CHAPTER 1: The box of madness

Madalen was sitting on the bench outside her house, engrossed in reading one of her favorite books, Alice in Wonderland. An unexpected sound made her look up and disapprovingly glance across the street. A truck pulled up, decorated with posters of clowns, acrobats, and wild animals. On top of the truck was a loudspeaker.

"Ladies and gentlemen, don't miss our show! Wednesday at eight, we are waiting for you all for a special spectacle! Do not miss it!" she heard a loud voice through the loudspeaker cone.

Madalen looked up and then back down, continuing to read her book. However, her gaze was no longer relaxed and focused, but irritated and worried.

Circus! And what kid doesn't like the circus? But for Madalen, the circus was a scary place. When she was little, she loved eating cotton candy, laughing with the clowns, and watching the animals perform tricks. But that all changed because of a traumatic event that cost her her happy and carefree childhood.

Her eyes watered as she remembered what had happened to her then. She shook her head, trying to banish the bad memories.

The circus was no longer a dream place for her; it was hell. Even clowns caused her loathing, if not a visceral fear. The funny, laughing, colored face was a false mask. The man behind it was a mystery, and that scared her.

That's what she thought every time the circus came to town. She couldn't stand it.

Her little brother, Jasper, had his birthday that day. He would turn nine and go with his twenty-year-old sister to the amusement park. He couldn't hide his excitement. He started shouting with joy, making Madalen's ears hurt.

"Yes! Amusement Park! Amusement Park! Yes!" He was jumping around on the couch as if he were going to the most magical place in the world.

It was overcast that day. The clouds were as hazy as Madalen's mood. She didn't know why, but she had a strange feeling. She wore black jeans with black boots and a black top—short-sleeved with extra sleeves—that read, "We are all MAD here." On it was a print of the Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland, showing only his eyes and his huge smile. Her hair was straightened and fell to her elbow. Her eyes were heavily lined with eyeliner, making their green color appear darker than it actually was. She also painted her lips with dark plum lipstick.

Her brother wore blue jeans and a gray sweatshirt, nothing like his sister's style. He had his hair styled with wax and hairspray and was wearing his sneakers, ready to leave.

Arriving at the amusement park, her blood ran cold. Adjacent to the facilities was an imposing circus.

Why, of all places, did they have to set it up here? she thought plaintively.

"Aaaah, circus!" she heard her brother exclaim in admiration. She knew how much he wanted to go, and every time the circus came to town, he begged and pleaded with them, but her parents were against it, let alone Madalen.

"Don't even think about it," she told her brother sternly.

"Come on, Mad, please!"

He always called her by her nickname when he wanted a favor.

"Jasper, we're not going!" she said sharply with intensity.

Jasper burst into tears, and it broke Madalen's heart.

"When you grow up, maybe you can go on your own someday," she told him to encourage him.

Jasper frowned and didn't speak again.

"Come now, you should be happy. We have come to the amusement park you wanted so much."

"Okay..." he muttered.

Entering the amusement park, they cut their tickets. It wasn't very big; it had few rides but enough to keep a child happy. Jasper's mood changed when he got on the twisty roller coaster. Madalen climbed up with him, and they both grabbed the handrail. The roller coaster started with a sharp movement, and they found themselves with a breathless climb uphill. When the roller coaster reached a great height, before descending sharply, it stopped for a moment. From up there, Madalen could see the circus clearly. The awning they had set up was black and white with stripes. She tried to tear her eyes away and focus on the downhill. The roller coaster slowly began to fall, until it suddenly took a turn and began to run at breakneck speed, making Jasper and the other passengers scream. But she couldn't; her voice had stopped.

"I want cotton candy!" Jasper said, getting off the roller coaster.

Madalen didn't spoil it for him. She wanted some too. She went to the stall where they sold cotton candy and various other sweets while Jasper looked around excitedly. Picking up the cotton candy and turning her head to call out to Jasper, she froze. She saw her brother talking to a clown, who gave him something. He happily took it as Madalen approached them.

