ᴛʜᴇ ʙᴜʀɴ

The show went on as normal once Soleil disappeared under scarlet curtains and from there, the Ringmaster's cheery attitude returned as he presented Cassandra walking on a tightrope, strong men, clowns, more fire dancers, and, a bunch of other grand events the Circus had to offer.

But he knew that the crowd wanted the girl to come back.

So finally, after the knife throwers finished their routine, it was Soleil's time to come back on the stage. And a couple of teenage boys were ready.

As the curtains opened the Ringmaster stood on the stage as the same golden aerial hoop descended from the ceiling, a birdcage prop covering it. "Is that—Soleil? Soleil, we are going to get you out of there."

Soleil sat comfortably on the hoop like it was second nature to her, which, it was at this point. "Take all the time you need, the view is nice from up here."

Then, the Ringmaster bolted off to the stage to act like he was getting help. At this point, Soleil's father deserved an Oscar for being able to keep his act up while feeling like a volcanic eruption was about to go off inside his mind.

"Now this, I can't wait to see," Gareth said.

"You're not the only one." Eddie took a small bite of his churro while his eyes were still focused on the stage. The song, I Was Made For Loving You graced his ears as Soleil started to slither around the aerial hoop. She bent and spun around the hoop in a hauntingly beautiful performance.

Soleil hung onto the hoop with one hand swiftly while she did the moonwalk in mid-air then, she pulled herself back up right before the beat dropped. That was a magical moment.

She gripped the sides of the hoop and fire blazed from her eyes, the hoop caught fire and illuminated the stage. The crowd clapped so loud that you could barely hear the music. Eddie and his friends were utterly amazed, trying to figure out how that was even possible.

As Soleil continued to dance around the hoop, the metal of the cage started to melt down, just how hot was this fire? The metal continued to melt until—CLANK!

The cage fell to the ground and now, there was a clear view of the dancing girl. The golden hoop started to lower down as the song started to drift off. Once it got to stage level, Soleil let go of the hoop and mounted the half-melted metal cage, throwing her hands up and bowing.

Immediately, the crowd gave her a round of applause as the other performers came out to end the show.

Now that was the kind of performance Eddie had come to see.

"Thank all of you lovely audience members for coming to the Regal Circus. Have a good night!" The curtains closed once the Ringmaster spoke.

Eddie was stuck in his seat as some people started to exit the Circus according to the attendant's directions. Everything about Regal drew him in but that last performance by Soleil was...unexplainable. He had no words to describe it.

"Hey Eddie," Dustin snapped Eddie out of his trance. "We're going to my house to play D&D, we need our dungeon master."

"Yeah, I'll be right there."

"Alright man but you know how my mom is."

Eddie jumped up. "Believe me I know, it won't take that long to drive to your house."

"Okay, we'll be waiting." Dustin started to exit the tent and Eddie started to pat his jean pockets, trying to feel for something.

He reached into his right pocket and pulled out the joint that he rolled earlier. After that show, a smoke break, he felt, was needed.

But while Eddie was heading outside, Soleil was backstage removing her accessories and waiting till her father eventually scolds her for not following the script which, was out of normal for her. Soon enough, she heard heavy footsteps heading toward her vanity area. Here it comes.

"Soleil Alastair, did you suddenly lose all ability to follow directions or what?!"

Soleil took her earrings off before she faced her father to answer. Cassandra was standing next to her father, just as equally surprised as he was.

"I just wanted to try something a little different Dad."

He got closer to her. "Why do you think we
rehearse? Why do you think we plan things out? It's not so you can go off and do what you want and get hurt."

She stood up and raised her voice. "Get hurt? I've been doing this since I was little! And according to you, my skills are unrivaled so what's the problem?" Soleil closed her mouth almost immediately after she spoke and looked at her feet, knowing her father was glaring holes into her for speaking like that. But all she wanted to do was find the guy she saw in the audience before he left. She was trying to hurry this up.

"Now little lady you better watch how you're talking to me. I expect better from you Soleil."

"But—the audience—"

"The audience what? They were loving it sure but, you're not the one who calls the shots Soleil."

The girl looked up at Cassandra for help, but she got none. Yet again the cycle continues, her father gets mad at her, and they get into it, and she ends up cowering and feeling bad about herself.

That just about summed up Soleil's life in the Circus anyway. That's why she had to get out. 

"I don't want to see that again, Do you understand me?"

"...Yes."

