Claire pulled her shoe up over her heel and then sat back upright on her cot, smiling down at her feet. She took a look around her room and sighed. She'd become so accustomed to this place that leaving seemed so strange. Still, would be nice to be home. The door to her room opened and there stood Agent Siskel, in her nice suit, her hair pulled back in a ponytail.
"You ready?" Agent Siskel asked. "You have no idea how ready I am," Claire said. Agent Siskel was holding a brown duffel bag filled with Claire's mixed belongings, and together with Claire, they walked out of the room and down the hall towards the front room. Once in the main hall, Agent Siskel handed the bag to Claire and, upon taking it from her grip, Claire looked up at Agent Siskel. "You don't worry you're making a huge mistake?" Claire asked. "Sometimes you have to take a risk in order to get great reward," Agent Siskel said. Claire smirked, gripped the handles of her bag tighter and walked past Agent Siskel and out into the afternoon Vegas sun. Her eyes took a moment to readjust, and then she stopped and took a long, deep breath and then headed for a payphone to call a taxi. First things first, she really needed to go home and take a long shower. Then she would get a good meal. And then? Then she'd get started on her plan. *** "I feel like I'm going to a wedding," Benny said, walking down the rows of seats, smoothing his hand over his suit, "why do we have to look nice? Why couldn't we just wear street clothes?" "Because I don't want to stand out," Allie replied, pushing him gently on the back, "now get going, I wanna sit down." "So instead we have to look like The Four Seasons?" Zoe asked, making Benny laugh. Allie was in a suit as well, while Zoe was wearing a slimming, form fitting black dress with her hair pulled back up into a messy bun. As they slid into the aisle to take their seats, Benny looked around and adjusted his tie. "This is ridiculous, we don't get even get popcorn or anything," he muttered. "What's this guys name again?" Zoe asked as they started to sit down, Allie between the two of them. "Jackson Strange," Allie and Benny said in unison, as Allie continued after with, "and no, before you ask, I don't know him and I've never seen him. Believe it or not, not all magicians know eachother." "You two knew eachother," Zoe said, causing Allie and Benny to exchange a look before looking back at her. "Listen, Sally Semantics, I wouldn't classify us as 'knowing' eachother, we're more like people who've met once or twice at a party," Benny replied, "and second of all..." he pointed at her, licked his lips and then sighed, shaking his head before adding, "...I got nothing. She's right." Just then, the house lights were brought down and the crowd in the theatre erupted into applause and cheers. Allie was, admittedly, surprised. She hadn't expected Jackson Strange to draw such a crowd much less receive such a reaction. The stage before them lit up, and out he walked. And much to Allie's further surprise, he wasn't what she expected him to look like either. She'd expected some kind of metal head looking young man, in ratty jeans and a beard, but instead, out walked a fairly clean shaven young man, dressed in a button down shirt and slacks, with a long black peacoat over his shoulders. Allie thought to herself if he was already this surprising...what else could he have in store for her? *** "This is amazing," Kristin said, sipping her coffee from her mug at Molly's kitchen table. Molly was standing at her counter, stirring creamer into her own mug, smiling at Kristin's kind words as Kristin continued, adding, "and he asked you to do this for him? Like...personally?" "I guess I made such a good impression on him when I built the second casino, that he wanted to utilize me again. Hey, I'm not gonna say no to another job," Molly said, shrugging, tapping her stirrer on the edge of her mug and saying, "besides, I like taking on projects that aren't houses or offices. Things I've never designed before. Gives me some kind of challenge." Kristin nodded, pushing some of her hair back behind her head and then sipping from her mug again. "Did he say what it's for?" she asked. "Just said it's a vault for the casino," Molly replied, shrugging, "assuming he's going to keep a mountain of money in it, like some sort of Egyptian Pharaoh. Frankly I don't really give a shit, so long as I get paid to make it. He can keep a solid car in it for all I care." "Do they make solid gold cars?" Kristin asked as Molly sat down and chuckled as she tossed her hair. "I don't know, but if they do I'll never afford one. I don't even know how well they'd drive, honestly," she replied, both girls laughing. Molly was happy. It was nice to have a friend who wasn't attached to some sort of illicit activity. She felt like she spent all of her time surrounded by people trying to either break the law or avoid