"What is happening here?" she asked, looking at the clown with disgust.

"Look! Look, Madalen, he gave me free tickets to the circus!"

Madalen felt her blood drain from her face.

"What? No, no, excuse us, we don't want to go to the circus." She snatched the tickets from her brother and tried to give them back to the clown.

"But miss, it's free, it's the last, and the little one wants to go. Why deprive him of it?" said the clown politely.

"I have my reasons. Please take them back," she snapped.

But before the clown could retrieve the tickets, a squealing and crying began so loudly that Madalen thought her ears would burst.

"Jasper, please stop. What did we say?"

But Jasper wasn't listening. He was crying inconsolably, so much so that those around them were staring.

"Please, Jasper, stop. Look, I got you some cotton candy!"

"I don't want it! I want to go to the circus!"

Oh my god, she sighed. Seeing Jasper not stopping, she took back the tickets and said, "Okay, thanks, we might as well go," she addressed the clown. He winked at Jasper, gave him a balloon, and the little boy stopped crying.

"Really, are we going?"

Madalen hesitated.

 "We'll ask Mom and Dad if they want to take you tomorrow."

"No! You're lying! Mom and Dad will say no," he started crying again.

With much effort, Madalen finally agreed to go. "Okay, but just for a while; we won't see the whole show."

"Yes! Yes! We will go!" he jumped for joy.

Her brother started running towards the circus, and Madalen took a deep breath and followed him.

Entering the circus, Madalen noticed the poor seating, with white plastic chairs. In the middle of the stage was a large circle made of stacks of straw, where the performances took place. They got popcorn and sat down. Actually, Jasper sat first, while Madalen remained standing. She thought about running away but was forced to sit down when a stocky gentleman with a thick black mustache entered the scene. He wore a white shirt, a black tuxedo, and a bow tie. Underneath, he wore linen trousers and shiny black shoes. On his head was a tall, elegant black hat, like those worn in the 19th century, and in his hand, he held a microphone.

"Ladies and gentlemen! Welcome to our circus! The show will start shortly…"

As he spoke, Jasper clapped his hands and rocked back and forth in his chair; Madalen, on the other hand, calmly ate her popcorn. When the stocky gentleman stopped talking, Madalen took a deep breath of relief.

The lights were turned off on the audience side, and the spotlights turned on in the middle of the stage. Madalen's heart sank.

The first show started. Acrobats came out from behind a red curtain at the back of the circus. Two women and two men. They were fancily dressed. The women wore ballet flats and gold-blue bodysuits with rhinestones that sparkled even when the light wasn't shining on them. The men wore blue tights with fewer straps.

 Coming out of the curtains, they went to the center of the straw circle and bowed. The two women grabbed the men's hands, and they lifted them as if they were feathers. After performing some elaborate acrobatics, standing on the men's shoulders and doing somersaults, their act ended with the four of them walking on a tightrope at the top of the circus. The women sat on the men's shoulders as they walked steadily and carefully along the rope. When they reached the other end, they descended the ladder and stood again in the center of the circus. They bowed once more and then disappeared behind the curtains. Madalen was not thrilled; she had seen much better stunts on the internet.

The second show, she realized with a twinge in her heart, involved animals. Three elephants, along with acrobats, came out onto the stage. The elephants performed tricks with a huge ball as the acrobats stood on top of them. Her heart skipped a beat when, in the next show, she saw iron bars rising all around. When she saw the lions coming out of the iron cages, her heart stopped for a moment. She held her brother's hand tightly without realizing it. Her breath was ragged, and she could feel her heart beating fast. The tamer used a whip to scare the lions into doing their tricks. Madalen looked at the lions with fear. When the tamer put his head into the gaping mouth of a lion, Madalen's blood froze. She waited moment by moment for the lion to close its mouth and devour him. But that didn't happen. When the tamer pulled his head out, everyone broke into loud applause, except Madalen, who sat terrified and scrunched up in her seat.

