Illusion of the Jack of Hearts

Prologue

London

My dear exalted audience, I am embarking on my most grand and ambitious performance to date.

A performance with six individual acts, each of which will fill you with awe and dread, reverence and terror, and ultimately with such morbid curiosity that no matter how much you might wish to close your eyes, you will be transfixed on the spectacle of it all, unable to look away.

Some of you will call me a monster. Others will call me a visionary, secretly reveling in the salaciousness of each one of my impossible feats.

But the truth is I am a magician.

A magician destined to expose the lies of my craft and to destroy the legacy of a magician once called ‘the Magnificent Maguire.’ A man lauded across the world for his illusions and charisma.

A man who was instrumental in teaching me much of what I know of magic, but a man who took everything from me.

So, sit back and enjoy the show, my dear audience.

Watch me closely and pay attention. For the closer you look, the more easily I will be able to fool you.

After all, that is ultimately what magic is: a deception designed to delight and confound.

And I promise you, you will be both delighted and confounded by the gruesome morbidity of each one of my acts.

Watch closely as I use your own attention against you, while I unveil the cloak of illusions, revealing the truth depths of depravity that magic really is. Are you ready, my dear audience?

I hope so, for the show is about to begin…

*

London

Friday, November 3, 1893

Mary Brunham hadn’t expected to be auditioning to be an assistant in a magic show.

In fact, she’d never really cared for magic or the theater at all, instead preferring more practical entertainments, such as reading a book or going to a poetry reading.

Entertainments modeled on reality, not on fantasy or superstition.

However, given her interview for a secretary position at the old Manaheim Factory had gone beyond poorly, which she highly suspected was because she was a woman, when she’d been approached by a gentleman on the street shortly thereafter with an opportunity to audition to be a magician’s assistant, which paid double that of a secretary, Mary was willing to suspend her skepticism of magic.

After all, how difficult could it be, dressing up in some fancy clothes and pretending to get cut in half?

Macabre, yes, but difficult, no, especially when it would help pay for her father’s medical bills.

Which was how she found herself trekking through the back alley of a seemingly abandoned street in Little Whitting, following the man’s directions to where the auditions were taking place.

The fact that she was going to get paid five shillings just to take part in the audition itself, regardless of the outcome, was incentive enough for Mary to disregard the cold she felt rippling through her cloak from the chill afternoon breeze.

The November winds were worse than normal as they howled down the alley while the afternoon began to succumb to the darkness of the evening.

Mary pulled her cloak tighter over her chest, feeling a sense of foreboding to which she was rather unaccustomed creeping up her spine, and for a moment, she hesitated, a voice in her head telling her to turn around and go home.

What if she was the only one auditioning?

What if the magician tried to take advantage of her?

Was she mad to even attend in the first place?

Stop being a silly fool, she sternly told herself, forcing her legs to keep moving, one in front of the other. The audition alone was worth five shillings, and besides, if anything untoward was attempted, she had her knife in her purse just in case.

As she rounded the corner and turned into the street where the audition was being held, she saw another young woman waiting in front of a building. See, you aren’t the only one attending the audition, you ninny. Nothing to be worried about. She exhaled a breath and walked up to the other woman.

The stranger caught sight of Mary approaching and waved, a big smile lighting up her face. “Are you attending the audition too?”

Mary nodded as she came to stand a few feet from her. “I am. Are we the only ones here so far?”

“I think so,” the woman replied, glancing behind her shoulder to the door to the building. “I knocked, but no one answered, though we’re both a bit early, so perhaps the magician isn’t here yet.”

Mary could only nod. Small talk regularly alluded her, and she often found herself far more awkward than confident, especially with other girls who were far prettier and more confident than she.

Her spirits fell. If this woman was her competition for the position, then Mary feared she had no chance.

Not only was the stranger friendly, but she was pretty too, with her blonde hair and vivid, green eyes.

A stark contrast to Mary’s muddy-brown hair and equally muddy-brown eyes.

Why had the magician even bothered to ask Mary to audition, if she was to compete against this woman?

Well, at least she’d get five shillings out of it.

That was something to keep reminding herself about.

“Goodness, I hope we can get inside soon. It’s freezing out here.” The blonde emphasized her words with a theatrical shiver.

Mary nodded and pulled in her cloak tighter across her chest. “Yes, it’s cold,” came her bland reply. Lovely. How was she even meant to impress the magician if that was all she could come up with? She sounded so very boring.

“It’s not just cold, it’s arctic!” the woman continued, her smile not dimming in the slightest. “My name is Amanda, by the way.”

“I’m Mary.”

“Nice to meet you, Mary. I’m so excited and nervous about this audition! Aren’t you? I do so love magic, you see, and it’s a dream of mine to perform on the stage. I imagine you must love magic too, to be auditioning. What a lucky chance it was for us to be offered such an opportunity as this.”

Mary could barely keep up with the woman’s chatter, and all she could do was nod.

“I find magic to be so magical and wondrous,” Amanda continued without barely a pause.

“I suppose that’s why it is called ‘magic,’ isn’t it?

” She laughed at her own observation. “Anyhow, I do hope Mr. Maguire comes along soon. I think it’s rather rude to ask us to be here at a certain time and then not to be here yourself. Don’t you?”

