I walked out of the gorilla's room with a small tired sigh while I shook my head and pursed my lips in annoyance, silently wondering what was going to happen now.

While the gorillas were eating the food I had given them, I asked them about the boy and if they had noticed anything different or weird going on with him or his parents.

None of them did, and Frank only knew that something happened when the mother started to scream about her kid falling into the pit and watching what was happening above them.

Apparently, after the boy had fallen into the pit, his mother kept screaming and threatening to sue the zoo because of their "incompetence" and for the way it was so easy for them to fall into the gorilla pit with no safety net or whatever, blocking them from view.

I bit back a small tired sigh while I shook my head and pursed my lips in annoyance, moving a hand through my hair and across my face while I silently wondered if I could just call it a day and leave to go home.

I couldn't help but bite back a small snort and shook my head while I pursed my lips further in annoyance because I knew that I couldn't leave, even though I had PTO and sick leave that I could use to make sure that my money was covered.

But if I left, then I knew that some of the animals would try to riot and leave until they made sure that I was safe and alive...

I bit back another tired sigh and shook my head while I bit back a small groan of annoyance and tucked my head closer to my chest, earning a small snort from somewhere to my left that I was not expecting.

I shrieked and jumped, startled when the person snorted, and I covered my mouth with my hands while I turned to look that way to see that Stephen was standing there with an amused smile on his face.

"Stephen," I said, my voice muffled from my hands while I continued to stare at him with wide eyes filled with nervousness and fear. "What the hell? Why did you scare me like that?" My cheeks turned red, and I couldn't help but feel embarrassed while I looked at him.

"I didn't mean to," he said, and his smile grew wider while he looked at me. He cleared his throat and grew serious while he gestured for me to follow him somewhere, and I followed him, even though I had no idea where he wanted me to go and what he wanted me to do. "I thought you knew that I was there."

I rolled my eyes and scowled, and my cheeks turned another shade of red because I did not expect him to be there but working on something else. "Very funny, Stephen," I grumbled and nudged his arm, and Stephen chuckled teasingly while he slowly nodded. "Now, what is it? What's going on? What happened?"

Stephen bit back a tired sigh and shook his head, growing serious. He cleared his throat and rubbed his hand across his arm. "Well, we need help," he said, and I raised an eyebrow in question, "and I suggested that you help us..."

"With..?" I cocked my head and studied him while I raised my eyebrow higher in question. "With what?" I asked. "What happened, and what do you want me to do?"

Stephen hesitated and rubbed his some more, clearing his throat and shifted a little further away from me as if he was scared about how I would react. "Well," he said, "I think that you need to see what is going on first before I explain it..."

The hair on the back of my neck stood at attention, and my heart skipped a beat before it started to pound harder and faster in my chest. "What do you mean?" I asked, thinking about the worse. "Is something wrong with the kid? Is he dead?"

Stephen bit back a breathless laugh, and he shook his head no. "No," he said before he cleared his throat and grew serious. "There is nothing wrong with the kid, and he isn't dead. However, I do not know much about what had happened..."

I furrowed my brows and cocked my head closer to the side while I looked at him. "Then why did you leave in the first place?" I asked and raised an eyebrow in question. "I thought you wanted to help me with the gorillas and then see if they had seen anything."

Stephen bit back a small chuckle while he slowly nodded. "I know," he said and cleared his throat, growing serious. "However, stuff happened, and it doesn't have to deal with the boy, so you don't have to worry about him."

I hesitated before I slowly nodded, pressing my lips into a thin line. "Then what do you want me to help with?" I asked while I furrowed my brows while I cocked my head and studied him. "Does it have to deal with an animal?"

Stephen hesitated before he slowly nodded in confirmation. "We need to talk about that later, though," he said before he cleared his throat. He looked around before he looked at me with something in his eyes that I didn't understand. "We should talk somewhere that is safe and does not have a lot of... people nearby." He gave me a pointed look and raised both eyebrows in unison, and I held back an eye roll before I pressed my lips into a thin line and slowly nodded.

It was something that we needed to take care of and not have any of the guests that came to visit the animals...

I bit back a tired sigh and slowly nodded, pressing my lips into a thin line. "Ok," I said before I cleared my throat and shifted a little closer to him. "Did you need me to do stuff?" I asked and raised an eyebrow in question.

Did you need me to talk to the animal and see what happened and how they ended up in our care?

Stephen nodded and breathed a small sigh of relief as if he was happy that I knew what he wanted me to do. "Yes," he said and nodded in confirmation. "We are going to need you to help in that way."

I pressed my lips into a thin line and slowly nodded while I moved closer to him, and he looked at me before he looked toward the way we were going. "Where are we holding our new guest?" I asked, my voice barely above a whisper because there were a few places where I didn't want to attempt to talk to the animal.

I didn't want anyone else to know about the secret that I had, even though there were a few people that were suspicious of me...

Stephen sighed and shook his head before he cleared his throat. He picked up his pace and gestured for me to do the same thing, which I did without question. "We will talk about that later," he said and shook his head, "or you will be able to see where it is soon. You have my word."

I bit the inside of my lip and slowly nodded, silently praying that the animal was safe and not sedated like they sometimes did when we get frightened animals inside, which scared them even more...

Oh, Gods, help the animal and make sure that they stayed safe until I was there to help, please, because I know that they are going to need it...