Central Park at night is a lot creepier than I thought it'd be. Everything's in shadow and the statues seem to stare at me. I'm sitting on a park bench, looking at the gate with a C inscribed on one and a P on the other. It's part of a fortress-like brick wall. The only thing that keeps the gate closed is a padlock on a chain. I just climbed the fence, which was easier than picking the lock.
I freeze when I hear a group approaching with footsteps and soft voices. It's the Three Horsemen coming to the gate. Henley inspects the chain.
"It's locked," Henley states like she's admitting defeat. She shines her flashlight around, looking for another way in. Daniel surveys the padlock.
Clearly, they don't see me here. I get up and walk towards them. "Weren't you listening?" I ask. "Nothing's ever locked." Daniel and Henley shine their lights at me. I smile at seeing their faces for the first time (in real life) since I died. Merritt chuckles at my sudden appearance.
"Well done, Mr. Wilder! Good work." Henley says, clapping for me. Smirking, I laugh at her enthusiasm and pick the lock.
"You're a big boy now, Jack," Merritt says. I pull the chain off the gate, letting it fall to the ground.
Now it's the question of why we're here and who we were working for all this time. Taking out my flashlight, the four of us walk down a path, not sure what we're looking for. In the distance, behind some foliage, I see a carousel. Maybe that's where we're supposed to go? In front of the group, I continue toward it.
"What if all of this was just leading up to us getting mugged in Central Park at 2 am?" I hear Merritt ask from behind me.
"No," Daniel counters. "I'm telling you we're right where we need to be. We just have to find…"
"That?" Henley asks. I stop walking and spin around. She's shining her flashlight on a tree that I passed right by.
"The Lionel Shrike tree," Daniel observes.
"And the card encased in glass," Henley adds.
Henley's light aluminates a knot in the trunk covered with a sheet of glass and, behind it, a signed playing card. A plaque on the bench underneath read 'Lionel Shrike'. He was a legendary magician. This tree was a shrine to one of his best tricks. When Lionel Shrike was first getting started, he had a guy sign a card. Then, about twenty years later, at the same guy's retirement party, he had him pick the same card and sign it. And by magic, it's in the tree. It was in the tree that whole time.
Lionel Shrike was one of the many magicians destroyed by Thaddeus Bradley. After Bradley revealed all his tricks in a special, Shrike tried to stage a comeback by locking himself in a safe and sinking it in the East River. The trick failed and he never came out. No one knows what went wrong. No one could find the safe afterwards, either.
Now, I think I understand what the Eye is. Sure, the Eye is a secret organization dedicated to keeping the secrets of real magic. At first, this seemed illogical to me, but now it makes sense. The Eye tries to prevent magicians from being ruined like Shrike. They try to protect the secrets for how magic works; so that it can still be used as entertainment.
"What do we do now?" Merritt asks.
Henley takes out her card. We all follow her lead, stacking them on top of hers. 'High Priestess', 'Lover', 'Hermit', and 'Death'. The cards combine and morph into an image of an eye. Henley takes it and waves it over the card in the tree.
Suddenly, the carousel behind us lights up and jovial carnival music plays. I immediately head off towards it; I had a feeling about that old place. The carousel's in a white gazebo, with orange and red stain glass adorning the walls. As we get closer, I can see the silhouette in front of the entrance to the carousel.
"Oh my God," Merritt says. I look at the shadow, trying to see his face. Holy shit. It's Agent Rhodes. He's part of the Eye?
"I did not see that coming," Merritt remarks, pointing at him. "That's impossible!"
"No way," I say. Noticing that my mouth is slightly open, I close it.
"That was actually pretty good," Daniel admits slowly. Now we're standing in front of the brilliant mastermind.
"Thank you," Rhodes says. That can't be his real name. He can't really be an FBI agent, can he? Who is he really?
"When I said to always be the smartest guy in the room…," Daniel awkwardly starts, probably referring back to the interrogation.
