Assistants Revenge
by: Anonymous2
Mary hesitated for a moment when she opened the gate. When she inquired about the house at Orchard Road at the agency, it took them 20 minutes to retrieve the file. And when she said she would like to see it, they just handed over the key, saying that a salesperson would only be available in 6 weeks at best. The house was the sole survivor of a big real estate deal going wrong. It was probably the only piece of land not involved in a law suit for several hundreds of meters. However, the neighborhood was considered save (slightly too far from the center and nothing to do anyway), and the house had a garden. Probably the only house with a garden she could afford. And with the first day in court scheduled for 2017, long term prospects weren't as bad as most people seemed to think.
Crossing the garden, she noted that it looked less gloomy than what it looked like from the outside. A powerful weed trimmer would sort out most of it. The house, however, was in as bad a state as she had expected. A rather large patch of roof tiles were missing, some of the windows on the first floor were broken, and one of the chimneys had collapsed. The outside walls, however, looked solid and mostly dry. Seeing that circling the house would be rather difficult with the dense blackberry growth, Mary headed straight for the door. She was glad she had brought some oil for the lock. Carefully inserting the lubricated key, she managed to unlock the front door without to much effort. The air coming out of the house was not as stale and musty as she had expected. Walking through the house, she thought it looked rather friendly, despite being left on its own for 15 years or so. She even managed to get to the first floor and the attic without falling through the stairs. All the time she was trying to convince herself that renovation would be not that bad. The roof had to be renewed, but the carpentry was still mostly OK. The stairs to the attic looked almost new. Some of the heating system might still work. That big wet stain on the wall closest to the missing roof tiles would dry out quickly. However, the practical side of her knew she would probably have to find a room mate or a wealthy husband at some point.
Deciding to have a look at the basement while she was here, Mary took a flash light out of her purse. The stairs to the basement looked very old indeed, but she got down without problems. She opened the door before her with some difficulty, and entered the basement. She could see some light coming through the cellar-window, and her flash light revealed that this part of the cellar used to be for wine, with racks made out of brick and a pile of broken bottles in the corner. She made her way forward to the door leading trough to the rest of the cellar. A couple of weathered crates were in front of the door. Mary carefully stacked them on top of each other, carefully dodging most of the cobwebs. The crates felt no more solid than they looked. They were too light to be filled with wine, but they weren't empty, either. Having the crates out of the way, she opened the door to find the next cellar completely empty, apart from cobwebs and dust and the remnants of the central heating system. A nice big space though. As she turned to go back, she heard a noise that made the hairs in her neck stand up. Her knees gave away as she turned to look. She was out of it before she hit the floor.
Mary woke up sitting on a chair in the kitchen.
"Don't move to much. The chair is very dodgy and you might fall again"
Mary looked at the person talking to her. It was a young woman. Something looked out of place. It wasn't the cobwebs in her hair. It was her clothing. The young woman was dressed in a shining silver-colored bikini and a see-through silver skirt. Mary wobbled slightly on her chair. The young woman quickly steadied her.
"You are not going to faint again, are you", she asked.
"Who, what, how?"
Mary's questions sounded rather more sane than she had expected herself.
"I'm Ellen", the young woman responded. "We should probably get out of here before it gets dark. I can explain everything over a cup of coffee. I long for a cup of coffee. Maybe we can go to your place".
***
Mary was sitting in the kitchen of her flat sipping her coffee. Across the kitchen table sat Ellen, taking large gulps of her third cup. Ellen looked reasonably normal without cobwebs in her hair and wearing a T-shirt. In fact, Ellen looked rather stunning, with all the dirt washed away and her hair in a pony tail.
"Explain this to me again. Slowly", said Mary.
Ellen sighed.
"I know it is a lot to take in. But I assure you I'm telling the truth"
"It's not that I don't believe you. I'm not at that stage yet. I'm still trying to get everything registered".
"OK. I'm Ellen Deckers. I was working for ..."
"Why did you take the spiders out before you washed your hair?"
"They were the only company I had for 14 years."
"How can you stay alive in that place for 14 years. Or sane for that matter"
"I told you. And I didn't say I remained sane for 14 years. But life went on, at least for the spiders. I would make them bite me just to have something new happening"
Mary took another sip of her coffee. Despite of the common sense her brain was trying to stick to, she was starting to believe Ellen's story.
"So you worked for the great Zaccari for 3 months? And he tricked you just before pay day?"
"Yes. He arranged for extra practice. Just the both of us. I was even thinking he had a surprise for me. And he had, although it wasn't what I expected. He started the mismade girl with me. He locked me into the box, slammed the blades in, and unstacked me. Then, instead of stacking me the wrong way, he put the boxes in his car and drove me up to that house, putting the boxes into that cellar. If he had stacked the boxes in any way, I might have managed to get out. He held a speech about the cost of labor and maximizing profit. He said nobody would find me there and he said the demolition crew would be there in a few days. And then he left me there. I heard the demolition crew come nearer for a few weeks. And then they stopped for holidays. They never came back".
"Did he know you were still there?"
"I don't think so. Maybe he did. He could have known if he wanted to. He left me to die, so I guess he didn't care"
"Why not just kill you? The normal way?", asked Mary. The question sounded somewhat awkward.
"A body to get rid of, I guess. Also, during shows and in theaters, SORM keeps an eye on things."
"SORM?"
"Society of real magicians".
"Real magicians?"
"Yes. Wrong name, if you ask me. It means the assistants don't fake it."
"Huh?".
"These men and women cut and burn their assistants for real, and then put them back together unharmed. Usually, that is."
"Why would you want to be cut and burned"
"Because it feels kind of nice, most of the time".
There was a faint glow in Ellen's eyes when she said that.
"What does the magician actually do then? And way didn't SORM do anything?"
