It had been a few months since Caroline had encountered the magician at the club. She still wondered how he had persuaded her to strip in front of an avid audience and at her wantonness when she had been divided in three pieces, or even the fact that she had allowed herself to be divided, not that she had much choice once she had allowed herself to be trapped in the apparatus. In her waking hours she was astounded by and ashamed of what she had allowed to happen, but in her dreams she invented scenarios that led to her being a victim of some illusion and being ravished by the magician before a baying crowd. Her confusion about how she felt about these things had been compounded in recent days by the receipt of a membership card for the club accompanied by a note, signed 'Betty' (the topless waitress and usual assistant to the magician).

The note read:-

“Robert has developed a new illusion which he hopes you will be present at the premier of, and perhaps experience first hand. Hope to see you Saturday. Betty”

So here she was back at the club, dressed as she had been before; in a scarlet skirt suit. When she had arrived, she had been spotted by Betty and conducted to the same table she had been sat at before. The other patrons ignored her, as she was probably wearing more clothes and any two of them combined. When Caroline ordered something to eat, the selection seemed as sparse as before, but the quality was as good and the price lower; 'Member's discount' whispered Betty.

The first three acts seemed to be a little different from her previous visit. The girl who had last time sent plumes of sparks from her steel bikini, this time spend most of her time writhing around on the floor in a heap of broken glass and finished her act lying on the glass while a stage hand smashed a concrete block on her abdomen with a sledge hammer.

The hypnotist did not bring any skewers onto the stage, but instead had a volunteer lying rigid between two stools while keeping up a conversation with her and her two male friends. During her catalepsy a variety of things were put on her body, including one of her friends sitting on her belly and a large spider. Also the hypnotist used a sharp sword to cut two watermelons, during which she did not even flinch, despite the fruits being rest on her upper chest and groin; there also seemed little risk to her clothes as she was wearing a see through top that barely reached down to her nipples and artfully laddered tights.

The next act was a couple of strippers, but instead of pirate and wench, they were costumed as patient and nurse. This did not stop them from taking two songs to strip to nothing and spending the following three sings engaging in a great variety of athletic sex culminating is his climaxing in her hair and then they exited.

Between each of these acts the MC/DJ reminded the clientele that in a back room there was tattooist that they might want to check out.

After another couple of songs the next act was announced. The magician burst onto the stage and began with performing a version of the linking rings, except he used large coloured zip-ties which he initially turned from straight into interlocking rings before doing the usual detaching and reattaching of the rings so that the chain of rings ended up in a different order. At the end he unlinked all the rings and skimmed them into the audience. His next thing was some knife juggling, which he did with such faux-incompetence that on several occasions the tips of the knives slashed his T-shirt which, after the knives that dropped one at a time formed a stack of one knife stuck in the handle except the bottom one which stood up from the stage, he ripped off the shredded T-shirt to exposed his muscular chest.

“And now for the feature illusion of the night, I will need the help of Betty, my favourite waitress.” Their were cheers from members of the audience, who Caroline assumed were regulars and had seen Betty used on previous occasions by the magician as an assistant. “And I will also need the help of the lady that received the yellow ring from earlier.”

Caroline looked down and was surprised to see a yellow zip-tie on the plate which had been used to serve her burger and chips. She picked it up and was about to toss it towards one of the several enthusiast potential recipients, when Betty took hold of her wrist and announced, “We have a volunteer!” This extinguished all hope that she would avoid returning to the stage where last time, she had stripped, been cut in three and fucked. Her only remaining hope was that she was going to be no more involved than a helper 'being the audience's eyes'.

While Betty guided Caroline to the stage and helped her mount it, the magician wheeled forward a cabinet, that had been wheeled on by a stage hand, while the audience's attention was on the linking zip-ties. The magician parked the cabinet and locked the wheels. After that he helped Caroline with assisting Betty to climb onto the stage. Soon they were all on stage, standing in front of the cabinet.

“Welcome back, Caroline. I'm glad you could make it for the premier of this illusion.”

