The trio had escaped and could finally find peace through a fresh beginning. It was two years since they last saw their mothers. They were dead. They deserved nothing less.
Ryan hadn't brainwashed them into believing this, but rather had them convinced. They realized what had happened or rather inflicted upon them was a crime. It took very long for Matt, Catherine and Kyle to get over it. Certainly, by now Ryan was dead too.
They were now working as circus artists in The Bandwagons from Neverland in Piedmont Park, Atlanta.
They enjoyed their jobs. Only at times they are disturbed by their childhood frustrations. Bursts of anger, mood swings and nightmares. Not that, they hadn't expected these but it always took them by shock. It's after effects were always puzzling.
The move from Las Vegas to Atlanta wasn't easy. The trio collectively had 57 dollars with which they managed to cover the three thousand one hundred kilometers ride. The crowd at Atlanta were diverse enough for them to keep their cover and after a year, it didn't matter. Nobody cared about their existence let alone to look for them.
Getting a job here was not difficult. Matt initially had tried at a local restaurant, they changed their decision at the last moment. The deal at the circus was better and much safer.
The Bandwagons from Neverland was started by three friends: Jose Ford, Mary Krusto and Mayers Fey. Opening out as acrobats in a local entertainment house in LA before starting the Bandwagons in 1995. The circus began with clowns, acrobats and trapeze acts in a dingy hall in LA. That somehow managed to attract much attention and the big bucks flowed in. Thus began the legacy and the Bandwagon from Neverland officially became a travelling circus featuring big time artists, musicians, animal hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, unicyclists and other stunt-oriented artists. Its fame had been largely attributed to its modern creativity and contemporary styles and art.
The circus faced a major setback in 2003 when Jose died under mysterious circumstances. He was 31 and fallen off an overhead rope while practicing for a prime-time juggling act. It was believed the Jose was in love with Mary although she and Mayers were set to wed the next fall. Mayers, obviously, denied the murder allegation.
So the marriage did happen along with the grand reopening of The Bandwagons from Neverland. The first plan was to reopen the place under a new name but the circus had gathered enough negative fame due to Jose's death which played to their advantage. Their profits had doubled.
However, everyone knew Jose was the best tight-rope juggler in the country. His death indeed was strange.
Kyle, Matt and Catherine had walked into the circus plaza on a warm October afternoon. The interview was at two o'clock. The trio was confident about getting the job since they were flexible enough and could readily adjust to different situations, which, they believed was enough.
Since the circus went only Omaha, Chicago and Detroit besides Atlanta, it helped them in their covers. This job was too important for them.
When they entered the interviewing room in the circus main quarters on Piedmont Park both Mary and Mayers were sitting at the far end of the room, perfectly still behind a table. For some uncanny reason, the trio had expected them dressed as an average country music video couple. Him wearing a colorful Jumpsuit with patchwork, sleeves folded up the elbow, maybe a little stubble, chewing on a piece of straw and her wearing Justin Boots, faded retro 501 Levi jeans, western shirt dress. They expected them to perhaps be wearing cow-boy hats.
However, when they entered, they took note of two things. Mary and Mayers were a drop dead gorgeous couple sitting inside a room that could pass for a business class IT conference hall. Mayers was slim, rugged and athletic wearing a gray business suit. He gave them a curt smile as they entered. Mary was wearing a red gown showing enough cleavage for both Matt and Kyle to stand dumb-founded. She was reading something and didn't look up for some time.
The trio took their seats before the well-polished executive size Mahogany table having just a laptop. Not even a pencil stand or a map or a photo frame. Catherine suddenly grew nervous. The easily had caught them off guard for the interview.
Moments of silence followed, Mayers smiling at them like an indignant five-year old and Mary reading from a file. After a while she looked up. Her face looked perfect, nothing wrong: Shimmering eyes that tended to sparkle with every blink, full lips glossed with a red lipstick. She looked anywhere in her said, "Welcome to The Bandwagon. Why are you here?" He voice came out with an undertone of sternness, that, they had expected.
The boys had gone silent due to awe. Catherine shook her head and answered, "We wanted to join your crew. We have dropped out of school because-"
"Enough said. You start from tomorrow. Your rooms will be shown. No funny business, fucking or any sort of delinquent behavior. You'll end up tasting prison grime. Each of you will be paid twenty-five dollars per week which will include your stay, food and travelling expenses. However, you will be given your salaries only when you leave the business. Until then all your needs will be taken care off. Is that understood?" said Mary in an almost harsh robotic voice that was nowhere near her calming beauty.
They stared at her with a tingling sense of distress. The three sat baffled, filled with a kind of fear. Mary reminded them of their mothers. It was eerie.
Mary said again, "Is that understood?"
She said it this time with disturbing calmness.
The three nodded. Their lives had a new start.
The circus was filled mostly with main stream profession failures. There were business men who were there due to the stock market burn outs. Wives whose marriages had failed due to infidelity. Dropouts, Unemployed, Victims of crime and natural calamities, criminals etc. There were very few who joined the circus just because they needed a job. The trio felt quiet at home among the others. Nobody asked any questions about their pasts. It was like a well understood system of understanding and faith.
The trio was divided among the crew. Catherine joined the acrobats. Matt was under the ring master who trained the Lions, Elephants, Horses and the Chimps. Only Kyle had trouble fitting in.
