Geek Syndicate
And so the three of them sat and stared at their plates of stew. Marv, the once great circus
conjurer, and Marissa his daughter and former assistant. Magpye knew them both, but
couldn’t be sure if the memories were his or if they belonged to one of his ghosts, to the
one of the voices in his head.
He felt Marissa’s hand on his. It was warm, far warmer than his own cold and cadaverous
flesh.
“You used to love this stew,” she said earnestly. “You’ve got to eat something, keep your
strength up.”
Magpye pushed the bowl away angrily, spilling some of the steaming stew onto the old
wooden table.
“I can’t,” he said flatly, his temper immediately subsiding. “I can’t eat this.”
He stalked away from the table, damning the voices in his head for their sudden silence
as Marissa began to sob behind him.
***
Sitting in his lair, Magpye listened to the girl’s sobs fade away, and to the muffled sounds
of Marv’s calm, deep voice. He was a hypnotist, amongst his other conjuring skills, and
Magpye wondered if Marv had ever considered reaching into Marissa’s mind and turning
off the things that plagued her. The voices said no, but Magpye still wondered.
The “lair”, as Magpye had come to term it, was the smallest of their rooms. Marv’s old trick
cabinet stood against one wall, co-opted by Magpye for his own storage. A bed of sorts,
cobbled together from part of one of the old caravans, lay awkwardly to one side. A jagged shard of warped glass was propped up in one corner, a poor substitute for a dec ???)??????5??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????)????????????????????????????????????????????????5??????????5????????????)????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????)??????????Q???????????????????????????????????????????)???????????????????????????????????????????????5???e???????+?q'?e??????t?????5????????????q$???????e????????t+?q%?e???????t?5???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????q ?????????e???????????????????????????????????t)5???????????????????????????q??????????????????t+?qe??e????????????????????????????????????E????t+?q???e?????????????t????????5?????Q????????????????????????????????????(???((0