“I suppose you want me to get into that box,” accused Caroline. She indicated the cabinet that the magician had brought forward. It seemed a simple straight-sided shoulder height box topped with a head-sized box.

“Maybe later, but for now I want you to check that there are none of the usual magicians' extras, like spare bunny rabbits, trapdoors, extra assistants or hidden lock-picks.”

While Caroline opened the double doors on the front of the cabinet and checked the interior for trickery and anything else that should not be there, the magician reached into Betty's only item of clothing, her thong, had hooked something with a finger and began to pull something for behind the scrap of cloth. He soon finished dragging a large blue silk cloth from within the waitress' thong, that was certainly too small to conceal the six foot square of fabric. He then reached into his own shorts and pulled forth a six foot pole with a clip at the top and a folded up tripod on the bottom half. A quick adjustment had the tripod deployed and the rod standing on the stage to the side and slightly forward of the cabinet. The magician picked up the cloth and clipped a corner to the top of the pole.

“This illusion starts off as an escape, so if Caroline is happy that there is nothing rigged about this cabinet, it is time to shackle me in.”

“I did wonder what the built-in cuffs at the ankles and shoulder height were for,” commented Caroline.

It took little time to position the magician in the box and close the shackles around his ankles and wrists, then fit a stock around his neck to hold his head within the smaller box on top.

“Caroline, are you happy that I can't escape?”

“Not really, but I can't see how you could. There would be little point if you couldn't, but I can't see how it could be done, besides ripping the shackles from the inside of the cabinet, and I have a feeling that would be too obvious.”

“Ok, why don't you go behind the cabinet to watch for me sneaking out the back. I feel sure that you would let everyone know if I tried something like that. Let me know when you are in position.”

“Alright, I'm back here. But, there's nothing to see except the solid wooden back of the cabinet.”

“Just wait there a moment!” the magician instructed. “Now, Betty, pick up a corner of the cloth and walk across the front of the cabinet, until it comes out of the clip or the pole falls over.

For the audience the cloth obstructed their view of the cabinet for no more than four seconds, then as the cloth pulled from the clip on top of the pole the magician was there a step behind Betty and quickly gathered the cloth around his body to form a cloak. For Caroline there was a moment of blankness, then the cabinet was no longer in the way of seeing the dimly lit club, but for a second or so, her field of view was obscured by blue. It took her longer than she felt it should have to notice that her feet, wrists and neck were fixed in place and conclude that somehow she was now the occupant of the box.

“Hey!! That's not fair! I thought you said, you didn't want me in the box.”

Caroline's complaint drew the audience's attention to her predicament, as well as the fact that the magician was free; this resulted in a scattering of applause.

“I didn't say I didn't want you in the box, I just said, 'not yet',” magician said, as he finished adjusting the cloth to form a cloak from his otherwise bare shoulders down to his ankles. “This way I don't have to worry that you might not be in the right position or boring the audience with the preliminaries of getting you into place. Betty, please go and fetch the blades, while I demonstrate that Caroline is properly secured, as I was, and there are no fake parts.”

Betty went towards the entrance to the stage, where she was met by the stage hand who handed her a pair of large blades. Meanwhile, Caroline was complaining about how tight the shackles were that held her in place, while she writhed trying to avoid the magician's tickling fingers; this convinced the spectators that all the woman in the cabinet was real and one woman and she was not able to escape the restraints that the magician seemed have escaped so quickly.

As Betty returned lugging the heavy blades, the magician began closing the doors. “If you were to see what's coming, you'd probably want out; but rest assured I will do you no harm.”

The final door, the flap hinged at the top of the head box closed as Betty arrived with the blades. Magician and topless waitress spent a few seconds demonstrating that the two blades were each a few inches longer than the cabinet was wide and after a ninety degree rotation of the cabinet, that they were less than an inch narrower that the cabinet was deep.

