The Vanisher - Part 2

If you have not read part 1 to this story, written by Komal, then please do so via the following link:

Elana worked in a bakery named Maison Landemaine in Paris. Six days a week, she was surrounded by the smell of demi-baguettes, Tarte au Citrons, and the most delicious smelling croissants. She liked her coworkers enough and the routine nature of her job was comforting.

One day, a handsome young man came into the bakery. She'd never seen him before. He had a mysterious, confident way about him. He smiled and sniffed the smell of the bakery items and smiled with a wide smile, that reminded her of a proud ringmaster at a circus. Looking at Elana's eyes, he suavely added,

"Your eyes look just like blue gemstones! I'd like a few demi-baguettes and just a few minutes of your time, please...."

He paused.

"My time? For what?"

"I do card tricks and I want to practice... Can you take a break to come see?"

She took the money for his order and nodded. Elana brought the baguettes to a small table. The young man devoured them with immense pleasure. The man pulled out a deck of cards from his jacket. After doing several card tricks that were indeed impressive Elana said,

"I better get back to work now..."

"Wait! Wait! Just one more...."

She sat back down, glancing at the bakery items. It was strangely quiet in the bakery and less busy than usual.

"This next trick involves a proposal..."

"A proposal of what?"

"If I get this next trick right, you join me in my next magic show, this coming Friday evening!"

"Oh, but I don't know anything about magic and such."

"And I can teach you everything you need to know! The trick starts like this..."

He shuffled the cards several times. Then he handed her the whole deck of cards.

"Pick out all four of the kings from this deck and then hand me back the other cards. I will find a second king of hearts but not in this deck at all..."

He walked over to the pastries, lifted the glass window, under a tray of desserts, he found a king of hearts and brought it back to the table.

Elana's eyes were wide with surprise, her mouth aghast.

"How on... earth?"

He smiled.

"When do you get off work?"

"6 p.m."

"See you after work!"

Before she could object, he was gone in an instant, like a phantom. He had scooped up all the cards from the table except for the king of hearts and a queen of clubs. Taking the two cards, she slid them into her pocket.

The rest of the day in the bakery dragged on and on. She felt intrigued, delighted, bothered in a way, and anxious all at the same time. Who was this magician and why did he want to have her join his magic show. She felt a flame, of just enough interest, and a longing for something outside of the comfort of her ordinary life. Boy, was she in for a wild adventure! She met him that evening and they practiced all sorts of different magic tricks including her appearing to be sawed in half.

Soon, they started doing shows further from her day job and one day she finally just put in her resignation in order to travel with Elric Vane. It didn’t take long for them to fall in love, which added quite an extra emotional demention on stage. The audiences loved them and the chemistry of their performances. For five years, they traveled all over the world performing.

It seemed as if every year Elric got a bit more antsy and more daring. Elana noticed that he’d started stealing from some of the people in the audiences. It seemed wrong but she knew it was just his way and brushed it off as his need to experience his next thrill. She felt addicted to his confidence in a way…

Elana learned how to do incredible trapeze tricks as well that made it seem like she had been doing it her whole life. She felt free, confident, and wonderfully happy. After a performance one night, she slipped backstage only to discover Elric embracing another woman.

“How could you?”

She whispered, holding back the sobs. They didn’t see or hear her.

Instead of saying anything about it, that night, she plotted a revenge.

The following evening they had another performance and it involved a ring of fire that she was swinging from. The ring started spinning. As usual, she was stunning. She wore a vibrant red outfit.

She swung with extra strength and force. The fire from the ring touched the red curtain that was hanging halfway down. The curtain burst into flames. She dropped from the fiery ring and disappeared down one of the wooden trap doors. The wild billows of smoke filled the stage and the audience was in chaos. This was the last time Elric had seen Elena.

Now, on board the cruise ship, The Argent Dawn, he was stunned by her eyes once again… now ten years later…

Then, he remembered who she was…

“Elena?”

“I’m surprised you even remember me… Mr. Vane!”

She spun her small hand purse around her wrist. Her posture was both haunting, sensual, and more confident than ever before…

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Author’s Note:

To read Part 3, written by Komal, follow the link below: