[Smurf]

Great Chapter , can't wait to read more

[Veritas]

Chapter Five: The Family Man

For all of Luke Blade's fame, there was still the sadness, the insecurity and the pain of lonliness deep inside his tortured soul. The feelings of abandonment had never left him, the trauma of his abuse at the hands of the priests and nuns at St, Mary's continued to haunt him. Shuttling in and out of foster homes and instutions augmented his sense of unworthiness and rejection. His only solace was in the applause he received from his audiences and the adulation from his fans. But Luke wanted more. He wanted to belong to a special someone. He wanted to be loved, cherished and comforted. He wanted a family.

He had created imaginary friends as a child, but he yearned for actual physical contact with a real human being. His teenage lover in the psychiatric hospital had just used him for her own pleasure. Luke also suffered night terrors, often waking up screaming. He hated sleeping alone, often taking in groupies just for the security of their company. He often slept with the female members of his crew, though often at times never engaging in any sexual activity but just to keep away the boogymen his tortured mind created while he slept.

The theatrical crew who worked for him found themselves drawn into a cabal of secrecy, understandable for a magician, but for Luke Blade, it went even deeper. He began referring to them as "the Family", laying down unwritten but rigidly enforced rules for their conduct: They were required to show unquestioning loyalty to him and to the rest of the Family. Leaving the Family was betrayal. Luke, in turn, was protective of his Family to the point of obsession. He would defend them to the death, and he wanted the Family to do the same for him.

There was no messianic type dominance as in the case of Charles Manson. Luke was not out to start a cult following. He was simply a psychologically scarred young man who clung to those close to him, fearing rejection and abandonment. He was still prone to outbursts of anger, unaware of the consequences of his actions at times, but there were periods where Luke was the soul of generosity, showering gifts upon the members of his Family at Christmastime, comforting them when they had troubles of their own, and even playing games with them.

There is video footage of Luke with some of the male members of the Family, playing beer pong, a game that was starting to become popular among college students. Cups of beer were lined up on either end of a ping-pong table, and each player batted the ball as in a regular game. If the ball landed in a cup of beer, the person whose side it was on had to drink it. Whoever was left standing was the winner. The videotape showed Luke and his buddies getting slowly hammered as the game progressed. "I can't remember," a former member of the Family, who wished to remain anonymous, stated. "We were all pretty smashed, One minute I'm playing ping-pong, the next I'm in the bathroom blowing chow! Luke says he won, but he was always prone to exaggeration. We had a lot of good times in the beginning."

One of those good times was a ski trip to Colorado. Luke, of course, had never been skiing in his life, but a couple of Family members who were expert skiiers gave him a few lessons. Luke took a few tumbles and landed on his face, but soon got the hang of it. "He thought he was ready for the Olympics after a couple of runs down the bunny hill," one of them said. Luke was laughing throughout the trip. "I never had so much fun in my life!" he said later.

Yet for all the fun, the pressure of work was still there. As much as he loved and cared for his Family, they were technically his employees. They worked for him. They also had lives of their own, something which Luke had to be reminded over and over again. When a Family member suffered the loss of her mother and requested time off to go to the funeral, Luke's first reaction was "What about me?" His personal nurse had to take him aside and carefully explain the situration to him. The woman was allowed to go to the funeral, with the instruction from Luke to "hurry back, we need you."

Luke was not completely heartless, just unaware of other peoples' feelings. He never developed a sense of empathy for anyone, but remained in an infantile state of dependancy and self-centeredness. Luke was, deep down inside, a helpless, wounded child, begging for someone to care for him, crying for his mother to come back to him. His insecurity shielded him from seeing the pain of others; he only felt his own. He lashed out at anyone whom he perceived as having betrayed him for any reason, even for going on dates with each other or "outsiders".

