'Man, this place sucks'

He worked in a bookstore/cafe but he wanted nothing more than to just go home and loaf around on his bed and buy books he actually wanted to read.

"Eh Marv!" he boss yelled at him again, "What I tell you about reading on the job!? SELL the damn books, you loafer or you're fired!"

Marvin rolled his eyes, "Alright, alright . . . geez"

He closed the magazine he was reading and looked around the small shop.

There was only a couple of people in there. One was an older woman looking at books about gardening and the other was a young man about his age looking at tarot cards that no one actually ever bought.

His interest peaked. He had a choice to make but he interest waned to the attractive guy looking at the cards. So naturally, he made his way over to him.

"Hey.  . . . finding everything you need today, sir?" he drawled out his greeting.

The man glanced over to him, "Oh . . .yeah . . . hey, which one do you like more? The more traditional ones or the artistic versions?"

Marvin shrugged, "They're just cards. Which ones do YOU like better is more the question you should be asking. Do you LIKE traditional . . . or do you like a little flare?" he wiggled his eyebrows.

The other man snorted, "I like a little flare sometimes" he eyed him up and down, "But why do you think it doesn't matter? Just curious"

Marvin rolled his eyes and shrugged again, "I don't know. I'm not really into this. . . witchcraft sort of stuff . . . but I've HEARD that it's the intensions that matter. . not the product"

The man nodded, "Yeah . . . actually, you're right. For someone who's not into 'witchcraft'" he used his fingers to quote him, "You know some things others wouldn't about it"

Marvin blushed a little, "Yeah, well, I read a lot."

"You strike me as the kind of person who seeks more in life. You like to learn new things"

Marvin suddenly started staring at him strangely, "What? You psycho-analyzing me now?"

The man shrugged, "It's kind of what I do. I'm a fortune teller." he grabbed a pack of traditional tarot cards, "If I buy these, will you let me do your fortune?"

Marvin was hooked now and not just at the man, " . . . Sure. . . those things cost $9. I'll ring ya up." He looked back up front, "Looks like my boss is on his break. We can chill over at the cafe over there if you want and you read me all you like, handsome" he winked.

When he rang him up, they went over to the cafe section of the store and sat down. Marvin got himself a coffee and the man bought a cup of black tea, putting sugar and cream in it.

"You like tainting all your drinks with sugar?" Marvin teased.

The man chuckled, "Sometimes. You always as bitter as your coffee?"

"Touche . . . now how is this done? How long this gonna take?"

"Easy now, easy" he unboxed the cards and shuffled them, closing his eyes, "We need a clean slate, first. I can't just take from the top. I already know what it'll be, otherwise."

Marvin was anxious. He had never done something like this before. He felt almost . .. wrong doing it but that's what you get when you've been raised by nuns in the orphanage. These sorts of things were 'evil' and 'superstitious' to the christian religion.

Not that he was christian. Honestly, after living the way he had to all his life, what god was there to believe in when even the nuns wronged him? Abuse was common where he was raised . . . . but that was all in the past. He was in the present now with this strange, handsome man.

"My name's Evan, by the way. What's yours? You didn't give it when you greeted me"

"Oh, I'm so sorry" Marvin feigned worry, "Name's Marvin but you can just call me Marv, love. Now then . . how's this work?" he asked again.

"Well . . do you have a question or do you just want a general reading?"

Marvin gave him a look, "Honey, you're running the show, not me. I have no idea what's happening."

Evan laughed a little, "It's okay. We'll just do a general reading for now. I think the cards are shuffled up good. I'm gonna take some off the top. Three cards and they will be your past, present and future cards."

"Okay" Marvin started messing with his hair, "Sounds simple enough"

Evan laid out the cards in front of him but really, Marvin had no idea what any of them meant.

"Okay, so past is first. It's the Five of Cups."

"What the fuck does that mean?"

Evan couldn't stop smiling, "It generally means your past was full of loss. . . regret. You felt abandoned and unloved."

