First Draft

 I.

Bella Donna

“What of Art?
-It is a malady.
–Love?
-An Illusion.

oscar wilde, the portrait of dorian grey

The playing cards he shuffled had authentic Audubon designs. As he shuffled the deck thoroughly so the game was fair, the cards sounding like a bird ruffling his feathers. Bella donna took a seat next to the losing players and said nothing about Shepherd’s winning streak .
Shepherd was having fun shuffling the cards with one hand. “I’ve never seen someone win so many games of Rummy in a row.” Said one of the players bitterly.
“Its easy when you have a winning strategy.” Shepherd cut the deck in half. This was a game hed played since he was a kid. These cards were his special deck of cards, the ones with the paintings of birds on them.
“I’ve also never seen someone shuffle cards like a magician.” Bella Donna remarked, she felt hypnotized after watching him shuffle those cards like a waterfall.
“You think I’m a magician?” Shepherd laughed as he dealt the appropriate number of cards, then placed the top card of the pack for the discard pile.
Bella Donna felt like she was about to play a dangerous game, not a game of Rummy.
It was his eyes.
They held a secret.
Shepherd and the other players took turns. Bella donna had known Shepherd since they were children in New Orleans. He played with cards back then too, and told ghost stories. He’d always looked the same – curly hair and round glasses, tall and broad shouldered, with a wicked grin.
Bella Donna and Shepherd exchanged glances. She hadn’t realized he had been studying her. She spoke above a whisper, only Shepherd could hear what she was saying at the table. Her words fell past her voluptuous lips and cast a spell on him. Shepherd believed in magic for the first time, and he let her win that game.
That night at the party, Shepherd tried to entertain her as if he were trying to capture the attention of a gazelle and not someone from his senior class. She loved his skill shuffling cards and he showed her every magic card trick he knew. A card vanished at his fingertips. He didn’t mind drawing her attention away from the fact that he was also trying to create the illusion that she turned his stomach into butterflies.
Leaving together came naturally, the were walking away from Bourbon street. Most of their friends had stayed to spend whatever they had left on the dancers. Shepherd lived above an eccletic shop where they sold fortunes and love potions. The two parted ways and the thought of her filled his head like the heavy scent of a violet. He was still day dreaming when the young shop keeper’s son, not even 10 years old, surprise him with his silver suitcase, the large pentagram pendant hung over his black hoodie, and a dashing smile. It was terribly late and Shepherd wondered if he had made a lot of noise coming in, he was usually as stealthy as a shadow. When he looked around for something broken, he noticed he was on the floor sitting with his legs out before him. The shop keeper’s son was above him, chuckling. “It’s was a nice thing for that beautiful lady of yours to come drop you off, you drank too much.”
“Simon, I told you, I don’t get drunk, those things, they don’t happen. I am the great – hiccup – master of beers dissapearing.” He rolled his arm in an elaborate arch as if introducing the first act.
“I have a magic trick for you!” the boy exclaimed ignoring him, practically sitting on his lap. The boy smelled faintly of acorns.
“That’s great kid.” The boy was already making double of himself, he thought.
“Pick a card, any card!” Simon said with a big show of red playing cards. “I want you to look at it but don’t show me what it is!”
With a little effort, he picked a card. The 8 of clubs. He studied it hard, making sure those were clubs.
“Memorize that card and then put it back in the deck!” he displayed the cards in a single line. Shepherd slipped his card somewhere in the middle. With a flush, he scooped the cards into his hands and picked a card, showing in triumphantly in the air.
“Is this your card?” He said, as if he’d won a bet. Shepherd blinked several times at the card Simon held in front of his nose.
“Nope. Mine was an 8 of clubs.”
Mortified, he looked at the card he held. It was 4 of diamonds.
“I could’ve swore -”
“you’ll get it someday kid,” Shepherd said with a smile. He had learned that card trick around Simon’s age.
“I just want to be a great at magic like you!”
“Practice practice. That’s the only way to get good at magic.”
Simon believed in magic the way other eight-year-olds believe in magic. It was attainable. He felt like he was a young wizard, since both his parents owned Uxi Duxi. His mother, Mona, who gave tourists their fortunes, told him to believe in magic. Simon loved his mother. He admired Shepherd like an older brother for the last 6 years that he’d lived above them. Shepherd would come down the steps and if Simon was there he’d have a magic trick waiting for him. An invisible ball making a sound in a paper bag but seeing nothing there was a flick of his thumb. He used to be able to do that trick for a long time and only recently started revealing how to do easy beginner tricks.
Tricks. Not magic. He would show him a trick, a fleeting moment of bewilderment to take your mind off the January cold or that rent was due. his thoughts were still on Bella Donna. He thought of the mesmerizing way she talked. Had she been buying drinks for him? He couldn’t remember how many drinks he’d had. Always the night owl, he’d been able to stay up well past 7 in the morning and somehow she had lead him back to his apartment above Uxi Duxi.
The bed put him to sleep instantly, but not before he remembered handing his special deck of cards to Bella Donna to look at and remembered seeing her casually stick it in his purse, whether intional or unintional he didn’t know. but he felt a flash of anger at the thought of her having tricked him to steal his magic cards. His last thoughts before sleep prevailed was that he’d see her again, as soon as tomorrow.

