My name is Nate Goodwin and I have always wanted to be the best stage magician of all time. I used to watch Criss Angel and David Blaine all the time. I even watched all the old David Copperfield and Harry Blackstone Jr stuff on the internet. But try as I may I couldn’t even master basic card tricks.
It was frustrating and infuriating for me. It really was. I mean it. I kept reading the books and buying all the gear but no matter how much I tried I just couldn’t do any damn tricks correctly. Then the Cornville High talent show came up and I couldn’t enter. I went to the show and sat there watching Henry Fetter aka “The Magnificent Mancini” as he was calling himself. He made a chair levitate and cut a girl in half.
I was so angry I could barely keep myself from screaming as he received a standing ovation. I mean who did he think he was? Everybody knows how those tricks are done. Why was everyone applauding?
Well he won the talent contest and what’s worse the girl I had my eye on, Jenna Harrison, well she started to date him! Can you believe that? Jealousy had become my juice and I was drinking the crap out of it.
I made a vow to myself after that, and that was to do whatever I had to do to win next year. I decided I’d need some help in that regard so I looked up any and all magic shops within the distance my mom would be willing to drive me. I even checked all those witchcraft shops. Maybe I could find some good stage props in one of those.
A few weeks later I went to the nearest one. It was called “Bella’s Potions and Spells.” Supposedly it was partially owned by that old witch Donna who lived out by Blood Creek.
Inside there was a pale skinned girl with dyed black pigtails and black lipstick working the register. The place smelled like patchouli. Of course it did!
There was a bunch of books and candles with saints on them and rows of various elixirs and potions. Some of the stuff in there was pretty cool I have to admit but I was hunting for something special. I told the girl at the register what I was doing and she thought for a second and then said that she had just the thing.
She pointed to a flyer that was pinned to a corkboard on the wall along with a bunch of other stuff. It was for a contest. If you won then Donna Bella herself would make you into the best magician in the world. Any interested parties should come to her house the following Saturday at 8 pm and bring a $25 entry fee.
I had a little more than that saved up which I was planning to spend on a cape for my stage costume. I decided to give the old Witch a chance. What did I have to lose?
Saturday came and I rode my bike over to Blood Creek and found Donna’s cottage. There were only three other contestants. Funny thing is, the flyer didn’t explain what kind of contest it was. I mean, what did we have to do? If I was a good enough magician to win a magic trick contest then I wouldn’t need her to teach me anything.
The first guy was old. I mean he was wrinkled and had this top hat on and a black jacket with long coattails and a red sash. Then there was a younger guy who looked like he was in his 20’s. He was dressed normal. T shirt and jeans like I was. The other contestant was a woman. I never saw a female stage magician before but she looked like she knew what she was doing.
Donna had us all sit in chairs on her porch. She collected our money and then started to talk. She told us that this was a contest and the winner will receive from her the means by which to be the greatest magician in the world. But first she must make sure that each of us was a willing participant. She turned to the elderly man.
“Mr. Crants, you’ve been a stage magician most of you life. Why are you here?”, she asked.
He took his top hat off and looked kind of ashamed. “When I was a boy, all I wanted was to be a famous magician. After a lifetime of trying, I still can’t even get booked at a hotel lounge. I’m not a bad magician. I can do all the standard tricks. I just never was able to make a profession out of it. This is my last chance to make it. I’ll do anything. I just want to have one good professional show. Then my life wouldn’t have been for nothing.”
Donna turned her attention to the young man. “Mr. Stone. What about you? Would you risk your very life for the chance to be the best?”
He looked surprised. “My life? Wait a minute. Nobody said anything about my life.”
“I’m telling you now. The contest can be fatal. But it isn’t always. It’s just … risky.” She smiled.
Mr. Stone stood up. “Sorry, I’m not doing anything like that. I’m not doing it.”
Donna snarled. “Very well. Here’s your money back. Now go on your way.” She handed him his cash and he walked off to his car.