Rhodes smiles, "We were in agreement."
Daniel looks relieved and a little ashamed. "Okay. Right."
Henley takes a step forward, like she wants to say something, but doesn't have the words.
"I've never seen her speechless," Daniel informs Rhodes in bewilderment.
"I take that as a huge compliment," Rhodes nods.
This was the man I insulted during the second show, left to be pummeled by the audience, planted with Daniel's tracker during Mardi Gras, and the man I beat up in his own apartment. Oh, damn. This guy…
"Hey, man, I'm so sorry for kicking your ass," I beg sincerely. "Really." Rhodes dismisses my apology with a chuckle.
Merritt cuts in. "Listen, for the record, I have always been a one hundred percent believer."
I scoff at that, but Merritt's not done.
"And the amount of energy I have expended to keep these infidels on point…" Henley hits his arm, laughing.
"Merritt, you're in," Rhodes confirms.
"God bless," Merritt says sarcastically.
"Come," Rhodes says and leads us to the gazebo. "The real magic is taking four strong solo acts and making them all work together. And that's exactly what you did."
Inside of the gazebo, the carousel runs, the brightly-colored horses make their circles around the column. The whole thing is lit up. Amazing.
"So, welcome. Welcome to the Eye." Rhodes backs through the admission bar and leaps onto the carousel, disappearing after the ride takes its turn. We all jump the fence. I jump onto the carousel first, Merritt right after. Now you see me, now you don't.
Rhodes revealed himself as Lionel Shrike's son. He explained why he targeted the people he did. His father was ruined by Thaddeus Bradley. The safe that Shrike locked himself in was a cheap Elkorn safe, which warped with the water pressure, making escape impossible. The insurer who denied the family's claim was Tressler Insurance. The bank that carried the note was Credit Republican of Paris.
After his explanation, he asked us each what we wanted, Wizard of Oz style. I got enough fame. I got enough adventure. If I was being honest, I wanted the money I was promised. It sounds materialistic, but it'll prove I can make it. I can be a success.
My heart is pounding as I open the iron gate to the red row house. I'm unsure of how they'll react. They could be grateful that I'm not dead or angry that I deceived them.
It's my house. My family. I haven't seen them in forever. I take my time climbing the stairs to the door, sliding my hand up the railing as I go. I find myself in front of the old oak door. I stare at it, trying to will myself to move.
They could be proud of me for my success or they could loathe me for breaking the law.
I knock three times and stare at the peephole, trying to stay calm. I hear footsteps rush towards me and the door swings open. Mom. She stares at my face in shock and I shift my gaze to the ground because I can't look at her anymore. She doesn't believe what she sees. I don't either. After a few seconds, she embraces me, holding me tight to her. It's okay now. She won't lose me again.
"Jack," She whispers.
"Mom?" I hear a voice ask. I look up and I see Ben stopped in the hall with wide eyes.
Mom takes my wrist in a death grip and pulls me inside. "Kevin!" She yells for Dad before pushing me into the couch in the living room. Ben follows, not looking any less surprised.
"You better have a good reason! We thought you were dead," Mom says, now wearing a frown, standing in front of me with her arms crossed. Dad enters, stops, and smiles.
"Jack's home," He says, grinning. He nudges his wife, "Told you."
For the first time since I got here, I find words, "You knew?"
"Yeah, I knew. If you hadn't written that note, though…" Dad says.
Mom looks near hysterical, but that's kind of normal for her. "That note could have been a suicide note!"
"It might've been if it wasn't so optimistic," Dad replies.
"It said goodbye," Mom says.
"It was more a goodbye for now," Dad says.
"That's not only what I'm here about," I say, pulling the paper out of my messenger bag. "Here's something even better." I hand it to Mom and she puts her hand to her mouth. She looks at me with astonishment and then hands it to Dad. Ben peeks at it in Dad's hands.
"I finally made some money."