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The third day of school had come to a very auspicious end, and Draconia felt a bit worn out. She had considered canceling Comic Book Club's first meeting of the school year, but changed her mind fearing that if she did, people would forget and lose interest completely.

As it were, Ghoulia had moaned her apologies, but the excitement she'd been through the last couple of days had left her completely hexhausted - understandably so! It was also unlikely Jackson and Heath were going to make it, since last time Draconia had glimpsed, Holt Hyde and Heath Burns were trying to hang around the school to talk to Catty Noir.

That left her, Hellene and any possible new joiners. Draconia hoped Wydowna Spider would make it, and maybe a few of the new students that were sitting with her, Glen and Hellene at lunch now. It would be disappointing if it was only her and the stacks of new comics...

Nonetheless, Draconia put the tea kettle on and brought her week's books over to the cozy nook where Comic Book Club was held and hoped some monster would arrive soon.

"Oh....oh dear, I...I mean..." Draconia was taken a bit aback. She had been so pleased to see a new ghoul show up for comic book club that she had begun pouring tea...and then suddenly Ascreama had turned on the slimey, gooey water works. This was quite concerning. The poor ghoul was wailing like a banshee with giant, blubbery pink tears that were rolling down her arms and spilling all over the ground, leaving pink puddles in their wake. Draconia was afraid she was going to cry herself into nothing but a pink pond. If that happened, Draconia would have to get the mop and bucket.

If that were the case, this was not the first time she'd had to mop up a friend, but it wasn't something she enjoyed. She wanted to avoid as much as possible.

"There, there..." Draconia patted one gooey shoulder and led Ascreama to the stylish, 60's retro-mod plastic oval chair in the sitting area. At least if she did cry herself into a puddle, it would be the easiest to clean up. She put a cup of tea into Ascreama's hands. "It's not so bad as all that, surely it isn't! Meme must surely have been...er..."

Draconia recalled Meme's energetic jokes during the past days' lunches. She raised an eyebrow. Wasn't Meme actually really INTO circuses?

"Meme joining the circus actually seems like rather a logical jump, doesn't it? I mean...the balloon animals in Study Howl. It's just-"

"Oh, great Galahad's Ghost, Draconia, who is howling down there? I'm trying to finish an e-maul." Wyvernia leaned down the bannister to look at the two ghouls from upstairs. "Is she all right?"

"Yes, she is, er...she will be." Draconia noticed that the tea, cup and all was inside of Ascreama now and she was less outright crying, and more just dry sobbing. "This is Ascreama, Ascreama, this is my sister Wyvernia."

With introductions out of the way, Draconia felt a need to explain the situation.

"Wyvvie, Ascreama's friend Meme has gone and run away to join that circus too. I'm telling you, there's something utterly mad about that place!" Wyvernia sighed and gave her sibling a sisterly-but-so-much-more-worldly-than-thou nod.

"Drake, it's a meme. Er, that's 'meem,' not 'Mee-mee' like her friend's name. It's just a trending action that teenaged monsters are using to act out against the establishment. In two weeks, it'll all be forgotten and everyone will be doing something else crazy for attention. When I was in high school, it was dancing on top of flagpoles. Everyone was doing it for a while. Even I did it, though it was much easier for me since I had wings and all. This circus thing is just like that."

"But, Wyvvie-"

"No 'but Wyvvie,' Drake! I know it's annoying, but it's really not worth all of this drama. And it's certainly not worth all of these tears! Cheer up, pinky! It'll all blow over in the end." Wvyernia gave Ascreama a friendly pat on the shoulder...and then she walked off to find a towel for her hand. Draconia sighed.

"She's right. Wyvernia's ALWAYS right. That's what makes her such a good reporter, I guess. Here now. Let me pour you another cup of tea, and we can talk about comics, all right? Won't that fear you up?"

Ascreama sniffled and hugged her arms across her chest. Something was certainly wrong with this circus! She absorbed up her teary puddles and mumbled an apology about the mess.
She sat back in the fancy chair as Draconia comforted her. "You're so nice," the reconstructed blob girl said, a little less weepy. Wyverina tried to be nice but Ascreama was naive to most monsters repulsion and smiled more.

"I guess.. I mean, it makes sense. But like, that's her hobby , it's just a job for her, there's no way she'd uproot herself to go live there! She'd never leave her clowncarbag behind, let alone her pet Floaty!" Ascreama huffed with determination to find out what was going on, but Wyverina simply brushing it under the rug made her weary.

The gool nodded, knowing a distraction would improve her mood. The door chimed and Ronan entered, which made Ascreama's bottom lip wobble. "If he runs away too, then who else will be there for me?!" She thought, worried for her friends and the rest of the school.

"I wonder if other schools, or monsters from the town are leaving for the circus too?" She mused out loud.

"Hm, yes, it is a bit sparse here today, but normally there are quite a few nice monsters here at comic club." Draconia tripped over her words a bit, not used to being on the spot when it came to making introductions. "I'm afraid today's excitement has affected attendance. But I'm ever so happy the two of you came!"

