I’m so excited! As part of a lucky draw raffle when we entered the theater, I won a free backstage pass to meet the magician after the show. The show was extraordinary! I’ve never seen a magician transition so smoothly between tricks before. I could almost believe that everything she was doing was real! And you don’t hear much about female stage magicians nowadays, but she was spectacular. And I get to meet her! Maybe she’ll even do some magic for me! Oh, here she comes!
“Ah, so you’re the lucky fan that the ticket found.”
That’s her! Trish! I squealed. “Yes! Hi! Oh, wow, it’s so cool to meet you in person!”
Trish smiled. “Always good to meet a fan. Come on, let’s go backstage.” She waved for me to follow suit.
“Sure!” I smiled, happily following along.
“So, what’s your name?”
“Lucy. Uh… I’ve got to admit, I’ve never seen your shows before, but you can count me as a loyal fan, now. I love magic shows, and yours is the best I’ve ever seen!” Crap. I’m babbling. Wait, what did she say before? “You said… I’m the fan the ticket found?”
Trish gave me a strange smile. “Didn’t it?” She continued walking backstage, and we entered a room.
“Augh!” someone screamed.
“Ahh!” I screamed back. We had caught someone in the middle of changing, apparently.
“Whoops. Sorry, Julie, I didn’t think you’d be changing.” Trish giggled.
I looked around the room. I wouldn’t have expected anyone to be changing in here either. It was a rather cramped room, filled with large-ish boxes. I recognized a few props from the show tonight. I also recognized Julie, Trish’s assistant.
“Damnit, Trish!” Julie rushed to cover herself up as I averted my gaze. “It’s bad enough you rope me into being your assistant tonight, you’re going to expose me to random strangers now?”
“She’s not a random stranger, she’s our fan!” Trish protested.
The gears started turning in my head. “Wait, she’s not your usual assistant?” I asked.
Julie rolled her eyes and hid behind a large box to finish changing.
“No, she’s just my roommate.” Trish explained, “My last assistant quit on me. Her boyfriend proposed, and she didn’t want to work such a ‘voyeuristic job’ anymore.” I caught Trish’s eyeroll. Those were her assistant’s words, I take it.
“I… see.” I said, carefully. This wasn’t anything like I had expected. And Trish’s real attitude was surprisingly different from her stage persona. It was a little off-putting.
“So, this is the girl you think can replace her?” Julie asked casually, stepping out from behind the box, fully clothed.
“Wait, what?” I spun to stare at Julie as my eyes bulged out of their sockets. Beside me, Trish placed her face in her hand.
“I hadn’t told her that yet… her name’s Lucy, by the way, but thanks for putting it out there.” Trish said sarcastically.
“No problem.” Julie grinned. “The sooner you get this over with, the sooner I can stop being your assistant.”
“Do you not like magic?” I asked.
“I do. I love magic.” Julie smiled, “What I don’t like is being paraded around in front of an audience.”
“I guess that makes sense.” I fidgeted.
“Anyway… Lucy.” Trish turned to me. “I do think you might make a good fit.”
“But… how could you know that? I was chosen at random?”
Trish and Julie exchanged strange looks.
“I guess you’re pretty good at hiding it after all.” Julie giggled.
“Of course. You just don’t see it because you never come to my shows.” Trish pouted.
“Hell, you’d never know how good you are at hiding with all the shit you leave strewn about our apartment.” Julie protested.
I scratched my head. “What are you two talking about?”
Trish looked at me, then back at Julie. “Care to be my assistant for a bit longer and help me demonstrate?” she motioned to a chair sitting by the door.
“Sure, why not.” Julie giggled, taking a seat.
I watched, confused, as Trish stood behind Julie. She placed one hand below Julie’s chin and another atop her head. Then, she lifted, and Julie’s head simply popped off her neck.
My jaw dropped. “I… you… her head…” I stammered, pointing, terrified, at Julie’s decapitated head. There was no blood, instead, the cut seemed to be covered in smooth skin, as if it were natural.
“Yup.” Trish giggled. “That’s about the right reaction.”
Julie’s headless body reached up and took her own head from Trish’s hands. “So, yeah. That’s the deal, Lucy. Trish here is a real magician, with real magic.”
Words failed me as I stared, unblinkingly, at Julie’s talking disembodied head.
“So, the ‘lucky draw’ you received tonight was enchanted.” Trish continued explaining, “It specifically sought out someone who had the potential to be a good assistant.”
“Which I still don’t understand, by the way.” Julie frowned, turning her head in her hands to look at Trish.
“It just seeks out certain qualities in people that I chose.” Trish waved the question away. “It’s not important. So, Lucy. Any response yet?”
“I uh…” I stammered. I finally found my voice. “That’s… that’s so cool.”
Trish grinned. “Yes, I knew it! You’re perfect!”
“Hey, wait.” I protested, “I can’t be your assistant. I don’t know the first thing about magic. Or performing. And I have a jo-” Then again, I was a secretary. What kind of great job was that, compared to being the assistant of an actual literal magician?
“That’s stuff you can learn on the job. You think Julie here knows how to do magic or perform?”
“Hey!” Julie protested.
“Please.” Trish rolled her eyes. “All the magic stuff is easy, anyway. That’s all me. You don’t really have to do much other than smile and look pretty. Maybe have some witty reactions, I dunno. Depends on what sort of stage persona you want to have.”
My mind was spinning a mile a minute as I considered all the things before me. Stage persona? “Um… I don’t… I don’t know.”
“Well, do you have any questions?” Trish asked.
I had plenty, but there was only one that really mattered. “Can you do some magic on me? So I can see what it’s like?” I asked, timidly.
“Well, of course, dear.” Trish grinned. “Any suggestions for what you want to do first?”
“Saw me in half!” I answered, excitedly.
“Someone’s eager.” Trish laughed. “Do you mind if we skip the props for now? That way you’ll get to see what’s really happening. Well… maybe one prop.” Trish dragged out a long table from the mess of props. She pet the surface, motioning to me. “Lie down.”
I hopped up onto the table eagerly, lying as flat and still as I could.
“Alright, here we go.” Trish announced. “Are you ready, Lucy?”
End of Preview
This is a 56 page (16k-ish words) work, along the lines of my usual stuff. It is also a sequel of sorts, of two of my other stories, Faceless Girl, and My Roommate is a Magician.