The Wicked & Divine

Chapter 2•disappear

"How you feeling Roy?" I asked the plump, aged biker in that red booth seat. "Can't feel a thing girly, I'm high as a kite right now" he mused, I smiled as I finished.

I had been in California only around 7 months, and so far, nothing had gone wrong. Shocker actually. My moms death was something I just learned to push down. Deep, deep down.

I stayed with Nina the first few months, and soon found my own job. It was at a diner, and the owner said he needed a fresh face to bring in customers. I fit the criteria. It was just temporary, I was going to go to a local school I had gotten scholarships for to major in English and Writing.

Somehow, I managed to learn to adult, and with the help of many extra hours and odd jobs, I got my first apartment.

My days consists of a regular schedule that I've learned to unconsciously follow. Get up in the morning, brush my teeth, wash my face, get ready for work. Go to work. I get off, go to Nina's for dinner, hang out with Havana (we had gotten really close), go home, shower, cry, cry some more, read, brush my teeth, and go to bed.

That was it, nothing special.

"What can I get you?" I asked.

We live in Northern California, in a town called Haven. It was close to the ocean, which I was grateful for. The first few nights here Havana would sneak me out to drink stolen bottles of wine and eat Hot Cheetos. She understood that the last thing I wanted to do was talk. So we didn't. We drank and gave ourself bad diets instead.

"Y'all still got the banana crepes?" Roy asked, as his friends walked in. "Hey Ari" both buff looking men said. Bear had spiky brown hair and lots of piercings. And Snake shoulder length black hair and a face tattoo that read 'cold' underneath his eye.

"Hey snake, hey bear" I said to both. They called me Ari ever since they met me, scratch that, their whole gang called me that. They had taken a liking to me, and even though I hadn't known them long, I did too.

"Yeah, I'll make sure to slip in extra" I smiled. He grinned, as I took Bear and Snakes orders. "Anyone bothering you yet? We'll fuck em up you just name the person" Bear said, grinning and rolling up his sleeve.

He liked to fight. They all did. Roy was the VP, and Snake was the President.

Snake smiled and nodded his head, winking at me. I blushed and looked down, smiling at Roy and taking the menus.

"no not yet" I smiled, telling them their food would be out soon and walking to the back.

I looked down at my exposed palm and clenched my jaw. The mark from the crow was still there, and something else too. Each day since I landed in California, a little red tick mark would appear on the red circle under my skin. I went to a doctor, and he just brushed it off. And I haven't told Nina, afraid she'd tell me something about my end.

Nina's faith always wavered. She believed in magick, had a room full of plants, read tarot cards, liked crystals, and believed in the three fold rule. I guess you could say she was a witch, though she hated the term. My mom was never outwardly similar, but I could see signs in things she had done.

The circle was almost full with tick marks, it both concerned me and kept me curious. What happened when it got full? I might've been overthinking it, but I wasn't too sure on that either.

The bell on the door rung, and I placed attention on next customer, ignoring the sting in my palm.

"Let's go out" Havana said, as she brushed her dyed blue hair out. "Huh?" I asked, flipping another page in my book as Pumped up Kicks played on the ps4. She spun around. "Come on, let's go out. There's a club downtown that I wanna check out" She said.