Sleight of Heart
Disclaimer: I only own my ideas, Emmalyn and my love for this movie.
"Danny, someone left a card on you table," I said quietly, entering the small apartment. Danny put down his cards and leaned over and looked at it. Curious, I craned my neck to look. Neatly scrawled in thick, black marker was:
March 29
4:44 P.M.
45 East Evan Street
NY, NY
Underneath that, in smaller script, read:
Bring the kid.
"Kid? I'm… I'm not a kid!" I spluttered, looking at Danny for confirmation. I sighed. "It's because I'm short, isn't it?"
"Maybe, Em." He turned the card over and inspected the other side. "March twenty-ninth… that's tomorrow… better get some sleep." I felt myself pale and I gulped.
"S-sleep?" I whispered. Danny looked up from the card and softened his gaze. Tears brimmed in my eyes. I couldn't sleep. He knew that.
"Hey, Em, don't cry. You just try and sleep, okay?" Even though he would never openly say if I was scared I could sleep with him— he has a lot of self-pride— but I knew that's what he was getting at. I relaxed, wiped my tears and nodded.
"Sorry," I mumbled, fidgeting with my fingers and shifting my weight. Danny chuckled again and flipped the card at me. I yelped and attempted to catch it. I glared at him— well, I tried. I'm not that scary. I could tell he was trying to keep in his laughter at my puny attempt to intimidate him. "I'm going to bed," I said with a nod at the card on the floor. "Have fun investigating." I giggled at his eye roll and went to the room in the back and lay down, curling myself into a ball and closing my eyes. I made a mantra in my head: In, out. In, out. In, out. Eventually, I fell asleep.
"Emmalyn! Get back here!" he roared, dirty hands reaching for me. His speech was slurred, but I'd heard it enough times to know what he was saying. I didn't want to go back, though. It was too much. I couldn't do it. So I ran and dodged. Coming up in front of me was a closet, which I quickly ducked into. Something poked me and I almost screamed, before remembering what it was. In my pocket I still had the card from a street magician who had seen me crying. A queen of hearts. I took it out and held it to my chest while I cried in the closet. I remembered his words. They struck me as somehow nicer than asking if I was okay. 'Pick a card'. I remember looking at him through tear stained eyes. I picked a card and he did a simple trick with it that blew my mind. When he showed me my card, I'd forgotten all about why I was crying. He handed me my card. I'd asked if he needed it back, but he insisted I keep it. For good luck, he'd said.
The closet door banged open and I screamed. He grabbed me by the hair and pushed his face into mine. His breath stunk and I whimpered, shoving the card back into my pocket so he wouldn't take it away.
"Think you could hide from me? I could hear your pathetic sobs from a mile away," he sneered. I whimpered again.
"Daddy, please—" He silenced me with a slap across my face. I cried even harder. He cursed me out and I sat there, crying. That's when he brought out the lighter. The flame danced towards me and he gripped my arm.
"Punishment," he growled, "is in order." I screamed.
Sharp, jagged breaths swung oxygen into my lungs so fast it hurt. I hacked until I could breathe regularly again. I sat there for a moment, shaking. I pushed off the blanket covering me and slowly padded towards Danny, who had fallen asleep on the sofa. One of the floorboards creaked and he said, "Nightmare?" I blushed and nodded. He scooted over and I curled up into his body; his warmth calming me and his familiar scent relaxing me. Darkness came over me, and for once I didn't fight it.
I woke up to sunlight. Danny was watching TV, absentmindedly shuffling his cards.
"Morning," I croaked.
"Morning," he said, not even turning to look at me. I was grateful because my eyes were probably red and puffy and my face was most likely splotchy. I got up and went to my room, grabbing a pair of clothes and then going into the bathroom. I looked at my face and sighed. Yep. Splotchy, red and puffy. I washed my face, pulled on my clothes and then examined myself in the mirror. No wonder my dad hated me; I looked just like my mother. Light blue eyes, curly ash blond hair, and pale skin. Not to mention her height. I sighed and threw a towel at the mirror to disconnect my thoughts. I walked back out to the living room. Danny smirked at me.
"What?" I asked, confused.
"Ready to go?"
"What?" I repeated, messily braiding my hair to the side. He chuckled.
"It's four thirty." I gasped.
"W-what?" I spluttered.
"Is that all that's in your vocabulary?" he teased. I blushed and tried to stutter something out before simply nodding. He laughed and we walked outside in search of a cab.
Danny and I crossed the street to the apartment complex that held our 'secret location'. Just then a pretty— and familiar— redhead crossed the street, too.
