Sleepless

From the perspective of Jeriah Van Dyke.

I couldn't sleep. Granted, I was sleeping in the back of Elizabeth's Dodge Challenger and the seat itself was plush and comfortable, but my mind wandered and wandered. That, and my legs were scrunched and restless. And I had no pillow.

I exited the Dodge Challenger and shut the door, then I leaned against the car. I already got drunk once tonight. Best lay off the alcohol for a few days. I pondered what I could do until morning. I had no wristwatch, and I had no way to know the time. I sighed. No ideas came to mind, until I thought about what Chase, Brandon, and Austin could be doing.

I looked up to the night sky. The moon shone through the dense clouds above.

I decided to pay Austin a visit, wherever he was. I searched all over Promethean Territory. While searching for Austin I kept an eye out for my other two friends, but I didn't see them anywhere. I was getting bored of walking, but my boredom ceased when I came upon a magician in a tent that could fit a hundred or so individuals.

The magician was clad in black and white, had a black cape, and had a wavy black mustache and wavy shoulder-length shiny black hair. His piercing amber eyes locked onto mine. He grinned like a madman and gave me a warm welcome. "Hello there, friend! I'm Magnifico! Welcome to Magnifico's Marvelous Tent of Wonders!"

The Tent of Wonders lived up to its name. It contained many amazing small exotic creatures I've never seen, some so bizarre one would think they came straight out of a fairytale storybook. The animals on display were a giant aqua-blue iguana; a dusty old ostrich; a caged mountain lion laying on its belly looking unamused; an exhausted zebra; and a sleeping platypus. But that was only half of it. There was also about half a dozen magical creatures including a miniature fire-breathing leathery-brown scaly dragon; a flying pixie the size of an action figure with sparkling indigo wings; a pale baby-blue flaming phoenix whose tail faded to an electric blue; a brutish male centaur with braided long light-brown hair and lime-green eyes; and a beautiful, young mermaid with short strawberry-blonde hair and a shimmering crimson-red tail swimming in a tall and wide rectangular glass aquarium in the center of the tent.

Everyone was amazed, and I was just as well. The magician performed magic trick after magic trick, some I've never seen before. The magician performed many card tricks and performed a couple different disappearing acts in which he used a mesmerizing female assistant of his. But the most spectacular magic trick of all, I thought, was his signature hypnotizing trick in which he dangled his brightly-colored banded agate amulet in front of a random male volunteer from the audience. The volunteer watched the pendant swing back and forth, back and forth, as the magician said specific phrases to the volunteer.

The magician said, "You are tired. Do not be afraid. The amulet is your only focus. Closely follow the amulet with your eyes until you lose all control. When I say enough, you will return to normal."

The volunteer slowly fell under the magician's spell. The magician then ordered the volunteer to "act like a chicken" and the volunteer obeyed without question. I was completely stunned. The volunteer behaved just like a chicken. I tried to snap the volunteer out of his hypnotized state by snapping my fingers in front of his face, then I tried shaking him, to no avail. The volunteer really was hypnotized.

"How did you do that?" I asked the magician.

The magician grinned and replied, "Easy. I hypnotized him. Anyone can do it. You don't always have to use a tool. Some people have a natural gift to charm others. You'll never know unless you try it yourself. Care to give it a whirl?" The magician offered his amulet to me.

"Sure," I said as I took the amulet. "Can I try hypnotizing you?" I asked the magician.

The magician hesitated. "Um. I guess. I figured you would find another volunteer, but that's okay, I will be your volunteer. Just try to imitate how I hypnotized my own volunteer. Oh, that reminds me."

The magician walked over to his volunteer, bent down, and said, "Enough." The volunteer returned to normal, oblivious to what he had been doing moments before.

The magician returned to me and said, "You will need a code word to snap me out of my hypnotized state. Can you think of one?"

I nodded, thinking of what I wanted to do with the magician. "The code word is saucy. Don't worry, I won't make you do anything stupid."

"Thanks," the magician replied in relief.

I began to swing the magician's amulet back and forth in front of the magician's face. "Keep your eyes on the amulet. Observe the way it is constantly moving, side to side, to and fro, back and forth. You will notice you will begin to tire. At the count of three you will lay on the ground, fall asleep, and you will not awake until I say saucy. I'm starting the countdown now. One." The magician's eyes followed the amulet artlessly, as if he's done it before. "Two." The magician's eyes were looking heavy and tired. "Three." The magician yawned deeply, then his eyes fluttered as he fought to stay awake. Within a few seconds he shut his eyes and laid back, on the ground, with his left hand as a pillow, and he began to snore. Incredible.

With onlookers gathering around, amazed at my display, I finally spoke the code word: "Saucy."

The magician awoke with a startle, his eyes widening and squinting. The tent's entire population seemed to stare in awe at the magician and me both. Magnifico, after his initial astonishment, began to chuckle. "Everyone! Our guest was successful in hypnotizing me, the marvelous Magnifico! Give our guest a round of applause, eh?" I heard the crowd clapping for me. I felt proud of myself, proud that I was actually good at something other than being an alcoholic. I wanted to learn more--much more.

