Fatal Flaw

Chapter 13

Gaston walked off stage, and the red curtain rose, revealing a tall, dark figure. The spotlight settled on him, a man with a black top hat, a black suit, a black cape, black gloves, and a black magic wand in his right hand.

"Good evening! How is everyone tonight?" Asked the magician.

A loud applause followed, and Christine whistled loudly. Erik heard and saw where she was sitting. He smiled at her and she giggled.

"For my first trick..."

Erik let a coin roll out of his sleeve, and he caught it in his left palm.

"A gold coin..."

He made a fist and tapped it with his magic wand. When he opened his hand, the coin had changed color.

"Or is it a silver one?"

He repeated the action, this time turning the single coin into 3. A few people in the audience applauded, most of them knowing that the trick was not over.

"Oh, but that's not all I can do!"

He made a fist again, and when he opened it, a pile of confetti lay in his palm. He threw it at the audience, mostly at Christine, making her giggle and getting it all over her hair.

The audience applauded once more.

"That was only a beginning trick, of course." He said slyly.

He took his hat off and showed the inside to the audience.

"A magician's hat. I'm supposed to pull a rabbit out of it, correct?" Asked Erik as he held the hat in his left hand and reached in with his right.

He pulled out a small, fluffy, white rabbit and set it on the floor, where it sat still and sniffed the floor. The audience aw'ed. Erik pulled out another rabbit and set it on the floor as well. And then another. And then another. And then another. Soon, there were 10 rabbits at Erik's feet. He bowed, and the audience roared with applause. He placed his top hat back on his head, and a rabbit stuck its head out right above Erik's face.

Laughter flooded the theater, and Erik removed the rabbit from his hat and held it. Christine saw a gentle, caring look in his eyes as he stroked the tiny fluffy creature in his arms.

"He must love animals...Maybe... I could learn to forget his murderous past..." She mused as Erik set the rabbit on the ground.

A man with dark hair and dark clothes ran to the center of the stage and started picking up rabbits to carry them offstage. Christine recognized the man, she had seen him earlier. He was supposedly a fan of Erik's tricks. Erik motioned to the man walking offstage, carrying the last rabbit.

"Thank you, Nadir." He said, not receiving an answer since the man was already offstage.

The audience clapped, and Erik began his next trick.

"Now, I'll tell you a little about myself." Announced the magician as he opened one side of his cape.

"I came to this amazing town a few years ago, and I honestly love it here." He said as he pulled the edge of a thin black scarf out of a pocket of the inside of his cape.

"You people are all so friendly, and you apparently like my magic tricks!"

Erik pulled 12 inches of black scarf out of the pocket, but it didn't end.

"But what you may not know about me is that I am a musician... And an artist... And an architect." He said as he pulled out another foot of scarf, acting as if nothing was unusual about it.

The audience laughed and clapped as Erik pulled out 5 more feet of scarf.

"...Is something funny?" He inquired as another yard of black fabric was hurled out of his pocket.

This made the laughter increase in volume, which was Erik's goal. He smiled and pulled out 3 more feet, ending the scarf. He bowed, earning another applause as he held the scarf in both hands.

"Now... I'll need a volunteer from the audience... A lady."