"Either because they are an incompetent and corrupt bunch of bastards or because Zaccari covered his tracks. Or both".
The glow in Ellen's eyes looked quite different now.
"14 years. In a box, no, in four boxes, in a basement. No food, no water"
"I know it is hard to get. It is the boxes and the blades. They provide the magic. If they are severely damaged, the magic stops and the assistant dies. Not because of hunger, though."
"Why not?", asked Mary.
"Try to work with me, now. You actually get cut into pieces. Massive blood loss. Damage to organs, things like that".
"Oh. Right" Mary felt even more tired.
"In fact, you have seen the state the boxes were in. They would have lasted two more years maximum. Less with a really wet winter. In fact, I was looking forward to that. Even though the spiders insisted they liked my company."
"Looking forward to it?". Mary fell a chill running along her spine.
"I was a bit depressed, you see. For the last six years or so. In fact, I didn't even notice you. The spiders had to bite me seven times to get me focused. That's way it took me so long to eject the blades and open the box. Which is way I was to late to catch you."
"You talk to spiders?", asked Mary, only now catching up on what Ellen told her for the seventh time.
"14 years is a long time", said Ellen.
"I feel a bit sleepy, don't you?", asked Mary.
"I have been resting for 14 years. I want to walk around town all night, have a few drinks, and then go to the library tomorrow morning. I have a lot of catching up to do", said Ellen.
"Not in that outfit", said Mary. "Morality hasn't sunk so low that you can hit town dressed in nothing but a T-shirt. Well. Maybe in Soho, but not here".
Ellen looked disappointed.
"You can borrow something from me", grinned Mary. "We should find something that fits."
Moving up to the bedroom, Mary and Ellen soon found something suitable for walking and visiting pubs. Mary gave Ellen 15 pounds and a city map with her address clearly marked on it, plus a good deal of advice.
"Yes mom", said Ellen, when Mary finally considered her ready.
"Take this with you", said Mary.
"What is it?"
"It's a cell phone", said Mary. "Just phone me if there is any problem"
"What? How?"
"Just dial the number and press the green button. Red button when finished"
"And what is your number"?
"It's on the first speed dial. Press this button and then one and then the green button".
"Wireless phone?"
"You are starting to sound like me", grinned Mary. "Don't be home late".
"Yes mom. I'll be home before lunch".
As soon as Ellen left, Mary went to bed. Not that is was that late, but she usually did her best thinking in bed. She did not manage much thinking before she fell asleep this time. The last thought she had was about central heating.
***
Mary opened the front door for Ellen to come in around 11:30. Ellen looked surprisingly well, all things considered. Mary looked a complete mess, although she had slept more than ten hours.
"How was your night and morning", asked Mary.
"Good. You can't believe how good that beer tasted", Ellen replied. "Especially getting tipsy already halfway the second one and chatting nonsense to a couple of guys".
"And your trip to the library?"
"Very interesting. A lot of things have changed. Some good things, like the pubs being open late or the revolution in East Germany. Some things bad, still no peace in Afghanistan or Iraq. Seems Bush is still the president of the US, although I thought that wasn't allowed"
"It's the son. We had president Clinton in between for 8 years."
"Oh. Right. And what have you been up to?"
"I have checked a few things on the Internet. And I bought the house"
"The Internet? I read the word a couple of times. What is it? And what did you find out? Oh. And congratulations".
Mary took Ellen to the kitchen and made her sit down. She stirred in the pasta she had prepared for lunch for a while and then sat down as well.
"Before I tell you, I need to know what your plans are.", said Mary.
"All I can think of is pay-back", said Ellen.
"I think he has done it to other assistants as well", said Mary.
***
Ellen and Mary slowly crawled through the tunnel. Their faces where pitch black.
"You actually do this for a living", asked Ellen?
"Well. Yes. Although usually not in an abandoned coal mine. I usually find the place before they start digging. ".
"And why are we looking here?"
"It's the most logical place to look. The theater is only a 20 minute drive from here, and the mine was going to be filled with garbage before someone thought about turning it into a museum".
"Don't you think Zaccari might have been a bit more creative?"
"After what you told me about him, creativity is not his strongest point".
"I think I see something. Can you point that flash light in that far corner?".
The hairs in the back of Mary's back did that standing up thing again. Over in the corner, they could see several crates with sword hilts showing at several places.
"Careful. These boxes are in a very bad state"
"Good thing I brought duct tape with me. It seems that some of the swords are rusty. Any idea on how to handle that?"
Ellen hesitated for a moment or two.
"Lubrication, I guess. On the tips, because they have to go through. The bits in her body should be clean. Nothing else we can do without damaging the boxes beyond repair."
"She hasn't reacted to anything yet. I hope we 're not too late".
After reinforcing the boxes as good as possible, Ellen and Mary carefully aligned them. They used a very faint outline of a female figure as a guide to the correct order. Ellen then proceeded to pull the swords with quick fluent motions. Finally, they could open the boxes. Several of the catches fell of as Mary tried to open them, and the wood of the boxes started cracking.
"He used really cheap material on this one", said Mary, looking very worried.
Finally they managed to open the boxes. In the box, they saw a woman chained to the inside of the box with a gag in her mouth, wearing the remains of a skintight black cat suite. Apart from some minor scratches on the skin, it looked like she was fully restored. Mary carefully cut the chains with the tools she brought, while Ellen gently removed the gag.
"Thank you", said the woman, before passing out.
***
Ellen and Deborah were sitting outside of Mary's new house, enjoying the sun and the tea and the biscuits. They had paint on their clothes and in their hair.
Mary opened the gate and walked into the garden, carrying a couple of cardboard boxes.
"Another one already?", asked Ellen.
