"Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls! Please direct your attention to the most extravagant magician of all time!...
Jack!"
A cacophony of incoherent shouts and claps were dispersed throughout the audience and a snare started to roll in preparation for the grand entrance. It was all for him..They walked out of their homes and drove whatever miles to see Jack, the Amazing Magician. He could imagine his name in advertisements, fans pleading for his autograph, beautiful women under his left and right arm, and endless bottles of whiskey and wine. Hey, it was good fortune…
So caught up in his exalting reverie, he didn't realize the snare had been rolling for over one minute. There were a few impatient groans and some suggested to just skip to the next act. After hearing collective displeasements, Jack finally snapped out of his torpor, fixed his bow tie, and hastily furnished all of his supplies. He was thinking this performance was going to be a disappointment to his contractor; not the best mentality for a show.. He then hassled from the back stage and stumbled unto the entrance with his trusty wheel cart carrying all his possessions.
He froze in embarrassment.
Sweat was beading on his forehead and the nervousness penetrating his weak stomach. He averted those feelings and concentrated on a more important objective; the audience. He had to please the audience before the inelegance could get any worse. A sigh egresses from his lips and he then finally opened his mouth to interrupt the thick silence filling the room.
"I apologize for the….inconvenience there. I hope you enjoy the tricks I have in store for you. I'll assure, you'll be amazed." The sly magician bowed and gave himself a confident grin before he stood straight, narcissist thoughts again flooding his ego.
A few women giggled in admiration before a distant shush can be heard. Just as he thought.. They couldn't resist. Jack docilely made his way to the wheel cart and pulled out his hat. He reveled the hat's underside for any incredulous viewers and slowly placed it above his head. Suddenly, he disappeared with a suction noise, letting the tiny hat swallow him. He stopped lowering it once he had reached his knees and let the hat fall to the ground exposing his feet. He tired to walk which was quite humorous to witness. The spectators gasped; some laughter, and began to clap in anticipation. He knew he was doing his job correctly..
"How does he do that?" one boy exclaimed to his mother.
"Who knows," she lamely stated. "He could at least be a demigod..he's like…I don't know..amazing!"
"Uh…what's a demigawd? And I don't think he's that amazing.." the boy was getting too inquisitive, people glancing to their direction to oppose his statement. His mother hushed him and returned their attention to the show again.
Jack had already took the hat off that encased his body and placed it in the respective spot. He paused, bringing his hand under his chin, faking a contemplative expression on what other elusion he could woo his people into..
'The Selbit Sawing trick is getting a bit tedious now..I should really do something different this time. I don't think the boss would notice much after all…since he never really pays attention.'
He cleared his throat, "Now, I'll need a lovely female volunteer for this particular act.."
A clutter of feminine hands shot up from the dim rows of seats at the foot of the stage, all of them wanting to be the lucky woman to be an assistant for a short time.
"Alright, alright. Who's the lucky lady?...Ah, you there!"
"Um…haha, me?" a tall, lithe, redhead wearing a bright green sun dress stood up before him.
"Yes..you. Come up, I won't bite." He gave a gesture with his gloved hands.
The red headed woman squeed in delight, shuffled through a row of envious women in seats before she finally appeared on stage. She was obviously blushing under those freckles. Jack took humor out of this and smiled in return making her turn an ever darker shade of red. He then took her hand and patted it, just for comfort.
"Do you care to tell us your name, belle?"
"Uh…." She nervously accented, looking around profusely as if she had forgotten her own name. "..Sh-Sherry."
"Nice to meet you…Sherry. I'm going to tie these ropes on you, okay? I promise, you'll be safe during this process." He then flashed a smile, convincing her to obey.
Tying ropes around the assistant's wrists, ankles and neck, he guided for her to step into a wooden coffin. The ropes were threaded through small holes in the casket. He then tied the lose ropes into a tight grip to nearby poles then added another knot to the neck rope to prevent any strangling. He assumed the assistant was thus secured in a standing spread-eagle position inside. The bow was then lifted into a horizontal position. Excited to see everything going so well, he carefully grabbed three glass plates (two more from the previous performances) and slid it through the coffin, seemingly penetrating Sherry's body.
He heard no yelps, good.
Confident in his work, he began with the next procedure. The magician sawn through the centre of the case, dividing it in two. A few grunts came from inside, assuming that she may be slightly uncomfortable in the spread arrangement, he proceeded, finally cutting the third section.
….
At mid point, a painful thought penetrated his conscious. This saw felt slightly heavier then the one he recently used. He stood there searching for the tiny red label, indicating it was the right saw specifically the one with installed retractable blades. It wasn't there…. He couldn't move, he was still in shock dazed from the nightmarish actuality. The hustling and compensation for time made him grab the wrong saw…
"Damn, damn, damn…" he lowly muttered, gritting his teeth. He was having a panic attack; the unthinkable happened to a professional magician? It can't happen!
"Uh, okay um…just improvise.." he whispered warily to himself, his voice quivering after seeing tiny blood drops protruding and staining the ropes. He began to rotate the coffin, spinning the corpse inside continuously, trying to distract the audience.
"Oh, Sherry, Sherry..How do you feel inside that there coffin?"
No response. He glanced at the people and nervously laughed, making some people glare in suspicion. Most peered in tension and were eager to discover to what was to happen of Sherry. The crowd began to chant..He couldn't take it anymore. Pressing his lips together in annoyance, he was about to open the bow until an elderly woman sitting on the front row began to scream in horror.