She wondered where Hellene was at. A brief moment of dread made her think that maybe Hellene had up and abandoned her for the bigtop life as well, but Draconia dismissed it angrily. There was no way Hellene would go for that sort of nonsense! She was probably just running late. She was doing that a lot lately, after all.

Draconia cleared her throat and offered Ronan a cup of tea.

"Perhaps what we can start with is you new members introducing yourselves and saying what your favourite comic books are. Usually we come each week with our newest comics and bring a favourite story to share with everyone. This week I've brought some lovely Doctor Boo serial comics from the 1980's."

Yes, that was certain to distract from this circus Meme/meme for a bit, Draconia was sure of it.

"And then, later, we can talk about our comic projects. You know, fang-fic, fang-art, anything that you do creative that has to do with comics. I'd love to hear what you do for fun!"

Because the group was so small, the Comic Book Club meeting went by fast. Draconia, Ascreama and Ronan all had very different tastes in comics and Draconia enjoyed hearing their different views on all of the different genres. Even better, it seemed that the meeting drew Ascreama out of her funk thoroughly as she entertained them with an animated description of her favourite mangoo titles.

Because there were so few of them and, to be honest, everyone was hexausted from the long, strange day, the meeting wrapped early. Draconia lent Ronan a copy of her favourite Doctor Boo comics and Ascreama promised to bring in a Magical Ghoul series to share next meeting that Draconia was sure Hellene was going to love.

"Goodbye!" Draconia waved at her two new friends as they headed back to the Doomitories as the sun began to set. "See you tomorrow at school!"

"Good meeting?" Wyvernia asked, tapping the screen of her iCoffin rapidly.

"Yes, very good!" Draconia beamed. "And I'm sure the next one will be even better when we get everyone together. It was a bit tough handling the meeting without Ghoulia. She's so good at organizing things."

"I'm surprised you still had the meeting, after the big bru-ha-ha at your school today." Wvyernia replied, tapping her screen again. Draconia guessed she was playing the new update for Fangry Bats. "I heard about it down at the station while I was preparing next week's show. I'm a little annoyed Catty Noir didn't break the news about retiring from touring on my show, but that's what I get for not signing her to an exclusive interview."

"In all the excitement, it just slipped out." Draconia explained. "I'm sure lots of students will welcome her with open claws. She seems very nice!"

"She is nice. Very superstitious, though. I suppose that comes of being thrust into the spotlight as such a young age. Hey! Guess who my second interview is!" Wyvernia slapped down her iCoffin and grinned at her sister.

"Who is it?" Draconia was terrible at guessing games. Her mind just became a total blank whenever someone asked her to guess anything. "Um....Gill Baits?"

"BETTER." Wyvernia practically beamed. "'SLIME' magazine's Manster of the Year! Byff!"

"Byff! The casketball superstar?!" Draconia caught Wyvernia's smile and couldn't help but feel excited for her sister.

"Millionaire philanthropist casketball superstar Byff, yes!" Wyvernia corrected Draconia. "He's donating all of his millions to charities around the world that aim to get casketball courts and clubs built for disadvantaged and orphaned monsters all over the world. And his family lives RIGHT HERE in Salem!"

"Yes, I go to school with his brother, Gryff." Draconia nodded. A sudden thought hit her - Gryff was sure to go out of his way to be snarky at a 'mainstream pop star' like Catty Noir. Draconia made a mental note to try to warn Catty before Gryff could get a chance to upset her.

"He's got a little brother?" Wyvernia asked, pulling out her iCoffin again and typing up notes. "I should grab an interview with him. Get some soundbytes from the family about their uhh-mazing son!"

"I don't know if that's such a great-" Draconia began to explain, but Wyvernia cut her off.

"Do you have his number? Give it to me, I'll hext him."

"N...no, I don't think anyone has it except his close beasties. He does have a grimblr, though, and a critter account-"

"I'll just ask his brother tomorrow during the coffin call. Thanks, Drake!" Wyvernia gave her sister a hug and headed up to the flat, dialing on her iCoffin as she went. "We make a great team!"

Draconia sighed. Wyvernia was brilliant as a reporter, but listening to anyone who wasn't a marquee interview wasn't her strong suit. Draconia picked up her iCoffin and decided to send Glen a hext.

From: Draconia St. George
How are you holding up? Did you hear the news?

Another kid has joined the circus
Meme Pennywise

At least this one makes sense, but I still feel something is wrong...

Draconia crossed her arms, more than a bit annoyed. What convergence was going on in the Shadow Realm that caused Shadeaux to keep appearing in the Looking Glass broom closet?!

"No, it's-" Draconia was cut off by her iCoffin buzzing. She glanced down to see a hext from Glen. She sighed at Shadeaux. "Excuse me."



"Ooh!" Draconia smiled at her iCoffin. A double date would be groovy. Although Draconia and Manny weren't 'officially-officially' a couple, they did go out on occasion. Draconia appreciated Manny's deeply deeply buried sensitive side as much as his large minotaur stature. She tapped her phone to pass the invite on to Manny before suddenly realizing Shad was still there, staring at her awkwardly.

