My name is Pandora Atlas. At nineteen years old, I am an aspiring mentalist and hypnotist, learning from the great and once-famous Merritt McKinney. I started at age seven, when my brother and I were abandoned by our parents. Merritt found us and took us in, although we kept our own last names.

We soon discovered that he was a mentalist; a magician with the powers of reading people's minds and hypnotism. Whilst I was interested in mentalism and begged Merritt to teach me, my brother Danny decided to learn the magic of illusions. Just over three years ago, he left to start his own life, as one does when they get to a certain age.

Today, after a small gig with Merritt where he unmasked an unfaithful husband, we found a tarot card lying on his publicity sign. It was the hermit card and on the other side was a date, time and address: March 29, 4:44pm. 45 East Evan St, NY, NY.

"What do you think this might be?" Merritt asked me, holding the tarot card up. I shrugged, not having a clue.

"How about we find out?" I suggested coyly, hinting at going to the New York. Merritt laughed at my subtlety.

"Why not; we've got nothing to lose!" he grinned.

×××

"We're here," the taxi driver grunted as he pulled over at the curb.

"Dora, I gotta tell you something." Merritt grabbed my arm before I got out of the taxi.

"Yeah, what is it?" I wondered, turning to face him. His expression was concerned, reluctant and slightly forlorn.

"You're not coming along?" I asked, my brow creasing. As a mentalist, I guessed the answer correctly.

"Listen, Dora, I'm sorry. But I'm getting kinda old for this mentalism stuff. I have a feeling this is a magician thing, and I think you should take my place. Besides, you're nineteen, almost twenty. It's time I let you go, just like Danny." Merritt confessed.

"But... what will I do without you?" I cried, tears forming in the corners of my eyes. The only parental figure who truly loved me was now leaving me.

"Please, don't think that I'm abandoning you. I just think it's time to start your own life." Merritt smiled ruefully. I nodded, knowing there was nothing I could do to sway his mind.

"Come here, sweetie," Merrit opened his arms and I leaned in for a hug. I cried into his shoulder and he brushed back my ebony hair. "Remember, I'm only a phone call away, okay?"

"Okay," I nodded, pulling away. "I better go." I sniffed and ran a finger under my eye, wiping away the last tear.

"I'm very proud of you, Dora," Merritt kissed my cheek, "don't forget that."

I climbed out of the taxi. "Bye, Merritt. We'll keep in touch." I sadly took a deep breath and closed the car door. I watched as it sped away.

"Pandora, is that you?!" A familiar voice called my name. I whipped around to find my brother walking towards me.

"Danny!" I exclaimed, running to him. I enveloped him in a hug. "So how have you been? I've heard you've made a bit of a name for yourself!"

Danny laughed. "Yeah, I suppose I have. What about you? How is Merritt going?"

"Well, he just left in that taxi. The other day we got this," I held up my tarot card, "and he said that I needed to start my own life. So this is now mine."

"Oh, you got a tarot card too?" Danny reached into his pocket to reveal a similar card.

I nodded, grinning. "Shall we?" I motioned to the building we were meant to be going to.

"Wait." Danny was looking past me. I turned around to see a pretty redheaded girl about Danny's age running towards us.

"Danny!" she called, waving.

"Henley! What are you doing here?" Danny asked, confused. "Did you get a tarot card?"

The girl, Henley, nodded. "Yup," she held up her card. She looked at me and smiled warmly. "Who's this?"

"I'm Pandora Atlas, Danny's younger sister. Nice to meet you!" I held out my hand and Henley shook it.

"Henley Reeves. I used to be-"

"Danny's assisstant and ex-girlfriend, right?" I grinned at Henley's open-mouthed shock.

"H-how did you know that?" Henley stammered.

"She's a mentalist. Learned from Merritt McKinney, you may have heard of him. He got the tarot card, but gave it to Dora instead." Danny briefly explained.

"Nice!" Henley smiled. "Lovely to meet you. I'm an escape artist, by the way."

We entered the apartment building and as we jogged up the stairs, Danny asked about Henley's escapades as an escapist.

"I think you know exactly what I've been up to; I saw all your 'anonymous' posting on my website." Henley sighed. I chuckled quietly; that was something my brother would do.

As Danny and Henley argued, I reached the door first and tried to open it. "Damnit, it's locked." I growled in frustration. Danny and Henley groaned, annoyed.

"No way." A new person appeared. It was a guy about my age. "J. Daniel Atlas? I've seen everything that you have ever done; I idolise you!"

Danny stepped forward and offered his hand. "Ah, a true fan! It's so nice to meet you."

"I'm Jack by the way." The boy eagerly shook Danny's hand.

"Question: did you get one of these?" I held up my tarot card.

"Oh, yeah," Jack muttered, reaching into his back pocket and producing a tarot card. "Death," he revealed.

"The High Priestess," Henley said.

"The Lover," Danny held up his card.

"Three minutes," Henley fake-coughed behind her Starbucks cup, making me smirk. My brother threw her a sharp look but she simply ignored him.

"I got the Hermit." I stifled my giggles from Henley's comment.

"So... are we waiting for someone or something?" Jack asked.

"Door's locked." the rest of us said simultaneously.

"No, nothing's ever locked." Jack walked to the door and after fidgeting with the mechanism on the lock, it clicked open. Danny and Henley immediately turned on their torches and strode in.

"That was impressive," I smiled shyly at Jack. He was impossibly cute.

Jack turned to face me and that was the first time I got a proper look at him. He was extremely good-looking and I felt my face go hot. "Thanks," he smiled, making my breath catch in my throat. "I didn't quite catch your name..."

"I'm Pandora Atlas, Danny's little sister. I'm a mentalist and hypnotist." I introduced myself, putting out my hand.

"Pandora; that's a neat name," Jack complimented, taking my hand and shaking it. "I'm Jack Wilder, I'm a sleight of hand illusionist."

"That's really cool," I blushed. "What do you think this is about?"

"I don't know. But I have a feeling it's about magic, seeing as you and the others are also magicians." Jack reasoned. We joined the others in the deserted apartment.

Danny had picked up a card from the floor and Henley was frowning at the weird pattern etched on the wood.

"What does the card say?" she questioned.

"'Now you don't'," Danny read. "Hmm."

"Look," I pointed to a single white rose lying on the ground next to a small vase of water.

"A rose by any other name." Henley quoted, picking it up and placing it in the vase. Water suddenly ran across the floor boards and into the carving. The etching sank down and steam appeared and started billowing from the floor.

"Uh oh, it's gas," Jack began to panic, but I laid a hand on his arm to calm him.

"Relax, only dry ice," I said. He nodded, convinced.

"Danny, be honest, did you do this?" Henley scolded, walking around the room.

"No," Danny wrinkled his brow. "Wait, did you?" He squinted at Jack.

"Wha- I wish!" Jack smiled nervously.

Danny flicked a switch in the next room, the light not turning on. "Electricity's out," he called to the rest of us.

"Let's see about that," I reached up to a low-hanging light bulb and put two fingers on it, making it light up. A different bright blue light suddenly filled the room from four different places, meeting in the middle. Pictures started to appear as we gathered around it, gasping in awe.

"Blueprints," Henley breathed.

"They're incredible," my brother agreed.

"Who do you think did this?" Jack wondered aloud.

"I don't know, but I really wanna meet them," Henley said, her bright green eyes fixed on the projection. "It's a show!"