Chapter I

The desperate look in Eric’s eyes was more than enough to tell Lilly that something was seriously wrong with him. He was looking around the candlelit clubroom, first to Damien, then to Liz, before finally settling on her. It was as if her boyfriend was silently begging her to help him, but no matter how much she wished she could do something for him, she just couldn’t figure out where to even begin. He’d come into the room just moments earlier, talking about some club member that didn’t exist. Yet, despite Lilly knowing as a fact that there had never been a boy named Vinny Mickelson in the Magic Club, Eric was staring at the three of them like they had lost their minds. She could tell with almost certainty that he wasn’t lying. Eric wasn’t the type to joke around like this, and especially not after what happened at Ralph’s Diner the previous night. Just seeing how panicked he was told her that he truly believed there was supposed to be some Vinny in the club. And when she looked back at Damien and Liz, their expressions told her that they were just as stunned as she was.

So what the hell is going on? she asked herself. I’m so confused right now.

“Guys,” Eric uttered, once again looking between the three of them. “Come on… Please. Please just stop this. It’s not funny!”

Still unsure of how to even respond to him, Lilly was thankful that it was Damien who stepped forward to deal with the situation. “Eric,” he said firmly. “Just calm down for a second. You’re not making any sense and frankly, we’re all a little on edge this morning. Maybe what we need to do is sit down and take a minute to think. Okay?”

The calmness of his friend's voice seemed to get through to Eric as he exhaled softly and nodded. “Yeah, fine. Let’s sit down then.”

The boy slowly turned and took a seat at the fortune telling desk, right in front of the blue crystal ball he’d been using the day before to give their customers their fortunes. For a moment, he gazed right into its smooth surface, as if entranced by it, or perhaps even looking for answers within it. Knowing that she at least needed to be there for him, Lilly moved to sit down in the chair beside him, then took his hand in her own, squeezing it gently to let him know that, despite how confused she was, she would still be there for him. As for Damien and Liz, they both sat down in the desks to Lilly’s right. She quickly made eye contact with the both of them, hoping to see some understanding in their eyes, but it didn’t look like anything had clicked.

So…it doesn’t look like this Vinny kid is some old club member I was never told about…but if even Damien and Liz don’t know who this is then what exactly is going on?

“Alright,” Damien began, turning his attention toward his old friend. “Eric. Could you please explain this? Who the hell is Vinny Mickelson and why would you think he’s a part of this club?”

At this, Eric grit his teeth together and raised his head from the crystal ball to stare back at him. “Look me in the eyes, Damien. Do you honestly not know who I’m talking about?”

The boy seemed taken aback by Eric’s question but quickly pulled himself back together and shook his head. “No. I don’t.”

Damien’s reply caused Eric to wince and he frantically turned then to Liz. “And you? You don’t remember Vinny either, Liz?”

The bespectacled girl seemed hesitant to respond, as if she were struggling to keep up with what was going on, and still processing all of the new and horrible information she’d received that morning about the murders at the diner. Finally, she turned away from him and shook her head. The desperation in Eric’s eyes increased and he once again stared right at Lilly, silently pleading with her to reveal that they were all joking around. But of course, she couldn’t lie to him.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I’ve never met anybody named Vinny Mickelson. Maybe…you could describe him or something? Maybe I’ve just forgotten or…?”

She knew it was a pointless suggestion seeing as Eric was acting as if he’d been part of the club from the beginning. If Mickelson was some random person she’d met once or twice, Eric wouldn’t be acting like they were crazy for not knowing who he was. Describing him wouldn’t awaken anything in her memory and yet, as if hoping for a miracle, Eric did as she asked anyway.

“He was a skinny blonde kid,” Eric replied quietly. “He was goofy and obnoxious and he had such loyalty to the people he cared about that he would do anything to protect us. Despite his faults, he was one of our closest friends! How? How do you not remember him?”

Lilly furrowed her brow, trying to determine if what he was saying rang any bells in her mind, but she couldn’t even picture the boy, let alone recall any of the personality traits that Eric was describing.

“I don’t…” she uttered. “I’m sorry, Eric. I just…I honestly don’t have any idea who you’re talking about.”

But for the life of me, I can’t figure out where he would have gotten this from. What the hell could have happened that caused him to behave like this—to make a claim to wild like the idea of a fifth club member existing. It’s just not like Eric! And…for it to happen right after that attack at the diner. Lilly felt her stomach tighten as a sudden possibility came to mind. This couldn’t possibly be related, right? There’s no way… It has to be some sort of coincidence.

“Look, man,” Damien began, seeming to have once again found his voice. “I…I really don’t know what to say. I wish I could help you, but I really don’t remember anybody like this.”

Eric clenched his fists and looked back at Damien, the panic in his features only increasing. “Then…you guys said that Alice is single and that she went to the diner alone last night? Is that really true? She doesn’t have a boyfriend?”

