There was a trapdoor.
Sage felt her heart thump. She remembered it now, from her dream. An unassuming grey square set into the floorboards.
As Sage lifted the trapdoor, she almost expected someone to burst out. The ghost of a dead magician’s wife, perhaps. But she knew, deep inside, that there were no ghosts in this theatre.
The dim light from the projection booth showed a narrow, damp set of concrete steps leading down into darkness. A cord hung from one side of the wall. Sage gave it a sharp tug, and fluorescent lights plinked on in the stairwell, one by one. Putting a trembling hand on the steel rail, she made her way down.
The small room at the bottom was exactly as it had been in her dream. An office chair and desk, identical to Herb’s, except that instead of the creepy letters and the mail spike, there were four small white envelopes lined up – the kind that magicians used to seal predictions inside.
The fluorescent lights only illuminated the stairs. Down here, a naked bulb swung from a cord, its wattage barely enough to illuminate the room. She looked around. There was another door – a thick steel door with a metal hatch the size of a large film reel.
That’s where they used to store the film, thought Sage, and went over.
If Bianca’s story had been true, then Jasmine had died on the other side of that door.
But it wasn’t true.
Sage’s teeth were chattering so loudly that she was afraid her teeth would break. She reached out and put her hand on the doorhandle.
‘It’s locked,’ said a voice behind her, and Sage jumped and spun around.
It was Bianca, holding a plastic bag in one hand, and a takeaway coffee cup in the other. Her handbag was slung over her shoulder.
‘I wanted you to leave,’ she said, staring past Sage at the locked door. ‘I tried to make you leave. I didn’t want it to come to this.’
Sage had expected this, but she hadn’t realised how gutted she’d feel. She sagged against the steel door, its icy chill seeping through her clothes.
‘I’ve realised why people believe in fairies,’ she said, hoping Bianca couldn’t hear the tremor in her voice. ‘It’s because it’s easier. Because if two little girls can photograph fairies in the bottom of their garden, then the world is full of beauty and mystery, and people are good. But if those two little girls lied, then the world is tarnished, and people who you thought you trusted turn out to be …’
‘What?’ said Bianca, her voice expressionless. ‘Baddies? Villains?’
‘Something like that,’ said Sage.
Bianca put the plastic bag on the desk, and sat down in the office chair. She picked flakes of varnish off the table. ‘Well,’ she said. ‘You don’t always get a choice. Sometimes you’re given a role, and you have to play it.’
She indicated to Sage to pull up the plastic chair against the wall. Sage hesitated, then did so, sitting opposite Bianca.
‘Have you decided whether or not you’re going to keep your promise?’ asked Sage.
‘Promise?’ Bianca still hadn’t looked Sage in the eye.
‘That you’d never date a magician you worked for.’
‘I don’t work for Jason,’ said Bianca, examining a fingernail. ‘And I never will.’
‘I thought,’ said Sage slowly, choosing each word carefully, ‘that it might be him. That he was trying to poach you as his assistant, and that’s why he got rid of Armand, and tried to get rid of Herb.’
‘Oh?’ Bianca’s expression betrayed nothing.
‘But I was wrong.’ Sage bit her lip. ‘It was you, wasn’t it? It was all you.’
Bianca didn’t say anything, just looked down at her coffee cup.
‘Where’s Armand?’ asked Sage.
‘You don’t understand,’ said Bianca, her voice low. ‘I had no choice.’
‘You’re right, I don’t understand,’ said Sage. ‘I mean, I know your job is kind of demeaning—’
‘My job?’ Bianca said with a bitter smile. ‘My job? My job is to wear spangly underwear while men tie me up, handcuff me, blindfold me, gag me, then pretend to throw knives at me, spear me with swords and saw me in half. My job is to be glamorously humiliated, with a smile on my face.’
Sage said nothing, but glanced over to the stairs.
‘Let me tell you about my job,’ said Bianca. ‘The most popular magician in Vegas does this sawing-a-girl-in-half trick, where the top half of the girl drags herself offstage. He uses a contortionist and a girl who, due to a congenital disorder, has no legs. That’s my job.’