Atropa belladonna. The fruit of the belladonna was used by Atropos, the mythological goddess whose duty was to cut the thread of life. This poisinous plant she was named after was also called deadly nightshade. She preferred the woods, she did not like to turn back and was inflexible. She noticed the deck of cards with the birds on them in her bag the next morning, and started getting ready to meet with Shepherd again when her phone rang. She curled her fingers around the loop cord phone and answered the phone.
It was Shepherd. It was also three in the evening. After he introduced himself she immediately apologized, there was a sigh of relief, he had gotten carried away and didn’t want him to dirty them.
“I’ll give them back to you, but could you ask the shop owner to tell my fortune?”
Mona wouldn’t protest but it was the idea of asking.  He never asked for anything. First he had to ask for his cards back. Now he had to ask a fortune teller for a tarot reading.
“I won’t give you the cards back if you don’t get me in to see her.” Bella Donna said after sensing his silence.
“If you insist, I could do a reading for you.”
“You can?” Bella Donna asked surprised.
Mona was a sought after mystic, the store had been opened for decades and it always was Mona, using her divination to tell people what awaited them going forward. That meant she was incredibly busy.
“Among being a card expedture I am also a fortune teller.” Bella Donna could hear his his wicked grin. She thought she could play mind tricks on him, but he had her beat. She had wanted to see Shepherd anyways and spend more time, now he was going to give her a reading.
“I’ll do a 10 card Celtic Spread. We can meet as soon as youd like in Uxi Duxi.”
Bella Donna agreed and hung up. The only thing about her name he knew by heart was she was a beautiful lady. And she was coming to get her fortune told.
Shepherd had several decks and decided on one with animal totems. He was drawn to the fox and the raven cards and could taste the petrichore of the forest. There was images of a thick grey fog and tall pine trees that stood tall as sentinels. Wolf baring it’s teeth. Nothing but snow. Images of a blank wilderness. He tuned in some more to the thought of Bella Donna. And the lyrics to the hit single oh boy here she come’s, she’s a man eater! came to mind and the song was stuck in his head even as she walked in through the shop doors.
It would be this moment he’d remember the most. Seeing through the doors with her rosey hair bouncing off her shoulders, with a warm smile that made it hard to see anything else in his field of vision. He had some candles lit and had smudged the place. Simon was at school so there’d be no interuptions except the guests in the shop already.
As he shuffled the cards, this time he repeated a question over and over, summoning his guides. This was practical magic. A craft any one could devote themselves to. He didn’t mind tarot reading but he warned it wasn’t always a good thing to see the cards that are dealt for you.
He arranged the cards on the table. The first two cards he flipped up represent the heart of the matter. There was a strong ram with determined eyes and long sharp horns, and a card underneath was a butterfly. This is what crosses him, this is beneath him, this is above him, This is behind him, this is before him, an archaic saying popped into his head.
“You are a butterfly, approaching change with grace. You have been dealing with obstacles, which caused an imbalance in your work and play.” Bella Donna listened closely to his words. He remebered the first time he noticed her in a classroom, she wore high waisted blue jeans and carried her notebooks instead of using a back pack. She was wild then too, she hadn’t graduated with their class. Now he remembered – she had left their freshman year and she would travel, sleeping in the woods like a wolf. A vision of her sewing in a field came to him, wondering where this vision came from.
Everything was about to change for Bella Donna.
So the cards revealed.
One of her cards was a skelenton of bird bones. It sent a chill down her spin that she covered herself. The card had one word in black cursive; death.
“Something in your life needs to end. Closure. With death comes life and the cycle continues. You can be reborn into anything you want from this transformation.”
Shepherd knew there wasn’t a chance of playing the cards wrong. He hadn’t wanted to play her games anyways. Shepherd handed her a candle speckled with glitter and black obsidian, there was a sword charm tied around it. A protection candle.
As promised, she put the deck of cards on the table. Then she put a beautiful embossed leather case. “That way you can keep your cards protected.” She was always going to give the cards back, what did didn’t know was if he would want to come back to see her again.
His eyes told a different story.
She stayed long after the cards had been put away and it was as if time was standing still in the esoteric store. Simon had come in and steered clear away from the love birds in the corner. Love was yucky. Love was far from magic spells according to this eight-year-old boy.
He wished he had kissed her before he learned that she was one of the dancers on Bourbon Street. Her walk, her voice, was it all for show? Or was that Bella Donna? He desperately wanted to get to know her more.
She left late that night and she never came around Uxi Duxi. After a week he had gone to the bar where they met and said that she had changed her address, she had been planning on moving for the last several months. She hadn’t mentioned anything. Shepherd started getting the butterfly feeling in his stomach again. He walked up and down Canal street to find her, all the while that song would be blaring out of people’s cars, the saxophone solo never ending. He started to believe that she had been made up, and illusion, and his heart ached miserably.
Bella Donna poisioning happens within 15 minutes. Double vision, hallucinations, rambling talk, nausea, burning in the stomach. Two friends ate belladonna berries and described feelings of total relaxation. one friend stayed high for 2 days and hallucinated while the other was hospitilized.
It was techincally Spring but the bitter winter lingered when she burst through the door, giddy and bouncing with excitement. She was happy to see him and he put on a smile for her, even though he was dying on the inside.
“You left! I thought you were never coming back.” Shepherd didn’t want to let off more than how he felt. He was ever the master of misdirection. He prepared a drink for her knowing Mona wouldn’t mind.
“It was so sudden, I wasn’t expecting to leave that soon, but your reading! Everything has changed so much. Everything for the better.” And she showed him her hand. It wasn’t a magic trick – there was a diamond ring on her finger. “I met a director, we’re married, I’m going to be in a movie, I’m going to be an actress!”
He felt dizzy. So she had been acting? Or had he seen something that wasn’t there?
“One day I’ll be on billboards. He even liked the way I sing. He said my voice was enchanting and we need to start recording immediately!”
Her voice was a song. A song that broke men’s hearts. She was a songbird that would fly away.
On the surface, he was happy for her and congradulated her, but underneath, hidden behind a masquerade of formalities, he felt his heart split in to like a deck of cards.
“You’ll have to make it as a famous magician! We can work together on stage!”
He imagined himself performing in front of an audience with her in the show. Years later he would remember this conversation when he noticed her name on a screen.  “I’m going to be the next great magician!” He had said. And he worked hard to make sure he was the one getting into people’s heads, not the other way around.