He was first with Catherine along with the acrobats where he didn't fare well. He tried unicyling only to end with an almost fatal groin injury. He finally joined in as a helper to the main recording artists which did him good. Kyle was along with the big musicians and artists who came to perform at the circus. Artists like Madonna, Green-day and the Foo Fighters had performed at the circus which easily made the music section of the circus the biggest piece of the show. People were suckers for big time artists. The other performance of the circus weren't mediocre as well. They crew put in a lot of work into their performances and gave only the best. The masters were strict in their regime and trained until every fiber in their bodies spoke of pain.
Kyle became friends with Nate a seventeen year old school drop-out from Ohio. Nate was an outgoing character of a sort. He had is buoyant charms which ended in him impregnating a thirteen year old girl in Ohio. He was thrown out of home by an enraged mother and that brought him to the circus. Kyle and Nate were a classic hit and became best of friends. He introduced him to Catherine and Matt and the trio had now become a foursome kind of friend group.
Six months later, Nate began dating Catherine. They had admired each other for quite sometime. Since then they were always spotted together. Nate and Cathy the youngest couple in the circus.
One night, after a rehearsal for an act scheduled in Detroit the following week , Nate found Cathy sitting out alone by a tent looking at the tent.
"Hey Cathy! What are you doin' here? Was looking all over for you!" said Nate.
Cathy turned to him, "Nothing, just gazing out at the stars."
"Are you feeling alright babe?" he said as he sat beside her pulling her into his arms.
Cathy took a deep breath and shakes her head. "Someone once told me...when feeling lonely and glum just look up at the stars. You'll realize that there are bigger things for us to meet, things better than ourselves. Things that could be unfathomable for the human kind to realize... I am feeling low today, Nate."
"Hey hey! What makes me baby feel low today, huh? Am right by you hon'." Nate plants a kiss on her forehead. Smelling her lovely hair always turned him on, spreading warmth all over his body.
Cathy looks up to Nate and snuggled closer to him planting a kiss on his lips. They look at each other for a dazed moment. Nate nodded with a light grin. He returned her kiss, staying there longer. The moments grew longer as the two began making out, breathing hard. Cathy broke free and gave a light moan. Nate a started panting, fumbling with his belt while she pulled her top off.
Then, out of nowhere a scream broke out from somewhere inside the circus area. A loud shrill cry that rang through the night. Both Cathy and Nate froze. Cathy pulls her shirt back on again and both rushed towards the noise. They crossed the circus grounds and hear the screams again coming from Mary's and Jose's office. A gruesome scene welcomed them.
Mary lay sprawled on the floor with a slashed throat. There's blood everywhere. Nate gave out a muffled scream.
They look up; Matt was kneeling besides the body, holding a knife with a confused expression. Kyle stood behind against a wall, his eyes wide with shock. He was breathing hard, muttering incoherently.
"Guys..." said Cathy, "What happened in here?"
"Whoa!" whispered Nate, "Blood..."
"She deserved to die. Fuckin' bitch had to die...had to be...killed," said Kyle.
"Oh my god, Kyle! You did not! Matt! Drop the knife! We need to get out of here!" Cathy said hurriedly.
Matt turned around and stood up, "No! Thought we had put this behind us forever...but no. It still haunts us Cathy...we have to stop...at least now...I thought we were over it."
Kyle started breathing hard.
Cathy snapped at him, "There's no time for this talk Matt! Let's just get out of here now. You can preach about the greater good later on! Now is not the time!"
"What's going on?" Nate said.
"Mary is dead, Sherlock, and if we don't get out we'll be inside a jail in less than an hour's time. Understand? Now let's go, Com'on," Cathy said.
Nate looked at her, shocked. Suddenly she was the boss of three almost-adult and confused guys.
Matt started to walk while Kyle still stood, partly dazed, staring at Mary's corpse.
"Kyle, bub, we should leave now!" he said.
They hear a raspy noise behind them. Mayers stood right there on the door frame. His smile was hung there, turning from goodness to vengeful evilness. It didn't take him very long to make sense of the scene ahead. His wife was killed. Period.
"How...how dare...who did this?" He said.
He charged towards Cathy like an angry bull. All he was aware was that his wife's murderer was one of them. Cathy dodged him and pushed him at the back where he fell face forward on Mary's body.
Mayers started spitting angrily, his face smudged with Mary's blood. He tried getting back only to slip and fall back again. He screamed muttering randomly. Standing up again, he saw the kids running out of the room.
He ran behind them and slips again, getting Kyle by the collar. Both fell on the floor, Kyle under him. The others were nowhere in sight.
Matt, Cathy and Nate were inside an old abandoned building, fifteen miles away from the circus, lying down, trying to get some sleep. They were wide awake. Nate had freaked out three times already and had finally passed out under the excitement of the night. He woke up thirty minutes later. Matt and Cathy were sitting by the corner. There was mostly darkness, chased hurriedly by moonlight before getting seized by the clouds again. It was cold and the building smelled of dust and urine.
"Cathy, I need an explanation. I get it that Mrs. Fey is murdered by Kyle. Thanks for letting me know. What was that you had said in there? I need you to speak to me now!" Nate said.
Cathy tried to calm him down but Matt cut her off. He said, "Cathy, he deserves to know the truth. He loves you."
Cathy looked slowly from Matt to Nate and nodded. "Alright," she said, "Nate, you'll have to forgive us. We haven't entirely been honest with you. It's time we tell you who we are."
This is the first chapter and sort of long, I know. Sorry if it's too long. The BAU is introduced in the next chapter and get's only exciting from then.
I am open to suggestions, where do you think the story is going to move from this point?
Please review, waiting eagerly! Thanks :)