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Imogen stood in front of the apartment building on 45 East Evans street, she frowned slightly at the slightly run down building before shrugging and making her way inside. Her black ankle boots clicked against the tiles in the foyer as she looked around, she checked the time to see that it was around 4:35 in the afternoon meaning she had a few minutes to reach the apartment. She noticed that the elevator was out of order, grinning at the thought of one of her favourite show Big Bang Theory before she began making her way up the stairs.

As she continued up the stairs, she heard more voices which made her light up, she wasn't sure she wanted to do this alone so the idea of others made her feel some relief. "So, apparently none of us was the only one chosen. Let me be the first to kick my ego to the curb," A familiar voice hit Imogen, her eyes widened listening to the voice of someone she admired. "Door's locked," He added with a sigh, "H--Hellen? No no. Uh--Henley?" The man questioned someone clearly standing with him, Imogen stopped in her walk hearing the name immediately assuming it was Henley Reeves, another idol of hers. "It's on your coffee cup," Another man spoke up, Imogen wasn't so sure on their identity.

Imogen's phone vibrated and she turned her attention to it seeing a check-in message from her grandfather to make sure she hadn't been murdered or locked in a psych ward. She laughed softly at the message, replying to inform him that she was okay; she had been so distracted by the message that she didn't notice someone walk by her and head up the stairs with an eagerness of a child. "Second observation, you are beautiful," The older man clearly flirted towards Henley, Imogen had zoned back in on the conversation. "I'm Merritt McKinney, the mentalist," Merritt introduced to Henley.

"Okay, that's good, that's nice," The other man interrupted the flirting before introducing himself, "J. Daniel Atlas." Imogen nodded to herself, she had heard plenty about Daniel Atlas and the way he treated his groupies, she knew the kind of man he was and no matter how good he was as a magician, she wasn't overly fond of his arrogance. "Nice to meet you," Daniel had offered his hand and as Merritt reached to shake it, he moved passed the outstretched hand and flipped Daniel off instead. "I know who you are and I just want to say that I'm not interested in your mentalism thing on me," Daniel informed Merritt.

Daniel was using hand motions from the corner that Imogen could see, she wanted to watch the entertainment before stepping up and revealing herself; it was to get a good idea of who she may be working with. Merritt continued to shush Daniel which seemed to irritate the man before Merritt spoke up, "I'm sensing you are... a control freak?" Henley laughed at that as Daniel replied, "I'm sorry, have we met before?" Henley scoffed, "It doesn't take a Mentalist to know that. You are a control freak." Daniel gave her a sarcastic smile, "I take that as a compliment." Merritt looked between Henley and Daniel before humming in understanding.

"So that's why you are no longer a couple," Merritt spoke up however, it only took a few seconds for both to deny. "We were never a couple," Henley and Daniel shot back before glaring at one another. "He used to saw me in half," Henley informed Merritt. "She was a very good assistant," Daniel added with a smug smirk on his face. "But I was too fat for Danny," Henley continued making Imogen wince, she wasn't surprised that a man as arrogant as Daniel Atlas would say something like that; he was rumoured to be blunt and honest. "No, I said that one time because of the trap door," Daniel argued back. "You built it this size," Henley replied as she made the smallest shape of a square, "No one could fit through there, no one."

"Rebecca fit through," Daniel shot back, "Rebecca fit for years." Imogen rolled her eyes at the man's words, she just knew the chances of the two clashes were fairly high 'cause while Imogen was a very happy-go-lucky person, she wasn't someone who backed down from putting others in their place. Henley had clearly grown irritated by Daniel as she responded, "Do you know how hard it is to stay in those tiny little costumes!?" Daniel simply smirked at that, "No, because I was the main attraction." Those words rubbed Imogen the wrong way, she needed a way to knock the man down a few pegs before his ego suffocated everyone else.

"Okay. He never made you feel special and trust me, you deserve to be made to feel special," Merritt told Henley bringing her smile back to her face while Daniel rolled his eyes. "That's a nice story," Daniel snarked before turning around, "You two enjoy each other's company." Before Daniel could leave, another male stepped up to the group with a wide smile. "No way. J. Daniel Atlas," The young man said with awe in his eyes. Daniel stopped in his tracks at the new presences words only to smirk at his next words. "Dude, I've seen everything you have ever done. I--I idolise you. Seriously," The young man spoke as Henley looked down, Merritt scoffing.

