Unrewarded

《5》The Girl With a Thousand Stories

Jack and Cam walked down the side of the packed street. People were standing shoulder to shoulder, eyes perched all around them waiting for the Dove to make their appearance.

"What are they all doing here?" Jack asked.

He didn't know her, the Dove, or what she could do. There was a good reason why too. Cam was never meant for the spot light like him.

So, leaning over to him, Cam grinned. "They're here to see some magic."

Ahead of them, a tall and dark abandoned billboard rested high above the avenue. That's where she planned to create her show.

Jack hesitantly followed her through the people. Once he caught whiff of the billboard though, he gave her a hesitant look. She was already climbing by now, and about four steps up, she turned seeing him still on the ground.

Of course it wasn't something he saw or did everyday. She understood his worry.

Smiling back at him, Cam extended her hand. "It's okay Jack, trust me."

He licked his lips, looked between her hand and her eyes and then let out a breath as his fingers wrapped between hers. For a moment, his stomach dropped and he swore he could feel it in his toes.

Together, they climbed to the top of the dark billboard.

On level ground, Cam sat on the ledge and let her legs dangle towards the city below them.

"Are you afraid of anything?" He breathed looking at the steep fall.

Cam chuckled ignoring his question. Then, as he sat down, she took her laptop from her backpack and placed the bag on his lap. Finally, what everyone below had been waiting for- she booted up.

The traffic lights shut down, the street lamps went dark, and the entire city block was under her command. Immediately, the people below roared to life.

It made her smile, and Jack did the same; only instead of looking at the people, he was looking right at her.

"You're the Dove?"

She stopped typing for a second. "You've heard of me?"

There was an impressed look on his face. "More than you know."

Jack had heard of her, almost everyone he knew had heard of her. She was incredible, how she could hypnotize groups of people, know so much about everyone life. It's no wonder the eye recruited her. Her work was original, well thought out, it was powerful.

Smiling, Cam went back to her computer and instead of a screen, she used a sound system of a nearby street performer.

Are you listening? The robotic voice called out.

Everyone hollered as a response.

Good, because listen closely- this may be the last time you hear from me in a while.

Below, everyone was giving eachother confused looks.

Don't worry, I will come back to you before too long. Until then, you can look for me through the work of others, you will know it's me.

For now, I want to thank you all for attending my show.

I see you. I see all of you. She led in. But it is time that you see yourselves.

Close your eyes, and no peeking.

Her crowd was typically well behaved. In order to get the best out of the show- they did what she said.