Jennifer Cross's Story

Jennifer sat at her bosses desk, waiting for him to come back from something his assistant called him out for. She picked up her bag and started moving things about, looking for her phone. She moved her purse, camera, hairbrush, makeup bag, hand sanitizer and tissues before finding it at the bottom beside her keys. She flipped it open and she had one new message, from her best friend, Dana Kent, it read:
Hey, we're all going down to the bar now, if you want to join us later. She smiled and shook her head and typed, Sorry, can't gotta do some research on some traveling zoo. and hit send. Her boss opened the door just as she put her phone back in her handbag. "So you want me to go visit this traveling zoo tomorrow?" She asked him, a small smile on her lips. "Yep,just review it. Ask the staff about what it's like working there and ask the exhibits what it's like living in a travelling zoo." He grinned at her, walking over to his chair. "Why would I talk to animals?" She furrowed her brow and looked into his eyes. "You haven't heard?" He asked her, with a quizzical look on his face. "No." Jennifer admitted, shaking her head. "Oh,you're in for a surprise." He sniggered and waved Jennifer off. Jennifer left his office and headed for the lift.
When she got back to her apartment, Jennifer kicked her shoes off and dropped her handbag onto the sofa, she wandered over to her laptop and typed 'Freaks Galore' into google. "Oh my god." She sighed when she read an article from one of the other cities it had been to.

Jennifer picked up her phone and dialed the zoo owner's contact number. She kept reaching about the zoo and looking at pictures of the 'exhibits' while waiting for him to pick up. She looked at several articles, some from everyday journalists, some from Human Rights and some from Animal Rights, some from critics and some from scientists. She took out her notepad and started to scribble some questions.

Jennifer got the voicemail. "Please leave a message after the tone." And a short beep was heard. "Hello,this is Jennifer Cross. I was just wandering if it would be possible to interview you when you arrive at Vancouver,possibly other staff member and maybe a few of your 'exhibits'. This would be a really interesting story and I would love to work on it. Thank you. Bye." She pressed the end call button and set her phone down beside her laptop. She waited for a reply.

"What do you think is the meaning of life?" Dawn looked up, a small frown set on her face. Meaning of life? "Honest answers are greatly appreciated." She tried to think of what to say. Nobody has bothered to ask her a question like that since... Well, since ever. She ran a hand through her hair before deciding the suitable answer that Jack always used. And, the one all of the older freaks used to describe themselves.

"To entertain. It doesn't matter if we want to, or don't want to, but we have to entertain." Her eyes never strayed from a spot on the ground, and she could hear Freya's voice fill her head with thoughts at what she had just said. She flapped her wings, enough to have her hover a bit over the ground but not enough to be out of sight. She looked down at her current audience member. Only audience member, at that. Where was everybody? She looked around, finding them crowded around Ridley's cage. And Jack... Wait, Jack? That must mean that she had done something wrong. And sure enough, there was soon a web covering the bars of her cage. Oh, no. She wouldn't be leaving without bruises.

"I don't mean to cut our conversation short, but the zoo is closing soon, Freya. I thought you might like to know." Still quiet. But this time, Dawn look up. Over Freya's head and to watch the sunset. It was beautiful, she watched it every time. She sighed and ran a hand through her hair again. Habit.
---
Jack looked at Jetta, saw the rib sticking out. Saw Widow shoot the web. He had had just about enough. He shot a look to everybody that was dangerously evil. He was losing his patience. And you didn't want him to lose his patience. He looked at Timothy one last time, nodded, before heading off to his office. It was still as clustered as ever, maybe even more messy because he had left a window open and the breeze had blown papers everywhere. As soon as he locked the door behind himself, the phone rang, but he didn't recognize the caller. Instead, he walked over to it and listened to the message.

"Hello,this is Jennifer Cross. I was just wandering if it would be possible to interview you when you arrive at Vancouver,possibly other staff member and maybe a few of your 'exhibits'. This would be a really interesting story and I would love to work on it. Thank you. Bye." Jack looked down at the answering machine as the girl (Jennifer Cross. Name sounded familiar) hung up and a series of beeps told him that. He looked around. The newspaper, that's where she was from. And she wanted a story on them. Which would populate them. And then cause him to earn more money.

"This is The Owner of Freaks Galore. We will be arriving at Vancouver in two days, you won't miss us. There will be flyers all over town. But, if you'd like to interview us, that would be wonderful. The freaks you should probably interview are our most populated ones, which are stated on the front of the map when you get here. If you'd like to know their names ahead of time, here they are; Angel, Black Widow, Jetta, Romulus, and Zero. Staff, I'll introduce you to when you arrive. We'll cease to entertain you." With that, he hung up. Somebody had answered, but that was all he had said. And that would be enough to catch their attention.
~
"Attention! The zoo is now closed. We will be here tomorrow also, so if you wish to come back, please do so. After that, we will be heading to Vancouver. Please clear out, or my guards will have to help you." Jack called out, the last part dead serious, but he smiled as if it were a joke. He ushered a lot of the onlookers that were talking to the freaks with his hands. Amoung them was a redhead, a girl in pigtails, a french guy, and some dude dressed like a girl. He nearly pushed them out, but did it with the same joking smile.

After all, he had to get to his freaks. They hadn't exactly done a good job today.

"Well, then your ma's a crappy parent."

Katerina watched as Timothy walked away.
"Damn straight she was..." she mutters with a touch of sadness in her voice. She never did know her mother, she died giving birth to her. It wasn't until she was about 5 that Katerina learned of why she is the way she is. Her father found out of his wife's plan of turning herself into a cat/human hybrid after the fact. She made sure to keep it secret from him until it was too late. Katerina's mother had taken drugs to give her features and characteristics of a cat, but ended up passing it on to her daughter. The reason for her mother's death was unknown, whether it was because of the drugs or just childbirth, but Katerina wished she could have met her mother. Maybe to give her a good slap for doing this horrible thing to her own child.

After coming down from her thoughts, her eyes followed Timothy again. She caught the glimpse of a tank that she was able to see clearly from her cage. Inside, she could see a boy, a handsome boy, swimming inside. He seemed to have the features of a shark. Instinctively, she twitches her tail, but smiles at him nonetheless. Hopefully she would get to meet this shark-boy.

When she has her fill of staring, she looks around and she spots a pretty blonde woman walking around. She seemed to look lost. Katerina's tail twitches and her ears flick as she continues to sit with her legs dangling outside the cage.

Jennifer was about to reply but the Owner hung up. "Bit rude." She said aloud. She set her phone back down and went to have a shower before going to bed.
The next day, Jennifer spent on researching the 'exhibits' and coming up with more questions for the owner and specific 'exhibits' he mentioned.