The Mystery Circus

Chapter 1

I walked up to the giant, high-tech prison. After approval from the guards, I passed through the giant gate. I walked up to the counter.

"Ah, hello. How may I help you, young lady?" the man at the counter questioned. He looked fairly old, about the age of 50 or 60.

"I'm visiting my uncle. His name is Rick Abberline." I stated.

"Ah, yes. He is right down at this hall. Just keep walking until you hit the end of the hall." the man smiled, handing me a pair of keys.

"Thanks." I smiled, and started walking down the hall.

My uncle was in prison. He was in here because he was framed for crimes he didn't do, like robberies and bombings.

I passed many cells. I walked in the middle of the hallway so no criminals could reach through the bars and grab me.

I walked down the hall, and saw a large metal door. I assumed that this was my uncles cell.

I took the key that the guard gave me, and inserted it into the lock, turning it, and unlocking the door.

I swung the door open. My eyes widened, what I saw there made me wish that I had never came to visit my uncle Rick.

***
3 years later

***

I woke up to the loud sound of a train coming to a halt. I looked at the time, Noticing it read 12:00 am.

I hopped out of bed, stumbling towards the window. I looked out into the snowy forest, watching as the headlights of a train flash through the forest, screeching to a halt.

I quickly pulled on my dark blue housecoat overtop of my dark blue fuzzy pyjamas that I had on. I slipped my bare feet into a pair of blue slippers.

I raced down the stairs, the house deadly quiet all except for the sound of my quiet footsteps.

"Meow?" came the questioning mew from my cat, Smokey.

Smokey was jet-black with a white belly, chest and muzzle. He had a white ear tip. He also had violet coloured eyes.

"I'll be back soon." I promised. I walked out the front door, shutting it behind me.

I pulled my housecoat tighter around myself as the snowflakes fell from the sky, the gentle breeze making my waist-long black hair flap in the wind.

I ran through the snow that was about 2 inches deep. I was so lucky that my slippers were thick.

As I emerged out of the forest and into the meadow, I gasped at the sight.

"Unbelievable!" I exclaimed.

A giant, long passenger train was sitting on the railroad, the headlights cutting through the dark, shining a bright light.

A man with ginger hair stepped off the train. He gazed through the darkness, then spotted me awkwardly standing there.

"Well, hello! Why don't you come on over?" he grinned at me.

I shuffled my feet, then started walking towards him. "Hello." I said shyly.

"Hello, nice to meet you. My name is Joker. I'm the ringmaster of this traveling circus. How about you?" He greeted, his voice friendly and cheerful.

"My name is Angel." I stated. I took some time to examine him more clearly.

He had thick, ginger hair that was pinned back using bobby pins, which I found unusual for a male. He wore black jeans and a black v-neck shirt.

"Nice! This is the Traveling Mystery Circus!" Joker announced.

"Really?" Excitement buzzed through me. "I've always dreamed of being in this circus!"

Thoughts were racing through my head. Maybe I could join this circus!

"Well, why don't I give you a little tour around the train?" Joker offered.

Angel thought about it. It seemed like a good idea- Well, at least to her. Of course she would say yes, he's offering her a free tour around the train!

"Sure!" Angel beamed, grinning. "Let's go!"

"Okay, follow me." Joker grinned. He turned around to the train, stepping up onto the train. I hopped up behind him, following him through the door. I shut the door behind me.

"This is the dining room. We all eat here." he stated.

I looked around the room. It was certainly nice and formal. The tables had white table cloths over them, and the seats were a white, like the table cloths. There was a window next to each booth, that gave you a nice view of outside of the train.

"I like it. It's very... Formal." I nodded at Joker. He just simply grinned.

"Well, lets go show you the rooms." Joker announced, and started walking down the hall through the dining room. I hastily followed him, making my way around the tables.

"So how old are you?" Joker questioned. Okay, totally not stalkerish, but I guess it would sound rude if I didn't answer him. Besides, he's probably about the age of 40.

"I'm 13 years old. My birthday is on December 10th." I told him.

"Cool. I'm 40 years old. I'm one of the oldest people here, other than David, who is 43 years old." Joker chuckled.

Joker opened the door. "Be careful and watch your step here as we switch over to the other car." He warned.

"Okay, I'll be careful." I replied with a nod. After he hopped over, I hopped over. Man, I could only imagine having to do that when the train is moving. Joker here must be used to it.

In this car, there were 6 doors. Each door had it's own number on it. The numbers started from 1, and went up to 6, which was at the end of the hallway.

"This is one of the bunk cars. Here we have 6 bedrooms. In each car, there are 6 bedrooms." He stated. He opened one of the doors to show me inside.

"This is Caine's bedroom. Caine is actually your age. You should meet him. His parents are Mary and David. His sister is Hope, who is also your age." Joker explained.

"Okay." I nodded. I looked inside Caine's bedroom. The walls were painted a nice dark blue, and the floor was a soft white carpet. There was a bed in the corner of the room, and there were also other things like his dresser and nightstand. He had posters of a family swinging on the trapeze on his wall, with the words 'The Flying Griffons' in cursive-like text above the picture.

"What are the Flying Griffons?" I asked.

"The Flying Griffon's is part of Caine and his parents trapeze act. They call themselves the flying griffons, because people say they look like peaceful birds, soaring through the sky while their doing their act, and it's true. They look almost magical. And their last name is also Griffon." Joker explained.

"Cool." I stated. "I'll have to watch them sometime. But right now, I have to go. I'll come back tomorrow though, okay?" I announced.

"Alright, bye Angel, it was nice meeting you." Joker waved. I waved back, hopping off the train and running through the snowy forest back to my house.

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