The woman also stood up and took her money back and left. Then Donna looked at me. “What about you Nathan Goodwin? Why would such a young man risk his life for this?”
I didn’t mince my words. I mean why should I? “I want to win the school talent show and show up Henry Fetter. Everyone thinks he’s so great. Even the girl I liked went for him after he won last year.”
Donna scratched her chin and smiled. “Envy huh? That’s a cousin to jealousy and you know what they say about jealousy? It’s cruel as the grave.”
She said we were both acceptable candidates and showed us inside to her living room. There was no tv or radio in there though. The room had several large wooden chairs with red cushioned seats and backrests set up in a circle around a round table on which sat a large crystal ball. This thing was about the size of a beach ball. We sat around it and Donna told us what was supposed to happen.
“Once a year, witches in my coven get an unusual opportunity. The veil between worlds is thinnest 30 days after the autumn equinox through all Hallows eve. During That time we witches can fly. On our broomsticks.” She smiled and paused as if waiting for a reaction.
Mr. Crants let out a short laugh. She went on. “I don’t expect you to believe me, but in any case you two will have to make the Blood Creek run tonight and survive it. That creek that runs through my property is very special. It has supernatural power and on certain nights of the year it comes alive. You will each be in a small row boat and all you have to do is get from the confluence of Blood Creek and Shane Creek down here to the backyard of my house where they used to slaughter the hogs in the old days so the blood would wash away in the creek without making a mess.”
“So it’s a race?”, I asked.
“Oh no Nate. It’s not a race at all. You just have to get from there to here alive. If both of you make it then you both get the prize. But you won’t.” A creepy grin widened across her face.
“Why is that so dangerous. I could stand up in that creek.”, Mr. Crants asked.
She peered right into his eyes. “Well the creek and I will do everything in our power to stop you. Without actually touching you of course. You see in my coven it’s a tradition to grant a wish every year to one local. It’s kind of a deal we had with the town that started a long time ago. And this is how we keep that promise.”
“Where’s the rest of your coven? I don’t see anyone else here.” asked Mr. Crants.
Her smile changed to a grimace. “They’re all dead”, she paused “but that’s another story.”
The contest was to start 10 pm. I’d be late getting home and yeah I’d get in trouble, but I wasn’t about to be bested by an old man. We headed up to Shane’s Creek where the boats were waiting.
Donna walked back towards her house and we both got into our respective boats. Each boat had one oar in it but the current would be enough to push us all the way so we’d just need those to keep from hitting the bank.
The start time rolled around and we set off down the creek. The water and ground was dimly lit by a crescent moon above but the sky was clear and full of stars. It was calm and quiet except for the sound of the water lapping against the sides of the boats here and there.
I looked into the water to see if I could see the bottom but all I saw was the night sky reflected off the water’s surface. I glanced behind us out of sheer paranoia. Nothing was there so she hadn’t arranged a scare from behind.
Up ahead there was a large patch of trees whose branches arced over the creek creating a tunnel of limbs. A slight gust of wind brushed past us depositing some fallen leaves into our boats.
As we approached the trees a noticeable tension welled up in me. Donna had something planned. Probably some spooky props like a kids haunted house attraction. I glanced back into the water and noticed two glowing yellow spots appear as if being revealed by opening eyelids. They were between the boats.
I tried to speak to point it out to Mr. Crants, but was too afraid so I banged on the edge of my boat until he looked over at me at which point I pointed to them. He looked and curiously examined them for about 15 seconds I guess, and then looked at me. “Must be some kind of prop attached to the underside of the boat. Very clever.” He went back to looking forward.
Then out of the blue the two yellow eyes shot forward ahead of the boats. Crants leaned his head forwards a bit as he watched them. They went all the way into the tunnel of trees. Then they rose up out of the water within the tunnel and were visibly embedded within the head of a large creature’s silhouette.