II

 Royal Flush

At the wooden stage in front of a large audience stood Shepherd with a long sword in his hands. He eyed the sharp edge and the bright stage lights reflected from the blade. It was a real sword - steel and a flashy handle. He was a deception artist who performed his magic across town but mostly here at Magic Club, where downstairs was a wonderful little bar and fully equipped theater for intimate live performances: come watch comedy, drama, and more. It’s like a little festival venue all year round. Booking was essential . The bar attracts a mixed crowd of interesting locals young and old as well as a smattering of tourists from the neighboring hotels. The bar is filled with old-world charm and is engineered to get people talking. The furnishings are warm and inviting. Magic Club hosted other performers and gave him a permanent show Blurred Lines. He takes the audience on a magical and mysterious experience where the lines of reality and magic are woven together.
The audience was talking about the woman in the box.
A large velvet box with golden stars, and Shepherd was about to stab a knife into it.
Shepherd might as well looked liked he was walking his dog, admiring his lawn, and not the end of a deadly weapon.
Shepherd struck the box as if stabbing the heart of someone who betrayed him. It was part of the act. The audience wasn't breathing, as he took the sword and stabbed it again. Of course he knew something everyone else didn't. He was a deception artist. He fools. He conjures. He manipulates.
There was no such thing as magic.
He stabbed the box again and left the sword in there. He turned to an audience that demanded to see the woman unharmed, but they were also hungry for something else they did not know the name of.
He turned the magic box several times while taking the swords out, one by one. He couldn't help but think of tarot cards where the man has 8 swords in him. He opened the box and his beautiful assistant, Annabelle, burst forth with her raven hair and icy blue eyes. The audience applauded, and she smiled at the people in the front with their drinks.
Now it was Annabelle's turn to seduce the audience. She had a fire performance with a fire hoop, the fire dangerously close but she was dancing in the flames. It was mesmerizing. Then it was time for his last act, which was solo for Shepherd and involved up close magic. He took out his deck of cards, and like the card mechanic he was, began shuffling with one hand, then two. He couldn't help but think back to the days in college when he was still practicing cardistry, and how he learned the cards so well that he could win any game of poker.
Many kinds of performers do beautiful things. Many do clever things. Many do funny things. but only one type of performer does truly impossible things - and that is the magician.
His friendly demenor never left. "I think we should end the night with an impossible hand of poker. Something statistically impossible. But I'll need to have two people from the audience come up to watch me closely." Some people in the audience exchanged glances. "Does any one here play poker?"
"He does!" Said a giggly young woman next to a tall man in a suit and tie. Every one around looked like they were from a renassance fair but he looked like business. If he could fool him he could fool everybody in this room.
"Sir, please come on up, and the lady please come on stage."
At that she squeeled and shot up, pulling the gentleman to his feet. He was much taller, and although his face looked younger than Shepherd's, his eyes carried a weight to them. The young girl hopped up in her autmn blond curls, she had a whole map of freckles and sleeves that covered her fingers.
"We're going to deal another hand of seven stud. Four, five, six pick your number." Shepherd said to the audience as the two sat to the left and right of him. "Where do you want to sit one to six?"
"Six. Five."
"Six and five. One, two, three, four, Matt, and six, as I deal anybody out there can yell stop or reschuffle the deck. Yell recut the deck or tell them anything you want them to do. Or don't want them to do. It's up to you."

