There was some interest in the reviews about the 'cursed trick', so there's a little more info here. I hope it's not too much for people, but I really find this stuff interesting, and there were some parallels that I wanted to draw as well.

There has also been some speculating about Emily, so time to answer some of those queries now. And er, open up some new ones about Naomi. Sorry about that.

On my first visit to Vegas, I heard a boy of about 8 ask his mother 'why are there pictures of naked ladies on the ground?' So that question receives an answer too!

Hope you enjoy! Myrtle


Chapter Four: Poker Face

Emily

Katie and I made our way along The Strip, following in Naomi and Cook's wake. They were leading us to a club that they often went to. Night time is when Las Vegas comes into it's own. The whole of Las Vegas Boulevard is lit up brighter than a million Christmas trees on acid. Each hotel, restaurant or bar has vast neon signs, belching their light out into the ether, desperately clamouring against each other for attention. Whether it be a five storey high guitar, or a beam of light that can be seen from space, Vegas is like nowhere else you have ever visited. There is so much to take in that when you first arrive, it can be hard not walking around with your mouth hanging open. But you can't stand around taking it all in - the sidewalks are constantly clamouring with tourists.

Slightly ahead of us, Naomi and Cook wove their way amongst the omnipresent touts. Row upon row of people stand along The Strip, day or night, handing out postcards advertising 'hot girls'. Although prostitution is legal in the state of Nevada, it is illegal in Clark County, which contains Las Vegas. Therefore these adverts simply claim to be for 'escort services'. Most of these cards end up falling disregarded to the ground. If you ever look down on Las Vegas Boulevard, all you will see are pictures of naked ladies.

Finally, we turned off the street into a hotel. Like most hotels in Vegas, we had to first get through the casino in order to reach our destination. We negotiated our way past people with buckets full of quarters, and waitresses with trays full of drinks, before stopping at an elevator. We stepped inside, along with a number of other people dressed for a night out. The elevator zoomed immediately upwards, not stopping until it reached the top floor. It was only for access to the nightclub we were heading to.

There was a queue to get in, but Naomi confidently led us to the front. The bouncer grinned at her and they exchanged a few words. Then he checked everyone's I.D.'s, and waved us all into the club. The place was huge. A surge of people were bumping and grinding on the dance floor. Smoke from a smoke machine hung in the air, and laser lights of purple, blue and red flitted across the whole scene. Cook headed immediately to the bar, the rest of us following behind. He ordered eight shots, and lined them up on the bar. We each downed our two shots in succession, gasping as the sudden burn hit our throats. Cook threw his head back and howled, the noise getting swallowed up by the pulsating music. Then he produced a little plastic bag with white tablets in.

"A little something to make the night extra fun!" He said, adding a wiggle of his eyebrows for good measure.

"We've still got a show to do tomorrow" answered Naomi. Cook nodded solemnly at her, before taking a pill out of the bag and swallowing it. Naomi rolled her eyes at him, but didn't seem too surprised. Cook grinned broadly back at her, waving the bag from side to side in front of her face. With a sigh, Naomi capitulated and held out a hand. It hadn't been much of a resistance - I wondered how often Naomi and Cook performed their show whilst hung-over or coming down. Or both. Katie and I both swallowed our offered pills straight away.

After another couple of drinks, and with the sensation of the pill kicking in, Katie grabbed my hand and led me onto the dance floor. I glanced around to see that neither Naomi or Cook were following. Cook was sauntering towards a group of girls, his cheshire-cat grin firmly in place. Naomi leaned back against the bar, drink in hand, nonchalantly taking in the world around her. Katie and I began our usual routine. The two of us danced up a storm together in the middle of the club. The fact that we're twins always helped us to stand out. We had done it many a time back home in Bristol, always with the same goal in mind: men. Without fail it would draw them to us like moths to a flame, hoping to push their way into our little bubble. One or two of the lucky ones may succeed, and find themselves grinding against Katie. If they were very lucky, they may even get more than that, but not always.

