..As the Rodeo’s shopkeep hit the ground, they began to convulse and contort. Their body jerked back and forth in tandem with the eerie tune that abruptly began filling the air.
Despite everything urging you to help them, you couldn’t help but watch stationary from where your group stood. Empathy being overrun by an odd sense of grim intrigue that kept your eyes glued to the unfolding scene and your feet rooted into the floorboards.
Amidst their thrashing, a puncture turned into a tear, a tear turned to a cut, a cut to a hole, a hole to a gash, and a gash to a gouge. When the movement finally stopped, the shopkeep was in pieces on the floor.
Nestled deep into the mess of stationary flesh now littering the ground a small, green, ornate box laid bare. The tunes’ origin. It seemed so comically out of place amidst the carnage; bright, covered in colorful dots, adorned with a smiling cartoon bunny on the front.
It’s jovial melody wafted through the tense air, reminiscent of a fair or a circus. It’s handle still spun, yet no one dared to move. An audience held captive by unwanted devotion and morbid curiosity.
The Keepers’ partner, watched with a calm eagerness from afar. A grin spreading across his face as their show came to its climax. The notes began to slow in tempo, the song soon coming to an end.
For a few heavy seconds, all was silent. For a few seconds, there was a chance to flee.
But alas, the audience did not move, the audience did not speak.
In that silence, the Rodeos’ final act began.
