Free Beautiful Illusion by Aubrey Sage

girl vanish behind a curtain, and he even made himself levitate 2-3 feet off the ground while an assistant waved a stick below his feet and over his head.
    Even standing to the side of the stage at an awkward viewing angle, I couldn’t see how he was doing it all. It really looked like he was bending space and time, whether he was or not.
    Then came the finale. The lights were dimmed, and the curtain was closed while the staff rolled the water filled capsule on to the stage. Dramatic music echoed overhead once the the curtain was pulled back, and there were mutters amongst the crowd when they saw the huge device that Enigma intended to submerge himself in.
    When Enigma reappeared on stage, I almost caught my breath for a moment. He was shirtless, wearing just a pair of tight fitting boxer briefs and nothing else. Every time he took a step, the sharp curves of his muscles glimmered under the spotlight. I could tell that he was in great shape through his clothes, but I had no idea until then that his body was so defined or that he had the most perfect six-pack sitting atop a strong V.
    And then those boxers—well, they didn’t leave much to the imagination. The bulge in the front was huge, and I’m sure that more than a few ladies in the crowd would need to change their panties when they returned home. I knew I would.
    One of the assistants handed Nick a mic, and he stepped to the front of the stage, looking down at the audience.
    “Ladies and gentlemen, this is my final act,” he said calmly into the mic. He took a few steps back towards the capsule and placed his hands on the glass. “Most humans can’t hold their breath for more than 30 seconds, and even the most adept people can’t go more than a few minutes. Tonight, I’m going to attempt to break my own personal record and hold my breath underwater for 15 minutes.” He walked towards a small table that sat beside the capsule and lifted a thick chain that was sitting on top. “And to make things interesting, my hands will be chained, and the top of this capsule will be locked as well. I’ve given instruction to my staff to not unlock this capsule until I’ve reached the 15-minute mark.”
    The crowd mumbled.
    “What you’re about to see is real. There’s no gimmicks or tricks to this. Either I am able to hold my breath for the allocated time or I fail. And if I fail, I’ll probably black out before the 15 minutes is up.”
    Enigma dropped the mic on the stage with a thump that was amplified through the speakers of the Event Center, and then he pulled his hands behind his back.
    Mikayla ran on to the stage with keys in her hand, and another assistant scrambled out to pick up the mic.
    Enigma looked off into the distance as if he were praying or getting his mind prepared for what was about to happen as the chains rattled and Mikayla wrapped them around his wrist. When the chain was fully wrapped, she sealed them with a thick padlock.
    The mumbling in the crowd grew louder, and the dramatic music started up overhead.
    Enigma turned and slowly paced up a small, portable staircase that lead to the top of the capsule and then sat himself on the edge with his feet dangling down into the water.
    My nerves started running high when I saw him sitting there, ready to dive in. The last thing I wanted was for him to have an accident and die at a show that I was promoting, but at the same time, I had started developing a soft spot for the guy. Seeing all the effort he put into his show and how passionate he was about magic made me want him to succeed.
    His show that night had been great so far, but the final act was the one that would make him or break him, the act that people would remember, the act that would define Nick Campbell’s Impossible Reality .
    A projector suddenly fired up and painted the image of a timer that read ‘00:00’ across the backdrop of the stage. Mikayla climbed halfway up the stairs holding a second set of chains, and then Nick nodded to