Chapter 0: How I Got Wrapped Up in All This
The apartment door was thrown open with the type of desperation that only comes when you know your life is in peril. Charlotte whisked into the room, her long wavy hair billowing behind her and leaving a trail of smoke from the cigarette she was furiously puffing on. The door was slammed shut, both the lock and deadbolt quickly put in place in for as safety as they might over. A suitcase was brought out and the brunette wasted no time packing it with as many of her possessions she could get her hands on.
'You've gone too far,' she berated herself. 'One day you were bound to run out of luck. You can't keep dicing with the devil and expect to come out on top every time. Now the odds have finally caught up with you. You roll enough sixes, eventually you'll get a snake eyes.'
At least she had escaped from that casino. Her white blouse may be stained and ruined, her half jacket riddled with bullet holes (serves her right for leaving it to the side), and her red skirt in tatters, but at least she still had her life. Pity she had to leave her winnings behind. Too soon, her cigarette was a mere stub from her sucking on it like it could save her life. Unfortunately, she was much too anxious to leave it at that. Despite time being of the essence, she took the time to discard her but into an ashtray and light up another.
"Feeling the stress," a voice questioned from across the room. The unknown speaker startled her so much as to nearly make her set the bed afire with her Zippo. Luckily, she had the presence of mind to extinguish the lighter before grabbing a Glock from inside her bag and bringing it to bear in the general direction of her mysterious guest.
He certainly seemed to fit the mysterious part of that Bill. He definitely wasn't there when she entered her room and yet now he sat atop her dresser, as casual as if in at a diner, not even phased by the pistol pointed at him. His outfit was an eclectic mix that defied modern society, with a cape of animal fur, two belts over a bare chest, green body paint in dizzying patterns, and black pants that would've looked old-fashioned if it wasn't for the rest of his outfit. And yet despite looking his outfit having a distinctly tribal vibe, he made it seem as dignified as any fancy attire. With the way he held himself and the air he gave off, you'd think him to be wearing a tux instead whatever his get-up was called.
"Easy there. I'm not here to harm you. If I were, why even notify you of my presence?" Charlotte had a lot of questions for him but she was having a hard time finding fault with his logic. Resigning that she didn't have the time to question him, she threw her weapon down and resumed packing her bag.
"Look, I don't know who you are or how you got in here, but I'd recommend you high-tail it out of here before you get caught up in something."
"So kind of you, my dear. But I'm not here for myself. I'm here to help you." His vague offering was met with a snort of derision.
"Unless you have a couple thousand dollars free and a way to get it to the Amarillo family before his boys fill me with lead, I don't think there's much you can do."
"Oh, but I can offer you so much more than just money. I can offer you escape." Charlotte blew a strand of hair out of her face before take a seat facing.
"OK, what type of magic mumbo-jumbo are you trying to sell me? And make it snappy, Amarillo thugs could show up here any minute now." For the first time, her uninvited guest seemed surprised, upset even. Suddenly he looked less like a suave charmer and more like a child who just had his surprise ruined.
"But- but- how did you figure that out?! I've followed you for a long time, you don't even believe in magic!" She really should've been more surprised that he just admitted he'd been stalking her but circumstances had made her momentarily jaded.
"You're right, I don't. I reserve the right the disbelieve everything you say. But it's obvious that's what you're getting at. It's called context clues," she said while gesturing at his attire with her unlit cigarette, him startling her having stopped her from lighting. Didn't stop her from sticking it back in her mouth though. "You want subtlety, don't dress like you're about to attend Comic-Con." He mumbled something about her being a spoilsport before putting his metaphorical mask of magical mysticism back on.
"What I propose is sending you somewhere else, somewhere very different from the world you now know. I can use my magical prowess to give you a few boons, but it's only once and this stuff is tricky so… you might end up with a few minor, VERY minor issues. But I can't give you anything else and you're going to have to live there for a couple of years, usually ten, before I can do anything like that again. Is-"
"Deal." Once again, her enigmatic buddy was taken by surprise at her interrupting him with her agreement.
"Wait… that's it? No questions as to where I'm sending you? Don't want to know what the complications might be? What happened to you not believing in magic, that disappeared quickly."
"Look, time is of the essence, I don't got time to deliberate over your offer. The way I see it, if what your saying works, then I got a get out of jail free card from these goons following me and that's likely to save my life. And if it don't work, my situation hasn't changed and I continue with what I was doing before you came about. It's some pretty good odds if you ask me."
"Well… what if the world-"
"Just do it already, Conan!"
"Fine, fine, fine. Pushy, much? Ok, I'm going to ask you a few questions so just bear with me." Charlotte's expression was exceptionally unamused. She never heard of any magic spells requiring a survey first.
"First off, the place I'm sending you two has about seven different distinct regions, just name one off and-," while he was talking, she fished out a bag of dice from her suitcase. Whenever she didn't know what to do, she felt it was best to leave things in the hands of Lady Luck. Especially when the choice was waiting on some gangly, long-winded fool who didn't grasp the concept of a limited amount of time. She grabbed an 8-sided dice and slung it across the room. It ricocheted of a dresser before landing at the foot of the bed with a single pip showing.
"I'll take the first one."
"But you didn't even let me! No, you know what, fine. We'll do it your way. You got the first region. You wanna change your age or gender?"
"Do I look like I want a makeover?! Your supposed to be sending me to safety, not signing me up for Extreme Makeover!" Her exasperated outburst seemed to cow her sorcerous savior.
"No, no you don't. Where do you wanna live, I can just drop you down or-"
"Put me in the city. That's familiar territory for me."
"City it is! And you're going to be needing a partner so… I think I got a good one for you. I won't bother giving you the details, as you said, there's not much time and the choices are too varied to easily sum up." He seemed to be taking a small bit of glee in withholding this information from her, possibly because he was still sore about her harsh interruptions. Luckily for her, she could care less.
"Let's see. I'll set you up with some stuff that'll go good with the city. Give you a small advantage."
"Can you make me blend in as well?"
"Lady, I'm a magical prodigy. It'll take it bit more concentration but that's the least of what I can give you. And would you like any equipment for the ride?"
"If you can, a labtop, a phone, and a method of transportation would be really appreciated."
"Alright. Let me just get things-" as was becoming common with him, the fellow was interrupted once more. Only this time, it wasn't her and it was considerably less friendly. There was the loud slamming of fists at the door and the shuffle of footsteps like there was several people waiting for her outside the door.
"Oh, Charlotte," a gravelly voice rumbled from behind the door. "Our boss Don Amarillo sends his regards. Open this door and we'll make it easy on ya. We might not even kill you."
"Kid, we got trouble. Look, you got anymore questions, answer them yourself, I have to leave."
"But the spell is-" a shotgun rang out and the top hinge of the door was blown off in a hail of buckshot.
"NOW, Junior!" Now noticing the urgency of the situation, he tapped his hand against her forehead forcefully. Unconsciousness fell over her almost immediately after.