It took more strength than Betty had to lift the two blades into position, so this task devolved to the magician. He pushed the upper blade across the shoulder of cabinet and into the base of the head box, until he met the resistance afforded by Caroline's neck. She heard him muttering something then felt him increase the pressure on the side of her neck. She was about to scream from the pain, when the pressure and pain vanished and was replaced by a fountain of pleasurable sensations that originated from the same spot. She remembered at that point that she had felt some very similar feelings when he had separated her head from her body last time. That combined with a reduction of the little light that had been seeping into the head box, caused her to conclude that she was a head and a body instead of a complete person.

Light burst in when the magician opened the front of the head box and revealed her flushed face blinded by the sudden brightness. “Did you just do what I think you just did?” Caroline asked.

“If you think I just pushed a blade through your neck, then yes; otherwise you'll have to be more specific.”

“Ok, smart-ass, what happens next?”

“Blade two, of course.” the magician squatted down, so that his makeshift cloak rested on the floor. He opened a bottom section of each of the front doors to show that Caroline's legs are still in place, at least from the knees down. “Uh-oh! I think we've got a problem. Caroline, do you mind if I damage your skirt?”

“Of course I mind! What made you think I wouldn't?”

“Perhaps, how blasé you are about having your head detached from your body and getting shirty with the only person you are sure can reattach it.”

“Point taken; I think? But, on the whole, I would rather you not damage my clothes, because I would rather not go home in a state of disarray, thank you.”

“I think we can save your skirt and get on with illusion, if you don't mind Betty helping.”

“Whatever. I don't want to be in this box all evening, so whatever needs to be done to get on with it.”

“Ok, Betty, if you feel up this side wall, you'll feel a clip, use it to hold up the hem of Caroline's skirt. And if you can do that without hiding her legs from view, so much the better.”

Betty's solution to these instructions was to squat beside the cabinet, then reach over the knee-high half door and up beside Caroline's leg. It was easy to see that the waitress had found the clip mentioned, because she lowered her hand and lifted the hem of the volunteer's skirt. When the hand returned to sight it was not followed by the skirt, although the other side of the skirt had risen very little, but was pulled closer to Caroline's calf.

“Thank you, Betty. That should do the trick, but I'll push the blade in half way to make sure that it does not catch.” Still squatting. The magician lines up the blade a short way above the open door showing Caroline's lower legs and pushes in until it touches the base of her thigh. “Are you ready?”

Not expecting to be asked or knowing what to do to be ready, she gave an interrogative grunt.

“Good enough,” said the magician. He gave the blade a shove with the heel of his hand, which moved it into the base of the closed section of the cabinet about half way. Caroline's reaction to the burst of sensual feelings this caused, seemed to be perfectly timed to have been caused by the action by the magician that the victim could not see. The audience appreciated this and applauded.

Betty looked at the situation and said, “I don't think her skirt will be safe if you just push the blade through her other leg. Is there a clip on this side too?”

The magician nodded and gave the topless waitress time to squat opposite him, find the clip and lift the hem of the skirt to it. As soon as Betty's hand returned to sight, the magician shoved his end of the blade, resulting in the leading edge passing through Caroline's leg and out of the far side of the cabinet.

Caroline's feelings were not what she had come to expect. While a volley of sexy sensations rattle up and down her lower leg and around her head, the feelings in the parts between were missing, it took her about 4 seconds to notice this, because of the firework display of sexiness racketing around in her head. “Hey! What's happened to my body? I don't think I can feel it.”

The magician asked Betty to 'do the honours' and open the cabinet so that the audience could see what had happened, then he handed her a hand mirror so that she could show Caroline, what the audience had been shown.

The interior of the cabinet was empty; blank matt black between the blade that supported Caroline's head down to the one that capped her knees.

Caroline took a little longer to recognise what had happened to her, but then she asked the obvious question, “Where's my body gone?”

The magician did not directly answer this, but instead stood and allowed the blue silk to fall from his shoulders. Below was Caroline's scarlet suit. The audience applauded, but Caroline was not satisfied with the response. “Ok, so you somehow managed to steal my clothes and dress yourself in them, but where's my body.”

