The girl screamed as if she had been beaten by the Devil.
In the dark mountains of Daredevil City, right inside the tower, Droh had just beaten a young girl. And this girl was familiar. Because she was the same girl that was living in Droh’s home in Rosarina Town. Droh grabbed the girl by her hair, making her cry as he held onto her hair tightly in his grasp. “You useless child!” Droh shouted at the girl as he continued to hold onto her hair. “You let those kids get away with my personal documents! And on top of that, you destroyed half of my home to bits. I give you one task! To guard my house in case they show up! And this is what you do?! When I’m done with you-“
“Enough, Droh,” the voice of a woman called out, masked behind the shadows as she sat in a throne. “Don’t waste your grip on the child.”
Droh reluctantly let go of the girl’s hair, throwing her to the ground as her body curled in helplessness. “These children and their tears,” the woman sighed. “If she didn’t have so much power, I would have killed her myself by now.”
“I can do that this very instant,” Droh told the woman.
“No. Someone as powerful as her is needed for my plans to work. So what if they got those papers?! It’ll lead them to you. And even closer to me.”
“Very well. What do I do with her?”
“Take Runa to her room. Her tears will stain the floor.”
And that was the girl’s name; Runa. Droh grabbed Runa by her arm, taking her away into the halls where he threw her into a dark room, shutting the door.
***
The next day, during the afternoon at Ringmasters Training Academy, Sana was alone in the school’s art studio while other students were working on the next circus show. While in the room, Sana was applying henna on her hand. However, she struggled with using the henna cone to draw the design. As she was working, Rey entered the room, looking straight at her and saying, “Hey, Sana!”
Sana looked up, turning to Rey.
“Oh. Hi.”
“What are you doing here? We’re supposed to be working on the set for the next circus show.”
“Why else do you think I’m here? Krystal is forcing me and Heer to do henna for her Bollywood circus,”
“Oh…well you’re doing a pretty bad job.”
“Excuse me?”
“Just look at it. Your lines are so sloppy. No wonder you’re so bad at drawing.”
“Shut up! I don’t need your commentary.”
Rey rolled his eyes as he then sat down right beside Sana, taking the henna cone from her hand. “Hey!” Sana exclaimed. “Give me that!”
“Oh, shut up!” Rey cut off Sana. Sana kept quiet as Rey grabbed hold of her hand and started drawing the design on it with the henna cone. Sana looked down upon her hand as Rey tightly held on her wrist, carefully drawing a beautiful design. She looked up at Rey, who was completely focused on the design. While Rey’s focus was on drawing the design on her hand, her focus was on him.
“Now this is how you draw! See!” Rey exclaimed as he finished drawing the design on Sana’s hand, looking up at her. As he looked at her, he noticed she was in quite a trance, continuing to look at him without saying anything. He snapped his fingers, making her come back to reality. “What world are you in?!” Rey asked. “See this! Now that’s a drawing!”
“Oh…yeah.”
“That’s all you can say?!”
“It’s nice. There, I said it.”
“Thank you.”
Then, Krystal and Heer entered the art studio with Krystal saying, “There you guys are. We’ve been looking for you two everywhere. What have you been doing?” But before Rey or Sana could answer, Heer elbowed Krystal, eyeing the henna design on Sana’s hand and the henna cone that was in Rey’s hand. Both of them looked at each other, smirking.
“What?!” Rey and Sana shouted in unison, seeing the faces Krystal and Heer were making.
“Oh, nothing,” Heer chuckled.
“Now would you two hurry up! We need to rehearse for my circus show!” Krystal exclaimed.
“You mean OUR circus show,” Sana corrected.
“Uh, no. It’s mine. I’m the one in charge. And I’m the one that decided on the Bollywood theme. Hence, its mine!” Krystal exclaimed. “Now hurry. We need to get working.”
Krystal gave a dramatic turn, flipping her hair as she walked out of the room, leaving Sana, Rey, and Heer behind. “She’s such a drama queen,” Rey said as he got up and started walking with Sana and Heer following.
