Cez Presents: The Magic Shop

Date: 6/14/2018

First I needed directions to the magic shop. I was meeting my lover there, but I wasn't given any directions there. I was in a New York City downtown in the busy financial district, and I needed to find another magic user to give me some directions. I waited patiently on the corner, hoping I could distinguish one from out of the blue. With luck, I saw a woman shapeshift from a glass window display back into a person. She had a 1950's bob and a pencil skirt and dark lipstick. I realized in my black and white surroundings, I seemed to stand out more than her. Nobody seemed to notice but me. I walked up to her. "HEY! Do you know where the magic.....shop is.." She panicked, staring down at me sputtering curses. "Shit they've found me,, oh god oh god shit fucking-" She pushed me to the side and got into a sprint. She ran down the stairs to subway, and until now I noticed the two figures in black running past me in pursuit. I felt bad for the woman, until I realized I hadn't gotten my response yet. "HEY WAIT!" I yelled, dashing down the stairs and into the tunnel. I jumped the fare, and was able to slip into a train almost about to leave. The doors clipped my sleeve. I searched the business mob, and sure enough, I saw her on the other side of the car- shifting uncomfortably by the door, pushing her skirt down. Our eyes met. Her face shriveled with disgust and anger of me, but then she turned white staring at what was behind me. I turned, and the two men in suits were making their way towards the next car. She gave another frustrated glance at me and got off at 81st street. I ran in pursuit, passing the mosaics of glass animals and bugs, and headed upstairs. I was panting, and really in need of a break. But I persisted, and followed them to the street. I watched as the government agents secured the premises, and the woman slip into a nondescript office building. I snuck past the men and the very angry New Yorkers demanding to get through and made a mad dash to the building. A receptionist greeted me. "Hello there, have you made an appointment; Wait! Excuse me, hello? Hello?" I took the first available elevator. There were a ton of buttons, from L to 36. I had no idea where'd she be, and if I tried to start eliminating the floors, she might already be gone. There are 36 floors on this building, all except one number. I instinctively pressed level 14. It wasn't it, but it was close. The doors opened. There she was. Amongst the cubicles, she was in the front, halfway turned into a chair. When she saw me, she kicked her table like legs up and sprinted for another hiding place. This was going to be hard. "Josh? Who was that?" A feminine sounding voice uttered amongst the cubicles. There weren't many people in the office, it was practically empty except for a few heads peaking out of the cubicles. I had to alert them she was here. "Hey-" As I approached the cubicle I heard the voice coming from, I saw from the back of my eye the men with the black suits. Many of them, armed and pointed at us. I screamed "GET DOWN." I slammed my head on the carpet, before an eruption of bullets spun through the officespace. One man sitting in the front of the office stood up just before the fire, and was pelted with thousands of bullets, blood spewing everywhere. I crawled my way to the nearest desk to hide under, until I realized I wasn't alone. There was an intern already under her desk, sobbing into her shirt. "Chester....," she whispered under her breath. "Josh..." Her eyes were focused on the cheap office carpet. "Hello, m'am? I'm here. Can you tell me if there are any other people here? I'm going to try to help them for you. Can you tell me where they are?" She looked up from her dumbfounded stupor. "Chester usually sits closer to the windows," she pointed. "And Josh-" she glanced back and started to cry again. I put my hand on her shoulder. "Thank you," I whispered back. This would have to be a rescue mission. I crawled on my elbows careful to not raise alarm. I barrel rolled past the visible pathway, and barricaded myself in a cubicle. I looked over at the next cubicle before me. There was a shoe sticking out of it. I kneaded my way towards it. There, an intern was, curled in a ball, trembling. He was shaken, still clenching a stack of papers for dear life. When he saw me, he visibly was spooked, and I held my finger to my mouth, and beckoned him. He put down his papers, and followed me on all fours. I barrel rolled back across the hallway, but when I looked back at him he looked worried, staring at the semi automatic weapons down. I waved at him some more, we had to keep going, it'd be worse if we stayed in one