Magic Run

Kickoff - Carly Makes Dumb Decisions When She's Drunk.

Swoosh. Slam. Click. The concierge closed and locked the door and Carly got her first look at Amber's swanky digs.

Shit. She felt sparks in her chest and heat in her stomach. Black fucking Barbie better not have screwed her. She wasn't drunk enough for this shit.

Fuck. Her eyes alighted on the elevator door closing a few yards ahead. At least two shifters, a spark and a handful of humans were on that lift. Her eyes confirmed her firecracker senses. Sparks for magic workers. Heat for shifters. She was fucked. Where the hell were they? – a peace coalition. She gave Black Barbie a.k.a her ex-favorite coworker, Amber, the side eye.

It was too late to turn back. Her plans did not include getting caught on the streets on blood moon night. Carly's, magic worker ass, was gonna have to figure out how to make this fucked up shit work. She sighed and looked around the lobby skeptically.

"What?" Amber gestured for her to bring her ass since Carly still stood in the doorway, inches from the stiff concierge while Amber and everyone else waited on the elevator.

"You said this was a human complex." Carly didn't pay attention to the heads that turned her way. She had no patience for anyone's version of political correctness after the 4 magic laced shots and at least 8 mixed drinks actually made her think Amber's suggestion to crash with her for the night was better than the original plan she, the genius, had to leave early and lock herself in the house before the Blood Moon curse could strike. Fuck the bystanders, tomorrow she'd be nice. For now, she was calling it like she saw it.

"It is." Amber's human senses clearly weren't picking up on Carly's what the fuck bitch, can't you see the other Extra's in the lobby vibe.

"So what the fuck you call the shifters and sparks on the elevator?"

Amber crossed her arms and smirked at Carly. Her slow ass human senses had finally picked up on the wtf bitch vibes and bitch thought it was funny. The magic in Carly's chest went from tepid to a low simmer. She calmed herself with an internal chant. This is my friend. I love her all the time except right now. But, still she's my friend. Woosah.

Amber pointed at the sign showing the layout of the building next to the elevator. The emergency evacuation chart split the building into three sections of four floors each. "Humans on the top, Shifters in the middle, Sparks on the bottom. We are going to the top floor; you'll be far from all the Shifters and Sparks. I promise. Executive perk."

She sounded sincere enough, smirk aside. Carly begrudgingly moved to get a closer look. "What the hell kind of sandwich is this? You're supposed to live in a segregated complex."

"Not all of us are purists like you," Amber grinned, her brown eyes tinkling with laughter and kinky curls vibrating as she held it in. Carly frowned harder. "This is the demonstration complex set up to prove humans and Extras can live together in harmony. I swear you'll be fine."

"Extras, shifters and sparks, do not live together for a reason. Good reasons like the blood moon, which," Carly looked at her watch to make the point, "is happening in the next - oh - five minutes." What she didn't say out loud was that they also didn't live with humans either for even better reasons. Humans, lovable cousins that they are, are weak and disconnected from nature and the magic around them. It makes them a liability prone to non-intentional abuse from sparks and shifters.

Amber's chuckles filled the lobby. "You're always paranoid and bitchy after a few hours of drinking. Last time I had to drag you out of the bar before you started a fight with a pack of sparks and then you were obsessive about catching the midnight movie."

"Aren't their separate entrances at least?" Carly asked eyeing the one shifter in the lobby as he eyed Amber.

Amber shrugged, the action flashing a pretty bit of cleavage in her bodycon curve hugging dress. Carly noted the shifter not missing the show. "It wouldn't be much of a demonstration if they did."

If they didn't get into her apartment asap, Amber was going to get a demonstration alright and by the looks of it, the Shifter in the lobby would be the one giving it.

Shifters and Sparks went into heat during discrete cycles. Shifters, ruled by the moon, experienced their heat cycle monthly in response to the call of the full moon. If you were not in sync with their need to fight or fuck on full moon night you really did not want to be around them. Ruled by the sun, Sparks went into heat in sync with every solar eclipse and experienced a sharp surge in magical energy. If you did not want to enlist in magical induced sex or experimentation, you really did not want to be around Sparks the 2-7 times a year this occurred. And the heat did not discriminate. Humans, Sparks, Shifters all were welcome for a fuck when the heat took over.

If that wasn't bad enough, shit really went fucknuts crazy on Blood fucking Moon night. Which, of course, was tonight. When a blood moon eclipse appears in the sky both the moon and the sun hold dominion at the same time. So, if you connect the dots, that means every Extra goes into heat AT THE SAME TIME. Smart Extras, like Carly, lock themselves down so no one can scent or sense them. To do otherwise, the Gods would deliver sex with consequences and not the oh I'll just run to the doctor and get this shit cleared up consequences. No. The Gods would deliver the shackled for life to a fuck you so good stranger, baby on the way in a few months type of consequences.

Carly knew that some Extras were running the streets right now looking for their happily ever after. She was not the one. Carly did not want that Blood Moon wild fate to wake up mated and pregnant faster than a hooker at a strip club can find lube. She barely let herself think about the implications of the moon and sun working together in collaboration. Her fuck you so good stranger for life could just as easily be a Human as a Shifter. And, she definitely wanted a Spark as a mate so they could have little Sparkies, when she was ready, which was not tonight. Thank you Sun Goddess, hear my prayer please. Mote it be. Carly double-crossed her fingers for good measure.

"Uugh." Carly sighed and then sidled up next to Amber. "When you've got a stick up your ass, you might as well sit and spin." She swung her arm around Amber's shoulder and leaned in.

The lobby was quite posh. Honey colored marble floors graced the elevators, plush royal maroon carpeting blanketed an inviting seating area and a chandelier glittered above their heads. And, she could detect a hit of cinnamon and vanilla on the air.

Amber put a hand to each cheek, "Shifters, sparks and humans – oh my," then snickered.

"Shut the fuck up."

The Black Barbie bitch really did laugh this time. "One night under the same roof. It won't be that bad." Carly hugged her tighter.

The elevator doors opened. Against her better judgment, Carly got on.