***
In the gymnasium, Sana, Rey, Krystal, and Heer came back to see the other students practicing their own circus acts. Neil and Prince were trying to set up a series of hoops for a practice run. As the group got together, Professor Luna had arrived at the gymnasium and announced, “I need the following students to go see Headmaster Devil right now. Sana J. Malik, Rey Murgatroyd, Krystal D’Cruz, Prince Blake, Neil Galloway, and Heer St. Hale!”
“Again?!” Neil sighed.
“Now what does he want?” Prince asked, rolling his eyes.
“It’s not like we’re the only students at this school worth calling,” Krystal said, shaking her head in annoyance.
***
And so, the group made their way out of the gymnasium and walked down the hall towards the Devil’s Lair. “Okay, who’s opening the door?” Rey asked the others.
“Does it really matter?” Heer asked.
“You remember what happened last time,” Neil said. “What if he’s with another one of his girlfriends?”
“That was bad timing on his part,” Krystal said.
“I opened the door last time. So, it’s not me,” Sana said.
“I don’t give a damn about who opens the door,” Prince said.
“Then why don’t you open it?” Krystal said.
Rey shook his head as he then went ahead and opened the door of Headmaster Devil’s office. “Hey, Devil! You busy or what?!” Rey exclaimed, barging into the office while the others followed.
“Laila! I told you it’s over between us!” Headmaster Devil shouted over his office phone. “Why?! Because I think we should see other people. And after that trip we took, I need to cut back a little. Now quit calling me!” With that, Headmaster Devil hung up, slamming the phone down. He looked up to see the group in his office and said, “Oh…you kids are here.”
“So, Laila’s free now?” Rey asked Headmaster Devil, smirking. Sana smacked Rey in the head, getting irritated.
“Must you always go after every free chick around?” Sana asked.
“Let’s get down to business. Why did you call us, sir?” Neil asked.
“I’ve examined the documents you gave us from Droh’s home,” Headmaster Devil said.
“Did you find out anything?” Sana inquired.
“Aiden is taking care of that. He will be studying them for some time and will notify me of anything important,” Headmaster Devil said. “But that’s not what I really wanted to talk to you about. From your trip to Droh’s house in Rosarina Town, you said that you met a girl there?”
“Yes. She’s a dark beast as well,” Sana replied.
“That girl was unusually powerful,” Heer added.
“The better question is what was that girl doing in Droh’s home?” Rey asked.
“There must be some connection,” Headmaster Devil responded. “We can’t do much for now.”
“Then what do we do?” Sana asked.
“Try to keep things on a low profile for now. I want you all to just focus in class and the upcoming circus show. Take some time off the situation,” Headmaster Devil told the group. “If anything happens, we’ll go from there. Understood?”
“Yes, sir,” the group responded in unison.
“Good. You all can go back for practice,” Headmaster Devil said.
And with that, the group left Headmaster Devil’s office. Headmaster Devil sat back in his chair, pondering, That girl…what relation does she have with Droh?
***
“Cut!” Krystal shouted in her orange-colored megaphone. In the gymnasium, Krystal was making everyone rehearse the dance sequence of her circus show. “What are you people doing?! You guys are supposed to sway your hands to the right! Not the left!”
“Does it really matter?” Sana asked, shaking her head.
“Yes it does! Everything has to be in alignment!” Krystal exclaimed. “Now, let’s take it from the top!”
“I’m done with this,” Prince said as he stepped out of the group, heading towards the wall.
“I’ll be back. I need to wash this henna off,” Sana said as she headed down to the washroom.
“Prince! You get yourself back here!” Krystal shouted at Prince with her megaphone.
“To hell with the drama,” Prince said as he started chewing on a peppermint-flavored candy cane in his mouth.
***
In the washroom that was located between the boys and girls locker rooms, Sana went inside. As she went in, she noticed Rey was standing by the mirror, looking at his arms. “Really? You’re admiring yourself?” Sana said, unamused.
