“Rye...” He raised an eyebrow.
“Are you two together or something?” the blonde asked intrigued.
“Oh, I wish. He turned me down a long time ago, but I never cease to imagine him in bed. He's pretty rough.” She looked back at the woman daringly.
“How do you go out with him?” the woman looked surprised and repulsed at the same time.
“Why wouldn’t I go out with him?” Riley mimicked the girl’s silly accent.
“I prefer blonds,” the woman turned to her friend and tittered.
“Well, if this isn’t rude.” Riley was starting to fume.
“Riley, please...” Mathew began to plead her, but she cut him off infuriated.
“No, you listen to me.” She eyed the woman daringly. “We're in the twenty-sixth century. If you're still choosing a race over the other, get a time machine or I'll whip the life out of you. And I'm not bluffing, I do have a whip.”
“Riley,” Matt turned to her with an accusatory tone. If he wasn’t going to stand up for himself, she was, but he looked ungrateful and that displeased her.
“Excuse me?” the blonde frowned and looked at Riley angrily.
“Oh, she’s deaf too. What are you still doing with her?”
Mathew turned around and held her wrist pulling her away.
“Urm, I’m sorry Mathew I only see you as a friend.” She looked seriously at his hand holding her wrist then burst into laughter.
“You’re drunk.” He frowned and scolded her like a father blaming his daughter.
“You’re so clever. I never thought you’d figure it out.” She smirked and stared back at him boldly.
“I know how to handle myself. Just leave me alone.”
Riley huffed.
“Whatever.” She rolled her eyes and walked away.
The bottle of Whiskey was empty after she left it at the bar. Somebody must have drunk it. Great. Now, she had to buy another bottle because some bastard did not want to pay for a new one.
“You’re a really good friend,” a deep voice spoke next to her.
Riley didn’t give much attention to the stranger. She ordered another bottle. As soon as it arrived, she took a mouthful of the burning alcohol.
“I hate racists.” She turned around to watch Matt try as hard as he could to gain the blonde’s attention again. She looked suddenly interested in him but didn’t want to give herself entirely at first try.
“Well, your pal there looks like he got the booty,” the stranger spoke again, but from his accent, she knew he was from Regitum as well.
Riley started laughing and couldn’t help it. She turned to look at the stranger and his beauty took her by surprise. His skin was creamy and soft yet marked by a few years of war. His hair was tousled with messy brown curls. His eyes…his eyes were a sight to gaze at, deep cerulean blue holding untold stories. And the bottom lip seduced Riley into licking the rest of the alcohol off it; not to mention the cute stubble that covered his chin and jaw…
After a while of staring, she looked back in front of her. She had been staring for too long.
“Got the booty?”
“What? We don’t use that anymore?” He chuckled and sipped a bit of his drink.
“I don’t think so,” she answered with a smile then raised her glass in his direction. “Riley.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Riley.” He raised his drink as well and let their glasses click.
Chapter 3
T he moon shone brightly. The roads were nearly empty at midnight. The only thing that indicated there was life in that town was the loud music and the flickering light in Butter Bar. Riley and the stranger stumbled out of the front door holding each other up and laughing mightily. They were lost in their own drinking game—even though Riley was the only one drinking—and narrating embarrassing stories from their past.
“I can’t believe you would do such a thing!” Riley laughed harder and leaned against his shoulder seeking support.
“I swore to myself I would never do it once more. I am forbidden from entering that store again,” he repeated as he rubbed his eyes and caught his breaths.
“Well, someone stole your clothes and you had to search for them naked. What a whoop!”
They sniggered one last time and stood outside the bar. No one was there. The moon was the only company they had, much more like the third wheel. They were staring at each other silently.
“I want to draw you so badly right now,” Stranger finally admitted.
Riley raised her eyebrow, suppressing a laugh.
“Are you trying to be Jack?”
“I’m impressed you know about the Titanic. Such a classic movie by the way. And no I’m not. I didn't ask you to strip down,” he pointed out and she shrugged.
“It's only a matter of time.” She had already lost her smile as she slid down to sit on the grass and lay her back on the wall of the bar.
Stranger sat next to her. “Not everybody is looking for sex in a bar. I am really enjoying your company.”
Riley looked back at him half-focused. “Okay.” She swallowed. “So, you never told me who you are.”
“Does not matter as long as I'm the fun lad you met at the bar.” He smirked.
“They say pouring your heart out to a stranger is the best thing because they leave and forget. And sometimes that's what you really need.”
“I’m listening.” He stared at her then shifted his gaze to the moon.
“I’m not going to tell you about myself,” she chuckled. “What if you’re a serial killer?”
“What happened to the saying?” He smiled.
“Well...” She really didn’t care about telling him how she felt towards everything. Hell, she was ready to tell him about her existential crisis, but her true identity were out of the question. “What do you want to know?”
“Tell me about yourself.”
Riley didn’t know where to start. It was a very broad question.
