Marcie was late.
She was going to have to get to this birthday party quickly, and then back to the college just as quickly, since she had a paper she could not afford to have late. She sped down the road, taking sharp turns around curves and altogether ignoring traffic laws. All she wanted to do was go to college, and now that she was, she found she had to pay for it all by herself. Between her dead end job at the copier store and doing magic, she made it work, but it was barely enough to squeak by. As she turned, she realized she might've forgotten her deck of cards, and swore at the top of her lungs before beginning to dig around in the bag on the passenger seat. She didn't even see the minivan in front of her. When Marcie awoke, she was in a hospital bed. Things were never the same after that. She had to drop out of school altogether to recooperate and move back home, much to both her and her parents disappointment. After a few months of being on pain medication and doing physical therapy, Marcie finally became fed up with her parents, packed a rental car and split. She didn't know where to go, all she knew was that she didn't want to be here. She could remember a birthday party where she'd met a little girl who'd asked her where she could do magic professionally, and Marcie had told her maybe Vegas, so, she thought, maybe Vegas was the place to go. It seems to be where everyone who doesn't belong anywhere else winds up. *** "May I ask, and you don't have to answer but I am curious, why you have a genie outfit in your closet?" Effie asked while standing in Allie's penthouse while Allie watered her plants. "Because of an act I once did," Allie said, "but, uh, turns out it didn't work out the way I wanted it to, so now it just sits there as an occasional Halloween costume, or, ya know, something for a special evening." "Hot," Effie said, making Allie smirk; Effie shut the closet door and turned to Allie, "so," she started, "why did you ask me to hang out and not Nick?" "Nick has work today," Allie said, "Besides, we don't do enough things together." "This counts as doing something? Jesus your bar is low," Effie said. "You're the one capable of meeting it." "Okay, ow," Effie replied, "Guess I deserved that." Effie pulled out a pack of cigarettes from her shirt pocket and hit the bottom a few times before sliding one out and then lighting it, putting it between her lips. "You don't mind do you?" she asked. "Usually people ask before they start smoking it," Allie said. "Well, I'm always different," Effie said. Allie set her bright red watering can down on the dresser where her plants were sitting atop and looked around the penthouse. It felt like she didn't spend much time here anymore, what with all the time she seemed to spend at Nick's now, and she started feeling weird about even still having her own place. Maybe she should ask Nick to move in with her, but then again if something didn't work out, he'd no longer have an apartment, and that wouldn't be fair to him. Allie sighed and put her hands on her hips, looking around. "...fuck, what time is it?" she asked, checking her watch. "Why did you ask that if you had a watch?" Effie asked. "I was supposed to pick up a piece of equipment for a show," Allie said, "Can you hang here until I get back? I'll buy you dinner later." "Ooh, and I don't even have to sleep with you? Fancy," Effie said, the both of them laughing as Allie grabbed her windbreaker from the hanger by the door and pulled it on. She said she'd be back in less than an hour, and then headed out of the penthouse. She found her way downstairs to the parking garage, climbed into her car and pulled out, driving to the prop store she got all her equipment from. Allie parked, and headed into the store, to find it - as usual - mostly empty. She strolled down an aisle, looking for even a single person who worked there, before turning around a corner and bumping into someone. "Jesus, sorry," she quickly apologized, before realizing who it was, "...Marcie?" "...yes?" Marcie asked, looking at Allie in confusion, "Do I know you?" *** After that birthday party, Allie was enamored with the idea of magic. For her next birthday, she begged for a magic kit, which her mothers brother bought for her. She spent the remainder of her adolescence in her bedroom, perfecting her magic act. She always wanted to see The Marvelous Marcie again, but she never wound up going to another birthday party - or any party really - that required a magician, and she couldn't find her in any of the phonebooks thanks to not having her last name. All she had to remember her by was the cape Marcie had given her at the party. When Allie moved to Vegas with her cousin, she picked a stagename reminiscent of Marcie's, because she figured that was what you did. She didn't have anything else to guide her besides the magic kit, which didn't even really cover the topic of names. But, in the back of her mind, Allie had always hoped that one day she would meet The Marvelous Marcie once again. Who would've