Trance (21 page)

“Okay.” I was skeptical.

“Ten minutes to show time,” yelled someone outside.

“I’ve got to get changed,” he said.

“Of course. Go on. You’re up first anyway, so go get ready. I’ll see you on stage then?”

“Not if I see you first.”

He shut the door behind him and I looked back down at the rock wondering what to do with it. Could a rock in a shoe, really be lucky? I hadn’t heard anything like that before. Or maybe I had, but that was something to do with a penny. I had my doubts that this would do anything, but it couldn’t hurt. I slipped off my heel and placed it inside.

Maybe it could hurt after all. I took a step feeling it dig into the ball of my foot. Thank
goodness it was smooth otherwise I’d be limping through the whole show. What a great look that would be. Right now though, it was merely annoying. Jason had better be right about this. The last thing I wanted to do was to look like a fool.

One more look in the mirror to check everything was in place, and I walked outside ready for
Showtime.

The stage lights blinded me from seeing the audience. Usually this was a good thing, especially with the shows where I was tired or out of sorts and didn’t need any judgmental faces frowning at the act. Now it was just me, I wanted to see reactions so I could tell if I was doing well or not.

I remembered every move and hand wave that my grandfather did. I had seen it often enough. But I couldn’t see whether it was impressing them or not. Everyone was a shadow, a silhouette. If I didn’t hear the occasional cough or murmur they could have been cardboard cutouts.

When Jason was on stage, I heard them laugh, clap. Someone yelled out something encouraging and he talked back, interacting with the crowd like he did so well. That was not happening with my part.

A trickle of sweat ran down my back. Maybe they were too
mesmerized to say anything.

I showed them a jug of water on the table, even taking a moment to drink some to prove it was real water. I covered it with a scarf and in one motion, flicked the scarf upwards making it look like the water disappeared into thin air leaving an empty jug.

I waited for a reaction. Perhaps an ooh or ahh? Nothing. One lone clap, slow and bored came from near the back.

I swallowed back any thoughts of running off stage and crumpling into a ball. This was nothing. I hadn’t finished yet anyway. I couldn’t run off, this was showbiz. I owed it to my grandfather to get through this.

I glanced sideways to Lacey who was waving her hands at me to continue. I had never been this nervous before, but then again, I’d never been the lead before either. There is a reason that women didn’t lead in magic shows, and I’d just figured out why.

Focus. That’s what I needed.

I smiled as if it was the most normal thing in the world that I was up on stage doing the act that Thomas should be doing. But this didn’t feel right. This felt like I was being someone I wasn’t.

I waved my hand in the air for a second time, then poured the water from the scarf (with the plastic bag hidden inside), onto a fake potted plant that I had placed on the table earlier. Immediately a flower emerged from the soil.

Applause. Finally.

I let out a deep breath of relief. I curtsied, trying to keep my composure and soak up the satisfied crowd, all the while searching the faces so I could pretend I was entertaining just them. It was easier that way.

One more trick and this session was up.

I picked up the metal rings, clanging them together and performing some of the simpler tricks with them. A few
halfhearted claps came from the front row, but this time I wasn’t giving up. If Jason could make the audience laugh, then perhaps I needed to add some humor in as well. I pretended to make a mistake and get myself tangled up in the rings. Was that a giggle? I played on this more, making each move as entertaining and humorous as I could. Someone chuckled. It was working.

Maybe this was why Jason did the acts the way he did.
Humor worked well with this crowd. Possibly with most crowds. The reaction spurred me to improvise with a few more tricks. I dropped the cards on the ground and pretended to slip on them. More laughter, and as an added benefit at least I could limp legitimately now with the damn pebble in my shoe.

Playing to the
audience, I finished my last trick flawlessly.

They clapped enthusiastically as I finished and I could feel my chest swelling with excitement. I curtsied again, and floated off stage feeling better than before I’d started. A small niggling thought couldn’t shift however. Did I really have to resort to being a clown to be a success on my own?

