Chapter 3

Never, ever break the contract, ever.

"What do you mean she is missing?" Azrael Odd, the Ring Master, asked everyone standing in front of him as he stood at the top of his steps leading into his trailer. The show had been over for hours, and the big top had been taken down as well. The rest of the performers were gathering their things up. The shows were over for the time being, and they needed to move on, but while this was going on, Mother Hades had forced Thomas J. Herny to go looking for Vilas. She was gone along with a car and the man who was bothering her before. While Thomas was looking, Lucille sent some of her cats out to help find their missing friend.

She was nowhere to be found. She was gone. She had run away. She broke the main rule of the Circus. Azrael had few rules in his Circus, but the main thing he wanted was for people to fulfill the contract. It was the reason they all went to face him now. They had to let him know that Vilas was on the run. They didn't understand why she was running, but it didn't matter as they all stood there in front of Azrael.

Lucille had never seen anyone run away from the Circus. She wasn't sure what was going to happen, but Azrael wasn't very happy right now. He stood there trying to stay calm, his red eyes flaring with rage. He took a deep breath, lifting his head a little to the sky before he dropped his gaze back to all his people, even his workers there, standing behind all the acts.

He looked over everyone, stopping for a second on Lucille as she backed up behind Thomas, holding Stanley close to her chest. Something was boiling in his chest as if there had been a great wrong done against him and them.

Azrael had gone out of his way to take care of everyone in the Circus. He loved them. He cared for them like they were his family, and in truth, he had been building them as a family. It wasn't some great wrong done against his rule. Vilas running from his protection didn't anger him because she broke the rules.

It hurt him.

Lucille saw it. There was pain in his eyes from what Vilas had done to them. She was one of the oldest members of the Circus. She should have known better, but she still ran, and Azrael took a deep breath. He was in his nightclothes, which were the finest things one could get in the world, but even with all the wealth at his fingertips, he was still hurt by Vila's fleeing the Circus.

"A man was botherin' her," Mother Hades spoke up.

"I saw the same man watching the show," Lucille said, standing behind Thomas while looking at Azrael between the black man's massive arm. Azrael locked eyes with her as she glanced downwards. "He was smoking."

"Anyone know who this man was?" Azrael asked, and everyone shook their heads no.

"He's from her past," Mother Hades said, "ha's to be, sir."

Azrael rolled his jaw, took a deep breath, and then nodded in agreement. He lifted his cane, the one with a skull on top of it, and it always makes Lucille shudder when she glances at it. It was as if the skull was sucking all the magic in the world to it, and it was his anchor of Azrael's power. Something was being pulled to it from the great beyond.

He waved his cane and ordered, "Thomas and Benjamin, step forward." They both did as ordered. "The rest of you get some rest; we are moving out the day after tomorrow."

There were mumbles as everyone strolled away from the Ring Master's trailer; everyone other than Lucille, who stayed behind Thomas while everyone got as they were ordered. She held her cat close to her chest as her pack of other cats did as they were ordered, rushing off to find places to nap or mice to hunt.

"What do you want us to do, boss?" Thomas asked, folding his arms in front of him. Benjamin 'The Cardinal Blade' Solomon chewed on his corn hole pipe. He was a massive man, a few heads shorter than Thomas, but his belly was the size of a beer barrel, even if he was as strong as a mule. He could and has walked six days in a row with his fat belly, never losing a bit of weight. Benjamin had a soft and round face, even if he wasn't a soft man at all. He had come from the mountains of the Appalachian, carrying with him the accent of his people from his homeland of Scotland. Benjamin himself had never been to Scotland, but his great-grandfather had been from the highlands.

Benjamin was a kind soul who loved to drink and fight, but he loved Lucille, who made him laugh all the time. The reason he was one of the best acts of the show, outside of his silly jokes and nature, was the fact that he could throw knives from his massive belly. He was the best aim with those knives in the world, which was the reason he was about to be sent to find Vilas.

"What if she doesn' want to come back?" Benjamin asked, with Thomas rolling his jaw.

"She doesn't get a choice," Azrael ordered. "Bring her home. We need her here to protect her."

"From whom?" Thomas asked.

"The smoking man," Azrael said.

"Come on, boss," Thomas said, "we all know you know everything about us."

Azrael locked eyes with Thomas and then said softly, "When you get her back here, you can ask her all the questions you want, Thomas."

Thomas nodded but said nothing else.

"Bring her home, gentleman," Azrael said, heading back into his trailer. "Trust me, she needs our help. We will be in Oklahoma when you get her." He stopped at the door, looking over his shoulder. Lucille, you stay here."

"Oh, come on," she whined. "Please."

"Sorry, clown," Benjamin said, walking away, "boss is right."

"This kick rocks," she huffed and frowned as Azrael shut the door to his trailer.

Thomas padded her on the head and said, "She'll be okay, clown. We'll  get her home." She rolled her eyes, following Thomas to one of the Circus's trucks.