Chapter One
"WHOA!"
Down on the bayside of San Francisco, a circus tent stood gleaming in the afternoon sun.
"WHOA!"
Inside, the audiance's cacophony of hollering voices, clapping hands and stamping feet filled the confined canvas space.
"WHOA!"
A palpable excitement from people of all ages that was just as contagious as it was electrifying.
"WHOA!"
Not to mention the perfect veil for stealthy, nimble fingers to work their magic.
"Ladies and gents, this is the moment you've waited for."
"WHOA!"
"Been searching in the dark, your sweat soaking through the floor."
"WHOA!"
"Buried in your bones there's an ache that you can't ignore
Taking your breath, stealing your mind
And all that was real is left behind!"
Like the rest of the crowd, Maximillion Pegasus' eyes where drawn to the energetic ringmaster that had stepped out into the spotlight. There the man stood; Confident. Proud. Admired. Adored. Respected. Everything the tweenager himself craved to be.
"Don't fight it, it's coming for you, running at ya
It's only this moment, don't care what comes after
Your fever dream, can't you see it getting closer
Just surrender 'cause you feel the feeling taking over"
As the crowd rousing words and exhilarating routine continued, so did Pegasus with his task of lifting wallets from unsuspecting targets.
"It's fire, it's freedom, it's flooding open
It's a preacher in the pulpit and your blind devotion
There's something breaking at the brick of every wall
It's holding all that you know, so tell me do you wanna go?"
Uh-oh, the tween had been careless with his last swipe. His mark had felt the removal of their property and was turning to face him.
"Where it's covered in all the coloured lights
Where the runaways are running the night
Impossible comes true, it's taking over you.."
Lightning fast reflexes saved Pegasus this time as he swiftly sidestepped out of the other's view, joining in with the singing crowd so as not to appear too conspicuous. "Oh, this is the greatest show!"
The accusation of 'thief' was then made towards the poor soul now stood directly behind the outraged mark, and as the claim rapidly escalated into a quarrel between the two, Pegasus took the opportunity to sneak away so as too avoid being uncovered as the actual culprit.
A shame really. He would very much have liked to stay and lose himself in the show's escapism before having to return to life's grim reality.
Once outside in the open air and far away from the circus tent, he casually checked his spoils. Four wallets wasn't a huge haul, but it was sure to be sufficient in covering expenditures for the next week or so. Or at least it would have been if people weren't so keen to rely more and more on debit and credit card payments these days.
"$26.89." Pegasus grumbled at the minuscule total of cash he had managed to accumulate. Once he'd deducted the cost of the circus ticket that he'd had to purchase in order to carry out his petty crime, it left very little profit on top of what he'd started out with earlier that day. He'd have no choice but to repeat his crime tomorrow, unless his father had actually been successful in securing one of the many jobs he'd been chasing.
Speaking of his father, he was due to met up with him shortly. He discarded the remnants of the stolen wallets into the nearest trash bin and began to head towards their agreed meeting place.
Up in the sky above, the sun was now setting as Pegasus approached an open green area that was popular with tourists. It wasn't hard to see why as the view to the west provided a breathtaking sight of the Golden Gate Bridge glimmering in all its glory. As mesmerising as it was though, the tween's view became captivated by another equally,- if not more,- beautiful sight in the form of a girl sat painting at an easel just a few feet away.
Cascading blonde hair trailed halfway down the girl's back where it was partially tied with a ribbon; elegant yet also practical for keeping her field of vision clear as she painted her masterpiece. Heavily concentrating grey-blue eyes darted back and forth between the canvas and the bridge, resulting in many tiny brushstrokes applied to her art as it perfectly depicted the sun's rays bouncing off the gigantic manmade structure.
The longer Pegasus watched the girl paint, the stronger his inquisitiveness grew. She seemed somewhat familiar to him, though he couldn't quite place just where he may have seen her angelic face before. Or perhaps he was mistaken and he'd only ever seen her in his dreams?
"You're very beautiful."
The girl ceased painting and turned towards the source of the surprising comment. "Pardon?"