They all shook their heads.

“Not that I know of,” Lilly replied. “Unless she didn’t tell me about it, Alice is still single.”

“Then what about the incident back during Christmas!?” he nearly shouted. “If Vinny doesn’t exist then what happened there?! How did we resolve the situation with Wright and Davens? Why did we nearly fall apart afterwards? Can you explain that to me?”

For what felt like the millionth time in those brief few minutes since Eric had arrived, Lilly was completely thrown off and left speechless. Why is he bringing up that incident all of a sudden? she wondered.

However, knowing that the issue primarily involved Damien and Liz, she left it to the two of them to explain the situation.

“Uh…” Damien stuttered, seeming to still be trying to tell how serious Eric was being. “Well, if that’s what you want then fine, I’ll explain it for you.” He then paused to gather his thoughts, as if unsure of how to explain events to somebody who had witnessed most of them. “Well, Davens and Wright vandalized Alice’s locker and desk…then started sending death threats to her. So, we wanted to do something to help her before it all got out of hand. However, we didn’t agree on the course of action to take.”

Eric nodded. “Right. Yeah, and?”

“W-well…Brooks was insistent that we use the stone and I was against it,” Damien continued. “The rest of you seemed on the fence about it and we got into a bit of a heated debate. Afterwards…” The boy grimaced and Lilly could only imagine how hard it was for him to have to think back to those events. “...Liz took the stone and handed it over to Brooks to help Alice. What he did with it…well, we never found out. We just know that afterwards, Wright and Davens avoided us like the plague and stopped going after Alice. Before we could get Brooks to explain himself…he…”

Damien trailed off, avoiding the topic of Jay’s suicide, which Lilly appreciated. Despite having helped Jay and Alice come to terms with everything and convincing the boy to not give up hope, the fact that Jay still hadn’t awoken weighed heavily on them. However, everything Damien said was the truth. That was exactly how it all went down and yet, when she glanced sideways to gauge Eric’s reaction, his eyes were wide and his skin had gone deathly pale.

“Eric?” she whispered.

“No,” he uttered. “No, that’s not right. That’s not what happened!” The boy suddenly jumped to his feet, his eyes fixed on Damien and his breathing going ragged. “What the hell is wrong with you, Damien?! It wasn’t Jay who went after Wright and Davens! It was Vinny! Liz gave Vinny the stone! He used it to steal their bodies and blackmail them into keeping away! Jay didn’t do anything like that! Why can’t you remember this?!”

He slammed his hand so hard against the surface of the desk that Lilly had to reach out to prevent the crystal ball from rolling off. Eric was shaking with rage, but she couldn’t do anything to help him. She suddenly felt so powerless. After everything he’d done for her, now that he clearly needed help, she was just sitting there, staring at him in silence.

I’ve never seen him angry, let alone furious like this. What am I even supposed to do?

When she looked at Damien, even he now seemed like he didn’t know what to say. His eyes were wide and he was staring at his old friend like he didn’t even recognize him. Eric continued to look around the room before his shoulders slumped and the fury seemed to drain out of him, being replaced by a look of utter exhaustion. As if hoping to give it one last attempt, he raised his finger and pointed at the crystal ball Lilly was still clutching.

“And that?” he asked. “Who gave us that?”

Damien slowly shook his head. “I…don’t know. You just said it was lent to us by a friend of yours. That’s all.”

Eric’s face tensed, but he didn’t shout this time. Instead, he just spun on his heel and stalked from the room. All three of them jumped up and called after him, but he didn’t even spare them so much as a glance. He just walked out, leaving them staring after him in bewilderment.

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“What…the hell was that?” Damien muttered. “I don’t…I don’t even know how to process any of that.”

He plopped himself back down in his desk and put his face in his hands. Liz immediately went to his side and wrapped her arms around him. She still hadn’t spoken since Eric’s arrival. Instead, she seemed like she was just trying to figure it all out silently. They had already been worried about Alice’s safety after the murders at the diner, but now they had this strange situation with Eric to consider.

“Thanks, Liz,” Damien said softly. “But I think I need some fresh air. I’ll be back in a minute.”

With that, he excused himself and left the room as well. All the while, Lilly just stared down at the ground, her hands clutching the hem of her skirt. She was terrified that something awful had happened to Alice, and she wanted to try calling her a second time, but she also wanted to rush after Eric and see if she could help him. She didn’t know what she was supposed to do, and she feared there was nothing she could do to help either of them.

“Liz?” she asked softly, deciding to at least check up on the only person left in the room. “Are you okay? You were pretty quiet during that whole thing.”

When she looked up, she found Liz sitting where Damien had been, and she seemed to have fallen deep into thought. However, at the mention of her name, the girl looked up and shrugged.

