by Sage Nyx
The crowd claps and cheer loudly for me. This is just great.
Sugar steps closer and pulls the microphone away slightly so his words won’t be picked up.
“Trust me,” he whispers softly into my ear where only I can hear. His breath on my neck sends delicious shivers down my spine.
I roll my eyes at him.
Sure.
Trust a man who dropped a live snake into my hand? No fucking way. Not in this lifetime.
When I continue to hesitate, he takes my hand in his and pulls me closer to the box.
“Remember rule number one? To never work with animals?” he says into the microphone. “Rule number two is never let the animal choose your volunteer. Thanks a lot, Elsa!”
The crowd laughs at his joke. If I don’t play along, I’ll be a jerk. A poor sport. This is entertainment, a magic show.
All for fun.
People are here to have a good time. They’ve paid good money for their tickets and I’m spoiling it because I’m afraid of tight, dark places.
I take a deep, calming breath and decide to do it. This is humiliating enough as it is. My anxiety is making it worse. The only way for this to end is to get it over with.
How long will I be in the box? A minute? Two at the most?
Surely, I can deal with my claustrophobia that long.
“Okay,” I say with a tentative smile. “I’ll do it.”
“Whew! Thank goodness!” he says, wiping his brow with his hand. “I was really worried there for a minute.”
He squeezes my hand in encouragement and helps me up the steps. I carefully climb into the box and lie down, noticing there is barely enough room for my legs if I bend them slightly. He wasn’t kidding about it being a tight fit.
“All comfy in there?” he asks, peeking over into the box. “I hope so, because it’s too late to back out now.”
He doesn’t wait for my answer before shutting the lid of the box and locking it into place.
“Do you get motion sickness?” I hear him say before he grabs one end of the box and sets it spinning around and around. “I forgot to ask.”
Oh my God.
Why did I drink that glass of champagne on an empty stomach? I close my eyes and try not to think about it. The darkness surrounding me is suffocating and hot.
Everything I’m afraid of.
And now I’m spinning while the audience laughs loudly at my predicament.
I’ve made a huge mistake.
Closing my eyes, I try not to hyperventilate. Why didn’t I warn him about how I freak out when trapped in dark, tight places?
Because I didn’t want to make an even bigger fool of myself than I already have.
I try not to panic. Or puke up my champagne all over my white sweater.
Wouldn’t that be lovely?
I’ll be fine. Nothing will happen to me.
Then again, what do I really know about this man?
Not a damn thing.
Only that he’s sexy as hell with a smile that could charm any woman into doing almost anything. Like crawling inside a box that would be too small for a tiny child to fit inside comfortably.
And that he’s perfectly willing to risk his own life for a stunt, so why wouldn’t he be willing to risk my safety too?
I take another deep breath. I’ve almost convinced myself things will be okay when I hear the deafening roar of a chainsaw revving up and coming closer.
Is that real? It sure as hell sounds real.
“All okay in there, Jade?” Sugar calls out loudly. “Yell if you can hear me.”
“I’m here!” I yell back.
“Nice meeting you,” he says. “Thanks for volunteering! I’ll see you on the other side one day!”
The box vibrates when he puts the blade of the chainsaw against it right above my stomach. The wood splinters.
Oh, shit!
The chainsaw is real.
The crazy son-of-a-bitch is cutting the box into pieces with me in it. My heart is pounding so hard, it’s pulsing in my ears. I’m on the verge of having a full-blown anxiety attack.
If by some miracle I make it out of this mess alive, so help me God, Sugar is a fucking dead man!
Without warning, the bottom suddenly drops out of the box and I scream.
I fall into darkness.
Sugar
Tonight’s show is on the verge of disaster.
First Elsa completely ignores me. She was playing around in the rafters of the theater instead of flying straight to the front row like she’s done a million times before.
I wasn’t kidding when I said never work with animals. Luckily, the audience thought her screwing around was all part of the act.
Then Jade shocks the hell out of me by refusing to climb inside the box.
Who volunteers to come up on stage and then doesn’t want to participate? To be fair, Jade didn’t technically volunteer.
I chose her.
Women are usually thrilled to be part of my show. It didn’t occur to me that Jade wouldn’t be. I was trying to do something nice to make up for that girl spilling a drink on her.
Now I feel doubly bad.
There was a genuine expression of terror on her face when she saw the box being wheeled onto the stage.
What the hell was up with that?
Surely, she’s aware that no real harm will come to her? Everything is fake. Except for the chainsaw. My illusions and stunts are nothing more than sleight-of-hand card tricks, except bigger and more badass.
Now she’s terrified and crammed inside a small box. I’m worried that she won’t forgive me.
Before the show started, I’d checked out the guests through the surveillance camera set up in my dressing room. It’s my nightly routine to get a read on the mood of the crowd. It helps to know what I’ll be facing when I walk out on stage.
Jade shocked the hell out of me by showing up. She was stunning in a simple white sweater and black pants.
Wholesome and genuine.
A rarity in Vegas where women cake on three layers of makeup, put weaves in their hair and wear the tightest, shiniest dresses they can buy.
