Chapter 10
“And now, Ladies and Gentleman, I’ll perform my amazing levitating man trick!” Kieran O’Mara called out to the crowd packing the lounge. “With the help of my adorable assistant, the vampire Donnell!” he waved a hand at the rather disgruntled looking man standing next to him clad in a ‘Count Dracula’ costume with his black curls slicked to his head and face powder on his skin to make him look even more pale. “Watch out, he’s dangerous,” the mage added with a twinkle in his eyes. “A deadly creature of the night. Right, Donnell?”
The vampire scowled at him. He lifted his long cape in his hands and spoke in a terrible Romanian accent: “I vant to suck your blood!”
The crowd laughed heartily, while Kieran blew him a kiss. “Well, as you know folks, vampires can fly,” Kieran remarked as he turned back to the crowd. “And Donnell definitely can, when there’s magic added in!” he lifted a dramatic hand and flourished it in the air. The crowd gasped a little as Donnell began to rise into the air, his arms outspread while his fingers still clutched the cape. Applause followed, although surely the crowd assumed that the ‘vampire’ was flying using wires and a harness. If they only knew…
He floated in mid-air for a few moments, before Kieran began to lower him to the floor again. “But even vampires get tired. So let’s have him demonstrate some of his other supernatural powers…like turning into mist!”
Donnell felt that internal disorientation that came when Kieran teleported him. He closed his eyes hurriedly, because if he didn’t he became overwhelmingly dizzy. He knew that he had disappeared from the stage, and that a thick cloud of mist had taken his place. He’d emerge from the magic cabinet where Kieran had sent him in just a moment. By now, he and Kieran had their act well rehearsed.
Bemused, he shook his head. Had it only been five months ago that he’d been living by himself in a brooding depression that was akin to despair? That he’d cursed the rapidly approaching holiday and wished that he were dead? It didn’t seem like that short of a time to him. Somehow it seemed that he’d known Kieran for years. Maybe forever. The mage was as familiar to him now as his own right hand. And just as appreciated. He’d saved Donnell from his darkness and had drawn him back into life easily, with laughter and love and also with his boundless energy and delightful madness. Donnell couldn’t resist him, and didn’t try anymore. He just went along for the ride, often feeling giddy and somewhat dizzy but also quite happy.
The mage had proposed that Donnell become his assistant in his magic act so that the vampire would have some real income of his own and not have to steal anymore. Kieran had shrewdly seen that Donnell hated what he had to do to pay his rent, and his offer meant freedom from having to compel people and take their money. While he hadn’t been totally pleased about Kieran’s idea of dressing him up as a vampire, he did see the humor in it. As people didn’t believe that what Kieran did was real magic, they’d never believe that he was a real vampire.
The idea had been very successful so far, and he’d made so much money just from his assistant’s fees that Kieran had had to help him establish an identity so that he could open a bank account and put some of it away into savings. The mage was very good at putting together new identities for himself, since he’d been doing it every five years or so for the last fifty years.
So he was now Donnell McBride, and he had a social security number and a driver’s license too(though he never drove; cars gave him the willies). He’d pay taxes on his earnings, which thought rather pleased him. And he had a debit card that he could use to make purchases with, a novel thing that he enjoyed greatly. He was always buying little gifts for Kieran, things that he knew would please the child-like mage to no end. In return, Kieran kept bringing home new sweets and delights for him to sample. He wouldn’t soon forget the time that the mage had melted an entire imported chocolate bar and had spread the stuff on his skin, urging Donnell to try this new flavor. And so he had; and it had been very sweet and fulfilling, if he did say so himself.
He smiled in the darkness of the magic cabinet. Call it fate, call it luck, call it anything that you wanted…but he chose to believe that the reason that he’d met Kieran O’Mara on that street corner a few days before Christmas was because of one thing and one thing only: Magic! That wild and wonderful magic that made Kieran a Merlin had changed his life forever. He suspected that he’d never be the same again, and that was fine by him.
“Ah hah!” the door was pulled open dramatically by Kieran, and Donnell stepped lightly out of the cabinet. “He’s returned! Now what you’ve seen tonight - was it real, or was it simply Donnell using his powerful vampiric abilities to hypnotize you and make you believe that what you saw was real? I guess we’ll never know…”
He turned to Donnell. “For my last trick of the night, I’ll vanquish the vampire!” he cried, making a wooden stake appear in his hand. “Everyone knows that only two things will destroy a vampire - sunlight and a wooden stake through the heart! Well, since its evening and there’s no sunlight to be had, a stake it is! Here we go, folks! Begone, foul creature!” he intoned, rolling his eyes dramatically. Donnell did some eye rolling as well as he waited for the mage to perform the finale of his act.