"No, silly. But I have finally found a way to get you two registered as living persons again. I'm now a licensed private detective specialized in finding young girls and woman who disappeared without someone filing a missing persons report. For some reason, waving the license makes an impression on the people that need to be impressed. And since I'm now the official spokesperson representing you, I 'm allowed to copy and/or reclaim any documents and objects they have on file about you. That's what is in these boxes"
"Found anything interesting?"
"Birth certificates, drivers licenses and things like that. You can now officially look for a job, drive a car and have you social security sorted out".
Both Ellen and Deborah seemed a bit disappointed.
Mary sighted. She knew they had hoped for something, well, more fun.
"The top boxes are from that cute pizza guy close to the railway station", she added.
"You should have brought him along with the pizza's", said Ellen, causing them all to smile.
"Oh yes", said Deborah. "The roof has been totally finished since this morning and the carpenter said they will install the new stairs tomorrow. The heating system is up and running and we have finished painting the kitchen exactly as instructed."
"Good work form everybody, then", said Mary.
"And I gave your phone number to the tall guy with the glasses", said Ellen, grinning from ear to ear.
Right on cue, Mary's cell phone ringed.
"I told him to wait a day or two", said Ellen.
Mary answered the phone, only to say yes a couple of times. After hanging up and putting the phone back in her purse, she looked at the other two.
"I think we might have found Jane.
****
"Tell me about Jane", said Ellen, carefully chipping bits of concrete away.
"We were on the show together for 2 months", said Deborah, resting here chisel for a moment. "She was specialized in escapes. Knowing everything there is to know about locks and ropes and stuff. She was working on a under water escape when she disappeared. Zaccari told us she got scared and ran of. We thought she had gotten a better offer. She never came back to clean out her locker, but we didn't think much about it then. We knew she didn't have anything valuable in it anyway."
"What is it that a magician actually does, then", asked Mary, looking up from her bit of work.
"A good magician does a lot", said Ellen. "He designs and builds new illusions, he modifies existing apparatus to make it more comfortable for his assistants, he prepares the assistants as good as possible, telling them what 's going to happen and how to react to it, and he of course manages the show and works the audience. Some of them test the illusions on themselves first, making sure everything is safe. Bad magicians just work the equipment they buy from bad dealers. And they yell at people."
Deborah nodded. "Yeah. Zaccari yelled a lot at people".
"Were did you find this piece of concrete, and why do you think it is the right one", asked Ellen.
"In Dover harbor", said Mary. "This is one of a batch of 40 that was made at the right time. This one was made last, late in the afternoon when someone could easily slip in as almost everybody in the factory is hitting the showers. For some reasons, these things have serial numbers. It also shows excessive wear and cracking, so this is officially an investigation in using substandard materials"
"Are you sure he used concrete", asked Deborah?
"I couldn't find a suitable alternative for august 1997 in or around Dover. But I have to admit it is a long shot."
"We are not giving up on her", said Ellen.
"No, we are not", said Deborah.
Mary picked up her chisel and started chipping again. She was actually almost ready to give up on Jane. This was the fourth block of concrete they had broken up entirely by hand. She only obtained permission to take the blocks and investigate concrete excessive wear because a new construction was to be build on that site anyway.
"I have something", said Deborah.
Four hours later, they were looking at what looked like a classic trunk, although rather smaller than usual.
"Should I try to rinse of the concrete dust", asked Mary.
"No. We should be able to open it like it is".
After the initial relieve, Ellen looked slightly worried again.
"What's the problem, then?"
"We have to open the lock without using force", said Ellen, reaching for one of her hair pins.
Five minutes of concentrated poking ended in a sharp click. Deborah raised the lid. The box contained the classic sub trunk sack with someone inside. Opening and removing the sack revealed a slightly crumpled but otherwise healthy looking redhead wearing handcuffs, a tank top and some hot pants. She blinked at the bright sun light and looked extremely relieved.
"Three save and sound, three more to find", said Mary.
"If he doesn't do it again", said Ellen.
"He has to be stopped", said Deborah.
"If he knows we 're on to him, we stand no chance. Not in finding the others, and not in stopping him", said Mary.
Ellen and Deborah nodded.
"You mean he did this to others?", asked Jane.
"I'll get her cleaned up and fill her in", said Deborah.
How come you are all reasonably sane when you get out of these boxes", asked Mary. "She has been in there for 7 years, and she couldn't move an inch".
"She is worse than you think. Deborah and me as well. We will need some serious counseling at some point. But you are right. We should be completely mad. I guess it 's because of the magic."
"In the same way as you girls didn't age while you were in?"
"I guess so", said Ellen. "No need for food, no need for water, no ageing. But I was fully conscious most of the time, so plenty of opportunity to develop all sorts of problems".
"She is trying on everything in your wardrobe", said Deborah, coming back out of the house. "And she wants to go swimming for as long as she can afterwards".
A short pause.
"Zaccari's web site mentions a new assistant", she added. "None of the previous ones have deleted yet".
"We have to speed things up", said Ellen. We need to stop him as soon as possible.
"Our best clues are for Kate", said Mary, "and we 're doing everything we can for her. We have no clues for the other two yet. No names, no dates, no idea what they look like, no area to search".
"I have found two photos from around 1995 on some magic web site", said Deborah. "I'm trying to track down all the girls featured on it. We might get lucky."
***
Mary surfaced sooner than the others where expecting here.
"I think I have found her", she said. "It looks like a crystal casket, but it seems to be filled with mud, so I couldn't see inside."
"That makes it extra heavy for lifting", said Jane.
"Never mind lifting", said Mary, reaching for Ellen and Deborah to help her into the boat. "There are several serious cracks in the casket. It will break if we try to move it like that, and we can't use duct tape under water"
"We need time to figure this out".
"You can't leave her now that we have found her", said Jane, looking very upset.
