If every door is locked, break a window.

"Well?" asks the ringleader as saliva drips from between his teeth, "What will you drink?"

You stare at the ringleader in a confused daze. Numerous questions rose in your head but one in particular stood above the rest: How does one solve such a riddle?

You knew the basics of mind tricks- afterall, your life was spent manipulating people to do your bidding with sweet half-truths. However, was such a trivial act worth death? Could you dare to outwit Death? You didn't know if you had a chance, but would be damned if you didn't take the eccentric man on his challenge.

"Tell me, Ringleader, why are there three drinks and not four? Isn't that a little mean?" You couldn't help the smirk stretching across your face. "Two out of three chances to go on a date with Death? How sweet of you."

The ringleader let out a cackle, gaffawing as if you were the greatest comedian he'd ever played with. "Challenging your matchmaker, are we? Stop with the mediocre jokes and get on with it. Girls, back away from that person. We don't want any party-poopers this time."

Simultaneously they bowed and said, "Yes, Master," before fading into the darkness without a word.

You watched their short interaction in amusement. In all of your life, you'd never seen such a fine performance. Much less been the main attraction. After a few pondering moments, you looked to the cups in front of you and remembered the girls' foreboading words.

Your mind then races with different scenarios, each one giving unhelpful results. That is, until you remember something vitally important. "Daring, loving, and clever, huh? That gives me an idea."

You grab the blue cup representing cleverness. You observe the black substance with furrowed eyebrows. "You know, Mr. Ringleader, humans are very... complex creatures." As you stated this, you held the cup up in a cheerful manner.

The colorful man crossed his arms, tilting his head towards you with a jagged smile. "You of all people should know they are nowhere near as complex as they'd like to believe. Their body structure; their purpose; their ambitions... it's all so marvellously simple, why, I could snap my fingers and their attention'd be onto the next thing in a second."

"Although that is true," you start while reaching for the red cup of gallantry, "do not forget that our minds are unpredictable." After those words slipped past your lips, you poured a quarter of the cups in your hands' liquid into the halfway-full yellow cup of love and chuckled. "We cannot be just one trait; only a concoction of everything else. Like this here drink." You gestured towards the only lovely cup that sizzled with temptation.

"Y-You... What have you done?" Ringmaster was taken aback, it'd seem. He was pulling at his hair and chomping on his lip as saliva poured from it and fell onto the ground. He watched you gulp down the new drink as if it were lemonade, until you were sure that no drop was left.

"I did what I was told. Who am I to strictly hold favoritism over one drink compared to the others? I have to share my love with all of them. And damn, this was pretty daring. I could've died on the spot. It was a dangerous gamble; but a fun one no less." You wiped your mouth of the residue and licked it off your hand. "Besides, you never said I couldn't mix them. Pretty clever, if I do say so myself." And you did.

The ringleader refused to speak; he could only gaze at you in what you assumed to be shock. His thin eyebrows were curling above his wide, white eyes as the intensity of his drool thickened. He gave you a toothy smile before bowing.

Figuring that this was the finale, you bowed soon after. With the riddle solved, you were satisfied. Yet another inquiry clawed at the back of your mind: what if you got it wrong?

Suddenly, the silent spell between you two was broken by the roar and applause of a hidden audience. Indeed, there were no tomatoes worth wasting on this magnificent performance. How could anyone not be enchanted by the magic of a circus?

When you turned your head to the left, other wacky performers were aligned by your side. A woman on stilts wore what appeared to be a kimono that seemed to capture the beauty of a full moon in the night sky. Yet her face was a mystery, for it was too high to clearly describe. The ladies from before were next to her, waving at the crowd.

In the back, you caught sight of a toucan perched on the shoulder of a man whose smile was brighter than the light that shined down on them from the heavens. He was staring straight at you, mouthing inaudiable words.

Once the cheering grew scarce, a large scarlet curtain surrounded the stage until you were again in silence. You turned to the ringleader, expectant. "Well?"

Ringleader gave slow, steady claps in your honour. "Bravo, bravo! You did a wonderful performance. Normally I would've burnt you to a crisp for bending my precious rules, but you were so splendid and... scrumptious."

What? Did he just say the word used only to describe the the finest of delicacies? His mouth has been watering for some time now; he must be famished. My, this is quite the predicament. Bring more popcorn, please!

You gave a nervous laugh at Ringleader's choice of words. "What're you talking about? I won, right?"

Ringleader bent over as buckets of laughter rolled out from his trembling body. "Ahaha, getta load of this, sweeties! The guest thinks they won!" Behind you, the giggles of women ensued.

"How unpleasant," the juggler chimed.

"Quite unfortunate," the clown muttered.

"I say 'encore'," the acrobat pleaded.

Their laughter then continued betwixt exchanged whispers. You turned back to Ringleader. "I... I thought I was right!"

"Well, you were... in between. Seeing as how you greedily wanted to become a black sheep amongst the herd of obedient souls, I decided to make a wager of my own." Ringleader chuckled, staring at the light above. "Did you seriously think you were the only one to try that trick with little ol' me?"

Just as it had come, the tower of triumph built with confidence broke apart within seconds. Dread replaced any joy you'd claimed before. "What's going to happen now?"

"Well," Ringleader began while rubbing a toothpick between his teeth, "You're going to be trapped here." His long, slender fingers pointed at his stomach. "These teeth aren't for show, unlike you."

The fear in your voice was evident. It cracked and croaked when you uttered in disbelief, "You can't be serious..."

"Darling, this is a circus. No one's ever serious here. However, I am very hungry, and your corrupted soul is ripe for the taking." Ringleader licked his lips, staring at your stomach with wide, bulging eyes.

You took a staggering step back. You'll admit that you weren't prepared for this; you were so sure it'd outsmart him. But alas, your efforts were to no avail and you fell right into his trap.

"Now, petty human, do you still believe your pathetic species isn't as ―no, even more―simple-minded than that of an insect?" the nameless ringleader questioned, striding towards you until his saliva-coated lips were a hair strand away from brushing against your ear. "Are you scared? Cute."

You were stubborn, shaking your head. Clinging to humanity was the only hope left for you, but what was the point?

He sighed and slid his hand over his head in an attempt to tame his wild orange curls. "Hm, that's too bad, then." Ringleader stood, pulling you up with him by your hair. "That's it. That face engulfed in fear and despair is what I long to see before a meal. Any last words?"

You struggled to escape his starving eye, looking everywhere but at him. "I-"

"Whoops, too late. As the French say, 'bon apetite.'" Ringleader unhinged his jaw and latched his teeth onto your flesh, leaving you with a sharp, stinging sensation. You bit your lip to subdue the scream that dared to come out. Sudden pulses pumped in your veins, louder than even your panicking heart. Your skin began to brighten to a light blue, until orbs of light forced their way out of your mouth and into his as your body faded before your very eyes.

"Don't worry, I'll take good care of you," were the last words you heard until a cold darkness swallowed you up.