Cirque

10: 𝑨𝒍𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒚 𝑯𝒐𝒎𝒆

Gasps and giggles flooded the air. No one knew if this was part of the show or if I had messed it up. In fact, I didn't either. I knew one thing, though, I had to get out of here. I vaulted down the pyramid of red, blue, and yellow clothed acrobats and jogged across the stage. I weaved past unicycles, summersaults, and plumes of flame from fire-breathers. People were cheering, and the music was still playing, so I must have done something right.

That might have been a very bad sign.

Hoping Carlos was following behind me, I pushed open the tent and burst into the night. Outside the tent was even more bright and chaotic as it was inside. I looked around, but I couldn't tell where the exit was. All I could see were children laughing and waving around streamers and clowns in big shoes strolling by with handfuls of hundreds of balloons bobbing in the breeze. Carnival machines were whirring around and there were so many different booths with food, games, and fun, that I couldn't possibly tell where I should head.

I tapped a man in a smart yellow suit on the shoulder. "Excuse me, uhhh..."

"Matheus," he said, adjusting his green and purple bow tie. I figured he must work here, judging by the large red nose he wore.

"Uh, Matheus," I said awkwardly, looking behind me to see if I was being pursued by deadly clowns out for my life. "Where's the exit?"

"There is no exit!" Matheus yelled and, laughing, ran off into the crowd. I sighed.

"Not helpful..." I muttered under my breath. I walked down dusty paths, dodging between laughing guests and laughing carnival workers until my feet inside their shining shoes were sore and tired. Everyone I asked had the exact same response when I asked them about the exit.

I felt like screaming. It was like the circus was closing in on me, trapping me in a snowglobe only with confetti instead of snow. Le Meneur was nowhere to be seen, but I knew he was most certainly not hurt from the tumble down the tower. I shivered, almost able to see his sinister eyes watching my every move.

"I'm getting out of here and I'm going to do it with everyone else!" I shook my fist at the sky, not caring that I was getting weird looks. So what if I looked insane, at this point I probably was. The exit gate had to be hiding around here somewhere, and I was going to find it if it was the last thing I did.

I tore open the back curtain of a small carnival tent obviously meant for workers only. If the gate was somehow hidden away, this was as good a place as any to start. Or not.

I was...definitely not supposed to be back here.

The lion tamer, Griffin, was standing in a straw-covered room, holding his hand out as five male lions with giant fluffy manes sat down in front of him. And he wasn't wearing a shirt.

I had honestly never seen a man as muscular as he was. Somehow he was the perfect combination of refined elegance and rugged sex appeal. I knew I wasn't supposed to be back here, I knew Griffin was certainly dangerous, not to mention the lions...but I couldn't bring myself to walk away.

"Either get out or stop drooling and shut the flap behind you," Griffin said gruffly in his smooth British accent, not turning around.

"Oh, sorry!" I jumped inside. It was stupid, but I felt safer in here than out in the crowd where Le Meneur could be hiding behind any corner. "So you actually tame lions, huh. And here I thought they were actually attacking you out there."

Griffin laughed, which surprised me. He turned around, his arm muscles flexing. "Don't believe everything you see," he said in an amused voice. "How about I demonstrate?" Griffin walked over to me, a hand casually tracing its way up my waist. "I can tame women too."