His personal nurse, Victoria Soames, was the only one in the Family who could control Luke's rages. The oldest member of the Family (she was thirty five when she was hired), Soames was an RN with twelve years' experience dealing with violent patients in the emergency room of an inner city hospital, usually gang members who had been in a turf war, or drunks hauled in after being floored in a bar brawl. At least Luke was unarmed and ususally sober when he flew off the handle, but she had the patience of a saint when it came to defusing Luke's temper tantrums. She was truly and angel of mercy as far as the Family was concerned. "Nursie" Soames became the mother figure in the Family, doing everything from treating Luke's injuries after doing stunts to giving flu shots to dispensing everything from asprin to condoms. Hers was the shoulder to cry on; the Family came to her for emotional support as well as medical treatment. It was she who taught Luke about HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases, showing him the proper use of a condom, and warning him about the prostitutes who were constantly vying for his attention. Luke heeded her warnings and ordered security to arrest any prostitutes who showed up on the set or weaseled her way toward him. The local police officers in whatever city Luke was performing in were all to happy to co-operate.

Another devoted Family member was Benjamin "Benny" Weeks, a technician and supervisor who became Luke's second in command, and closest friend. Benny Weeks was devoted to Luke to the point where rumors circulated that he had homoerotic feelings for him. When Weeks married Andrea Packard in 2003, Luke served as best man. Andrea was in charge of wardrobe in the Family ( "She kept me in stitches!" Luke quipped). She was not as devoted to Luke as her husband; in fact, she claimed to have stayed with the Family more out of fear than anything.

His first personal assistant, Tanika Verrell, or TiVi as she was known, stayed only two years. She later claimed that she was so scared to stay with Luke Blade another minute, and promptly quit. Luke was outraged at what he saw as an act of treason. The truth was that Verrell couldn't take any more of Luke's erratic behavior. She didn't know when he was in a good mood or a bad one, and it kept her walking on eggshells to the point where she felt she was heading for a nervous breakdown. The rest of the Family felt the same tension. Only when Vienna Hyatt was hired did things return to some semblance of normalcy. The lovely, blond-haired Vienna stirred feelings inside of Luke that he had never known before. It could have been love, or simply the desire to possess her, but his past experiences left him unable to sustain any long term relationships with any woman; he could not bring himself to trust anyone, for fear of abandonment and betrayal.

One of the few he did trust was Rebecca "Beckie" Winslow, a marginally mentally handicapped woman who was barely nineteen when she was "adopted" into the Family; Luke affectionatly called her the "baby" of the Family. Beckie was the maid-of-all-work, the Girl Friday who did the laundry, fetched coffee and everything else she could carry, cleaned the RVs, and handed Luke bottled water after every show (cooled, not chilled, to prevent abdominal cramps). Beckie loved three things in her life: Luke, daffodils, and the band U2 (she knew the music and lyrics to every song the band recorded. Her personal diaries were "letters" to Bono). She adored Luke like a big brother, always hugging him and pouting when he chided her. Luke was always amused at her smug little nods whenever she completed some task. Of all the members of the Family, Beckie was the one who would show the most loyalty when everything came crashing down.

Family members came and went, with varying degress of loyalty. Some took Luke's idiosyncracies in stride, some couldn't cope with him. There was one instance, however, when a Family member took advantage of Luke's defensiveness.

Tami Lee, a stage assistant, had a boyfriend with whom she wanted to break up. The young man in question was the type who could not take "no" for an answer. He kept showing up at rehearsals, disrupting the acts. He left long-winded messages on her cell phone. As much as Tami Lee kept trying to avoid him, he kept popping up like a bad case of acne.

Fed up with this persistant suitor, Tami turned to Luke. This man was stalking her, she told him. He wanted her all to himself, demanding that she leave the Family for him. If she didn't, he would cause her bodily harm. She pleaded for Luke to help her, she feared for her life, he was her last, best hope to be free of this creep. Of course, much of this was exaggerated, but Luke swallowed it hook, line and sinker on dry land. Outraged at this threat to a member of his Family, he took action.

The next time Tami's ex-boyfriend showed up at rehearsal, Luke was ready, with Benny and another man from the Family at his side. They dragged him to the back of the warehouse-cum-theater and "roughed him up a little". The ex-boyfriend landed in the hospital with a broken collarbone and three cracked ribs, plus a bloody nose and two black eyes. No charges were pressed, as he had probably been terrorized into silence. Tami never saw or heard from him again. Mission accomplished.