place. The men were reloading. He followed my lead and barrelrolled right into me. We crawled back to were the other intern was posted. When she saw I had brought him back they shared an embrace and all her doubts on me had disappeared. "Chester Helmitch," Chester said holding out his hand. I shook it. "Win..ery.." the woman said weakly in the corner. "Winery," Chester rephrased, if I couldn't hear it. "What's going on? Why are these guys shooting at us?" I glanced up. "They're looking for a magic user," I responded, "She's somewhere in this building. We need to get to her before they do." I wrung my hands. "She might be one of the last magic users left, and I need to find her." Chester blinked. "Whoa, there's another person here? That's not good." Winery turned away, sick. "They took... Josh...," she trembled. From her desk position, she must've saw more of the scene than Chester. The guns stopped blaring. The men were now snaking their way through the office labyrinth, scouting for any survivors. "This is bad,,," I told them. "We need to find her, now." Chester pointed. "Would that be her?" From the corner of my vision I spotted the woman, her leg propped on a table, camouflaging as a desk lamp. When she noticed me she became irate at my gestures, but she had no choice. The black figures were closing in. She flattened herself and tumbled toward our stakeout. "We need to get outta here," I barked. "We need a plan." "All of the exits have been cornered," Chester notified, "We're trapped in. Most likely they've surrounded the outside fire escape too." "The Janitor's stairwell....," Winery whispered. "Abandoned. No one knows about that exit, it's off limits." She paused. "It's...bolted shut....At least no one can get in without a key,," she held up a lanyard strung around her neck. She blushed. "I used to smoke.... there..." I looked up. They were just a few feet away. "How close is it?" She pointed. It was closer to our desk than all possible exits. "On three, we run." I motioned. One. Two. Three. As a group, we collectively got up and ran. We sprinted forward as bullets fired at our movement. A spare pelts spit and hit Chester and the magic user. Oh god, there were so many of them than before. I doubted myself as Winery fiddled with her keys. She opened the door and we rushed in. "GO!" She screamed. "Meet me later, I've got this!" She held the door back, as angry hands and bullets pushed from the inside. We rushed down the dust caked staircase, filled with cobwebs and debris. We opened the door to the outside world, the sun stinging. With luck they hadn't covered this corner yet, and we stood in the small garbage lot waiting for Winery. A clatter of heels and footsteps came down the stair well. Winery in one piece. "Go go GO!" We didn't wait another minute. We each jumped the wooden fence without hesitation. We left the commands and shouts behind us. We were in this together now. Once we knew the coast was clear, the group reformed again in an alleyway. "Ok, What the hell was that," Chester panted, still out of breath from running. "What are we going to do now?! They're after us now!" Winery winced. "Where are we going... to go." The magic user spoke up. I realized I had never heard her talk before. "Train," she said firmly. "Wha-what you mean, 'train'?!" I yelled. "All of the Subways are probably guarded or closed thanks to you!" She spoke again, only this time more sternly. "Train. We walk. To train." She pointed down the street. Grand Central. "You wanna go there? But it's 40 blocks away. That's nearly 2 miles on foot...." Winery stood up. "What choice do we have..." she was right. Together, we walked the entire 40 blocks in silence. The magic user changed her appearance briefly, and Chester patched up his bullet wound with his belt. We walked separately to not cause any alarm. Finally we made it to the terminal. Winery had enough money for tickets for all of us, although Chester wanted to chip in some. By the look on her face it was definitely her entire salary. We got on the train, and left the cityscape behind us. The landscape of rolling hills rushed by, but no one seemed to be paying attention to the view. A child made sounds in the distance. A couple muttered to themselves on personal affairs. Since the time in the office, the world had gradually become more colorful. I glanced back at the magic user. "Where are we going?" I demanded. "Why can't you just,, talk to me??" She gave another pained and Irritated expression. "If you help me," she said angrily, "I'll take you to your Gift shop." I looked up in shock. Did she mean the Magic Shop? Did she really know where the Magic Shop was? All this time? I had almost forgotten about it with