"No way," whispered Danny.
"Henley!" I said happily. Henley smiled and strode towards us.
"Emma," she said, hugging me tightly. "Danny." I fought a giggle as Danny nodded, obviously surprised at her tone.
"Henley." They started talking and I thought it best to keep out of it, so I trailed behind them and tried not to listen. We rounded a corner and a tall man in a fedora stood, as if guarding the door. I gulped and fought the urge to run. Danny must've sensed it, because he reached behind him and gently grabbed my arm. I relaxed slightly and continued to walk forward. Henley didn't notice, but Fedora did. He didn't say anything but turned towards Henley.
"Well. Looks like I wasn't the only one. I'll be the first to kick my ego to the curb."
Danny, never one for intimate or any contact, attempted to push past him. "'Scuse me…"
"It's locked," he said. He continued to look at the redhead. "Lemme guess… Helen? No, Henley." Henley smiled and Danny walked back towards me. "It's on your coffee cup," he muttered to her. Fedora laughed.
"Thanks for keeping me honest. Not mentalism," he promised, "just an observation. Second observation, you are beautiful." Henley blushed slightly. Danny got jealous and I giggled. They proceeded to introduce themselves and talk about how Henley and Danny were 'never' a couple and then he turned to me.
"Who are you, young lady?" he asked with a wink. I bit my lip and looked away.
"Um… I'm his… assistance… of sorts…" I squeaked out. Danny grabbed my arm again; silently telling me there was nothing to be afraid of. The mentalist raised an eyebrow and I ducked my head. Just then another person walked up.
"J Daniel Atlas… I'm a huge fan. I-I idolize you, man." I looked up at caught a glimpse at him. High cheekbones, way taller than me and thick eyebrows. He had a leather jacket on and he was looking at Danny with a star-struck expression. I blushed when he glanced at me and looked away. He introduced himself as Jack Wilder.
"Question," said Fedora Guy, "did you get one of these?" He pulled out his card and showed it.
"Oh, yeah," he said, rummaging through his pocket and pulling it out. "Death," he read. I swallowed at the word and Danny shot me a glance. I took a breath and waved him off. Henley smiled warmly at me, and I tried to return it. I probably looked like I was grimacing, but I tried.
"High Priestess," said Henley, waving her card proudly.
"Hermit," said the older man, with a little eye roll.
"The Lover," Danny said and I giggled.
"So, uh, what are we waiting for?" Jack asked. The guy in the fedora gestured to the door.
"It's locked," they chorused. I nodded in agreement. Jack smiled bashfully.
"Oh, no, nothing's ever locked." He walked forward, knelt down and picked the door. I stood there for a second as everyone trudged inside. I didn't like the look of the apartment. Danny glanced back at me and I shuffled forward. I inhaled sharply. It was freezing. I stepped forward next to Henley and looked around. I picked up a note on the floor.
"Now you don't," I read. I frowned and looked up at Danny who had come over to read over my shoulder. "What does that mean?" I asked, gritting my teeth so I didn't chatter. A jacket slid over my shoulders, and I recognized the scent to be Danny's. I smiled at him, and pulled my arms through the sleeves. Henley shrugged and picked the rose off the floor in one swift gesture and plopped it into a pitcher of water.
"A rose by any other name." Water flowed from the pitcher and onto the floor. Gas went into the air. Danny grabbed my arm again and held me to his side.
"It's gas," Jack said.
"Calm down, it's dry ice." Danny turned to Jack. "Did you do this?" Jack looked at him, amazed.
"I wish."
"What's that?" I asked, pointing to a hologram that appeared.
"Blueprints," Henley said, looking through them.
"For what?" I said, kind of annoyed she didn't elaborate.
"A show," answered Fedora Guy. I breathed out, amazed. This was so cool. He glanced at me, picking up another piece of paper. "I'm guessing you're Emmalyn Hart?" I looked over, confused. I nodded slowly. He handed me the paper. I opened it and smiled.
"Well, since you guys are magicians… I guess you need some disguises?" I asked shyly, showing them the paper. I don't know how they'd gotten it, but it was my certificate of a professional makeup artist I'd gotten a few years back when I had scraped up the money for my passion. Danny smiled warmly at me and Henley high-fived me. I smiled shyly.
"Well," said Danny. "Looks like we have our work cut out for us."
Don't mention how bad I did okay xD I watched this movie and like two months later I wrote this. I forgot most of it so you don't have to comment about that. If you comment at all… Anyways, hope you enjoyed :)