"Jesus fucking Christ" Marvin took a sip of his coffee, "But isn't everyone's? That seems pretty generic to me"

"Well this IS the general reading"

"Touche . . . . again"

Evan carried on and pointed to the next one, "Present is the High Priestess. Meaning that you hold secrets . . .  mystery. . . or you cling to the mysterious. You trust yourself, too, more than you trust other people"

Marvin wasn't sure what he was supposed to take from that so he shrugged, "Okay . .  so what's my future, oh wise one?"

Evan hadn't taken the third out of the deck yet, saving it for last, "Okay, okay. You're not a patient one, are you?"

"Never" Marvin smirked.

Evan pulled it out and laid it out in front of them, "Well . . . it's the death card"

"Oh boy"

"Now hold on a sec" Evan stopped him, "The death card doesn't always actually mean you're gonna die soon. It could actually just mean the death of your current self. Like a rebirth of sorts. Big changes coming to you soon. Transformation."

"Ah, okay" Marvin chuckled, "I don't know, man. These cards seem like a load of shit to me. It's a scam"

"Well, if that's what you believe"

"And what do YOU believe in?" 

Evan shuffled the cards again and glanced up at him coyly, "Magic. It's all around us, don't you know?"

Marvin groaned, "And just when I was starting to like you" but he was still grinning, "Tell me, do you believe in crystals, too? Astrology? Do you think Harry Potter spells are real?"

" . .  no. Not Harry Potter  .  . . exactly."

"Oh come on"

"Tell me . . . . what do you see when you look over at that old lady?"

Marvin glanced where he pointed, "She's looking at a gardening book"

"Gardening. . . . or green witchery?  And tell me, what is Christmas but traditions of pagan and magical influence? The moon holds a gravity in it, pulling the very tides of our waters. There is power in our Earth, life in the air and plants and strength in the rocks and minerals in the ground."

"Jesus, you're heavy, you know that?"

But he was starting to get curious.

"I get that a lot  . . . . but I don't tell everyone . . you're different. Or at least . . you have that aura about you"

"Aura? Geez, are chakras real too, now?"

"Of course. They always were. If you're interested . . . " Evan pulled a card out of his pocket, "There's a  . .  club I go to often. Here's the card for it. You can swing by sometime. We have meetings on Saturdays. You can be my plus one if you want? Learn more and we can see each other again"

Marvin blushed, "Gee . . . uh . . . it's a card suit. The seven of Diamonds? Really? Isn't that a little . . ."

But when he looked up, Evan was gone. Marvin looked around but he didn't see anyone else in the store anymore. Even the old woman was gone.

"The fuck?" Marvin stood up, ignoring his cup of coffee, "That's weird. He must have really ran for it"

Just then, he heard his boss click open the cash register, "Hey! Did you see where that guy went?"

His boss stared at his strangely, "What guy? You were sitting at that table alone  staring off into space like an idiot. Now are ya gonna do some actual work today or not?!"

His heart dropped, "Wait . . what? But I was just talking to someone! His name was Evan! And there was an old lady over there, too!" he pointed to where she had been.

His boss rolled his eyes, "Have you been smoking dope or something? Fucking hell, get to work already and stop loafing around before I fire you!"

Marvin didn't understand it.

But he knew Evan had been there. He still had the card . . .and the deck of tarot cards in front of him.

'This is messed up. He's gotta be fucking with me. No way he just  . . . was invisible? Teleported?'

He shook his head. No, it just wasn't possible!

All throughout the week, Marvin couldn't stop thinking about it.

His interest had peaked and he couldn't stop reading and researching all about the things Evan had told him about.

It was a whole new world! He just couldn't stop! 

He kept the tarot cards but also found a different way of fortune telling that he was practicing at with a regular deck of cards. He was into it, night and day, reading all sort of those kinds of books.

unfortunately, though, his boss's bookstore didn't have a wide selection of those sorts of things. 

