The Devil [NYSM]

PROLOGUE

"Who here believes in magic?"

Eva looked around the dull crowd with her arms wide open. None of them were paying close attention except for the few kids in the front.

"Now some people say magic is simply the art of misdirection. That it's just sleight of hand or luck."

She clicked her tongue and wagged her finger, keeping up the enthusiastic performance.

"Or maybe magic is just telling jokes to suckers like you, right?"

The first few people in the front laughed lightly. She smiled brightly and pulled out a stack of cards from her jacket pocket.

She shuffled them in several fancy ways. Her tricks earned her a few gasps of intrigue.

She jumped off the bench she was standing on and walked towards the group of kids. She kneeled next to the youngest one.

"Pick a card, kiddo."

The boy giggled and selected a card from the fan she displayed. He looked at it once before excitedly showing it to the kid next to him.

"Alright, now keep that card to yourself for the moment."

She stood up and spoke to the whole crowd again. She walked back towards the center. She pointed to a disinterested woman standing at the edge of the circle.

"Miss, would you mind coming up here please?"

She politely shook her head in denial.

"Why not? Otherwise you'll never get that card out of your ear."

She walked towards the woman and flourished her hair behind her head. When she pulled her hand away, a card was in her hand.

The crowd gasped in surprise. More people started to inch closer as they gained intrigue.

Eva turned back to the little boy with the original card. She held up the woman's card, "Is this your card?"

He shook his head.

"No?"

She sighed in fake frustration and strutted over to the man beside the woman. She removed his hat from his head and pulled out another card that magically appeared.

"Is this?" she asked.

The boy shook his head again.

She let out an exaggerated groan and tossed the card to the ground. It fluttered and landed on the cement in its position.

She kept moving to the next person and pulled out various cards, each one being denied. The crowd was starting to get bored and thought that she was actually bad at magic.

As she moved to the next person, she pretended to trip. As she did so, her cards went flying everywhere. Some fluttered over their heads and moved into their spots.

Once each card was settled she sighed pathetically, "I guess we'll never find the card."

The crowd groaned in anger. But she held her finger up to pause their complaints.

"Or will we?"

She hopped back on the bench and gestured to the ground. The audience looked down and caught sight of the patterns the cards made.

They gasped in surprise as the cards formed the eight of spades. Smiles slowly started to crawl on their faces as they murmured in amazement.

She flicked her hand and another singular card appeared in between her fingers. She turned it around to reveal the eight of spades.

"Is this your card?" she repeated, looking at the boy.

He checked his pockets for the card but couldn't find it anymore. He nodded excitedly and started to clap his hands.

The audience caught on and soon enough, the sound was deafening. She smiled victoriously and waved goodbye.

"Thank you and goodnight!" she shouted.

Whistles and cheers kept going long after she hopped off the bench. Once people started to disperse, she picked up her cards off the ground.

But as she did so, she noticed an irregular card amongst the pile. She furrowed her brows and picked it up to inspect it.

It was a tarot card with vibrant drawings. The inscription below labeled the drawing as The Devil. She flipped it over and spotted an address on the back with a time and date.

She grew even more confused and she looked around her to see who could've left it. But everyone was already gone.

She shrugged and gathered the cards in a pile again. She shoved the deck into her jacket but kept the tarot card out.

She inspected it again before sighing,

"What could go wrong?"

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