“I don’t know,” she replied. ‘I’ve been wracking my brain this whole time, trying to remember this Vinny Mickelson, but…I just can’t. I don’t have a clue who Eric’s talking about.” Liz paused and quietly chewed on her bottom lip for a moment. “Though…it does almost feel like it’s on the tip of my tongue…like there is something I’m forgetting and I’m just about to remember but…” She shook her head. “But if this Vinny guy had as big of a role in the club as Eric claims, I know I wouldn’t have forgotten him. None of it adds up.”

Lilly nodded. “Yeah, I get what you mean. And then there’s Alice to think about…”

She reached down onto her desk and retrieved her phone to see if Alice had called her back during their conversation with Eric, but there was still nothing. Part of her wanted to call again, but she knew that doing so wouldn’t achieve anything. It had hardly been ten minutes since she last tried getting ahold of her and she knew that the girl would call back the moment she got a chance. The best bet would be for her to just wait.

But what if… Lilly felt her stomach churn. What if she can’t call. I know Liz said they only found the bodies of the staff, but…what if…

“Well, let’s just get through the day,” Liz said. “We’ve still got to run our little fortune telling booth for the festival. I just hope…Eric’ll be able to come up with his fortunes like he did yesterday.”

Lilly shrugged. “Well, with any luck, we won’t have customers today.”

She then turned and gazed down at the crystal ball sitting on the fortune teller’s table. She absently walked over to it and placed her palm onto its surface. Eric had looked to it right before leaving, and his question echoed through her mind.

He asked who we got it from, she thought. That implies that Vinny Mickelson gave it to us. But, as far as I remember, it’s like Damien said. Eric didn’t tell us who he borrowed it from.

“An associate of mine was gracious enough to lend it out for the duration of the festival! Once Friday ends, I shall return it to her, but until then, its mystic powers are ours for the taking!”

That had been his declaration, word for word. Even back then, he referred to the person who gave it to him as “her”, but it sounded like Mickelson was a boy. Their memories and Eric’s memories weren’t adding up and she couldn’t fathom why.

Unless…

She swallowed, recalling the little orange stone that Eric always kept in his pocket.

If a stone that allows people to swap bodies exists, then who’s to say there isn’t some magic out there that could wipe a person’s memories? It’s like we’ve said since the day we discovered that thing’s powers. We don’t know what magic can do. Is it possible…that our memories were tampered with? But if so…why? And…

She felt a wave of fear wash over her.

...by who?

***

That morning, as requested, the moment Alexa Harper arrived at school, she headed up the stairs to the third floor to meet with Eric Reiner. The day before, right as she was preparing to leave, the boy had told her that he would talk with her and try to reach an understanding between them. He had been far more accommodating to her than she had expected after her visit to the Magic Club’s fortune telling booth, and so she was determined not to leave him waiting. However, when she arrived in the library, she didn’t see any sign of Eric. So, she decided she would take a seat at one of the tables closest to the doors and wait for him.

Ever since Lilly first started talking to the Magic Club, she had been suspicious as to the nature of their relationship. Those fears were only increased by the incident with Evan Wright back during Christmas and the following suicide attempt by Jay Brooks. She knew it wasn’t her place to stick her nose into Lilly’s business, but as her older sister, she felt that she had to at least make sure that she was okay. When Eric had offered to talk with her, she’d been surprised by how genuine he had been and some of her worries had been alleviated for the time being.

But I still want to properly talk to him, she thought. I want to see what he says and what he’s willing to tell me. He already made it clear that he wouldn’t tell me about how he and Lilly met, but at least I might be able to get some answers about the whole Wright incident.

That was what was going through her mind as she sat in the library, waiting for the boy to arrive. But when twenty minutes passed without him showing up, she sighed and pulled out her phone to entertain herself. Specifically, she pulled up one of her social media apps to see some of her friend’s pictures from the first day of the festival. But before she could even properly start scrolling, she saw a post that made her body go cold.

What the hell? Wait…is this talking about that diner off of Main Street?

She felt her heart start to race and she sat up straighter in her chair as she read through the post. IT was describing an incident at Ralph’s Diner, a place she had visited with her friends once back in February, where an unknown attacker had come in and murdered all of the staff members. Evidently, there were no customers present at the time of the attack. The bodies were discovered that morning when a man had come in to start his shift. She quickly scrolled through the post, but seeing as it had happened the night prior, very little was known about what happened and the murderer hadn’t been found.

What the hell is this? That’s just a few blocks over from where we live. And this was just last night? And they don’t even know who was behind it?

The thought of some deranged murderer running free around the streets of Wilham made her shiver. Ever since they moved there, the city had been pretty calm as far as crime was concerned. Naturally, there were the occasional incidents, but there had never been anything as violent and seemingly random as this. She was already a little on edge whenever she was out after dark, but she had a feeling she wouldn’t be comfortable until whoever did it was found.