'It's Friday. Should I go tomorrow? Check it out? Is this some kind of weird fucking cult sort of thing? What if he's luring me there to kill me? To sacrifice me in some weird ass scary devil worshipping ceremony!?'

He gulped.

'No . . I don't think so. He seemed too nice. I think we really. . . clicked. Didn't we? Or was I just imagining it?'

He decided.

He was going. He had to find out. He had to learn more. He had to KNOW. It was like life was finally calling to him. Who was he not to answer?

He drove up to a neighborhood he had gone by before. The address on the card was for an apartment complex. 

Marvin stared at the card, 'Floor seven? . . . There's only three floors, though . . . maybe it's just a typo'

He got out of the car and waltzed up to the building and cringing, he realized the door was unlocked, 'Not good with safety here, I see'

But he walked right in and started to go over to the elevator only to notice it was closed.

He groaned, "Stairs, it is, then. Dammit"

It was dreadful but he finally got up to the third floor.

He looked at the card again, 'But it says 7A . . . . gotta be a mistake, right?'

Marvin went through the entire third floor but there was nothing of that address here, 'Fucking hell. . . I think I was fucked over. Marv, you're such an idiot. Of course the guy was just messing with you'

He breathed in a deep sigh and stared at the elevator. The one at the top floor didn't have tape over it saying it was closed, 'Shouldn't it have it on all floors? Should I see if it actually does work or not? How else can I fuck up my night?' he shrugged and pressed the elevator button.

He was surprised that it opened up and he walked in, 'We'll see if I get trapped in here or not, I guess' but when he was in the elevator, he noticed something . . . peculiar.

'The fuck?' 

There were seven floor buttons.

Curiosity go the better of him and he pressed the seventh floor button.

The door closed but he didn't even feel it move before it opened again.

The hallway now was . . . a bit dark, actually.

It was creeping him out.

'Is this how I die? Is there an apartment  serial killer here that's gonna leap out of the shadows?'

"MARVIN, YOU MADE IT!"

Marvin jumped, shouted and slammed his body to the back of the elevator.

Evan was just suddenly there.

He didn't run up to him.

He was just THERE!

Marvin's heart raced, "DEMON!" he tried to hurry and press the elevator button but Evan stopped him.

"Whoa, whoa, hey! Marv, just relax! It's just me! Evan!"

"Yeah, I know! You just POP! Teleported out of fucking nowhere! The FUCK!?"

"Wow, he actually did it?" another voice appeared and Marvin saw a bitchy looking short woman peer into the elevator, "And here I thought you were full of shit, Evan."

"Didn't I tell ya?!"

"Wow, we have another one?!" Another voice came from the shadows to reveal a tall lanky guy but he smiled like a teddy bear, "It's so nice to meet you! We haven't had anyone new in so long!"

"NEW!?" Marvin was starting to hyperventilate, "As in. . . to sacrifice? Eat? The fuck is happening here?!"

"Ooop, we have a psycho here, Ev"

"Just chill, guys, you're scaring him" Evan chastised them, "Come on, Marv. I told ya. This is the club. Come on, I'll take ya to my apartment and I'll explain everything. Don't you trust me?"

Actually, strangely enough, he did.

He did not understand a THING of what was going on . . . but he did trust Evan.

Silently, Marvin followed him out of the elevator and they all walked down the hall to his apartment. It was . . . . huge.

Marvin had to be on drugs or something, he thought. The room was the size of a house with stairs leading up to other floors. There were things floating in the air, books everywhere but what was the weirdest thing to him was that the outside did NOT look like the outside he knew.

"What . . . what is that?" Marvin pointed to the windows.

It was daylight out the window but Marvin knew for a fact it was night when he arrived. And he had been in a city neighborhood. There should have been more buildings out the window.

But instead, there were fucking mountains and it was snowing. It was August. It shouldn't have been snowing.

