Just Another Common Man

Prologue

The dark skies began to release the weight that it had been holding in, and the usually warm New York afternoon was plunged into an icy darkness that seemed to reflect the internal machinations of her mind. She stood, cradling her darling baby in her arms, as she stared down at the father of her child.

“We’re leaving.” Kristen Hurst said simply, watching as the words finally made their impact to him.

“You can’t… Where will you go?” He replied in such a way that hurt her so much, but for their daughter, she would put up with the hole in her heart.

“Somewhere far where no one can find us. Even if someone finds us, they won’t find your lover. They will find a jilted lover with her wedlock child, carving out her own life.”

Thunder rumbled across the dark skies, and the child began to stir, finally starting to feel the coldness of the rainwater as it poured upon them. Their daughter began to cry in her arms, as if instinctively knowing that something was going on. Kristen Hurst bounced the little baby absently, trying her best to lull the young infant to sleep.

“Why?” Her spouse asked, sounding lost and helpless.

“You know why. I won’t bring her up in your world. I don’t want such dangers for her, as a young child. I want her to be a normal child, not your daughter. It is safer for us, and you know it.” Kristen said firmly, and even though he understood, it still struck him. The nine months of Kristen’s pregnancy, she had said nothing of leaving. How could she, immediately after recovery from childbirth, tell him that she would never let him spend more time with her and their child?

“You knew what was coming when you loved me. You knew the dangers. Why are you changing your mind now?” He begged weakly, knowing that when Kristen made her mind, there was no changing it.

“I am fine with the dangers, Hayden. But I don’t want it for our daughter. I want her to grow up a fine and normal woman. You cannot promise that while you are on The Circle. It is in the very nature of your blood and name.”

“I’ll make your world as safe as possible, Kristen. Just don’t leave me.” He pleaded, taking a step forwards towards the mother and child, but she took a step back, as if evading him. The hard look in her blue eyes struck deep in him, as how it had done the first time he met her. He had been drawn in by her hard blue eyes, and now, those eyes stared at him with steel resolute.

“You know you can’t do that. Right now, you have to choose between your two biggest loves. Your family, or your job. I know you can never give up your job properly, Hayden. It is a part of you, and it will chase you down no matter how hard you try to run. Above it all, there is your sister. I won’t make you choose, Hayden, because the choice you will make is obvious and painful to us both.” Kristen said firmly, turning around as if the conversation was drawn to a close.

“They co-existed together! A family can exist in my world! Look at my parents and my family! I grew up fine!” He followed after her desperately, blinking the water out of his eyes. He wasn’t sure if it was his tears or the rainwater, but he didn’t care, as he tried his best to focus amidst the downpour.

Kristen, beginning to soak through her clothes, stopped at the sound of footsteps following her down the empty street, and turned around to find her lover a few steps away, desperation clear in his eyes.

“I’m sorry, but this isn’t the life for her. Your parents were fine bringing you up in that environment because they were confident of protecting you from the dangers of their world. I’m not. I’m not one of you, and I cannot rely on only you to keep the both of us safe.”

“My sister will help! Jeremy will help! Please, Kristen. If you go, you’ll be leaving me alone. I love you. You can’t just walk away like this.” The new father of the infant cried, trying to take another step closer, but Kristen maintained the distance by taking yet another step back.

“You are, above everything, a member on The Circle. You are, above being my lover, a con. Do you really think your enemies would not see us as your weakness? I don’t want that to happen, Hayden. I don’t want to be your weakness.” Kristen’s tone meant finality, and her lover knew it. Her daughter’s cries had begun to soften, and motherly instincts began to flare. What if the cold would cause her still-weak daughter pneumonia?

He stepped back, as if he had been dealt a physical blow. Her words, coupled with the hard eyes and finality in her tone had struck him right into the care and torn him apart. She was right. He was, above being a man, a con. He was, above being a con, a member on The Circle. No matter what, no matter how he loved her and their child, his responsibility was forever with The Circle. It was an unchanging, relentless and cruel fact that the both of them were dealt with.

Kristen’s eyes on him softened, as if knowing how much it hurt him to come to such realizations.

“I will tell her of the many tales her father told me. If she desires, right in her blood, to be a con in the future, I will not stop her. But I will not take her childhood away from her. If it means taking her father away from her…” Kristen said, her voice breaking. Quickly, she cleared it, and again in her blue eyes sparked determination that her lover knew he could never break.

