• Preface
    ~
    It has been many decades, but my face has not changed during the course of them. My skin stays smooth and unlined. My hair remains thick and long and the color of fresh blood. My muscles do not weaken and my senses no not fade. I cannot grow older. I cannot fall ill. I cannot die. Many would consider my immortality a gift, a blessing, something to be thankful for. They would be wrong. The price I had to pay was greater than any man should give. And I did not pay it in the hopes if gaining my immortality, or any other such gifts. My soul was lost so that another’s could continue to thrive. Now I am slave to the Ring Master, the collector of souls. I am bound to his carnival for all eternity.
    I do not regret my decision. If an eternity of servitude is the price I have to pay for the life of one I love, then I gladly pay it without complaint. My sacrifice is worthwhile if my sweet Eliza is spared. So long as she lives a happy and full life, I will suffer in silence.
    I think of her often. I saw her only once after the Ring Master granted my wish and saved her from the sickness that ravaged her body. I wonder where her life took her and if she found happiness. Time stole her away many years ago, when she had become elderly and frail. I was granted one visit to her grave. I left a daisy on the headstone and thanked whatever divine power that had watched over her and kept her safe for so many years.
    Now there is nothing for me to do but exist and serve. My life belongs to the Ring Master for all of eternity. I have resigned myself to my fate. My humanity, my ability to feel, all died with Eliza. I am nothing but a puppet now.