Daniel shook the guy's hand, his ego inflating incredibly and the look of pure arrogance flooded his face, "From a true fan. Nice to meet you." The young man was grinning like a child on Christmas, "I'm Jack, by the way." Before anyone could speak further, Imogen decided this was her opportunity and she dashed out with her usual bright smile. "OH MY LOKI!? HENLEY REEVES AND MERRITT MCKINNEY!?" Imogen exclaimed, she stopped in front of the two and held out her hands to shake their own. "I am a huge fan of both of you!" Imogen added as Henley grinned with pride and shook her hand.

"I saw your recent performance Henley, the piranha's had me on edge but to see you in the crowd was... mind blowing," Imogen expressed making Henley flush pink, she was absolutely beaming with pride. "And Merritt McKinney, your skills in mentalism are outstanding! I mean... the way you hypnotise successfully is beyond me but it is always so amazing to witness first-hand," Imogen added prompting Merritt to grin with his own pride, he took her hand and held it in both of his. "You, my dear, are a marvellous sight and a spectacular presence," Merritt complimented before kissing her knuckles, Imogen beaming.

"Oh, uh... I'm sorry... I only know rumours about you, Daniel Atlas," Imogen spoke sheepishly as she turned to Daniel who had been watching the encounter, his ego had deflated incredibly at the sight of his former assistant receiving such an encounter. Imogen and Jack locked gazes and his smile seemed to change slightly in a way that she couldn't quite understand. "Apologies... I haven't heard anything about you," Imogen told Jack who waved it off. "Oh!" Imogen exclaimed, "I'm Imogen Torres." They all greeted her politely before Merritt spoke up, "Questions. Did you get one of these?" He held up his tarot card.

"Yeah," Jack nodded as he held up his own card, "Death." Imogen tilted her head, she knew a fair amount about Tarot cards so it was interesting to learn more about people due to the chosen card for them. "The High Priestess," Henley said as she showed the others her own card. "The Lovers," Daniel spoke up next, his card in his hand too. "Three minutes," Henley coughed making Imogen snicker and shake her head as Merritt pulled his card out, "Hermit." They all turned to Imogen who smiled as she reached towards Jack and slipped her card from his back pocket, "The Strength card." Henley smirked, she knew Imogen was proving her skills of magic.

"How did you--?" Jack asked only to trail off when Imogen winked at him, his heart skipped a beat and he already knew for a fact that he was going to enjoy her presence around him. "So, what are we waiting for?" Jack asked as he looked around at the others within the small space in front of the door they needed to enter. "Door's locked," Henley and Daniel responded together causing Merritt to roll his eyes, his arm resting on Imogen's shoulder making her grin up at him. "Oh, no, nothing's ever locked," Jack replied with a smug smirk, he moved forward and knelt down by the keyhole.

Within five seconds, Jack had the door unlocked and he stood up turning to the others who held impressed looks. Daniel entered the apartment first with Henley following behind him, Merritt trailing in leaving Imogen and Jack by the door. "Very impressive," Imogen told Jack, his smirk grew at that. "So was your trick," Jack replied to her, she grinned at that before holding out his wallet to him. "You should pay a little more attention," Imogen whispered as he took his wallet back, he watched as she walked into the room and bit down on his bottom lip, she already had his attention; that's for certain.

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"What is this place?" Henley asked as she looked around. "What is that smell?" Imogen questioned with uncertainty, she pulled her denim jacket on tighter. "I thought my apartment was messy," Merritt commented making Imogen smirk, she guessed by his personality that he lived like a bachelor. Imogen felt someone standing close to her as she peeked out of the boarded windows, she turned her head to see Jack by her side. He turned his own head to look at her, "Anything interesting?" Imogen was silent for a moment as she let her eyes take in Jack's calm expression. "Too early to know," Imogen replied before she turned and walked over to Henley.

"Oh, don't tell me that you're already whipped," Merritt questioned Jack who rolled his eyes before grinning as he spoke, "Too early to know." Merritt rolled his eyes fondly before they moved towards the centre room. The room was large and it had a symbol carved into the wooden floor, the carving appeared to look like a line with four rectangles connected to it -- as if it was representing four members within the room. However, carved above the symbol was a crown, in the centre of the crown was the same Roman Numeral as Imogen's cars; VIII. "That's the same number on my card," Imogen pointed out with a small smile.