We were both just frozen stiff. If this was a prop then Donna should be working in Hollywood. Then it climbed up the bank onto the ground and into the treeline to my right, which thankfully was Mr. Crants’ side of the creek.
“Its gotta be a friend of hers in costume or a paid actor.” he said.
I replied with words broken up by my now apprehensive voicebox. “I dunno…. seemed pretty big… for a person.”
We drifted into the tunnel and things got darker. When we got to the spot where the thing had crawled out of the water, we were both scanning the trees to see if we could find it.
Then the silence was cracked with the loud snap of branches. We saw a dark shape crackling through the woodline. Crants started to panic and started rowing his boat over towards my side of the creek. He made a deep ghostly sound of his own as he did. “Ahh ahh ahh ahh.”
As our boats would move past it, it would walk more to catch up and then stop and stare again. Crant’s boat clumsily bumped into the front of mine repeatedly. He was in a near frenzy trying to get to the side of the creek opposite the creature. I was just using my oar to try to stay where I was. I didn’t want to drift over there to where the thing was within reach.
Crants was unable to get close enough to the side of the creek to get out of the boat. He was giving up and trying to crawl out of the boat into the water when the tunnel gave way to a small clearing and then the creek turned left, right into an old tunnel made of stones. This thing looked like it had been built a over a hundred years ago.
Looking back we could see the creature still on the bank. It was not entering the tunnel. I’ve never felt relief like that before. It washed over me like a wave of relaxation as my muscles loosened up from the gripping tension they had just been subjected to.
The tunnel was dark and musty, but we could make out the end way up ahead as the dull light of night formed the half circle shape of the exit. The place smelled like dirt and rotting leaves, but the boats kept gliding forward slowly so I was starting to feel a semblance of confidence.
Just then something hit the bottom of my boat with a light thud. Crants heard it too and he held his oar up ready to strike anything that might come up out of the water. I followed suit.
There were a few more thuds lightly rapping on the underside of our boats but we couldn’t see anything. I was thinking that it might be fish or I don’t know, maybe an eel or something. Right about then I heard something different. This time it was a scratching sound. Like someone running their fingernails across the bottom of the boat. “That’s no fish.”, I thought.
Then a series of slapping sounds started. In the dark we saw nothing but could hear someone slapping the stones with their hand on the inside of the tunnel all around us. There was no ledge for anyone to stand on so I don’t see how this was possible.
The sound stopped as we approached the end of the tunnel. Outside it was lighter, thank god, and my side of the creek had a thick tree line but the opposite side had about a 15 foot grassy clearing up on the bank before the trees started.
We emerged from the tunnel and again I felt that welcome relief. In the distance to my right, the sound of someone walking through the brush could be heard. It was too far off to scare us much but it kept getting closer and closer to the creek as we slowly drifted down the waterway.
Up ahead there was light on my side approaching. We could tell it was firelight. Up there the creek widened and the surface of the water was lit by flames coming from the left. The air took on a different feel and we could smell the smoke from the fire. I could start to see Donna’s cottage on my side of the creek between the trees. Only, the cottage seemed different somehow. It was in a better state. Boards were clean and painted.
Crants spoke up at that point. “There’s people there.”
I focused and tried to see. As the trees thinned out I could see them. They had a table set up next to the river. On it was a dead hog. It had been cut open. The water in front of the table was red with the things blood. A woman was washing some pig intestines in the water. There looked like there were about five of them and they were all dressed in old time clothes. Something like the Amish might wear.
We were about 50 feet away from them when I noticed the water in front of the table started to swirl and became a whirlpool. The people noticed us and walked into the cottage.
When we reached the widened area of the creek right behind the cottage where the creek spread out with the whirlpool in the middle, a loud crack split the silence to our right. Crants turned quickly and the creature from before popped its head right out of the foliage and growled right up in Crants’ face.
Its facial features could be seen now in the light from the fire. It had thick fish like lips with a row of sharp teeth inside. It was a dark green color but its face was not unlike a gorilla with a flat blunt nose and recessed eyes. The eyes were still glowing a dim yellow.
