Julie and Mary Caught in the Act (Act Two)

by Vaughan

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Dedicated to:

   - Scott, webmaster at Shecky, when I started writing,
   - Peter, for his invaluable contribution of suggestions for
       Julie and Mary

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For those who have not read the first eight episodes of my
story:

My name is Julie. I am a 5'7" blond, with a good
figure, aged 22. I have just become an assistant the magician
James. James has another assistant, Mary, a 5'7" black girl,
who is a bit older than me. Mary and me have been victim to
several of James' illusions and enjoyed them, after the initial
shock of some of the predicaments.

My new job seemed to be going well. I have been in the job
for two weeks and we are in the middle of our first show with all
three of us, after a week experimenting with sawing each other in
half.

In the first half Mary was appeared and I was constructed
from straw. Mary had climbed through my body, and I had been cut
into sections to make a spiral staircase and finally Mary had been
crushed inside my car and somehow survived.

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By the end of the end of the interval I had calmed down enough
about the crushing of my car, that when James put his head round
the dressing room door, I did not go for his throat.

"Are you two ready for act two?" He asked.

"Of course," responded Mary, "but you have got
to promise us that there won't be any surprises as horrible as
being crushed in a car."

"Oh yes. I can promise that. The second half will be
decidedly more gentle," he promised.

We went to the stage and waited in the wings. We were both
dressed in figure hugging white dresses with skirts that flared
from the hip. Soon the curtains opened and James introduced the
second act of the show, then he introduced us. We danced on and
stood either side of him. He told the audience how we loved to
dance. The lighting then changed so that the front of the stage
was lit from the front, but the rear stage area was lit from
behind and especially two screens. I understood what we were
supposed to do. I began to dance and Mary joined me, while James
went to the front corner of the stage to be out of our way. We
danced, music swelled, I began to enjoy myself. I danced towards
to the back of the stage going from being brightly light to being
in silhouette. I then danced behind a screen. I could see my
shadow leap onto the screen. I liked the look of that so I
continued dancing so that my shadow remained on the screen. I saw
Mary do the same. As I watched Mary began to fade but her shadow
did not. I caught a glimpse of my hand only to discover that it
had faded too. Soon we were invisible except for our shadows.
Then the tingle started all over and I felt myself drawn into the
shadow on the screen.

James came over and turn both screens edge on to the audience
and brought them forward as the front lighting faded. It was
plain to all that we had become our own shadows. I did not dare
stop dancing. As we continued dancing James put swords throw the
screens. I could feel the swords pass through when they were
first inserted but after that I could not feel any effect of
them.

Arranging the screens in an open vee shape. James stuck his
hand through Mary's screen and pulled her out through it, making
tearing noises as she emerged.

James and Mary picked up the screen I was a shadow on. Without
warning they flipped it end over end, so that the top and bottom
had swapped over. Before I knew what was happening I was falling,
back in my body through paper screen head down and collapsed in a
heap on the stage.

I got up and acknowledged the applause, If we had not been on
stage I would have given him such a slapping.

He made a hand signal indicating that Mary should get the next
illusion ready. I stayed beside him while the curtains closed.
James performed some tricks with balloons including the one where
the sausage shaped balloon is put into a tube and then two knives
and a lit candle are put through it. The balloon emerges
unharmed.

He then used the same tube on my forearm. The tube snapped
shut. Quickly, the knives were inserted, one through my wrist and
the other just below my elbow. I flexed my hand partly to check
it was still working and partly to show the audience that it was
unharmed. Next came the candle. James relit it and holding my
hand so that the whole auditorium could see, he moved the candle
to the hole midway down the tube on the under-side of the tube. I
could feel the heat of the flame as it approached, but once the
flame entered the tube I felt nothing except the scorch and
quench sensation as the hot end of the wick touched my skin. As
James continued to push the candle through my arm, I could feel a
greasy rubbing where the candle entered my arm. All of a sudden,
a patch on the top of my arm got very hot, then I saw a wisp of
smoke come out of the hole in the top of the tube. I became
worried that my skin was burning, then the candle with flame
still burning appear through the hole and I felt the same greasy
rubbing at the exit point as at the entry point. James completed
pushing the candle through my arm, then removed the knives and
the tube. I displayed my uninjured arm for all to see.

