It was the twenty-seventh of October. As Ariadne was walking to work, her birthday was not the subject on her mind. It was Halloween. More particularly, Halloween in her hometown.
Every Halloween, Parry Sound had a festival and parade. All Hallows Eve was taken very seriously there. It was so important to the town, that others used that to an advantage. A person was more likely to be stolen from, pranked or worse… murdered. That was the one night where the crime rate was the highest. One year, twelve people were murdered in the most horrific ways imaginable.
Ariadne remembered her babysitter was one of those people. She was too young to understand the whole concept of murder. Police told her that Emma, her babysitter, was dead; They didn't explain that she was murdered while stripping decorations from her house. Her boyfriend found her severed head on one of the stick ghosts.
Despite not seeing it for herself, Ariadne could clearly envision the scene of the crime. The sound of her boyfriend screaming, the blood coming from everywhere… Emma's eyes wide open, starring into her.
New Orleans was not Parry Sound. They had Mardi Gras with jazz music, festive beads, and voodoo magic. Parry Sound on Halloween offered the end of one's life with blood, guts, and candy put together.
She walked into the warehouse, now wondering how she was going to survive showing Arthur the maze. What if Projection Arthur came back and started singing Josh Groban Richard Marks? Would she rather see the look on Arthur's stiff face when her thoughts were blown or the actual murder scene of her babysitter?
'I'll go with the severed head.' She told herself.
"You guys can't be serious." Jayne looked at the sign on the building. "You brought me to a voodoo man?"
"You said you wanted to see one." said Ivory. "Don't tell me your chickening out."
"Hell no." Jayne sneered. "These people just want money and they give you random predictions based on an iPhone app."
"They didn't have iPhones when voodoo started." Lucy stated. "And I know nothing about voodoo."
"Well let's go in and see what this Cajun hippie has to say."
"Nothing like a combination of French and Redneck." Ivory joked.
Jayne stepped into a dark room encircled by purple curtains. The table in the center of the circular area was covered in gold cloth. There were many masks hanging from the ceiling.
"I know who you are." the man said. The cloaked figure turned around to show his face. He had super long eyebrows and a goofy looking beard, just like a karate master. Jayne took a seat across from him.
"Half the Earth knows who I am." she said. "If I wasn't famous, would you have known who I was?"
"I can't tell you how my magic works." he replied. "I never reveal any secrets."
"Alright then. I'm first going to ask you questions about myself that only my parents know." the singer challenged. "If you answer them correctly, I'll believe your predictions."
"Ask me anything." said the voodoo man, untouched by her strictness.
"Alright. So what am I going to be for Halloween? I'm singing at a big hotel party this year."
"Your going as a Pokemon. A Bulbasaur to be more precise. Your friend Ivory is going as Squirtle and Lucy is going as Charmander. You even got Dina to join in as Pikachu." he explained in such detail that Jayne dropped her next question.
"Alright, I suppose I can believe you." she said. The voodoo man brought out his deck of cards.
"Take any three." he set the pile down. Jayne took the first card, pulled out one from the middle and one from the bottom. "Now flip them over."
Jayne revealed the three cards she ended up choosing to think those cards appeared as they were on purpose. The first card said 'Success', the second 'Manifesting in Music', and the third 'Control'. The last one had her a little spooked.
"Success." he began. "You are and will continue to be successful in all your efforts. Nothing will fail."
"That sounds a little too good to be true." she told him. "Every great singer sings one flop."
"Your father sold that one song to Miley." the voodoo man said. "Whether you sang it or she did, that song would still be unsatisfying."
"Are you talking about that 'Can't Be Tamed' song?" Jayne questioned. "Because my dad wrote it to be horrible on purpose to expose Miley for the whore she is. It was never for me."
"You and your father are very cleaver." he praised. "Manifesting in Music, or manifesting in anything actually. When you love to do something, you only want to get better at it." he said. "Every time you sing a high note, you tell yourself you can sing higher."
Jayne nodded. "I agree, that's so true."
"And the last one… Control."
"What about it?"
"While you thrive on talent and success, you lack self-control. To be more precise, you struggle to stay calm when your angry…" The next thing he said was going to throw her off in shock and denial. "Your lack of self-control is the reason for all the tremors here."
Jayne knew exactly what he was talking about but didn't want him to know. He could tell someone to make money off of it.