Seeing is believing in his slight of hand card tricks.

III.

Swan Lake

The excitement seeing her name on the Theatre sign shocked him. He always knew she'd make it far, and with her name dazzling in front of him his head filled with the memory of her. Bella Donna's looks could kill, they were enchanting. Shepherd bought himself two tickets for the show, thinking of Simon who he needed some company to not appear like he hadn't shown up like a ghost in the night. When Shepherd showed Simon the tickets, he already had heard of Bella Donna, had seen her in the windows, she had the voice of a sad angel. Her lyrics were tinged with a little blue. She had just appeared in a huge part on Broadway somewhere and the press raved about her. Her name was brining in crowds from far.
Shepherd practiced balancing a coin on his knuckles as he talked mindlessly about the upcoming show. Shepherd had no that Simon looked up to another magician.
"There's nothing like what I've seen with Endymion. On his last show, I couldn't figure out how he undid a gentleman's tie in the crowd. I approached him after the show to see if he was in on it, but he couldn't even look me in the face. He was so shocked, it scared him. His face showed it all. He was holding his cross. Those religious types, he probably thought magic wasn't real."
"Magic is trickery, it's immoral to convince people it's real."
Simon looked at him closely. "Magic is trickery? Listen to you! you've performed for thousands and you say that. You have to believe in a little bit yourself." Simon looked down at the coin on his knuckles, he grabbed it with his other hand, then revealed his palm. It was gone, but he knew as well as Shepherd that it was still in his other hand, you just hadn't noticed.
Simon always needed a reason to believe in magic.
Shepherd on the other hand, he was a card mechanic who had spent endless hours with every card. Besides dangerous tricks, he was a mentalist. To be the best mentalist, he had to know the truth. He needed to know what was reality and everyone else was supposed to fall for the illusion.

The theatre was the luxious red carpets, the drapery of royalty, everyone was dressed for fine dining, this was not a premier but it felt like it, and Bella Donna's full figure pictured in the front with her hair waving around her, she was underwater with a light cast behind her. She was ethereal, leaving an imprint on your heart. Shepherd and Simon had seats near the front, and the first act she wasn't there, but she came in near the end of the first act, with a slow decent of a song. It was haunting and Shepherd was dying to get up and approach her. He remembered the cards he pulled for her like it was yesterday, he never forgot the emotional ties he felt when he did energy work. He felt her dreams from the start. Now she was singing like a canary in a cage.

Bella Donna had a sensitive look about her. her performance spoke to Shepherd. Apart from her looks, which were magical, she possessed beautiful poise; her neck looked almost too fragile to support her head and bore it with a sense of wonder, her maneuvers appeared accidental. Theatre Royal was entwined by her spell-binding act, even though the casting role didn't need someone to act...it just needed someone pretty. Her next performance would be Shakespeare's Henry V, in which the King woos the French Princess. For now she would finish Act 2 and get dressed up for the next act, when she felt a familiar tingle down her spine. Shepherd asked Simon to help him get backstage, and Simon being the great actor and thief he was, stole a chance to meet the stunning actress between acts. Bella Donna was dressed in costume, all 12 of the Shakespeare shows had sold out, but she was busy reading for another play about a woman in which the Gods made mad before destroying her.  She didn't hide her all-too excited face seeing Shepherd. Of course she would remember the man who told her that her dreams of becoming an actress would come true.

