Broken People (Serial)

Seven

Seated in a massive armchair on a platform in front of the car that contained the workshop, Cole slipped in and out of consciousness. The strong painkillers they had given him kept him numb and hazy. He was glad to have only blurry memories of the beating, but flashes of the torture kept entering his mind.

Plastic-covered boxes, which were part of his seat's armrests, encased his arms, so he couldn't see how bad it was. He remembered waking up screaming in the middle of the night, only to discover his jaw was also broken. The two scarred guys with knives had taken care of that, but the bone would take a while to heal. So for now, he couldn't speak, he couldn't write, and he couldn't think.

The universe must hate him. Dale definitely did, and Cole couldn't blame him. Troubles from the previous job had caught up with him when he was rushing over to the next one. Lucky for them, small-time thieves were put to rest with a bullet in the head. Big-time thieves had everything important taken away from them—their skills. Cole moaned pitifully, grateful for the drugs that prevented him from exploring the entire bleakness of his future.

"It's only soup," a soft, child-like voice said.

Cole opened his eyes to discover a girl, mug in hand, standing next to him. Blonde wisps of hair escaped from the ponytail and brushed against her rosy cheeks. The light green dress, matching her eyes, did nothing to disguise her young body or hide the way one of her hips was lower than the other.

"I'm Cielo." She moved, and a hint of sea salt tickled his senses. "I'll be your waitress this fine day," she added with a small grin. "Unfortunately, you can't give orders. I know it's a cliché, but chicken soup is the best we could do. Now ..." Green eyes peered at him. "One blink for yes and two for no, okay?"

His brain refused to process the question right away, and the reaction was delayed. Blink.

Cielo smiled and, moving the mug in front of him, she pressed a straw against his lips. "Too hot?"

Blink. Blink.

The soup burned the back of his throat, but it made him feel alive, so he didn't complain. He couldn't have said anything anyway.

"Take your time. There's no rush." Cielo stood by his side, content to smile at the sun, switching the mug from one hand to the other when her arm got tired.

Gradually, Cole became aware of the agitation as the perception of his surroundings expanded. People rushed back and forth along the train, yelling at each other. In the distance, the big cupola of a blue- and yellow-striped circus tent rose towards the clear sky. That explained why all the people wore such colorful clothes. It didn't explain what he was doing here and why he wasn't in a hospital, but he liked it better this way.

After a while, it occurred to him something was off about these people, but they didn't stand still long enough for him to figure out what it was.

"Yes, it's a circus." Cielo chuckled when a flock of egrets flew in front of them in perfect V-formation, following a black woman and her two-meter long pole.

"And what a circus!" someone huffed as another woman climbed onto the platform. Tall and slender, with chin-length, brown hair and dark brown eyes set in a heart-shaped face, she moved graciously around them, fluttering two sheets of paper.

"Anya, this is—" Cielo gave Cole a confused look, clearly not remembering his name.

From her advantaged height, Anya threw him a glance. "Let me guess. This is Spinner's new project."

"Well, yeah ..."

"Charmed." Anya nodded at him shortly, then turned to Cielo, holding up the papers covered in sketches. "I've been up all night drawing these. There's no way I'm doing the show in those rags. I need new costumes."

Cielo tilted her head. "Are you sure you need new costumes? I finished one for you last month. And we don't even know if there's going to be a show."

"Nicholas will make sure there is one." Anya rested her hand on Cielo's arm. Her skin looked like alabaster in contrast with Cielo's golden tan. "So, yes, I need them. I haven't danced on a proper stage in ... well, way too long."

"Okay, but ..." Cielo sighed. "You do realize if word gets out I'm making you new costumes, everyone will come saying they want one, too. There's no way I can accommodate them all."

"That's why I came to you first. You can tell them you've had them already made for me, but I hadn't paid you yet. They all know I'm terrible with money." Anya grinned wickedly and wrapped an arm around Cielo's shoulders.

The move made the straw slip from Cole's lips, but he was too distracted by Anya's long legs to protest. The question why she wasn't cold in those white tights and loose blouse briefly crossed his mind. He decided he didn't care. She looked too good to hide her body in a lot of clothes. The next second, he felt guilty for discarding his caretaker that easily from his thoughts.

But Cielo was distracted by the sight of a tall, muscular man with sandy hair walking with a short redhead across the tracks.

"Or ..." Anya lowered her voice, leaning intimately towards Cielo's ear, "I could set you up with Serioja. Although, believe me, he's not as good in the sack as you might expect."

Color rose to Cielo's cheeks, and she looked away, mumbling, "No need to. Riella would probably scratch my eyes out."

"Well, she doesn't need to know." Anya muffled a giggle against Cielo's shoulder, but when Cielo's green eyes rolled, she sobered up. "So, are we going into town to shop for fabric this afternoon?"

"I—"

"Look. Nicholas is back!" Anya's grin widened, and she waved at a man wearing tails and a top hat. "I'll let you know how it went." She thrust the sketches at Cielo and ran to join him.

Cielo let out a sigh and turned her attention back to Cole. "Oh, I'm sorry." She brought the straw back to his lips. When he made no effort to drink the soup, instead staring pointedly at her, Cielo rolled her eyes again and quietly laughed. "I know, I know. You think she's taking advantage of me ... but I don't mind sewing dresses for her. She always has great designs."