"You think that's me?"
"I know it's you." he said. "I know about your little gift. Your just like your father. Your one of them."
"One of what?" she snapped.
"The next stage of human evolution."
At that moment, the room started to vibrate and the table shook like it was possessed. The dangling masks swung in all directions. Jayne took a couple of deep breaths and stood up. The shaking stopped as she threw him a fifty dollar bill.
"Here's your pay. Get a haircut." she picked up her tote bag and headed for the exit but turned around. "You do know what'll happen if you tell someone, right?"
"Your secret is mine to keep." he promised. "The last thing I want is to be crushed by a roof. And one more thing… look out. There are people like you and there are others… others that can do the unimaginable with great technology."
Jayne rolled her eyes and stepped out.
Ariadne opened up her laptop to check her e-mail on Yahoo. Before she clicked on her inbox, she noticed a piece of news that caught her eye.
TREMORS STRIKE NEW ORLEANS
"Arthur, come here." she requested. Arthur closed his laptop, straightened his tie and walked over to her desk. Bast jumped up and stood by the computer.
"What is it?"
"They're saying that New Orleans is having a lot of small earthquakes. No one is dead but they're so frequent that NWS is concerned."
Arthurs eyebrows rose. "What does this have to do with the assignment?"
"Well, they started the day Jayne Alvers arrived. When they all happened, she was in town."
"That's strange… Louisiana is not an earthquake state."
"Maybe the world is ending in a few months." she joked. "After all, it's 2012."
The sound of a plate landing on her desk made her and Arthur turn around. Duke just arrived and he was sweet enough to bring Ariadne a birthday treat. A tiny chocolate cake sat there with a candle already lit.
"Duke, you shouldn't have." she gushed. "Your so sweet." Ariadne blew out the candle.
"You deserve a treat for working so hard." he said.
"Well that was very generous of you." Duke placed down a fork for her. "I just ate but when I'm hungry, I'll know what I'm having." She and the new extractor exchanged smiles.
"Let's go over the maze, shall we?" Arthur asked, breaking the moment. "Eames, were going under."
Ariadne looked over Duke wide eyed as Arthur and Eames roamed over to the PASIV. "What do I do?"
"What do you mean?"
"What if his projection is still on stage tap dancing or something like that?" she panicked. "This is so embarrassing…"
"Don't think about it." he said. "Uh… think about a band or singer you really like instead."
"Great, I'll see if that works." Ariadne doubted that she would wake up with her heart in one piece.
Arthur, Ariande and Eames were fast asleep, exploring the concert hall as Duke and Yusuf were left alone.
"So… Eames has been saying things about you." Yusuf spilled. "Not mean things but he's making assumptions."
Duke chuckled. "Like what? That I'm flirting with Ariadne?"
"Exactly."
"I've heard that before. Whenever I'm around women, men think I'm trying to charm them because I'm so nice." Duke spelled out. "Ariadne is beautiful without a doubt. But she's not my type."
"And he's made another assumption." Yusuf chuckled as Bast rubbed herself against his ankles. "Your going to love this one;" the chemist took a deep breath to stop himself from cracking up. "He thinks that Arthur likes Ariadne and that he's jealous of you."
Duke burst into laughter. "Oh that Eames is a hilarious one!"
"I know. He's got quite an imagination."
Just then, the PASIV timer went out and the three dreamers rose. Duke looked to see if Ariadne was relieved or heartbroken to see she was fine. Arthur didn't look effected either.
"Flawless job as usual Ariadne." he complemented. "I'm impressed."
"Oh, you just reminded me of something." Eames reached into his pocket. "Ariadne, I got your fake ID and passport." he handed her the illegally processed items. "Happy birthday Cavandar."
Ariadne opened her passport to immediately see an error. "Eames, this says Mrs. And the last name is wrong."
"Well I had to get you a husband." Eames grinned. "You'll thank me later Darling."
"And who's fake last name is Kingsley?" she asked, demanding an answer. Arthurs fake name flashed through his brain.
"You made her my wife?" he asked. "You could have told me."
"You need to be more surprised." said Eames putting his arm around Arthurs shoulders. "Look on the bright side; your fourteen hour flight will contain snuggling, snogging and all the champagne you need."
"Eames." Ariadne grabbed his attention. "Remind me to chop your balls off later."