credit to @Riff for the template <3
I've got a starter for a story that never was…
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the starter:
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Luciana sighed as the dilapidated sign came into view up ahead.
It was supposed to say LUCKY'S in neon red lettering, but the L and S had shorted out some time ago, while the Y fluctuated, flickering eerily in the early evening light, which left the sign to read UCK, and occasionally, UCKY. Truth be told, Luci liked the damaged sign more, convinced it helped keep those unfamiliar with the area out and far away from what they undoubtedly assumed was a shitty hole-in-the-wall bar that only the most unsavory of folks would dare frequent. To those passerby's credit, they weren't wrong.
Luci even felt she fit the bill; perhaps she wasn't overtly off putting, but she rarely smiled or did much of anything to perpetuate any idea that she might be warm, friendly, or forthcoming. Currently, both the worn black high top converse and the fraying ends of the low-rise dark green canvas pants she wore drug along the dust covered sidewalk, each sending their own plume of dust afloat with each step, and her hipbones poked out from just beneath the hem of a faded, black Pink Floyd t-shirt that had been ripped into a makeshift crop top. A cigarette hung precariously from her mouth, which was set in a scowl, and one of her hands reached lazily for it, as the other fished around in her jacket pocket for her buzzing cell phone.
"What?" She snapped after a glance at the screen.
"Yeah, ok? I'm almost there now…" She stopped mid-step, hesitating with the phone still up to her ear.
"No, yeah… I heard you but why aren't you com-" She pressed her lips into a firm line as the voice on the other end barked a reply and then the line went dead.
"Motherfucker." She muttered angrily under her breath as she shoved her phone back into her jacket pocket while simultaneously lifting the cigarette to her lips and taking a long drag.
Well this was just fuckin great. Danny had flaked… No. actually, that wasn't entirely accurate. He hadn't stood her up, he'd set her up, and now she had to pivot. Quickly. It wasn't like she could well and walk away now, before anything had even been started. She may as well turn herself in; she knew Danny wasn't bluffing about exposing her. But turning herself in wasn't an option either, not even close. She'd done time already, and she was never going back.
She ran a hand frustratedly through her wavy, chocolate brown hair, which hung down to her mid-back, and then returned her attention to the dilapidated building now directly before her. She took another long drag of her otherwise spent cigarette, and then carelessly tossed it aside, resuming her listless amble toward the door.
Stepping inside, the oppressive Las Vegas heat was replaced by air that was thick with stale smoke. The waning evening sun was blotted out entirely by blacked out windows, replaced by pale, uninviting yellow lights, and despite the relatively early hour- it was just nearly seven o'clock on a Thursday night, a handful of people were scattered throughout the dreary establishment. Closer to the door, a pair of what appeared to be biker men and their respective dates loitered around the bar, while a trio of hardened females shot pool on a faded table in the far corner. They laughed drunkenly while one of the woman handed off a single (broken) cue stick to another. Lastly, sitting alone at the opposite end of the bar, the person she sought stared straight ahead, at what Luci presumed to be the poorly decorated back bar.
Luci didn't speak to anyone as she made her way over, but she did nod once, at the bar keep, who greeted her with a return nod of their own.
"The usual?" The man's gruff voice carried easily over low playing, gravelly rock music.
Luci nodded once again and then slid into the seat adjacent the lone patron.
She waited until Ethan (the bartender) had placed a small glass with ice and an amber brown liquid before her.
"Whiskey, on the rocks." He announced, as if the woman was unaware of what her usual was.
"Make it a double." She mumbled, waiting until Ethan had topped her off with another shot before she lifted the glass to her lips and killed half of it in one swallow.
"Aahh." She sighed as the burn that started down her esophagus spread out low across her belly.
She glanced at her company- Victor, a man she knew only by his first name.
"I'd ask if you want a drink but…" She paused, the ice clinking softly against the glass as she started to lift it to her lips once more. "You seem like you take your sobriety very seriously." She smacked her lips slightly as she finished her drink off and lowered the now empty glass back to the bar-top.
She and Victor attended court mandated MAA (Mana Addicts Anonymous) meetings. There were different meetings for different transgressions but the two things everyone in each one of the meetings Luci attended was that they'd been incarcerated and they were known abusers of Mana pills, a phenomenal drug that awarded those who ingested it magical abilities. At each meeting, if anyone chose to share, they'd stand before the group and lead off with their name and then state the ability the drug awarded them, presumably because the power is what the abusers sought and became addicted to. Still, it was a rule of sorts that as addicts, they should avoid other addictive agents to reduce the risk of relapse; Luci did not adhere to this rule, not that anyone at the meeting would ever notice.
"Am I right?" She asked lazily.
Luci couldn't remember if Victor had ever shared with the group, nor could she recall any other details about the man beside her (save for his name), but in the near year that she'd been attending the meetings- every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon, she had never spoken aloud to the group. Over time, she had engaged in rather dull conversation with a few of the participants individually, but Victor hadn't ever been one of them. Mostly, she sat in the back and kept to herself. She abhorred the meetings, feeling they were little more than a waste of her time. She wasn't addicted to the power anyway. Sure, it was a definite perk- being able to distort another's reality and project any illusion she wished, and it had certainly helped in the way of her criminal activities, but she chased the nothingness that accompanied each high. It was the sole reason for every vice she had, alcohol included.
Luci sighed and waved her empty glass in the air, signaling to the bartender that she'd like another. She glanced at Victor again as she did so, and gestured at the bar in silent invitation for him to place his order, should he have one.
After Ethan had refreshed her drink and she'd taken another sip, she finally lifted her hazel eyes to meet Victor's for longer than a moment's glance. She didn't see any need in beating around the bush; they'd both clearly been recruited by Danny, but there was only one way to know whether Victor had arrived under the same (false) pretenses as she had or not.
"So- what exactly did Danny tell you about this job?"
Noteworthy info//
For the purposes of this story, magic- called Mana, can be ingested via pill. It will give its taker powers and is highly addictive. The basis of the plot was that two ex-cons & "recovering" addicts, are strong armed by their Mana Addicts Anonymous sponsor, into retrieving a super secret item for him… From there the possibilities are endless really.
The super secret item itself/ its purpose/ etc. is up for discussion and development.
YC is supposed to be an ex-con, but this isn't a requirement in the least. Our characters do know 'of' one another due to the meetings they both frequent, but they aren't friends.
YC can have been recruited to help recover this item by Danny however you deem fit. YC's magical powers if/ when they ingest the magic pills, as well as whether or not they're still using or are truly in recovery, is also totally up to you.
If you think you might enjoy writing this story, shoot me a msg & we can iron out the finer details <3
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