The Mystery Circus

Chapter 19

I quietly walked after Piper, but kept my distance. This was definitely suspicious. First of all, he sneaks off of the train without anyone noticing, second, he freaking climbs out the window to make sure no one sees him, and third, he is dressed in black. Who dresses completely in black when they are going to the mall? Plus, the mall is closed at the moment! I quietly sighed, but continued to walk through the snow after him. I saw him walk up to the mall. I hid behind a bush. I crawled into the bush, and sat down. Luckily there wasn't any snow under here.

I watched him pull out something from his pocket, and slip it over his head. It was a ski-mask! He then pulled something else small out of his pocket, and unlocked the door of the mall with it. I watched him slip inside. As much as I really wanted to follow him, I didn't want to get pulled into this mess. So I stayed hidden, just watching.

After about 10 minutes, he came back out of the mall, still wearing the ski-mask, but this time there was a garbage bag full of stuff. Stolen stuff, that he took from the mall. I watched him run across the deserted road. I stepped out of the bush, and began to run after him stealthily and quietly.

I followed him to the river, where he threw the garbage bag. I watched it float down the river until it disappeared and sank to the bottom of the river. Piper stood there for a minute, until he turned around. I quickly took cover behind a bush, praying he didn't see me. I peeked through the bush to see if he saw me. I bet he did, because he was glaring at the bush where I was hiding. I froze, cold fear ran through my bones. He would kill me because I knew it was him now. I know he would.

I stood up, but still crouched behind the bush. I started to back away from the bush. I then whipped around, and ran. I started running as fast as I could, not caring about how much noise I made, knowing he already knew I was there. But, luckily, I was a really fast runner, so unless he could run extremely fast, I don't think he can catch me.

I heard the footsteps of a person following me. As I kept running, they faded away. I ran through the city, and finally arrived back at the circus. I jogged up to the train and entered.

"Hey Angel, where were you?" asked Hope. I looked up to see her.

"I was restless and couldn't sleep so I went out for a walk." I lied. No one would believe me at the moment if I told them Piper was behind all of the robberies.

"Oh. Yeah. I couldn't sleep either." Hope laughed, and agreed with me. "I've been pretty restless too." she giggled.

"Okay," I fake yawned. "I'm tired. I'm heading to bed." I waved at her. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Angel." she smiled, and went back to doing whatever she was working on.

I crossed the cars to my bedroom, and walked inside. I shut and locked the door, careful to prop a chair in front of it in case Piper wanted to make a visit to my room while I was sleeping, because it seems like I'm not the only one with the ability to unlock doors without a key.

I sat down on my bed. I frowned, and leaned against the wall, thinking. That's all I was doing, thinking. If I didn't act fast, soon the circus would be shut down because Piper was framing us, and it's clear Piper really hated the circus and everybody in it. So if he hated the circus so much, why didn't he just leave? Now that is the part of this whole thing that confuses me. It's clear though that he wants the circus shut down, or else he would have just left. But why does he want it shut down?

I need to think of a way to stop him or expose him. Maybe I can take a camera with me next time I follow him and take a picture of him sneaking into a mall or something? I bet that even if there is one robbery when we reach Niagara Falls, the police will shut us down. Or we won't even be allowed into Niagara Falls to perform.

What would happen to us if we get shut down? My mom, Adrian and I won't have anywhere to go! My mother wouldn't have a job anymore, and we don't have any money either. We wouldn't be able to afford to pay the rent for our house, and we'll get thrown onto the street without anything!

I sighed, and pulled my knees to my chest, and laid my head on my knees, thinking about life. How horrible it was, yet how awesome it was at the same time. Life would be amazing without Piper. I should be excited about going and performing in Niagara Falls, yet I'm only filled with doubt and fear for what lays ahead for us.

I stood up from my bed, and decided to change into my pajamas. I slipped my pants off, and then I pulled my shirt off, and then I pulled out my long dark blue nightgown out of my dresser. I pulled it on, and stood in front of my full body length mirror to examine myself.

I smiled. I brushed my hair, and then did a french braid in it, so it didn't tangle during the night. I walked over to my bed and climbed in, moving the covers. I laid down and pulled the big fuzzy blanket up to my chin. I snuggled deep into the blankets of my bed, and sighed. I closed my eyes, and smiled. Tomorrow would hopefully be a better day.