The magician signalled to the waitress-assistant to wheel the cabinet back to give him space, then made a sign to the DJ, who put on 'The Stripper'. The magician dancing to the music, began to strip, to much enthusiasm from the crowd, who had guessed that under Caroline's clothes was her body; this proved to be the case. There was no sign of his muscular male body or his cut-off shorts.

The magician came back to the cabinet and asked Caroline if she was impressed. Despite having some misgivings about what the magician intended do with her body while it occupied the space between his neck and knees, she admitted to being 'mildly impressed', then asked where his body was.

“My body is safe, and I'll get it back when I give you yours back later. But, for now, let's make it easier for people to come and talk to you. By the way, would you like a souvenir to remember this occasion by?”

“I hope it is something better than a scrap of red cloth that someone had drawn an elephant on,” Caroline replied.

The magician pulled a few pegs and lowered Caroline's head down to about a foot above her knees leaving the space between the dividing blades empty. Next he produced a Sharpie from between her legs, left the stage and disappeared into the crowd.

For most of the rest of the evening, Caroline was positioned at the edge of the stage, so that she was at a level to be face-to-face with the other club attendees.

Caroline soon found out that when people passed their hands through the gap that was usually occupied by her body, she felt more aroused, but with nothing she could do to relieve it, this soon became frustrating. She asked that someone let the magician know that she wanted to be put back together. Betty came by to let her know that the magician would be about another fifteen minutes, and ask if she wanted to moved backstage or wait there for him. Caroline opted to wait in public, thinking that being backstage would be boring.

When the magician returned, still showing her naked body, he soon had Caroline's head the usual distance above her knees. After this he picked up the cloth that he had used as a cloak earlier and draped it over the front of the cabinet to cover the space between the blades.

Caroline commented, “If this is going to work to give me back my body, shouldn't you cover my body too?”

“Yes, if that's what I intended,” replied the magician, as he dragged the blades from the cabinet and allowed them to drop to the floor, because with Caroline's body he did not have the strength to put the blades down with any finesse.

The crashes of the blades falling in a barely controlled manner to the stage drew the attention of the crowd in the club. Some applauded the delayed conclusion of the magic act, especially when the cloth was dropped from wrapping the cabinet to reveal that Caroline had acquired the magician muscular torso, arms and thighs, which included a noticeable bulge in the magician's shorts.

The magician released his body from the cabinet and allowed Caroline to step forth controlling it. What happened next took most people at the club by surprise.

Thoroughly aroused by her time in the cabinet, during which there had been no possibility of relief, she adjusted the cabinet to its lowered position, lifted the magician that had her body to sit on the head box, pulled down the shorts, detecting a condom in a pocket in the shorts, put that on her erection and then made rapid love to her body with his. The crowd cheered this unexpected turn of events.

As they climaxed, he fainted, but she had enough presence of mind to catch the magician before he collapsed from the improvised love perch. She lifted her body in the magician's strong arms and carried it backstage. Betty was there and showed her where the magician's dressing room was. He was regaining consciousness when she laid him on the couch that was there.

When he had fully recovered, he hugged her body to his and got Betty to wrapped them with the cloth. When they were unwrapped again, Caroline had her body back and Betty gave her her clothes.

While they were both dressing, Caroline asked, “You said you were going to get me a souvenir, where is it?”

“Look down at your left breast.”

She looked down to find a mark there that she recognised, but had not been there before. A small drawing of an elephant, the same as she had received on her previous visit to the club, but this time instead of being on a scrap of red cloth, it was a tattoo.

Caroline slapped the magician. “Who the hell gave you permission to do that kind of thing to my body?”

“You did, indirectly.”

She slapped him again and stormed out to finish dressing in the corridor.

“Do you think that was a good idea?” asked Betty.

“You'll see! It will grow on her, and it's not like I had it put somewhere where it would show. Set her up with three months of premium membership at my expense, and if she does not come back before it ends and volunteers to be in the magic, I'll double your tips for the whole three months; that's how certain I am. She has an extremely naughty side that does not get out to play enough.”

“I'm not taking that bet (tempting though it is) until I know what the down-side for me is, if she comes back for some more magic.”