the hectic mess of it all. Winery and Chester were holding themselves again. I forgot that they had lost a colleague in all of this. Chester noticed my expression. "We were just interns," he said blankly. "Nothing ever happens in a Summer job. Josh and I were good friends. We would've never expected this to happen." Winery said nothing. The train pulled up to another station, screeching to a halt. The magic user motioned to get off here. "I'm coming along too," Chester announced. "We're this together now." Winery nodded and Helmitch helped her up. We stood, wide eyed at the platform wondering what would happen next. "I'll call an über," Chester offered, and disappeared around the corner. He came back, guiding us to a black car, parked in the parking lot. We all crammed in. "Where to?" Asked the driver. I realized we had never been given an actual Address, and I was just in the dark as this über driver on where our final destination was. "Keep driving," the Magic user ordered and the driver looked back at Chester. Chester nodded compliantly, and we sped down the forested backroads. We kept on going, until the magic user tapped Helmitch on the hand. "This is far enough, thank you." He pulled out his phone to pay.The über driver looked bamboozled. For at the side of the road, there was nothing but a stretch of grassy hills as far as the eyes could see. "Hey," he called out. "Hey wait!" But we were already out of the car, and marching uniformly into the hills. "This," the magic user proclaimed, gesturing vaguely at a clump of grass "This is what you are looking for." "It's nothing but dirt," Winery stated. The Magic user took her palm and dug deep into the soil. The dirt lit up, spreading outwards and forming a box shape. A door. The light dimmed as a latch opened revealing inside. "This is what you have wanted!" She announced as we stepped inside, "The Magic Shop!" In English, words can have two meanings. Sometimes, these phrases are called double-entendres. They are considered two sides of a phrase, often lewd. Magic can be considered something of occult paranormal value, or it can be considered a technology beyond human comprehension. A shop can be a building of commerce where things are bought and sold. A shop can also mean a source where things are produced or repaired. As Winery and Chester Ooohed and ahhed, there was one thing that I understood. "This is not The Magic shop." The surroundings around me lit up in blue electric hues. Control panels whizzed and engines burned. Lava lamp like orbs floated around us. The whole thing looked like the Tardis or better yet the enterprise. This was not a place of commerce where the occult was bought and sold. This was the source of where incompressible alien technology produced energy. I turned to protest, to challenge the magic user. They brought me out here for this? But as I turned, I saw the magic user, collapsed on the ground. Chester held her neck up limply, while Winery gasped. The magic user was badly injured. Only now did I notice the bullet wound in her side. She beckoned me closer. Her appearance had dramatically changed. She was old, and withered, but had characteristics I had never before seen in a human being. Her several eyes blinked at me. "Come closer, my little imp," she cried out softly in a crude Slavic accent. "I am proud of you for getting this far. I am giving you this," she lifted out her palm and bestowed me with an orb. It glowed and sparkled, and disintegrated into my veins. "It will help you on your journeysss," she howled. "Our time together has ended. I must return...... home." Winery stepped in."They're here!" Everyone turned their attention to the men in black marching up the hills. "You need to go," Chester ordered. "We'll take it from here." He placed the magic user onto a bench and manned the controls. Winery joined him. "Just,, like a typewriter," she stuttered with a smile. Chester let out a chuckle. "I've seen expresso machines harder than this." "Hey," I took one last look at the crew. "Are you gonna be ok doing this?" I asked. "We've got this," Chester said, armed at the control panel, "To be honest, I never liked my day job." "Goodbye Winery. Good Luck Chester." I exited the magic shop, and made myself hidden in the bushes and under brush. But the men in black did not notice me, as they were too busy shooting at the spaceship, taking off in the distance. I watched the saucer cut across the sky and sail to the great beyond. I wondered idly how Winery and Chester were doing up there. PART II Once the men in black dispersed I walked back and found myself back on the roadside. I called my mom with the little battery and wifi I had left to tell her what happened