With the support of his Family, Luke rose to national, then international fame. He achieved rock-star status with his dark, almost menacing gaze and slick moves on stage. Aside from magic, Luke began dabbling in music, writing songs which he later recorded on a CD entitled Mind, Body, Spirit. The pyramid logo on the liner was designed by Luke himself. The music is mostly electronic synthesizer, designed to hypnotize the listener to an altered state of consciousness. There is a hint of sadness in some of the pieces, such as "Gone Away" and "Dark Night of the Soul", the latter taken from a work by St. John the Divine. While Luke had no inclination toward organized religion (his stint at St, Mary's turned him away from the church for good), he still had some sense of the spirtual, having studied the Far Eastern mystics while serving his apprenticeship with Bill Whitmore. He believed in otherworldly things such as ghosts, spirits and witches as well as angels and devils. There was no formal worship, but his inability to distinguish fantasy from reality kept these beliefs alive. Luke was treading a razor's edge between sanity and delusion.

[RACHEL02189]

oh boy

[Smurf]

great chapter , more please

[Veritas]

Chapter Six: The Celebrity

By the turn of the Millenium, Luke Blade was ranking among more established illusionists such as David Copperfield and Penn and Teller. The twenty-first century began with Luke's induction into the Brotherhood of Magicians. He finally belonged. He was accepted, even in demand, by the public and fellow magicians.

In the spring of 2000, Luke bought his first home, a sprawling, five-bedroom estate in the desert hills of Nevada, about twenty miles from Las Vegas. It was modest by celebrity standards, costing only $1.5 million dollars, but there is a theory that Luke did not want to live in a huge mansion as it reminded him of the instutions in which he had been incarcerated during his childhood.

He developed a passion for cars and motorcycles, though there was the small matter of not having a license, or even knowing how to drive. With the help of his manager, Dave Barron, however, he aquired both the skill and the legal right to drive an automobile, and his first purchase was a classic 1969 Ford Mustang convertable. Luke was like a kid with a new toy--an expensive one to be sure, but he loved his car so much he had it towed along when he went on tour.

And Luke loved toys. Having had so few when he was growing up, he compensated by frequenting high-end toy stores such as FAO Schwarz, buying whatever he fancied. "He had so many toys in his house, he could have opened his own toy store!" said "Nursie" Soames. "He had model trains, radio-controlled cars and planes, building sets, even a go-cart that he raced around on. He liked anything that moved."

He read all his own fan mail, sending out personally autographed photos to anyone who asked. As his fan base grew, it became necessary to hire a secretary to help out. Luke autographed anything anyone gave him, even various parts of their anatomies (the legend that he autographed a fan's arm with a Bowie knife is unfounded; that incident is credited to Ted Nugent). He had his own website and "blog", available to anyone who wanted to read about him. Many of the "facts", however, were either distorted or left out altogether. For example, he claimed his parents gave him his first magic kit at six, when in fact he was given it by his foster parents at age eight. When asked about his religious beliefs, he stated that he had been left to "make up his own mind about that by his parents", when in fact he had little or no religious training outside of St. Mary's, and that left him antagonistic toward any sort of mainstream religion. He tried to create a middle-class upbringing for himself to cover the stigma of being in and out of foster care and institutions.

As a celebrity, Luke was constantly being asked to do charity work and to make donations to this cause or that. Give back to the community, they encouraged him. So many were in need and he could do a lot of good for them and for himself as well. Luke was still pretty much self centered and materialistic to listen to them. It took a disaster of national proportions to shake him out of his complacency.

Luke was in Manhattan for shooting a television special in late summer of 2001. He was on his way to a production meeting in the early morning of September 11, when he heard a deafening roar above his head. He and the rest of the New Yorkers looked up to see the initial attack on the World Trade Center. Luke recalled the ground shaking beneath his feet as Flight 11 crashed into the North Tower. Luke convinced himself that it had been an accident; maybe the pilot was drunk or something, he reasoned. Anyway the FDNY was on it's way to rescue everyone. Only when Flight 175 slammed into the South Tower did it occur to Luke that it was no accident. Like thousands beside him, he tuned into whatever news cast he could listen to. It was on that fateful day that the word "terrorist" entered his vocabulary.

