The Expert

1. The Card

Trust me, if I had it my way, I'd do street performing everyda--oh wait, I do! Did I fool ya? No? Well let's change that, shall we? Heh heh...

As I strolled the streets of New York, my black fedora sat comfortably on the top of my head, my long, black, tube curls bouncing as I walked. My outfit consisted of black jeans; a black, spaghetti strap tank top; black flats; a black, skin tight jacket; and, of course, my fedora on my head, my piercing blue eyes shining brightly. As I shuffled my deck in my hands, I strolled along the streets, searching for another spot to make more money, the coins and bills I already had sitting in my pockets. God I love misdirection...

A smirk crept up to my face as I found my way to Central Park. Heading to a nice, shady spot, I casually leaned against a tree. With a flick of the wrist, I flipped my hat off my head, my black curls suiting the style of my outfit perfectly. After setting my hat down next to my foot, I held my deck of cards in one hand, my other a reasonable distance below as I scattered the deck to the other hand, doing that over and over again. "All right, New York, who wants to see some magic?" I called out and seconds later, I got a full crowd.

Pushing off the tree, I took a couple steps forward before pocketing the deck in my hand. "I'm going to need a volunteer. So...who would like to come over here and assist me?" Several hands shot up as I scanned around until my eyes caught that of a tall brunette about in his twenties, older than me since I'm 22. To me, he looked about 25-ish. Extending my hand, I held it out to him. "How about you, handsome? Let's test my luck." I smirked.

He grabbed my hand as I took a couple steps backwards before letting go of his hand. I held my deck up in my hand, flicking my wrist as my cards spread instantly. "Pick a card." He grabbed one around the middle as I smirked, closing the deck back. "Show it to everyone, except me, and memorize it. And when you have, place it back in the deck." He showed everyone the card before putting it back in the deck. While shuffling, I spoke again. "Might I know your name, sweetheart?"

"It's Brandon." He smirked at me.

"Well, Brandon..." I picked up a card. "...was this your card?"

"Nope."

I pretended to pout, sliding off the next top card. "How about this one?"

He chuckled. "Wrong again."

The crowd thought I messed up, but my fake little pout soon changed to a sinister little smirk. "Well then... Let's try something else..." Brandon folded his arms and gave me that smug smirk I knew he'd give as I smirked myself.

Throwing the deck up into the air, the cards scattered. But I'm not finished. As my cards scattered, I lifted my hand, snapping my fingers as they all bursted into flames, the crowd gasping in awe. As the flames cleared, I snatched one single card from the air, showing it to the crowd and Brandon. "Is this you card?"

He gasped in awe. "How'd you do that!?" He asked happily, the crowd going nuts.

Flicking my wrist, I made the card disappear. "Magic." I winked.

Brandon took a step forward. "Can I get your number?"

I flicked my wrist again as a pen appeared in my hand. Grabbing his hand, I wrote down a number on his wrist. When I finished, I flicked my wrist again as my pen disappeared. "There ya go."

"You're one fine magician." He winked before walking off.

Once he was gone, I scoffed and rolled my eyes. "Overconfident moron..." I muttered under my breath before putting on a fake smile and taking out a deck from behind my back, not. "Who's next?" I called, shuffling the deck like before.

I did various tricks all through the rest of the day. When it had finally gotten dark, I collected my earnings and stuffed them in my pockets. After flicking my fedora back onto my head, I shuffled my cards in my hands as I walked, until I saw a small crowd around another magician. Having nothing better to do, I decided to go check it out as I saw a man with shaggy, chocolate brown hair and icy blue eyes, a scruffy beard on his face.

"Okay, I'm gonna flip through the deck and I want you to see one card. When you do, memorize it but don't say what it is." He said to a pretty girl that could pull off as a slut. He quickly flipped through the deck a bit too fast. "That was a little fast. Let's try again, but slower." He flipped through it again a bit slower as I saw the seven of diamonds, already knowing this trick. "Do you have a card?"

"Yes." She said.

"Is it memorized?"

"Yes."

"Well then..." He threw the deck up as the cards scattered, turning to a large building. Looking up, I saw the seven of diamonds created by the lit rooms of the building as I smirked.

What a rookie move. He's obviously an expert since I have seen him before, but that's just a lame trick to get girls as that one in particular was clinging to his elbow. Rolling my eyes, I looked back to see him eyeing me with a smirk. His eyes went up, down, up, and down, raking me in. Pretty boy obviously likes what he sees. I huffed to myself before turning and walking off. "Piss off..." I mumbled. "Treat me like a game and I'll show you just how it's played, asshole..." I hissed to myself.

When I made it to my apartment, I unlocked the door, taking out all my change as I added it to my collection of money I scam off of people. But suddenly, after removing my fedora and coat, I noticed something right in the middle of my dining table. After hanging up my jacket and hat, I walked over to the table. Going to the long side of my table, there was what I believe a Tarot Card right smack in the center, that certainly wasn't there a second ago. Reaching over, I slid the card off the table. Picking it up, I flipped it over to see a man leaning against a wall with his hand on the top of the black fedora on his head, a shadow creeping behind him and his face hidden by the hat. Underneath the picture, a title.

"The Expert?"

I flipped the card over to see The Eye along with a date, time, and address.

March 29
4:44 PM
4 East Evan St. NY, NY

What the hell? I looked up from the card to around my room. I was alone. What was going on? Looking over to my calendar, I saw that today was March 28th. Looking back at the card, the date was for tomorrow.

"Tomorrow?" I smirked, dropping my arm. "Tomorrow, eh? Well then...I'd best not disappoint."