Love Is Only an Illusion

“The point of why we are here,” Merritt addressed the camera in front of the three magicians from the 5 Pointz basement, “is to say we are not, we cannot quit now. We started something bigger than all of us. We have to finish it.”

“Remember the names Jack Wilder and Sutton Reeves,” Henley continued, her voice cracking, “when you see us live, 5 Pointz, Queens, 7 o’clock.”

Danny switched the camera off using a remote control, the three letting out a sigh of relief.

“This is ridiculous,” Merritt exclaimed. “I mean, Sutton and Jack aren’t really dead. I-I don’t feel comfortable mourning their deaths when they’re still out there.”

“What if they’re not?” Henley whispered, her fingers fiddling with the Velcro of her gloves.

Danny and Merritt looked at her, their mouths open in shock. “W-What are you saying?” Danny stuttered, placing a hand on Henley’s shoulder.

“I mean, what if they-they crashed somewhere after the fake car did and we didn’t see it?” Henley questioned, Merritt scoffing. “It could have happened, guys!” she yelled, her voice raising in pitch.

“Henley, they didn’t crash, trust me,” Merritt said. “Jack wouldn’t put Sutton’s life in danger and you know that.”

“I know he wouldn’t on purpose, Merritt, but I don’t even know if my baby cousin is alive.” Henley’s eyes began to fill with tears, her greatest fear finally bursting forth.

Danny swallowed, moving off the couch and away from the other two magicians. He went to a small room to think. He couldn’t listen to this right now. He was already scared that he may lose Sutton to Jack, and now he was fearing for her life. As the thoughts of Sutton ran through his mind, tears slowly began to trickle down the illusionist’s face. He quickly rubbed them away, his eyes burning from the action.

“This is stupid,” Danny told himself as he sniffled. “She’s alive. She’s fine.”

In the other room, Merritt slid over toward Henley, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. “You can’t always protect her, Henley,” he reminded the escape artist. “Things are going to come up that force you to let her go on her own once in a while. You just need to trust that she’ll come back, safe and sound. I mean, you can’t protect her from a broken heart, right?” The mentalist made sure to project his voice for Danny to hear.

Henley sniffled. “I can protect her by killing the guy, right?” she joked.

“You may want to rethink that plan,” Merritt said, standing up as he saw Danny emerge, his eyes red.

Danny swallowed as Henley turned to look at him, her face morphed in confusion. “I-I think we should talk, Henley.”

Henley stared at him. “Then talk.”

“I-I may have broken S-Sutton’s heart,” the illusionist stuttered, swallowing hard. “W-We had sex.”

Henley’s mouth formed a straight, hard line. She turned to look at Merritt for confirmation, that this wasn’t just a sick joke. He nodded, the truth flowing from his eyes. The escape artist looked back at Danny, her face still frozen. “And why did you break her heart?”

“We, uh, we agreed that it would be mutual,” Danny confessed, his voice breaking.

Henley sat for a moment, her mind working around his words. “Y-You thought Sutton, my sweet, innocent cousin, walked into a situation as intimate as sex with no feelings?” Her voice was small but firm.

Danny swallowed once more. “I-I did, yes. It was so, so wrong of me, Henley. I have wished every single day since then that I could take it back. I-I didn’t want that to be the only time. I mean, not in that way. I-I, uh, I-“

“Shut up, Daniel!” Merritt exclaimed, silencing the stuttering man. “God, you’re only making this worse.”

Danny’s eyes flickered between the two magicians. He looked toward Merritt for help but he just shook his head. All was out of his control. Danny looked at Henley who only stared back at him, her eyes filling more and more with rage with each passing millisecond.

“You,” Henley spoke u, standing and digging her index finger into Danny’s chest, “slept with my cousin with no real concern for her feelings? Then still had the guts to tell me you wanted it to happen again?”

“No, Henley! God, no!” Danny blurted, backing away from the woman. “I-I mean I want to be with her, Henley. I want to be with Sutton. I don’t want her to be one of those girls that I sleep with and then never see again.” He took the risk and placed a hand on her forearm. Henley stared at the touch. “I’m in love with Sutton.”

Henley’s head slowly moved, her eyes shooting straight through Danny. “God, please no blood anywhere,” Merritt begged. “I don’t have the equipment to clean that up.”

“You-You what?” Henley questioned Danny.

Again, Danny swallowed. “I-I am in love with your cousin Sutton Reeves.”

Henley stared at him hard, studying the man. “Before you had sex, did you? Did you love her?”

Danny felt himself involuntarily smile. “Yeah, I did. I think I’ve been falling for her since the beginning.”

“I can’t watch this,” Merritt cringed, covering his face.

Instead of curse words flying from Henley’s mouth or her fist meeting Danny’s face, Henley smiled. “You’re in love with Sutton?” Again, Danny smiled wider, a nervous laugh escaping from his throat. “Danny, as much as I want to hate you right now, I can’t. If you love her, I-I can’t stop you from being with her.”

“Really?” the two men said in unison, surprise evident.

Henley nodded quickly. “I want Sutton to be happy. I mean, I don’t know how she truly feels about you, but if she went through all that, I know she has to feel something for you. Right, Merritt?” The mentalist smiled, nodding.

Danny laughed, relief lifting from his chest. Henley hugged him tightly, laughing as well. “I’m going to kill Sutton for not telling me,” she chuckled.

~~

“Get the money and run.” Sutton said. “Isn’t that from a movie or something?”

“I think it’s actually, “Take the money and run,”” Jack confirmed for her as they made their way over toward the warehouse.

“Huh, what do I know,” Sutton shrugged. “I can only quote Harry Potter, Scooby-Doo, and Friends.”

“You’re such a nerd,” Jack laughed, holding the door open for her.

“And you’re such a jerk,” Sutton joked, pulling down her goggles. “Dude, I feel like Johnny Depp when he played Willy Wonka.”

“On the plus side,” Jack said, fixing his own, “you’re still ten times hotter than him.”

“I’m so changing back into my other clothes after this,” Sutton said, rolling her eyes. “Oh, look! I guess Evans was at our first show,” she smiled as the man played his invisible violin.

“I guess your hypnosis trick really worked,” he joked, receiving a punch on the arm.

“Just smash the glass, funny guy.”

Jack chuckled, throwing the sledgehammer into the mirror. The glass shattered, collapsing into a beautiful mess.

“Just like my heart,” Sutton muttered under her breath.

Jack gave her a side hug. “Stop. No need to bring this party down, huh?” He pulled her along to the safe, where he applied a flammable substance and lit it on fire. The heavy material fell open to reveal stacks of money.

“Holy shit,” the two marveled, pulling off their goggles. They looked at one another, wide grins covering their faces.

“”Take the money and run,” right?” Sutton smirked.

“Right,” Jack laughed as he climbed inside the vault. “Knowing Thaddeus, he’s already parked near 5 Pointz.”