The Circus of Unimaginable Things (PATD Fanfic. Ryden, Ryan/OC, Brendon/OC)

Time To Dance

I've watched  people change. I've seen so many people start as creative, young, joyful souls, only to have it all sucked away, leaving a hollow shell of what once was. Of course, Brendon makes sure they don't seem hollow. They don't realize, they can't see it. The people who pay to watch them don't see it. But I do. That's why I don't speak to any of them. They aren't real anymore. I'm the only one he's let remain an actual person.

He let me, of all people, keep my spirit. 

He says it makes the sex more fun. 

It's not fun for me. I've grown to hate him. How could I not hate him with what he does to them all? They're puppets that breathe. He uses them, and if he gets bored, they get thrown away. And no one notices. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Ryan's POV~~~~~~~~~

"Brendon, stop stealing from her." I hated it when he did that. He would get a new toy and not tell me, and start messing with their head before I could have the time to have a real conversation.

"Oh, calm down. I'm just making sure I can put her to good use." Brendon stood back up straight, allowing me view of the girl. "You're going to be training her. I want that to start immediately, so I need to loosen her ties." 

"Unless you took her straight from her home, I'm going to say she doesn't have many." I looked her over, she looked young. Late teens most likely. She was terrified, by the look on her face.  They all were at first. 

"She doesn't. Except the one to her father, which I just ended. Now all she needs is someone new to latch on to." Brendon smiled at me, I knew what he was going for. 

I knew what he wanted me to do. And I hated to do it, but I knew it was necessary. It was necessary if I wanted to keep the girl in the Circus and off of the streets. I actually didn't really want to, but last time I'd refused, Brendon had managed to attach the girl to himself and turn her into a personal pet. I couldn't let another girl go through that.

I sat down on the bed, and put my arms around the girl, pulling her closer to me. She was too scared to fight it, so all I had to do was wait for Brendon to do his thing. He did, using that stupid showy cane to tap the girl on the shoulder. She looked dazed for a moment, before looking at me. 

"Ryan?" She looked at me with big green puppy-dog eyes. She was mine for awhile. Until Brendon started taking everything out of her head, she was mine.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 "If you fall, you'll be fine. There's a net there for a reason."  It was hard to teach someone who was afraid of heights how to use the trapeze. It was work to get her up the ladder. 

"It's really high up, though." She kept looking down at the ground nervously, and I was almost certain she wasn't going to get off of the platform without some help. She was gripping the bar of the trapeze, but she didn't seem ready for more than that.

She didn't have a choice. "Ready?"

"Not really." She shook her head.

"Too bad." I pushed her. She was strong enough to hold onto the damn thing for four swings back and fourth before her hands finally slipped and she fell. It wasn't a graceful fall, but she didn't land on her head, so I was sure she would be fine. I watched from the top as she clambered off of the net and gave me dirty looks. "Sorry." I called down to her, before grabbing the bar myself as it came flying towards me.

"No you aren't." She had made it off of the net, and was now glaring up at me.

I ignored her words, instead  giving her some advice. "When you fall, try to land on your back with your arms crossed over you chest. It looks nice, it doesn't hurt, and it's safe. Trust me, I've been doing this for a long time." I then showed off- er, um demonstrated. Earning me an eye roll. 

If Brendon really wanted Star to be the star of the show, she was going to have to start getting the hang of this. She had improved since she'd arrived, by quite a bit, but not enough for Brendon's likings. He was probably just looking for an excuse to wipe her mind clean, but I tried not to think about that. I tried to think of all the things she could do, and reason's why she should have been left the way she was. She was good at gymnastics on the ground, basic flips and cartwheels and such, and she was good on the balance beams. 

That was more than I could have said for most. 

"Ryan, you're supposed to be making her hit the net. You're much too skilled to be doing so yourself." Speaking of Brendon, he had apparently been watching. Fantastic. "Get up."

He didn't look happy, either. I climbed off of the net, dusted myself off, and looked at the Ringmaster. "I was giving an example so she doesn't hurt herself. I thought that was a pretty good idea."

"She shouldn't really be falling at this point either." He looked at her, and then motioned for her to come over to us. And then he took a glove off. 

"No." I protested against this, clearly not happy with it. "You promised, Brendon."

"You also said you would train me a new star. You haven't shown me you can do that." Brendon was too impatient with everything. With how fast Star was learning, and even in this second, how fast she was moving, because he stepped out, grabbed her arm, and pulled her close. 

"Ow." She muttered, but didn't say more than that. She was scared of Brendon, just like anyone who still had a sane thought in there head was. 

"You said you would leave her alone. I said I would train her. I'm training her. " I was pushing what Brendon would allow, and I knew it. But I was sick of watching great people disappear.  

"And the training will go a lot quicker if she doesn't have other things fogging up her mind."