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Emilia's View

I couldn't resist taking in the sights as I walked through the town of Nearon, making my way to the supermarket to stock up on food supplies. As I got there, I got a cart, and walked along the various aisles of the store, occasionally picking up whatever items I needed. I should introduce myself. My name is Emilia Everest and almost immediately after I turned 18, my parents, Allister and Fiona, sent me away to this small town. Being wealthy doctors, it was no problem for them to find me a house but honestly, it's too big than what was necessary for ONE person. It wasn't as if I had anything to do here either nor did I know anyone yet to invite them over.

Well, that's not entirely true. I'm the younger and only cousin of Caleb and Chloe Everest, the richest and most popular twins in this town. They made their grand debut despite only being 17 and things just went up from then. They were gifted with powerfully accurate clairvoyance, which in turn enabled them to become the renowned duo, Perfect Cs. Their clairvoyance, as well as professional realistic magic, was known everywhere. If it got out that I was related to those two, I'd be swamped by numerous fans trying to be acquainted with me just to get closer to them. Just the mere thought of that annoys me to no end.

To tell the truth, I've never really disliked my cousins nor did they dislike me. Chloe was a force to reckon with. Some might say that she is a bit of a sadist and by some I mean me. I'll explain what I mean later on. Caleb was not too far from Chloe in the sadistic contest coming in at a close second but Chloe always seemed to have a sort of control over people including her twin brother. As I passed their show tent, I saw dearest Chloe standing outside, conversing with Caleb. Speak of the devils.

"Well hello there Emilia, my favorite little cousin. How are you? I haven't seen you in forever. What have you been up to lately?" she greeted smiling though it didn't exactly reach her eyes. There was a sort of sinister vibe behind it...

"Oh, you know, living on my own and stuff. I'm good. And you two? How's the show been doing?"

"It's great. Speaking of which I can't say I remember seeing you at any of them." Caleb spoke up. He snapped his fingers and suddenly, out of nowhere, a sky blue ticket appeared in my hands.

"Wow! Cool trick!"

"Thanks but you can see much more than that if you come tonight. That ticket right there gives you access to all of our shows, best seats, backstage, parties, and events held by yours truly so please try not to lose it. Anyone would kill anyone to get their grubby hands on one of these." They both chuckle ominously at the last part.

"Alright then. I guess I'll see you both later" and with that, I walked away. I was so lost in thought about my cousins I didn't notice that I was already at my house and had been staring at the locked door for what was probably the past 5 to 10 minutes. I made haste in packing away the store-bought items before rushing around to get ready. The last thing I wanted to do was be late and upset those two. I looked at the clock in the kitchen and saw that it was 6 'o'clock while the show would begin at 7. I picked out an outfit which was a navy blue, spaghetti strapped shirt, covered by a galaxy print hoodie, with a skirt which was a lighter shade of blue. You can tell by now what my favorite color is. I went into the bathroom, took a ten-minute shower, taking some time to care for my naturally shoulder-length, ginger locks.

When I was finished, I grabbed the baby blue towel that was hung up on the nearby rack and wrapped it around my body while using a smaller towel to wrap my hair. I dried off, blow-dried and styled my hair in a messy bun, and changed into my chosen outfit. I ended with a pair of black and blue ballet shoe flats. I checked my reflection in the mirror and was satisfied. After grabbing and double-checking my purse, and ensuring I locked all the doors, I made my way to the tent. I saw a slim man with his hair slicked back and wearing an aqua tuxedo guarding the entrance and taking tickets. I lined up at the back and waited for the line to move up.

"Can I have your ticket please?" he asked me since I was now at the front.

"Um sure" I took it out of my purse and showed it to him but I didn't hand it over.

"Can I have it? I need to make sure it's authentic" he said, narrowing his eyes. At that moment, Chloe came out and saw my dilemma.

"Hey hey Daniel, relax. This is my little cousin Emilia. Caleb and I gave her the ticket earlier today so you can let her in." Her words were said quietly enough for only our ears. Without replying, the man whose name I learned was Daniel, let me in.

"Sorry about all of that." She pulled me into a quick hug and checked her phone. "I gotta go set up with Caleb. The show is gonna start in 2 minutes so go find your seat. Enjoy."

"I'm sure I will. I can't wait to see the show. Good luck!" We both grinned as she speed-walked away. I hurried to find my seat and saw that it was reserved just for me. As I sat down on the velvet soft chair, the show began. The show was amazing. When Chloe did her levitation trick and flew over to the crowd, she flew towards me, smiled, and extended her hand for me to take. I was a bit hesitant but I took hold of her hand. The next thing I knew, I was flying with her. She then let me go and I was somehow flying on my own. The crowd roared in applause at the spectacle while I tried my best to not seem as terrified as I truly was. They didn't die down even after 5 minutes had passed.

"Everyone, we have an announcement to make so please settle down a bit. This girl here is Emilia Everest, our cousin, and my brother Caleb and I have a proposition for her. So Emilia...We would like you to be the third member of our show. Do you accept our offer?"

"Yes, I do accept," I answered without a second thought. Not only would they be nicer as I appeased them, but I'd also be able to study and participate in the amazing tricks they performed. The crowd went wild once again as the three of us did the tricks and illusions although the twins were the ones doing anything and I was used as a guinea pig. When the show was over, Caleb led us backstage where we were alone.

"Since you are now joining the act, we're gonna need to change our stage name as your name doesn't start with a C. A real shame."

"We'll deal with that later C. First, we need to give you this." She handed me a gold bracelet with a strange blue gem in the middle. I noticed the gem in the hairband she wore and the one on Caleb's tie were the same as mine.

"What is this? It's really pretty but what kind of gem is that? I've never seen anything like it." I've seen many gems in my life yet this one was so unfamiliar. I rubbed it a bit only to feel a wave of sudden calmness wash over me. Except it wasn't exactly...calmness. It was as if my body was depleted of energy then I was put to sleep.

"Yeah, I suggest you don't touch it. Do you want to know how we do our tricks?"

"Yes, I do. How did you not use wires to hold you in the air? Unless you do and they're just really hard to see. When did you even manage to clip them onto me? You didn't hug me for THAT long!"

"Follow us if you want to find out" I followed them further into the tent into a room with no other exits than the one we came from. In the middle of the room was a latch which, when opened, led down a flight of stairs and into a strange room. Inside the room, I saw a..... man???