The word got out in a mere two days before the arrival was set to happen: The Night Parade was coming to town.  While people looked it up on the Internet to see what exactly this carnival was, the message was clear.  If you wanted to be scared, thrilled, and spooked, this was the place to go.  The word was that the shows were so realistic that the people would swear the magic was real, the animals almost malevolent in their intelligence, and that it left behind an insinuation in the mind that ensured nightmares for weeks to come.<br/><br/>There was no surprise that upon opening day, countless people were lined up and waiting to be admitted into the grounds.  The majority of the workers appeared to be midgets, little people that spoke little but appeared to have an almost hive mentality.  Spread throughout the grounds were the tents, set up to allow entrance through one point, unless one was willing to sneak in when no one was watching from a more shadowy point.  This, however, bore its own risks.  While people were seen by the workers slipping into the tents, nothing was done to them.  Yet....<br/><br/>Shadows were abundant, even under a noontime sun.  Electricity was in the air, causing little flairs as people brushed one another or the workers themselves.  The workers went about their tasks, selling food, drink, and the tickets needed to see the correct shows.  One of the workers, a strongman by the name of Wolfe, had a pungent odor to him that seemed to unnerve most of the folks.  Until he displayed why he had the title of strongman of the Night Parade, and began bending bars of iron and steel as if they were naught more than play dough.<br/><br/>The man selling tickets this day was a lithe man, muscular in a dancer's fashion.  The long, midnight-hued hair fell down to his ass, moving in the wind as if it had a life of its own.  The tanned skin was even along his form, showing either a perfect tanning routine or a natural skintone that would be envied by anyone around.  A perfect set of sterling white teeth was flashed at everyone that came up to purchase tickets into the grounds.  "Welcome to the Night Parade," he spoke to each person.  "The magic is real.  It's the people that aren't."  While the words seemed to have been spoken a thousand times before, the inflection left people with a sense of...unease.