Chapter 9

                Desirae looked up and around. Her head was pounding and she had changed back into her normal clothes. She tried to stand, but her legs gave out and she tumbled back onto the ground.

                The unknown room was cold, and dark. Dirt covered cheap tile and the wallpaper on the walls had begun to fade.

                Desirae began to crawl forward to see if she could find something, anything to get her out of here. She reached forward on her second stride and felt a cold arm against her palm. She screamed bloody murder and fell backwards! She squinted into the darkness and saw the outline of a woman, she too was lying on the ground.

                The woman’s eyes opened a little and she made eye contact with Desirae.

                Desirae gasped and realized it was Morgana! She had been taken captive with her in an unknown location! She quickly stood to her feet without falling, “Morgana?! Are you okay?!” she whispered really loudly.

                Morgana stood up and looked at Desirae, “De…De…”

                Desirae nodded, “Yeah it’s me, De-“

                Morgana interrupted, “DEBRA?!”

                Desirae face palmed herself, “No! Desirae!... Whatever, Do you know where we are?”

                Morgana shook her head no, “No, I’m afraid not.” She brushed off her pants and raised herself onto her knees. “We were in that field one second and then suddenly everything became a blur and I passed out I guess…”

                Desirae brushed a sweaty lock of hair off her forehead. The room had begun to grow hotter and she could see a light piercing through cracks in the roof. She walked forward a little and listened closely and began to hear the sounds of children laughing and playing games.

                Morgana stood to her feet and listened as well. She gasped, “Are those… Children? Where on earth are we?”

                Desirae looked around, “I’m not sure… but I think we are underground somewhere…”

                Morgana flicked her wrist for her fan but noticed she had it taken from her! She dropped to the ground and burst into tears! “MY FAN!!!.... IT’S…. IT’S BEEN STOLEN!!!”

                Desirae rolled her eyes and felt for her necklace, then noticed it had also been taken! She slammed her fist against the wall angrily, “Dammit! They stole from us!”

                Morgana looked over with her eyes clouded by tears, “What’d they take from you Debra?”

                Desirae shook her head, “It’s not important enough, let’s just get our stuff back.” She looked around one last time and noticed a door! It was comprised of old wood and looked like it could give in with one kick. “Over there!” She pointed to the door.

                Morgana stood back up and wiped her tears, “Do you have a plan then?”

                Desirae snickered and nodded, “We’re going to have a chat with our captors.”

                Georgia clasped her hands together and looked around at the enormous Circus plot! There were food tents and games everywhere, even a carousel! “Oh my goodness! Look at this place you guys!” she turned and looked at Leefah and Chasity.

                Leefah had her arms crossed and she wasn’t in a pleasant mood. “You know Chasity, just because we had to sit in the backseat of the cab together, doesn’t mean you were required to feel me up whenever we went over bumps.”

                Chasity rubbed her head, “Oh Leelee! Every opportunity to cherish with you I must enjoy! Who knows how long we’ll get to be together like this?”

                “Hey you three!” shouted a female voice.

                The girls looked and smiled, especially Georgia! “Hey Mitzi! Maple! You guys came to see the Circus too?!”

                Two girls walked up them. One a tall blond girl with long luscious hair dressed in a tight tank top and short shorts with white strappy sandal heels. The other a short stubby old woman dressed in a robe with wrinkles and greying hair tied into a bun.

                The blond girl, Mitzi, nodded and smiled, “Yup! As you know, Grandma Maple doesn’t get out much so I thought I’d treat her to a little fun here!”

                The old woman, Maple, nodded. “Mitzi here thought I might enjoy myself… however…” she smacked Mitzi upside her head with a long wooden walking cane, “I HAVEN’T SEEN ONE HUNKALICIOUS MAN WALK PAST US!”

                Mitzi blushed, “And you know how Grandma loves her men…”

                Maple straightened herself out and looked at Georgia. “Well well, you didn’t show up for training today… I assume you wanted a day off?”

                Georgia stood awkwardly, “Uh… Well…”

                Maple shook her head, “Now now dear, I was young like you once… not as polite and clearly in love with yellow like you, but young… and I know how it feels to want a day off…” she then walked up and smacked Georgia with her cane, “SO I EXPECT DOUBLE THE AMOUNT OF TRAINING TOMORROW!”

                Georgia knelt to the ground and held her head with tears streaming down her face out of fear, “Yes ma’am!” she replied back shakily.

                Leefah smiled and walked up to Maple, “Hi Maple! I hope my friend isn’t giving you much trouble?”

