It looked like it had been deserted for years rather than a few weeks.<br/><br/>In the shadow of a few big sycamore trees, a clearing full of various torn tents and posters lingered. Posters that had once been lighted and hung with pride were torn and crinkling. Abandoned concessions were strewn everywhere one could see. Weeds grown up through packed dirt while ivy had already started to cling along the forgotten stands. Occasionally a rat would scurry across and pick up an abandoned piece of decaying popcorn before noticing it was being watched and bolt into the darkness once more.<br/><br/>Rumor was the place was haunted. Every year around the same time the place would be alight with crowds and people. There werenât many indications of what the true name of the carnival was by now, but there were a few torn ticket stubs around a tipped over stand saying something about a âGlass Moonâ. Even though all eyes seem to linger on the biggest tent standing. Holes were started to be seen along one side however on the other came a very different sight. Long grooves like some large creature had slashed at the canvas trying to get out. Once in a blue moon it was said that crying could be heard from various places within the carnival grounds.<br/><br/>Today was not one of those blue moons, instead no moon lit the sky that night. The first day of the new moon weighed heavily on the place, making it possibly even eerier than normal. It was only in the darkness of night that the truth was revealed. The truth which sometimes makes the unbelievable, believable. Where one world and another world overlap each other for one night. Where the curse that might taint the land may truly be broken.<br/><br/><div style="text-align: center">~*~*~*~​</div><br/>There was something different about the air that night that had aroused her from her sleep. Silver, feline eyes peered into the darkness that surrounded the interior of the big tent. She saw nothing amiss but that still something thrummed inside her mind that told her to be on her guard. Carefully sitting up she glanced along her cage. Nothing there either. Reinforced bars that certainly wouldnât let her get out and stretch like she wanted. Feline tail flicked across the floor as she leaned against the cool metal. The woman certainly wasnât human. Pale skin stood out against the bars, hair black as midnight, pooled past her breasts as it rested over her shoulders. Her back however was the decoration itself. Black tiger stripes ran perpendicular to her spine, however those werenât the only markings. Snow leopard spots flickered between the stripes before coming over her hips and moving to pattern along her ribs and over her shoulders. Her tail bore the same pattern, though it took the characteristics of the snow leopard in itâs long, full nature.<br/><br/>The only thing that stood out more than that was the gold collar on her throat. Almost all the others had something similar in contraption on their bodies. Trapped they were to this place until someone could unravel their curses. The others had managed by now except for a small handful. But they were the darker creatures, her eyes narrowed at the thought as she closed her eyes. They didnât suffer from hunger as once dawn came the place would be as deserted as before. It was only the people that got caught under the spell of the New Moon that would become trapped with them. However she apparently was alone in her desires for freedom. She had been in the circuit much longer than the others and wanted nothing more than to feel the snow beneath her paws again. Pawsâ¦when had she been able to last shift? She didnât remember. She did know sooner or later the Ringmaster would appear as he always did every New Moon offering the same choice he always did.<br/><br/>She wondered if he had given up on her reptilian companion. She frowned at that thought. Not likely. However, she would rather die than become his pet well pet of his freak show. Freedom from the collar only to be shackled to his side for the rest of your very long life was nothing that the woman wanted. Her ears perked waiting to hear the tent flap open and for those ominous boots to move near her cage. How many more years would she have to keep doing this? Every new moon. Unless of course they were lucky enough to have two new moons in the same month. Then the Carnival was actually in full swing. Then she would be forced to perform. She grimaced. Her Carnival trainer was far from kind, at least the bruises had faded by now from the last time he had come. Had it already been that long?  The curse kept them from really judging how fast time flewâ¦but once dawn came they would be back on the other side and forced away from their true world. Oh they existed here, thatâs why they always came back, they hadnât sold their souls to the Ringmaster yet. Some of the younger ones had once called him the Shadowman. It wasnât far from the mark. She was originally from the Himalayas, a guardian to the infamous Shangri-la.<br/><br/>One couldnât enter without a piece of Shangri-la in their blood. Probably why the Ringmaster wanted her so badly. Shangri-la was one of the few power wells left not tainted by the human interaction. She knew Shangri-la was protected without her there. Her brother guarded it fiercely, and the Ringmaster had only taken her. She vowed never to surrender herself to no man. However the world was about to change. She just no idea how much.