DEATH EMPRESS - JACK WILDER [1]

3: Las Vegas

1 year later:

"Merritt McKinney. Kate Sherman. Daniel Atlas. Henley Reeves. Jack Wilder. Arthur Tressler and the MGM Grand proudly present: The Five Horsemen."

-

It's been a year that I've known these four people that were once strangers to me. It all seems to fly by fast and you don't realize it until it's all over. I stand with them tonight, by their sides, knowing that our year filled with secrets and laughs is soon coming to an end. I trust these people with my life and somewhere in the midst of our dangerous scheming was I able to find a little bit of family in each and every one of them.

"Thank you, thank you," Merritt says to the roaring audience as they continuously cheer for us. The crowd is one that has undeniably been astonished the entire night due to our spectacular magic tricks.

Merritt has become my second father in a way. Maybe it is because he has more life experience than the rest of us do, an example being his brother stealing all of his money and then running away. Regardless of that, he still somehow finds a way to provide the comedic relief we sometimes so desperately need when we are all stuck in the depth of our stress. He also gets pesky at times like I can imagine a normal father would, sticking his nose in places it doesn't belong; the mentalism thing doesn't make it any easier on us. At the end of the day, Merritt is someone I can go to if I need some fatherly comfort and it's nice to know what it really feels like.

"For our final trick, we are going to be doing something never before seen on a Las Vegas stage!" Henley announces while managing to pull off her enormously high heels as she struts across the large stage.

"Or any stage for that matter," Jack continues, walking in a different direction than Henley as he claps his hands together excitedly.

"Ladies and gentlemen," I begin, smiling wildly at the anticipating crowd.

"Tonight," Daniel says. "We are going to rob a bank."

As Danny finishes his line, the audience goes absolutely berserk. My ears pop from the loud hum of the crowd, my heart pounding as this is something I have yet to get used to. I've heard many loud audiences in the past year, but it still gets to me every time I see the curiosity and eagerness in their smiles.

I can't resist saying, "Wow!" And it makes my reaction to everything all more real.

"That's a lot of excitement for a crime," Danny says, earning laughs from around the arena.

"I'm getting excited! What about you people?" Henley yells at the crowd to keep them entertained and once again, they go absolutely insane.

"Okay, okay. Now, please, please, settle down now," Daniel attempts to hush down the overly excited audience, though at the moment it seems very unlikely. "Who here has a bank they would like us to rob?"

A wave of hands shoot up from all around us, causing me to jump back with a bit of fear. "Okay, that's a lot of people who want to become criminals, so we'll choose at random then." As I finish my dialogue, Merritt, Henley, and Jack all retrieve their assigned bowls filled with marked ping pong balls and walk to the edge of the stage.

"My associates will make sure it's random, right?" Daniel says and though it sounds like clever humor to everyone else, only the five of us know what's to come.

I walk near Jack who is deciding very carefully who he should let pick the ball. I place my hand on his shoulder to grab his attention and point to a charismatic man in the audience dressed as Elvis.