Beyond the Curtain

08 | rule 97

RULE 97: YOU MUST GET PERMISSION TO LEAVE THE CIRCUS GROUNDS FROM MISS NYMPHADORA HERSELF.

✷  C  H  A  P  T  E  R     E  I  G  H  T  ✷

"Bowling?" I questioned as I furrowed my eyebrows. "Julia, what is—"

"We're going bowling," she reiterated with even more enthusiasm.

Putting my hands on my hips, I said, "I don't think I can go."

"You've made plans with the big, bad Alpha?" She inquired as curiosity rippled through her. She teetered from foot to foot before rushing me over to our bathroom. As we reached the bathroom, she placed a hand on my shoulder and looked at me expectantly.

"No," I deadpanned. "I just don't want to have to go ask Miss Nymphadora for permission. I think I've tested her limits recently. I mean, she still hasn't said anything to me since that night. She's never been this speechless. Never. This can't be a good sign."

She exhaled and brushed me off. "Olive, relax. I've actually talked to her, to Miss Nymphadora, and got permission from her to go bowling. She even said we could take Gray with us, but I can't find him anywhere."

"I don't know," I sighed, pursing my lips.

"Olive," Julia warned. "Come on, you've just found your mate, and it's time to celebrate."

"No." I shook my head. "It's not time to celebrate."

"Okay." She bobbed her head. "Then we have fun regardless. I mean, come on, Olive. What are you going to do instead? Wallow in a pit of despair?"

"The pit of despair seems very inviting to me," I responded as Julia rolled her eyes and pushed me into the bathroom.

"Get ready," she instructed, standing upright. "I'm giving you five minutes. I don't want to be late for our reservation."

Left without much choice, I wiped as much makeup from my performance off as I could manage before using a rag to spot-clean my body since there was no way I'd have enough time to shower. It took almost the entire five minutes to brush the tangles and volume out of my hair.

When I resembled more of the pre-performance version of myself, I wrapped my cloak more tightly around my body and pried the door open, rummaging through my box of clothing that was under my built-in bunk bed. Picking out the first pieces of clothing my hands touched, I was ready to go in just over five minutes.

Physically ready for Julia's events for the night, I was not as mentally prepared. Not only was I still processing the fact I had an actual soul mate in the world. I was also processing Miss Nymphadora's leniency.

I could not deny that Miss Nymphadora often took a liking to me when it came to situations like this. While when I was younger, I did get in a fair deal of trouble, she never punished me more than I could handle. Sometimes, I'd double over with tears, wishing for the punishment to end, and more often than not, when I had reached my breaking point, the punishment did indeed cease.

Because of this, I knew I was luckier than many others in my circus family. Assuredly, no one had ever died at the hand of Miss Nymphadora or any of her goons, but some had come close. Usually, when things got close to death, it was mutually beneficial—at that point—to terminate the contract, freeing both parties.

However, once someone left the circus, they never were heard from again. Beatrice, someone who liked to lend a motherly hand when I was younger, had been deemed one of the lucky ones—one of the people to escape the contract bounding us to Miss Nymphadora, but no one knew where she was. No one knew what she was up to. No one knew if she had made it far beyond the curtains of Miss Nympahdora's Three-Ring Circus.