Chapter Text
My God I was bored. The wind whistled through the trees as I walked along the sidewalk. I was going home, to my boring rental. Tomorrow I would return to pounding the pavement. Boring, boring, boring. I was between jobs, looking for something that both paid the bills and didn’t make me want to walk into oncoming traffic. I wasn’t too worried, I had three months of savings in the bank. I was frugal. Responsible. I never did anything fun. I felt like all I did was walk around, run errands, and sleep. I didn’t really know anyone in this small town. No friends. No boyfriend. My rental didn’t even allow pets. Sometimes I felt like I was just existing, for no purpose. Was this normal for everyone? I probably needed to talk to someone, but fuck, I didn’t have time for therapy. And what would it cost?
A stream of rambling thoughts flowed through my mind as I walked rhythmically down the street. The sky was grey. I was grey. Everything was grey. When I got home I would have dinner and go to bed, maybe read my library book until I fell asleep. Maybe I could call my mom, or my brother, but god, I literally had nothing to talk about. I clutched my coat around me as the sky grew darker, my bag swinging at my side. Staring at the cracked pavement, I felt unseen, insignificant.
I was so preoccupied as I hurried along my usual path, I almost bumped into someone as he stepped out into my vision.
“Oh! I’m so sorry,” I exclaimed, bringing my hands up. I had to stop myself from propelling right into this man’s arms. How embarrassing, I really had to watch where I was going!
I tucked my hair behind my ear and looked up at him. The man was striking. He was wearing black, except for a ridiculous bright red turtleneck peeking out from his shirt, and a black top hat over shaggy hair. I guessed he was in his late thirties, early forties. Honestly, he was cute, in an awkward, Willy Wonka kind of way. Peering up into his pale face, I realized he was wearing white face paint. I couldn’t see his eyes behind his sunglasses, but he was grinning at me.
“Quite alright, my dear, no harm done!” He must have seen the confusion on my face, because he bowed with an earnest flourish, doffing his hat, and explained that he was a magician, just back from a gig. I looked over at the black van beside us; ABRACADABRA was on the side, and below, Entertainment & Supplies. I smiled, and turned back to him.
“That is so cool!” I nodded and moved to go.
“Hey!” He went to open the back of the van, his voice friendly. “Would you like to see a magic trick?”
I laughed as I shrugged. “Okay…”
He flung open the van doors and a huge bundle of black balloons poured out. The man exclaimed in annoyance and went to push them back in. I giggled, “Oh no!” and stepped forward to help him. I barely registered him stepping close behind me, putting me between him and the open van doors. I heard his voice, low now, close at the back of my head, “Didn’t anyone ever tell you…”
Concerned, I whipped around to face him and was met with a blinding pain in my eyes. He had sprayed me with something! Fuck! I brought my head down and clapped my hands over my face, as I felt two strong hands push me backwards into the balloons and into the dark interior of the van. Blinded, I heard myself screaming as I felt my legs hauled up into the van and the door slamming shut. I rolled around in agony in the darkness, my eyes on fire. I thought I heard someone get into the front of the van and crawl into the back, over to me.
“… Not to talk to strangers?” A cloth was roughly shoved into my mouth mid-scream and I smelled something sweet before darkness overtook me, and I completely blacked out.