Soon, a group of guys had gathered around us. Katie was having the time of her life being the centre of attention. She was teasing about three or four of the better looking ones, dancing closer, smiling coquettishly, then shifting her attention to the next one. It was always at about this time that I quietly slipped away unnoticed. Katie always told herself that we danced like that because we were both on the pull. She chose to ignore the fact that I was never interested. Seeing that her attention was elsewhere, I headed to the bar and got myself another drink. I glanced around the club, looking for the others. Cook was across the room, chatting up about six girls at once. He was giving them the full charm offensive, and looked to be making some progress. Naomi was much closer. She was still stood at the end of the bar, but now she had some company. She was snogging some guy for all she was worth. His hands were on her ass, pulling her into him. I wondered if he was her boyfriend - she hadn't mentioned having one. I suddenly felt self-conscious, standing so close to them. I grabbed my drink and headed elsewhere.

At the other side of the room, a large glass door led outside. I stepped out into the warm evening air. It was a big rooftop terrace, with comfy chairs and sofas placed about. A speaker piped music out, but it was a fraction of the volume inside. I walked to the barrier and looked out across The Strip. The view was quite spectacular from that vantage point. We were really high up, but even so, there was no breeze. I took a deep breath and revelled in the comparative silence. It didn't last for long.

"Hey" said a familiar voice behind me. I turned and smiled at Naomi who was making her way towards me. "You okay?"

"Yeah" I answered with a shrug. "Just felt like getting some air. Everyone else seemed... busy." A soft chuckle was my only answer. "Was that your boyfriend?" I asked, wanting to make conversation. I nodded vaguely in the direction of the club.

"Oh, him? That was Patrick" answered Naomi, before frowning. "I think he said Patrick. The music's pretty loud in there. It began with a 'P', anyway." Right, not her boyfriend then.

"They should make everyone wear name-tags."

Naomi shrugged.

"You don't always need to know their name, do you?" Her words caught my interest. It sounded like the sort of thing that Cook might say, but it somehow seemed wrong coming from Naomi. She didn't strike me as the sort to fuck about like that.

"So what about you?" Asked Naomi. "I saw you and Katie drawing a crowd around you like a couple of mountebanks. She's in there getting off with about half a dozen guys at once. Not on the pull yourself?"

"No" I answered with a laugh.

"Cook said you're single though" pushed Naomi. "There's a couple of decent gay bars in Vegas. We could go to one next time if you like?"

"What?" I stared at her open mouthed. How the fuck did she know? I hadn't mentioned it to anyone. Naomi suddenly looked uneasy.

"I... I just thought..."

I sighed and closed my eyes. What the hell. It clearly wasn't a problem for her - I might as well be honest for once.

"Yes" I said firmly. "You're right." When I opened my eyes, Naomi was smiling gently at me. "Is it that obvious?" I asked. She shrugged.

"I just tend to notice what people look at, that's all. To a magician, where people are looking is important. Especially with close-up magic. You can't do a secret move if people are watching your hands, so that's where misdirection comes in. But you can't direct people's gaze until you know where it's focused in the first place." I felt myself blushing at her words. I hoped she was talking about me looking at girls here in the club, but I had an unsettled feeling that she wasn't. Had she seen me checking out her legs this morning when she was wearing that short skirt? She has the most beautiful long, slender legs. I'll admit that I had trouble focusing on the meeting, but I thought I had kept my perving subtle. I hadn't been able to help myself. I was hardly any better tonight - she was wearing a pretty, snug-fitting vest top that made her cleavage look amazing. Shit! Focus, Emily! "I take it Katie doesn't know?" Asked Naomi, snapping my mind back to the conversation. I shook my head.

"No, no-one does really. I tried coming out to my family when I was a teenager, but it didn't go very well." I tipped my head backwards and let a sigh escape me into the night. "It's a long story."

"Let me guess. You came out to them, and they said it was just a silly phase, or you were attention-seeking or something, then they promptly forgot all about it?"

"I guess that's the short version" I said with a chuckle.

"Classic. And you never tried again?"

I shrugged and leaned against the barrier, staring out across the Vegas skyline.

