4 WHAT'S GOING ON?

"Hey Dad," said Finnaire.

"The Filet Mignon you brought back from Alex's place, looks so good! The boys and I, will try some tomorrow, we'll sit down at dinner and it, okay?" Asked Mr. Merril.

"Yeah, dad, that sounds great!" Exclaimed Finnaire, excitedly.

"Ssshhh, keep it down kid, it's late."

"Oh, sorry, hey, dad.... I'm really worried about my friend Heira."

"Why's that sweetheart?"

"Well... she hasn't responded to any of my texts and I texted my other friends about her and they haven't heard anything from her either."

"Have you tried calling her house phone?"

"I don't have it."

"You've guys been friends for how long?"

"Yeah, I know."

"Well, I'm sure you have nothing to worry about, honey."

"I don't know.... I'll try not to assume the worst for the time being, I guess."

"There ya go, honey! Feeling better already! Now remember, we have church tomorrow, so wake up early."

"Okay, night Dad, love you."

"Night honey, love you too. Keep your mom in your prayers.... okay?"

'That's the first time he's mentioned my mom since she went to prison. 'Thought Finnaire.

"Uh, yeah.... dad... I-I, uh, will."

Mr. Merril smiled sadly. "Good."

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"Okay, everyone I have a special surprise for you all," said Mr. Merril.

Mr. Merril, who was wearing a black tuxedo and black loafers, Finnaire, who was wearing a flace pink dress, and pink high heel shoes and Finnaire's brothers, Tommy who has dark tan skin, big hazel eyes, short cropped medium hair, a small button nose, and round pudgy cheeks, who was wearing a black dress shirt, pants, and black boots, Zeke, who looked the same because they were identical twins was wearing the same thing as Tommy except his hair was slicked back and was wearing black eyeliner under his eyes, were sitting in Mr. Merril's grey Toyota.

"What is it Daddy?" Asked Zeke.

"Well... if I told you, it wouldn't be a surprise," said Mr. Merril.

"Dad, the only place we go to on Sundays is church because it's the day to rest; so since church is over we should go home" said Finnaire.

"I would, but.... the surprise will only be able to be available for today," said Mr. Merril.

"Is it the Circus?!" Exclaimed Tommy excitedly.

"Yup.... and we're here!" Exclaimed Mr. Merril, excitedly.

Finnaire looked up at the big white dome with red stripes, surrounded by trees and vehicles.

"Alright, gang, let's roll," said Mr. Merril.

The four of them get out of the car and walk to the ticket boot in front of the dome and wait impatiently in line for about twenty minutes before they could go up. Mr. Merril handed four tickets that he had previously purchased and they head inside the opening in the dome.

"Oh, wow," said Finnaire, in astonishment.

Finnaire looked around the inside of the Circus, on the stage she saw a big gray elephant, wearing a top hat, a tight rope, a man dressed in a white sparkly suit with a whip, and a overweight Caucasion man, with a big brown mustache and red cheeks wearing a white cotton shirt, over it a red trenchcoat, a black bowtie, golden buttons on the trenchcoat, and black long boots. A Caucasian boy between the ages of fourteen and sixteen, with slightly short curly brown hair, was wearing a black sparkly suit, next to the boy was a big Male lion, next to the stage were three rows of seats wrapped around the stage.

"I got us front row seats. The show is about to start," said Mr. Merril.

"Come one, come all; the show is about to start!" Exclaimed the overweight man on stage, with a megaphone. "My name is Will and welcome to the show!"

The audience roared in applause.

"With some unfortunate news, William Mark Wilson (who had the same first name as me) has sadly passed away, who was our lion tamer So please welcome his son, Jonas Stephen Wilson! He may be only sixteen years, but him and his deceased father have known this lion here, Bruno, since he was a wee little cub, the lion is completely tame and has never acted violently towards anyone, so there's no need to worry," said Will.

The audience roared in applause once more.