The curtains parted, revealing Mary sitting cross-legged on a
large wooden crate, in front of which was a set of three swords
in line on a base, point upward. Lying around were other items.
Mary had changed from her dress into harem pants and jacket.

Without warning James scooped me up and laid me across the
points of the swords and left me there. He took a gray cloth and
waved it in front of the crate Mary was seated on. When James
dropped the cloth, the crate was gone, but Mary was still sitting
cross-legged in midair as if nothing had happened.

While Mary sat rock solid in midair, not even bobbing, James
turned his attention to me. After making some mystical passes,
during which he winked at me, he leaned down and removed the
sword from under my ankles, but I still felt supported. He threw
the sword to the floor having passed it over and under me and
bent down to remove the sword under the small of my back. Again
he flourished the sword about my floating body, before discarding
it. My only apparent of support was the tip of a sword at the
back of my neck, yet I was lying horizontal and still felt
supported.

James left me dangling and returned his attention to Mary.
With various gestures he made Mary float higher then towards the
audience. As she floated over me I could see no visible supports.
James made a gesture and Mary floated down to land on me. I could
feel her weight as she landed and probably gave a squeak of
surprise as for the first time the tip of the sword pricked my
neck. Mary floated up again and towards the front stage and then
onward over the audience. On the way past James, He passed her a
shallow basket. From the basket she picked up a fan and a handful
of confetti and the used the fan to blow the confetti from her
hand. The tiny colored paper scraps formed a cloud about her
before gently settling on the audience. None of the bits of
confetti lodged on any wires, which had they been there they
probably would. Mary floated down to the aisle at about waist
height and then uncurled her legs and stepped down on to the
aisle carpet. And walked back on stage while the auditorium rang
with applause.

James came back to me, having greeted Mary at the front of the
stage. He leaned down and grabbed the hilt of the last sword. I
thought he was going to remove it and leave me floating there,
but instead he raise it and me with it so I was soon seven feet
over the stage balanced on the tip of a sword at the back of my
neck. It was at this point he snapped his fingers and withdrew
the sword. He then picked up a length of rope and threw it over
me and taking the loose end and threw it over me again so I was in a
loop. I felt one end of the rope become tense while the over end
remained loose. Using this method James turned me over so I was
now lying face down in thin air about seven feet from the floor.
I think if I had not been in so many peculiar situations and
predicaments recently I would have screamed, but I just watched
to see what would happen next.

Mary was shaking out a large gray colored sheet. James went
to help her because it was about seven foot square. The watchers
were shown that the sheet was plain gray on both sides. Once the
blankness of the sheet was evident, it was gathered up and brought
over to where I floated and one end was thrown over my back so
that it hung there. Mary pulled two of the corners so that my
legs were covered then James drew the rest of the sheet over me
until I was covered from head to toe. The continued to adjust the
sheet while I floated underneath it.

James peeked under the sheet and then took hold of the corner
as if he was going to remove the sheet again. As I saw him begin
to pull I felt the tingle that told me that I was vanishing which
started in my back and quickly flooded through. The next
sensation was of swinging through the air and then suddenly
stopping. I surmised that I had disappeared into the fabric of
the sheet. This was soon confirmed when James and Mary hooked a
pair of eight poles into the top corners of the sheet and raised
the sheet for the onlookers to see. On the front of the sheet was
me in my white dress; on the back the sheet was still blank.

The poles were inserted into sockets on the floor, so I was on
view. Mary brought out a set of open-tread steps with a pair of
flexible poles. To these poles they clipped harem pants, jacket
and a veiled headdress so the stood on the step. To this they
added a pair of curly-toed slippers. The step was brought round
so that the pegged up costume was in front of me. James reached
behind the costume and with a lightning fast move removed the
dress I was wearing and showed it empty to the audience. While
no one could see it I was very embarrassed to be on stage
flattened and naked. Until then I had nearly forgotten the grudge
I had against James.