"Madalen, are you okay? Why are you crying?" she heard her brother ask. Without realizing it, she was shedding uncontrollable tears. The dark memories of the past were swirling in her head again. She had relived all the pain and fear within seconds. She couldn't stand it.

"I am fine. Don't worry," she said, wiping her eyes. She wanted to run away, but seeing her brother so happy, she decided to stick it out until the end. After all, if she took him and left before the show ended, she wouldn't be able to bear his cries again.

When the lion show was over, her relief was indescribable. The next show was with horses and acrobats. The horses formed a circle, and as they ran around, the acrobats struck various poses on their backs.

Next, a magician came out with his assistant. He performed various tricks, including some classic ones she had seen before. He made his assistant disappear into a box, sawed her in half, and made her disappear again behind a curtain. Of course, it didn't take long for the clowns to come out as well. They were the very next act. Ouch! How unlucky she felt. The clowns ran around doing silly things, and while her brother was laughing, she thought they were getting ready to kill her with the plastic horns and jumping ropes they were holding.

Suddenly, a clown wearing a mask and sporting pink, tufted hair – probably a wig – approached them. The lights focused on them. He was staring at Madalen… She stiffened at the thought that her murderous suspicions might be true. He spent almost a minute looking at her – though it seemed much longer to her – until finally, he placed a plastic horn in front of her face. The piercing sound it made was so loud she thought her eardrums would burst. She glared at him as he walked away, and the audience laughed as if he had done something funny. No, it wasn't funny to her.

"Oh, come on, Mad, smile a little," her brother told her with a chuckle.

After the numerous clowns – there must have been more than eight – had performed their antics, they disappeared behind the red curtain, bumping and stumbling for fun. Everyone clapped loudly once more, except Madalen. As soon as the applause was over, the stocky man with the microphone re-emerged from behind the curtain.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the show is over," Madalen was so relieved, "but the show goes on backstage."

She sighed heavily because she was sure her brother wouldn't want to leave before seeing the backstage. And she was right.

Backstage was outdoors at the back of the circus. Anyone who wanted could take a tour to see the animals, acrobats, and caravans up close. Jasper happily walked out, pulling Madalen by the hand. With all her might, Madalen followed him.

As they strolled along, Madalen had a strange, uncomfortable feeling, as if someone was watching her. She looked around and saw a strange clown with white hair wearing an unusual mask staring at her. Madalen shuddered. The features of the mask were terrifying, almost repulsive. The painted face looked wrinkled, as if it were old. The goofy, happy smile was gone, replaced by a mischievous smile, revealing white teeth. The cheeks were not pink but crimson, like blood. The same red covered the round, painted nose. The mask's eye holes looked pitch black; you could hardly see the eyes behind them. The right eye had a painted red line that looked like a scar.

Madalen continued walking with her brother, looking at some caravans painted with beautiful circus acts. She didn't want to pay more attention to the strange clown. She was starting to feel paranoid.

"Let's go to the elephants!" Jasper said, pulling on Madalen's hand.

"Jasper, I'm going to sit here for a while. Go wherever you want, but stay away from the lions!" she emphasized. "And stay where I can see you. Don't move away!"

Jasper ran with joy to see the elephants across.

Madalen sighed and sat in a corner, watching Jasper, who was amused. She wished her brother would get bored quickly, but she knew that was unlikely.

While she was sitting and staring at her cell phone, there was the clown again with the strange, scary mask and white hair. She noticed his attire. It wasn't a uniform. He was wearing a suit: a white jacket and white linen pants. Madalen was getting annoyed with the clown staring at her for so long. So she gathered her courage and spoke to him:

"What are you looking at? Have you never seen a bored girl before?"

The clown didn't speak. Madalen irritably turned back to her mobile screen, not wanting to deal with the strange clown any further.

She felt the cell phone slip from her hands. The clown had grabbed it and was running away.

"Hey! Give me back my cell phone!" she shouted, running after him. If the clown took her cell phone as a joke, Madalen certainly didn't find it funny at all.

The clown slipped into a room at the edge of the backstage area. From the outside, it looked like a big, white box. Above the white door was a large sign that read in black letters "The Box of Madness."