"Unless you come up with something right now, we have to". Deborah looked even worse than Jane when she said that.
"I think I have an idea", said Ellen. "But we have to wait until tomorrow to try it".
Mary, Deborah and Jane all counted to 3 before yelling all at once.
"Tell us".
"Well, I used to have real bad plumbing in my flat, and I had several big leaks until I found this paste in the D.I.Y. shop. It is a sort of glue that works under water. We can use it to stick sheets of glass or wood to the casket to strengthen the construction, and then lift it up".
"Wood is hard to handle under water", said Deborah.
"Glass it is then", said Jane. "Mary, do you have any idea about the size of glass panels we would need"?
"Standard crystal casket size, I guess," said Mary. "I must have the dimensions on my laptop somewhere. But be better have sheets to strengthen the sides and bottom as well".
24 hours later, Jane and Ellen were pulling gently but firmly on a rope, raising a heavy load. Deborah was desperately trying to keep the small boat in balance, while Mary was in the water somewhere trying to keep some control over the situation. It took them about three hours to get the casket to the surface, with Jane, Ellen and Deborah taking turns in pulling and balancing. At the same time, they were worrying sick about Mary, who only had air in her scuba tanks for three hours and 15 minutes.
"At least she won't have problems with fast decompression", said Ellen, trying to sound optimistic.
Deborah managed to get some sort of grin on her face.
"How are we going to get the casket into the boat?"
"Let's get her up first", said Ellen, not wanting to think about that problem yet.
With a big final pull, the top of the casket finally surfaced. Because of the sudden movement, Jane lost her balance and fell into the water. She was helped back into the boat by Mary, who surfaced at the same time as the crate.
"I think we best try to row to boat to one of those soft banks over there", said Mary, pointing over to the shore. "This bank is closer, but we can't afford any rocks".
Two hours later, they had the crate close to the shore. They managed to put it on ground with Mary carefully checking for rocks under water. Then, the four of them stepped into the water and managed to lift the casket up and put it on the banks. Ellen used one of her hair pins again, and managed to unlock the casket fairly quickly.
"We have to be fast", said Ellen. "The magic stops as soon a we open the box, and the box is still filled with water. She could drown if we are too slow".
"Why not smash one of the sides, then", said Jane. "It stops the magic and the water can flow out immediately".
"A good idea. However, I'm afraid I overdid it somewhat with our reinforcements", said Mary.
The casket showed liberal amount of glue used to hold 8 millimeters of reinforced glass in place.
"The guy in the shop says that this is the strongest type of glass they have. It's what they use in schools".
"How about tipping over", said Deborah. The water pushes the lid open and drains quickly. We managed to carry it over here, so we should be strong enough to tip it over."
Jane pulled the padlock and moved next to the others.
"On three", said Mary.
On three, the crystal casket was tipped over. The lid opened, and a mixture of water and mud flowed out of the casket. A body emerged, chained into an extremely tight package.
"Seems he discovered bondage", said Ellen, rushing forward to take the gag out of the woman's mouth.
The woman started by coughing up some water. Her skin was pale blue.
"I'm so cold", she said.
"Get her out of those chains and clothes and into something warm", said Mary. "I will get the car."
When she got back with the car, Ellen was making wild gestures.
"This is not Kate", she said. "This is Anna. Kate was thrown into the Loch the day before. Anna was a witness by mistake and was disposed off the next day. Kate is still in there somewhere".
Mary hesitated a few minutes.
"It's late and we have to get this one warm", she said. "We 'will come back tomorrow".
"Oh yes", said Deborah, while everybody was getting into the car. "Nessie is real. We have an eye witness".
"Not funny", said Mary.
"It 's true". Anna spoke very slowly.
They searched for Kate for a week and a half. Thanks to Anna, they could limit the search to a reasonable area. Also, Anna insisted on helping after only one day of recovery. Still, they were getting towards the end of august and the weather forecast talked about real Scottish weather. Everybody was preparing to give up for this summer, although nobody said a word. They would probably leave on Sunday. Thursday afternoon was getting on, and everybody was feeling tired and down.
"We did have some of the finest weather Scotland can offer", said Ellen, looking at the magnificent landscape all around them.
"I wish we were here for a holiday". Deborah and Ellen spoke at the same time.
"One last dive", said Mary, who had enjoyed being warmed up by the sun for the last 15 minutes.
"Let's row over to sector A7", said Anna, who had taken the coordination.
"Aye-aye, madam, sir", said Jane, taking up the oar.
"This section should be less than 15 meters deep", said Anna. "No decompression problems, so you can stay for as long as you like."
Only ten minutes later, Mary surfaced again, about 100 meters from the boat, waving. Given the sudden surge of hope, they rowed the boat to Mary in no time at all, giving her the reinforcement glass plates and the glue with the efficiency of an experienced search and rescue unit. About 2 hours later, Ellen was ready to pick the lock. This time, the casket contained no mud. They could see a woman on the inside, chained in tight bondage and gagged.
"Same procedure as last time", said Mary.
"I'll go and get the car and blankets", said Anna.
30 minutes later, everybody was getting warm and dry in the cottage that had become their headquarters.
***
By the end of December, the high of finding Anna and Kate had long gone. All things considered it had been reasonably easy to sort out all of the paperwork, and all the girls had been doing all sorts of jobs to help paying the bills while Mary continued her regular geologist job at the prospecting company. The extra money allowed for turning the attic into two additional cozy rooms and an extra bathroom, giving everybody some privacy and reducing waiting times in the morning. Everybody had taken cooking and cleaning turns, and there had been no fighting or arguing whatsoever. Quite an achievement for six girls living together in one house.
None of the girls however had started making a live of their own. No dating, no contacting of old friend or trying to make new friends. Even shopping had been on an extremely low level. Everybody seemed to be on hold.