getting caught by it. Kristin was different. Kristin was just...a person. An ordinary everyday person who worked a regular job as a showgirl at the casino. Nothing out of the ordinary, no wild and crazy schemes, just a lovely young woman Molly happened to back her own car into hers. "So, is designing this...like...difficult?" Kristin asked, setting the papers down on the table and leaning back in her chair. "Not really, no," Molly said, "in fact, because it doesn't have to follow certain structure code, I'm able to be pretty free with it. That isn't to say I'm gonna cut corners, I'm a professional, but it does allow me some wiggle room to play around with. Either way, it's a nice change of pace from what I'm usually asked to design. Don't get me wrong, I love making homes, but there's only so many different ways to do it, and after a while you get kind of...I don't know...depressed about building nice places you don't get to live in." Kristin giggled and sipped her coffee, then asked, "do you not like your house? Cause's it beautiful." "Oh, I do!" Molly remarked, looking around her kitchen, "I really do, I just...I don't know. Sometimes I think about what it might be like to have a totally different home. Live a totally different life. Be a totally different person, you know? I don't think that's that unusual, I think most people probably indulge in a little escapist fantasy now and then." Kristin nodded, still sipping, listening. Molly lifted her mug to her lips and took a long drink as well, their eyes connected. Yes, Molly liked having normal friends. She couldn't believe she'd waited so long to try it. *** "That was nothing but showboating," Benny said. The three of them, Benny, Allie and Zoe, were seated at the casino bar that evening after the show. Benny had his hand in a bowl of mixed snacks on the bartop, while Allie and Zoe sipped some non alcoholic drinks. Benny sighed and ran his hands through his hair. "Nothing but showboating and yet...everything he did was seamless," he continued, "you couldn't spot the trick even if he pointed it out to you. If there's a man capable of getting in and out of a place undetected, it's that guy, and it's a miracle he's decided to use his gifts for magic rather than robbing banks." Allie chuckled and pinched her straw, pulling it to her lips and taking a long drink. Afterwards she wiped her mouth on her sleeve and nodded. "He's definitely the guy to watch," Allie said, "now all we have to do is figure out how he does it." "Well a magician never reveals their secrets, yeah?" a voice said from behind, as Jackson Strange himself waltzed up and stood between Benny and Allie. He flashed her a smile, and for a moment, Allie had to remind herself that this wasn't someone she could flirt with - aside from the fact she had a boyfriend - and instead was someone she was attempting to mimick creatively. Jackson ordered a drink, then scooped a handful of snacks from the bowl and dropped them in his mouth; he continued, "but, I'll let you in on a little secret, since you're all in the business of magic yourselves. Most people do not realize what is done as stage illusions and what is not until emergency measures have to be taken to end the escape routine entirely. You dig into the history of escapes and people have died, more often than any other line of magic work. That's why we have to be so careful." "Fascinating," Benny said flatly, picking up his ginger ale and taking a long drink as he rolled his eyes. "Well, I feel like that if you know even the tiniest bit about magic, then escapology loses it's appeal faster than almost any other kind of magic. That's why the necessity for belief is so crucial, because once you realize that the hinges, screws, chains, handcuffs, bars, water tank, wooden frame, and giant blade, are entirely fake, always, and 100%, you just lose your appreciation of the whole thing. Not to talk shit about my own work, but escapology, at this level of performance, is just magic for people who pay no attention to magic, and won't think about it after they watch it. But that's the beauty of it. You have people willing to believe what they're seeing, with no real thought given to it. That's what makes it work. If you can get them to believe it, you're golden." Aliie nodded, listening intently. "So, how does one go about then, say, escaping a transparent box, like you're going to do soon?" Benny asked, "cause you're suspended in mid air, with everyone capable of seeing you from all angles. What's the trick to that?" "Again," Jackson said, finally getting his drink from the bartender and leaving her a tip, winking as he did, "the illusion of accessibility. It's all about misdirection. If you tell someone something is a transparent box, they're going to believe it when they see it, regardless of how you escape it. Suspending myself above them gives me ample room to be just far enough away to do