                Maple tssked, “Oh please… I trained you to be a level 9 Spellcaster and even got you into the elite group of them like me… I task such as this won’t be easy, but it certainly isn’t hard.”

                Leefah blushed, “You did end up sending me off to Moonlight Falls to study at Maeander Academy anyways…”

                Maple smiled with her old self looking as wise as can be, “Yes indeed I did. I always saw you as a granddaughter to me like Mitzi, although she’s more of a valley girl and would go off on her shopping sprees and tea parties, while you were always one to get stuck in fights and such. That’s the reason you are Level 9 like me, While Mitzi is still a mere Level 4.”

                Leefah laughed and then looked at Maple. Her face grew serious, “Why are you really down from the Mountain Cottage…”

                Maple looked at Mitzi who had begun to have a chat about shopping with Chasity and Georgia. “The same as you dear… The amount of Spell Energy in this vicinity is largely composed of dark magic.”

                Leefah nodded, “Not even I could tell that… Chasity had her Civilian Services partner tell us the one who is possessing the dark magic however…” She pulled out a slip of paper and handed it to Maple.

                Maple pulled out a pair of reading glasses and went to work at analyzing the document. “His name is Joker Cardasius I see… A Level 8 Spellcaster known for his Card Magic with a signature move of Card Storm… I do believe I’ve heard of this fellow before.”

                Leefah’s eyes widened, “You have?”

                Maple nodded her head, “A couple weeks ago, A man came into my training area and asked if I could help him with a sort of spell. He was lanky and dark skinned, didn’t seem like he was a powerful Spellcaster who was capable of the type of spell. Of course… I immediately denied him and he left.”

                Leefah put her hands on her hips, “So, you think it might be him? Kyoko wasn’t able to pull up a picture of him so anything about that man you can tell me will really help us out.”

                Maple continued her story, “A few days later, the man came back and demanded I teach him the spell. He was a totally changed man this time, like… his very soul was transformed… I denied him again but he… he took dear Mitzi and you know how she can be! I gave in… I taught him the spell but he couldn’t control it. His first go around at it, he failed and the spell backfired, leaving a burning scar on his face. Fortunately, I was able to take Mitzi back and then forced him to leave.”

                Leefah looked around, “So he has a scar of his face… What shape?”

                Maple paused for dramatic effect.

                Leefah pursed her lips, “Maple?!”

                Maple sighed and smiled, “A Lightning bolt…”

                Leefah grabbed her cell phone and dialed a number.

                On the other end, Kyoko picked up with his mouth stuffed full of sandwich remains. “Hello?”

                “Kyoko, I need you to do a search through the cameras of Sunset Valley. Look for a man who has a lightning bolt scar on his face!”

                Kyoko placed the phone into its holder on speaker. He then rolled his chair back and pulled up every security camera in Sunset Valley. He typed that he wanted every person with a scar on their face to be pulled up, then hit search. He leaned back, causing his medium length black hair to fall back towards the floor. “I’ll call you when I get all the results! Say Hi to Chasity for me!”

                “Thanks!” Leefah hung up her phone and looked down at Maple who was gawking at a muscular tan boy about the age of 19 at a nearby booth.

                “He’s a hottie!” Maple uttered under her breath.

                Suddenly, the crowd backed away from the center of the lot and watched as a cloud of smoke appeared before them all.

                The girls all turned and walked over.

                Mitzi jumped up and down excitedly, “Oh boy! It looks like it’s almost time for the show!”

                The smoke cleared and Tophet appeared before them all. “Ladies and Gentleman!” she called out elegantly, “The Show is about to begin! Please make your way inside the tent and have a seat.”

                The crowd cheered and headed inside.

                As the group of girls passed Tophet, she made eye contact with Leefah.

                The two locked eyes as they passed, making it seem as though time itself had stopped.

                Leefah stopped and looked back at her.

                Tophet applied a dab of lipstick to her lips and raised her umbrella. She winked at Leefah, “I do hope you enjoy the show! We do our best to make it apply to ALL of our audience.” She snapped her fingers, causing her umbrella to carry her off into the air.

                Leefah and the others watched astonishingly as Tophet glided up and over the tent, disappearing from view.

                Chasity noticed Leefah’s curious look and grew worried. “Leelee? Is something wrong?”

                Leefah looked back at her, “N-No… I just thought…. I just thought she was someone else…” She shook her head and smiled, then ran and caught up to the other girls. As she walked, she remembered the night of her house fire, and a the figure she believed to had started it… one who had the same body shape as Tophet.