The Black-Jack Club

Chapter 1: Fae's POV

Those who attended The BlackJack Club raised many questions, many thought experiments that the majority of other people would proudly say they never had. For example, the question was raised in the group, "If there is a "no animals allowed" sign posted in a building, would that include visual hallucinations of animals? The group also conducted social experiments, like, "Do guys holding hands bring more looks of contempt and judgement than girls holding hands?" Most importantly though, the club brought together four troubled children, now adults, to rely on each other and to trust each other.

Now they could usually be found together, linked either by the hand, arm, or spirit. Today it was a flea market that brought them together. Fae was disrupted by her thoughts of the club's origins by Avis, who grabbed her hand and pulled her to a table filled with brilliant glasswork. "Fae, look at these!" Avis shrieked. "Look at these patterns...they look like birds!" Fae smiled at Avis's excitement. She knew how much Avis loved birds. She had to admit as she admired the art pieces, birds did seem to swirl in the translucence of the glass. Fae looked at the description card for the art she was looking at. 'Deep wine red' is what was written as the color. But to Fae, the color had its own name.

No label blood or wine topped Avis Shain, no baby blue replaced Jonathan Maeda, no dust pink was Haven Bellamy.

Fae liked to believe that she was drawn into The BlackJack Club due to the commonalities and support of Jonathan and Haven. That very well may have been true. Also true, though, was her fascination. It wasn't the first time Fae's hallucinations had targeted someone in particular. However, it was one of the few, and having two, then three, people, all surrounded by these auras, fascinated her. So while the idea of support gave birth to her inclusion in the club, these animals kept her there.

And yet, through the years, the club offered no leads. The auras never vanished, they were as constant as the members themselves. But they never grew to Fae's parents, others she knew and loved. They stayed by the club members' sides, and through time, Fae accepted that.

Avis told the club members that she used to be afraid of birds. Fae then told Avis stories about the sparrow-like aura she saw around her. She told Avis about how the sparrow preened, and hopped lazily at her feet, not startled at Avis's movements. At some point Avis began asking for more. And more. Until it was a topic for sleepovers when Fae didn't know what else to say.

Now Avis loved her birds, and when she was faced with a sparrow that sent her painful memories with every flutter of its' wings, she told Fae to tell her stories. Fae happily obliged.

"It's beautiful." Fae said to Avis, squeezing her hand. "Is that the color-" Avis asked her "is this the color you said went well in my room?"

Fae smiled at the thought. "It's definitely your color. The birds are perfect."

And without another thought, Avis turned to the seller and said, "I'll take it!" Although the seller was giving the girls judgemental glares, she carefully packaged the glass and Avis put it in her bag. The girls' hands held loosely onto each other, The touch grounded them, kept their minds from floating off. It was the type of thing everyone in the club did with each other, just to keep each other close and connected.

They found Haven and Jonathan at a nearby vendor, arguing over which toy to buy. They were getting the same types of looks from those around them, but they didn't care.

"Hey, Diamonds, what do you say we all go and get some coffee?" Avis swung herself around Jonathan's neck, to the point her cloud-like hair was swirling in his face.

"You trying to kill me, Hearts?" He then turned to the vendor and gave him a five dollar bill for the toy he wanted. He then turned to Haven and smirked at him in triumph. "We're still in Paston's borders."