‘Look,’ said Sage. ‘I know what you do is very difficult …’
Bianca dug a vicious nail into the wood of the desk. ‘You think you know how difficult my job is? The first trick I ever learnt with Armand was the Zigzag Effect, where he shoved me into that tiny cabinet, cut me up and rearranged me. After that was Radium Girl, where he’d stick a whole tube through my stomach and pass objects through. Then there were the constant variations on the sawn-in-half effect. Then there was Origami, where he folded me up into a tiny box and stuck swords into me. Twister and the Wringer, where I get flattened like a pancake or twisted up into a knot. Or the Dagger Head Box, which should be self-explanatory, as should the Guillotine. And my favourite? Impalement. That’s where I have to work every freaking muscle in my body to get into this contraption that makes me look like I’m balancing on the tip of a sword. A sword that Armand then pushes me down onto, impaling me through the stomach. I go limp, and everyone thinks I’m dead. Until the Great and Wondrous Armand rescues me – bringing me back to life with a kiss.’
She spoke faster and faster, her voice cracking.
‘And the worst one?’ Tears began to stream down Bianca’s cheeks, creating rivulets of mascara and eyeliner. ‘Worse than getting cut up or stabbed or set on fire or impaled? The worst trick is when he makes me disappear into nothing. Well, I know that trick too.’
She took a deep breath and turned her head to the ceiling, trying to stop the tears from flowing.
‘But it was you that changed everything,’ she said. ‘You listened. You told me that things could change. And then you ruined everything.’
‘It was you who took the money, wasn’t it?’ said Sage. ‘You’d been siphoning funds from Armand for years without him realising.’
‘I deserved that money,’ said Bianca. ‘Do you know how many times Armand gave me a raise, in the five years I worked for him? Zero. Zero times. He never would have even noticed if you hadn’t pointed it out.’
‘He knew it was you, didn’t he?’
Bianca nodded. ‘I had a plan. I was going to quit. Jason had been after me for months – I was going to give in and be his assistant. Break my own rule. But then Armand told me I had to pay it all back or he’d go to the police. He said I was finished in the magic business. He was going to tell everyone, and I couldn’t let him do that.’ Bianca’s voice started to crack, but she still didn’t look up. ‘I tried to talk to him, but he wouldn’t listen. I just needed some time to figure things out. I thought if I could just put him somewhere. Just for a day or two. Then I could sort it all out and fix everything.’
‘But it got out of hand.’
Bianca nodded. Her nails raked across the surface of the desk again, and Sage shivered. She looked up at the concrete stairs again and imagined running up them to freedom.
‘Looking for your handsome prince?’ asked Bianca, her voice suddenly sour. ‘He’s not coming. I saw you arrive at the theatre this morning, and sent him a message telling him you were in danger. At your house.’
‘Am I in danger?’ Sage wasn’t sure she wanted to hear the answer.
Bianca bit her lip. ‘I didn’t want you to get caught up in this. I tried to make you leave when I realised you were starting to figure it out.’
Sage’s heart started to hammer. ‘So … what happens now?’
Bianca still hadn’t met Sage’s eyes. ‘Well, it doesn’t look like this is a ghost story any more. So I suppose
we need a villain. There’s no other way.’
‘And who’s the villain?’
‘Well,’ said Bianca. ‘It could be Jason, so desperate to poach me that he does away with Armand and steals Herb’s greatest trick. Or it could be Herb, desperate to claw his way to fame and stardom.’ She shook her head with a sad ghost of a smile. ‘Or it could even be you.’
‘We can’t all be the villain,’ said Sage.
‘No,’ said Bianca. ‘And I can’t choose. So I thought I’d get you to choose for me.’
Sage shrugged. ‘I choose you,’ she said. ‘Or at a pinch, Jason.’
‘That’s not how it works.’ Bianca indicated the four envelopes sitting on the table. ‘Did you ever read those Choose Your Own Adventure novels when you were little?’
Sage nodded.
‘Well, this is going to be a bit like that.’ Bianca pulled out a cigarette lighter.
‘Inside each of these envelopes is a possible ending to our story,’ she said. ‘In the first one I let you go. I release Armand. I make Jason Jones back off from Herb. Everyone lives happily ever after. Except I would almost certainly go to jail, so I’m going to use some of my magic skills to make sure you don’t pick that one.’