“If it means taking her father away, then I’ll do it. I love you, Hayden, but this cannot be. This is not us, not for our daughter.” She sealed their fate with those words, and walked further down the road as he stood rooted. She flagged down a cab quickly, still hugging her little bundle of flesh close to her bosom.

“I love you, Hayden Seyfried, but this is not for us. Farewell.” She spoke her last words, got into the cab, and drove off into the rainy afternoon.

He stood rooted there, wondering what had went wrong. He had loved her so much, ever since he met her, right down to the moment of her childbirth. Their life had been the perfect love story, and he had even planned their future in the secret confines of his office, even as he worked. His sister had reminded him –for they were now considered equals on The Circle –that he should keep his private life out of his business, but how could he?

Now he could.

He pulled his phone from his pocket. He hadn’t had to choose in the end. He had only been torn for that split second, and already it had hurt. But what hurt more was the emptiness that had now filled his heart.

When Kristen took away his second choice of family, she had wrenched a hole in his heart, leaving him with his job, his profession, his employment. If that was what Kristen had wanted with him –to leave him only with his hobby, his job to do, then that was what he would do to honor her.

He bury himself in so much work that no one would recognize his emotional side.

He would fill up the empty hole in his heart with what he secondly loved.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

He sat on his seat, checking the papers that were displayed on the comfortable desk before him. His mind flew to amazing speed as he sieved through the many thoughts of his mind.

“Any objections should I send this down to FBI? We don’t need this, and FBI is none the wiser.” He offered, and looked around at his colleagues for any opinions.

“This could help mess up their current investigations on us.” His sister added, agreeing with his method.

“Yes, they are somehow ever closer to understanding the machinations of our council.” Myriam Elliot added, frowning a little.

“If I didn’t know better, I’d say there’s a mole in our midst.” Orson Scott added, careful gaze on everyone sitting at the circular table.

“There is.” Hayley Seyfried announced with such conviction that the eyes of everyone at the table snapped to her as she closed her eyes. “I’ve known this for quite some time, but I’ve been testing them. The spy doesn’t know much at all, just going by lousy rumors and hearsay that stirs amongst the crowd beneath us.”

“How sure of this are you?” Elxa Dal finally spoke up, the hardness and emotionless quality to his tone making him seem like a man with no personal life. Hayden took the chance to assess the fellow conman who he had known for years ever since stepping up to his title.

Elxa Dal had been just a child trying to fill his father’s shoes after Jed Dal’s death. It had been a tragic affair of their ex-The Circle member Tyler Yule on a crazy jealousy strategy. Tyler Yule, angry and jealous of the magnificence that was Hayden’s sister, had exacted his anger on anyone who supported and protected her. Jed Dal and his wife had been unfortunate to have been caught in the crossfire, and for some time, the opening on The Circle was kept open. Shortly after, the just-turned fifteen teenager claimed the title with no less skills than his father, and The Circle had been full ever since.

“Jeremy’s been lurking in the lower levels. Most of the cons know him, but the newer ones are oblivious. They speak of all kinds of things, but it is easy to spot a mole amongst the young ones.” Hayley replied evenly, opening her eyes and meeting Elxa’s unflinchingly. Such was the strength that his sister had displayed ever since the recovery of her fiancé Jeremy from the grips of cancer.

“Fine.” Elxa’s reply was chilling at best, but the members on The Circle knew him to be such a cold, emotionless speaker. Elxa was a man who never wore his heart on his sleeve, and no one seemed to know if the man ever had a personal life. But every conman had his own weakness, and Elxa’s was his brother. Everyone knew it, but who in the world would dare to defy the silent fury of this crazy, ruthless and emotionless man?

“I’ll have someone listening in on the lower levels. When we confirm his identity, we’ll work the FBI through him or her.” Elxa announced, looking around for confirmation. There was no disagreement, and the meeting was quickly settled. One by one the members left their seat. Hayden’s sister shuffled her papers, paused for a moment to give him a worried look –as she had done repeatedly for the past years –and then seemed to reconsider something.

He knew what she was worried about, and yet there was nothing she could ever do to make him feel better. He had plunged himself into his work for so long; had been floundering in this heartless world where it was a constant guarding of himself against the dangers that he now felt old and tired. It was the drawback of being constantly in this world, without his own private life, his own personal life.

Now, he felt older than his seasoned sister. Hayley had her personal life in the form of Jeremy. Everyone on The Circle had their own personal life. Hayden’s personal life… had left him.