"I had to come see it for myself. You're one of Broadway's biggest stars now!" Shepherd said enthusasitally, the way one does when seeing an old friend.
Bella Donna swept up and gave Shepherd a kiss on the cheek. She gave Simon a winning smile. Her hand wrapped instinctively around Shepherd's to sit him near her and she started asking questions right away to fill up the time that passed between them.
"And I heard you're not a shy performer yourself."
Shepherd took out a deck of cards, Simon noticed those cards came out whenever he was nervous. Shepherd fidgeted with the top card, tapped it, and it became a startling red rose. "I am The Illusionist."
Her cheeks flushed the color of the rose when he handed it to her. She had recieved thousands of roses backstage, but nothing compared to the red red rose before her.
"Shepherd you're extrodinary!" She admired her new rose, falling in love with the dew on the petals. She wondered how he had done that, had he planned to give it to her this whole time, what else was he hiding? She stared at him with her big green eyes.
"We came to say congratulations and invite you to one of my shows called Blurred Lines. Nothing will be as it seems, and I do some of my most dangerous stunts. My apprentice Simon will be there as well."
Simon felt boyish next to her, even though he had turned 22. Bella Donna was 29. Something about her was timelessness. The way her costume fitted her bodice but swirled around her when she moved.
"Bella Donna, on in five." said a crew member.
"Not to worry," She gave Shepherd a hug this time, and shook Simon's hand. Both of them stayed rooted to their spot, however, not willing or not able to feel their legs to move. When Bella Donna went to fix her appearance in the mirror, where she took a wet handerkief and took off a bit of the blush, contour, and she dabbed some of the dark lipstick to appear more natural, more like the character she was playing anyways, which was a lonely and tired princess.

Some close range tricks work well on stage. The stage magician must take good care that his apparatus aren't revealed to create the effect involving somethings appearance and disappearance. Endymion had the advantage of Miss Leading, his beautiful assistant, who helped him create a diversion. What appeared to be a casual wicker basket was a cleverly devised apparatus, projecting upward are several rods, which are connected by horizontal ribbons, and a quantity of spring flowers was placed in the basket; and the upright roads folded inward. Endymion looked magnificent in his black top hat and black tuxedo. His cape flowed behind him, he had the entire crowd hypnotized. Miss Leading smiled and curtsied for them as he placed a silk handkerchief over the basket at the same time bringing out a small tray that pulls a catch, and as he removes the silk handkerchief the flowers spring up and fill what was a moment ago, an empty wicker basket. The crowd burst into applause at the display of flowers produced out of thin air.

Shepherd and Simon wondered for a bit how this trick was done and admired Endymion's stage presence. They were both watching closely when what happened next completely caught them off guard. Shepherd understood misdirection better than most people did. To watch Shepherd's performance of his legendary coin under the salt shaker routine was an unforgettable experience. Despite this, Endymion's next magic act blew him away. Miss Leading was dressed in ostrich feathers and diamond bra, they sparkled under the beaming lights, she was smiling at everyone, then with two giant feather fans she hid away. Endymion told the tale of a beautiful princess that would transform into a swan by moonlight, and the curtains dimmed away so a grey light was the only beacon on stage, illuminating the feathered fortress. Endymion took out two halves of a wand, screwed the halves together, shook his wand, and pointed intentionally at Miss Leading. "I now present to you the Swan Princess!" And with a swoosh motion with his wrist, the fans revealed a large swan. The crowd was overjoyed by the large graceful creature with the diamond collar where a woman stood.

It was the first time Shepherd believe in magic. Nothing had bewildered him more. He couldn't believe his eyes. On the front stage was a beautiful swan with its long slender neck and diamond collar. The strange thing was the look in the swan's eye was human. There was a playful sparkle, the human emotion of mischievousness.