"I was going to. Last year, I was with someone. Her name was Jenny. It was getting serious, and she wanted me to tell my family about us." I took a swig of my drink, using the time to keep myself composed as the memories flooded back to me. "She was going to help me through whatever shit they threw at me." I paused, not sure how much I really wanted to reveal to Naomi.

"So what happened?" She prompted.

"Well, some... family stuff came up, so I wanted to wait. Then before I had another chance, she broke up with me. Turned out she was seeing someone else, and wanted her instead of me." I heard my voice waver a little. My hand was resting on the barrier. Naomi inched closer to me and placed her hand on top of mine. She gave it a reassuring squeeze. It was a small gesture, but it was so full of tenderness, and I was grateful for it. I wasn't still heartbroken over Jenny - there had been cracks in our relationship that we had both ignored for too long - but the memory of her betrayal still hurt. I took a deep breath and shoved my emotions back into their little box. "But enough about me - I want to know more about you. How did you end up performing a magic show in Sin City?" I asked Naomi with a smile. I wasn't just trying to change the subject: I was genuinely interested in Naomi, but she hadn't really given too much of herself away just yet. Her hand was still resting on top of mine. She interlaced our fingers, and led me away from the barrier towards a comfy-looking sofa. We both sank down onto it.

"I've always loved magic" she began. "My dad used to make coins appear behind my ear when I was a kid." She let out a little chuckle at the memory. "I was about twenty when I started doing magic for money. Kids parties, magic in restaurants - anything, really. It helped me be more confident."

Involuntarily, I scoffed at that.

"But you're full of confidence!"

"I wasn't always" she said sadly, with a shake of her head. I thought I saw the hint of a shadow cross her face, but it was gone before I could be sure. The mask that she hides behind was firmly back in place, having only slipped for a second. "Anyway, I wanted a change of scene, so I moved to America."

"Just like that?" I asked. Naomi shrugged. I stared into her piercing blue eyes, trying to read what was going on behind them. Her face remained impassive.

"Just like that" she said simply. "I met Cook in New York, and we became friends - we found we had a similar love of magic, and a similar wavelength about how it should be performed. So we put a show together, and tried to find an audience for it. Cook suggested that we give it a go in Vegas. I think sheer dumb luck got us the gig at The Garda Resort - right place, right time, you know?" I nodded, but felt like I had more questions than answers now. What made Naomi want to leave England? Why did she seem so unwilling to give more of her own history? Clearly, she was done talking about it. She stared out across the rooftops, no longer meeting my eye. As the silence stretched on between us, I longed to ask more questions, but I didn't dare pry. I hardly knew her well enough for that. Instead, I asked something that was sure to get her talking.

"So, tell me more about this 'cursed trick'?" I asked with a laugh in my voice. Naomi giggled.

"It's not cursed, that's just Cook's silly superstitions."

I arched an eyebrow at her.

"So it's not dangerous at all?" I watched Naomi closely and saw her hesitation.

"Well... there have been deaths because of that trick."

"How many?"

Naomi took a slow sip of her drink before answering.

"At least twelve" she said at last. "But some reports say up to sixteen. Though I think that includes one guy that was beaten to death by his own trick gun by an enraged assistant!"

"That's a lot of deaths" I said solemnly. Naomi shrugged.

"That's over a lot of years though. And there are a hell of a lot more successful performances than unsuccessful. But it uses a live firearm. If you mess a card trick up, the worse that happens is you don't find their card, but if you mess the bullet-catch up..."

"So people say that it's cursed then?" I pushed. Naomi nodded.

"Of course they do. It adds intrigue to the mystery - and one thing magicians love is intrigue. It keeps people interested."

"It certainly has my interest" I said absently. "Has any famous magician died doing the bullet-catch?" Naomi's eyes seemed to sparkle at my curiosity. She was suddenly keen to provide more details.

"The most famous was Chung Ling Soo, a Chinese magician." Naomi paused to see if she had my full attention. I was listening intently, and found myself leaning closer. She continued. "He died in 1918. He performed his show all across Europe, America, Australia - always travelling with an interpreter to translate his Chinese words. He died on stage in London due to a faulty gun that was only supposed to fire a blank - but it fired the real bullet as well." I let out a little gasp. Naomi leaned even closer, like she was sharing a big secret. "But the really amazing part was that Soo wasn't Chinese at all - He was American. It was just part of his act the whole time."