"Until pay-back, I guess", Mary said to herself while pretending to read the paper.
As for leads on the seventh girl, only a very low-quality photo from a web site had turned up, featuring a girl called "Karen or Lise or Natalja or something". On the bright side, none of the assistants of Zaccari had gone missing lately.
As for what would happen after they had found everybody, Mary didn't have a clue. She knew the others considered it their business. And she knew there had been extensive planning and preparation. She had been assured she would be doing her bit, and it was left at that.
Mary decided to go for a short walk. Just to the canal bridge and back. By the time she got back, she found the whole house in a frenzy. She immediately went upstairs to pack some stuff and joined the others waiting in the car. As a result of previous experience, the car had grown into something that could seat seven plus luggage and equipment. As always when something big was up, Mary was driving.
"Where to?", she simply said.
"Cardiff", said Deborah.
"How?", she then asked.
"Remember those files you recovered? When you sorted out Ellen and me? Seems there has been an inquiry by someone or other for not paying something. There was a cross reference to some other file in one of the documents. Her name is Natalia Kratky. I found another cross reference on a web site. She was a contortionist before becoming Zaccari's assistant. There is a rumor of her going back to Russia, which her mother denies."
Deborah had managed to say all this before Mary backed off the driveway.
"Her mother?", she asked.
"I found her.", Deborah simply said.
"Sit down when you get the next phone bill", Ellen said.
"Where ...?", asked Mary.
"An old hotel with a theater were they performed. The building was demolished a couple of months later. The rubble was used to cover the old city dump.
Nancy felt her heart skip a beat.
"Chances of recovery?", She asked.
"Not good", whispered Deborah.
"Actually, better than it seems", said Anna, getting of the car phone. "They had a post-industrial theme to the show. Big, solid, properly welded solid steel props. Which also means we can use a metal detector".
"A metal detector on a dump site", asked Kate? "Forget it".
"Good things we have a professional and highly trained geologist available", said Mary. "Give me the phone, and drop me off at the bus stop. Oh wait. I'm driving. I will drop myself off"
Two days later, Mary arrived at the site. The others had done some prospecting, but apart from the most likely dump site, they hadn't found anything resembling a clue at all.
"This is the site?", asked Mary, walking up to the others.
"On out of two possibilities, this being the most likely one", said Ellen.
"OK. I'll get the equipment", said Mary.
A few minutes later, Mary drove a big truck onto the site and started giving instructions on setting up the equipment. After two hours of hard work, all the girls gather in the back of the truck where the controls are.
"How did you get your hands on this stuff?", asked Anna.
"I promised not to tell. Suffice it to say that I know someone."
Mary paused for a second
" Remember me what exactly we are looking for?", said Mary?
"A metal object about 50 inches in each dimension", said Deborah.
Mary switched on an incredible amount of equipment and then booted the main computer.
"How does this thing work", asked Anna.
"The truck sets of little seismic waves and registers the reflections of any object via microphones. This data is combined with information from the metal detector grid we installed. The idea is to check for irregularities made of metal. The system is somewhat old but good enough for this kind of search. It does take a long time to scan the complete area."
After several hours, the initial enthusiasm was evaporating rapidly. With almost the entire area scanned (which involved tedious rearrangements of the detector grid), discussion was already going on about checking the other dump site. All the time, Deborah was checking her notes, muttering to herself and looking increasingly worried.
"I might have hypothetical question", she said finally to Mary.
"Yes?"
"If we were actually looking for a smaller metal object, would we have to start all over again?"
"Not necessarily", said Mary, "we just have to reprocess the data. The grid we used is fine enough to go much smaller. Why?"
"I think we should try again looking for a box with sides of about 25 inches", said Deborah.
"I'll just finish this last sector and then we can reprocess", said Mary, flicking another couple of switches and giving directions to Ellen over a walky-talky.
When the last sector was scanned, the girls helped packing up the microphones and metal detectors while Mary started re-processing the data. When talking about a smaller box to look for, Anna suddenly became very pale.
"Oh no", she said, looking at Deborah. "You don't think.."
"Yes. That's what I'm thinking", said Deborah.
"What", said Jane, expressing the thoughts of everybody.
"Project X1", said Anna.
With that, everybody became silent with a very worried look on their faces.
"What 's project X1", asked Mary.
"It's one of only two illusions ever forbidden by the SORM", said Deborah. "The first one was during the inquisition, and nobody remembers what it was, except SORM. The other one was project X1."
"Why was it forbidden", asked Ellen.
"Because it is deadly.", said Deborah.
"Sawing a woman in half is deadly", said Mary.
"Not if it's done by a magician", said Deborah. "This one is deadly even when done by good magicians. Or that is what they say. It was never actually used".
"What is it, then", asked Mary.
"An assistant swallows a sword and folds herself up. She is then tucked into a small box, which is locked and bolted shut, after which 25 swords and 10 flaming spikes are pushed trough. The package is then left with an audience member for the duration of the show, who is given an additional 10 swords he or she can push into the box at any time. There is also a little window through which you can see the assistant all the time".
"Why is so dangerous", asked Mary.
"Partly because the sword swallowing and the contortion is real, and not done by magic. Therefore, your intestines get cut up for real as well. Also, the way things are set up originally, everything is done by audience members: the sword is actually shoved in by an audience member, and it's another audience member that directs the contortion. Since the box is a tight fit, joints might get over-stretched or limbs compressed to much. All this with a real sword in the belly. Then the box is locked with several padlocks, making access pretty much impossible in case of an emergency. The SORM calculated a survival rate of 2.5%. They have a limit at 85%"
"An 85% limit? They are not that much into safety, are they", asked Mary.
Nobody answered.
Re-processing took another 15 minutes.
