Archives Falls

LBW: Part Three

"Man, wasn't the show awesome?" Wendy said, climbing up onto the counter.

Pacifica glanced at her from the Journal, and only shrugged. She guessed that was the kindest way of saying she felt she was being watched the entire time and that the presenter, Robbie Whatever-His-Name-Was, was a huge liar and fakest person she had ever seen. She had been aware of most magicians lying personalities, but this boy took it to a whole new level.

She turned her attention towards Gideon, who seemed to be purposely ignoring the conversation. She saw as Wendy went on about how good Robbie was, his face would twitch every one in a while, and at one point, she swore she saw his hair frizz up a bit.

She wondered why that was. Maybe a bad experience with psychics in the past? Either way, she realized her shot of getting her to tell him anytime soon was low.

"Of course, you don't get excited about much," Wendy said, crossing her arms.

Pacifica sighed and put down the book she had in her hand. "Wendy, I told you earlier, psychic shows aren't really my thing. And I didn't enjoy Robbie's performance much. But if you want to like it, you can."

Wendy didn't say anything further, but climbed up onto the globe and started spinning. Pacifica looked back down at her book, as Wendy's spinning was making her dizzy.

Her thoughts again drifted to the magic show. Why did they keep going back to that? Pacifica didn't know, maybe because Wendy was making a huge deal of it, but even if Wendy hadn't, that wasn't what she thought was making her head revolve around the show.

Despite dismissing it as a fake show that this town took pride in for some reason, there was something about it that racked her brain.

That eye contact with Robbie.

She had seen him pick up a card from his stack, and look at it for a second, and take a glance at her and Wendy. Wendy hadn't seen it the same way she had. She had grinned at the look, convinced she saw him glance at her again after, but Pacifica saw another look behind his eyes.

A look of fear. Panic. Anxiety.

But why was he that nervous? He didn't seem like a nervous person. Then again, she had only seen his stage personality. Perhaps he was actually quite nervous off camera.

She closed her book, and leaned her head against the wall behind her, glancing around the gift shop. Business seemed slower than usual, which she thought was stressing her Great Uncle Fiddleford. He had seemed to visit the shop more and want to put up more advertisements. Was it due to the Tent o' Telepathy?

She wouldn't be surprised if that was the reason. The people of this town seemed to enjoy scams, or at least be easily tricked into them, and the whole "Place Your Money In The Bag" thing was the biggest scam she had seen yet in this town.

"Off the table, girls, here comes Mister Pines," Gideon said, hearing footsteps approaching the gift shop, which were too heavy to be Candy's steps.

Pacifica slid off the counter, pretending to dust off some of the souvenirs, as Fiddleford entered the room. The bags under his eyes were heavy and dark, noticeable even under his spectacles. and his hair, which usually at least looked somewhat groomed, today looked like he hadn't combed it in weeks.

"Woah, Grunkle Fiddleford, you okay?" Wendy asked upon seeing him. "You look, kind of, uh-"

"Fine fine, fine!" Fiddleford said, his voice getting higher every time he had the word. "But what does it matter? Someday, he'll come for us all-"

Pacifica stared at him, biting her lip and looking concerned. She had never seen him act so, so eccentric, out of it. When he spoke, it was usually mutters about something she could never pick up on, but it always sounded miserable.