~ A Twisted Tale - Chapter 3 ~

Instructions

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Before she knew it, Rose was already being dragged towards the stage by her friends. Well, at least I could make the most of it by asking the performers questions about the disappearing kids; she thought to herself. Clove and Kitty were distracted, but Dahlie had just finished taking selfies with kids. Her friends had crowded towards Kitty, while Rose went the opposite way towards Dahlie. “Awww, you’re cute!” Dhalie said as Rose approached. “I love your hair!” “Ooh, thanks,” she was caught off guard by the compliment. “Um… do you mind if I ask you a few questions?” “Ooh, sure! Is this because you want a selfie!?” Dahlie said. Bending down to reach Rose’s eye level, even though she was only two inches taller than Rose. “Do you mind if I ask you about the disappearances of the missing children here?” Dahlie froze. Not just a quick pause to think, a full on tense. “Ooh, um, about that, um…” she stammered. “What she’s trying to say is, we’re not permitted to tell you that,” came a different voice from behind Rose. Clove had sent the kids off on their way and came over to where Dahlie and Rose were talking. “Police business, they said we couldn’t tell anyone about it since it’s police business. Nothing for a little girl to worry about.” The way Clove said “little girl” really got under her skin. She was not little, she was way more mature than she should be, and she was not going to stand around being called “little girl”. “I’ll have you know, I’m 14,” she narrowed her eyes on him. “Ooh, well, then it’s nothing for an 8th grader to worry about.” “I’m going into high school.” “Then my apologies,” his tone sounded annoyed and slightly irritated, but Rose didn’t care. She felt satisfied Clove was mad because she was mad he had called her “little”. Clove turned and left towards the staff only area, quickly followed by Kitty. Rose wanted to follow, but Dahlie was still there. “I’d be happy to answer any other questions you have!” She quickly changed the subject. “Ooh, no, it’s fine,” Rose sighed as Dahlie straightened and wandered over to the arcade where even more kids wanted to take selfies. Finally; her mind echoed as she snuck towards the staff only area. After walking down a hall labeled “PERFORMERS ONLY”, she stopped at a door labeled “COMMON ROOM”. Inside she could hear a muffled conversation. “I don’t like it.” “What? That a kid is asking about the reports?” “She’s not just a kid Kathleen, she’s 14. Smarter than regular high schoolers too.” “Ooh, so you’re worried about a 14 year old? What’s she gonna do? Tell the cops?” “Kathleen, don’t—“ “What, Wyatt? There’s no evidence, and the police have been investigating for three years now. They found nothing, she’ll find nothing too.” “Kathleen, that’s not—“ “Kathleen, we should still be cautious,” came a different voice. It must’ve been Timber. “You go back to your emo corner, Caleb,” Kitty, apparently Kathleen, snapped. “Kathleen, stop. This is bigger than—“ “Bigger than what, Caleb? That a 14 year old is curious and—“ “Kathleen!” Clove, or rather Wyatt, snapped. “It doesn’t matter who finds out whether they’re a cop or not. What matters is that nobody ever finds out…” The way he said that last part sent a chill down Rose’s spine. Find out? Find out what? Rose turned back and started walking towards her friends again. Typing something into the notes of her phone. Notes: - Performers suspicious, they know something - Group is kinda dysfunctional - Dahlie tensed at question - Caleb emo - Find out what? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~