TAKE A TRIP

"Legendary stage magician Oscar Malvado's final performance was last night. He concluded the set with a trick so shocking even fellow performers in the audience have been left stunned." 

*** 

"You need to get away from those memories," Jules said to Beckie as the two women found their seats in the auditorium. "You need to get away from everything." 

Beckie looked at her feet. “I can't believe I'm here," she said under the crowd's noise. "Is my makeup okay?" 

"You look beautiful," Jules said. "No one knows. Forget about that bastard." 

The plush red velvet chair let out a squeak as Beckie sat. She flexed the fingers of her right hand. "I don't want to think about him," she said. "I never want to think about him again." Beckie pounded the side of her fist on the arm between them, shaking the row of seats. Her entire body tensed. 

"Hey, hey, hey." Jules rubbed Beckie's hand. 

Beckie tore her hand away out of Jules's grasp. "Don't...don't." 

"Sorry," Jules said. "Here's what we're going to do. After this, we're going to go back to your place and look up prices for plane tickets to Greece. Or France! Or Japan or something like that! Somewhere far away. But before that, we're going to use Victor's tickets to watch Oscar Malvado perform his last show ever. Do you know how momentous this is? It's like getting to watch the final episode of Breaking Bad live. Or, like, being in the studio as the Beatles record their final song." 

"Yeah." Beckie crossed her arms. 

"Hey, come on." Jules leaned toward Beckie. "Smile, just for me. Please? We're dressed up, we're in the second row, and these expensive tickets are going to good use, no matter how much he wants them back. Oh, I wish I could have seen when you refused. Smile?" 

Beckie shied away from Jules, but her pink lips turned up, and her teeth peeked out between them. The rest of her face remained stony and lined. 

"I suppose it's a start," Jules said, leaning back into her seat. 

*** 

"Duo Penn and Teller, as well as Davids Blaine and Copperfield, were at the top of the legends of legerdemain in attendance, but any magician who was anybody attended this once-in-a-lifetime event." 

*** 

Fifteen minutes later, the house lights fell. The audience clapped and cheered. Jules cupped her mouth and shrieked as Beckie clapped a few times, then returned her hands to her lap. Heavy velvet curtains parted, and the audience laughed. Oscar Malvado, white hair a thin wisp above his head and shoulders hunched, wore a shiny top hat, a floor-length cape, and a tuxedo. He stepped forward to the edge of the stage and bowed left, right, and center. 

Three thousand people applauded until Malvado raised his hands for quiet. He removed his hat, reached inside, and produced a bunny rabbit. The audience awwed and clapped. Malvado waited until the applause ended. "The most classic trick in the book." Hat back on his head, he nestled the rabbit in his arms. "A bit of misdirection. A little something to get us all started. Ladies and gentlemen! My name is Oscar Malvado!" Applause began again as he ended his title with a flourish. Spotlights gave him a five-point shadow. A woman in a sparkling dress appeared and took the rabbit from him; before she had even left the stage, he had removed his hat and produced an identical creature. "Of course, sometimes the trick is a little more complicated." 

He put his hat opening-down on the ground and slid it across the stage's polished wood, tipping the brim up. Every time he did so, another rabbit appeared, stunned in the bright lights. Malvado's assistant collected the animals. After a dozen, the hat returned to his head. 

"If you have seen one of my shows before, you may be wondering about my outfit." The magician indicated his tuxedo. "When I began my career in magic, wearing a suit, with a hat, and yes--even a cape--was common. How long has it been since then?" He raised his hands. "No, no, don't tell me, I'll just get depressed. Robert-Houdin dressed in tuxedos during his shows because that is how his audience dressed. For most of my shows, I wore loafers, slacks, and a shirt my wife picked out. But tonight! I dress as those old masters once did. 

"Yet magic goes on. No longer can a simple disappearing act wow the crowd. No more can I trap a young woman in a box, pass a sword through, and get them talking. Something new must be done! Ladies and gentleman, you...shall see something new! For this, my final performance, I debut a brand new trick, one that has never been done before--and shall never be done again!" 

"Oh my gosh!" Jules said as the audience applauded. "This is so exciting! I wonder what it's going to be!" 

"I shall lead you through the history of magic," Malvado said, strutting across the stage, flapping his cape, tipping his hat. "You will see acts I have retired, current acts, and even a few acts borrowed from my friends in the industry--with their permission, of course." A deck of cards appeared in his hand. "Ladies and gentlemen...let me take you on a trip. First: the humble card trick. Something you could learn how to do in half an hour." 

