Fiendish Play

by Angela Richardson

  But before I could finish she had taken off into the darkness of the house, leaving me to say “lost” to the air in front of me. “Damn it,” I said, under my breath, annoyed. “Margot!” I yelled into the dark. “Margot!”

  “Come find me James!” she yelled back, giggling as she did. Great, she picks now to play hide- and-seek.

  I walked in quickly, going from dark room to dark room. Flashing lights blurring my vision to see straight. “James...oh...James!” I heard her yell again. I felt my feet picking up pace. A goblin jumped out from a hatch door. A vampire from one of the ceilings. A werewolf hiding around a corner — but no Margot. I heard her giggling again in the darkness. There was so much darkness I could barely see two feet in front of me.

  “Margot, this isn’t funny anymore. Walk towards my voice now. Please.”

  “James...” I heard her say again. “Oh James.”

  “Margot?”

  I stumbled into a room that looked like a cemetery. Fake headstones were littered everywhere in the room. The lights in the room started flashing faster. “James,” a man’s voice spoke into the dark. My head swung side to side. Did I hear correctly? Did I hear a man call out my name? Perhaps I was imagining things again. My mind was always playing tricks on me. It moved so fast...too fast that sometimes voices changed as well as what they really said. This had to be one of those moments when my imagination was projecting again. The lights started flickering, and I shook my head, trying to clear out everything that was happening all at once. The whole room lit up for a minute and I looked down to see a headstone with my name on it. “What the...” I muttered. Then there was black and I couldn’t see anything at all. So many mind tricks. I shook my head in disbelief at myself and how crazy I felt. Now I was seeing things that weren’t even real.

  “James I’m over here.” I could hear Margot again. I charged out of the room until I came to another room full of cobwebs with pink down lights all along the floor. There was Margot sitting in the corner of the room petting a fake spider.

  “Margot, you shouldn’t have run off like that. You could have gotten lost. Or worse,” I said marching over to where she was crouched.

  “Look at this spider James. It’s so fuzzy.”

  I took her hand and lead her out of the house. My parents were waiting outside near the exit. I could see my Mom’s nervous look as she looked back and forth from me to Margot.

  “How’d she go?” my Mom asked as we got closer to them.

  “Fine. Just fine,” I said. I couldn’t admit to her that the Haunted House was scarier for me than it was for Margot.

  My step-dad suddenly picked up my Mom and spun her around, diverting her attention elsewhere. “James, can you watch your sister a little longer? I want to take your Mom on the Ferris wheel.” God — they were so embarrassing sometimes. They acted like lovesick teenagers more often than I preferred. Parents weren’t supposed to behave this way. They were always so happy and in love. Yuck!

  “Are you two going to kiss again?” Margot said sounding disgusted. “You two always kiss. That’s so gross. Isn’t it James?”

  I smirked at Margot. “It sure is.” I looked at my parents. “I’ll take Margot over to the bumper cars. We’ll meet you there when you’re done.”

  My parents took off towards the Ferris wheel while me and Margot walked towards the bumper cars. I noticed a small purple tent with a palm in purple light glowing right next to where the bumper cars were situated. A tall man on stilts with long striped pants and a silver sequined vest was at the tent’s entrance.

  “Would you like to know your future young man? See if you’ll be the next master of the universe,” he said in a deep voice staring right down at me. “The Madame is in...And she reveals all,” he said with a wave of his hands like it was something mystical to discover.

  I rolled my eyes. “Uh, no thanks,” I mumbled as I tried to move past, still holding Margot’s hand.

  “Oh — do you think they’ll have a crystal ball?” Margot asked excitedly as she stared at the brightly colored purple tent.

  “I’m not sure. I think it’s just palm reading,” I said trying to pull her away. She then planted her feet, not moving from the entrance of the tent.

  “C’mon, let’s see what they say about you James.”

  I shook my head. “No, I don’t think so. Palm reading is not my thing. And it all looks kind of...”