Jonas waved to the crowd and he met eyes with Finnaire, he winked at her which made her blush. Jonas took a closer step to Bruno he then made a twirling movement with his hand which he expected Bruno to copy with his body, but he did not even though they had praticed it plenty of times. Instead Bruno stared at Jonas for a few moments then he unexpectly bit down on his hand, making the audience gasp in horror, and making Jonas yell out in pain. A few people from the audience including, Finnaire rush to the stage to try to help Jonas.

"Finnaire get back here! It's dangerous!" Yelled Mr. Merril.

Finnaire ignored him and rushed to Jonas's aid. The cirus act people, the audience and Finnaire, tried yanking Jonas away from Bruno, Bruno riped off Jonas's hand, Jonas let out a blood curdling scream, while blood from where Jonas's hand used to be. The group helping Jonas managed to get him away fro Bruno. Circus sercuity rushed in and shot tranqulizers at Bruno, which made him pass out instently.

"Someone call an ambulance!" Shouted Will.

"I'm sure plenty of people aready did," said Finnaire.

Will took off his his trencoat and wrapped it around Jonas's wound to stop the blood flow. Will picked up the megaphone and announced that the audience would get full refunds and would offer to pay half for therapy after this event if needed. He picked up Jonas and cradled him in his arms.

"I-I don't understand.... w-why would Bruno do this to me?" Asked Jonas, tears welled up in his eyes from physical pain, but also sadness.

"I'm not sure, it had to be caused by something, maybe someone gave Bruno some sort of drug?"

"Mmm.... there was this guy, his name starts with a 'a', he came in with his Butler and said he was some sort of snake whisperer and actually had a Black Mamba resting around his shoulders. It was in the meeting room Bruno was close by in his cage when I left the room momentarily to get job application forms..... But I don't want to jump to conclusions it could be some sort of coincidence...."

Finnaire walked back to her worried family.

"Honey, I can't beileve you did that!" Yelled Mr. Merril.

Finnaire shrugged. "I felt like I had to do something."

°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°° "So there's been some upsetting news..." Said Mr. Newman.

       Alex and Finnaire were sitting next to eachother in their first hour class.

       "So one of our students.... Heira Stella Rogers, has gone missing... if you have any information about Heira... please contact the proper authorities," said Mr. Newman.

'What?! I can't beileve she's missing!' Thought Finnaire.

Finnaire looked around the classroom to see the expressions of her fellow classmates, she noticed Bobby's face emotion, tears were running down his eyes, he was choking back tears.

"Bobby, would you like to speak to a counselor?" Asked Mr. Newman.

Bobby nodded his head and took a hall pass.

"If anybody needs to leave class today because they need to go speak to someone they are welcome to do so... just to let the edge off... it's quite alright, I'll make you a hall pass, if I run out.

Some students whispered to eachother about skipping school and how this would be a perfect opportunity to do so without getting in trouble. They said to Mr. Newman that they were upset about Heira and he gave the students the hall pass and let the two students go.

'I can't beileve these people,' thought Finnaire.

Finnaire glanced over at Alex and she swore saw a smirk on his face.

"What do you think about all this, Alex?" Asked Finnaire.

"Oh, uh, terrible, yes... terrible," said Alex, robotically.

Finnaire raised her eyebrow, but didn't press on.

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"I'm really worried about Heira," said Finnaire.

Alex, Ben, and Finnaire were at lunch sitting in their usual spot in the woods.

"Yeah, same, I'm also worried about Bobby, he hasn't returned any of my texts or anything," said Ben.

Ben noticed tears well up in Finnaire's eyes and took her into a deep embrace.

"Well, I'm sure, Bobby, the fun loving surfer guy will be back to his normal self in no time," said Alex.

"I don't think so, Alex, they had a very close relationship, you don't understand," said Ben, letting go of Finnaire.

Alex crossed his arms angrily. "Don't tell me I don't understand!"

Ben and Finnaire stare at Alex in shock.

"I understand EVERYTHING!! Don't tell me I don't understand BEN. I-I'm sorry Grandma for not understanding I-I promise I'll do better next time...."

Ben and Finnaire stare at Alex in confusion.

"What's going on?" Asked Finnaire.