things they can't make out exactly. People are so quick to call things their eyes can't make sense of 'impossibilities'. How many times have shooting stars been called UFO's, or balls of light called Ghosts? People want to believe in the unbelievable. I just give them that service, at a price of course." Jackson then patted Allie and Benny on the back and nodded. "See ya around, kids," he said, before turning and walking off, drink in hand. "Wow," Allie said, as they watched him leave, "what a perfectly pretentious piece of work." "He called us kids," Benny said softly, "I'm like 4 years older than him." "So," Zoe asked, finally chiming in, "how do we do what he does, but on a larger scale?" "That," Allie said, turning and grinning at her, "is the million dollar question." *** Agent Siskel was standing in her kitchen, staring at her fridge. She couldn't decide if she wanted to cook dinner or order dinner. She sighed and closed the fridge after pulling a soda from it, popping the top and taking a long swig. She'd done what she'd set out to do, so why did she feel so lousy? Probably because of Agent Tropper. He was understanding enough, but the level of combativeness during their last interaction had thrown her for somewhat of a loop. She'd never had him be that blunt and angry with her. But...but this was her investigation and she was going to do what she had to close it out. Suddenly she heard a knock at her front door and glanced in that direction, before checking the watch on her wrist. It was almost 10pm, who could possibly be coming to visit her at this time of night? She walked to the door, reached out for the knob, hesitated momentarily, then bit her lip and yanked the door open. Standing there, surprise surprise, was Agent Tropper, in a sweater and some jeans. "I was just thinking about you," Siskel said. "Funny, maybe I'm a Tulpa," Tropper remarked, making her laugh as she stepped aside, allowing him entrance; once inside the living room, he turned and scratched the back of his head, looking at her as he said, "listen...I wanna apologize for the other day. I didn't...I guess I just didn't understand what you might be thinking, but you've been right about everything else so far and so I should have just trusted your instincts." "I appreciate that," Siskel said, taking another sip. "I saw that Claire's been released," Tropper said softly, "any idea where she went?" "Not at the moment, but she knows she's under the eye of the law," Siskel said, "she knows I'll track her down personally if she fails to follow through with our deal. Likely she's going to take care of some personal business first, and I don't blame her. Being locked up kind of puts a halt on your life. But after that...I'd imagine she's gonna go right for Allie." "And what makes you think she won't help her instead?" Tropper asked. A pause filled the room. "I guess it all comes down to how much Claire values her freedom," Siskel replied, "and right now, I think she values it quite a bit. But I suppose we'll just have to wait and see." *** Rachel St. Sebastian pulled up in her driveway and parked. It'd been such a long day. She'd had to go get new embalming supplies, grocery shopping, getting her mail. She was happy to finally be home and put her feet up and relax. She figured she'd make herself a nice cup of hot chocolate and put on some classical music and just lay on the couch for a bit before making something to eat. She locked her car, then headed up the walkway to the front door. As she entered the home, she set all her bags down, then turned the light on and screamed. Sitting in her recliner, drinking a beer, was Claire. "What the fuck are you doing here?" Rachel asked. "It's nice to see you too," Claire replied, smiling smarmily. "How did you-" "I was let out for good behavior." "You KILLED people and stuffed them into walls. I don't think there's any kind of good behavior that could rectify that line of action," Rachel said as Claire stood up and walked towards her. Rachel backed against the door and stared as Claire reached past her and locked the door, then put one palm against it, while the other hand grabbed Rachel's chin and forced her to look in her eyes. "Well somebody in there thought I deserved a second chance," Claire said quietly, "and I'm not going to waste it." With that, she pressed her lips against Rachel's, taking her by surprise, before reaching over to the wall with her other hand and shutting off the lights.
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ABOUT
Allie Meers is what she dreamed of being since she was a little girl...a successful Vegas magician. The only problem now is she can't make all her problems disappear; Allie grapples with her strained relationship, crippling addictions and FBI agents on her tail, all while trying to stay at the top of her career. Archives
December 2023
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