and that I'd find a safe spot to come be picked up. I told her that it'd be a perfect place to practice my driving lessons, but first I needed to get somewhere less open. As I walked closer to civilization, I saw a little store in the distance. I had some money in my pocket, and this could be a good place to change out of my clothes and freshen up so I looked less of a refugee. And hey, it could be the magic shop for all I knew. I entered the store and was greeted by the blaring sound of music and mariachis playing on a radio. A flurry of hot pinks and lavenders surrounded me, making me even more confused. I stood close to a group of girls trying to blend in and not let my presence be known. "¡Oye! ¿Qué vestido comprarás? ¿Tu mamá te trajo aquí?" I looked down at the three girls trying out dresses. They must've thought I was here to buy some too. Not to be out of place, I replied. "Sí, erhm, sí." I looked around me at the enormous dresses stacked up around me. This was a Quinceañera salon. "Yo... me gustaría,,,,, este." I pointed to a fuchsia looking dress behind me. It was hideous. Did I really look like a 15 year old girl? "¡Oye! ¿Qué te pasa? Tu ropa está sucia. Mi mamá dijo...." she cut off to silence her friend's laughter. "Mi mamá dijo que lo que sea que mis amigos quieran," she smiled, "pueden tener." This was my big break. The girl winked back at me. "Somos amigos, ¿no?" "Sí," I stammered back, "¡Claro que si!" "Pero," she added. "¿Pero qué?" "Pero,necesito encontrar mi vestido primero." That was good enough for me. She tried on her first dress. The audience cooed. "¡Que Chido, Merdana!" She tried on a fluffy green dress on. "¡Aye Que lindo!" They chattered on the texture and quality of the dress. Lastly, she tried on a lavender ball gown. "Aye Miranda, let me look at you!" Her mother squealed. "How grownup," her mother cried, "Aye, mi hija is all grownup!" I smiled at her. "Sí, eso es todo." She beamed back. "¡Ahora para ti!" She waddled in her big violet dress. "¡Aqui!" She presented me with the ugly hot pink dress I pointed to before. "Que feo," I thought audibly in my head, but I thanked her graciously. I tried it on. It was just as ugly on the rack as it was in person. They admired the dress on me. "Oh sweetie," the clerk said softly, "Let's put some makeup on you." I remembered I still had dirt on the sides of my cheeks and scratches. One terrible updo and bad spray tan later, I was considered ready. I winced. I looked more like a contestant of a toddler beauty pageant than a ballgown beauty. My humongous updo kept collapsing onto my fake eyelashes, and it looked more like the leaning tower of Pisa than a look. As the sequin hair clips dug deeper into my scalp, I pained a smile. "¡Ah, que lindo! ¡Qué lindo!" They exclaimed. "Dondé esta tu madré? ¡Ah, Que lindo!" I looked over to Merandas mother, who was already racking up the bill for me and her daughter's dresses. She was still bawling over how much of a princess she looked. While everyone was still occupied, I snuck out of the store, careful not to ring the bell on my way out. When I got to the road, I realized where I was. My old hometown. There was the fire department and the elementary school. I didn't remember this Quinceañera salon, but a lot of things had changed over the years. I was almost shocked that my extremely white town would even offer one, but there it stood. There was a wired poke sign with the words "School reunion parking here." Since I was officially in town and "glammed up" as it was, with three layers of blush on, I thought it best to go and see what the alumni were doing and enjoy myself a little while I was there. I stormed the school, armed in my hot pink Quinceañera dress. I was ready for anything. When I reached the school, I had found that they were already cleaning up. A lot of people who I knew and did not recognize were there, but mostly old pta parents and Girl Scout Leaders. When I got to the parking lot, I saw my old neighbors Conner and Olivia, leaning on a wooden fence in the parking lot. They were a grade or two younger when I left them, but now here they were, smoking outdoors. "Hey." Connor looked up. "Cez is that really you? You look different." "With this dress on?" I laughed . "Yeah, I guess a lot has changed. How are you doing?" Connor looked back, blowing smoking in my face. "I work at the play house now as a janitor. My old man makes me work there. I only do it cuz 'Livi wants to move in with me." "I stared back. Whoa you two are dating? No kidding!" Olivia smiled. "Yeah, it's been 4 months official. Almost 5." "I never pictured you two together. I always pictured, uh.. someone else." Connor spat and threw his cigarette down. "You