It was Jason’s turn next. I hadn’t seen him much yet, he was too busy with his act. I wanted so badly to have him on stage with me. Things would be much better with him by my side. It was the sword stunt next and I’d barely see him stuck in the box. And of course there was no way I’d be able to do the last trick without him.

I looked around for him, but he was nowhere in sight. Probably behind stage with his participants.

I stumbled as a shooting pain went up the back of my thigh. This pebble wasn’t proving to be that lucky. It hurt more than I thought it would. I took off my shoe and picked it up. It was warm and smooth. With no pockets to hold it, I placed it down my cleavage, pushing it down to make sure it couldn’t be seen. It’d be safe there and I wouldn’t have to limp. That was sure to make it even luckier.

I took the moment to focus on my last trick, the one that everyone had paid good money to see. They’d lighted the fan with thin column like spotlights that made it look much more ominous that it was.

Was I really ready to step through? 

Jason’s last session started. He led his hypnotized audience members back on stage in a conga line. The man on the end was tall and had to bend down to hold the woman’s waist in front of him making it even more amusing. Jason saw me watching from side stage and winked at me before returning his attention back to the audience and his participants. He was so masterful on stage. Just looking at him command the audience made me want to give up what I was doing, knowing I’d never be as good as him.

He made the three women in his group stand up and told them they were from animal control. The four men he had convinced they were strange animals. One was a three headed zebra, another a tiny mouse that could fly if it twirled
its tail. The audience was in fits of hysterics.

“He’s good,” whispered Lacey who had sidled up beside me.

“I know. Thank god for his show, otherwise this whole thing would bomb. I was wrong to think I’d make a good magician.”

“Nonsense,” said Lacey. “This is the first time you’ve ever performed as headline. You know the tricks well, but being up there alone, that’s scary. I heard them laugh. You’re doing better than you think.”

“I hope so, because this is all I know.”

She put her arm around me, laughing at one of the participants who was spinning on the ground on his back like an insect who had just been sprayed. “Jason performs a different
show, that’s all. Don’t think so hard about what you are doing. Just go out there and be yourself.”

“They only liked my act when I tried to be funny.”

She punched me playfully on the arm. “Stop fishing for compliments, because you know I already think your brilliant at this. Besides, you’ve still never tried to be yourself on stage. You’ve been Thomas, and then Jason. Most people haven’t seen the real Scarlett Tinks. Let your guard down.”

“I guess,” I said.

I looked back at Jason who was finishing his act. He was bringing each person out with a one, two, three, snap of his fingers. The control he had over them was mesmerizing, I couldn’t take my eyes off him. I wanted to perform like him, the way he moved, and the way he spoke. It was all him. The real him.

Lacey was right. The reason he was so popular wasn’t because he mixed
humor with stage hypnosis, but because he did the act his way. That made him confident, strong. No wonder he was such a hot act right now - he totally deserved to be.

The music roared and the lights rose. He bowed to the crowd and they cheered for him. The clapping went on for several minutes longer than necessary. They’d gotten their monies worth and the final act hadn’t even happened yet.

I closed my eyes and concentrated on calming my breathing. I only had to step through. Just one step and the show would be over. If I didn’t chop my leg off first.

The music began to quiet and the audience hushed. It was time.

The announcer’s voice boomed through the theatre. “It stopped one person crushing his bones to dust.” I cringed. “And tonight, you’ll see
firsthand, whether the lovely, the enigmatic, the beautiful, Scarlett Tinks, will make it out alive.”

Jason came up beside me, slipping his hand into mine. He gave it a quick squeeze.

“Will Scarlett be able to defeat…” the announcer’s voice lowered “… the Blades…Of…DESTRUCTION!” A thumping drumbeat completed his sinister tone.

“Are you ready?” whispered Jason.

“Not at all.”

“You can still back out if you want. You don’t have to do this.”