“Urm... I'm different. And I'm not sure how I'm dealing with my difference… if it's good or bad. I don't really care because all I see is one way out of that dark tunnel and I'm doing everything I can to get to it.”
“Go on,” Stranger encouraged her after she remained quiet for a few seconds.
She drank another gulp from the bottle she was holding and stared even more at the moon. Oh, how bloody it would be when the night would come.
“You know what? I don't like talking about myself, so you do the talking.”
“I want to know about you.” He moved his eyes towards her. The deep blue sparkled darkly with the colours of the night but the innocence in them remained intact.
“I'm terrible at expressing my feelings. It takes a lot to make me like a person. I have a very short temper which caused me a lot of problems.” She decided to go on. He was a decent human being for once and it felt like she had known him for a very long time.
“Ever hit anyone?”
“Twice. I went to the hospital for it. I was getting mugged, but I got stabbed the first time. The second time, a man tried to harass me.”
“The East is such a chaotic place to live.” He shook his head then looked down disappointed.
“Tell me about it.” She took a deep breath. “I'm very much into reading. I tried writing once but failed miserably because I couldn't convey what the characters were thinking and transform their feelings into words.”
“Yeah, writing is hard. Been there too and failed as well.” A small smile appeared on his beautiful mouth.
“Hey, you said you know how to draw. How about you draw me right now?” Riley suddenly was in a mood to change the subject. It was getting depressing and once she got upset while drunk, anything could switch her snappy mode on.
“I don’t have a paper and a pencil,” he sighed a bit dissatisfied.
“Hold on.”
Riley jumped to her feet then disappeared into the bar. Two minutes later, she came back holding a piece of paper and a pen.
“Got 'em from the bartender. He's such a flirt,” she joked and sat down next to him again.
Stranger chortled and shook his head in disbelief.
“I like you,” he said and took the pen and the paper from her hands.
“So, how do you want me to sit?” She turned to him and tried to strike a pose only models would do but in a more of a sardonic manner.
“Don't do anything. Just look at the moon and continue telling me about yourself.”
She smiled and laid her back on the wall. “What do you want to know?”
“Are you in love?” he asked her as the pen left traces of inked strokes on the white sheet of paper.
The question took Riley by surprise.
“I've never been in love actually. I never really had the chance to have a normal life as a teenager before I joined the—” She stopped for a bit alerted then continued. “I think I never met the man who was able to make me fall in love. People who say love doesn't exist are ignorant because it does. It's just really, really hard to find. I’ve just given up on finding mine.”
“You're beautiful. I thought you'd have had many boyfriends before.”
“Oh, I had flings, but not boyfriends. Commitment is not my thing.”
“First girl to ever say that.” He continued drawing.
“I may change my mind later but for now, it is what it is. I'm focusing on one thing, and I don't really care about romance for the time being.”
“Hmm.” He finished the last strokes of his masterpiece.
“You’re done?” She turned to see him holding the paper and staring at it with satisfaction.
“Indeed.”
As he handed her the drawing, she examined it carefully.
He only drew half of her. The other parts were complete strokes of darkness. The half-visible part of her face made her look like a warrior. A smile was painted on her lips, but it did not look genuine. A certain sadness filled her eyes, but it did not mask her fierceness.
“It’s beautiful. But why is the other half dark?” she questioned him confused.
“Because I'm drawing the part that you told me about. When I fully discover you, I will understand the hidden part of you.”
She looked up at him in surprise then looked at the paper, noticing his signature at the bottom. She was a little disappointed that his signature was a bunch of strokes instead of a clearly written name. Next to it, there was a sign of a small phoenix.
“Maybe I don’t want you to see the other part.”
“That is up to you. After all, it's better to discover the girl instead of unveiling her from the first encounter.”
“Do you have a girlfriend?” she asked him. That was the part that really interested her. The man seemed like a romantic artist who sought after girls with drawings and poems in hopes they’d fall unconditionally in love.
To her surprise, he shook his head. “No time.”
“Hmm.” The alcohol really seemed to be wearing off. “Then I guess I'm not alone in this. Can I keep it?” She waved the drawing.
“It's all yours. Keep it somewhere safe so you can remember me whenever you see it.”
“I'll probably never see you again, but just in case, I'm sure I'll remember you.”
“That’s all I’m asking for.”
Behind them, a man exited the bar, looking down, hands in his pockets. Mathew.
When he turned to see who was sitting outside, he saw her.
“Riley, want to walk back together?” he asked her. Apparently, he had no luck with the blonde. Maybe it was for the best.
“Yeah, I’m tipsy. I can’t go back alone.” She made an effort but as she supported herself on Stranger’s shoulder again, she was able to stand up properly.
“So, I’ll never see you again.” He looked back at her with obvious discontent.
“You’ll see me in your dreams... stranger.” She winked at him and kissed his cheek. His stubble tickled her.
He only smiled. “I will, stranger.”
Looking at him one last time, she disappeared behind the buildings with Mathew.