"Good." The Ringmaster walked out of her vicinity to go attend to whatever other business he had to deal with, whether that be speaking with the dance instructor or going into town to get a Cosmopolitan. There was barely time for his personal life, it was just the Circus in his mind all day long. There was barely any time for him to pay any attention to his daughter. Soleil hated her father's coldness towards her and it was present in most of his actions but, now they were in Hawkins, her dad was becoming more protective than ever, why? It was another question she couldn't answer.

She wished he could be just her dad for once.

The girl looked up at Cassandra, the woman who would've been her mother if her dad wasn't such an idiot at times. She didn't even say one word before she also walked away, maybe she just didn't know what to say though, but that thought didn't stop her action from hurting Soleil even more though.

Soleil rested her elbows on her vanity table and cupped her face, her plan to show her dad that she could handle herself backfired and just ended in her feeling worse about herself.

"Why is it that I always do something wrong?" She spoke to herself, in her eyes this was just another thing she did to earn the disapproval of the only two people whose opinions mattered.

Soleil found herself feeling like she had a crater in her chest, of course, she didn't enjoy irritating her father or Cassandra but she would be damned if that feeling stopped her from doing what she wanted this month.

Her eyes widened as she practically jumped out of her seat, that's right. She had to go find that guy before he left and if her mind was right, he would be able to show her a good month. Maybe she could even get a funnel cake while she was at it.

And so, still, in her bright costume that matched her bright nature, Soleil grabbed her yellow bag and hurried out of the Circus tent, making sure nobody saw her.

Once she got outside, she scanned the patch of land where stand vendors and ride operators set up shop closer to the lake the Circus was near. She would try and find the guy in the audience. Wild brown hair, a jean vest, anything that would indicate that she found her man.

But at last, the young Circus performer found nothing. No sign of him, he must've left already.

Soleil's shoulders slumped, that was her chance at getting out of this place or—at that was what her mind told her. Oh well, nothing a warm funnel cake couldn't fix.

She walked over to the small confections stand run by an older, red-haired woman she knew as Ms. Judy. Judy had been with Regal for years, even before Soleil was born. She sometimes gave the girl special discounts (even when she wasn't supposed to).

"Oh, Sol! I heard your performance was amazing from my customers. Congratulations honey."

"Thank you, Ms. Judy. My dad said otherwise though."

Ms. Judy's thick brows furrowed. "Ignore him, he always acts like someone soiled his favorite jacket." She turned around and used her tongs to pull a funnel cake from the cooling rack, placing it on a heavy-duty plate made from recycled material being that Ms. Judy was very environmentally conscious. "You want your favorite?"

"Yes please."

"Alright, coming up." Soleil's mouth watered as Ms. Judy adorned her funnel cake with a healthy serving of whipped cream, chocolate sauce, and chocolate chips. The warm, fluffy funnel cake would surely make Soleil's night. Ms. Judy stuck a wooden fork in the cake.

Soleil reached for her bag but, she was stopped. "Oh no, this one is on me. Enjoy honey, remember to recycle alright? And chin up."

"Of course, thanks for the food." She gave a small wave to the woman before heading to the small eating area that had picnic tables. Soleil sat at an empty table and started to dig into her funnel cake, the sugary dessert melted away in her mouth and caused a rush of serotonin through her body. Instantly, the homely feel of Circus food made her forget her troubles though, she couldn't help but be a little disgruntled that she couldn't find the guy she was looking for.

"Gotta say, man, this campaign you made up is just a work of art. I don't know how much better D&D could get from here."

"You bet your mother that it's amazing, I spent a whole week coming up with it. You better be prepared to face Vecna yet again."

Soleil heard two male voices that were getting closer and closer and when she looked up, there she saw him. Wild brown hair, jean vest. There was the guy she had been looking for talking to a younger teenager with curly brown hair wearing a hat. They had seemed to be talking about D&D a game that she had only heard about from Kara, as she was a Dungeon Master. She liked how creative the game was but sadly, never got to play due to her father's strict no fun rules.

Ugh.

Well, this was the only chance she had left to talk to this guy if she wanted fun so, she had to take it. No matter how much the crater in her chest was expanding.

Soleil took her half-eaten funnel cake and walked behind the two guys that had just passed her table.

"Excuse me?" The two turned around, surprised by the performer's presence. It was quite an odd sight of Soleil standing there in her costume and colorful make-up, destroying a funnel cake in an attempt to suffocate any awkwardness she felt.