  The words silly, ridiculous, stupid and fake quickly entered my mind but I didn’t say them out loud.

  “But it will be fun. C’mon James...Pleeeeeeease! For me! It’s my birthday!” Margot pleaded. Excited desperation in her eyes.

  I inwardly groaned. “Fine. But it’s the last time you can use ‘but it’s my birthday’ card tonight, alright?”

  Margot clapped her hands and started pulling me into the small purple tent. It was dimly lit inside by candles. A man who was dressed like a woman sat on a chair across from us at a tiny square table. He was middle-aged, wearing a really ugly black curly wig, and had red lipstick on his lips. There was even a drawn on mole near the corner of his mouth and a five o’clock shadow on his chin. He spoke in a fake feminine voice which sounded more like a straggled cat than a mysterious palm reader.

  “I’m Madame La Fell.”

  I tried not to laugh at the awful fake girl voice.

  “How much?” I asked in a snicker.

  The palm reader looked quickly at my hands. “For you? Five dollars.”

  I took the money from my pocket and pushed it across the table. “Take a seat please.” Madame La Fell gestured for the chair. I took a seat across from the palm reader, trying not to look him in the eye and completely lose it. It was all so funny. I didn’t know how much longer I could pretend to be serious about this.

  “How old are you young man?”

  “I’m twelve,” I barely got out.

  “Well aren’t you going to be handsome one day.” Madame La Fell leaned forward. “And look at your eyes. They’re some pretty special green eyes you’ve got you know. Did you know people with green eyes are considered to have a mystery about them? They’re also supposed to be very curious, and very intelligent.”

  “Uh, thanks. I think.”

  Margot started dancing behind me. She had gotten distracted by the pictures of stars and the zodiac that were pinned up on the walls of the tent.

  “Hold out you your palm please.”

  I held out my palm, curious to see what Madame La Fell would make up. What fake future I would be told. He-she grabbed my hand and studied it intently, looking at it like my destiny was unfolding in front of her eyes. “I see...a story untold. A mystery to discover. A secret world. Powerful people. A path to love. A search for the truth. And you my boy are the center of it all.”

  Now I had to laugh out loud. “Wow, could you be any more specific? I mean c’mon...I deserve a little more than that for my five bucks!” I snorted and turned to Anais who was still lost in a collage of tarot cards, not listening to anything going on.

  “You want specifics do you?” Madame La Fell’s voice changed to the more manly sound which probably would have been closer to the original. That caught me off guard.

  “Yeah...I guess with my curious nature and path of mystery, I’d like something a little more detailed,” I stated, wondering where he was going with my demand.

  “Okay, I’ll give you specifics.” He-she gestured for my palm again. I laid it flat on the table with my palm facing up. Madame La Fell moved her large hand above my palm. She did it once, then twice and then placed it palm to palm. When she removed her hand from mine, what was left was a strange looking ancient gold coin in the center of my own.

  “That there is everything you need to know about your future. Consider it a...” she paused, “good luck charm.”

  I looked at the coin. It felt heavy. Definitely not like any coin I’d ever seen before. But it said absolutely nothing about my future. I rolled my eyes once more, but closed my hand around the co
in. At least I got something for my five bucks, and it was supposed to be some kind of lucky charm, so why not keep it? The coin might actually be worth something given its weight in my hand.

  “Can we go now?” Margot whined behind me. She had clearly lost interest the moment we stepped in here. The girl didn’t have much of an attention span.

  Margot tugged at my arm which got me to my feet. “Alright. We’ll go,” I said to her.

  Margot didn’t wait and ran out of the tent. I pushed my chair in and put the coin into my pocket.

  “It was nice to meet you James,” Madame La Fell said waving goodbye from behind the table.

  “Yeah, thanks,” I mumbled and quickly followed Margot out of the purple tent.