The crowd settled down and stared expectantly at Endymion. He had a mustache full of mystery. He wanted to weave theatre and dance, not just magic into his acts. By the look on everyone's faces, they loved the transformation of the woman into a swan. Now he was going to change her back. He always had to be one step ahead of them. He got a large magic box and asked the swan to go in it. The swan looked up knowingly at him and squaked, some of the crowd laughed lovingly. The swan was so beautiful and even cute the way it spoke to the magician before going into the velvet box. He tapped the corner of the box with his wand three times and muttered something only he could hear under his breath. It didn't get past Simon, who were both studying him and about to take notes on this outstanding magician. Endymion opened the box and Miss Leading came out, shaking her feathered fans and chandelier bra.

Simon re-tolled the ghost stories as a kid like all the locals did - on the porches near the cemetery in New Orleans, Louisiana. Tales of white men under voodoo spells. Tales of prostitutes on Bourbon Street who spoke to the dead. He believed in sorcery; skeletons could be reanimated, curses could be carried down through generations, hauntings that took place at Brennan's restaurant. The macabre enthralled him,  his sideswept black bangs hung over his crooked nose. When he smiled that devilish side smirk of his, you could see his lip piercings point up. His eyes were a shade of hellfire (green and orange) and he had the most delicate hands. He dressed like someone about to perform for Phantom of the Opera.
With these hands he could make you think twice about what you believe. He perfected the art of slight of hand to the point where he had to challenge himself by stealing. He did it right under the cashier's nose, stole a candy bar into his shopping bag and walked out and ever since then he felt a bit entitled. Always helping others, it was okay to help himself.
If Shepherd had known the tricks he taught him would have lead him to become a master pick pocketer, he would've thrown away the key and never showed him another trick. Shepherd was prideful that way. Virtuous. Simon knew that magic was power.
Shepherd would always insist that magic stay in the realm of fantasy. It wasn't good to lose touch with the real world. People didn't look at the real world, they looked to him for a magic trick. It was real to them; it was real to Simon.
He also felt for a long time that he possessed a second sight. He knew that Shepherd would be asked to watch over the esoteric shop Uxi Duxi because he became like a son to them. Shepherd never seemed to mind playing the father role.
So it's not Shepherd's fault for Simon being the way he is. Always challenging himself with dangerous heists. Lock picking metal locks at the mall to hear the satisfying clink of freedom. This was his magic power.
After the show, he had never seen something so extraordinary. The woman turned into a swan before his eyes. No time had passed whatsoever, and the swan resembled the beautiful assistant. Simon's thoughts trailed to the diamond bustier, she was impossible to look away from, he felt weak just thinking of her. They had come back to Uxi Duxi and were having drinks at the bar. Shepherd was pacing back and forth.
"Maybe you should rest on it." Simon thought about his bedroom upstairs and how much space there was on his California King sized bed.
Shepherd replayed the show in his head. The performance left them mesmerized. He knew he would go to see it again as soon as it went live.
"I need to get some rabbits. And a few doves."
They had a few rabbits upstairs in the living room. Doves would need to be shopped for. By the looks of it, Shepherd was fooled. He had no idea how Endymion performed the swan transformation.
He also had the looks of determined defiance.

Some things came natural to him. He used to spend school afternoons scrying clouds and now crystals. He took out a zippo lighter, watched the fire dance before taking out a bowl, hitting it,then blew a thick inky cloud of smoke as if some octopus in dark blue.  "I can't believe it," he said for the hundredth time that night. "How did she do that?"
"I'm going to need animals in my show now. More exotic then bunnies." he thought of his show Blurred Lines, how completely different it was. Bella Donna, a world renowned actress, appeared in the same line up as Endymion's magic show.
Simon stared off into space, his blue eyes staring into nothingness. But he could see the future, it was his second sight. Seduced by Miss Leading's figure, swan feathers descending like snowflakes, the silver moon like the silver dollar he rolled across his knuckles. There was something about her more mystifying than her act and he sensed it.
"There must be a trap door, underneath. It was quick. Or it was the fans themselves, it may have had a swan hidden there. Rabbits keep dead still, do swans do that? Can you hypnotize a swan?" Shepherd pondered out loud.
Simon mulled it over. The fans were huge, but she danced a bit before hiding behind them. "No, I don't think so. Maybe but I don't think that's what they did." He smoked another bowl. "I could invite them to our show." He visualized Miss Leading accepting an invitation to their next show, Bella Donna and Miss Leading were close, he realized as he tuned in to her energy, that is, Bella Donna telling Miss Leading about Shepherd's show. He could see it like a play he directed himself.
Shepherd took out tobacco, took some of the herb, and rolled it into a spliff. It was a good idea to not give away how panicked he was about the new competition. "I'll stop by tomorrow, on my way to get the doves."
"Oh but I can do it, I'm heading down that way anyways on other business."
But Shepherd was secretly thinking of Bella Donna. When he looked up and the smoke screen had cleared he could see the look Odysseus had after meeting Morgan. He would never leave the island as long as she was there. "It's better if I go, I need to show my face. You know introduce myself."
Simon sighed. He knew eventually he'd see Miss Leading so he didn't bother. It was already written in the stars. He had seen it. He also saw it not working out with Bella Donna because he knew already she was married to the famous director, Frankie Albom.
"Remember how i told you I'm psychic?"
"Yeah," he piped then gave a chuckle,
"Well my physic powers tell me that this Bella Donna is dangerous. Deadly. Call her poison nightshade."
"Nah, but i understand it is difficult to resist such a handsome man as myself." He raised his chin and square his shoulders.