Crants stood up terrified and startled, and fell out of his boat towards me. His boat was pushed back up the creek just out of his reach. He tried to grab onto my boat and I tried to help him but the whirlpool sucked him feet first right down into the darkness.
I had my oar and started quickly using it to keep my boat from following him. I just paddled and paddled as hard as I could. I didn’t go down but I wasn’t getting any further away from it either.
I kept glancing over at the cottage to see if those people were coming back. After a minute or so they did, only now they were dressed in grey robes and were guiding a hooded figure in black whose hands were bound by rope. They walked him over to the table where the slaughtered hog was. One woman removed the hog and then the mans hood was pulled back. It was Crants.
How did he get from the creek bottom to over there? They laid him down on the table face down with his head hanging off the table and over the water. Then they started chanting something and one person walked around swinging an incense burner on a chain. Then another figure produced a knife and held it down under Crants’ throat.
A stream of red shot down into the water and I had to look away. All I could do was focus on not getting sucked down that whirlpool.
My arms were getting sore as hell and I was panting. My heart rate was off the charts and I was trembling with fear. I glanced over at the people here and there to see what they were doing and they seemed to be ignoring me and busy with their ritual.
After about ten minutes of this I was about to give in when I noticed the people were gone. The whirlpool stopped and the water started to return to normal, so I stopped rowing and fell to the floor of the boat which moved forward quickly and hit a rock that was sticking out of the water causing the boat to overturn.
I crawled out of the water and up the small put in behind Donna’s cottage. The home had returned to the weathered and worn look that I was familiar with. There was a bonfire going and several lit torches stuck in the ground. The table there was now empty and clean and no one was in sight. I was exhausted but managed to lift myself into one of several wicker chairs that were sitting about.
I heard a rustling above me in the trees and Donna floated down on her broomstick. She landed softly in front of me and smiled. “You’ve won Mr Goodwin. Congratulations. Now I’ll cast a spell on you that will give you the ability to be the greatest magician in the world. Remember? This is what you wanted and you’ve earned it. You’ll never tell a soul what happened here or you’ll be seeing Mr. Crants again soon.”
I nodded as she began the spell. She started to wave some herbs of some kind in my face and said:
“Everything you say will happen, will, it’s will be moot, it’s will be still, With your will, you will it to, and then it will bend, its will to you.”
She gave me a glass of water and told me again to tell no one what had happened. I agreed. After what I’d just seen I didn’t need to make this woman angry. I took a brief rest and got up, found my bike, and headed for home.
At the talent show that year I dazzled the crowd with one great trick after another. I could do anything.
I took a teachers watch whom I randomly picked from the crowd, and threw it in my magician’s hat, waved my wand and said: “This watch is now in…” and then randomly picked a woman from the audience and pointed to her and said: “… your purse!” The woman stood and looked through her purse and found the watch.
I brought a girl named Mary onstage and levitated her, laying her down at first on her back and then magically lifting her up and out over the heads of the crowd and back. All I had to do was say out loud: “Mary will now levitate upward in the air about three feet.” And she did!
No matter what I said, it happened. It was amazing.
I won the talent show and afterwards I saw Jenna Harrison in the lobby of the auditorium. “Jenna Harrison will now break up with Henry and ask me to be her boyfriend.”, I said out loud. Sure enough she did just that.
I was elated. Everything was working out just like Donna Bella had said it would.
Henry was upset and saw me talking to Jenna and came over in a huff. “Good show Nate. If I didn’t know any better I’d say you actually had supernatural powers.”
“No. I can’t use real magic. I’m just a normal stage magician doing standard illusions.” I had to keep the secret. Wait. What had I just said?
Jenna looked at me funny and then got a sour look on her face. She looked at Henry and said “Henry. Can we talk? I think I made a mistake.” They walked off together and I haven’t stopped crying since.