Wrestling the Kraken

Bridgett

Bridgett

Arriving at the beach, Bridgett took Dante to see what they had been working on. The entrance from the street was finished, but gated. They stood outside the gate, staring up at the sign. An unlit marquee above a black iron archway. Lanz's friend, Singe, had put it together.

"Fox Hollow Circus." Dante read. He stood there staring at it a while, with a curious look on his face. They were starting their own circus, right here, in Fox Hollow. Bumping into Bridgett at the restaurant now seemed like fate.

All these years, while his father played puppeteer with his life, and of those who drew near, he desperately searched for a way to amend all the wrong. He knew placing a rose on the bodies did little to account for the murders, but he had hoped the person's soul had taken some sort of comfort out of the gesture. That with life taken before its time, so it was with the rose. Plucked and snipped from the earth before it had the chance to wither away as nature intended. A rose in bloom, for a soul taken too soon.

"What do you think?" Bridgett asked. Her eyes, large, filled with anticipation.

Dante looked over at her. Here was another way to make amends. A way to right a wrong, while the person still lived. "Is this a fixed location for the circus?"

She nodded, giving a sly smile.

"Won't that be limiting? Eventually, all the city would have seen the show a few times over, even if you change up an act or two."

"We know." She replied. "But with what we're planning, they'll never want to leave. Remember, I said this was our version of the circus. It's not exactly the traditional way."

Dante looked back at the entrance. "I guess I'll have to take your word for it."

"Do you want to go in?" She asked. She knew what that simple phrase meant. A defining point between her and Lanz. Time with him made her feel sane and relaxed, with a natural trust that was simply there. She could question all she wanted to, but it was there. Could he trust her enough, when she claimed Dante's innocence? Could she trust him not to act out in anger? No longer could the two worlds hold at arm's length. They were about to collide, and from the wreckage, her new life would be framed.

"I would love to." Dante said.