“No need to be jealous, Sana. It takes real genes to be as good looking as me,” Rey smirked as he brushed aside a parting in his hair. As he was doing so, Sana noticed a tattoo on Rey’s arm. The tattoo was a band which wrapped around Rey’s upper arm and right in front of it was a roaring tiger’s face.
“I’ve never seen your tattoo before,” Sana said.
“This one? Everyone in the Tiger Clan has one like this. There’s only a few of us so we all got one at birth. Just like everyone from every other human-beast clan out there.”
“I see. You mean you were born with that?”
“Yeah. It’s just a birthmark, Sana. Nothing more than that.”
“Can’t believe I never paid attention to it. It basically reminds you of your identity, doesn’t it?”
“You know you’re getting very sentimental right now. Especially over a birthmark.”
“Forget it. Sometimes I say stupid stuff.”
Sana rolled her eyes as she walked towards the sink next to Rey’s. Sana started washing the henna off her hand, while Rey continued to check himself out in the mirror. She turned over to him and said, “So, what do you think about this whole Droh situation?”
“I don’t know. Devil said not to worry about it now. So, don’t worry.”
“You can’t seriously be taking this lightly?! First we find out that there are dark beasts out there who possess human forms. And aside from Droh, there’s some monster child that’s just as dangerous.”
“Look, I get that you’re worried. But we’re just students of the academy. If the headmaster himself says we should chill, then why shouldn’t we?”
“He will say anything just so that we have nothing to worry about. If Droh has someone as powerful as that little girl on his side, who knows what other enemies we may have.”
“What do you mean by other enemies?”
“I can only imagine how many other dark beasts are out there like Droh and that girl. And what if all those documents are related to a team of other dark beasts he’s working with? Or someone he’s after?”
“But what point would he have of keeping reports on other accomplices?”
“He could be building a team. We may not know for what reason. But I have a feeling that he’s working with other people.”
“One thing I know is that you never take a break from thinking.”
“Shut up.”
***
Inside a private study room of the school library, Aiden was sitting at a desk with dim lights on as he was quietly studying the documents that the others had brought from Droh’s house. He used a flashlight to examine the documents as he looked at every single detail.
“These are all dark beasts. But question is why is Droh keeping all of them on file, including himself?” Aiden asked himself out loud as he continued to look at the documents. “It just doesn’t add up.”
Aiden continued to look through the papers and then began looking through a series of reports related to a study on a tiger’s DNA structure. “Interesting. Out of all these papers, most of the information relates to some tiger,” Aiden said as he examined the documents closely. He put his hand to his head, trying to think. “It looks like he is after someone.”
***
Outside of the academy, Sana, Rey, Krystal, Prince, Neil, and Heer had gone out to take a break from practice. “You really didn’t have to shout at everyone today,” Heer told Krystal.
“Well, why wouldn’t I? I need everything to be perfect. And you know what’s worse? My designer messed up the color combination of my outfit for the show,” Krystal complained. “How could anyone think that midnight blue and crimson red could look good together?!”
“No one really cares you know,” Rey retorted.
“Shut up, Rey. I’m not even talking to you,” Krystal said.
“We come out for some fresh air…and you guys have to bicker. Come on now,” Sana said.
“I should’ve stayed back,” Prince said, rolling his eyes.
“For once I second Prince on that,” Neil agreed.
Suddenly, the others could feel a gust of wind coming towards their way. “What’s going on?” Heer asked.
“The forecast didn’t say anything about a tornado!” Krystal shrieked.
“For some reason I don’t think that’s the case!” Sana said, rolling her eyes at Krystal.
Suddenly, the wind stopped. The confused group looked ahead to see the girl, Runa, standing right before their eyes.
“It’s that girl,” Neil pointed out.
“What the hell is she doing here?!” Rey asked. Runa immediately levitated, turning away straight down the road.
“She’s getting away! We have to follow her!” Sana told the others as they then came along. All went after Runa, except Heer, who stood, watching on. There’s something really wrong with that girl. I can feel it, Heer thought.
Neil stopped, turning to see Heer standing still. He ran back to her and said, “What are you doing, Heer? We have to follow that girl.”