He went through a simple act. Nothing special. After that, another trick, more intricate, leaving a few people baffled; the third trick elicited gasps from the audience. "This is so cool!" Jules said. "I bet it took him years to do that trick correctly." 

*** 

"'He fooled us,' Penn Jillette said as his taciturn partner Teller stood next to him, mopping his brow. 'We've never seen anything like it. I never want to see anything like it again, and the next time I see Malvado, I'm going to kick his ass.' 

'I'm honestly kind of freaked out,' Derren Brown said. 'I'll never forget it.'" 

*** 

Malvado set the cards aside and moved on to one of his classics from the sixties. An assistant came out, beaming and waving at the audience. She wore sixties mod attire complete with sequins and presented Malvado with several long, sharp daggers. Malvado squatted and pounded their points into the stage, banging them hard enough for the sound to reach the back of the auditorium. He repeated this with each of the daggers and then held them aloft for the audience to see. 

"Five sharp daggers!" Malvado said, projecting his voice as far as it could go. "Killing tools! Deadly pieces of metal!" 

He drove one through the palm of his hand. Beckie jumped, grabbing Jules's arm. The magician wrenched the dagger back out and lifted his hand. Faultless and uninjured. 

Jules blew out a long breath. "Jesus. Beckie?" 

"I'm okay," Beckie said, pale. 

Malvado took one of the other daggers and jammed it into the flesh of his thigh, burying it up to the hilt. "It's a trick," Jules said to Beckie. "It's just a trick." 

Both of Malvado's hands wrapped around the dagger's hilt. Squeezing, every muscle in his body grinding, he wrenched the weapon back out. It sparkled in the spotlights, his pant leg as pristine as when he had first stepped onto the stage.  

The trick continued; Malvado stabbed himself all over his body. Shock died down for Jules and Beckie until he started leaving the daggers in to grab more. At the end of the trick, he stood arms spread, all five blades lodged in his chest, before dragging them out and plunging their sharp points into a block of wood an assistant had produced. The points pierced all the way through; Malvado took a bow as the audience cheered. 

He then launched into one of his newer tricks and walked through the air between two staircases. Jules and Beckie gaped as he took a stroll through midair, walking on nothing, showing no more worry than on the sidewalk. 

Another assistant appeared wearing flared slacks and a coat with wide lapels. Once again, she beamed and waved to the crowd as she brought something for the performer's next trick. 

Malvado accepted the item and thanked his assistant. "The reason these tricks go on for so long is to give them time to change clothes," he said. The crowd laughed. "Now, this next trick takes a little bit of setup. Allow me to explain."  

*** 

"Legendary street illusionist David Blaine refused to comment after the act concluded, appearing pale and shaken. Famed Vegas act Lance Burton stormed out, pushing through the crowd. 'There were children! There were children in there! Malvado should be ashamed of himself! I am appalled!'" 

*** 

The trick from the seventies gave way to a newer one, and then Malvado performed something from the eighties. Back and forth, past to present to past the performer went, leading the audience toward the show's end. 

"Thanks, Jules," Beckie said during a quieter moment as the onstage elements swapped in and out. "This has been a lot of fun." 

"Good," Jules said. "Thinking about where you want to go on that trip?" 

"I have some ideas, I guess." Beckie returned her attention to the stage. "Let's discuss it on the way home." 

An hour later, Malvado stood at the front of the stage, waiting for applause to peter out. He stood for a few seconds and took a deep breath. "I know what you're thinking. You're thinking: 'this is it. The last trick. The very last of this man's career in the lights.' It's true. You may also be thinking: 'How can he only do it once? Surely a trick this great must be seen by more!'" Malvado nodded. "I wish it so. And yet, the deal was only once." 

A pair of boxes, big enough for him to stand inside, sat behind him. "Not much to go on, is it? But my friends in the audience know much can be done with little. However...." Malvado tapped his fingers together and grew a sly smile. "I need one more thing. A guest from the audience. Someone who would like to take a little trip." 

Pools of light swept across the crowd. Jules shot to her feet and gestured frantically at Beckie, both index fingers pointing. Beckie motioned for Jules to sit back down, turning red, but Malvado descended off the stage toward the pair. "Good evening, young lady," the old performer said to Beckie. "Would you like to join me on stage?" 

"Come on, do it!" Jules said. 

"I...I...." Beckie swallowed. "O-okay." 

The audience clapped as Beckie stood and squeezed into the aisle. "Young lady, might I know your name?" Malvado said, pointing a small mic at her. 

"Beckie," she said. 

"Beckie, you're looking wonderful tonight. Let's have another round of applause for Beckie, ladies and gentlemen!" 