calling me a fag?" "Whoa, whoa whoa calm down, no need to be so sensitive." "That's what you think I am huh? I'm not a fucking pussy, you hear me?" He got up in my face. Same delusional punk as before. "Connor, stop," Olivia objected trying to get between us. Connor pushed her out of the way. She stumbled to the floor. "Get out of here, Freak," he grunted, "I don't want to ever see your ugly mug again." "Geez, what a loser," I grumbled as I made my way to the exit. "Yeah you better leave! FREAK!" He hollered after me as I tried to walk in pumps. When I got to the edge of the parking lot, I saw my mom had the car standing for me. We hugged "Hii, how are you? I was so worried about-" she paused mid sentence. "What do you have on? Did the aliens give you this?" She snorted. "No, the Mexicans did." "That's alright I already brought a spare change of clothes, you can tell me about it on the ride home." She revved up the car. I changed out of the dress and into a shirt and some shorts. I smeared the makeup from off my face and onto my dirtied arm. "Are you hungry? Did they hurt you? When I heard about you on the highway alone I thought about calling the cops until you mentioned the men in black." The car stopped at a red light. "I mean what if they're apart of it? Oh lord." I looked back at the town. "Imagine if you stayed in that ship! I love Star Trek, but promise me you won't don't get into any ships without telling me, ok? I went out, told dad, got the car, I drove all the way from the Bronx... how'd you even get here?" "By train." "You bought a ticket here?" "No, some people I met gave it me." That did it. "You were with a group of strangers?! By yourself?? Do you have any idea how dangerous that is alone? Thank goodness you're safe." We sped along the sunny woodscape. "Hey mom, you told me I could drive the car." "Hm? Oh, um maybe later. I'm more focused on getting you home and safe." "Mom, but you said-" "Uh uh uh." "Ma, you said!" "Nhm-uh. That's it. Maybe later." We passed a sign that said in big bold letters TAG SALE. FREE FOOD. My eyes glistened. "At least could we go to the tag sale? It's somewhere up ahead." "I need to give the car back to dad. Some other time." "Please mom! Think of all the things we could eat there! Imagine how incredible the tag sale is!!" "No, this isn't a discussion. End of story." I was now irate and irrational. We passed by a small white cottage with plastic foldable tabletops serving chickpeas and salads. No one else was out there, and it looked pretty empty. They must've been cleaning up. "MA LOOK! THATS THE TAGSALE! LOOK LOOK LOOK! We're passing it!! This is our chance! ITS ON THE WAY MOM PLEASE LET ME GO TO THE TAGSALE!" "You've already had too much excitement already. They look like they're cleaning up." "That MEANS MORE TRAYS OF LEFTOEVER BLUEBERRY MUFFINS MA-" "I just don't feel comfortable just going over to a place that looks empty." "Ma you PROMISED I'd Drive and if I could drive I'd go and get those blueberry muffins-" "But-" "BUT NOTHING! They should be! In my arms! I'm going to get them whether you like it or not! UHGAH." I unlocked the car door and jumped out of the car. It hadn't been my first time jumping out of a car. My feet stuck to the pavement and my body kept moving. I felt the gravel dig into the skin of my knees and chin. The car served and stopped at the edge of the hill and had hit a guard rail. It had parked. I walked in the opposite direction, confident of my sporadic decision making so far and was on my way to get my well deserved blueberry muffins. I saw a Old looking Jeep pass by me. As I walked I heard the car door slam and foot steps walking behind me. Confident my mom had came to her senses, I looked behind me. But instead of her it was a long creepy man with a patchy beard, pink eyes and a long bob. I walked faster, as I looked behind my shoulder. He was still following me. He walked less like a human and more like a preying mantis. I ran to the next house over. The sky had gotten darker now. There was a light in the living room. I knocked serval times. No answer. I was banging now. No answer. I frantically grabbed the nearest outdoor chair and smashed the window, and stepped in. An old couple came clamoring down the stairs in their pajamas. "What in the hell?" The old man demanded. "Pleaseyougottahelpme-first dial 911." The old man grunted "Oh, Believe me, I'm calling them." I restarted again. "Please help me I'm alone and this creepy guy is following me I don't know I don't feel safe please-" The old woman gasped. "Richard-" I turned around. The man was standing at the door, with a huge grin on his face. At that point I wish I hadn't broken that window. And then I woke up.