"Hey, Magnifico. I have a question. Can we take this conversation outside?" I asked as I gave him back his amulet.

"Sure," Magnifico replied as he grasped his amulet and hung it around his neck. "Everyone, I'm going outside to have a chat. I will be back momentarily!"

Magnifico and I stepped outside the tent, away from curious ears. "I want to learn more about hypnotizing. Is it possible you could teach me more?"

Magnifico's eyes widened. "I… I wish I could. But I am no teacher. I have a business to run. I don't have time to teach a youngster like you how to hypnotize others. All I can say is keep practicing. The secret lies within your charisma. You must learn to be more convincing than even the best, most conniving salesperson. As I said, some may need to use tools to help them perform hypnosis on others. Although, I have heard of people that can hypnotize others with nothing but their voice. Perhaps you are one of the lucky few."

"So, I can just hypnotize anyone?"

"Yes," Magnifico replied. "As long as your subject is willing. Otherwise you're just charming someone to do your will. And that is morally and ethically wrong. Any more questions?"

"Is there anyone else that can teach me the art of hypnosis?"

Magnifico huffed before responding. "I know of a single living teacher of hypnosis. His name is Mikhel Khorinsky. He is a vampire, like you. He teaches at a place called Castle Academy in British Columbia. Not only is he a teacher, but he's one of the best hypnotizers I know. He taught me for a brief period before he became a professor. Seek out Mikhel if you want to learn more. Now, I must get back to what I do best. Take care, kid."

Magnifico smiled faintly, then he waved goodbye with a flick of his hand and stepped back inside the Tent of Wonders.

I stood outside pondering about Mikhel Khorinsky. I knew I would one day meet him and learn under him, but I didn't know when I would get the chance.

It was getting fairly late in the night, it seemed. That was when I noticed Austin walking around with Atropine and talking about something. I had to be nosy.

"Hey, gents," I said, halting the conversation between Austin and Atropine. They both stared at me as if I was a ghost.

"Where did you come from?" Austin asked.

"The Tent of Wonders," I said. "Magnifico showed me how to perform hypnosis. Told me I should seek out Mikhel Khorinsky at Castle Academy. I'm starting to think going to Castle Academy may be the best option for me and Chase and Brandon."

Austin nodded in agreement. "Yeah, for sure. Maybe one day I will take you and your other two friends?"

"That would be wicked cool."

"Anyway. Atropine and I were talking about you and Chase and Brandon. You three definitely have an arduous task of expanding the Hart Clan. I say arduous because the Vampyr Empire will stop at nothing to prevent the Hart Clan from expanding, and to bring Chase to Jaeger, for what reason even I do not know. I will do what I can to help you and your two friends. But I cannot stay with you three. I must leave for Chicago tonight."

"That sucks," I admitted. "Wish you could stick around with us a bit longer."

Austin closed his eyes and shook his head. "Sorry. Don Rafael has requested my assistance. I gave him my promise."

"You can't wait to go with us to Chicago in the morning?"

Austin shook his head again. "No. Sorry."

I sighed. "So you'll be leaving now?"

"Yes, I am. You don't break a promise with Don Rafael and live to tell the tale. See you again in a few days."

Austin reached out his right hand and a human-sized portal formed next to him. "Atropine, take care of Promethean Territory, yourself, and the other Grandmasters. I'll try to visit again, same time next year, if I'm not working."

Atropine nodded. "Will do, Mr. Clark. You have a safe journey."

Austin smiled weakly and nodded back, then he turned to me. "Jeriah, tell your two amigos that I'm heading to Chicago. You take care of your friends, and they will take care of you. Take care. Adios."

Austin sauntered away, through the portal, and disappeared as the portal closed behind him.

I was left standing there with Atropine, both of us silent. Then Atropine spoke. "I figure Austin has a lot on his plate, between being a middleman for Don Rafael and Fiske Hart, and being an F.E.F. High Committee member. I'm surprised he had time to come to the Festival of Wizards this year. Half the time he doesn't show up."

Intrigued, I decided to ask, "So, Austin must be pretty special, huh?"

"I guess. Austin knows many people of power. He can pull a lot of strings. It's a good thing you have him as a friend."

"Yeah, I reckon."

"Heard you were leaving for Chicago in the morning with your two friends. That true?"

"It's true."

"I suggest you watch yourself in Chicago. I've heard bad things have happened to lots of good people up there."

I gulped. "Thanks for the advice."

Just then a thunderous bolt of lightning blasted the asphalt nearby. Steam rose up from the point of impact as the ground glowed fiery red. I hadn't noticed storm clouds earlier, but now it was obvious, even in the dark of night. Strange, I thought. The weather was just fine when I looked up at the sky after leaving Elizabeth's Dodge Challenger.

"That was unexpected," Atropine remarked.

"Agreed," I replied.

"That's bad luck. Very bad luck."

"Is it just me, or does it seem like it's about to storm?"

"It's not just you." Atropine looked up at the sky now flashing with lightning, the wind starting to howl. "I believe it's about to get real nasty."