guessed that she would, in a magic shop of all places? *** Zoe groaned as she rolled over and saw Molly picking up laundry from the floor. She sat up on her elbows and pushed her bushy hair from her face, one eye squinting at her, the other still shut. Molly glanced over and smiled at her. "You don't have to do my laundry," Zoe said. "You're a guest in my house," Molly said, "I also made lunch, if you're hungry." "Wow, you're a really nice hostess." "Well," Molly said, standing up with a pile of clothes in her arms now, "I...I don't get many visitors, so I guess I'm kind of grateful for the company." Molly turned and exited the room as Zoe climbed out of bed. Zoe took a shower, got dressed and then headed to the kitchen, where she found a plate of french toast and a cup of coffee sitting on the table for her. Zoe sat down as she watched Molly back and forth between the kitchen and the laundry room, putting load after load into the machine before starting it and joining her at the table. "So," Molly said, "Any idea of whether or not you'll see your folks?" "I probably have to at some point, but I'd rather it be on my terms," Zoe said, "You know what I mean? I wanna be prepared." "I understand," Molly said, "there's nothing worse than people dropping by unannounced." Zoe raised an eyebrow, making Molly become flustered. "Not...not you! Oh, that sounded bad, I'm sorry. No. I meant more like family, but you dropping by unannounced was fine, and I like having you here," Molly said, "I'm sorry, that came off wrong." "It's fine," Zoe said, laughing as she cut into her french toast, "I know you like having me here, you made me breakfast after all." "Actually I made me breakfast, I just happened to make too much," Molly said, smiling. *** "I can't believe you're in Vegas," Allie said, "I can't believe we've never run into eachother." "I can't believe the prices here," Marcie whispered, making Allie laugh loudly; Marcie smiled and added, "So, I guess you took my advice after all, from what you've told me. How's it worked out for you?" "Well, I currently have a long standing contract with The Card Shark, and its new location specifically, as the headlining act and I live in a penthouse suite free of charge, so I'd say it's worked out pretty goddamn well honestly. You, on the other hand, look like you'd disagree." "I was going to college for a real career," Marcie mumbled as she slid a set of brass rings back onto the hook, "but I had to keep working because of a falling out with my folks, then I got into a nasty accident so I just gave up after living with them a while, packed my shit and left. Vegas has always been a comforting and welcoming place for transients and rejects." "Can't argue there," Allie said, nodding in agreement, "and business is good now or?" "It is what it is," Marcie said, "I never really wanted to do magic for a living, but if it's what I'm good at, if it pays the bills, then I suppose I can't argue. But it was always a hobby more than a career goal. Not to besmirch you or anyone else who actively chose and pursued it that way. I just..." Marcie hesitated, picking up a small fake coin from a bin and turning it over in her hand, "...I guess I never really considered what my actions might lead to. I was always a very selfish person, Allie. I lived in the moment. Instant gratification. I never thought that the things I did might lead to worse things down the road." "...jeez, you really can bring down a mood," Allie said, "Is that a magic trick you had to learn, or you just inherently a bummer?" Marcie snickered, which made Allie smile. The girls didn't have much, but at least they had this conversation, which was all Marcie needed right now. Allie, on the other hand, should've been listening closer. She might've heard the way her own future was about to go down. *** "God it smells so good in here," Agent Siskel said, entering and sniffing the air of Sunny's apartment, Agent Tropper right behind her. "Usually drug dens are heinous, vile places, but this actually manages to be cozy, like a den. Gotta give him credit to that," Agent Tropper replied, walking further in and looking at Sunny's belongings; he noticed a photo of Sunny and a woman together somewhere at a casino, and then asked, "...so what exactly is it we're looking for here?" "Any kind of record or book keeping, receipts of any kind. Anything that might lead to a list of people he supplied," Agent Siskel said, "Especially if it implicates Claire. Any further evidence we can attain to corroborate her claims or refute them is good by my book." "You mean you believe her?" Agent Tropper asked, turning to face her. Agent Siskel sighed and pushed her bangs from her eyes, putting her hands on her hips, "I don't know, man, I just know that people with drug problems shouldn't be explicitly considered villainous, and that sometimes, people who go off their meds do things they wouldn't otherwise do. Combine those two and you've got an intricate situation which risks falling apart and hurting many people