Madalen grimaced, taken aback. Not thinking much of it, she quickly followed the clown into the room in exasperation.

Walking in, she saw a huge, empty space. The room was wallpapered above, below, and on the walls with black and white checkerboard squares that made her dizzy when she looked at them all at once. In the middle of the room was a large, pitch-black hole. The clown was nowhere to be seen. Madalen hesitantly approached and peered into the hole. Absolute darkness spread over its invisible bottom.

Soon, a light appeared in the utter blackness. It was faint but enough to make out the scary clown mask staring at her, holding her cell phone. It was deep but not as deep as she thought.

"Why did you bring me here?" she asked.

It was obvious that he had urged her to follow him. He didn't speak, just continued to look at her from the bottom of the hole. Suddenly, she heard laughter behind her, but before she could turn around, she felt a strong push and her body fell into the void. As she fell on her back, she looked up and saw six masked clowns surrounding the hole, looking at her mockingly. The one with purple hair seemed to have pushed her.

Madalen expected to hit the floor soon, but she kept falling...

She was falling, falling, falling, with no bottom in sight. She felt herself plummeting into absolute emptiness, with no sign of contact with the floor. How could this be? The hole didn't look that deep. A cold feeling came over her. She felt that her end had come. If she hit the ground, she wouldn't survive from such a height and speed. Several seconds passed, and she was still falling… Every second she wondered when she would hit. She waited moment to moment to feel her bones shatter.

Soon she saw light. She saw light at the bottom of the hole. It blinded her, and she closed her eyes, putting her hands in front. Now she was sure she would explode somewhere, in the bowels of the earth perhaps…

Her thoughts came to an abrupt halt when she bumped into something cold, fluffy, and soft. She felt herself bounce up a few inches and then fell back onto the same soft spot. The hole above her was closed. She looked down. She had fallen on a large, white, soft lump like a pillow. Trembling, she stood up, panting and taking a deep breath. She looked around. No matter which way she looked, she saw a vast corridor. Everything was patterned like a chessboard, like the Box of Madness. She didn't know if she should go left or right. On the other hand, maybe she should wait for someone to appear.

After a few minutes, she decided to go to the right. The hallway seemed to never end, and the chessboard patterns on the walls, floor, and ceiling made her dizzy. There were several corridors branching off. She had to choose one, but she felt that whichever she chose, she would get even more lost in this checkerboard maze.

It was then that she saw a head sticking out from a corner, looking at her... It was the clown's head! When he saw that Madalen noticed him, he revealed his entire body. He just stood there, staring at her.

She moved toward him, but he started to run away.

"Stop!" she yelled and ran around the corner.

When she turned, she saw a hallway with closed, colored doors. She stopped short and looked at them. There were seven doors: three on the left side and four on the right. Meanwhile, the clown had disappeared, as if by magic. She assumed he was in one of the rooms. She grabbed the handle of the left white door and tried to open it, but it was locked. She wondered if they were all locked. Proceeding to the next door, which was purple, she found it wasn't locked and opened it with ease. She looked inside and saw the same pattern as the maze, except the tiles were purple and white. Not seeing anyone inside, she closed it. She opened the next door, which was red. It had the same room with red and white tiles. In the end, she opened all the doors. All the rooms were the same, colored and decorated similarly. They had sitting areas with crockery, beds, mirrors, and wardrobes, each with an extra small door that she assumed was the bathroom. However, the strangest room was the green one. As soon as she opened the door, she saw dozens of snakes in glass cages.

After seeing that it was futile to search the rooms, she proceeded straight into the corridor, where a door-shaped opening could be seen, showing nothing on the other side, only pitch darkness. Hesitantly, she stopped in front of the opening. She raised her right hand and touched the black void. Her hand went inside. Her palm and fingers were lost in the darkness. She couldn't see them. Her hand looked as if it had been cut off at the wrist. She felt a slight shiver as a soft, icy breeze came from the other side. With a deep breath, she stepped into the black void...