"So he didn't need the translator?" I asked frowning. Naomi shook her head.

"No. It's amazing really, the lengths he went to, to keep it secret. Practically his whole life was one big secret."

She sounded quite in awe of the man she was telling me about. As I listened to her, I began to wonder if that kind of secret facade intrinsically went hand in hand with the life of a magician. I had felt that Cook's background was a fabrication, and I was certain that Naomi's past contained more than she was telling me about. Perhaps for magicians, keeping secrets becomes so ingrained that it seeps into the fabric of their daily life.

With a sudden loud bang, and an increase in volume from the club, Naomi and I were brought back to our surroundings. The door leading onto the terrace had been slammed open by a couple of people searching for a bit of privacy. It was Cook, his arms full with one of the girls he had been chatting up earlier. They were kissing each other frantically and noisily. Her dress was pulled up around her waist, and her hands were disappearing somewhere down the front of Cook's trousers. They staggered as one onto the terrace, unaware of those around them. Naomi and I exchanged a look of disgust.

"Shall we get out of here?" She asked. "I don't fancy being witness to Cook's latest conquest!" I nodded my agreement and the two of us left the terrace without even alerting Cook to our presence. Once back inside, I dragged Naomi reluctantly onto dance-floor.


Much later, Katie and I left the club to get a taxi back home. Unfortunately, we now had 'Michael' in tow with us. Yes, Katie had pulled. I tried my best to ignore their vigorous snogging in the back of the taxi. I sighed to myself and stared out of the window as the backstreets of Vegas flew by. Seems like I was the only one of our group not to pull tonight. Cook had emerged from the terrace a dismally short five minutes or so after Naomi and I left it. He had a shit-eating grin on his face, and a couple of buttons missing from his shirt. Naomi and I had danced together for a while longer, but when I returned after a visit to the toilets, she was swapping saliva with some guy. He didn't look like the same guy she had been with earlier, but I couldn't say for sure - I hadn't taken much notice. By the end of the evening, I had lost track of her altogether, and concluded that she must have left with him. I couldn't help a small pang of jealousy at that thought, but I did my best to swallow it down. If Katie and I were going to be a part of their show, it wasn't a good idea to develop a crush on my boss. My straight and - based on tonight's observations - possibly slutty boss.

The taxi pulled up outside our motel, and Katie and her catch tumbled out, leaving me to settle the fare. I did so, before following them up the stairs to our room, dragging my feet with every step. I knew what was coming. I had known since it became obvious that Michael was coming back with us. As I got inside the room that we shared, Katie at least had the decency to look sheepishly at me. I just nodded, grabbed the blankets, sheets and pillows from my bed, and made my way into the bathroom. As I settled myself into the ludicrously small bath tub, I felt pleased that Katie didn't do this to me too often. And besides, it was better than her going off with some stranger, leaving me wondering if she was okay.

"You know I'll do the same for you" Katie had hissed to me as I closed the bathroom door. Fat chance of that I thought bitterly. I couldn't really picture Katie happily spending the night in the tub while I was in the bedroom with a girl. Though I have to admit, I could probably do with it. It had been quite some time since I'd got laid. For a long time I'd never even wanted to, after what happened with Jenny. My thoughts drifted back to that time after our break-up. Tonight was the first night I'd really spoken about it to anyone. I'd had friends who knew I was gay, but they were all Jenny's friends really, and had drifted away after the split. So all I could do was bottle everything up, leaving my family wondering why I was suddenly so moody all the time. And things weren't made easier by the fact that Jenny was suddenly everywhere with her new girlfriend. When Katie had suggested we take a trip, it had come at just the right time for me as well as her. I wanted to get myself sorted out once and for all. I wanted to find the strength from somewhere to be more honest with my family, and show them who I really am. I just hoped that travelling to another country could somehow help me do that.


Please let me know what you think!