Rashan followed the template-salesman guy inside the car and started surveying the interiors.
This guy is definitely rich. It looked brand-new and expensive,the leather seat still unblemished with no wear or tear.
The man went to the driver's seat and glanced at Rashan in the rearview mirror and asked, "Mr. Rashan, right? Do you have any questions?" He's a bit surprised as to how cooperative and quiet Rashan was through the entire journey.
"No." Rashan shook his head and glanced at the window. This is the only car in the parking lot.
"If that's the case, then let's go." The man didn't mind Rashan's sudden reticence. He pressed a button on the side and started the car.
Rashan leaned on the chair and enjoyed the cool breeze from the air conditioner. This is heaven compared to how hot it is outside.
As he filled his lungs with the chill air, he heard the man spray something inside the car.
Seeing Rashan's questioning look, the man smiled and explained, "Air freshener."
Rashan didn't say anything. He closed his eyes and leaned his head on the window.
Air freshener... It smells utterly pungent.
What a strange taste.
Rashan closed his eyes and fell asleep.
As Rashan slept peacefully, the driver had multiple thoughts coursing through his head.
Money felt like he was dreaming. Because of his blunder, the higher-ups were about to turn him into a human barbeque, but thankfully he managed to find a man desperate for a job to work as those godforsaken clowns at the show.
(Money is not his name, that's how Rashan view him.)
It's just, everything went too well. No suspicion or question. Isn't this man afraid that he'd sell him to human traffickers? Although the show is probably worse than that.
After he passed through the rift, he glanced at the rearview mirror and almost had a heart attack for the third time on this ride.
Why does this guy look so creepy?
Because they were passing through a large tree canopy, the entire car was shaded from the sun.
The insides looked quite bleak, and coupled with the strange-looking guy at the back, Money felt like he was a protagonist in one of those horror movies.
"A driver passed through a tunnel late at night, and after glancing at the backseat, the protagonist realizes that he brought something with him from that haunted place." - Money's Imagination
After a fifty-minute drive, they finally arrived at their destination.
When Money was about to shake Rashan awake, the moment he turned to the backseat, he saw m dead fish-like eyes staring at him silently at him.
"You're awake." Money's voice was a bit raspy from the shock.
Rashan nodded. "That was a comfortable ride, sir. I haven't slept well in ages." The dark circles in his eyes don't lie.
Looking at that face, Money felt creeped out again and wanted this guy out of his car. He calmed himself and said, "If you have rested well, then get yourself ready. We're here."
Rashan turned his head to the window.
Outside was a humongous theater house.
As for how big it really was? The same size as those mega malls that you've seen in the cities. He wondered how many audience will watch the show.
Rashan bet that he'd probably need to spend a few days to explore this place.
Exploring the workplace... That's the basics when it comes to being a new employee.
But... Rashan was concerned about the theme, so he asked the stiff guy beside him, "Employer, this place... this kind of theater looks like the shows inside would only be opera or drama. What kind of weird taste do they have to let a clown perform in this kind of setting?"
"You don't need to ask a lot, just perform." Money pushed the door open and called Rashan out of the car.
The two of them walked inside the theater, and Rashan noticed that it was silent. Not a single person could be seen wandering around the hallways.
Rashan stared at the doors and noticed that some of them had tiny holes on the side. It wasn't a peephole but some kind of mechanism that needs a 'key' to open.
Money pushed Rashan into one of the rooms and pointed at the boxes on the side, "Those are clown costumes. Get yourself ready. Don't leave the room unless I tell you to. Understand?"
"Yeah." Rashan, like an obedient pawn, once again nodded.
Seeing how compliant he was, Money concluded that he was just an idiot and assuredly closed the door.
"A makeup room?" Rashan looked around in curiosity.
The box is filled with different kinds of clown costumes with suspicious red stains on them.
On the side was a rectangular wall-mounted mirror with small lightbulbs on each frame, then placed on the table in front of it were cosmetics and a white powder that looked like it contained asbestos as the main ingredient.
"I had never seen anything like this before." Rashan couldn't help but gasp in amazement as he took out the clothes from the box.
All of them had varying degrees of red stains, some of them looked terrible as if the wearer got butchered alive.
"Are they leaving this as a 'design' or are they just very lazy to clean it up?" Tsking his tongue, he joked. Rashan threw those dirty ones to the side and picked up those that looked new.
"Pretty stingy." Rashan didn't take off his clothes and just draped the loose clown clothes over them.
He looked at himself in the mirror and smiled, "They better pay my salary. Although I'm here for the fun, if they renege on the deal, then they better entertain me good enough." His voice calm and teasing.
But it entailed an ominous tone.
Sitting on the chair, Rashan thought of that task he had taken before he left his previous job... No, not just that task, but also in the news.
There had been a strange rise of mutated animals. While they are rare in domesticated pets, they are oddly common on wild animal which is certainly more dangerous.
Not just that... There had been strange things happening for the past few month. Unusual weather, strange plant growth and others.
Looking and the mirror, Rashan rested his face on his hand, muttering, "Hmm... If the world ends tomorrow, I'd be celebrating. At least don't have to pay my debt."