Chapter Nine
Leo takes Victor to a fancy restaurant. Victor feels confident in his new custom- tailored attire. When Victor walks inside, he looks around. “I feel like I need my credit checked just to walk in here,” Victor comments.
The restaurant is the typical upper-class style you would find in Manhattan.
Victor’s eyes adjust to the dim, artfully arranged lighting, revealing plush velvet banquettes, dark wood accents, and polished marble floors.
A low hum of sophisticated conversations and the clinking of delicate silverware.
Waiters in crisp, black-and-white uniforms glide silently between tables, carrying meticulously presented dishes that look more like works of art than food.
Leo laughs and places a hand on the small of Victor’s back, leading him over to a table waiting for them. When Victor looks at the menu, the cheapest item is twenty-five dollars.
Leo chuckles, “Don’t worry about it. We’re not going to be paying a dime here.”
Victor looks confused and asks, “Are we going to dine and dash or something? Do you have a company credit card?”
Leo laughs while glancing over the menu. “No, no. This entire restaurant is catered to people like us.”
“Gay?” Victor questions.
Leo’s laugh echoes around the room. “Yes, well, no, but yes, I suppose. Everyone here, including the servers, are people of magic.”
“Question, why do you say, ‘People of Magic?’” Victor ponders.
The server sets down two glasses of bourbon and small ramekin of marinated olives.
Leo reaches for a drink as he explains. “Well, it’s just like those of us in the queer community.
We all prefer to use either gay, lesbian, nonbinary, or queer, for example.
The same goes for magic wielders. Some prefer to be called a sorcerer over a warlock.
There are even some witches who prefer the term ‘magician’ or ‘wizard’.
So, I use the term being inclusive without offending someone. ”
“So, what do you identify as?” Victor asks as he takes a sip.
“Gay and Warlock,” Leo answers, popping an olive in his mouth.
“So, if this place caters to us, and we’re not going to pay, then why do the menus have prices on them?” Victor inquires.
Leo finishes his bourbon and sets his menu down.
“This restaurant is in the middle of Manhattan. We could’ve created an illusion spell for the mundane, but we’re greedy and like money.
So, we charge these outrageous prices to the mundane.
And they pay for it! The food is great, don’t get me wrong, but the steak is not worth $50. ”
The server returns with a refill for Leo and takes their orders.
Leo orders an eight-ounce filet mignon with mushrooms and a red wine sauce.
Victor selects a ten-ounce sirloin topped with garlic butter and steamed vegetables on the side.
Once the server leaves, Victor looks around the dining room.
He starts to notice a vibrant array of different colors swirling around.
Then he realizes these colors are hanging above the other patrons.
“I . . . I think I can see the auras coming off other people here,” Victor remarks, trying not to overreact to this newfound scenery. Victor remains calm, as if this is second nature to him.
Leo looks around and smiles. “I see your new suit is starting to enhance your empathic abilities. Empaths can see auras better than others who try.” Leo looks around the dining room,
“I’m not empathic, so I can’t see what you see. But I bet it’s incredible, almost like you’re looking at the aurora borealis with the number of people here.”
“How do you know that I’m empathic?” Victor questions as he continues looking around.
“Your grandmother was an Empath. It’s been known that this ability is passed down the bloodline.”
Victor is in awe as he looks around, then over at Leo. He starts to study Leo. “What do you see?” Leo asks as he takes a drink.
“I see hints of orange, yellow, and blue,” Victor responds.
Leo blots his lips, “Sounds about right. Do you know what the colors mean?”
Victor shakes his head. “I never looked that much into it. I just angled on the emotions more than the colors of someone’s aura.
” He keeps looking around, noticing other forms of energy around the lamps and tapestries hanging on the walls.
“I know non-living things don’t have auras, but I’m seeing something coming from everything else. ”
“That’s still part of your empathic tricks,” Leo comments. “That will help you when you need to look for another energy source when using your magic; for example, those candles behind me and around the corner.”
Leo nods behind him, directing Victor’s view over his shoulder. “We didn’t see them when we walked in, and can’t see them from where we’re sitting, but I can sense them because of my fire specialty. So, if I need a bump, I can hone in on those candles and use the flame’s energy.”
Victor gives Leo a questionable look. He gets up and looks around the corner.
Two candelabras, each holding five candles, sit on a table against the wall.
Victor shoots Leo an impressed look. Leo returns it with a wink as he takes another drink.
As Victor sits back down, the server returns with their salad course.
“So, how long have you been a warlock?” Victor asks as he starts to eat.
“I’ve been practicing magic for about fifty-eight years now,” Leo responds without hesitation.
Victor almost chokes on his salad. “How old are you?”
Leo swallows his food and smiles mischievously, “How old do you think I am?”
“I would have guessed in your late 20s or early 30s,” Victor responds questionably.
Leo looks up at Victor as he’s about to take another bite of his salad. “Try mid-60s.”
Victor chokes on his food again. He starts to cough profusely and needs a drink of water.
“You okay over there?” Leo chuckles.
