Zara stood high on the platform, gripping the trapeze bar with her usual confidence. Below her, the crowd buzzed with anticipation, but tonight, her attention wasn’t entirely on the performance. It was on a figure in the front row, someone she had noticed the moment they took their seat, even in the midst of the circus's dazzling lights and excitement.

There was something different about them. While the rest of the audience cheered with gleeful abandon, this person remained still, their gaze fixed on her with an intensity that sent a strange thrill down her spine.

She couldn’t shake it. Every swing, every flip, every moment she soared through the air, she felt their eyes tracking her movements. They didn’t clap, didn’t shout. They simply watched. Zara had always loved the attention—she thrived on it—but this was different. It was like they were searching for something in her, something beyond the performance, beyond the spectacle.

Her curiosity flared, and with each graceful leap through the air, she found herself drawn more and more to their stillness, to the way they seemed untouched by the frenzy around them.

As she caught the trapeze for her final daring trick, her mind wandered. Who were they? What had brought them here, and why couldn’t she tear her thoughts away from their steady, unblinking presence? Zara rarely cared for those on the ground, but tonight, someone had caught her attention in a way she couldn’t explain.