"You're the girl from the show!" Dustin said in an excitable tone. "Soleil right?"

"Yeah, did you enjoy the show?"

"Did we? It was great, tell her Eddie!" He elbowed his older friend who was still zoned out, gazing at Soleil.

"Oh—right yeah, it was amazing. Never seen anything like it before." Eddie was caught off guard by the pair of cognac-colored eyes that he felt stared deeply into his essence. There was no denying that Soleil was a stunning young woman—Eddie got nervous around stunning young women.

"Well, you know my name, who are you guys?"

"I'm Dustin and this is Eddie."

"Hey."

"Nice to meet you both." Soleil bit the corner of her lip trying to figure out how to word what she would ask. "Say, Eddie, you look like the type of person who knows how to have fun around here."

Eddie's stiff demeanor softened up and a small smile came over his face. "You...could say that, depends on your definition of fun, ha." He spoke with a weird aura of charisma coming from him but, it was still obvious he wasn't fully confident in his speech.

"Ew, gross."

Soleil chuckled, making a 'pft' noise. "Not like that, I meant that you seem like someone who knows where to go to have fun."

"Oh, I guess you could say that."

Dustin looked in between the two and though he was only about fourteen, he knew when he needed to leave.

"I'm gonna go join the other guys. We'll be waiting!"

"Alright!" Eddie called out to him as he jogged away from him and Soleil.

Soleil ate the last piece of her funnel cake. "I wanted to ask you something but, it might be a little odd..."

Eddie tilted his head slightly, he sure didn't expect this. "Uh, that's alright. It can't be weirder than me. Shoot."

"Can you help me get out of here? I need some fun, desperately."

Now, that was strange.

"Get out? Are you being held here against your will or something?"

"No! No," Soleil responded quickly. "It's just very complicated but anyway, I just need something to do and my mind told me you could help..." Soleil brushed her hand along the side of her leg, now that she said that out loud, she thought she sounded extremely weird. "I'm sorry, that sounds very weird now that I've said it out loud."

"No, it's fine—don't be sorry, brains are just strange like that, I know. If it's fun that you want, I know a place, it's more peaceful, secluded but there's a nice view—" Eddie mentally facepalmed. "Now that sounded like I was gonna kidnap you, I mean there's this rock that looks like a skull. People usually uh, make out there but that's not my intent."

Soleil laughed at Eddie's nervousness, it was kind of charming. At least she wasn't the only one who was anxious about this whole ordeal.

"That sounds nice Eddie." She studied his face. "Y'know, I think we'll get along just fine."

"Really?"

"Yeah, really."

Eddie perked up, his not messing up this conversation was a miracle to him. "Great. I can come and get you in two hours, is that fine?"

"It's perfect, I'll be at the front gate, be sure to turn your headlights off."

"Gotcha."

"...And, let me buy you a funnel cake as thanks."

"Well, I won't deny free food."

The two grinned at each other, their chemistry was just right.

Maybe Soleil's mind wasn't wrong about Eddie.

—㋛—

Soleil had a big smile on her face as she scrambled to get ready to go on with Eddie. She was like a young girl going out on her first date, except this wasn't her first time sneaking out and this wasn't a date.

A baby-blue sweater and skirt combo was her choice of outfit for her outing along with matching blue go-go boots. Her tight curls were pulled into a bun that sat on top of her head while she tied a yellow headband to seal the deal. Colors were near and dear to Sol's heart.

The girl shoved her keys and allowance that Cassandra gave her once in a while into her yellow handbag and–she was ready to go. Her wall clock told her Eddie would be there in five minutes. Just enough time for her to quickly get out of the Circus grounds.

Soleil went to grip the handle of her door but she stopped. That pit feeling in her chest, always came up when she did this. All of the times she sneaked out of the Circus, she left with a bit of guilt in her. She felt bad for going against her dad's wishes, she had learned to push that feeling down over the years.

If she had let that crater in her chest hold her back from having fun, she would be miserable.

Soleil swallowed, this wasn't a time to deal with morals. Eddie was going to be there so, there was no going back now. However, that didn't mean that she couldn't ensure her safety.

She walked to her dresser, on top of it was her record player along with her record collection—there was also a medium-sized music box, the girl opened the top of the music box and a little ballerina twirled in the center of the box while calming music played. But that wasn't all that was inside.