Riley walked carefully towards the kitchen of the arena. It was morning already, but sleep escaped her that night. She was weary and unable to go through another show that day. Good thing they were going to move to another town before the big day. The requests for Cirque Et Feu had been piling up in Rufus’s office.
Dark rings surrounded her eyes. They were burning and pleading her to hurtle back to bed. Riley made her way to the coffee machine and poured herself a drink, praying the hot liquid would wash away the remains of her headache. She seated herself behind the table and sipped. The plan was working. Cirque Et Feu was becoming more famous each day and known to the king, especially with the commercials and the platforms.
Riley stared down at her cup of coffee then pushed it away. There was nothing that could relieve her headache. A hustle made her turn around. Through the door walked Marcus and Charlotte speaking excitedly. The two had been happily married for seven years.
“What’s the matter?” asked she when they noticed her at last.
“You will never believe what’s happened!” Charlotte exclaimed eagerly.
Riley turned her eyes towards Marcus. She was not in the mood to play a guessing game. The news about Rufus’s slow death was finally sinking in, and it made her wonder if anyone other than Mathew and herself knew about it.
“We’ve been requested.” Marcus smiled widely and folded his arms. Apparently, he wanted her to guess as well.
“We always get requested. What’s new?” she answered them impatiently.
Charlotte looked at her husband pleading him to permit her to speak. She obviously couldn’t wait to relay the news. When Marcus nodded, she squeaked, taking Riley by surprise.
“King Christopher Freedian sent a special request for Cirque Et Feu!”
The earth stopped spinning around its axis for a fraction of a second. It was as if everyone disappeared into an illusion. Riley’s focus on the present dispersed and she started telling herself that that could not be true. Things did not come that easily. She could not have succeeded.
“W-What? The king?” she stuttered.
“It is true! Riley, imagine what this will do to the circus! We will become more famous than we already are. And if we’re lucky enough, other royal figures might request us as well,” Charlotte said through giggles.
Ever since she joined the circus, Riley revealed her secret to Rufus and trusted him with keeping it. Being a survivor of the trickster kind in the East put her in danger of fading, but her purpose was not only to survive. Stealthily, Riley had put a plan to force a change in the world and bring justice to the East. The strange psychic who had stopped her in the supermarket a long time ago had only triggered a part of her mind that she had been trying to shut down. Her aim was simple yet her endeavour was intricate. She had been welcoming strange men into her rooms around the East and making them believe they were being pleasured with her immense sexual prowess only to increase the sum of money the circus made. That money was invested in progressing the sound effects and visual effects of the circus with the help of Riley’s power in creating an illusion, along with international ads. Everything was building the fame of the circus, finally making Riley achieve her goal: catching the king’s attention.
It had been a cold September day when the circus had stopped for supplies by the supermarket. They were all pretty tired from the show and did not want to leave the vehicle to purchase the food. They ended up playing rock paper scissors to see who would sacrifice the luxury and the warmth of the bus to go to the supermarket. Of course, it had been Riley.
“Come on! I cannot lose three times in a row,” she huffed.
“Sorry, Riles.” Marylin looked apologetic.
“So, anyway,” Fay turned to Charlotte, dismissing Riley’s sighs. “Yesterday, I was chatting with one of my friends back at school.”
“So considerate.” Riley went t
o get her coat.
“She told me that there was a fight outside my old school between two beggars.”
“What about?” Charlotte hugged her legs.
“One of the crazy ones was rambling that the king’s son offered him food yesterday and the other one was calling him mad.”
Charlotte laughed. “Nobody knows how the king’s son looks like. I bet he’s sitting in the castle devouring a sheep without a care in the world if those beggars were eating or not.”
“I know, I know. And who knows? It might be a girl.” Fay rolled her eyes.
“A queen would be nice for a change. Queen Caroline was an exception to the line of Freedian kings.”
“Anyone needs anything other than cereal?” Riley asked them before climbing out of the bus and walking inside the humongous store.
There were too many aisles for a person to get lost. Eventually, she found the one that displayed cereal. When she spotted the corn flavoured one, she retrieved it. Soon enough, a pair of eyes on the opposite end of the aisle had caught her.
“Oh, for God’s sakes,” she whispered to herself.
She immediately walked around the perimeter of the aisle hoping to see who the crazy woman was. When she found no one, she sighed.
“Just another loony,” she murmured to herself and returned to where she was standing at first.
There stood the woman.
She had silky long hair. Her eyes were piercing black. She stood there erect and immobile.
“Who the hell are you?” Riley spoke evenly.
“Do not bring hell into this. It is dangerous,” the woman replied in a Regitan accent.
“Spare me the crazy talk. I don't have money to give you so shoo,” she warned her and placed the corn-flavoured cereal back in its place. Retrieving the honey one, she placed it in her basket and was ready to go pay for the item.
“You are the one who will bring freedom to the East,” the woman suddenly announced.
Riley froze in her place frowning. “Excuse me?”
“You've been harassed by the powers of the West. You have been gathering this anger inside of you and you don't know what to do with it. You can use it for the greater good... Riley.”
Red Circus Page 3