“We’re a little early, as you mentioned.”

Amanda’s smile dimmed slightly, and she sighed. “I suppose so. I’m just so eager to audition. Do you think Mr. Maguire is related to the late, great Magnificent Maguire?”

“Um… I don’t know who that is.”

The woman’s smile was replaced by a look of astonishment. “Why, he was one of the greatest magicians of all time! He died a long time ago, though, I think maybe fifteen years or so. You really haven’t heard of him?”

Mary shook her head. “No. I’m not very familiar with magic.”

“Why are you auditioning to be a magician’s assistant, then?”

A question Mary was pondering. “It pays well…”

“Yes, true,” Amanda agreed. “In any event, I do hope he’s related to the Magnificent Maguire. Imagine learning some of the secrets of such a legend.”

Mary once again nodded, wishing she felt as eager as this other woman did.

Instead, her own sense of foreboding was increasing, which made no sense.

She firmly clamped down on the feeling, hoping it was just the freezing cold that was interfering with her senses.

Five shillings, Mary. Five shillings. She had to focus on that. “Did you try to open the door?”

“No, I didn’t. Should I have, do you think?”

“It can’t hurt to try.” Mary stepped around her and reached for the door handle, which twisted easily in her hand.

Thank goodness. She pushed open the door and peered into the dimly lit space.

The front room was about twenty feet square, with dark-black drapes covering the two front windows from floor to ceiling, and a few gas lamps positioned on the walls of the room, casting a soft glow of light around the space.

The space itself appeared to be a small waiting area of sorts, with a lone desk in the middle of the room and a few chairs to the right of it, lined against the wall.

On the far side of the room, there was a closed door that presumably led into the main warehouse space, where Mary guessed the auditions were being held.

She glanced back at the desk and noticed a sign on top of it saying to take a seat, and, what looked to be a piece of paper and a pen lying on the surface too.

“Now, don’t I feel silly that I didn’t even try to open the door!” Amanda exclaimed, her head peering over Mary’s shoulder. “Should we go in, do you think?”

Mary nodded. “I don’t see why not, and it will get us out of the cold.” She took a tentative step inside and then another before she began to walk over to the desk.

Amanda followed behind her, and then the door slammed shut with a thud, echoing in the room like a falling axe.

Both Mary and Amanda gasped, spinning around towards the entrance.

But no one was there; it had just been the wind slamming the door shut and disturbing the drapes, which were whispering softly from the disturbance.

Mary put her hand up to her heart and took in a shaky breath.

There was just something about all of it that felt wrong and ominous, and if it hadn’t been for the promise of the money, she would have left straightaway.

But five shillings would pay for her father’s medicine for a week.

So, stay she would, even though her sense of discomfort was growing.

She shook herself and focused on being sensible rather than overly dramatic.

Turning back to the desk, Mary walked over to see the piece of paper lying on it.

It seemed to be a ledger listing the names of the ladies who were auditioning written upon it, and there were already two names listed.

Wonderful, that would make Mary the third.

Her chances of securing the role now seemed even more remote.

Auditioning against Amanda had already seemed like an impossible task, but now that she would be competing with other ladies too, Mary knew she didn’t stand a chance.

But before she could think further on it, a thump made her jump and she spun around to see Amanda falling to the ground behind her.

Mary’s chest tightened and she glanced desperately across the room, but there was no one else there.

Then the sound of a door creeping open behind her had her spinning to that, but again, no one was there.

Terror pierced her heart as she heard the soft sound of a footstep behind her, but before she could turn, pain exploded in her head and she felt her body falling to the ground too, crumpling as if it were a sack of flour.

She hit the floor hard, and her breath left her.

She lay there for a moment, dazed and confused, not knowing what had happened but desperately knowing she had to get up.

She tried to stand, yet her body wouldn’t obey, as the pounding in her head intensified into an excruciating agony, and a black haze began to creep across her vision.

“Congratulations, my dear girl,” a deeply melodic, almost-hypnotizing voice whispered against her ear before a pair of gleaming, black Hessian boots stepped in front of her line of sight. “You have been successful in your audition and will now have the honor of being one of my six assistants.”

Mary blinked, desperately trying to keep the blackness at bay, as the man’s words penetrated her foggy mind and his face came into view. “Please… don’t hurt me,” she managed to whisper.

“Pain is a necessary part of magic, my dear,” the voice crooned as his hand slowly reached down and stroked her head. “That you will soon learn, but don’t worry, for it will be worth it. You see, I’m going to make you famous.”

“I don’t want to be famous,” Mary whimpered as a sense of dread leached through her. “Please, let me go,” she begged, her voice starting to slur as the darkness closed in on her.

“You cannot run from your destiny,” he replied, pulling his fingers away from her head, the bright red of her blood now coating them. He brought his hand up to his nose and breathed in deeply. “I am giving you to honor of being my lucky number four.”

“‘Number four’?”

“Yes, you will take center stage alongside me, to assist me as I perform the fourth illusion in my grandest performance to date,” he crooned again, smiling gently down at her, the intensity radiating from his dark eyes belying his soft words.

“You will be my Guillotine Lady. Welcome to my most magnificent show.”

His smile was the last thing Mary saw before her world went black.