Victor nods and holds up his index finger as he takes a drink of water. Leo snickers some more as he takes another bite.
“Did you just say mid-60s?” Victor asks once his airways are clear.
“Sixty-six, to be exact. But you would never know it,” Leo winks.
Victor blinks a few times, comprehending the information given to him. “Damn, you look really good for your age. I need to know your secret.”
Leo pushes his finished plate to the side. “When you start to use your magic, you’ll realize that it starts to slow down your aging process. It’s partly because you begin to use the life energy from other sources,” Leo explains.
“For me, it’s Fire and Water. Even though they aren’t technically living creatures like you or me or those stray dogs outside, they still give off a source of energy. When you absorb that energy, it helps preserve your life. Magic always comes with a price.”
“And because of that, necromancy has a bad reputation,” Victor remarks.
Leo clicks his cheek and shoots a finger gun at Victor as if he were saying, “You got it.”
The server comes back and sets down their steak dinners. Victor and Leo start to eat in silence. After several moments, Victor begins to get a tingling in his shoulders and arms. His vision starts to go in and out of focus. He tries to blink but still has trouble seeing.
Leo is about to take a bite but stops and looks concerned. “Is everything all right?”
Victor starts to look around but has difficulty keeping his eyes open. “I . . . I don’t know. There’s something . . . off. It’s hard to tell, but my vision is getting blurry.”
Leo sits up, alert as he starts looking around the dining room. He notices another empathic witch who is also alert. Leo sets his napkin on the table and stands up. “Stay here.”
Victor is trying to see where Leo is going, but his vision is still blurry. He can barely see Leo talking to the witch. The room starts to spin around Victor. He braces himself by holding the sides of the table. There’s a ringing in his ear, so loud he can’t hear any commotion that erupts.
Suddenly, a huge flame heads toward Victor.
All he can see is a blurred orange and yellow object coming his way.
Out of nowhere, another warlock grabs Victor and drops him to the floor.
Dazed and confused, Victor looks up and sees a blurry Leo blocking the flame.
A witch on the other end intensifies the spell she’s casting.
Leo does his best to absorb the blaze with his Air Magic, but it’s too much for him to handle. He tries to counterattack with his Water Magic, but the fire is still too intense. Two other warlocks try to defend Leo but are knocked out of the way.
“Hand over the melee warlock, Leopold!” the witch shouts.
Leo pulls one of his hands out of the inferno and holds it to his side as he tries to grab something with a claw-like gesture.
He struggles as he tries to turn the claw into a fist. The flame glows brighter, blinding Leo.
He continues struggling to conjure another spell.
When Leo finally makes a fist, the witch starts choking.
She tries to keep the spell going while she struggles to breathe.
Leo uses his Air Magic to suck the air out of the witch.
She grabs her chest and scratches at her throat.
When she drops down to her knees, the flame extinguishes.
Her eyes grow wide with fear as she’s gasping for air.
Leo holds his fist out as he walks towards her.
Victor starts to regain his vision, and the room is no longer spinning. He sees Leo’s aura swirl around as if Leo were inside a tornado.
“Leo!” Victor shouts. But Leo doesn’t hear him. “LEO, STOP!”
A flash pulses off of Victor and breezes by everyone.
The lights flicker, and the candles are blown out.
Leo lets go of his fist, and the witch falls to the floor, gasping as she can breathe again.
Leo looks over at Victor as a couple of warlocks are helping him up.
He looks down at the witch as two witches pick her off the ground and use a binding spell on her.
“Who sent you?” Leo aggressively asks the witch.
She sneers as she tries to hold her head up to look at Leo. “As if I’m going to tell you, pole jockey.”
Leo lifts her head by her chin. “Take her to my Superior. I’m sure he’ll love to interrogate this one.”
The two witches drag the attacker away while everyone else in the dining room returns to their seats. One of the servers flicks her wrist and snaps her fingers, lighting all the candles. Everyone returns to normal, except Victor, who looks on at Leo, befuddled and bewildered.
Leo stops in front of Victor and places his hands on Victor’s shoulders. “Are you okay? Were you hurt?”
Victor shakes his head. “N-No. I’m fine.” He takes his seat as Leo pushes the chair in for him.
Leo tries to smooth out his shirt with his hand as he takes his seat. “Are you sure? I understand it will be a lot to process what happened just now.” Leo clasps his hands and rests his mouth against them as he studies Victor. Victor looks down at the center of the table. “Would you like to go?”
Victor looks up and makes eye contact with Leo. He can see that Leo is concerned. Victor notices Leo’s aura is now a mixture of red and green, hovering around him like an aurora borealis. He takes a deep breath before he responds, “Let’s finish dinner first. And then we can go.”
A server sets down new plates for them and a couple glasses of water.
The two finish their meals in silence. But Victor’s mind is racing.
Maybe this was a mistake, Victor thinks to himself.
But why did the witch want him? Victor wants to get a few answers but doesn’t want to spoil dinner by going down the rabbit hole.