This choice: Mick tries to trick a stranger into testing it. • Go Back...Chapter #4Mick tries to trick a stranger into testing it. by: sget   Nancy Price was sitting outside on a bench in the shade of the old brick dormitory building, legs crossed, looking over at the messy stack of papers in her roommate's lap. Each paper partially crumpled or tattered in the corners and edges, and completely coated, front and back, in the hasty scribbles of chaotic notes.
"Oh my God, Dani," she said, swiping a page directly out of her friend's hand with a short laugh. "How can you even read these? My little brother has better handwriting!"
Dani tugged it back with an aloof smile, her beachy blond locks falling messily into place over her eyes. "Doctor Poe talks too fast. I'm used to taking my time, this is as legible as I could manage."
Nancy sweeped her chestnut hair behind her ear idly, laughing. "Keep it up," she said. "You'll be a doctor in no time."
As the sun finally peaked over the building, erasing the pleasant shade from over the two girls, Dani instinctively checked her broken watch and grimaced. "What time is it?"
Nancy shifted her legs slightly, slipping her phone out of the back pocket of her dark-colored dress pants. "Twelve thirty-four. Also, time for you to get a new watch." She grinned cutely.
"You know this one's special to me! Anyway, I need to go. Don't want to be late again, do I?" Dani jumped up, straightening out the pastel-colored university scrubs on her tall frame and scooping her notes into her tropical-styled bag in handfuls before running off to class.
Nancy sighed and leaned forward, supporting her weight by placing her dainty hands on her crossed legs. She wasn't exactly happy when she ended up with all early morning classes, but at least she'd have the afternoons more or less free until exams rolled around again. The sight of gold caught her attention when she looked up again.
Mick stepped out of the dormitory, the golden staff held tightly under his arm, and locked eyes with Nancy.
'Perfect,' he thought. 'Cute girl, sitting all alone. She'd be perfect to try this with!'
She was petite, her chestnut hair styled into a short bob that gave her a slightly bookish look. She was wearing professional clothes that fit snugly on her small frame: dark dress slacks that hugged her legs, a light blue short-sleeved blouse, and some small heels that she had removed and set on the bench beside her. Mick decided she must've had some sort of event she had to attend today.
Nancy raised a brow and crossed her arms semi-nervously as he approached. "What's this? An aspiring magician?"
Mick smiled lopsidedly and shrugged. "Maybe. Think I could pull off a top hat?"
"Nope," she snapped with small smile.
"Ouch." Mick twirled the staff idly. "I'm Mick."
"Nancy. Where'd you get the stick?"
"Got it online. Supposedly it's cursed. Want to touch it?" He tilted the staff, bringing the head of it just within her reach.
Nancy simply shook her head. "This has to be the worst come-on I've heard."
He tilted the staff back away from her again, idly tapping the sidewalk with it. "It's not a come-on, I just want to see what it can do."
"Right," she said dismissively with a roll of her eyes. "Because you really believe in magic wands."
He raised his eyebrows and shrugged. "No, but I could be persuaded to believe in magic staves."
For a long minute, Nancy looked up and down the staff and chewed at the inside of her cheek, contemplating whether or not to humor the boy. Looking him in the eye, she couldn't help but wonder if a college-aged kid like him could really believe in something as ridiculous as a cursed staff. It was like something out of those old hokey movies she loved to watch growing up. But then again, looking back at the staff, there was something odd about it. Something about how the sun shimmered brightly against the polished metal. She almost did feel like it was calling upon her to reach out and touch it.
No, she decided. This was all too strange for her. She should just walk away. And so she grabbed her shoes from the bench beside her and started slipping them onto her dainty feet.
"Is that a no?" Mick asked awkwardly with a tight frown.
"Yeah, that's a no. I don't want to get in the habit of trusting strange wizards like you." She smiled softly. "Besides, the way you keep twirling that thing around, you'll probably put my eye out."
As she stood up, without a word, Mick nodded and turned to walk away. As he did, a small piece of metal slipped out of a hole in his pocket and clinked softly to the ground. She watched him for a moment, before noticing it there on the sidewalk. It was a dormitory key with white tape wrapped around its base. On the tape, 'M. M.' was written in marker.
She swiped the key gracefully off the ground and ran up to him, her heels clicking on the warm sidewalk. "Hey wait," she said as she caught up. "You'll need this!"
Mick, startled, turned back toward her. In the process, the staff of Tyche connected lightly with the palm of Nancy's dainty hand. The metal, despite having been in the sun, was cold to her touch. Suddenly, there was a flash.   indicates the next chapter needs to be written. |
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