Checkmate

chapter-1

It was getting dark. Still no sign of her. He glanced once more at his phone, at the blinking red spot that refused to move from the bookstall. With another frustrated sigh, he ran a hand through his hair. This sure was an important task but he didn't have any time to waste and wasting was exactly what she was doing.

The speed at which the little glass ball now moved around his master's fingers elucidated for Vlad that he was indeed angry, but there was nothing he could do about it. Speaking was forbidden unless spoken to, hence he dared not to open his mouth. So all he could do was to stand still and watch. And so he did until his master stood up and wore his hat, following a beeping sound from his phone. "Vlad" his velvety voice preceded a single nod. "yes master" Vlad replied, knowing only too well what his master intended. The curtains moved and lights dimmed. Vlad stepped forward. Clearing his throat, he shouted, "Ladies and gentlemen, behold the greatest of the greatest magicians, the king of levitation, the synonym of

intelligence, the one and only, Sir. Theodore Alistair." the crowd went wild as the said magician stepped into the spotlight. He lifted both his arms and with it lifted the candles on the stage. The crowd watched in complete awe as he flipped them in the air and lit them up one by one.

Soon enough the hall was filled with the sound of applause of the people who were mindlessly enjoying the spell that was cast upon them.

A mind-blowing ten minutes passed by and that's when she stepped into the grand hall. Her presence didn't go unnoticed by the magician, she was the one he was waiting for after all.

He took a hand-sized lens ball out of his pocket and tossed it up in the air. But instead of catching it, he left it floating at an inch or two above his hand. Then, he directed his hand in her direction and off went the lens ball to her. The amazed girl simply stared at the floating ball which was now right in front of her. Curious, she touched the ball, only to have it fall. She caught it right in time but the moment both her delicate hands wrapped around it, she herself began to float. With a Yelp of surprise, she gripped the ball tighter as she descended on the stage, right beside

the great magician. A giggle left her as her feet touched the ground. Then, with the ball in hand, she looked up at the Magician's gorgeous emerald eyes, which were now trained on her.

He then started pulling out a red cloth from his pocket. At first, it seemed that the cloth was endless but soon, a huge red sheet was on his hand. He draped the cloth on both of them. And then, right before the scrutiny of the audience, the duo disappeared. The crowd cheered even louder than before, but they didn't reappear.

Seconds became minutes and minutes became hours. But they could still see no magician on the stage.

They were gone. Just like that.