Darn shadow creatures! They were DESIGNED to be that way - tough to focus on until they caught the corner of your eye. Draconia cleared her throat and put her iCoffin away.

"Er. Ahem...The Reanimated Poet's Society meets on the school grounds, in the Vampitorium. You've quite overshot it. Might I suggest backtracking a few closets and trying again?"

Friday Afternoon

After school

Draconia ran in from the outside, nearly breathless as she threw open the door of the Looking Glass and dashed inside.

"Luna! Where is Wyvvie?!" Draconia nearly yelled at the sleepy mothgirl clerk. She blinked a couple of times, looking confused at Draconia's near-panic.

"She's in the backroom, why?"

"No time!" Draconia broke into a run. She quickly stopped, put on the brakes and ran back to the desk Luna was sitting at, stunned.

"So dreadfully sorry. That was rude of me! There's always time for a proper greeting. Good afternoon, Luna! I hope the day is treating you well."

"Oh, sure, it's-" Luna started to reply, but Draconia was gone again. Luna just shook her head. That ghoul was so excitable!

Once she reached the backroom, Draconia paused long enough to reach into her bag and pull out the notebook with the Ward in it that Hellene had given her. She found Wyvernia at a back table, sipping a coffinchino and viewing some taped footage on her computer screen. Draconia tossed the notebook down on the keyboard in front of Wyvernia.

"Hey!" Her sister started to protest, but Draconia flipped open the notebook to show her the Ward. "Woah. What is THAT? And where did you get it?"

Wyvernia picked up the ward with her thumb and foreclaw in a motion usually reserved for used kleenex.

"It's a Wyvvie, Ward! I mean, it's a Ward, Wyvvie! Hellene found it at the circus. Can't you see! There IS something strange and clawful going on there! And look!" Draconia held up her iCoffin to show Wyvernia her last couple of messages. "My friends Dashner and Ronan have joined the circus today! Well, Dashner for sure, Ronan it's more of a rumour that has sort of swept through the school and as far as I can tell the rumour's source is Atomica Servo, who isn't very reliable because of all of her glitching and-"

"Drake!" Wyvernia cut her sister off before she went full-Hellene in her rambling. "Draconia, I know you're all excited, but you need to calm down."

"But-but!" Draconia stammered. "The Ward!"

"Draconia, if I was running a big circus production, I'd sure as heck put a Ward on my place, too. Don't you know how important secrecy is to those performers? That's how they keep people from snooping out their tricks! In this age of spoilers everywhere, it's only common sense to try to keep out people who don't belong. Not to mention the safety issues, grimsurance, all of that-"

"Wyvernia!" Draconia looked at her sister with moist eyes. "Surely, you must believe me when I say, I know my friends! They would never just up and run away to join a circus, memes or trends or grimsurance notwithstanding!"

"Oh, here now, don't turn on the waterworks..." Wyvernia turned off her computer and gave her sister a hug. "Look, I'll tell you what. I'll even personally return the Ward to the circus owners and apologize for you for taking it, how does that sound?"

"NO!" Draconia stepped away from her sister incredulously. "Wyvernia St. George, you are just so....so....OOOOH!" A blast of fire shot past Wyvernia's head and started a stack of Rush Grimbaugh autodieographies on fire. Draconia clapper her hands over her mouth.

"Sfffrrry!" She apologized, through muffled claws. Wyvernia rolled her eyes and headed over for the fire extinguisher.

"I think this first week of school has you stressed out, Draconia. Why don't you take it easy this freakend? Relax." Wyvernia put out the fire with a resounding "FFFFFSSSSSSHHHH" from the extinguisher. "Fang out with your friends and stop stressing out over every little thing."

"I CAN'T fang out with my friends if they're all living at a BLEEDING CIRCUS!" Draconia gave one last yell, her anger-induced fire breath now setting on fire a set of books written by Stephen Thing. Draconia turned around and pointedly stomped out of the back room before she could burn the whole place down. Wyvernia sighed.

"Teen problems, they seem like SUCH a big deal when you're that age..."

FSSSHHHHHHHHHHH. She put out another fire.

"Grey!" Draconia came out from the back and her mood instantly lifted. It was so nice to see a sympathetic face who understood what was going on. "Oh, I'm so glad that you made it. Come on, let's sit over here."

Draconia led them to the comic book nook and put on a kettle of tea on the little kitchenette nearby. Normally, they'd do their studying on one of the tables closer to the window since the light was better, but the chairs in the comic book nook were squishy and cozy and Draconia needed that right now.

Uncle Wocky frowned on Draconia having any snacks outside of the kitchenette, but she liked to make an exception when Roswell was over since having snacks seemed to help him focus on their studies. She looked through the cabinet, settled on some crazlenut-filled booscotti cookies and brought them over on a plate.

"Oh, Grey!" Draconia tried to pull herself together. This wasn't going to be a session with a lot of actual studying. "Surely you've gotten the text from Dashner too, haven't you? Let me tell you all about what Hellene told me about the circus!"