OCEANIA

VIII

I'm at crossroads here. I don’t know if I should be sad that the store doesn’t exist or I should be annoyed at how calmly she delivered the bad news. I decided to call Helen first before attacking the woman with questions. “Hey! I heard you took a break”. Helen said immediately she picked up. “Yeah…about that. I need you to cover for me”, I bit on my bottom lip, “I’m in the middle of something very important”. “Chill there! You sound like you’re working as a gang spy”. She laughed. “I wish that was the case”, I sighed tapping on the counter lightly, “I’ll tell you later and thanks”. “Anytime girl!” I hung up quickly and faced the woman. “I’m kinda in a hurry here but I want to know what happened to The Fourth Wall”. I confessed.

She abandoned her work with the register and faced me. “Just like any other business”, she started, “if you’re not making sales, you close down”. “For how long has it been closed down?” I asked in a low voice. “It should be fifteen years”.

“Fifteen? That seems like a really long time ago”.

“For some of us, it's been a little while”.

“And it closed after they lost an employee?”

“Indeed, she resigned to live with her husband and daughter. She had quite a talent. Too bad she couldn’t stay”.

Is it me or is this puzzle starting to come together? I thought. Mom worked at the store then moved in with Dad fifteen years ago. Fifteen as in the number for the letter ‘O’ which was on the card of the aisle I found the book. I was supposed to come here but what about the ticket? “Erm…sorry to bother you but do you use tickets here?” I asked hoping. “I'm sorry but I don’t use tickets”, she shook her head, “but I do know that a circus is in town right around the block. They leave in some hours”. I thanked her before walking away.

I dialed Shelly’s number. “Aunt Shelly, do you know if Mom ever talked about a circus?” I looked around the car. “No” I’m guessing she was shaking her head, “none that I know of. But she always carried a neck scarf that had Twilight written on it. She mentioned that Caleb got it for her after a show they attended”. “Thanks. I’ll get back to you when I find something”. “Be careful, Will”. “Always. Bye” I hung up before she noticed the fear in my voice. I grabbed my jacket from the backseat. My finger felt moist from the fabric. I turned to look at my hand.

My jacket was soaked in blood. There was blood allover the backseat like two people had engaged in a knife fight and both of them ended up cutting each other's stomachs up. Even bloody handprints were on the windows. Out of sheer panic, I jumped out of the car. I yanked the back door open. What the hell? There was no single stain anywhere. I was certainly loosing my mind. I picked the jacket and slammed the door. I swing it over my shoulders but a sharp edge poked my side. I checked the pockets only to find a small wooden box. I opened it slightly and when it didn’t explode, I inspected it. It was a dark blue whip. This definitely had something to do with the circus.

I put the box back in my pocket. I locked all the car doors then walked down the street. As I got closer, voices of excitement filled the air. The once empty streets was flooded with people. Many people didn’t know about the free space on this street except the local teens who have bonfire nights here. Typically, there was a big red and white stripped tent but those outside where watching the moneys juggle stuff. I bought a ticket and went inside. I expected a large row of seats like an auditorium with an ongoing performance but it wasn’t so.

Some people were gathered around a fire to listen to the fortune teller, some were placing bets on which circus guy can swallow the most knives and the others were standing in front of the huge stage. I'm guessing that’s where the magic is. I stuffed my hands in my pockets before walking towards the crowd. The magician didn’t wear a top hat like most movies emphasized which was quite impressive to me. “For my next trick I shall now”, he flashed the audience a smile, “make someone from the audience disappear”. The crowd cheered. I hugged myself into the jacket more. I don’t know why I suddenly feel out of place.

I had removed my attention from the show. All I could hear was a high pitch ringing followed by whispering voices. I was completely tuned out of the real world. I closed my eyes to focus on the voices. “Is she really here?” a huff voice asked. “I'm very sure I saw her among the boss's audience”. A cowardly voice answered. “We have to tell the boss”, the huff voice said, “he’ll tell us what to do next”. “Tell me what, you goose?” the voice no doubts belonged to the magician. I opened my eyes to see the magician still on stage performing tricks. I closed them again. “Whatever you do, make sure she doesn’t meet Twilight”. The magician commanded. “Yes, boss!” the two replied. “And hurry, we only have some hours till the tide”. That was the last thing he said. The words in my head and the final applause from the crowd mixed delightfully.

I have to find whoever Twilight is before those goons get me. I have dealt with the nightmares and the almost dying but I draw the line at being a victim of kidnap. She (Twilight) has to be around here somewhere. I searched around the tent but there was no one like that. I pushed through the crowd to get outside. The sun had set and the dark sky was decorated with little star lights. I tried my best to still search. I obviously don’t know what she looks like but since she's in the circus, she should be in a black leather bra and mini skirt designed with dark blue feathers. Stereotypical much.

After minutes of a fruitless search, I took a break. I rested on the sign board sighing heavily at intervals. The sign felt a bit rough so I jerked away. I read the poster on it about the circus. The lady in the poster had a whip but oddly the space was empty. “Twilight” I muttered. I removed the whip from the box and filled the space with it. A blue light shone dimly as it engraved a name onto the whip. Heather Hills. I saw the name today on a name tag at…OMG! It's the woman from the antique store!