“Elxa, I need to talk to you.” He found his words out in the open before he could come to a solid decision in his mind. Hayley looked at the silent man in surprise, but the resignation was still in her eyes as she left the room along with the all-silent Danaus Reinsfield. Soon, it was only the two of them left, as Elxa sat emotionless in his seat directly opposite Hayden, an expectant look hung upon his face.

“What goes on from now on is beyond The Circle.” Hayden said firmly, and Elxa nodded, not betraying a single expression –not even surprise or shock.

“I need to collect my favor from you, man to man.” Hayden started, and Elxa, again, nodded without preamble. Years ago, Hayden had saved Elxa from a near-death experience, and Elxa had promised him a favor unconditionally.

“Is this about work?” Elxa asked softly, not moving a single inch. Eyes of piercing black bore through him, and Hayden suddenly took in the likeness in the darkness of Elxa’s mid-length hair and the darkness of his irises.

“It’s personal.” Hayden replied shortly, and Elxa nodded once more. This was the reason why he had chosen Elxa, out of anyone else. Not even his sister. He could only trust Elxa, because the man betrayed no emotions, and showed nothing. Even if Elxa was surprised or taken aback, or even unhappy that he was mixing his personal life with business, the man showed nothing.

“It is about the woman who left you twenty one years ago, then.” Elxa concluded without even showing a single flash of understanding or surprise. It was just a statement, as if it were a fact that was common. Just a minor little statement in Elxa’s eyes.

“Yes. I want to find her again. Twenty one years have passed. I want to see my daughter again.” Hayden said with conviction, though he felt his emotions quickly draining. This was the problem was Elxa Dal. He tended to make anyone in the conversation feel emotionally drained.

“She was a week old when your woman left you. Your daughter will not remember you.” Elxa stated yet again, and the thorn of pain bloomed afresh.

“Yes, but I want to see her. I want to know her.”

The only indication of hesitation or surprise that Elxa showed was a single beat of hesitation.

“I have connections, Seyfried, but I need more than vague information about your woman.” Elxa informed impassively, and Hayden knew it was his form of agreement.

Quickly, Hayden removed the ring from his fourth finger and pitched it over the room.

“She took the other half to this ring. The last I heard, she went south from New York. Her name is Kristen Hurst.”

Elxa received the ring with quick reflexes, studying it for a quick moment. There was nothing much special to the ring, except a name ‘Kristen’ branded on the inside. Still, Elxa pocketed it without any comment.

“You don’t give me much to go by.” Elxa said, standing up and grabbing the papers that had been before him. “I’ll do what I can but don’t be hopeful.”

“I know.” Hayden replied, looking at the man that was ten years his junior. Hayden had watched Elxa grow up, but never once had Elxa ever changed. No, not even through puberty, or even through the years of adulthood. Elxa had been extremely mature in his young age, when the boy finally came of age, he had already been viewed as an adult since long ago. The fact of Elxa’s coming of age only meant that the man finally looked as mature as his inner machinations.

Elxa stopped with a hand on the doorknob, the first sign of any hesitation he had shown since appearing in the room. Hayden was a little surprised when Elxa turned around with his usual emotionless face.

“Think about what you will say to your daughter if I find her, Hayden. She will not receive well to a conman for a father.” Elxa offered, and before Hayden could reply, the door was already closing.

Hayden closed his eyes, alone in the room, and rested his head on the table. Outside, he could hear police sirens going on. The police cars stopped downstairs, but Hayden didn’t move. So the mole had tipped off to the FBI that The Circle were meeting here. But it was too late for them, for the meeting was over and most of the members had left.

Except for him.

Sometimes, Hayden wondered why he struggled so much to break free when he was young. He had broken free once from FBI’s hold to become the top of the con world. He was the only member on The Circle with a track record of ever working with the FBI. He was the only member ever arrested.

His life had been the mess right from the start, and he suddenly saw what Kristen saw so clearly so many years ago. If Kristen had stayed with him, their daughter would have grown up the same way as he, so broken and lost and alone.

Hayden opened his eyes upon the sudden realization. He hadn’t been the only one who had been broken by this con world. Seyfried weren’t the only family who were cons. The Dal family was also one full of cons. So had the Lorrens.

If he had brought up his daughter in this world of his…

Then his daughter would be exactly like him.

Exactly like Elxa Dal.

Emotionless, cruel and heartless.