Luke wanted to go home, but flights were cancelled, subways were paralyzed and the swirling dust disoriented him. The final horror Luke would witness was the collapse of the South Tower at 10:00 AM. The billowing clouds of dust charged at him like a monster from Hell, he said later. He took refuge in a small cafe, watching helplessly as downtown Manhattan was swallowed up in a dense cloud of grey dust.

When the dust finally settled hours later, the once bustling metropolis was like a ghost town, blanketed in concrete dust and debris. In his cafe shelter, Luke stopped thinking of himself for the first time in his life. The tiny cafe mobilized itself as a relief shelter for the firefighters, police officers and other rescue workers, handing out bottled water and preparing meals. Luke was drafted into service, serving sandwiches and coffee, sweeping the dust out of the cafe, and hauling out pallets of water and juice to keep the rescue teams hydrated. Luke did not complain; in fact, he wanted to be out there with New York's Finest and Bravest, digging out survivors and putting out the fires. The chief of Ladder Company 89 made it explicitly clear to the impetuous illusionist that his place was in the cafe. He should leave the rescue work to those whose job it was to do rescue work. The best way he could help was to stay out of the way. Just keep doing what he had been doing, and he'd be doing his part. End of discussion.

Luke reluctantly obeyed. Yet his assistance in the cafe/shelter did not go unnoted by the entertainment industry. He was photographed in the stock room of the cafe wearing a white kitchen worker's apron and kerchief around his head, cutting open boxes of bottled water, . It elevated the public's opinion of him as a civic-minded American citizen as well as an entertainer. Luke began to realize that charity work had personal benefits: for one thing, it was good PR. From then on, Luke made it a point to do as many benefit performances and personal appearances as his busy schedule allowed. It made him look good in the eyes of the Cult of Personality.

And the Cult of Personality welcomed him into their pantheon with open arms. He had all the qualifications: good looks, trim body, rock-star attitude, and a magic act yet to be equaled. He thrilled audiences worldwide with stunts, escapes and illusions on a grand scale never seen since the days of Houdini. He was becoming a household name in magic. He was a superstar. He never went anywhere without a gorgeous girl or two on his arm, and amassed the most ostentatious collection of "bling", or heavy jewelry, outside of the rap music industry. One silver chain set him back $30,000. Luke was living large, and he was in charge.

It was when he was in bed trying to sleep that the past came back to haunt him. He still suffered from night terrors to the point where he had to check into a sleep disorder clinic for help. Ironically, it was these night terrors that gave him inspiration for his most chilling escapes, such as the Underground Cell Escape. Psychologists reason that this particular stunt stemmed from his stay at St. Mary's, when he was locked in a dark closet in the basement of the home, as witnesses who were children in the care of the nuns later testified. Was Luke trying to overcome the demons of his past by doing this?

Luke made sure that no one found out about his past, especially his years at St. Mary's. He remained elusive about his childhood when interviewed. He created an illusion about himself to block away the pain and trauma of his early years. In time, however, his soul would become as deformed as his brain had been in the womb.

[Smurf]

Poor Luke , great chapter , can't wait to read more

[RACHEL02189]

If this was real Luke Blade would be a physicist dream with his problems and how he dealt with them

[Veritas]

Chapter Seven: The Two-Faced Janus

Luke struggled so hard to conceal his past, it seemed there were two Luke Blades--the public and the private. The public face he wore was one of self-confidence, the daredevil illusionist who knew no fear. He was the man-about-town, the playboy surrounded by beautiful women. He had VIP access to all the trendy clubs in LA and Vegas. He posed for photos and signed autographs for his fans on the street. He even took time to visit terminally ill children whose only wish was to meet the master illusionist. He was a true celebrity, as far as the public was concerned.