  Mom and Dad were at standing at the bumper cars when I emerged. I saw Margot running over to them and into my Mom’s arms. I placed my hand back into my pocket where I could feel the coin. A flash of a memory hit my mind. Like a lightning bolt. I almost fell off my feet it felt so intense. Something from my past was invading my head. It wasn’t like this hadn’t happened before. Weird flashes and images often pounded into my conscious like some old movie my mind was always trying to play. But it often just lead to burst of pictures that made no sense to me. But this felt different. This coin felt familiar. I sensed it. Knew it. Like I had held it in my hand before. Maybe it really was a lucky charm. Something I was meant to find and keep.

  When I removed my hand from my pocket, I had the oddest sensation. When I lifted up my hand, it was shaking and I couldn’t consciously make it stop. Weird trembling fingers, like they were scared. Like they had done something wrong. It was all I could feel.

  Then another realization suddenly hit me, and everything else seemed to spin.

  I never told the palm reader my name.

  {16}

  It was Seth’s idea to all go together in a limo. Like a double date. Like it was fucking prom or something. Not that I could be angry at Seth for making such a suggestion. It was a good idea to all go together. It just didn’t feel like we were heading to something fun like out of a John Hughes movie. No, it felt more like the movie Carrie instead, heading to some twisted version of a prom night slasher flick. Seth didn’t even have to ask me and Anais to know what happened. He knew why I was there with them in the limo, and how everything changed from the race to now. The writing...or should I say the blood was on the wall the moment I stepped in for him for the race. I think he could even see the imaginary shackles on both of our wrists now that I was in the same boat as him. There was no look of surprise on his face.

  “It’s good to see you James,” Seth said speaking to my feet as he sat across from me and Anais in the limo. His date Gwen, a tiny little blond thing with short bobbed blond hair was playing with Seth’s curls. Twisting them one by one around her fingers. I think she was doing it as a distraction. Her head facing towards the window trying to stare out as she did. She looked as old as Seth. Barely eighteen. They were both dressed in white, as were I and Anais. It was the dress code for the evening. White. Like some freaky heavenly ode to the fallen. Yes, you heard correctly, ‘the fallen’. Anais explained to me what the night was all about, and rather have me explain it; I’ll quote directly from Anais. “The memorial event is an annual celebration of three fallen elite leaders of the Lappell that were murdered twenty-one years ago in New York. Every year all the chapters in the Lappell pay honor by hosting an event to celebrate them. All wear white in respect of the fallen three.” So there you have it. I was basically going to some secret society version of an annual wake which probably had some morbid twist to it. None of us who sat in the back in the limo appeared as if this was something to look forward to.

  “Good to see you too Seth,” I finally said back after minutes had passed. Each of our minds distant and disconnected to conversation. Anais squeezed my hand trying to help me relax. I wasn’t nervous or anything. I just hated that Anais and I were being told what to do, and how we were forced to do it. It was going to be hard for me to restrain myself from wanting to pound into Byron and Deacon after what they did to Anais on that field. I was more worried about my own self-control than this stupid memorial night.

  Then curiosity about the event got the better of me. Three Lappell ‘elite’ members dead. Elite being their highest order. I had to wonder how that came to be.

  “How were they murdered?” I asked out of thin air. All eyes quickly turned to my voice. Seth opened his mouth, but before he could speak, Anais intervened.

  “Maybe we shouldn’t talk about...”

  Seth cut her off before she had a chance to finish. “They were cut up into pieces,” Seth said sounding like he enjoyed telling this tale. “It was in the New York Times and everything. The paper called it the Tycoon Three-Killing Spree. Their body parts were found all along the Hudson River.”

  “Are you being serious?” I said sounding flustered. This had to be some kind of prank they were pulling on me right now. Trying to scare me or something. An urban myth. A ghost story. Three elite leaders murdered? Really? This had to be a joke.

  They all fell deathly quiet. “You’re telling the truth aren’t you?” I said out loud, but their silence spoke the answer. An answer no one wanted to say.

  “But why?”