IIII.

4 Leaf Grimoire

Without the jaw dropping special effects and heartbreaking hours of live performance, the auditorium felt infinite.
The auditorium had four levels and designed to house musicals and plays . The Stalls had the best view. A flat was built into the design of the theater, where sometimes it was re-purposed as a drama school. Bella Donna knew the productions of Shakespeare's work by heart as well as his poetry. She told Shepherd she'd find Miss Leading in the auditorium but Endymion was out of town. He left quite frequently and suddenly, she added excusing herself to a lesson she had scheduled.
The theatre had been rebuilt for the third time by none other than Bella Donna's husband himself. She told him the history of the first opera house, destroyed in a fire.
As he descended from the level of the balcony, he could see the magician's assistant's dusty red hair across the stage. She hadn't detected Shepherd, the shadow, the illusionist. Floating around her were two wands as she danced. She was in the middle of a free form flow art dance. He didn't see any wires, the wands were floating around her and lighting her up as if a disco ball was across the room and she was in the spotlight.
Miss Leading grabbed one of the wands and twirled it around her like a pixie, then turned up to see Shepherd observing her. She clenched her teeth and froze for a second, then laughed and continued as if it was part of the show.
She grabbed the levitating wands not a minute later and quickly hopped off the stage and met Shepherd halfway. Her heart raced like a hummingbirds.
"You sneaked up on me! Private shows are extra monsieur." She gave him a curtsy, twirling her wand.
"I was actually looking for Endymion." He then remembered how he hadn't seen any wires.
"Did you like my levitating wand dance?" She lead with a question before Shepherd could ponder further. She continued to smile at him with her whale of a smile.
"It looked magical, like the wands were really levitating." Shepherd admitted.
Miss Leading held up the beautiful metallic wand with the string attached. Shepherd relaxed more. "I've come to see if you'd like to see my show at The Magic Club. Perhaps the magician plays the holy game of poker?"
"I'm pretty good at bluffing." She said, her cheeks candy apple red, smiling madly as if she knew where the gold was.
"I think I caught your bluff," Shepherd joked. "Could you send my invitation then? It'd be a pleasure to have him in our audience." Suddenly Shepherd felt exposed, as if coming here asking in front of Miss Leading would lead everyone to seeing Shepherd for who he was, a trickster.
"Of course consider the invitation sent Shepherd." She said without a hint of suspicion. "We'd be honored to be guests at your show." The smile left her face for a moment the way you do when you remember you forgot something. "I need to get back to rehearsing, I'll send him your wishes."
"Thank you, I look forward to seeing you both there." As Shepherd walked out he counted the wands she was juggling. He was a perfectionist. A mathematician growing up, and even now could solve math equations faster than  a calculator. It bothered him like counting change and feeling short, but your not sure how much because you can't remember how much you started with. Had it been two? One? He turned around and noticed her walking away with three metallic wands of the same size. She bent over to pick up a book, thought twice, then ran backstage. Her mind sometimes leaped to conclusions like an antelope.
Voices broke out above the balcony. Bella Donna taught a small ballet class that was getting out. he had the sudden impulse and ran up to the book that she forgot as the ballet students descended like a painting by Edgar Degas.

V.