‘So what are the other options?’
‘Number two is I go to the police and explain that it was Herb who kidnapped Armand, in order to wrest control of the show. I have an amazing array of evidence. He’ll probably go to prison.’
‘But wouldn’t Armand tell the police it was you?’
Bianca shrugged. ‘I doubt you’ll pick that envelope either.’
Sage looked down at the four envelopes, then back up at Bianca. Bianca’s eyes were red-rimmed and wild, but Sage didn’t doubt that she was still completely in control.
‘Number three is where I confess that Jason Jones kidnapped Armand in order to steal his greatest magic secrets,’ Bianca continued. ‘And he forced me to help him. I will of course rescue Armand, and be the hero of the story. Armand hates Jason, so he’ll be glad to go along with it. Plus he has plenty of evidence that Jason’s greatest magic skill is stealing other people’s ideas.’
Sage felt a chill wash over her. ‘And the fourth envelope?’
Bianca toyed with her coffee cup. ‘In the fourth envelope, nobody finds Armand. I have a seat booked on the next flight to London, and thanks to the money Jason gave me for stealing Herb’s Houdini effect I can afford to set myself up over there and start my own solo show.’
‘So … you just leave Armand to die?’
Bianca’s eyes widened. ‘Oh, I don’t think he’ll die,’ she said. ‘Surely someone clever will find him sooner or later. But I’ll be long gone.’
Sage swallowed. ‘A-and … what about me? What happens to me?’
A crinkle appeared in Bianca’s brow. ‘I–I don’t know,’ she said and sighed. ‘I suppose I’ll just have to make you vanish too.’
Sage wrapped her hands around the seat of her chair to stop them from shaking. She’d never felt so cold in her life.
‘So,’ said Bianca. ‘Time to narrow it down. Pick an envelope.’ She moved her hands over the table, mixing the envelopes and then lining them up in a row again.
Sage hesitated, then pointed at the first envelope on her left.
‘Interesting choice,’ murmured Bianca, picking up the envelope. She held it against her forehead with her eyes closed, as if she were absorbing its contents. Then she held the envelope in front of her and clicked on the cigarette lighter. Flames curled up the envelope, and she dropped it into the metal bucket, where it curled into a glowing husk.
‘Second choice?’ Bianca’s face was wreathed in smoke.
Sage pointed at the next envelope on her left. Bianca’s eyebrows raised, and she picked up the envelope and set fire to it in the same manner as the first.
‘Last choice.’
Sage pointed at the next envelope in the row.
‘Are you sure?’ asked Bianca. ‘You don’t want to change your choice? You can, I don’t mind.’
Sage heard Herb’s voice in her mind. If you let people think they have a choice, they’re much easier to fool. She hesitated.
‘Go on,’ urged Bianca.
Sage pointed to the envelope on the right. Bianca caught her lip between her teeth. She set the envelope on fire and dropped it into the bucket, then picked up the last envelope and held it for a moment before visibly steeling herself and passing it to Sage.
‘I want you to open it,’ she said.
Sage took it in her right hand, trying not to tremble. She broke the seal on the back with her thumb and lifted the flap.
‘What does it say?’
Sage slid her left hand up her thigh and stuffed into her pocket the other envelope she’d slipped off the table when she’d first sat down. She then unfolded the scrap of paper inside the envelope. ‘It says …’ She took a deep breath. ‘It says Dear Bianca. Nice try. Love, Armand.’
Bianca snatched the piece of paper from Sage’s hand, stared at it, then screwed it into a ball.
‘Seriously,’ she said with a hard laugh. ‘Do you really think I am so dumb that you, a teenager who only discovered magic two weeks ago, could fool me?’
Sage stood up, feeling more confidant. ‘No,’ she said. ‘I don’t. I know I don’t have a hope in hell of fooling you.’
Bianca’s eyes finally met Sage’s, and her face crumpled. She groped in her pocket for a ring of keys.
‘But Herb can,’ said Sage. ‘And so can Armand.’
