Acts of Violet(67)

CAMERON: What was the purpose of that meeting?

ANTOINETTE: To propose Violet join us for an informational exchange of sorts. We’d provide her certain resources to expand her knowledge of that gray area between the physical and metaphysical, which could potentially benefit her stage act. In turn, we asked her to teach us certain things.

CAMERON: Teach you what exactly?

ANTOINETTE: [laughs] How to … influence our reality. Not by way of the standard subterfuge an illusionist employs, but her innate abilities extending … beyond.

CAMERON: And how did that meeting go? Did she agree to this exchange?

ANTOINETTE: It was … a privilege to see Violet perform again, and to speak with her afterward. She was open to our ideas and materials, which we intended to give her regardless, but expressed trepidation at being studied in any way. She cited the need to uphold the magician’s code, though she knew we were getting at something deeper. Ultimately, she said she was not in a position where she could teach us anything. Funny how she would go on to do just that by way of her books and motivational seminars in the years that followed.

CAMERON FRANK: Right, but at that point, Violet was using magic more as a metaphor for self-empowerment. Not as any actual metaphysical instructions.

ANTOINETTE STRANGER: And yet, while I am still working on a larger hypothesis connecting these ideas, I’d argue there’s a stronger subtext in Violet’s contribution to personal development that states those metaphysical capabilities lie within all of us.

CAMERON FRANK: That sounds like a whole other conversation, and I hope we can have it at a later point. I’d like to return to the topic of the vigil. Provided you feel sufficiently wined and dined at this point.

ANTOINETTE STRANGER: I do.

CAMERON FRANK: What did you mean when you said you’ve communicated with Violet?

ANTOINETTE STRANGER: I heard her and sensed her while meditating, though I didn’t get a clear image of her. It was … not a situation where I would’ve been able to reach out and physically touch her. At the same time, it was not a figment or dream.

CAMERON FRANK: Could it have been some version of an afterlife?

ANTOINETTE STRANGER: There is no afterlife, there is only life, in perpetuity. What I saw was not Violet’s ghost; it was Violet herself. She told me to keep following the road I’m on. To help navigate Sasha. To tell her sister to follow the twos.

CAMERON FRANK: What does that mean?

ANTOINETTE STRANGER: It all comes down to patterns. The universe has its own language, and most of us don’t have even a basic grasp of it. In the grand scheme of things, the most intelligent and enlightened of us are still learning the alphabet. As helpful as it would be to discover an existential Rosetta stone, in the meantime, our most effective strategy has been to collect information and study patterns.

CAMERON FRANK: Are you referring to mathematical properties? Like how the Golden Ratio and Fibonacci sequence appear in nature?

ANTOINETTE STRANGER: Yes, but it goes beyond sunflowers and seashells. Quantum immortality and the multiverse are closer to what I believe, which is that we exist in an infinite and malleable reality. That there are levels of science and philosophy light-years beyond anything humanity in its current form can comprehend. That our mission is to discover and decipher as much as we can, to push at our imposed Homo sapiens boundaries.

CAMERON FRANK: And we do that by studying patterns? Like the number two?

ANTOINETTE STRANGER: Everyone has their own starting place. The twos are Sasha’s.

For others it might be noticing whenever the clock reads 11:11, or learning something obscure and seeing multiple subsequent references to it, or countless other synchronicities or manifestations. People dismiss these overlaps as coincidences, but they are better interpreted as signposts. I like to think of it as the universe waving at you, trying to direct you down a certain path or confirming the path you’re currently on. Whether or not you choose to recognize these arrows and follow them is up to you.

CAMERON FRANK: Getting back to Violet, do you believe she’s still alive?

ANTOINETTE STRANGER: In some form or other, yes. I believe the human soul is immortal.

CAMERON FRANK: But what about in the conventional sense? Is she breathing and is her heart beating, on this or any other dimension?

ANTOINETTE STRANGER: I think so. Though I can’t say exactly where or on what plane of reality. The person who has the best chance of discovering that is Sasha.

CAMERON FRANK [STUDIO]: The day after we spoke, I received a call from the Curiosity Network about a new show they’re launching called Off the Beaten Path. One of their first episodes will be centered around the Witkin Theater.

I’ve been asked to be involved with the production, and at my recommendation, Antoinette has also been included. We’ll provide commentary on the theater and the disappearances, and also participate in on-site investigations. In fact, we’re doing the first of several shoots at the Witkin in the coming weeks.

I’ll be sharing some of the behind-the-scenes moments in a future episode.




THE SOUTH JERSEY CHRONICLE

Reward Up for Missing Willow Glen Woman

MARCH 8, 1917

Stricken with worry and grief over the disappearance of his daughter Analise Margolis two weeks ago, Finchley Mining Company president Salvatore Margolis is distressed that search efforts thus far have been unsuccessful.

“She is a steadfast girl with a happy, stable home,” Mr. Margolis said. “It would not be merely out of character for her to run off, it would be downright unthinkable.”