Now feeling thoroughly unsettled, Alexa turned off her phone and bit her lip, hoping Eric could just hurry up so they could get on with their conversation as she anxiously tapped her foot against the floor. Yet, no matter how many times she glanced at the door, the boy never arrived. She hadn’t gotten his number so she couldn’t call him, and the longer she waited, the more irritated she got.

Come on, Reiner. The festival’s going to start soon. Don’t tell me you forgot!

Time went on and soon enough, the bell rang, signaling the start of the second day of the spring festival. Alexa clenched her teeth in annoyance, collected her bag, and made her way toward the library’s doors.

Whatever. I guess I shouldn’t have gotten my hopes up. Maybe he really is just one of those Magic Club weirdos and I’m the fool for thinking I could rely on him to have a conversation with me. Joke’s on me, I guess.

Alexa turned down the hall and stopped by one of the windows so she could send a text to her friends, asking them where they wanted to meet for that day. As she did, the hallway became more crowded as people from outside the school arrived for the day. Part of her considered stopping by the clubroom again to give Eric a piece of her mind, but she quickly decided against it. With her relationship with Lilly already tense, she really didn’t want to risk upsetting her again. It really would be better for her to just leave them alone and go on with her life. She’d be graduating in a couple months and that was what she should be focusing her attention on, not her sister and her weird friends.

However, just as that thought crossed her mind, she pocketed her phone and looked up only to find Eric moving through the crowd in her direction, his head low. She stood up straighter, wondering whether her luck was good or bad that she’d run into him once again, before deciding it didn’t matter. Immediately, she tried to make eye contact with him, but he wouldn’t look up. So, she begrudgingly decided she would just call out to him and hope that none of her friends saw her talking to the infamous head of the Magic Club.

“Hey, Reiner!” she called.

His head snapped up and he turned to stare back at her. The look of shock and guilt told her that he had, in fact, probably forgotten about their meeting. Yet, as she moved to go tell him off for leaving her alone in the library, she couldn’t help but hesitate. In the few interactions she’d had with him, there had always been a unique light in his eyes, and she got the impression that he was just a naturally happy person. Yet at that moment, there was no sign of that cheer. Instead, he looked like he was about to be sick.

What’s wrong with him? Did something happen? He looks like he’s gonna throw up. At his abnormal appearance, her mind immediately went back to the horrifying news she had read in the library, and her fears couldn’t help but increase. Could he…have known one of the victims or something?

As irritated as she had been, just that thought made her want to at least hear out his reason for blowing her off first. Luckily, Eric made no move to run away and instead pushed through the groups of festival goers to make his way toward her. She once again pulled back up against the windows and he did the same, moving up to stand beside her.

“I’m so sorry, Harper,” he immediately said, without any of his usual confidence and enthusiasm. “I completely forgot about our meeting. I promise, I went to the library earlier but…I had to leave and…” He was stumbling over his words and it was obvious to her that he wasn’t in the greatest state of mind. “Look,” he continued. “I’ll make it up to you another time. I really am sorry.”

She sighed and shook her head. “No, it’s fine, Reiner. It’s not that big of a deal, but are you okay? You look really unsettled. Did something happen?”

Eric slowly turned away, and for a moment, he seemed completely lost in thought. She decided it would be best to give him a second to think. “Harper?” he said after a moment. “Do you…recall a blonde boy named Vinny in the clubroom with us yesterday?”

She tilted her head in confusion. “Vinny?”

Alexa quickly thought back to her trip to the clubroom and tried to remember who was there. Obviously she remembered both Eric and Lilly, and she also recalled meeting both Damien Clark and Liz Tao. However, she didn’t think there was a fifth member present at the time.

“No, I don’t think so,” she said finally. “Why?”

Her response didn’t seem to phase him, almost like it was exactly what he expected to hear. He simply nodded meekly and turned away. “No reason. Anyway, I have to get going. We’ll reschedule our conversation another time. Again, I’m sorry, Harper.”

With that, he turned and walked away, fading back into the growing crowd of people. She watched him leave as an uncomfortable feeling washed over her. For some reason, her instincts were urging her to go after him, but despite that, she stayed put and could only guess as to what might have happened. Once again, she attempted to remember anybody named Vinny, but couldn’t even recall Lilly ever mentioning the name.

I wonder what’s up with that, she thought. Maybe, I should ask Lilly about it later. Although, maybe I really should just leave her alone and let them hash this all out.

It was then that one of her friends finally texted her back, telling her that they were meeting in their government class on the first floor. Deciding to just put the issue on the backburner for the time being, Alexa moved into the crowd and began making her way toward the staircase. Yet, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t completely push the fears from her mind and she had a feeling that the issue of Eric Reiner would stay fixed in her mind for the rest of day.