The next day (Saturday, October 9, 2021) - Bushwick, Brooklyn, New York, United States

Ella thought about last night as she pulled on her top. The awkward silence at dinner. Then walking back by his apartment on her way home. Standing across from each other at the entrance.

Grabbing him and kissing him deeply right there. The scrambled wait for the elevator and laughing when some people spilled out and they got in.

Getting undressed and him demurring when she made to pull off that ring. But she needed it to all be real, and he let her.

Then the room lighting up in that cold light from her eyes as her body moved on top of his.

He was still in his bed. Drowsy, but sending a few texts on his phone. His pointed ears, unnaturally angled eyes, and that strange realness of presence that she saw when magic — and yes magic is what she could call it — was revealed.

He looked up to her. “This is the longest I have not worn it.”

They had some coffee and inconsequential chatter before she headed down the elevator humming.1

He texted her later in the day, and she did not have any regrets, so they agreed to meet for another date at some point.

Friday came around and found Ella putting on tons of eye makeup and putting on some tight shiny pants and loose top with a plunging neckline. Or maybe it was more of a gauzy scarf with some thin brass links to hold it on her. Whatever… it was time to have some fun. Charlie and Jade were both already done up and ready to go. Ella tossed a bottle of lip gloss over when Charlie complained that she had forgotten hers.

A quick shot of rum for each to down a tab of molly and they were out the door and into the streets. Freezing their asses off in the mid October chill.

A quick train out to Bushwick and they reached the club.2 Jade’s brother, six feet of pure muscle and the bouncer, let them in right away. The dirty looks from the rest of the line were ambrosia to Charlie’s soul as she gave them a wave and blew a kiss to them as they went in.

To the bar for a couple of shots, pulling out some thing to chew on so they didn’t grind their teeth, and they were out on the floor. Charlie managed to coax Jade into some grinding up to another group next to them, Jade finding a girl who was as ghostly white as she was dark black in the flashing lights of the club, taking turns drawing on each other in luminescent paint the girl produced out of a pocket; eventually descending into making out sloppily before they found a shaded corner to get busy. Not that it helped for privacy since they were covered in that glowing marker by now.

Ella was feeling pretty good. Life was back to normal. TA’ing, clubbing with friends, a new, maybe, boyfriend. And if Ella occasionally saw a strange flickering light out of the corner of her eye, or someone on the street that just felt a bit more real than they should have, she just let it go.

Or it felt like that until someone in the club that she couldn’t quite focus on even as he came up to their group to dance with them, even as he took out a long knife, held it in front of him until orange runes appeared along the blade, and gently slid it between her ribs.

“Boys” by Charli XCX

Elsewhere in Bushwick, which has its moments.