Sitting in the front row all by herself, Jade reminded me of a fresh sunflower in a room full of sickly sweet greenhouse roses. Her long hair was pulled back into a simple ponytail that she kept nervously fiddling with while crossing and uncrossing her legs.
After she drank some champagne, I was glad to see her visibly relax a little. That was until Leroy rushed over and started harassing her. I could’ve kicked myself in the ass for not warning him ahead of time that she might be here.
Leroy is protective of me. I wish I’d told him I gave her a special VIP ticket.
All I could do was cringe while watching them on camera. I couldn’t hear what he was saying to her but could well imagine.
From their body language, I knew Leroy was trying his best to be intimidating. To her credit, Jade firmly stood her ground.
If she’d tried to leave the theater, I was ready to dash out of my dressing room and run after her in my street clothes.
There’s something about Jade that intrigues me. I don’t know what it is since she’s not my usual type.
She’s the exact opposite.
For one thing, she isn’t interested in me, which is a unique challenge I’m always ready and willing to take on.
For another, she’s up to something devious and sneaky.
I know it in my gut.
I’ve lived my whole life learning how to read people by their body language. My dad started teaching me when I was six years old.
When we worked as street hustlers, our ability to size up our marks made a difference in whether we ate saltine crackers or decent food for dinner that night.
He let me fail plenty of times to teach me.
Over time, I learned to catch every eye movement, every twitch of the lips, every imperceptible change in breathing.
I’m a professional at reading people.
; It’s what I do best.
Jade can’t fool me. There’s no way she’s in town alone for a fun vacation.
I don’t have time to think about all of that now. Taking a deep breath, I clear my mind.
I have less than four minutes to cut the box into pieces with my chainsaw, disappear from the stage and grab Jade.
We’ll run underneath the stage to where a floating platform is waiting for us. Then we’ll reappear near the rear of the theater behind the audience.
Timing is everything in this business.
I’ve done this illusion hundreds of times, but always with a willing participant. Not with someone who I need to pressure and beg to work with me.
If I’m off even a few seconds, the illusion will fail.
Damn!
Pulling Jade up on stage was a terrible idea. Stepping closer to the box, I place the tip of the chainsaw at the edge.
“Are you still in there?” I yell through the box to Jade.
“I’m here,” she yells back.
Maybe the insurance company was right, and my tricks are going too far. The thought of the saw slipping with Jade in the box causes cold sweat to drip down my back.
I’ve never doubted myself before. What the fuck is wrong with me?
I put light pressure on the box with the chainsaw and the wood splinters. That’s the signal for my crew underneath the stage to release the trapdoor, allowing Jade to fall safely onto a cushioned surface.
I hear her scream in terror when the trap door unexpectedly opens.
Fuck!
She might never get over this. If anyone else hears her, they’ll think it’s because she’s terrified of being cut in half.
“Clear,” my stagehand yells into my hidden earpiece.
Time to finish the trick.
Letting out the breath I’m holding, I bear down hard with the chainsaw, causing the box to disintegrate into a cloud of sawdust. The crowd shrieks when I slice the box into several pieces to show that Jade can’t be curled up to hide in one end.
When using a volunteer, I can’t expect them to know how to tuck their ankles around their neck to keep from being sawed in half. Instead, I create a diversion to cause the crowd to focus in one direction when something important is happening in the other.
This time, my assistants and I gathered around in a circle to spin the box while the secret compartment in the floor was sliding open. Mirrors are carefully positioned around the stage to trick the audience’s eyes into seeing only what I want them to see.
I pick up the remaining larger pieces of the box and toss them to the two female assistants, showing the audience there’s nowhere for Jade to hide.
“Forget about the free room in Orlando,” I tell them. “Sorry about that! My lovely volunteer has disappeared.”
I wave my hand and a shower of gold confetti drops from the ceiling. Large industrial fans on both sides of the stage blow the confetti into a swirling tornado to conceal me as I drop onto the cushioned surface where Jade fell.
She’s standing beside my stagehand, trembling slightly.
“Come on, we need to run now,” I tell her, grabbing her hand tightly in mine.
She doesn’t argue this time and runs with me down the hallway to the hidden exit leading outside. My staff directs us through the dark alley to another side door which opens at the rear of the theater.
I step onto a floating platform and pull her onto it with me. Members of my staff are standing in front of the platform, posing as audience members to block the view from other guests.
The platform rises in the dark.
“Hang on,” I tell Jade, wrapping one arm around her waist to hold her tight against my side. “I don’t want you to fall off the edge. Don’t worry. I’ve got you.”
My crew steps away as the platform rises above the theater. The confetti tornado on the main stage stops swirling to show the audience I’ve disappeared. Less than a minute has passed.
“Are you okay?” I whisper, pulling her tighter against me. “Sorry about the box.”
She nods and gazes up at me with big scared eyes behind her thick glass lens.
Impulsively, I lean down to capture her lips with mine while we’re still hidden from view.
This isn’t part of my act.