Kieran winked and him and drove the stake into his chest. Actually, this was the only illusion that the mage used during the night - he cast a spell that made the audience think that they saw Donnell being staked through the heart, while at the same time he made the stake disappear from his hand. Donnell shrieked theatrically as Kieran teleported him once more - and replaced his body with a large pile of ashes with the cape lying atop them.
At the back of the stage, Donnell hurriedly pulled on his other costume, a rather glittery shirt and black trousers. Then he ran back onto the stage with his hands lifted, and the crowd roared their applause as Kieran yelled: “Isn’t he great, folks? Let’s hear it for my ’vampire’ assistant, Donnell McBride! Thank you, you’ve been a great audience! And remember…the world is full of magic, if you’ll just take the time to look for it!”
He bowed elaborately, catching Donnell’s hand and holding it. The vampire also bowed, and the clapping continued until after they’d left the stage together. In the wings, Kieran pulled him close and kissed him hungrily. “That’s was awesome as usual, Donnell,” he said happily when he pulled back at last. “You’re the best assistant that a Merlin could ask for.”
The vampire lifted his brows. “I’m simply earning my keep,” he noted.
“You earn it well,” Kieran told him with a grin. “I’m making more money than I ever have before this. I might just have to give you a raise.”
“How about a less embarrassing costume?” Donnell said in some asperity.
Kieran chuckled. “But I love your Count Dracula costume! You look so cute in it,” he said. “I could just eat you up when you wear it.”
He pretended to scowl, but was silently considering wearing the stupid costume in the bedroom sometime soon. “What now?” he asked aloud.
“An after show snack,” Kieran said. “What’ll it be? Cake? Pie? Candy? What sweets for my sweet?”
Donnell laughed a little, shaking his head. “Daft Merlin,” he remarked affectionately. “Let’s just go somewhere and surprise ourselves.”
“Sounds good to me. Come on, let’s go.” Kieran dragged him by the hand out the door and into the night, which is where a creature like him belonged anyway…
The End
“And now, Ladies and Gentleman, I’ll perform my amazing levitating man trick!” Kieran O’Mara called out to the crowd packing the lounge. “With the help of my adorable assistant, the vampire Donnell!” he waved a hand at the rather disgruntled looking man standing next to him clad in a ‘Count Dracula’ costume with his black curls slicked to his head and face powder on his skin to make him look even more pale. “Watch out, he’s dangerous,” the mage added with a twinkle in his eyes. “A deadly creature of the night. Right, Donnell?”
The vampire scowled at him. He lifted his long cape in his hands and spoke in a terrible Romanian accent: “I vant to suck your blood!”
The crowd laughed heartily, while Kieran blew him a kiss. “Well, as you know folks, vampires can fly,” Kieran remarked as he turned back to the crowd. “And Donnell definitely can, when there’s magic added in!” he lifted a dramatic hand and flourished it in the air. The crowd gasped a little as Donnell began to rise into the air, his arms outspread while his fingers still clutched the cape. Applause followed, although surely the crowd assumed that the ‘vampire’ was flying using wires and a harness. If they only knew…
He floated in mid-air for a few moments, before Kieran began to lower him to the floor again. “But even vampires get tired. So let’s have him demonstrate some of his other supernatural powers…like turning into mist!”
Donnell felt that internal disorientation that came when Kieran teleported him. He closed his eyes hurriedly, because if he didn’t he became overwhelmingly dizzy. He knew that he had disappeared from the stage, and that a thick cloud of mist had taken his place. He’d emerge from the magic cabinet where Kieran had sent him in just a moment. By now, he and Kieran had their act well rehearsed.
Bemused, he shook his head. Had it only been five months ago that he’d been living by himself in a brooding depression that was akin to despair? That he’d cursed the rapidly approaching holiday and wished that he were dead? It didn’t seem like that short of a time to him. Somehow it seemed that he’d known Kieran for years. Maybe forever. The mage was as familiar to him now as his own right hand. And just as appreciated. He’d saved Donnell from his darkness and had drawn him back into life easily, with laughter and love and also with his boundless energy and delightful madness. Donnell couldn’t resist him, and didn’t try anymore. He just went along for the ride, often feeling giddy and somewhat dizzy but also quite happy.
