The lecture he had give today was tedious and exhausting, as all the introduction to chemistry course lectures were. Wilson loosed his tie as he walked out of the Chem building and into the night.
Considering what the course was, this was an awfully late time to have an introductory class. The class was full to the brim with students, though, and the demand must have been high. What was he to argue? At least he had a job as a professor.
The chilly night wind swept through his hair, sending an unfortunate chill up his spine. The chemistry building was too far from where he had parked today.
There was some show going on, something he didn't particularly care about, but the parking lots had been completely packed. He was forced in the adjacent parking lot to his, by chance of finding someone pulling out of spot, though where he was parked happened to be closer to the performance venue.
The chilly air was unforgiving.
As Wilson desperately tried to wrap his blazer tighter around himself, he found that the brisk wind was making it very difficult to move forward. With the direction the wind was blowing, he figured he could make it around the performance venue and make it quickly to his car without the wind being too unforgiving.
The alleyway between the venue and the fine arts building was dimly lit, and Wilson noticed someone else was standing there, leaning against a brick wall with their arms crossed and a cigar in their mouth. Wilson assumed he was with the show, and hoped maybe he would be to busy to notice him. He tried to move quickly past him, but was stopped as he tried passed by.
"Hey, pal, do you work here?" The man said as he pulled the cigar out of his mouth.
Wilson wasn't sure if he wanted to say yes, but it would be extremely difficult to create a lie, in is his split-second debate with himself, he replied in a small voice "Well, um, yes. Yes, I work here."
The man's face lit up. "Great. Maybe you can help me with a bit of a problem I'm having." He pressed the end of the cigar against the brick to extinguish it and threw what was left to the ground.
The poor professor wasn't one to get caught up in other's personal strife, and after being on campus all day, he wasn't sure this was something he was willing to do.
The man continued without a response from Wilson, who had been trying to formulate a response to get himself out of this situation. "You see, I'm supposed to be at some auditorium for some meet, and I'm not sure where it is. Perhaps you could show me? I do need to be there rather quickly."
Wilson was a bit upset that he hadn't been able to reply quickly enough and now was stuck between a rock and a hard place. Either he was rude to the man in the alley he could potentially never see again to go home or he could have to take a ten minute detour to take this man to whatever auditorium he needed to go to. His inner dialogue was scrutinizing, and the possibility that he could see this man again in some awkward way was heavy on his shoulders.
"Right, sure, okay. I'll take you." Wilson pulled on the bottom of his blazer's sleeve.
"Say, thanks, pal. You're a lifesaver." The man pushed himself off the wall and held out his gloved hand. "My name's Maxwell."
Wilson reluctantly shook his hand and quickly pulled away again. "Doctor Higgsbury." He turned away and began to walk away, hoping Maxwell took that as a sign to follow him.
"You work here as a professor then? You don't look old enough to be a professor…"
"I'm thirty three…" Wilson mumbled, instantly regretting his decision to be a decent person to this stranger.
"Huh," the man chuckled, which echoed in the alleyway they had been in. "You're closer to my age than I thought. You have such a youthful face. Time has been gracious."
"I'll take that as a compliment. Are you a… student…?" Wilson found himself breaking under the pressure of this interaction. He could be a student, afterall, but that would make him a very recent student if he didn't know the campus very well.
Maxwell laughed, "No, no, I have quite the career."
"Are you also a professor?" Wilson had a habit of not paying very close attention to his colleagues. For all he knew, this man could be in his department and he would have never known it. He quickly realized that if he was a professor here at this university, he would have known this campus. Maybe he was a speaker? Some community leader? Or a politician.
"I'm a magician actually…" Maxwell answered rather frankly, fixing the lapel on his jacket.
Wilson really had to force himself not to laugh. "A magician?"
Maxwell gave him a bit of a disapproving look. "Is that strange to you?"
"I… I just wasn't aware that people became Magicians, that's all…" This was the first time he had every heard of anyone being a magician past the age of ten. At least in this day and age, when the illusions were so easily deciphered by the masses. Magic acts were too overshadowed by science to even be considered worth watching.
"I'm a rather good one." Maxwell answered, a bit defensively.
"I'm sure…" They weren't too far from the auditorium now, which gave Wilson a bit of relief. He would be able to finally go home soon.
Maxwell gave a laugh. "A skeptic?"
"I'm a scientist." How could this man expect an expert chemist like him to even consider the possibility that the illusions could fool im into a belief in magic tricks. He believed in science and what science could support, not in something unexplainable.