"Th-there's blood dripping out of that box! I see it, right there on the floor!"
The aged woman pointed towards the crimson dots on the foot of the stage . A roar of screams, cries and pattering feet were all that was heard, as thousands of people began fleeing towards the main exit.
"He's a murderer, arrest him now before he gets away!"
"He's a torturous killer!"
"Call the police!"
He had to evacuate from the vicinity before the cops could enter the scene. He glances at his bloody mistake and writhed in disgust before he made a run for it. So many thoughts of disbelief spiraled through his intellect, he felt a tear roll down his cheek. His career was all over and a life in jail was his future. The adrenaline and fear gave him the ability to scurry two miles before finally returning home. He slammed the door as he intruded his house, heart beating dangerously rapid and lungs working and straining to fully oxidize his body. Knowing the police would be here anytime soon, he began to cognize a suicide. He figured there was no other job he could prefect in and living homeless would drive him deeper into depression. Without thinking, almost hypnotically he badgered through a nearby cabinet of alcoholic beverages and began making different concoctions of drinks to numb his emotions. After sometime of constant drinking, he was in a disarray of thought and fully inebriated, slightly bilious. He comply all his lagging thoughts to find a way to decease himself. Well…he was required to understand chemistry to make potion compounds for his shows..so that might be an easy way out.
He idlely began grabbing random labeled potions off the shelf, his zombified motions causing a few liquids to spill. It didn't matter at the time; all he wanted was to end it all. Pouring all different liquids onto a beaker, the mixture began to sizzle, indicating that it was highly toxic. He sniffed and wiped tears from his eyes, hearing sirens outside, before he took a few gulps of the combination. He chugged the potion down and sat there in defeat as he waited for the inevitable to happen.
…No effect…
No coughing, gagging or any symptoms of that matter. The liquids should have dissolved his esophagus or his stomach should have spontaneously combusted in a chemical reaction from the mixture of his acids. Thunderous knocks were heard, breaking his dreading moment. Previous emotions flooded in his mind, reminding him of the recent casualty of that female assistant. He lamely stood up and made his way to the door trying to maintain his composure. In just a few steps in, he felt a sudden throb in his chest. He stopped in his tracks, feeling a tingling sensation in the lower portion of his body and ligaments and a splitting migraine to accompany it. The ache was strong enough to knock him on his knees. The knocks protruding through the door were now sonic booms echoing in Jack's head, making the magician writhe in pain. He became feeble; he couldn't sustain this any longer and collapsed to the floor.
….
Wind had swept dominantly outside, guiding droplets of rain in different directions. Ominous cumulus nimbus hovered over the whole town making everything opaque and hard to see. Waking up and emerging in his own manor never felt so eerie as Jack had finally became conscious. His first attempt to lift his weight off the ground was extremely difficult, as he couldn't feel his appendages. He felt a difference in weight; almost like hw was levitating and his whole head felt much more heavy.
'I'm still alive…preposterous, the potion should have finished me off..I must be in hell.'
He veered around which would seem irrelevant in this dark room but somehow a faint yellow light could be seen anywhere he glanced, as if it was following his sight. Where is this light coming from? He went to scratch his head but all he felt was a slight swift of air?
"What on..earth..?" he questioned himself, flailing his arms to make a physical check but still the same result. He panicked and searched for the nearest light switch to redeem the conflict. Turning on the lights was normally a warming relief to Jack but once the lights were now on, he could clearly see that his place had been searched down. The tables were upside down, closet doors had been open, even his collection of bombs he had purposely hidden were reveled. Some were taken probably as defensive evidence.
Those idiots ruined my house!..
The fatigued but concerned magician further investigated the house and found his way to the bathroom; it was clean thank goodness. They still at least had some respect for my house.. Before he could say anything else, he staggered at the creature staring at him though the mirror. He froze in complete terror, realizing that was actually his refection. His head had changed color and had swollen up to the exact shape of….a pumpkin; his face was carved in perfectly symmetrical and had some kind of yellowish hue glowing in his pupils. His eye widened, cautiously observing himself. He still had his original attire on; the bow tie, hat and cape. But oddly enough, he had no ligaments! He looked like a decorative Halloween ornament..This is so ridiculous! The potion did all this..?
He raised his now imaginary hand and placed it on his smooth orange check. He could still feel the cloth, so assumed all of his nerve endings were located in his Jack o' lantern head.
"Hmm..so I'm going to be a costume for the rest of my life." He retorted to himself. "consider myself lucky then.." he shimmied his lower body making his black and white cape turn side to side. He knew he had subsided his good looks and fortune for this, even sacrificed his strong fondness of the "ladies" but whatever, he'll just cope with it for now.. even though he was a monster..no not a monster..a thing..
Realizing he had been floating all that time, he now levitated solemnly over to the refrigerator and pulled out a bottle of vodka. He sighed in disappointment at the floating bottle he was holding before him. He knew he'll never get used to this. He thought it was a bit redundant that he was drinking alcohol when he almost drunk himself to death just the day before. He took his attention back to the cocktail and took a shot.
….
BleheckeckeckeckECK!...
Ugh.
"Shoot…"
Cough, cough.
He put the beverage back in the fridge and slammed the compartment door. His second life was already starting to be miserable again. No ladies and no alcohol now? Jack was already fatigued enough and decided to take some time to relax and adjust to his new…..body. Who knows what or who he might encounter next..