I then noticed that the being flat tingle in my feet had
changed from the pins and needles tingle to the sensation of
being gently rubbed by handfuls of sharp gravel. My feet felt solid
again and after a short time the sensation flooded up my body. I
noticed that I was now standing naked and insubstantial behind
the harem costume suspend between the poles on the step. Then a
movement surprised me. Mary and James were displaying both sides
of the gray sheet which were blank again. I knew I had to do
something to get into the costume I stood behind. I thought
"Nothing ventured, nothing gained." I stepped forward
so that my form occupied the same space as the costume. A
spotlight concentrated on the costume as the rest of the stage
became dark. The abrasive rubbing gradually faded from my body
starting at my feet. Gradually I became solid again, inside the
costume. Everyone saw the costume fill out from the feet upward.
When my head had appeared inside the headdress I stepped forward,
snapping the costume from the clips and reached up to remove the
headdress. The applause was wonderful and made me feel warm
inside.

James gave the hand signal that I should prepare illusion six.
The curtain closed in front of me, while Mary and James remained
at the front of the stage to perform some smaller magic and
tricks. I quickly moved the equipment we had been using into the
wings and found the equipment under the sheet marked with a six.
I found the thin model sawing equipment. The saws were like we
had been practicing with but the boxes, the stocks and the blades
were different. Instead of wooden boxes and stocks and metal
blades all these were made of clear plastic, one set tinted blue
the other set tinted pink. I rolled this lot onto stage and
placed them as specified in the plan I found which the gear.

I waited a few minutes and the curtain re-opened. James smiled
as I came forward. "As you can see, ladies and gentlemen, my
assistants are not properly dressed for my next and final
illusion. Never mind, we'll soon cure that." He pointed a
finger at our feet and the was a flash and a puff of smoke, which
completely enveloped us. When the smoke had cleared both Mary and
I were in bikinis, instead of the jackets and harem pants we had
been in. The audience broke into spontaneous applause. My bikini
was blue and Mary's was pink and both glowed slightly.

"Alright, ladies, bring your boxes forward and the rest
of the kit," instructed James.

"Ok, I now need a couple of volunteers to help with this
illusion," James told the audience. As usual there is some
hesitancy about offering assistance to a magician, even one as
obviously talented as James.

I was sent to bring up two volunteers I liked the look of. The
first of two I chose was in the front row and had quite obviously
been enjoying the show and the second was sat in an aisle seat
about six rows back and I had noticed his mouth drop open when I
was divided into a spiral stairway.

When they were on stage, James shook each of them by the hand
and asked them there names. They were Scott and Peter. James
introduced them to the audience and told them that the next trick
would be performed by Scott and Peter.

"Ladies, take your volunteers to your boxes," James
instructed us.

I took Scott to the blue tinted box and guided him behind it.
I whispered, "Open the lid so a lady can get in!" He
fumbled a bit then the lids were open and I gracefully climbed in
and lay down. Mary had got Peter to do the same for her and had
also lain down. We had both lain in opposite directions so our
heads were together.

James prompted Scott and Peter to fit the stocks so that only
our ankles, feet and heads were outside the boxes, although the
rest of our bodies were completely visible. James came round and
slid the sides from the boxes so that the view from the audience
was even better. He also locked the box lids.

"Ok, Scott, Peter? Pick up the saws and saw the girls in
half."

The men looked at each other uncertainly. Scott asked me,
"You won't be hurt will you?"

I replied, "Of course, I won't. If I thought you were
going to hurt me I wouldn't be lying in this box waiting for you
to get busy with that saw. So, get on with it, but not too fast,
I want to have some fun too. Besides, I've never actually seen
what happens as it's happening."

Peter seemed to be more confidence, having heard what I had to
say, and asked Mary, "Should I cut across the box or down
through the box keeping the blade flat?"

