Operation M.I.A: Missing in Action (IN NEED OF REVISING)

Chapter XXII

AVERY

Music: Spin Dizzy from Pac-Man World

So we're just cruising along, heading on the way to northern Canada (our next destination). I've been preparing myself for the bitter cold that will likely face us there by putting on my sweater, coat, and gloves. Everybody else is starting to bundle up as well when the hovercraft randomly stops in midair.

"What now, boy?" Sam, our current pilot, asks.

The hovercraft can't communicate verbally, so all it does it point downward. Confused, Sam flies us down to where it's pointing at, which is...

A circus tent.

"Why the hell does this thing want us to check out a circus tent? What could possibly be there?" Mia asks.

Sam pulls up the map and takes a look at it. "Right now, it appears that we're in Vancouver, Washington. There isn't anything for this on the map, so don't ask me."

"Well, might as well check it out," Heath shrugs.

A huge crowd of cars are parked near the tent's opening, and there isn't a line, so there's probably an act going on right now. Instead of just going through the entrance like normal people would, we pull up one of the flaps and crawl under.

The sight itself is... well, just picture any instance of a circus show that you've seen on TV or in movies, and there you have it. Right now, a clown is carrying two buckets of water on a long, horizontal pole while skating across a tightrope. I don't even know how anybody has the patience or coordinance to pull that off. Several other clowns are resting off to the side, and there's even a few typical circus animals like elephants and lions. Pretty typical circus.

"I swear to god, if they have a captive here, then they've just lost it at this point," Luke sighs.

"Brielle would freak if she had to be held here," I say, chuckling to myself. Then a crazy thought comes to my head. It's a long shot, but I just have to give it a try.

"Guys! What if Brielle is here?" I ask.

Everybody looks at me as if I belong in a looney bin. "Really? What conceivable way is there for you to have THAT crazy idea?" Skylar asks.

"Well, Brielle's scared to death of clowns. And I imagine if these guys are true professionals, they'd torture her in some fashion. Maybe that could be forcing her to stay with what scares her the most!" I explain, this idea starting to make more and more sense to me.

As for the others? Not so much. "That hinges on a lot of maybes, Avery," Sam tells me.

"It doesn't hurt to try," Elle shrugs.

Sam lets out an exasperated sigh and says, "Okay. Split up, guys."

I make the mistake of going with Heath, Luke, and Skylar. Heath and Luke can get pretty annoying when you leave the two of them alone with each other. They continue to make jokes and just be obnoxious. Skylar and I look at each other and we both roll our eyes.

"Don't ask me why I waste my time with these morons," Skylar mutters.

We eventually run into two clowns who seem like they've got nothing better to do. Skylar walks up to them and asks, "Hey, have either of you seen a mid-teen girl around here?"

Her answer is a pie and a few squirts of water to the face, followed by clown nose honks. Skylar stands there, furious as pie drips from her face. Heath and Luke start laughing like there's no tomorrow. The two clowns walk away, and I offer Skylar my coat to wipe her face off.

"You look like you're having a marvelous time," Mia's voice says as she, Mackenzie, Sean, and Shanna walk toward us.

"Just fantastic," Skylar replies sarcastically, wiping more pie off of her face.

I start scanning the area for anything else. The only other beings present in the area are two elephants. I randomly decide to look under their legs, and I spot the legs of a person sitting down.

But unlike the clowns, this person is wearing simple black shorts and black converse.

The exact same kind of shorts and converse Brielle wore the day she was kidnapped.

"Brielle!"

BRIELLE

Music: Trust Me I Will Save You from Nemesis 3 MSX

Despite my deathly fear of these clowns, they actually have been relatively nice to me. Srout said I didn't have to watch the show if I didn't want to, so he instead found me a place where I can sit quietly. I'm a criss-cross sitting position, with my head in my arms, wondering if I'm ever gonna get out of this.

And then I see a few pairs of feet on the other side of the elephants blocking my view. This confuses me, since audience members aren't really allowed back here.

Then, one of them shouts, "Brielle!" and starts running behind the elephants.

For a moment, I'm confused. The voice sounds like it came from my younger sister, Avery, but I don't think there's any way that it could possibly be her.

So you can imagine my surprise when the person reaches my area of vision and that person is none other than Avery. Her smile is bigger than it's ever been before, and I notice a tear sliding down from her right eye as she runs towards me.

"Avery?" is all I can say. I remain in shock as Avery pulls me into a great big hug and doesn't let go. I embrace her in return, rubbing her on the back, not sure of what's going on the entire time. I glance over Avery's shoulder and see a few of her friends show up on the scene.

"Oh my God... you're okay... I'm so glad you're here..." Avery says, sniffling. I release her, and now her face is streaked with tears. Her smile is still there, though.

"I'm glad you're here too... what ARE you doing here!?" I ask, really needing an explanation.

"For fuck's sake, how come no one gets it!?" a girl who I believe is named Mia sighs. "We're rescuing you, god damn it!"

"No need to be so aggressive," I grumble. I turn my attention back to Avery and place my hands on your shoulders. "You realize how dangerous this is for you, right?"

"Well, we made it all the way here, didn't we?" Avery replies. I don't really have a response to that.

Sam walks toward me and grabs my arm to start leading me out. "Let's get you out of here and back home before the circus people see you," he tells me.

I pull my arm away from him. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. And what do you think you're going to do?" I ask, placing my hands on my hips.

"Oh, nothing. Just taking down the trafficking center, that's all," Luke (?) smirks.

I shake my head. "Oh, no. Too risky. You are WAY too young to do that."

"Brielle, come on," Avery pouts.

"Look, Avery, I'm sorry, but I will not allow you to do this. The last thing I want is for your life to be on the line again."

That's when Sam steps in. "Brielle, if I allow you to come along with us and observe, would that make you feel any better?" he asks.

"Sam! We don't need a freaking babysitter!" Avery protests.

I, however, think differently. "Are the rest of you guys okay with that?"
Everyone else on the team nods or shrugs their reply. "Alright, then. You've got a deal," I say.

Avery is the only one who doesn't seem to be pleased. However, she's outnumbered by basically everybody else here. "Alright, fine. I guess I can live with this," she sighs.

On that note, I grab my sister's hand and sneak out of the tent with the remainder of the group.

So yeah, if you thought writing with 10 people was difficult enough, now I've got one more to add. Fun times. At least this time, Brielle's character is actually going to have relevance to the plot of the story (and not just be there and not do anything, like in H&S).

Next chapter is going to be really friggin epic. Just saying.