Chapter III

Ariel ran down the sidewalk as quickly as she could, blonde hair streaming behind her like a flag. It was five o'clock, and she had gotten back from school two hours ago. Now she had to find this freak show and buy tickets for her friends and her. At the moment she didn't want to. A few hours ago back at school she couldn't wait to go, but now there was a sickening feeling in her stomach that told her to go back. She couldn't go back now. Her friends were depending on her.

The sky was a reckless grey color, and gloomy violet. Ariel felt a little soft, comforting feeling in her stomach under the nervousness, so she knew that it was going to rain. Hard. That was good though. She was running right now because she didn't want the tickets or anything to get wet, but she loved the rain.

It seemed she was almost their- That's what her instincts told her anyway. She glanced down at the piece of paper in her hand which had the address printed on it. Soon enough, Ariel felt droplets of rain brush against her face. After awhile the grey concrete came to an end, and before her was a path leading into the woods. It didn't seem too welcoming- The trees hissed and cackled as the wind blew across. Ariel shivered, her hair waving in the breeze.

The trees suddenly appeared to be greener, and the rain begun to beat down harder. Ariel slung the grey hood of her oversized jacket over her head, and quickly darted down the path. The trees hung slightly hung over the path, making everything seem a bit darker. Thankfully she soon came across what looked like an abandoned theater.

"They've got to be here.." Ariel whispered to herself. She continued up toward the old building, and her heart sunk when she saw police cars pulled over. Cops with flashlights were examining a shed that was labeled a sign reading:

"Tickets: 50.00 $"

Not wanting to be seen, Ariel quickly ducked under a bush. She studied the area, glaring at the cops.

"Well this sucks.." She whispered under her breath.

"Why hello." A voice called from behind her. Ariel's heart skipped a beat. She quickly turned around to see a small man grasping a heart shaped watch.

"Sorry if I frightened you," The stranger said. "You're here to purchase tickets, am I correct?" He gave a knowing smile. "Let me say I am very pleased to meet you."

Ariel had to take a few breaths before slowly nodding. He had defiantly taken her by surprise. "Five, please."

"Oh, I am so dearly sorry," He said. "We only sell two tickets to each person, but for you my dear, I will sell you and only you three tickets."

Ariel raised a brow. "There's gotta be a catch.." Why was this person acting like she was famous or something?

He smirked. "Not, not at all my dear.." His figure frightened her for some reason- Not because he was ugly, but she was just getting a bad vibe off him.

"Oh.. Well.. Okay.." Ariel muttered, grabbing some money from her pocket. She only took 150, leaving another 150 left. "You sure the freak show will still be on for Friday night, even though the cops are investigating this place?" She asked, before handing the money over.

"Oh, yes, of course." He said. "The show must go on."

Ariel handed the money over slowly, reluctantly.

Taking the money, he tucked it away into his coat pocket, and in return handed her three tickets.

"Thank you.." She murmured.

"No, thank you." He said, smirking.

Ariel quickly got up and headed for home, fighting the storm beating down against her, praying she did not just fall for a trick.

The bell began to ring, and the students rushed from their lockers to their home rooms, leaving the once chaotic hallways empty and bare.

Back in room 906, I saw Ariel trudged to her desk, looking gloomy and depressed.

Me, Steve, Tommy, and Allan are all in her homeroom, and of course we all rushed over to find out what happened.

"Did you get tickets?" I asked. Of course I wasn't expecting a good reply, hence her expression. None of us did.

"Well.." Ariel sighed. She slowly reached into her a pocket, a frown on her face. All of our eyes were glued to what she was pulling out of her jacket.

"I do have.." Suddenly she pulled the tickets out from her pocket and smirked. "The tickets!"

We all smiled and cheered. "I though you weren't able to get them!" Allan said.

Ariel leaned back, smiling like it was nothing. "Well I guess I'm just amazing like that." She said, jokingly.

"Thanks for hooking us up." I said.

"It's cool, but remember, you owe me big time." She said, laughing softly.

"But.. Wait.." Steve muttered. "There's only three.."

We all became quiet. I can't believe we didn't notice that before.

"Oh-" Ariel was interrupted by the bell. Everyone in the class got up from their seats and immediately begun to walk out the door.

"Come on, I don't have all day!" Ms. Brewer shouted. She was our teacher, and everybody hated her. She was pretty mean and screamed a lot. We were all extremely annoyed, because she wouldn't allow Ariel to explain what happened.

The minutes slowly passed by into hours. It seemed like days until the lunch bell finally rung. We were learning about the Egyptians and stuff in history again today. Bo-RING. I was so thankful for the lunch break period, and rushed to my locker.

Yet again, like every other day, we sat at our table in the back of the cafeteria. Ariel was late, and we all basically jumped on her as soon as we sat down.

"So what happened with the tickets?" Steve asked, pushing Allan out of the way.

"Okay, well the guy that was selling the tickets was actually only selling two to each person, but for some reason he took a weird liking to me and sold me three." Ariel explained.

We all groaned.

"So who's getting the tree tickets?" Tommy asked.

"Ariel should obviously get one, since she paid for it and everything." I said.

"I should get one too!" Alan shouted. "It was my poster."

"Doesn't matter." Steve protested.

"Maybe we could do some kinda competition..?" I suggested.

"We could fight for it," Steve said, laughing. Of course no one would have agreed even if he was serious- We all know he would most likely win.

"Here," Ariel said. She pulled a deck of cards out from her bag and placed them on the lunch table. After shuffling them a few times, she turned to Allan.

"Okay, it'll be pretty simple. Just say any name of a card and if it's on the top, you'll get a ticket."

Allan started at the cards for a moment before answering.

"..Jacks?" He guessed.

She picked up the top card and looked at it for a moment. "Nope, sorry, it was a three."

"No fair.." Allan whined.

Ariel began shuffling the cards, then placed them on the table. "Go ahead Steve."

Steve concentrated on the deck, obviously thinking hard. "..King?" He guessed, after a moment.

Ariel flipped the card over, to reveal a King. She looked up and smiled, showing him the card. "Congrats."

"Yes!" Steve grinned.

"Okay guys," Ariel said, addressing Tommy and I. "If neither of you get it then we'll just keep doing it till someone does, I guess."

"Tommy, now it's your turn," Ariel said, shuffling the deck.

"Joker!" He replied, immediately.

Ariel flipped the top card over. "Nope, nine."

Tommy sighed. "Man.."

Half of the deck was held in Ariel's right hand, and the other half in her left. The cards danced in her palms as she mixed them together, shuffling them a few times. "Alright then.. Darren.. I'm gonna make this a little more interesting. Since Tommy got a nine, you'll have to get any card higher then that, and still guess it right."

"That's not fair.."

"Oh, come, please.. It'll be cool."

"Okay.." I murmured. I better win.

She laid the deck on the table. Everyone looked at me.

I leaned over a bit, staring at those cards, thinking hard about my guess.

Ariel peaked under the first card to see what it was while waiting, making sure Darren wouldn't see.

Fours.

It took me a while before I finally came up with an answer.

"Aces..?"

Ariel frowned, flipping the card over. "No, sorry D-"

She stopped to look at the card. The exact same card she had just looked at a second ago. Before it had clearly said fours, but now it read Aces.

"Oh, um, actually, you got it right!" Ariel shouted, smiling.

She turned the card around to show us, and never the less it clearly was an Ace of spades.

"Nicee.." I said, leaning back in my chair.

"I could've sworn it was a four before, though.." Ariel murmured, examining the cards.