The audience applauded again as Malvado held out his hand to help her climb the stairs onto the stage. She ignored it and climbed on her own. From her seat, Jules clapped and leaned forward. 

"Beckie, thank you for joining me. I hope you've been enjoying the show," Malvado said. "You'd like to take a trip?" 

Beckie nodded, blinking in the lights as she stood on stage. 

"Anywhere in particular you'd like to visit, Beckie?" 

"Well...uh...I guess I was thinking about the Alps. Switzerland." 

"A wonderful choice! I've been there myself! The mountains are magical! Unfortunately, I cannot take you to the Alps tonight, but how about a little jump, a little jaunt nonetheless? If you would so kindly step this way, Beckie." 

The magician led Beckie to the large box on the left side of the stage. "Observe as I step inside the box, ladies and gentlemen." Malvado did so, opening the box and stepping inside. He pushed on the walls from the inside. "Solid as a rock! Miss Beckie, if you would be so kind as to try your hardest to open a part of the box other than the door." 

Malvado exited; Beckie stepped up. She pushed inside and outside, searching for cracks, hidden openings, and secret compartments. "I can assure everyone present that there are no such tricks in the box. It is just that--a box. One opening. Miss Beckie, are you convinced of this fact?" 

Beckie nodded to the magician. "It seems like it." 

"And so. Now, Miss Beckie, step inside, and I shall close the door." Malvado put a hand on her shoulder; Beckie tensed. He whispered in her ear. 

Beckie nodded, shifting her weight from foot to foot, hands behind her back. Her entire body relaxed when Malvado's hand lifted off her shoulder. 

"Now! Please, Miss Beckie, if you would step inside the box." Malvado held the door open for her. She stepped in, and he closed it. He walked away, and the box lifted a few inches off the ground. "A fine trick, but not what we're here for, I assure you. In fact, observe." Reaching above it, he plucked something with his finger; it twanged. "Simple, thin, strong wire." 

He gestured to the second box, and it lifted as well. Both boxes rose to above head height, and Oscar Malvado stood under the second. 

The box containing Beckie continued rising while the second stopped. Jules leaned forward, watching the first box lift into the rafters, spotlights pointed at it from all directions, painting it bright. It stopped rising. 

"Ladies and gentlemen." Malvado swept his hat off his head and bowed. "My final trick." 

The tension in the first box's wires released, and it plummeted to the ground. Jules screamed as it smashed into splinters on the stage, and just as it did so, Beckie shot out of the bottom of the second box, straight into Malvado's arms. He pitched forward, dropping to his knees, and set the woman on the ground. The audience--Jules included--erupted into cheers and applause. People shot to their feet, pounding the ground, shaking the entire building. Jules jumped up and cheered for both of the people on the stage and then froze. 

Beckie pushed away from Malvado's hands, crawling across the floor. Her bloodshot pinprick eyes drank in the spotlights. She reared up, hands curled into claws at her mouth—some flayed, the flesh glistening red in hot light. Something had chopped the rest off. Hands froze mid-clap. Rising on shaking legs, she screamed, pushing it through her entire body. Taking a ragged breath, she screamed again, blood pouring down her face from both nostrils, staining her shirt. A swollen black eye wrapped from her nose to her temple. Weeping scabs dotted her flesh. Jules shoved through her row, heart caught in her throat. 

Beckie climbed to her feet, screaming. Malvado ran to her. "Miss Beckie, you're safe! You're back!" 

She whirled, saw him, and slammed her ruined hands around his throat. Her eyes blazed as spittle and blood dripped down her chin. "Beckie!" Jules shouted from the row as she ran toward the stage. "Beckie, stop!" 

Beckie glanced at her as Malvado pushed her weak hands away. "They promised they wouldn't keep you for long!" he said, handheld mic drifting too close to his mouth. "They promised!" 

Beckie spun, sprinting across the stage and disappearing into the wing, bare feet leaving bloody footprints. Jules tried to climb the steps after her, but a hulking man in a black shirt stopped her. "Beckie! Beckie, come back!" 

*** 

"Backstage, Rebecca Hills ran into stagehand Martin Farris: 'She grabbed me and shouted at me. "He's coming! Victor's coming to take me back! Don't let him take me back! Don't let him!" I asked her who Victor was. I didn't know what else to say. She said, "He was there when I opened the door, like Malvado told me to! They were all Victor! All of them!"' 

After grabbing one of the daggers Malvado had used as part of his act, Hills died minutes later of intense self-inflicted wounds. A full investigation is ongoing." 

END