Bianca scrambled over to the iron door and unlocked it with shaking hands before wrenching it open. The room was tiny, little more than a cupboard lined with empty metal shelves. A little washbasin and drain took up the back wall. A figure sat on a plastic chair, his back to the door. Next to him there was a dirty mattress and a stack of empty takeaway cartons.
‘No,’ whispered Bianca.
The figure started to clap, slowly. ‘Bravo. Very well played.’ Herb turned around. ‘Hi, Bianca.’
Sage felt an overwhelming surge of relief. She and Herb had worked it all out on the phone the night before, but knowing he was there wasn’t the same as actually seeing him. Her knees buckled, and she gripped the back of the chair.
‘Seriously,’ said Herb. ‘Really great job. The way you sabotaged my effect while at the same time stealing it for Jason Jones?’ He shook his head. ‘A masterstroke.’
‘Admit it,’ said Bianca through clenched teeth. ‘I fooled you.’
Herb spread his hands. ‘You fooled me.’
‘I’m a better magician than you. Say it.’
‘Gladly. You’re clearly far more skilled than I am. You had me fooled, one hundred per cent. The amount of planning that must have gone into this …’ Herb shook his head. ‘It’s really quite extraordinary. I take my hat off to you.’
Bianca hesitated for a moment, as though she’d been expecting him to fight back.
‘The only thing is,’ said Herb. ‘Well, you’ve got one problem. One weakness.’
Bianca narrowed her eyes. ‘What, that I’m a woman?’
Herb laughed. ‘No. If anything, the fact that you’re a woman is the best part of your routine. It’s the perfect piece of misdirection. Nobody would ever expect you to be the scheming villain.’
‘So what?’
Herb shrugged. ‘You’re clearly absolutely deranged.’
Bianca’s eyes flicked around the room. ‘Where is he?’
‘I’m right here,’ said Armand, arriving at the bottom of the stairs behind them. ‘Sorry I’m late. I had to shower and change. Thirteen days in the same clothes can make one a little ripe.’
Bianca stared at him. ‘How did you do it?’ she asked. ‘You’re no Houdini.’
‘No,’ said Armand with an apologetic grimace. ‘I’m not. And I didn’t really do anything. It was all Sage.’
He flashed Sage a quick smile, and Sage caught her breath. In that smile she saw a shadow of the charismatic young magi
cian she’d seen in the newspaper clipping.
Bianca’s face twisted into something dark and ugly, but she seemed completely lost for words.
Armand gestured at Sage. ‘Please,’ he said. ‘I’d like to hear the whole story from the beginning.’
‘Um.’ Sage, sat down again to think. ‘You’ve always been unhappy as an assistant,’ she said to Bianca. ‘You saw how badly your own mother was treated as a magician’s assistant. Every night you get cut up and tied up. Every night you have to be a victim. And you were sick of it. So you asked Armand if you could change the act. Become a proper magic duo, not a magician and assistant. Wear some real clothes. Take credit for some of the work you do.’
She glanced at Armand, who nodded. ‘And I said no,’ he said. ‘The last time I let my assistant be more than an assistant, it didn’t go so well for me.’
Sage looked back at Bianca. ‘That story you told me about Herb asking to do a solo portion,’ she said. ‘That was true, wasn’t it? Except it was you who asked Armand for your own spot.’
‘Except for the mice,’ muttered Bianca. ‘I didn’t kill the mice.’
‘I assume you went to Jason Jones to ask for a partnership as well?’ Armand asked.
Bianca’s head twitched in a slight nod. ‘He only wanted me as an assistant.’
‘And when Armand found out about the missing money, you decided to take matters into your own hands.’
Armand nodded. ‘She brought me a coffee,’ he said. ‘The next thing I knew, I was locked in there.’ He nodded his head towards the adjoining room. ‘She told me to forget about the money, and give her a solo spot in the show. I refused. She told me I wouldn’t be released until I agreed.’
‘How did you get him down here?’ asked Sage, curiously.
Bianca shrugged. ‘I’m stronger than I look.’
‘Wait,’ said Herb, frowning at Armand. ‘You were locked down here for thirteen days, and all you had to do to be let free was give her a solo spot in the show?’
‘I don’t appreciate blackmail.’
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