Charles' eye darted toward the door and his hand flew toward Emily's mouth. " Shush! Keep your voice down. " He whispered and slowly retracted his hand, as she raised her hands as a sign of surrender.

" Jeez Charles, you just scared the heck out of me. What is wrong with you?" Emily asked as she tried to stabilize her breathing. She was panting and her heart pounded hard against its cage. 

" Please don't ruin my chance of going to see Mysterio tonight, Emily. " Charles pleaded to her and his hand flew to his shirt.

" Ewww Charles go take off your shirt somewhere else. " Emily said with her hand covering her eyes. Her other hand was pushing him off the bed. " I don't want to see your nude, God damn it! " she cursed.

Charles sighed and rolled his eyes in annoyance. " Well unfortunately for you, I'm not going to take off my shirt, to satisfy your curiosity. " He teased and stood up.

While stealing a peep, Emily saw Charles take out a ticket from his breast pocket. " What are those? " She asked as she noticed he was holding unto two tickets.

" What do you think? These are the tickets to the night of mysteries. " Charles replied and sat on a chair. He was beaming with a smile and his hair moved freely with the wind from the spinning ceiling fan. 

With her hand stretched out, Emily took a ticket. "Where? When? How? How did you get the tickets?..."

" Now that's enough, God damn it..." Charles cursed and took in a deep breath. "Well let's just say I got a guy, How about that?" Charles replied with a smile as he swirled on his chair.

" So how do you plan to go to the party? I mean your parents?" She asked again with a confused look. " I don't think they will just let you walk out of those doors to a show at night. You are grounded remember?" She added.

" Well you see, my parents are going out for their anniversary tonight. So I will just wait for them to leave and..." He said and smacked his lap. " Bingo! I will be driving my way to Mr. Mysterio. No one gets to find out and it's a win-win." He added, feeling extremely proud of himself. 

" There is no way both of us are going to the show, Charles," Emily said and stood up. " We are both staying until your parents approve." She added with her chest puffed out and her arms crossed.

 ***********************

The whole environment was noisy and the weather felt warm. It was late at night, and the lights beautified the city. There was a long queue in front of a building. It was quite tall and had this majestic feeling to it. The crowd waited their turn to show their tickets to the night of mysteries and be allowed inside.

Emily and Charles waited for their turn, just like the rest. They had ended up attending the show after Emily's futile attempt to persuade Charles from sneaking and coming to the show. She could see he was pumped up for the event that was to happen and did not want to ruin it.

" Can you look at that? We snuck to the show." Charles asked with a smile and noticed Emily rubbing her hands together. " Are you cold?" He asked again observing her hands for goosebumps.

" Yeah, I'm good..." Emily replied while rubbing the back of her neck." I don't know Charles, I don't want you to get in trouble." She added and her eyes scrutinized their surrounding.

She could see some couples in intimate positions and others laughing at jokes. She noticed the oceanic blue eyes that peered into hers. It felt like it was trying to penetrate her soul and unravel all her secrets.

" What is it? Why are you staring at me?" Emily asked and nudged Charles 

" Nothing..." Charles replied nonchalantly and looked away. " You look really beautiful I must confess." He added.

A flush crept across her face in embarrassment and she stood frozen in place. " Thank you." She managed to say.

" You don't need to be embarrassed by a little compliment Emily. It's not like I'm asking you to get married to me." Charles said and chuckled with his hands tucked in his pockets.

 " I never said that." Emily defended and her eyes darted toward a girl walking toward them. It was Christine, Gerald's sister. " Not again. " Emily complained as she watched Christine walk toward them.

" Oh my God! I thought I just saw a monkey." Christine said out loud to Charles with a smile, as she ignored Emily's presence. " Oh wait! I did, here she is. " Christine said as she glanced at Emily. 

" We all talk about what we don't have, so I understand how you feel sis. . " Emily replied with a sarcastic smile. She was grinning from ear to ear as Christine was on the verge of pulling her hair. 

" Well, I was sure I still have a Dad. Where's yours, Emily?.." Christine asked as her eyes surveyed the gathering." He doesn't seem to be anywhere nearby, is he?" She asked and smiled.

" Hey knock it off Christine!" Charles warned. He felt uncomfortable, with the two girls glaring at each other. 

" Watch your back sweetheart," Christine warned with a grin and walked past Emily.

The two friends stood together, as they watched Christine walk toward her friends. She gave them a side glance and walked into the building. They didn't even queue up with the rest because of their affluence.

The VIPs were allowed into the building, without a need for checking their tickets, so it wasn't a surprise that Christine was allowed in. Especially since the owner of the hall was her Uncle.

" Hey Emily, don't let anything she said to get to you," Charles advised as he noticed the tears that threaten to fall from her eyes. 

Wiping her tears Emily rolled her eyes and pulled Charles to show their tickets to the guard who stood arm folded in front of the door. He looked like a security agent, with the sunglass and the comm he wore.

Their tickets were inspected and then they were allowed into the building. The hall was quite noisy with chants of Mysterio coming from fans. Charles and Emily sat close to each other as they observed their surrounding.

Some of the fans were clapping their hands and others were tapping their feet. They were those who were taking videos of the events. Soon the light in the hall dimmed, and all eyes were drawn to the stage.

A puff of smoke appeared on the stage and a silhouette walked out slowly. " Mysterio! Mysterio!! Mysterio!!!" The audience chanted louder, as the masked figure walked out of the smoke.

As soon as he walked out, the smoke dissipated. He put his hand inside his cloak and brought out a bird. Throwing the bird into the air, it turned into smoke and the audience cheered even more.

Emily looked quite disappointed, as she watched him perform tricks that weren't so ' Mr. Mysterio' as she likes it call it. All the while, he was performing tricks that she had watched numerous magicians perform. 

Even the thrilled audience was getting disappointed as they did not come to watch a magician pull rabbits from his hat. Some of them began to doubt if the magician was Mr. Mysterio or an imposter. Nevertheless, They kept on cheering him to show their support. 

" I have watched these tricks like a dozen times," Emily whined as she watched him take out a bird from his cloak and multiplied it. She glanced at Charles and noticed the arched brow like he was confused and yet disappointed. She looked at the stage and almost gasped.

The masked magician was looking at her, to her amazement. She did not know why, but she felt like he heard what she just said. She could feel her heart pounding rapidly in excitement. 

He stopped performing at once and his eyes scrutinized the hall. " Tonight is a special night and I have come to show you, my audience something that is believed to be impossible. I did not come to make birds disappear or to cut a volunteer in half..." He said and the audience interrupted with laughter.  " Tonight I have come to perform two tricks that will blow your mind. Tricks that I have never performed before in all my life." He added and took two steps backward.

" And for that, I will need a volunteer." He said and the audience broke out of their daze. Most of them were shouting and begging to be picked. " You over there!" The masked man said with his index finger pointing at a particular individual in the audience.

Gasps could be heard from almost everyone as envy consumed them. " Oh my God, that's you, Emily!" Charles exclaimed, with a broad smile plastered across his face.

Emily sat frozen with her mouth wide open in disbelief, as the blinding spotlight shone on her.