Right next to the Ballerina was a .22 gold-plated pistol that Soleil picked up. She checked the chamber to see that it was loaded with six bullets then, she tucked it into her skirt waistband. Sure, she had her fire to protect her but, the Ringmaster was hellbent on his daughter protecting herself, when she was about thirteen, he taught her to shoot and gave her a small pistol. He absolutely didn't want her to use her powers if she didn't need to.

He reasoned that some people didn't take too kindly to Circus freaks, which was true, especially in towns like Hawkins. Everyone had to uphold some type of normal standard and if you didn't, you weren't worthy of living with everyone else.

Now, with only three minutes left to spare, Soleil slung her handbag onto her shoulder, closed her blinds, turned off the lights, and rushed out the door not before locking it of course.

The performer looked around to make sure there wasn't anyone at all that could tell her father about her sneaking out and watching her. The coast was clear.

Her go-go boots softly crushed the dry grass under her feet as she ran away from the trailer area of the Circus. She approached one of the surrounding iron fences that surrounded the location and started to scale it. The heels of her boots acted as anchors as she climbed, once she got to the top, she vaulted herself over and landed on the balls of her feet. Soleil then booked it along the side of the fence till she got to the closed front gate. Down the path that led up to the Circus, she saw the outline of was looked like to be a van. That had to be Eddie.

She walked towards the van where she saw the tall stature of the young man she had just met a few hours ago. In the background, she heard the sound of the song Crazy Train over the car radio which was turned down low. Eddie, who was looking at the trees ahead of him, now turned in the direction of the girl.

"Hey, Soleil, you ready to go?"

"You know it." She paused. "You can call me Sol if you want, everyone does."

"Sol huh? Like the sun." Eddie said as he opened the car door for her then, he got in the car himself. "Is that what your name means?"

"It's French for the sun."

"It's pretty." Eddie started the car. "I gotta ask—aren't you afraid?"

"Afraid of what-oh, you think I'm afraid of you, a stranger, trying to do something to me you shouldn't?"

"Aren't you?"

"You act like I can't set your ass on fire if you try something."

"Wait, that fire stuff is real?"

"Got any other rational explanation for it?"

He tried to think, but Eddie couldn't make sense of what he saw the girl do. How would you fake fire coming out of your eyes, or touching flames without breaking a sweat? Now, he felt like he should back out of this but, Sol didn't even give him the chance.

Soleil shook her head with a smile, now that she started to get a little more comfortable with Eddie. "C'mon, enough with the questions about my performance. I wanna know about you."

"Oh, nobody seriously cares about wanting to know about me." Eddie nervously laughed as he drove. He couldn't believe that a girl that pretty was sitting in this old van with him of all people.

"Why not? You seem interesting."

"They all think I'm a freak well, not all but you get the gist."

"Please, those people probably can't tell their hand apart from their foot. So tell me all about you."

"...I live with my uncle, he works nights. I like Metallica, Black Sabbath, AC/DC, and a whole lot of other bands. I play a fantasy game that 'normal' people believe is devil's magic and I play guitar. There, that satisfies your curiosity?"

"Mhm, not quite. I like your music taste. Have you ever listened to Bon Jovi?"

Eddie felt like his eyes were about bust out of his head. This girl who wore radiant clothing of top quality, this girl who wore professional-looking makeup was interested in the same bands he was.

"That's a surprise—"

"Appearances are deceiving Eddie, uh. It has just dawned on me that I don't know your last name."

"It's Munson, Eddie Munson. You're right, should've known better than to assume." He took a right, being so close to getting to the skull rock. "Bon Jovi is a pretty good band."

"Eddie Munson." His name rolled off the tip of her tongue. "Sounds good, mine's is Alastair."

"Soleil Alastair. Sounds like a D&D character's name."

"Believe it or not, you aren't the first to say that." She looked out of the window, trying to figure out how to continue this conversation. "Those bands aren't all I listen to though, I like Prince and MJ like everyone else. I like some variety."

Eddie gazed over at her for a second, he saw her glittery makeup shimmer in the moonlight as he parked the car. "I like that in a person," He said quietly. "Variety is the spice of life."

"That it is Munson, that it is."

Eddie chuckled as he exited the van along with Sol. Finally, someone who could match his energy, it was like a breath of fresh air after being cooped up in a house for so long. As Soleil did, the young man found himself being a little more comfortable around Soleil.

"We have to walk from here and let me reiterate, I am not trying to go all Micheal Myers on you." He started to walk as Sol followed him.