But this public persona concealed a darker side of Luke. He was possessive of everyone and everything in his life. He kept a jealous eye on the personal activities of the Family, watching out for any signs of deviation or defection. He became a perfectionist, openly critical of any mistake he perceived, however small. Any flaw in the plan could spell the difference between life and death, he reasoned. His flashes of anger reduced many female members of the Family to tears, especially Beckie Winslow. As much as she loved Luke, she was also afraid of him. Her relationship with Luke is a classic example of "trauma bonding", where the victim still cares for the abuser despite the abuse, covering up the physical and psychological pain to protect him. No matter how much Luke made her cry, she always forgave him.

Only Nurse Soames was immune to Luke's rages. Twelve years dealing with street gangs in the ER steeled her against the temper tantrums and ego trips Luke displayed. She stood firm when the rest of the Family cowered. When Luke snapped at her or anyone else, she snapped back with equal ferocity. She was a fairly large, matronly woman who brooked no nonsense from her patients, even when that patient was Luke Blade. She was the dominating mother figure in Luke's life, one which proved over time Luke needed the most. As angry and egotisical as he would get, Luke always deferred to his "Nursie", however reluctantly.

But there was nothing that would cure Luke permanantly. The two faces were still emmeshed in his soul. He swung from one side of his personality to the other without warning. Psychologists theorized that Luke Blade was bipolar, but in reality it was a manifestation of FAS. As his fame grew, he became increasingly paranoid, more possessive to the point of obsession. He began fearing for his life when a death threat appeared one day that had been delivered among his personal correspondence. It had obviously been slipped in by someone from the "inside"; there were rumors it was a disgruntled Family member, but the culprit was never found.

Luke had always hated sleeping alone. He began taking more and more female company to bed with him, whether they be Family members, other celebrities or fans. Most nights he just slept, without any sexual congress whatsoever. They were like living teddy bears, keeping him safe and secure. Having two or even three women in bed was not at all unusual. He made it clear to all of them that he hated oral sex of any kind. When he did engage in sexual activity, it was for his own personal gratification, a form of masturbation on his part; he cared nothing for his partner's pleasure. The few women he slept with who were willing to talk confessed to feeling as though they had been "raped" when they tried to make love to Luke Blade. There was little if any foreplay; he simply got down to business. There was almost no tenderness in his lovemaking; they were there to "service" him. Women, to Luke, were just another perk of fame.

But Luke still possessed feelings, however carefully hidden. He still sought that special someone with whom he could share his life. He lived vicariously through Benny Weeks and his wife, Andrea. When the Weeks had their first child on Thanksgiving Day, 2006, a boy they named Lucas Benjamin Weeks, Luke was as estatic as though he had been the father himself. He was especially honored to be named godfather to the baby. Luke doted on his godson, whom he called Baby Luke. "I never knew what people saw in babies until Baby Luke came into my life," he said. Baby Luke was often photographed with his famous godparent; many of the pictures were a study of contrasts: the darkly menacing magician holding the sweet, innocent infant in his long, nimble hands. During an outdoor performance on Times Square, he worked Baby Luke into his act. The audience cooed affectionatly as Luke emerged with his infant godson in his arms. The tiny infant huddled against Luke for warmth in the cold winter weather.

Suddenly, Baby Luke sneezed. "Oh! No!," Luke said in mock horror. "He's catching cold!" Luke called for a "nice warm blanket" to wrap up the baby. A fan in the crowd produced a quilt she had made as a gift for Luke. He accepted it graciously and covered the baby in it. Then, suddenly, Luke shouted "NOW!" and whipped away the quilt. The baby had vanished! The audience was astonished. "Well, he's out of the cold," Luke quipped.

Andrea Weeks came out to the stage area, a bit indignant. "Luke," she said, "I told you to watch him, not put him into your act!"

The audience laughed. Luke just smiled sheepishly and took a bow. The baby, it turned out, was safe in Luke's RV. For all his daring and outrageous behavior, Luke never harmed his godson in any way. Indeed, he could be overprotective at times, shielding him from the photographers and overadoring fans. Baby Luke was more of a possession to him than a person. And like all his possessions, he guarded them jealously.

[Smurf]

great chapter , more please

[RACHEL02189]

I'd like to see Criss do that