The mage had proposed that Donnell become his assistant in his magic act so that the vampire would have some real income of his own and not have to steal anymore. Kieran had shrewdly seen that Donnell hated what he had to do to pay his rent, and his offer meant freedom from having to compel people and take their money. While he hadn’t been totally pleased about Kieran’s idea of dressing him up as a vampire, he did see the humor in it. As people didn’t believe that what Kieran did was real magic, they’d never believe that he was a real vampire.
The idea had been very successful so far, and he’d made so much money just from his assistant’s fees that Kieran had had to help him establish an identity so that he could open a bank account and put some of it away into savings. The mage was very good at putting together new identities for himself, since he’d been doing it every five years or so for the last fifty years.
So he was now Donnell McBride, and he had a social security number and a driver’s license too(though he never drove; cars gave him the willies). He’d pay taxes on his earnings, which thought rather pleased him. And he had a debit card that he could use to make purchases with, a novel thing that he enjoyed greatly. He was always buying little gifts for Kieran, things that he knew would please the child-like mage to no end. In return, Kieran kept bringing home new sweets and delights for him to sample. He wouldn’t soon forget the time that the mage had melted an entire imported chocolate bar and had spread the stuff on his skin, urging Donnell to try this new flavor. And so he had; and it had been very sweet and fulfilling, if he did say so himself.
He smiled in the darkness of the magic cabinet. Call it fate, call it luck, call it anything that you wanted…but he chose to believe that the reason that he’d met Kieran O’Mara on that street corner a few days before Christmas was because of one thing and one thing only: Magic! That wild and wonderful magic that made Kieran a Merlin had changed his life forever. He suspected that he’d never be the same again, and that was fine by him.
“Ah hah!” the door was pulled open dramatically by Kieran, and Donnell stepped lightly out of the cabinet. “He’s returned! Now what you’ve seen tonight - was it real, or was it simply Donnell using his powerful vampiric abilities to hypnotize you and make you believe that what you saw was real? I guess we’ll never know…”
He turned to Donnell. “For my last trick of the night, I’ll vanquish the vampire!” he cried, making a wooden stake appear in his hand. “Everyone knows that only two things will destroy a vampire - sunlight and a wooden stake through the heart! Well, since its evening and there’s no sunlight to be had, a stake it is! Here we go, folks! Begone, foul creature!” he intoned, rolling his eyes dramatically. Donnell did some eye rolling as well as he waited for the mage to perform the finale of his act.
Kieran winked and him and drove the stake into his chest. Actually, this was the only illusion that the mage used during the night - he cast a spell that made the audience think that they saw Donnell being staked through the heart, while at the same time he made the stake disappear from his hand. Donnell shrieked theatrically as Kieran teleported him once more - and replaced his body with a large pile of ashes with the cape lying atop them.
At the back of the stage, Donnell hurriedly pulled on his other costume, a rather glittery shirt and black trousers. Then he ran back onto the stage with his hands lifted, and the crowd roared their applause as Kieran yelled: “Isn’t he great, folks? Let’s hear it for my ’vampire’ assistant, Donnell McBride! Thank you, you’ve been a great audience! And remember…the world is full of magic, if you’ll just take the time to look for it!”
He bowed elaborately, catching Donnell’s hand and holding it. The vampire also bowed, and the clapping continued until after they’d left the stage together. In the wings, Kieran pulled him close and kissed him hungrily. “That’s was awesome as usual, Donnell,” he said happily when he pulled back at last. “You’re the best assistant that a Merlin could ask for.”
The vampire lifted his brows. “I’m simply earning my keep,” he noted.
“You earn it well,” Kieran told him with a grin. “I’m making more money than I ever have before this. I might just have to give you a raise.”
“How about a less embarrassing costume?” Donnell said in some asperity.
Kieran chuckled. “But I love your Count Dracula costume! You look so cute in it,” he said. “I could just eat you up when you wear it.”
He pretended to scowl, but was silently considering wearing the stupid costume in the bedroom sometime soon. “What now?” he asked aloud.
“An after show snack,” Kieran said. “What’ll it be? Cake? Pie? Candy? What sweets for my sweet?”
Donnell laughed a little, shaking his head. “Daft Merlin,” he remarked affectionately. “Let’s just go somewhere and surprise ourselves.”
“Sounds good to me. Come on, let’s go.” Kieran dragged him by the hand out the door and into the night, which is where a creature like him belonged anyway…
The End