I looked at the fan. It was statue still, waiting for us to fire it up and then for me to step through. Thomas had been defeated, and he was the master, having far more practice than I had. “I wish I had more time.”

The audience began to chant my name. ‘Scarlett, Scarlett.’

“Breathe,” he said. He placed his hands on my shoulders and looked me directly in the eye. “Do you have the pebble?”

“Yes, in my bra.”

He raised an eyebrow, looking down my costume to see if he could see it.

“Okay, good,” he said. “Think about that. It’s lucky remember. Think about it as you step up and shut out everything else. It doesn’t exist anymore. Just you and the fan. You can do this, because you already have. I know you can. You’re a star, Scarlett. You’ll make it through if you believe you can, and since you have the lucky stone, you can’t go wrong.”

“You believe in me?”

His smile warmed me, giving me the confidence I needed. “Of course I do. I’ve never been sure of anything else in my life than I am of you and what you can do.”

I nodded. If he believed in me then I believed in me too. He was right. I could do this. I had done this. I would be able to do this now and succeed.

We walked onto stage hand in hand.

The act started. We took our places, turned on the fan and played up to the audience for laughs.

It felt so natural now, not like it was our first show together, but like we’d been doing it for years.

I walked around the fan letting the breeze cool my skin. It wasn’t enough to blow me far, it hadn’t been built that way, but the air cooled me, tempering the heat from the overhead lights.

We hammed it up, pretending that it really was powerful, and we were being blown away. It was fun and I even laughed onstage myself. No more butterflies or nerves, just a fun act together. A small side table held the carrot I would use. I picked it up, taking a bite while leaning casually on the side of the fan. A few people laughed.

“Want some?” I asked Jason. My voice boomed through the theatre, and I realized they’d turned the music off. Only the sound of the fan whump whumping was heard now.

“I sure do,” he said. “Half?”

“Why of course. Let me cut some off for you.”

I placed the carrot though the blades at the point where it was sharpest.

Chop
.

The carrot sliced in two.

Someone in the audience gasped which sent a thrill through me.

Jason picked up the half of carrot that had fallen to the floor, looked at it suspiciously and threw it over his shoulder so it landed on the other side of the fan.

Everyone in the audience looked as though they were leaning forward in their seats anticipating what was about to happen next. They knew I was about to step through.

“Littering is bad you know, let me get that for you.”

I stepped forward.

The blades swished in front of my face. The lights lowered and the music began to thump with a heavy bass.

I focused on the rhythm, counting each revolution.

Suddenly the lights changed.

Darkness, bright light, darkness, bright light.

The
strobing made me dizzy and I couldn’t concentrate. The music throbbed in time to the lights, but I couldn’t see. The blades looked out of sync, I couldn’t tell when to step.

Panic bubbled up in the pit of my stomach. I knew everyone was watching me. I knew the camera’s would have a close up of my face. I concentrated hard on trying to act natural and not
like I was in trouble.

I looked across at Jason who had a worried look on his face. He knew the lights were causing issues, but we were on stage in front of an audience. I couldn’t back out now.

Every second that passed seemed like an eternity. All I had to do was step through, but if I couldn’t see when.

My grandfather splayed out on the ground flashed before my eyes. I’d end up like him, or worse. What if it didn’t catch my leg. What if it caught my stomach, or my
head? I’d die. Right here on stage, I’d die in front of everyone.

Jason mouthed the words, ‘
you don’t have to do it.’

But I did. My grandfather was counting on me. We wouldn’t get paid if I didn’t do the show, exactly like it was supposed to be.

I closed my eyes and took a breath, then opened them again. All I had to do was get used to the lights, let my eyes adjust. My heart pounded. The breeze on my face did nothing to cool me now.

I reached up to my chest, grabbing for the stone - the lucky stone. If I had it in my hand, maybe I could do it.

My legs shook and my hand trembled as I took the stone in my hand, giving me the confidence to step through.

“Stop!” Jason strode towards me. “Stop. I won’t let you step through.”