"There are three possible objects", said Mary. "We can dig in teams of two. Depth is between 2 and 3 meters. A good thing they used this hotel rubble to cover the dump site. Rubbish goes down as much as 20 meters below that. Nevertheless, use gloves at all times and don't get bitten by anything".
With one and a half hours to go before sunset, the girls would have to dig fast or come back tomorrow. Now that they new what they were probably looking for, none of them wanted to have to wait for another day to find Natalia.
"Remember to be even more careful than usual", said Deborah, before going to her digging spot.
Mary and Ellen found their object first. It was part of a filing cabinet filled with metal scrap and two dead rats. They split up and went over to help the others.
Anna and Jane and Mary then found a pouch filled with old car parts and a couple of computers.
"We will go to the other dump site tomorrow", said Anna.
"No we won't", yelled Deborah, on her knees and digging rubble with her hands.
"Careful now", said Anna.
A moment later, all girls were at the third site digging with their hands. Progress was very slow, so Mary backed up the truck and switched on its lights.
"It probably won't start anymore afterwards", she said to nobody in particular.
Just before midnight, they had the box free of rubble. The little window was on the bottom, so they couldn't see whether anyone was inside. None of them doubted that they would find Natalia, though. They couldn't see any traces of blood (stage or real). Anna and Kate started to pull out spikes and swords, using slow and continuous motions.
"There is still some resistance", said Anna, when pulling out the first spike.
In the meantime, Ellen fetched the toolbox from the truck and a hair pin from her hair, and started picking the locks. When they were done, 35 swords and 10 spikes were lying on the ground.
Nobody moved for a couple of seconds.
"I'll do it", said Jane, opening the locks and removing the last bolts.
When the box was finally opened, they saw a face looking back at them. It expressed mixed emotions of relieve, anxiety and strain.
"What next", asked Mary. "Can we remove the sword now, or do we have to unpack first".
"The f*&^*ng bastard used a sharp sword. We have to unpack first", said Deborah.
"How", asked Ellen.
"If we can move that foot out, I could get a hand in", said Deborah, pointing at Natalia's right foot squeezed into a corner of the box.
After some poking and prodding, the right foot up until the knee was out of the box, with Deborah ready to squeeze her hand in order to find a holding point.
"Wait", said Ellen. "Maybe we can try to stop the sword from moving in her throat".
"How"? Deborah pulled back.
"Sticky tape", said Ellen. "Is that OK with you? blink once for yes, twice for no", she asked Natalia.
The girl in the box blinked her eyes once, after which Ellen used duct tape to fix the hilt of the sword to Natalia's face.
"We 'will find a way to get if of", she said.
After that, Deborah assumed position again, giving instructions to Anna and Kate. Five minutes later, Natalia was stretched out next to the box, with Ellen first removing the sticky tape and then very gently pulling the sword out of Natalia's throat.
"I'll kill him", Natalia said, as the sword was clear.
"We have a better idea, said Ellen, giving her a hug.
***
Two weeks ago, Ellen had announced to Mary that it was pay back time. The six former assistants had worked out everything, and Ellen had given instructions to Mary on a need-to-know basis.
She was now halfway into the second act of Zaccari's magic show, which had been much more boring than she had expected given the things he had done to the girls. A lot of sleight of hand, which seemed a bit rusty to Mary, a zigzag and a sawing in half. The assistant was pretty but looked a bit bored.
"That concludes the show for today", said Zaccari. "I apologize again for the reduced program, as my normal assistant is sick. You can get a refund at the ticket office or come to see the full show next week".
Zaccari took his bows, not even asking his assistant to join in for the applause.
Mary had been worried sick for a moment when Zaccari had announces his regular assistant was sick, but she remembered the words Ellen had spoken. "Don't worry about any of his assistants. We are ahead of him now. Just carry out your instructions"
The instructions had been a bit strange: "Hang around the stage exit after the show, and meet the assistant. Stay clear of Zaccari. He doesn't know you, but he 's always looking for a bed mate and he would harass you given half a chance. He will leave first. He always leaves cleaning up to his assistants. She will need half an hour or so. Offer her a drink. Seduce her and take her home if you have to. Get the keys of the theater from her, and then keep her away for at least two hours. We'll find a way to get the keys back to her in time".
"Seduce her?", asked Mary, barely hearing the rest of the instructions.
"You'll do fine", said Ellen, with a wicked grin.
After the show, Mary moved out of the theater and moved into the little alley next to it. Getting out had been harder than expected due to the ticket refund business, but she was just in time to see the Great Zaccari leave. She kept out of the light. Upon leaving the theater, she heard him shouting some last instructions to his assistant.
"Make sure my shoes are properly polished this time."
The magician jumped into his sports car and drove off, nearly killing a cat.
Remaining in the dark part of the alley for now in case Zaccari returned, Mary waited for the assistant to finish. As she waited, she realized she had no instructions on how to pass the keys on to one of the others.
"They have planned it to well to forget something like that", she said to herself.
It took almost an hour for the assistant to emerge. Mary had almost given up, but there she was. The woman took great care in locking the stage door. While she was at it, Mary moved in, making sure to make some noise so as not to startle the assistant too much.
"Hi", she said.
"Hi", the woman said, feeling for something in her purse.
Seeing that Mary is female, she relaxed a little.
"I just wanted to tell you that I enjoyed the show", said Mary.
"The Great Zaccari has already left", said the woman, with a hint of sarcasm in her voice.
"I enjoyed your performance, not his", said Mary, actually telling what she though about the show.
"Oh. Well. That's nice of you, waiting an hour to tell me and all", said the assistant.
"I think I want to be an assistant", said Mary. "Maybe I can offer you a drink and we can talk about it?"
"I guess so. Just be sure not to be his assistant", said the woman.
"I'm Mary", said Mary.