"Your art! I meant your art is very beautiful!" Pegasus tried to disguise the fact that he'd unintentionally spoken aloud what he'd been thinking. Though judging by the warmth sensation of his cheeks, he wasn't even the slightest bit convincing. Idiot!
The look of embarrassment she was now witnessing made the girl feel slightly bad for the abrupt reaction she'd given this boy who was now shying away. He didn't seem anything like that creep Keith Howard who kept hounding her. And yet she'd treated him just as harshly through no fault of his own. "Sorry. I didn't mean to bite, I thought you were someone else."
"Someone you don't like I assume?"
The girl laughed. "Was I that obvious? If only he was as observant as you, then maybe he'd get the message and leave me alone…" Her words trailed off into silence as she paid closer attention to the boy's face that was suddenly looking more familiar to her. Did she know him?
"You're staring at me."
"Oh!" The girl's face flushed a little at being caught admiring him. "For a moment there I thought I recognised you after all... What's your name?"
His name? Ugh, he hated this part. Having been told countless times by his father to never give out his real name, he was now forced to come up with an alias right there on the spot. It was something he wasn't very good at since he always incorporated his own name in one way or another. What surname was his father choosing to use these days? Crawford was it? Meh, that'll do. "My name is Pegasus-"
"Pegasus?!" The girl shrieked her interjection before he'd even had chance to finish. "As in, Maximillion Pegasus?"
Oh snap! She knew his real name, but how? He hadn't let it slip for the last couple of years now, a fact he'd been rather proud of. "I um… er… H-how did you…?"
"It's me, Cecelia Bennett. We met a few years back in Vagas. Don't you remember?"
So that was where he knew her from! A broad smile conquered Pegasus' face as the memories suddenly came flooding back and he recalled their meeting . "Yes, of course! We were at some boring business event with our fathers."
"That's right." Cecelia nodded, her smile now mirroring his. "We were the only two kids there, and once we were introduced to each other we spent almost the rest of the time-"
"Talking about Funny Bunny." Pegasus chuckled, finishing the sentence as his eyes momentarily meet hers straight on. The awkwardness he'd felt a moment ago had all but vanished. He'd enjoyed the girl's company back then and would love to continue and build on that friendship they'd once started. Unfortunately, he knew that they shouldn't.
"You know, I had hoped we'd stay in touch." Cecelia commented, now sounding rather bashful as she tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear and diverted her eyes a little. "But you and your father left so swiftly... We didn't even get to say goodbye."
"I know." He replied with an slight ache in his heart. Such an experience had once been an all too common occurrence for himself, hence why he no longer tried to make friends. What was the point if they were to be either forgotten or forbidden in the first place?
"I guess it must be fate for us to have met again like this?"
"Yeah, I guess…so…?" Pegasus' attention was now diverted to the bottom of the hill where he could see his father had appeared and was stood waiting for him. Damn, he had to go, preferably without being spotted by his old man. "Cecelia, I hate to do this but there's somewhere I have to be right now. Also, please don't tell anyone you've seen me."
"You're leaving again!" she sounded hurt. "At lease this time we'll get to say goodbye, right?"
He shook his head, hoping that he wouldn't regret what he was about to say next. "No, I don't want to say goodbye, I want to stay longer but I can't… Can we meet up some other time?"
Cecelia's heart jumped at hearing the request to meet again. "Sure, we can swap numbers and I'll call once I've checked some times with mom and dad-"
"I don't have a cell phone."
"Oh... Well how about swap emails?"
"Uh-uh, no email either." Pegasus replied to an already suspicious looking face. He glanced again towards his father who was now beginning to look around in search of him. I have to think of something fast! "Look, it's complicated, I'll explain some other time. As for meeting up, how about I come here and stay between 3pm and 7pm during the next few days? Would you be able to make it to at least one of those times?"
"Of course. It's a little unorthodox but as long as I get to see you again-"
"Oh you will, I promise." he gave one last reassurance before racing off to met up with his father.
With a smile on her face, Cecelia watched him leave before returning her attention to the canvas once more.