Peyton and Riley arrived roughly 30 minutes after they said they would which is about par for the course with our friendship. They are incapable of showing up anywhere on time. So, I always tell them we have to be anywhere an hour before we actually do. It works for us, most days.

Luckily tonight is just meeting some friends down at the PAX, the paranormal club in downtown Omaha. The later the better is probably best tonight so they can actually help me not show up uncomfortably early. They arrive with drinks in hand, per the usual. That and a bag full of make-up and clubbing clothes since they know I don’t have anything to go out in.

I heft her bag onto my bed all while giggling and start to dump it out. Sparkles and black cover my comforter. Finley heads to my record player and puts on our favorite album. She maxed out the volume, and we got our boogie on while doing our hair, our make-up, and getting into clothes too skimpy for the cold weather. I hold up a glass, and we cheer to the night ahead clinking our glasses together, whooping and hollering.

Like responsible adults, we all pile into an Uber and head downtown.

“I’m so excited! It’s been ages since we’ve had a good witches night out!” Peyton exclaims from the seat next to me. I’m stuck in the middle between Finley and Peyton. Finley leans over and grabs Peyton and my shoulders.

“This is going to be amazing!” She squeals. I can see the Uber driver laughing at us good-naturedly from the front. “Aren’t you excited?” Finley asks before shaking me back and forth.

“I’m excited! I would be equally excited for game night at home.” Which leads Peyton and Finley to pout directly in my face. “Okay, okay, I’m sorry I’m very excited,” I say holding my hands up in surrender.

Piling out of the Uber, we start to shake with the cold. Why anyone does this in the middle of winter I will never understand. We shuffle our way to the door. Tonight, the entrance cover is to show a bit of magic. Peyton lifts the posts by the bouncer holding the rope without touching it, Finley whispers a spell in the bouncer’s ear, and I believe he falls even more in love with her, and I snap my fingers and show a bit of flame. This is enough to let us in, and the bouncer sneaks Finley his number. I can help but shake my head and smile at her.

The music flows over us. Drowning out all thoughts of anything but the vibrations. The lights were like silk on our skin. The beats already tugging our bodies onto the dance floor. Peyton and Finley grab my hands, and we dive into the swirling mass of bodies on the floor already writhing. Spectral shapes swirl around the dance floor. I can see familiars by the booths and on top of the speakers. Two vampires are drinking some blood bags in the corners. Fireworks spark out of a warlock’s hands in the middle of the group.

Before long I’m in need of a drink and wave at the girls before heading towards the bar. I don’t expect a free drink like Finley always gets. I sneak my way up to the front of the bar and patiently wait my turn.

“Long time no see, stranger.” Someone yells in my ear over the roar of the music and magical ruckus. I look over and catch sight of Tyrone, a warlock I trained with back in the day. I hadn’t seen him in years. A smile breaks across my face, and I wrap him in a huge hug.

“It’s so good to see you!” I feel like I’m screaming but still can barely hear myself. He grabs the two drinks the bartender just brought him, and tugs me to a quieter corner.

“It’s so good to see you, too,” he says pushing one of the drinks into my hand. “Are you just as good with spells as you were before?” he asks. He always had been one to skip right to the details.

“Better I would hope,” I say taking a drink from the long island he brought me. I wonder how he had the insight to order my favorite drink.

“I need you for a, um, let’s call it a research project.” I raise an eyebrow in his direction.

“Research project you say. What kind of trouble are you getting into?” I smile at him, my mischievous side rearing its ugly head.

“The kind of trouble I might need you for.” We had a history of traveling down the path of research to some dubious ends in our past. I was excited about the implications of what he was getting into now. Although I had put the questionable part of my history behind me, I couldn’t wait to find out what he was looking into. My curiosity was insatiable.

“Tell me,” I say. He throws his hands up, and the sounds of the club fade away and its just Tyrone and myself.

“Well, it started like this…”

—

Thank you, Sean Eike, for the image this week!