Mary told him, "I quite fancy being sawn flat, but as you
can see the saw isn't really long enough for that. So just keep
the saw pointing downwards and we'll be alright."

Scott started sawing, then, having raise the saw and flexed it
to prove it was real, Peter began to saw Mary. As neither of us
screamed when saw met flesh, they continued. When the back of the
saw had entered my body, I reached down to feel the groove left
behind the saw. If looked like a saw-cut in wood, just a dark
groove in the surface of my middle, but there was no blood, pain
or rough edges. Soon Scott had finished sawing me in half. He
nervously checked the saw-blade and looked relieved that it
reflected his face in the clean surface. While Peter was
finishing Mary, I took the opportunity to feel the length of my
cut. It felt like a groove under my fingers, but to my belly it
felt as if my finger had just traced an un-interrupted path
across my belly. Scott watched my face as I broke into smile.
Peter had finished and James came and took the saws from them,
then he handed them the clear plastic blades. Peter had no
trouble inserting the blades but Scott's second blade did not
seem to want to push into place. It seemed that he was well
versed in the ways of stage magicians, because, before James
could prompt him, he came round to my head and mimed pulling my
head. It would have helped if he had really pulled, as it was I
wriggled up the box a bit and the blade fell into place with a
solid thud. Scott seemed to enjoy the round of applause he got
for that.

James came round and stood between our heads and told the men
to go to the feet of their respective sawees. Scott ran a finger
up the sole of my foot. He looked a little startled when I
giggled and told him to cut it out. Peter was doing something
similar, because Mary also giggled and made a threatening remark.

"It is now time, ladies and gentlemen," James
announced, "to show you some thing that has never before
been seen on any stage anywhere in the world; The insides of my
assistants." He nodded and pulled our heads towards the back
of the stage while Scott and Peter pulled our feet towards the
wings. There was a gasp and round of applauds.

"Ok, gentlemen," said James addressing Scott and
Peter, "let's show everyone, every side of every part of
Mary and Julie."

Scott and Peter seemed to have a flare for showing our halves
to the audience. By the time they had finished, we were both
quite dizzy. I had caught sight of each of our parts and also our
severed ends. Mary's cut ends were very dark brown matching her
skin color and the severed end of my lower half was pinkish like
my flesh. I was slightly disappointed at the blank flesh covering
our cuts, I had hoped to see something a bit more gruesome, but
then I suppose James knew what an audience would accept.

After several minutes the turning and showing James called a
halt and positioned our heads towards the wings and with Scott's
and Peter's help gently aligned our lower halves. I heard a
slight click as the lower half of my box re-attached. The men
were asked to remove the clear plastic blades and examine them.

While James was unlocking the lids, I felt the groove between
my two severed parts and quickly realized that the legs
positioned against my body were Mary's. I whispered, "This
can't be right." James winked at me. While dubious about the
taste involved, I now knew that this was part of the illusion, I
also remembered seeing it done both with two white assistants and
also with mixed race assistants fully clothed. For a moment I
lost the feeling in my legs and then felt my body and Mary's legs
attach themselves. My finger was on the gap at the time, so I
felt a tension in the skin as it stretched to meet the
corresponding flesh and then the relaxation as the point of
joining moved round my body. Scott and Peter removed the stocks
and opened the lids. Mary and I from a weeks practice gracefully
rose from the boxes, despite the sexy feelings rushing up and
down our bodies. Peter and Scott looked at our mismatched bodies
with eyes wide. I kissed Scott and Mary kissed Peter; we were
always in that kind of mood after being restored.

James sent Scott and Peter back to the audience and thanked
the rest of the audience, wishing them a safe journey home.

The curtains closed. James walked away and said over his
shoulder, "Great show! I'll see you two in the bar round the
corner for a swift drink, then we will come back and tidy up. I
left you some suitable clothes in your dressing room."

I ran after him, calling, "What about giving us our
proper legs back? And what about my car?"

James walked off, only calling back, "Don't be too
long."

I was furious and Mary was not much calmer.

We went to change.

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To be continued . . .