinveiz wasn't sure what to do or say exactly. Karmilla however, was quick to fix that.
"Are we going to the circus, Doctor?"
"Yes. But, let's take the longer route. Far from Miss Tweedletumb's house."
"Very well."
Karmilla marched towards one of the walls, and as if she was a ghost, she walked through it with little trouble. However, before she did so, Steinveiz looked at the ribbon again, guided by some terrible feeling. He noticed there was some small writing on the back of it, but in the end, he decided to pay it no mind and walked out of the laboratory.
"Circus, huh? Well, it might be fun."
* * *
[/spoiler]