INTERCAMBIO DE TIEMPO (Written in English)

Mr. Mysterio 3

Her palms felt sweaty and her heart raced as Charles and the rest of the audience kept urging her to go. She couldn't believe it! She couldn't believe that she was going to be used as a test subject. She felt thrilled at the thought of being the last person Mr. Mysterio will use for his last performance.

She could feel the disdainful looks the Audience was giving her, but none of that mattered. Walking toward the stage, the magician offered his hand, which she took.

" What is your name?"  The magician asked while leaning close to her.

" Emily...Emily Wills." She replied while staring into his eyes. The dark blue eyes gazed back at hers, like it was looking for something, an answer to a question untold.

Somehow she could feel it in her heart, that she was going to regret whatever happened here tonight. She could feel it somewhere, somehow, that she made a mistake coming here. She wanted to refuse, to walk out those doors and save herself from what was to come. She felt vulnerable, like a prey in front of its predator.

She couldn't hear it any longer. The chants and complaints of the audience. The voice of hardcore fans cheering them on, The doors swinging open and getting slammed. All she could hear was her breathing and heartbeat.

" Emily Wills."  A voice called out to her. it sounded distant and " Emily." The voice called again, jolting her from her thoughts.

It was the magician and his hands were placed on her shoulders. " If you feel you don't want to do this, you can just say it." The magician told her.

" I want to do it," Emily replied decisively and confidently. She wasn't going to let this chance slip away from her grip. She wanted to experience the magic and that's what she was going to do tonight.

The magician nodded and turned to face the crowds. "  What I'm going to perform is something impossible. Something that not even scientists had been able to achieve. Something that will break the laws of physics. I'm going to perform a time-traveling spell." He said with a smile. " We all know that time travel is just moving from one certain point in time to another and it's really difficult to achieve, or rather we were told it's really difficult to achieve. Some magic are capable of defying the laws of physics, such as levitating spells. According to physics, it is not possible because of the presence of gravity, but it is with magic. Just like that, we magicians were able to achieve it. I too was able to work on a spell that could achieve time travel." The magician said and with some hand gestures, a small black hole appeared out of nowhere.

Taking out a chick from a cage, he put it into the hole, and it disappeared. " There are certain ways to time travel and one of those ways is through wormholes. What you just saw was a wormhole and you all would probably be asking, where did the chick go?" He said and with another hand gesture, another hole appeared. He put his hand inside, he took out a fully grown hen. " What I just did was time travel. I just picked up the chick, six months from now." He informed and dropped the hen back into the cage.

The hall was suddenly quiet and not a single noise, not even a whisper could be heard. Everyone was stunned by what they just witnessed.  Emily stared at the magician " He is real." She mumbled like she was trying to convince herself.

The magician walked toward her and placed his hands on her head. He closed his eyes and started chanting some words inaudible. He seemed to be in deep concentration with his brows furrowed.

Emily stood still, her heart pounding fiercely in excitement. Once again, she couldn't hear anything else in the crowd, and then, the magician suddenly removed his hand. For the first time, Emily saw the magician looking shocked.

For the first time, he looked like he did not know what he was doing or how to do it. It felt like whatever he was about to do, did not happen as he kept staring at his wrist. " It did not work, why?" She heard him ask rhetorically.

The audience was confused as well, as the hall fell mute. It was so quiet that one could hear a pin drop. What just happened? was a question none of them could answer.

" What's wrong with him?" A girl asked her friend, who was live streaming the event with her phone.

" Honestly, I don't know." Her friend replied.

" I knew he was faking it. I don't know how he made that hole appear but I think it's also fake." Another girl chipped in, seeming quite unsure of herself.

" Ladies and gentlemen, please give it up for Mr. Mysterio." The host of the event said as he took the stage. Walking toward Mr. Mysterio, he leaned in. " Let's talk after the show." He whispered and smiled faintly.  The magician did not respond as he kept staring at his hands. After some time, he disappeared in a puff of smoke.

" I am sorry for that, he just isn't feeling himself tonight. My sincere apologies to all of you on behalf of him. This is the end of the show, goodnight." He added and walked behind the red curtain backstage.

Again, no one could believe what they just heard. They all sat frozen in their seats with confusion plastered on their face. No one understood what just happened and no one was ready to give them the answers to their questions.

" What the hell just happened?" A man asked no one in particular, as everyone rose and began to walk out of the hall.

" Emily! Emily!!" Charles called out and ran toward the stage. His hands were placed. on her shoulders, as he stared into her eyes.

" What happened Charles?" She asked him, looking confused.

" I don't know but I think we should get going." He replied and pulled her toward the exit.

***************

" What the hell just happened in there?" The host asked with folded arms. His brows were arched and he looked pissed off.

" I don't know... I don't understand, I was sure I did it the right way."  A young man with black curly hair replied. His dark blue eyes kept staring into space.

" You don't know?" The host asked with a confused look. " You've just killed my career!!" He yelled.

The young man looked up at him and stood from his seat. " I killed your career? I just humiliated myself in front of everyone!! "  He yelled back with an angry look.

" I'm sorry, but you are not getting paid for this." The host informed him.

" You know what?" The young man asked as he leaned in. " Keep the money. I don't need it anyway." He added and stormed out of the room.

************************

Charles walked into the house, through the front door. He knew his parents had returned and he wanted to sneak in. He had seen Emily off and had driven home, in his mother's car.

He tiptoed up the stairs and stopped as the stairs creaked a little bit. He could hear footsteps from upstairs. " Is that you Charles?" He heard and quickly covered his mouth. It was his mother and it seemed like they figured he snuck out.

He could hear a door get slammed and footsteps headed his way. He quickly tiptoed downstairs and hid behind the couch in the living room.

He could hear the light switch get flicked on. " Charles." His mother called again and headed for the kitchen.

In a swift move, he headed up the stairs to his room. He silently closed and locked the door, while resting his head on the wooden door. with a sigh of relief, he turned.

" Welcome back son. we have a lot to discuss your whereabouts." He heard as he could see his dad's silhouette seated on his bed.

Meanwhile, Emily walked into her room from the bathroom, her hair dripping with water. She sat in front of her dressing mirror and began to dry her hair. With a towel, she dried it thoroughly.

She heaved a deep sigh as she thought back at the show. What happened back there? why did it fail? picking up a hairbrush, she began to comb her hair.

While applying face cream, she caught a tint of blood on her mirror. 

" What the hell?" She said as she rubbed it off. Looking closely into the mirror, she saw a silhouette standing behind her. She spun her head quickly but there was no one there.

Taking in a deep breath, she looked at the mirror and to her horror, she saw heaps of bloodied corpses in the mirror. There were flying human-like animals around, with fangs and claws.

She spun around and again, she was in her room. Looking at the mirror, she watched in dismay as one of the creatures was staring back at her. It walked slowly toward her and tilted its head to the side, with a confused look.

With its hand stretched out, it came out from the other side of the mirror. Her heart pounded rapidly as its icy bloodied claws moved along her jawline and halted at her neck. With one swift motion, it gripped her neck tightly and with a piercing screeching sound, it flew out of the mirror.