"Understood, you don't seem like the type anyway. You're way too sweet."

Eddie felt warmth coming to his face. "Uh—like you said, looks are deceiving."

The two walked and talked for a few minutes until they got to a clearing amongst the greenery. There it was, a huge rock formation that was shaped like a skull.

Eddie extended his arms as if he was presenting the rock. "Behold! Skull rock."

"Huh, it does live up to the name."

Eddie took off his jean vest and laid it under the huge rock. "We can sit now."

"Such a gentleman." He winked at her once they both sat down. "Stars are nice out here."

"So...how long have you been in the Circus?"

"For as long as I can remember since I was born at this point.  How long have you been living with your uncle?"

"Since I started middle school. Mom's dead, and Dad's in prison. That's the Munson's for you." He picked up a rock and threw it.

"Sorry to hear that."

"It's fine—it happened a long time ago. What about you? The Ringmaster is your dad."

She rested her head on one hand. "Yeah, he's overprotective of me which is why it's hard for me to leave the Circus."

"How overprotective exactly?"

She reached behind her back and pulled her small revolver from her waistband. Eddie almost fell over from moving back.

The corner of Soleil's mouth curled. "Relax, I wouldn't shoot you for no reason. My dad taught me how to shoot at thirteen and gave me this at fourteen. That was when he was a little more lenient, now that we're in Hawkins, he's been on edge." She put the piece away.

"Well, Hawkins is a strange town."

"You don't say."

Eddie just stared at her before he rolled over on his back, popping up to stand. "But! Isn't that was makes it interesting?"

Soleil held back a laugh. "A little. You're really something Eddie Munson."

"I'm something alright but, let's not worry about labels. Labels are what really ruins people." He climbed up onto the smaller part of the rock. "Boxes are boring."

"I agree." She stood up. "That's why I like being in a Circus sometimes, weird is normal there."

"Well, you came to have fun right? At somewhere other than the Circus."

"Right."

"Then...let's have some fun!" Eddie jumped off the rock and started to run in the direction of his van.

"Hey! Wait up!" Soleil ran after him, not before picking up his vest and dusting it off, already laughing at Eddie's unique personality.

By the time she caught up to him. He was slipping a cassette tape into his van. Over the speaker, Ride The Lighting played. Eddie banged his head to the music, and played air guitar, acting just as bizarre as he would around his friends. Soleil was in tears laughing.

Eventually, Soleil joined him, lip-syncing to the lyrics. Once the song stopped, the two slid down the side of the van, weak from their antics.

"Besides lip-syncing to Metallica. What else do you like to do Sol?"

"I used to write but then, I got busy with practicing and performing for the Circus."

"That's a shame."

"Don't get me wrong, it is fun to perform." She looked down at Eddie's vest which she was still holding. "Here's your vest, dusted it off for you."

He took it from her, a little surprised that someone was being considerate towards him. "Thanks. This thing is too valuable to lose."

"I can tell, look at all those patches! Wouldn't mind having a jacket like that."

"Mentally noted, when's your birthday?"

"You just met me and you're already thinking of birthday gifts Eddie?"

"You're not half-bad to hang out with, that is if you would want to keep hanging out."

"I'd love to hang out again thank you very much." The two looked at each for a little while, not breaking the silence between them as it told them both that they had finally gotten used to each other's presence. Any anxiety sneaked away like a thief in the night.

"...It's getting late, I should probably take you back," Eddie said, not wanting this moment to end.

"Yeah, but maybe we could do something tomorrow."

"Like what?"

"That'll be a surprise!"

They both grinned. "What time?"

"My last show is at five p.m. so, does six work for you?"

"Fine by me."

The two got up and Eddie put his vest back on. They got into his van and he started the car back up. As he slowly started to drive away, Soleil looked through the window again, squinting.

She swore she saw someone's silhouette as she got back into the vehicle. Nothing was there—must've been her eyes playing a trick on her again. That happened a lot for example, sometimes she could swear she saw a white dragon in the clouds sometimes when it was nothing.

"Sol? You alright?"

She turned to Eddie, not realizing he was talking to her. "Hm? Yeah, I'm good."

"I was wondering how you do the fire thing."

"Oh, Eddie, if I told you, I would have to kill you."

And so the drive continued like that, with Eddie and Soleil talking, Soleil dying at Eddie's jokes. Just a great feeling all around.

Eddie didn't expect this, not even Soleil did.

She was just glad this night out didn't resort to her having to use violence.