Freakshow

Chapter Twenty Five

The next day I woke and had breakfast with Rose in our trailer. It had been tough, we hadn't talked much about Cara lately, but it was a constant presence in our minds.

I felt like we were just regaining some normalcy though.

Half way through our oatmeal, there was a hard knock on the door. I looked at her, it was seven in the morning, neither one of us would be expecting company.

I opened it and found Lara bending down to peek inside.

"I would ask you in but..." my voice trailed off, I didn't think the Cirque's giantess would fit inside our tiny trailer.

"It's okay," she said, "I'm here on business. Do you remember that new hire from Vancouver? You worked with her in tickets?"

"Erica?" I asked, "Sure. What's up?"

"She's missing and I was hoping you'd seen her."

"Not at all. I can't recall the last time our paths crossed, to be honest." It was strange, as soon as I started performing, I no longer seemed to run into the support staff. Maybe there was something old fashioned about the hierarchy of a circus that I hadn't picked up on.

"Shit," Lara said, "Nobody has seen her for a couple days. She's gone missing."

"Could she have gone back to Vancouver?" Rose asked over my shoulder.

"All her stuff's in her trailer," Lara said, "it looks like we have another one."

My heart sank and my chest tightened. "When exactly did she go missing?"

"She was last seen yesterday at breakfast," Lara said, "After that it's like she fell of the face of the earth."

"Oh fuck," Rose moaned, "I can't take this, Liv. I can't have girls going missing. I can't handle all these bad vibes."

"It's okay, Rose," I said, stepping up and putting my arm around her shoulder, "They'll find her. I'm sure of it this time."

I glanced down at Lara and read her thoughts. They were the same as mine.

The only way Erica was coming back was if she were already dead.

I braced myself to accept the fact, and let myself comfort Rose.

Lara left to talk to security, and I was left with a weeping Rose on my shoulder.

By nine thirty, I had to extricate myself from her arms and get ready for rehearsal for After Dark.

She was a sniffling mess curled up in her bed when I left the trailer, I promised I'd check on her the moment I could.

Cairo was waiting outside the After Dark tent for me, a strained look on his face.

"Did you hear about the girl?" he blurted the moment I approached.

"I did," I said, "Erica. She's from Vancouver too."

"She is," he replied, "We've looked everywhere. She's vanished."

"I don't know how these girls keep disappearing, it's not like this is a big city."

His frowned, "You don't suspect me this time, do you?"

"No, not at all." I stepped into his arms and we embraced, not passionately but more to remind one another that we were vital, we were alive, and our absence would be noted.

And I didn't suspect him. I suspected somebody was going to try and set him up again, and I wondered if Orion would do that to his own son.

"I emailed Mila, by the way," he said into my hair.