Evan just pat his back lightly, "Welcome to my place, Marv. Outside, is Mount Everest but we can be anywhere you want, really. You're taking this a lot better than I thought you would, actually"

"No, I'm not" Marvin argued, " . . uh . . . . I'm very confused. . . someone please explain before I faint"

The snarky red haired woman in the group rolled her eyes, "It's magic, you numbskull! And so are we and so are YOU. Otherwise you wouldn't have made it up this floor. The elevator doesn't allow non magic people up here unless they're WITH someone else with magic."

That was a lot.

"huh?"

"Let's start over!" Evan suggested, "This little hothead is Beatrice but we just call her Bee. And this" he pointed to the slightly taller man with the friendly face and blonde hair like a golden retriever, "Is Sampson! We all met online and just discovered we were all magic! We decided to live together and combine all our energies and we created this hangout! We hadn't found any more like us here in town until I met you, though, at the bookstore!"

Marvin squinted, "In town?"

Bee rolled her eyes, "Well yeah. I mean, there's other clubs and covenants, you know.  Evan originally came from something called the Red Hearts."

"We don't speak of them" Evan stopped her.

Bee rolled her eyes, "And then there's the Green Clubs, the Blue Spades and Red Hearts"

"All . . colors? Really? And card suits? And Red Hearts? Isn't that a little on the nose?" Marvin snorted.

"That's what I said!" Bee laughed, "Hey, you're alright."

Sampson chuckled lightly, "Anyway, we're the Seven of Diamonds. But so far . . it's only the three of us and well . . now you if you want?"

Marvin crossed his arms, "Well . . I'm not saying yes but what exactly is it you guys do here if not sacrifices or whatever?"

Evan gently put his arm around his shoulders, "Just learn. We learn from each other. Get stronger. Isn't that what you want? You were curious before, right? You started reading more. Learning. Don't you want to uncover the mysteries? Secrets of magic? Doesn't it . . . entice you?"

Marvin had to admit, it was alluring. 

All of this. He really wasn't imagining it. It was real.

"I just have one question"

"What is it?"

Marvin crossed his arms, "Who was the old lady in the book store?"

"Oh, that was me" Bee raised her hand, "I transformed. Not for any reason, really, though. I just was practicing and when Evan left, so did I."

"Ah . . . . . okay"

"Okay?" Evan gave him an almost pleading look.

Marvin sighed, " . . . . . .  Okay . . . I'll join"

He ignored Evan's cheer.

This was so much more now than a crush.

All of this. . . all of this knowledge. All of these secrets and things.

Discovering that he was different . . . . how he didn't know.

But he couldn't stop now.

He had to find out. He had to know. And if Evan's cards were right after all . . .

Was this his rebirth? 

Or was it something else coming up?

He had to be prepared, right?

Might as well start now.

"Here" 

Marvin was jolted out of his musings when Evan handed him something, "What is it?"

He stared down at it in confusion. It looked like a  . .cat mask? It was sort of strange but endearing in a way?

"It's a magician's mask. You decorate it yourself and when you're finished, as you learn and grow, you can store excess magic inside of it that you create. The more you learn and grow, the more magic is stored inside of it. Like a jar."

"Thanks . . . and I can decorate it however I want?"

"Yeah but be sure about what you do with it. You only get one mask."

"But why a cat?" Marvin snickered, "Is that your club mascot or something?"

"Nah, we all have different animals or creatures. I just thought a cat suited you best." he smirked, "Unless you don't think it represents you? Feisty, independent and a bit silly?"

" . . .. .  "Marvin gave him a stare, knowing he was putting Evan on edge and it gave him satisfaction but finally he smirked, "I guess you're right. Thanks . . . I like it"

"Good, I'm glad!" Evan laughed and smiled even more as Marvin put it on his face.

"All powerful Sorcerer and Magician! Ready for action!" Marvin flipped his hair back.

"Just call me Marvin the Magnificent!"