"Eva", said the woman. "There 's a pub just down this alley and to the right", she continued.
"OK", said Mary.
They started to walk towards the pub. Mary noted that the key to the stage door was still in the lock. She suppressed a giggle. This was going better than expected. As they left the alley and turned into the main street, she saw 6 fast moving shadows entering the theater.
"I can't reveal any secrets", said Eva, as they entered the pub.
"I just want to know what the work is like", said Mary.
"With him, it's hell", she said. "It can be fun, though"
By the second pint of beer, Eva was telling everything there is to know about working for Zaccari.
"He is an asshole and he constantly tries to take advantage of you. He is somewhat more friendly to me compared to the other girls, as he would like me to become his regular assistant and push out the others. They had the nerve to ask about regular pay and such things. I was smart enough to sign up only for a short time. There is no way he's letting you out of a signed deal except on his terms. I hate him already, and I have only worked for him for a couple of days"
For a moment, Eva seemed unsure about whether she should tell these things to a stranger.
"I used to work for another magician. He was nice and friendly to his staff. He was friendly to kids. Zaccari always yells at kids."
"Don't sign anything with him anymore. Get a better job", said Mary.
"I have five more weeks. Then I'm out of there".
"Maybe not", thought Mary. She barely managed to keep her mouth shut.
Mary talked about her new house, which had filled up with room mates (while taking care not to give anything away), and talked about how she was beginning to like magic and that she might actually want to do something in that business. Mary didn't go as far as getting Eva drunk, but it was getting late. Eva announced that she just missed the latest bus, and tried to figure out how much a taxi would cost. Mary offered her the guest bed at her place, which Eva accepted after some hesitation.
By the time the others came back from the theater, Eva and Mary were at Mary's place, with Mary trying on one of Eva's costumes. Even though she was slightly smaller than Eva, Mary needed all the help she could get to squeeze into the skimpy black leather costume. Feeling Eva's hands trying to help squeeze her boobs in, she thought about Ellen's words and realized she was doing reasonably well seducing the girl into staying long enough. Much to her surprise, while she didn't actually fell for the girl, she liked the act of seduction itself, even feeling comfortable with Eva touching her boobs ever so slightly longer than necessary from a technical point of view.
From the corner of her eye, she saw Ellen slipping into the room and putting the keys of the theater into Eva's purse, complimenting Mary on putting Eva's purse on the commode next to the door with a nod and an ear-to-ear grin plastered on her face.
Mary and Eva went to bed (separately) without pushing the seduction game much further, and had breakfast together with the other girls the next morning. Everybody waited patiently until Eva left for her day job.
"Nice girl", said Ellen finally. "And boy did you seduce her".
Mary looked into six wide grins.
"It's not.."
"No need to explain", said Anne. "You just did want we asked you too."
"And you did it very well", said Kate.
"Never mind that", said Mary. "How did it go".
"All set. We will have him into our mercy 10 minutes into his show this Saturday", said Anne.
"Not that we will have any mercy", added Deborah.
"Don't hurt his assistants", said Mary.
"Don't you worry about that", said Deborah, again with a big grin.
***
Feeling quite nervous, Mary decided to sit rather far from the stage. The theater was only about half full, and she picked a seat in an empty row, with only five people sitting behind her.
Everything looked normal. The six girls where nowhere to be seen, and the audience consisted mostly of the people that were there during the last show.
The curtain raised, and Zaccari started with a sleight of hand segment, manipulating cards and snooker balls. Eva was standing in the back, taking care of the props and wearing the costume Maria had tried on and looking very sexy in it.
Rounding up some pigeons and making them disappear, Zaccari announced that it was time to do some serious stuff.
"We are going to present you a classic for starters: the sub trunk illusion. We 're just making it a bit harder".
Zaccari presented his regular assistant Elise, wearing a costume like Eva's. He asked two male volunteers on stage, asking them to check the trunk and the assistant. After some prodding and tapping of both trunk and assistant, the volunteers announced that everything looked (and felt) genuine. They were then asked to help prepare Elise. The volunteers were asked to use chains and rope to restrict Elise as much as possible. Mary noted that, although the bondage was very tight and probably painful, the two men weren't very good at it. A skilled professional could escape the bonds without too much problems. Elise was then put in a bright red sack, with was closed with a bit of rope and put into the trunk. The trunk was locked. From there on, the normal routine was followed, with Zaccari climbing onto the box with a large cloth and counting to three. On three, Elise could be seen standing on the box, while Zaccari had disappeared.
From the corner of her eye, Mary saw six women moving quickly to the stage.
"We'll manage from here", said Ellen to Elise. "We're taking over this show".
Elise hesitated a while, then shrugged. Deborah pointed her towards an empty seat in the front row.
"You might want to watch this", Deborah said to Elise.
In the mean time, Anne and Kate had unlocked the sub trunk, and opened the sack. Out came Zaccari. Not in tight painful bondage but handcuffed.
At first, he seemed very angry because he had been kept waiting. As he realized something was not as planned, he started to look around. Seeing the six girls, his face became very pale. He then seemed to panic, pulling on the handcuffs.
"You won't be able to get out of these handcuffs", said Jane.
In the mean time, Ellen had taken a microphone and addressed the public.
"Hi everybody. We are all former assistants of this piece of shit, and we are here to settle some old score. You can all stay and watch. It will be a good show. However, it is probably not suitable for children or sensitive people. As for you, you know who we are and why we are here?"
Zaccari nodded. He visibly was trying to keep his panic down and trying to find a way out.
"We will start with a slightly modified version of one of his favorite illusions, although he used it only once. Insiders might note we have made a few modifications."
Ellen smiled at me when she said this.
Zaccari opened his eyes wide as Anna rolled out project X1. He was scared to the bone, desperately looking for a way out or someone to help.