"So you are a skeptic..." Maxwell's voice trailed off a bit.
"Yes, I'm a skeptic." What did this man expect from him?
"Well, the crowd rather enjoyed my show. I did sell out after all, Doctor." Maxwell shrugged, his nonchalant tone implying that this was not a surprise, though it was to Wilson.
"You're the reason the parking lots are full?" He didn't figure that an adult would be interested in seeing a magic show, especially a college student. It was a bit annoying to know that some of the students from his class were probably at that magic show, and would not take the work of someone like him seriously.
"Most of my shows sell out, contrary to your belief. My assistant and I have a very successful career." As he said that, the two arrived at the auditorium. There was a long line of people waiting at the doors, trying to get in. "After all, that is the post-show meet and greet."
Wilson felt a bit offended that this man's silly illusion show was this popular. Did the world not understand that this man was merely a performer? That in a few moments, someone with an above average mental capacity could decode everything he did?
Wilson shrugged and turned to go back so he could get to his car. He wasn't interested in further conversation.
Maxwell grabbed his shoulder before he left. "I have a few moments before this starts, how about I put a little show on for you, hmm?"
"I'm sorry to say that I'm not particularly impressed with parlor tricks."
"That line of people paid a lot of money to see what I'm going to show you. Come along." Maxwell grabbed the other man's wrist before he could continue to argue.
Maxwell brought Wilson to a space between two buildings they had passed on their way to the auditorium. The magician pushed the other against one of the building's brick walls. That was a bit of an unsettling feeling to the scientist.
Wilson watched silently as the other appeared to pull a book out of the sleeve of his coat. That was strange phenomena, but more than likely could simple be a trick to the eye. The tile of the book Maxwell held in his hands was Codex Umbra.
"Why are you such a skeptic?" Maxwell began to finger through the pages of the book. "What is it that warrants such a nasty negative reaction from you, huh?"
The doctor sighed, growing a bit tired of this man's arrogance. Or maybe he was expressing insecurity? He scarcely knew the difference between the two these days.
"There is no such things as magic. Only smoke and mirror tricks." Wilson stood up a bit straighter, trying to avoid continuing this discussion.
The magician stopped thumbing through the pages and nodded his head. He closed the book and it seemed to disappear into thin air. Wilson did have to admit, for such short preparation, he did have the book illusions down to a t.
"How about this one, then?" Maxwell clapped his hands together, and one by one, tall floating candles with strangely dark flames lit up the alley way only slightly.
This trick was one that Wilson quickly became unsure about. How was this happening? How was he doing this? He look up at the roof tops, searching desperately for assistants or maybe a screen he had missed. Nothing was adding up.
Maxwell spoke quickly in a deep tone in a language Wilson didn't understand. He grabbed the scientist by his wrists, pulling him into his chest. The magician spoke a few more foreign words and smiled. "Oh, I haven't done anything yet."
The candles suddenly disappeared, and suddenly the two were completely enveloped in darkness. The sensation of slithering then crept up Wilson's legs, and he was mortified.
Unable to see anything, Wilson desperately tired to move, but to no avail. He could feel Maxwell's hands wrapped around his wrists, and soon his breath on his ear. "How about this. Close your eyes. I'm going to count to three, and when I say three, you open them, yeah?"
The slithering continued up Wilson's thighs and up his hips. Soon it would be at his torso. He wanted to scream, but something was keeping him from doing so.
"One…" Wilson felt the man inch closer to his ear. His breath was uncomfortably warm.
When the magician said two, Wilson could feel the slithering creatures around his chest. It was becoming more difficult to breath. He gasped, unable to move to free himself. He was now panicking.
He nearly didn't hear the man say three, but when he did, the crushing hold on his chest disappeared, as did the darkness that surrounded them. The scientist clinged to Maxwell for dear life.
Maxwell grabbed his chin and tilted his face up towards him. "Now, now, darling, wouldn't you say you're being a bit forward for only having now met me?"
Wilson threw himself back, and he fell against the brickwall again. "What… What was that?" Whatever had just happened was completely unexplainable, and he wasn't sure how to feel about it.
This discomfort was only met with a smile from the other, who shrugged. "That's not all I have, dear, I have so much that I could show you…" He took a step towards Wilson, putting one hand next to his head to lean in to be face to face with him. "I don't know if a skeptic like you could handle it, though."
