Under a blood red sky

The man with the pipe had his tent set up sort of off of the main drag, away from the noise and the rides. It was at the edge of the fair, near trees, and it was hung with white Christmas lights.

The tent had a sign that read CURIOSITIES, and nothing more. There was an arrow pointing to the tent flap, and an ornate tassel with which to pull back the flap and see inside.

Inside, the man with the pipe waited, seated in an armchair that appeared rather out of place, reading a book. There were tables inside the tent, and glass cases. Items were on the tables, sitting on displays and inside the cases, lit from beneath. A generator hummed next to the tent.

The man with the pipe waited.

It was about twilight when Marius decided to take a walk as he was wont to do. And he was wont to many things so off he went. Davis, his butler, or mother hen as he sometimes thought of him, was wary of just letting him go out on his own. That received an extreme eyebrow raising and perhaps a bit of mocking. Marius was old, older than some dirt even, and was really rather capable of taking care of himself if need be.

He wasn't going far, just some fresh air that he didn't need to breathe and to see if he could shake the... strange feeling he'd been having lately. He couldn't put his finger on it quite yet but something was definitely off. It had been a while since he was drawn to this less than a city town and only now was he beginning to wonder if the reasons why were becoming more pronounced. He was oh so curious and could not wait to see if his feelings were true.

It was not too cold, and he might be a bit chilled if the cold affected him, but he did wear a coat nonetheless, his hands slipped into the pockets as he walked along the sidewalk path. It was only a few minutes entering the park when Marius' sense were on alert.

Someone, or something, was close. Following him. "How very silly," he thought to himself but smiled, ever so wickedly and didn't pause, continuing on.

Was it someone he knew? Or someone he didn't want to see?
Curiouser and curiouser indeed.

For now he would play coy and see what became of things. The night might be looking up already, and if could go home without blood in his clothes it was a banner night to begin with in his eyes.