 Miss Leading

What surprised him was not the act itself but how he didn't feel any guilt about it. Once he was halfway to Uxi Duxi, he opened the book cover made with clover, bound with japanese stitches with crystals sewn the edges. Pages crinkled, smelled like coffee and tea, neat cursive and sacred geometry flashed the way cards do with a flourish.
He stopped on a page that had the elemental star. Spirit, Water, Air, Fire, Earth. He flipped the page again and stopped.  "As above, sew below" written  in runic symbols. Experimental illustrations, mod podge pressed flowers, two lunar moth wings on one page in a clear envelope and on the next page was a receipe for invisibility, and even a small bone, he had no idea what small animal it came from, hanging off the corner of a page about some kind of animal ritual, Materials needed: a blue, white, and black candle to evoke purity, the moon, the mute pen.  He found recipes for beauty using strawberry leaves, melilot, clover, and elder flower. There was a list of astrological signs and planets and the gods and goddesses ruled by them. Half of it was written in Latin. much of the handmade book was left blank. He leafed through it again, puzzled, not sure what he had expected.
It was a Book of Shadows, or grimoire with a black five leaf clover on it. A book of personalized witchcraft. It stayed at the bar, closed shut with it secrets. It had shown a side of Miss Leading he never would have guessed - a lady practicing divination, used magic mushrooms, and danced like she was offering herself to the volcano goddess.
He picked it up again, not able to help himself. Drawn to the words scrawled with ink, the natural texture of the clovers, fit so naturally in his hands. He was engrossed on a long passage about commanding spirits, where in the margins she illustrated two weasels. The front door sounded like thunder when it opened. Shepherd threw the book underneath the bar, in the fridge behind the limes.
It was Simon. "Did you get the doves to start practicing for our next show? We're going to have animals in it this time right? I've been thinking how it's a great idea, maybe take a break from the  heavy hypnosis and death defying acts. I told your assistant Elise about it and she was thrilled. She insisted it have elephants."
"That'd be something! Making an elephant dissapear. Or a plane. Something big." The idea siezed him as if it was his own. Shepherd had always been ambitious. He took out his cards thinking about it. They were an extension of himself, all 52 cards shuffle in his hands the way each thought laid on top of the other, in layers.
"Oh and no I forgot the doves." Shepherd said off handly.
"Don't worry I'll get them." Simon dashed upstairs at the thought of seeing Miss Leading. He changed his coat and added cologne before leaving. Shepherd waited a good long minute before taking the 4 leaf grimoire out of the mini fridge, and opened it back to the page he was reading.




Simon read the bold headlines on his way to the Royal theatre. THE GREAT ENDYMION MYSTIFIES. Endymion was on the news. The newest actress, Bella Donna had the largest paparazzi ever seen. There were two shows every night at the Royal Theatre that played, including Endymion and Miss LEading. Simon felt like a magnet was pulling him to her. The image of her didn't escape his mind.
When he saw her in the theatre, performing, she acted like she didn't see him watching. Simon looked stoned, every move Miss Leading made held emotion and range. Simon could tell her all his secrets, entertain her with locks and keys.
Embarrassed at the way he was thinking about her, he hollered to break the spell. "I came to get an autograph!"
Miss Leading swooped over to him with a devious smile. "I've been practicing all week. Actually Shepherd was here earlier. Did you notice if he had a book with him?" She asked innocently.
Simon was completely honest. "What are you talking about?"
She pursed her lips. "Nevermind. I misplaced my diary."
The idea of finding her diary and knowing her deepest darkest secrets caught his breath. "I'll help you look. Where was it last?"
This she really wasnt sure. Shed pick up tthe book a million times a day, it was with her every where she went. Even when she performed she kept it in her bag. The book dissapeared like magic.
"I thought I had it on stage. But the last time I wrote in it was in my dressing room." She looked at him expectantly.
"It'd be good to retrace your steps from the last place you had it," Simon fought the impulse to reach out and hold her shoulders. He hated seeing Miss Leading without.
"Let's start looking there," she said, and he followed her to the dressing room.

The dressing room was well lit, colorful ruffled clothes with sequins and stripes strewn across here and there. There were over a dozen hula hoops and costumes. "Where did you learn how to fire dance?"
"I used to be in the circus." She stated matter-of-factly. "I can do all sorts of acrobats, I love to perform on the lyre." Imagining her suspended from a hoop entranced him. He took out his coin and started to roll it over his fingers, once he had her attention, he magically turned it into a deck of cards.
She smiled gleefully. He quickly fanned the cards out and the changed colors from blue to green. He asked her to pick a card from the fan, and she played along. "Study that card, memorize it, keep it in your mind. Now put it back anywhere in the deck and I'll shuffle, you tell me when to stop." His hands worked fast and when she said stop, he pulled out a card. "Is this your card?"
It wasn't. "Nope."
He threw it back in the deck. Drew again, seeming dishelved. "Is this your card?"
It wasn't. "Nope."
"Damn," He clapped the deck of cards in his hands and it burst into flame. Her eyes filled with with the flame she hadn't expected. One card remained.
It was her card.