Wilson wasn't sure what to do. He should run, but something was keeping him here. Somewhere deep in his subconscious was keeping him from reacting rationally. His body was still, and his eyes desperately tried to find answers in the other man's face. He was met with a sneer.
"What is with the helpless look, pal?" Maxwell had went from Wilson's chin to his hair, pull his head back. "What happened,doctor? Where is your science talk now?"
Wilson tried to speak, but he couldn't form any words. He wasn't sure what was happening, but for the first time in his life, he was very unsure if he would make it home tonight.
"You're quite the pretty boy, Doctor Higgsbury. What is your first name?"
"My… My name is Wilson." He wasn't sure why he told him his name, or even what compelled him to speak in the first place, but he did. This was such a strange experience and he wasn't sure where all of this was going.
"Wilson…" Maxwell's voice was smooth. "I like that. That suits you." He leaned forward, closing the gap between them.
Wilson was now pinned to the wall by a man he had known less than an hour, and he wasn't making a fuss. He wasn't sure why he wasn't. What frightened him the most, though, is that he wasn't upset with the situation, and may actually be kind of enjoying it.
"Wilson, the gentleman scientist… That has quite the ring to it." Maxwell's face was now dangerously close to Wilson's. "I'm so delighted that I, Maxwell the magician, had such luck as to meet you."
Wilson wasn't sure why, but he had the strangest lust for this stranger in this moment. He shouldn't, as he had very scarcely had feelings like this in the past. Considering the situation, though, he shouldn't have any desire other than to get out of here.
"If I may be so forward…" his voice trailed off a bit before he leaned in further and closed the gap between their mouths.
It had been quite a while since Wilson had kissed anyone. Not since he graduated from grad school, actually. This, in any other scenario, would have been quite uncomfortable for the scientists, but against his better judgement, Wilson wanted this.
The kiss became more pressing as Maxwell continued, and soon forced Wilson's mouth open, which the defenseless scientist melted into.
Wilson enjoyed having this man pressed up against him. He enjoyed kissing him after only just meeting him. Even if they were now making out in an alleyway that any one of his students could walk by and see.
Maxwell pulled away, his breath heavy. He noticed the blush that had crept up on Wilson's pale cheeks. He saw the desire he had, land the tension that was building. "Having a good time? Is my little performace worth your while?"
Unsure of what else he could do, Wilson only nodded, panting slightly. He want to do so much more than kiss this man again.
With his free arm, Maxwell wrapped his arm around Wilson's waist. "I didn't think it would be so easy to change a skeptic's view. I'll keep that in mind." He kissed Wilson again, and bit his lower lip.
Wilson tried to close all the space between them, and kissed him, desperately hanging onto this feeling. Maxwell pulled away, and moved to kiss the other's neck.
The noise that escaped Wilson's mouth was so foreign to him. He couldn't recall a time where he had enjoyed this type of interaction with a human being so much. The feeling of this complete strangers teeth on his neck was so intoxicating and unfamiliar that Wilson had trouble containing himself.
Wilson moved his head to forced Maxwell back up, and pressed his lips against his again. The kisses became more like the gnashing of teeth, but Wilson didn't care. He wanted more and wanted the other to press harder.
Maxwell pulled away again, and took a heavy, shaken breath. "I have to go."
"What? Wait, no, please." Wilson sounded so uncharacteristically desperate, but he couldn't help it. He wanted more of this man.
"I have an obligation, Wilson, I have to go." Maxwell pulled himself away from Wilson, who was now leaning against the wall, shaking a bit.
"I… How can I see you again?" Wilson felt like he couldn't control himself.
Maxwell looked at the other, unsure of what to say. After a few moments, a dark smile crept on his lips. "You have a radio at home, yes?"
Wilson thought of the ancient relic he had on his dining room table. It still worked, yes, but he didn't quite understand what he meant. "Yes, I do…"
"Good…" Maxwell put his hand on Wilson's face and gave him a small kiss. "Turn it on soon. I'll get back to you." He then turned on his heel and began to walk away.
Wilson felt compelled to call out to him, but he didn't, and could only watch in silence as the magician turned the corner.
What was that all about? Why had he reacted like that? And what was the whole business with the radio?
Wilson had so many questions that couldn't be answered.
The wind sent a chill through Wilson
and he realized he was alone once again, and that he needed to walk back to his car and go home.
He wasn't sure why this had happened, or what he could do next to deal with this, but there was one thing he did know; he had quite a bit to think about on his drive home.