And so, Neil grabbed Heer by her hand, pulling her along as they followed Runa down the road.
The group followed Runa all the way into the woods until she had finally stopped in her tracks. She came down onto the ground and turned towards the others, looking at them, overwhelmed. “Okay guys, get ready!” Sana told the others. Rey and Prince immediately transformed into their beast forms.
“Heer, transform already!” Neil ordered Heer. But Heer didn’t listen. Instead, she was just looking at Runa, lost in thoughts.
“Heer, are you listening to me?!” Neil asked Heer. “Heer!” Heer slowly made her way towards Runa while the others stood by.
“What is she doing?” Krystal asked.
“Heer, stay away from her!” Neil ordered Heer.
“Heer, listen to Neil,” Sana told Heer.
But Heer continued to get closer to Runa. Runa stepped back a bit, feeling scared. “It’s all right,” Heer told Runa. “You don’t need to be afraid.” Runa looked back at her, puzzled.
“Heer?” Neil said.
“What’s your name?” Heer asked Runa.
“Ru…Runa,” Runa replied in a stuttering manner as she tried to step back further.
“It’s okay,” Heer told Runa, extending her hand towards her.
Runa looked at Heer’s hand with awe. She slowly extended her own hand towards Heer’s hand, eventually grasping onto it. But as she did, she felt a sense of shock rise up in her. “NOOO!” Runa cried. The cry of Runa released a strong electric shock from her hand to Heer, injuring Heer and making her fall to the ground.
“Heer!” Neil shouted. Neil ran to Heer, helping her get up as Sana, Krystal, Rey, and Prince rushed to the scene. Heer looked at Runa as the others did, seeing her body suddenly give off an eerie purple glow.
“No! Why did I leave?! Why did I escape?!” Runa cried to herself, putting her hands to her head as she got down to the ground on her knees. “What will happen if they find me?! Why did I leave?! Why did I come here?! Why?! Why?!”
“What’s wrong with this kid?!” Krystal asked.
“That’s what I’m trying to figure out,” Heer said.
At that moment, a cloaked figure suddenly emerged from a black puff of smoke, picking up Runa by her hair. She screamed as she struggled to free herself. And then, the cloaked figure disappeared in the same smoke, taking Runa along.
Rey and Prince transformed back.
“That…was weird,” Rey said.
“Forget weird. That was just bizarre,” Prince added.
“Are you all right, Heer?” Neil asked Heer.
“I’m fine,” Heer replied.
“What were you thinking, Heer?” Sana asked Heer.
“Yes! Why would you put yourself in danger like that?!” Neil asked Heer. “That girl is clearly a threat.”
“She may be. But I feel she needs help,” Heer replied. “That’s all I tried to do.”
Heer remained silent. The silence loomed over the whole group.
***
On the other hand, in the tower of the mountains of Daredevil City, the cloaked figure returned along with Runa. The cloaked figure removed its hood, revealing to be none other than Droh. He let go of Runa, throwing her to the ground. “She escaped again!” Droh shouted. “I don’t know how many times I have to deal with this insignificant creature.”
“Droh…let it be. Besides, you really shouldn’t treat your own niece with such brutality,” the woman, masked in the shadows, spoke.
“Niece my foot! I am not to blame that my sister adopted this kid and then left her in my care after her death!”
“You speak so ill of the child, yet your antics at this moment are no less than that of a wailing toddler. So, give it a rest. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Her power is something I need for my plans.”
“Plans, plans, plans! You continue to talk about plans, yet you barely mention what you really want. You better know what you’re doing, Madame Naga.”
At that moment, the woman emerged from the shadows. That woman was Madame Naga. She wore her voluminous black maiden hair downward across her back as she wore a long sleeved black gown with a choker in the design of a snake wrapped around her neck. Madame Naga tapped her sharp black finger nails on the snake head scepter she held that was gold in color. She smirked and said, “Trust me…I know what I’m doing.”
Copyright © 2021 Meryl T
All rights reserved. All illustrations created by Meryl T.
The Ringmasters Society 