  I turned to see Anais shaking her head to Seth, who continued to ignore her warnings to keep quiet. “The story goes that some guy called Hollows, who was working for the Lappell in New York, was in love with some girl whose Dad was a kingpin for the New York Mafia. But behind the scenes Hollows was hiding information about the Lappell. Apparently Hollows tried to run away with this Mafia princess, and when they were discovered by the Lappell, he was killed, and the girl was never seen again. The three leaders involved were linked to Hollows’ death and the girl’s disappearance.”

  I blinked twice, registering the story. I can honestly say I did not expect something like that. It seemed so far removed from reality. Like something like that could only happen in books, and not real life. “So you’re saying...” I began.

  “That you don’t piss off the New York City Mafia,” Seth finished for me.

  “Jeeeeez. That’s quite a story. And you said the Hollows’ guy was hiding information...”

  Seth looked deep in thought, like he had spent a long time pondering this part. “Well that’s just a rumor actually. After the murders, the Lappell were brought almost completely down from a leaked source. There were a mass number of indictments and arrests all over the world. It was almost the end of them. So many sections were disbanded. There was even talk there was some underground movement rising against them. Like people who had gotten out had banded together and were helping to bring them down everywhere in the world. But obviously, they didn’t quite finish the job they started.”

  That was true. We wouldn’t be sitting in this limo right now if that was the case.

  “So do you think the information that the Hollows guy supposedly hid was discovered? Handed over to the authorities? And that’s what started it all?”

  Seth shrugged. “I don’t know, but it makes sense...the timing was right when it happened...But who knows for sure? It’s all just stories now...pieces of lies...pieces of truth...and you know how stories change over the years...” Seth trailed off.

  “Still...” I started, “that Hollows guy sounds like someone I’d like to meet. I’d love to shake his hand.”

  Seth grunted and kissed his date softly on her cheek. She smiled at his face and turned back around to stare out the window once more. “Wouldn’t we all?” he said referring to each of us in the limo.

  The limo stopped near the university. This year the memorial event was being held at the university auditorium. There were a number of people dressed in white heading into the building when we arrived. I rested my hand in the small of Anais’ back as we exited the limo and made our way towards the entrance. Her long white figure-hugging dress was soft against my fingers. Her brown hair was out in loose curls that cascaded down
past her shoulders. I was in white pants and white button-down top which looked like the standard dress for the men for tonight. Seth and I looking like twins.

  However, when we neared the entrance we saw that ‘white attire’ meant it was open to interpretation. There was Byron and his followers standing at the doorway. And when I say followers, I mean droogs. Byron was dressed like Alex from a Clockwork Orange and his guys as the rest of that crew. The vision of them dressed like that was seriously fucked-up...especially from my memory of Anais being held by Deacon against her will the other night. It was like they actually enjoyed being perceived as the brutally disturbed characters from that movie.

  I had to consciously get my fists to un-ball themselves. It took all my strength to just casually walk past them holding Anais’ hand. Byron was twirling a cane when we tried to slip past them. He stopped twirling the cane suddenly and held it out like a gate so we couldn’t get to the doorway. “Good evening fellas. I’m so happy to see you all tonight,” Byron said with jovial spirit.

  I tried to walk forward but Byron held his cane in place, not letting us pass.

  “I’m looking forward to seeing you at your initiation test tomorrow James. Don’t be late.”

  I blinked at Byron not responding, but I didn’t have to. He looked at the girls and then back to me.

  “Got milk?” he asked them. Byron smirked before removing the cane and letting us through.

  “Fucking asshole,” Seth muttered as we walked in. “He certainly plays the part of Alex well.”

  I turned back to Seth. “Who says he’s playing?”

  We walked into the floor of the auditorium. White lighting everywhere flickering and flashing all along the floor. Billowing white curtains, white shiny balloons, and even a smoke machine near the DJ. It certainly looked like prom night. Not as scary or twisted as I expected it to be. It all looked so...normal.

  Seth and Gwen walked off to get a drink leaving me and Anais alone on the dance floor. I took both her hands and pulled her up against my chest. “Are you alright?” I whispered into her ear.