Victor and his friends sit around Superior Charles’ meeting room. Leo is sitting in a chair, sipping on some whisky. Elliott and Frank are standing by the liquor cabinet, trying out almost every bottle to calm their nerves.
Amber is pacing around the center of the room. “A Warlock! Warlock!”
“Yes,” Lupe states while she’s sitting in a chair. “We have established Victor is a warlock.”
“Why didn’t you tell any of us?” Amber asks aggressively.
“Yeah!” Elliott adds as he opens a bottle of bourbon. “I thought we were friends. How could you keep something like this from us?”
Victor massages his forehead. “You have to understand; I was only trying to keep you safe. You saw how dangerous those witches were back there.”
“That you murdered,” Amber snaps.
“It was technically self-defense, babe,” Lupe comments.
“And that justifies what Victor did to them?” Amber retorts.
“This isn’t the first time,” Victor mentions.
Amber is gobsmacked to hear that her friend has killed before. “You’ve killed others before?”
“It was all in self-defense,” Victor reiterates.
“How can you just stand there and act like it’s normal? Do you even sleep at night afterwards?”
“Honestly,” Victor pauses, “I haven’t had much time to process all of it. I’ve been getting my eight hours of sleep a night.”
“Amber, you have to understand, it was either that or they kill him,” Leo states over the rim of his glass.
“I take it you’re a warlock too?” Amber asks Leo.
“I am,” Leo replies without hesitation.
“You lied about how you met Victor. Is your name even Leo?” Amber questions, crossing her arms as she stops pacing and gives Leo a pointed look.
Leo looks up at Amber and responds, “Yes, my name is Leo. And we only lied because of the way everyone is acting now.”
“Guys,” Victor interjects as he stands up. “I’ll explain everything. I just need–”
Victor is interrupted by the double doors to the room opening. Superior Charles, Superior Jackie, and Akisha walk into the room. Superior Charles has a slight snarl in the corner of his mouth. He marches over to Victor.
“You forgot something at the restaurant,” Superior Charles says as he tosses the silver card to Victor. “Try not to lose it again.”
Victor catches the card. “I’m sorry, Superior. The witch dressed as a server pickpocketed it out of my vest.”
Superior Charles stops in front of Victor and places his hands on his hips. His tall stature gives the impression of a fatherlooking down at his son as he scolds him. “And how did you not know there were a couple of witches at the restaurant?”
Victor feels ashamed. “I guess I was distracted celebrating with my friends.”
Superior Charles looks over to Leo. “Have you not talked to him about breaking his ties to the mundane?”
Before Leo could speak, Victor answers. “He did. He’s mentioned it to me several times.He even spoke about it yesterday after the barbecue.”
“Then why were you with your friends?” Superior Charles demands. He looks at Amber and says, “Happy birthday, by the way.”
Victor cranes his neck to look up at Superior Charles. “How am I supposed to let go of years of friendship in an instant?” He looks at Superior Jackie and Akisha. “How are you to expect someone like me to tell my friends, two of whom I’ve known for over 10 years, that I can’t be their friend anymore? It might be easy for you, or you . . .” Victor looks back up at Superior Charles. “. . . or even you, Superior, because all of you grew up in this life. I didn’t. I grew up with the mundane.”
Victor walks over to an open area where everyone can see him. “I didn’t even know witches or warlocks existed until over a month ago. To me and my friends, it was all superstition. Fairy tales. For fuck’s sake, we all sat in front of Madame Jeanette without knowing she was a witch.”
