The Vanisher - Part 4

To read part 1, written by Komal, follow the link below:

To read part 2, written by Rowan Finley, follow the link below:

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

Part 4, below:

The king of hearts card still hung in the air, as if it was frozen in time. The crowd was still in shock at the drastic turn of events.

Elric was sweating profusely now, even though he grinned as if she were just a pesky fly flitting by.

Elana smiled with utter feminine confidence, as if she’d finally won a game of a lifetime. Through the sound system she announced,

“Ladies and gentleman, Elric Vane is no innocent magician! Instead, he is a rotten, conniving con artist! He’s stolen more than just diamonds, he’s robbed people like me of their hearts!”

Quill winced in the shadows.

Elana continued her tirade.

“You can all thank me later for intercepting his dastard attempts to rob you all of your electronic bank funds with sensors under your chairs!”

The crowd gasped sharply. Elana whipped out something from her purse. Clicking a handcuff onto Elric left wrist, the other side of the handcuff was a dangling, ticking, time bomb.

“Looks like the king of heart’s time is going to be melting away quickly here!”

He looked at the card in the air. It had dropped down several feet, as if it followed the timer on the bomb.

Elana smiled, looking at the crowd, she said,

“Well folks, you have exactly thirty minutes to get off of this ship before it blows up with - mister… yours truly - Elric Vane.”

The crowd had now reached its peak of hysteria. The people dressed in formal attire ran toward the exits. They resembled what a stampede of panicked oxen might have looked like.

“So, this is your choice… of how you make me disappear, Elana? Of all the things and tricks and types of revenge… why this and why now after so long?”

Elana just smirked at his questions.

Quill shook her head, whispering,

“Sorry this had to be your end.”

“Quill! Wait! Do something to stop her!”

He swung the bomb wildly in desperation, as if he could sling it off somehow, but instead he knocked the diamond off its stand and it skimmed across the floor. It bounced several times and Quill stopped it with her foot. Her eyes glinted with pleasant surprise. Reaching down, she grabbed it. Slipping away from the scene, she soon blended into the scurry of panicked people, who were outside trying to escape onto safety rafts.

“I suppose, I should go now… and do what I do best… vanish from you. But this time, it’s for good…”

Elana blew him a patronizing kiss into the air. In that moment, the king of hearts card finally fell to the floor. She looked over her shoulder and saw the card had fallen.

“Times almost up, dear…”

Elric tried to pry the handcuff from his wrist but it wasn’t budging even a little.

Elana left the room, walking up to the top of the cruise ship. Disregarding the rafts, she did a cannonball into the water. The shock of the icy water took all the breath from her stunned lungs for a second. Swimming out several yards from the ship, she came up for breath. Opening her eyes above the chilly water, she spotted a ladder rope that was hanging from a helicopter, hovering above. Climbing up the ladder, she ripped her red dress off at the mid thigh. It was now a short skirt instead of a long dress, which made it easier to climb upwards.

“Great job on the time bomb, Elana! Top notch drama, per usual… What a stunt you pulled in there!”

Exclaimed the copilot of the helicopter who was Quill.

As they both looked down at the people floating in the safety rafts, Quill asked,

“Was it a real bomb?”

Elana laughed.

“Are you kidding? I’m not gonna’ waste a real bomb on him! You should have seen his face though when I left! Besides… he’ll be arrested soon enough down there with a track record like his…”

Elana and Quill had formed an alliance called The Queens of Clubs and their mission had been accomplished in getting rid of Elric Vane and his treachery… or so they thought. Elana wrapped herself in a thick blanket and buckled herself into one of the helicopter seats.

Down below, in The Argent Dawn cruise ship, the timer on the bomb had ended. To Elric’s utter astonishment, no explosion occurred and there was no one in sight either. He had just enough time to disappear into one of the cruise cabins before he could be arrested or turned in for questioning.

- The End -