on the way down. Claire did what she did. There's no denying that. Whether she wanted to or not is the question. I...I've dealt with a lot of mental illness in my family Roger, and honestly I can't say that some part of me doesn't see her telling the truth." "Wow, that's...that's very admirable of you," Agent Tropper said as he started to open up drawers on a table, "I'm just surprised I guess. Usually people in our line of work wanna pin people to the wall no matter what it takes, but you're actually capable of having a moral compass." "Well, I am a woman, so," Agent Siskel said, making Tropper chuckle. "I just don't understand why someone would kill a guy like this," Agent Tropper said, "I mean look at his place. It's spotless. It's...it's as clean as someone who works a 9 to 5 office job. He was supplying a woman with medication to help control her violent tendencies. This guy was clearly not your run of the mill everyday average drug dealer. So...what leads someone to kill someone like that? I mean, I know murder is random, and it can just happen, but it doesn't really make sense when it happens to someone who doesn't fit the mold you expect them to in this line of work." "Self defense, maybe? Perhaps he got handsy with a female customer? I don't know," Agent Siskel said, pulling a book off a shelf and opening it, as an envelope fell out and onto the floor. She and Agent Tropper exchanged a look and she bent down to pick it up but he got to it first. "Oooh, too slow," he said. "Come on, I found it, let me open it," Agent Siskel said, grabbing for it but he quickly pulled it away from her, grinning; she furrowed her brow and stomped her foot, "Give it back or I'm gonna tell on you!" The two started laughing as they fought playfully over the envelope, until finally he gave it to Siskel. She opened it and carefully pulled out a small black book along with a photo and a few folded papers. Agent Tropper took the photo and glanced at it. "Huh," he said, "this woman is in this photo over here too," he said, pointing at the framed picture he'd seen when coming in, "...she's clearly important to him. If we could find out who she is, perhaps..." "Oh my god," Agent Siskel whispered, as Agent Tropper turned back to her. "What? What is is Rebecca?" "...holy fucking shit," said whispered, flipping through the small black book, "...this guy wasn't just a drug dealer. He was laundering money..." She stopped, looking at Agent Tropper and grinning. "...through casinos." *** Allie and Marcie were standing outside the magic shop, Allie having paid for Marcie's purchases simply to be nice and spread the wealth. Each standing near their respective cars as Allie waited for her prop to be loaded onto the roof of hers, Marcie couldn't help but feel an odd combination of gracious and disgusted. "You can always open for me," Allie said, "For me and my partner, for us. It's been hard to get used to saying us, I was a solo act for so long." "I appreciate that, but I prefer sticking to dingy clubs," Marcie said. "Well, you can always contact me if you're interested in just talking, or about work. You know where I am," Allie said, and Marcie smiled, thanked her for her kindness and then climbed into her car. She tucked her cane into the passenger seat, then started the car and began driving to her apartment. When she arrived, she parked and headed upstairs. She unlocked the door and entered the apartment, to find a young high school student washing dishes. "Oh, you're back," the girl said, glancing over her shoulder at Marcie as she locked the door behind her. "Yeah, I got some supplies for the gig," Marcie said, "Are you okay?" "As okay as one can be I guess," the girl said, shrugging. Marcie walked up to her at the sink and kissed her neck, making the girl blush. Yes, Marcie Bevel hadn't wanted to be a magician. But then again, there were a lot of things Marcie Bevel hadn't wanted to be. Like a sexual predator. *** A pipe had busted. The two men walking in the underneath of the casino, the headlamps on their hardhats turned to full, looked around for where the pipe was. One man had a map Tony had provided him, a map which Molly had given him in case something like this happened, but even still he was having trouble making sense of it. The other man pointed, and the map holding man nodded in agreement. "Jesus, these places need to start making stuff like this more accessible," he said. "The fuck," the first man said, shining his headlamp on something, and the map man looked. There, embedded in the wall behind crumbling concrete, was a prop tomb.
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ABOUT
Allie Meers is what she dreamed of being since she was a little girl...a successful Vegas magician. The only problem now is she can't make all her problems disappear; Allie grapples with her strained relationship, crippling addictions and FBI agents on her tail, all while trying to stay at the top of her career. Archives
December 2023
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