“Hopefully everything will be better tonight than what happened at the last show. Have the cops figured out who did it?” Emily was serious now, as we approached the theater with a growing crowd around us.
“Not yet. I’m sure a new clue will surface soon.” I tried to be hopeful, but it wasn’t looking good. Still, no one was giving up. Lindsey was someone’s child, sister, and lover. We couldn’t give up on finding the murderer.
We were ushered to our seats, which were in the front of the circular stage. There wasn’t anything on the stage, which was confusing since this was like a circus act. Perhaps it added to the mystical part of the show. The lights were off in the middle and every once in a while, I’d see shimmers of blue floating through the darkness. It could be the ghosts or could be light tricks.
“I’m so excited. Work has been so crazy lately, so I needed this night out, and my sister has been driving me nuts.”
Emily became the sole guardian of her sister when their parents died. Her sister just started high school and was a pain in the ass. So far, Emily had been doing a good job, essentially as a single parent.
I couldn’t imagine what she was going through, but whenever I asked, she said she was fine.
“I’d be happy to watch her some time if you needed it,” I offered, not knowing what the hell I would do with a teenager in my small cottage, but I’d give it a shot. Maybe she would just want to watch TV the whole time and order a pizza. I’d be OK with that type of girls’ night.
“I appreciate that. It’ll be OK. She’s just all about boys and being popular and I’m so not that way. We don’t exactly see eye to eye.” Her green eyes stared at the dark stage, watching the blue light drift higher, then back down again. My friend looked tired and rundown today. Without letting her see, I reached out with my extra gift to make sure death was not surrounding her at all. With her history and mine, we knew the feeling of suicide could sneak up on you even when you weren’t in a low.
Nothing. My shoulders relaxed and my whole body settled into the seat. I didn’t have a giant crowd of friends, just this pink-haired, green-eyed, petite one beside me and the Hero Society crew when I had time. They were an interesting bunch, and I liked them. They accepted me even with all my flaws.
“Caw!”
The lights over our heads dimmed, and the sound of the godforsaken crow echoed around the room. A spotlight followed it up to a trapeze bar where Jude stood.
“Expect the expected but the closer you look, the more unexpected you see.”
I couldn’t see Jude’s face, just his muscular frame covered in the same black ringleader coat and a top hat. Emily grabbed onto my hand in anticipation, making my shoulder shake slightly from the chuckle escaping my chest. She was such a soft heart. This was not supposed to be frightening, at least I didn’t believe so.
“Caw!” The crow came up to its master, then began to dive down toward the stage.
“Prepare forMystical.” Jude smirked right before he jumped off the bar, following the bird down to the empty stage. My hand gripped Emily’s tighter. There wasn’t any landing pad down there. Oh no, he was going to splat on the ground. Gasps and nervous cries echoed around the theater.
“Oh no!” someone screamed, but just as he made it to the floor, he disappeared, like the stage was water and he simply dove into it with his bird. The spotlight stayed on the stage where he’d disappeared for a few seconds while the crowd murmured about what they thought they saw and what they felt happened.
Then the light was gone and we were in darkness. The whole place was silent, as a thrumming from the speakers began, becoming louder and more melodic until suddenly there were shimmering blue people dancing around the stage and one of the trapeze artists from above released his hold and landed perfectly in the middle of the stage with his arm extended and a crow sitting on top.
Jude. What a jerk. Freaking everyone out like that. A talented jerk, but still . . .
I swear he knew what I was thinking because he had a smirk on his face, and he looked more alive than I’d seen him at his house. Our gazes met and I wanted to do something, anything to get back some control of our situation. He didn’t win whatever challenge he thought he did by getting me here and freaking me out with his stunts.
So I flipped him the middle finger and he barked out a laugh.
Equipment suddenly appeared. There were people doing tricks and magic all around him. The same small elephant with the young boy played together, tightrope walkers flipped, and jumped on one foot while trapeze artists and aerialists danced in the open air. A tiger jumped through a hoop, and then disappeared only to reappear on top of a box. Now that I was close and paying more attention, I saw that even the few animals on this stage were ghosts except the bird. I didn’t know anything other than humans could remain on Earth after death.
The show was spectacular. Jude and his crew put on one hell of a show, and he was right with his opening words to the crowd. Everything they did was expected and looked simple, but the more all of us watched, the more mysterious everything became. I knew the ghosts made a difference.
After ten minutes had passed, the show became a story about a couple in love and the acts of God keeping them apart. I stopped trying to figure out what was happening and just enjoyed it.
Then a blood-curdling scream echoed in the room, and once again, it was not part of the show.
Chapter Eight
Jude
“If you think of anything else you remember about her, please give us a call.” The detective who was now assigned to the case of Trixie Long’s death gave me a curt nod and walked away.
Another innocent woman was murdered during my show. I knew I was cursed. Fuck, I’d known that since the day I was born, but this was some other curse happening right now.
“She won’t talk to me and won’t come close. She’s very stubborn and isn’t ready to let go of the injustice of what happened to her.” Selene stepped up beside me where I sat, my head in my hands.
“Maybe I should talk to her.” I sighed and stood.