"Look at that, seems like you're a princess," Merritt replied to her, she rolled her eyes with a laugh. "Right..." Imogen said sarcastically as she looked at the folded piece of paper lying by the symbol with a white rose. "What's that?" Henley questioned looking at the paper and rose. "I don't know," Merritt replied to her as Daniel grabbed the note, Merritt looking at him, "What does it say?" Daniel unfolded the paper and read it out, "Now you don't." Imogen grinned at those words, it had confirmed everything for her. Henley picked up the white rose, "A rose by any other name..."

Henley dropped the rose into the pitcher causing the water to seep out from the bottom. The liquid flowed down the dusty floor and onwards to the symbols in the centre of the room. As it reached the carving, water seeped into it, filling it up to the brim. Imogen's eyes were wide with wonder, she gasped lightly as she watched it happen and she practically bouncing on the spot with eagerness to know what may happen next. Jack, who had been watching her, found it adorable and a warmth filled his chest seeing the way she responded to the situation; he wanted to see that smile everyday.

The bottom of the symbol gave way causing fog to erupt from the ground. Jack was the one to freak out about the mist entering the room, he reached for Imogen's hand and pulled her towards him protectively as he exclaimed, "It's gas!" Merritt turned to Jack, "Relax. It's just dried ice." Jack eased at that while Imogen squeezed his hand, "My hero." Jack flushed pink at that but he tried to ignore that as he realised that Imogen had not let go of his hand, he felt good about that. The fog-like substance started to cover the ground as Daniel spoke, "What do you think this is all about?" Imogen shrugged as Merritt spoke, "Hold on. Hang on."

Merritt placed his finger on his temple and everyone except for Imogen and Jack gave him unamused looks as he tried to conjure something up with his mind. Imogen chuckled softly, she was enjoying the way Merritt messed with Daniel, he needed something like that in his life. A few seconds later, Merritt shook his head, "I got nothing." Daniel replied sarcastically, "Okay, thank you. Thank you for the delay." Merritt rolled his eyes, "Just trying to create space for wisdom." Daniel scoffed, "So you're like Buddha if he wasn't so enlightened." Imogen shook her head at the two before resting her head against Jack's arm.

"And you're like Jesus if he was arrogant and all of his miracles were fake--" Merritt is cut off by Imogen, "Okay, guys... I think we get it. But let's focus on this, please." The two men turned to her, they sighed and relented bringing Imogen's smile back. "Danny, be honest. Did you do this?" Henley asked Daniel who shook his head before turning to Jack and asking, "Did you?" Jack grinned, "I wish." Jack turned to Imogen, "Perhaps it was Miss Torres here?" Imogen shook her head and turned to look at Merritt, she raised a brow at him, "Merritt?" He shook his head but smiled, "Thought no one was going to ask me for a moment there."

The others looked around awkwardly while Imogen shrugged, Merritt frowned as he realised she asked 'cause she was nice and didn't want him feeling left out; at least, that was what he assumed, she genuinely asked him knowing what he was capable of. The group came to the conclusion that the electricity seemed to be out until Merritt tightened a light bulb, it turned on causing four small contraptions to turn on. Four lights erupted from each side and met in the centre of the room creating images and holograms. "Woah..." Imogen breathed out from beside Jack, he turned to her and smiled softly at her look of awe.

Everyone gathered around the images floating around and Imogen recognised one of them as The Eye that was on her tarot card and was infamously known within the magician community. "Blue prints," Henley stated in awe as Daniel spoke, "They're incredible." Imogen agreed with the woman. "Who do you think did this?" Imogen asked, she wanted to know what the others would say. "I don't know but I really want to meet them," Henley replied to her, she watched the blueprints change to reveal the cards of each person. The line of four cards -- Lovers, Priestess, Hermit and Death -- sat below the card of Strength however, the title of leadership landed on The Lovers card.

"But what are they for?" Merritt asked. Imogen grinned as the blueprints repeated again, she took in the smallest details of the stage along with machinery and tricks that she knew plenty about. "It's a show," Imogen breathed out as she let go of Jack's hand and began pacing around the room. "Not just any show, it's a path to join The Eye. To prove that we are worthy of not just them but of ourselves," Imogen continued before stopping and looking at the four magicians in front of her. "It's our chance to do something more with our passions," Imogen added with a grin on her face, "And I'm in." The others shared looks before agreeing to it, their next step was to prepare for their first show.

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Rosemary Speaks

And so the Horsemen and their princess have been formed. But they have quite the journey coming their way, are they ready for it?

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