"Don't worry", said Ellen. "We need you alive for the next trick."
To the audience, she said "I won't explain what is going to happen. You will see as we get along. Just remember that men are usually less flexible than woman, so we will need to squeeze at some point. He will scream, but he will be fine."
Ellen paused a bit.
"Actually, he won't be fine, but he'll live. For now."
In the mean time, Anna brought on the rest of the props.
"First, we make the victim swallow a sword. Although, in this case, we decided to use a steel tube. You'll see why later".
While Katie and Anna held Zaccari firmly in place, Deborah pushed his head back. On cue, Natalia came forward and pushed a steel tube in the throat of Zaccari. At this point, the magician stopped struggling, knowing very well what could go wrong. The girls used a tube that seemed incredibly wide, as far as Mary could see. Although the girls had told her that Zaccari did some sword swallowing in his early days, he was clearly having trouble with this tube. Natalia gave him a moment to adjust, and then pushed the tube in all the way.
"Now we get him into the box."
Deborah said something into Ellen's ear.
"Oh yes. We use a modified one".
On cue, Jane and Kate wheeled over another box. It was made of safety glass, with iron bands strengthening the corners and running down the middle of the sides. It was made from the glass sheets they used to save Anna and Kate. The box was also considerably smaller than the original. A rumor went through the audience. Zaccari would never fit into that box. Zaccari himself had the same opinion.
"He will fit", said Ellen, addressing Zaccari directly now. "The tube stays out."
With that, several hands got hold of Zaccari, folding him into a small package. Zaccari himself was trying to keep the throat tube under control and at the same time trying to get out of the handcuffs before it was too late.
He didn't succeed.
The girls then started pushing Zaccari into the box. He slid in rather easily, except for his left leg. After some more maneuvering and pushing, a pop could be heard, and the leg was pushed in by Deborah and Anna together. Seeing his face through the glass, Mary noticed an expression of surprise rather than one of pain.
Ellen closed the door of the box, clicking it shut with a simple clasp. As announced, the throat tube was sticking out of the box, in the middle of the lid.
Next, Jane rolled a tray towards the front of the stage, revealing an incredible pile of swords, skewers and spikes.
"Remember: this is supposed to be unpleasant", said Ellen to the others.
With that, the six women started to insert all those sharp objects, sliding them into the box and then pushing them through Zaccari. This seemed to be very uncomfortable, as Zaccari tried to evade each blade. Being squeezed into a little box with six persons keeping up a good tempo, this of course proved to be impossible.
Five minutes later, Mary estimated that approximately 120 blades and spikes had been pushed in the box and through Zaccari.
"Now for a little modification suggested by Jane", said Deborah. "This is when you leave if you have a week stomach", she said to the audience.
She connected a funnel to the Zaccari's throat tube, and gave a signal. Jane moved forward with a concrete mixer. She carefully aligned the device, and activated the release mechanism. An astoundingly large amount of concrete was poured into the funnel and, presumably, into Zaccari. Judging by the amount of movement in the box, it was not a pleasant experience.
"This was our original plan for revenge", said Ellen, addressing the audience again. "The concrete would help him sink into the North sea, where we would pick him up in 20 years or so, ..."
At this point, the audience wasn't really buying it, but Mary was quite sure that was actual plan.
Ellen waved a large cloth in front of the box, and with a flash, Zaccari was out of it. He was still wearing handcuffs and still had the tube down his throat, but seemed to be unharmed otherwise. He was, however, no longer Zaccari the great.
"... but we have come up with something better".
Deborah and Ellen moved away the project X1 props, and wheeled in a simple cut-in-nine illusion. The other girls kept an eye on Zaccari. Zaccari himself seemed to relax a little. He smelled an easy way out.
Looking at Ellen's face, Mary realized that Zaccari had no reason to relax.
Before inviting Zaccari into the cut-in-nine illusion, Ellen removed the steel tube and fitted the magician with a rather large ball gag, which seemed to surprise Zaccari.
Closing the box, Ellen pointed out that Zaccari's face was visible, as well as the more usual hands and foot. She quickly inserted the blades.
In the mean time, the other girls had put 9 cardboard boxes.
Ellen pointed out the boxes.
"We have now 9 pieces of Zaccari. Each piece will be packed in a cardboard box, wrapped in brown paper and send to some distant country, like Afghanistan or Uzbekistan, by surface mail. They are labeled with non-existing addresses and have non-existing return addresses somewhere in Africa. The chances of all parts coming together again are almost zero, even when someone actively searches for them.
Finally understanding his faith, Zaccari tried to scream and rattled his nine boxes. Undisturbed by this, the girls carefully packaged the nine segments, and put the address labels and postage stamps in place. On cue, nine postmen came from backstage. Each took one parcel and left.
"Our magician has left the building", said Ellen. "This show is over".
***
"So. What's next", asked Mary.
Mary was enjoying the morning sun the day after the big party. The party had been extremely good, with each of the girls inviting loads of guests. All in all, the party had been going for almost 40 hours now, with very little sleep in between.
"Back to that question again, are we?"
Ellen sat down besides her.
"The six of us have been discussing this for quite a while. We are good in show biz, and we liked being magic assistants before working with Zaccari. We would like to set up a show".
"But you don't have a magician. And you all have problems with confined spaces".
"Eva hasn't", said Ellen, "and there are plenty of illusions where the assistant is not completely enclosed by the box, like the twister. And we can develop new ones".
"You still don't have a magician".
"Well", said Ellen, hesitating. "We were thinking..."
"Wait a minute", said Mary. "Is Eva joining you". Then, finally catching up and being rather shocked: "you are not thinking about me, are you? No way. Never. Not on stage. I couldn't. And I'm not a magician".
Ellen just smiled.