Sugar
My lips touch hers softly for a split second before the spotlight hits us and I reluctantly pull away.
“Guess who I found!” I say into my microphone. “My lovely volunteer is hiding way up here in the rafters with Elsa.”
I hold up my hand for Elsa to fly to me on the platform. As soon as she went behind the curtains on stage, one of my assistants quickly carried her upstairs to the upper level of the theater. She’s been sitting on a hidden perch while patiently waiting for me to appear.
The audience whirls around in their seats and spot us floating high above them.
Clasping Jade’s hand in mine, I swing them both triumphantly above our heads. The audience breaks out in spontaneous applause.
“Goodnight everyone!” I shout. “I hope you’ve enjoyed the show!”
The applause continues with no sign of letting up.
“Take a bow with me,” I whisper to Jade. “This is the finale of the show.”
She smiles shakily and we bow toward the audience below us while the spotlight slowly dims into darkness. The applause goes on for another full minute before letting up.
Once the theater goes completely black, the platform lowers, and I help Jade step off.
“Is that it?” she asks softly.
I laugh at her question while carefully handing off Elsa to my assistant. “What do you mean, ‘is that it’? What do you want me to do? Make you disappear for real? Saw you in half and then glue you back together?”
“No,” she says, a touch of shyness in her voice. “I meant, is the show over? Are we done? Do I go back to my seat now? I wasn’t sure if there is another act coming up.”
“Am I not enough for you? I’m it, babe. Sorry. The only act for tonight. The show is over.”
A disappointed expression crosses her face before she quickly hides it.
“I can take you to another show,” I quickly offer. “If you want to go. Two of my buddies have late night shows.” I pull out my phone to check the time. “One of them is starting soon. An insane, over-the-top extreme stunt show starring Vulcan, a good friend of mine who honest-to-God believes he can’t die. Personally, I think he’s a fucking lunatic who needs to be in an insane asylum, but he sure as hell puts on a good show. If we hurry, we might make it on time. He’s usually running late and never starts on time. Do you want to catch it?”
She shakes her head. “No, you misunderstood me. I didn’t want your show to end. You were fantastic! I wanted to see more. I’m sad it’s over. An hour isn’t long enough.”
“You liked it then?”
“Yes, I loved it,” she replies with an enthusiastic nod. “Except for the part with the box.”
I gently squeeze her hand. Her small hand seems so familiar in mine I’d forgotten that I was still holding onto it.
“What happened back there?” I ask. “I’m sorry for putting you on the spot. It didn’t occur to me you might not want to come up on stage. Besides, it was my bird who picked you, not me. If you need to blame someone, blame Elsa.”
“Right,” she says. “It was pure chance the bird flew straight to my seat and landed on my head?”
“She has excellent taste in volunteers. What can I say?”
“You’ve trained her well. How many seats is she trained to fly to? Only one?”
“It’s against the rules to ask a magician to reveal how he does his tricks. Everyone knows that.”
“But that technically isn’t a magic trick,” she points out. “It was an animal training trick. A good one, but not magic so you can break the rules.”
“True. Okay, this one time I’ll tell you and then you can never ask me about my secrets again. Deal?”
�
��Deal,” she solemnly agrees.
I don’t believe her for a second. Now that she’s seen my show, it will bug the shit out of her until she figures out how I pull off my illusions. When I was up on stage, I noticed her paying careful attention to everything.
“I trained Elsa to fly to three different seats,” I tell her. “A code word command directs her to the right one. I switch it up to keep things interesting for her. Birds bore easily. I try to add lots of enrichment in her life to keep her entertained.”
“What was tonight’s code word?”
“Unemployment line,” I reply with a straight face.
She raises her eyebrows in amusement. “You threaten to fire your bird and that’s her cue? Unemployment line?”
“I thought it was funny.” I grin at her. “It’s an inside joke with my crew. I threaten them with the same line too sometimes. They don’t think it’s funny either. You didn’t answer my earlier question. What happened back there with the box?”
Her eyes cut away from me and she doesn’t answer.
I touch her arm. “Hey, I’m sorry for freaking you out,” I say softly. “If you’ll forgive me, I’ll never make you get into a tiny box again. I swear. Or pull you up on stage. I thought you would get a kick out of it.”
“I’m claustrophobic,” she admits with an embarrassed laugh. “It freaked me out. I have weird phobias. I was expecting you to ask me to do something simple and easy. Pick a card or choose a number between one and ten. Normal magician tricks. Not force me to crawl inside a tiny, dark box that reminded me of a coffin. You should’ve warned me.”
“You’re right and I’m sorry. As for card tricks, I gave them up a long time ago,” I say. “They don’t show up well on stage. I still remember a few good ones if you want to see them sometime. How about tonight? Maybe after dinner?”
“What dinner?” She gives me a puzzled look.
I raise my eyebrows at her. “I’m inviting you to dinner.”
“Oh,” she says. “No, I should be going. I appreciate the invitation though and the show ticket. I enjoyed it. You’re very talented. But I need to leave.”
Jade drops my hand and moves to walk away. I impulsively reach out and grab her arm.