The Magics of Olde

Once, a long time ago, a group of incredible beings separated the different races into different dimensions so that the many races wouldn't create a civil war and wipe out all races. However, during the First Human World War, the barriers weakened, and the different races would accidentally fall into a different dimension. However, it was during WW2 in the human dimension that the barriers weakened, and the other races joined into one dimension.

Nothing had been the same since.

What was left of the free humans often debated that if Hitler simply just accepted how life sucked and just got over his prejudices then none of this would have happened. However, I know differently.

The barriers must have weakened over time for the possibility that human technology could even destroy or even weaken the barriers, and no matter how powerful human and non-human magic is, nothing lasts forever.

I know this, because I am a human witch, and I understand magic far better than most beings that can't cast magic.

Now, the glory of humans is gone, and now we are very much second or third class citizens that are only tolerated for our gifts at creating technology and magic. Whilst human magic isn't has strong as non-human magic, ours doesn't simply effect our bodies and manipulate the elements, no, we can read the mind, feel the emotions of others, see visions of the future and past and we can use telekinesis.

Magical humans, or witches as we are called, are more respected than the ones who rely on technology, but only by a small margin.

However, because we are considered merely second class citizens, we are often kidnapped for slave trade by the other non-human races. The worst in this trade are the vampires who have inhuman speed and strength and only 5% of their population can use magic, unlike humans who have a 45% rate.

I usually avoid vampires if I can, it's painful when they drink their much needed blood from a human and they aren't adverse to bullying humans. It's the usual day for me in Blue Banana, a lot of humans and non-humans come in here for the alternative clothing, and I get a discount of the clothing too, which is good when I live in a two-room accommodation flat. Most humans are stuck living like that, except for the very powerful witches.

This customer that came by is one of the nicer non-humans, a Naga that likes to go by the name "CC", who popped by to buy some belt buckles and a couple of shirts. He was an energetic guy and he actually made the effort to be careful with his tail, unlike most Nagas who didn't care whether they knocked over anything a human had to look after.

Nagas are beings that are humanoid from the torso up, and snake from the waist down, and his tail was long, large and a dark green. The scales glistened in the light, and his face was filled with high cheek bones, tanned skin and dark, warm eyes. As part of the social regulations, I avoided looking at him in the eyes, and I remained quiet, but attentive, as he talked and I gingery packed his newly bought things into the shopping bag.

"Hey Calla, what's up?" CC asked, his voice as cheerful as the smile on his face.

"Not much sir," I replied. "We're getting more and more popular now that non-humans shop here too." I smiled, now that the shop was more popular, I could have more working hours, get more money, and buy better food and clothes for myself.

"That's great," CC exclaimed and he gave the middle finger to a vampire who was waiting impatiently by the door for him. "So, are you doing anything this week?"

I paused as I handed him the bag, and I could help but stare at him in astonishment. "M-me?"

"Who else is named Calla?" He asked and he tilted his head to one side as he analyzed me, more than likely he was curious with my reaction; most humans would either have run away in fear or would have been kissing his dick at the opportunity to climb up the complicated social ladder. I wasn't doing either.

I have other non-human friends, but they were Shifters, who were close to humans in the social ladder. Any other being that wasn't a human or a Shifter being interested in me was kind of suspicious you see, so far he hasn't proved to be a typical Naga, but he could be just trying to butter me up to capture me as a sex slave.

"Well, I'm visiting a friend after I finish up here, and I'll be working until 1am for the rest of the week," I responded as I pressed his shopping bag into his hand.

"Whoa, you're like a workaholic Calla!" CC exclaimed as he flapped his hands around a bit to extaggerate his shock, somehow not dropping his shopping in the process.

I bit my tongue to stop myself from reminding him why all humans, including myself, have to work at least two jobs to keep from starving. Either he was completely oblivious to the suffering of humans, or assumed we just did this for kicks, or he wanted to get a rise out of me just for the excuse to put me down. The latter seemed unlikely, but under-estimating non-humans would get me in trouble.

"Something like that," I answered and I kept my face and voice neutral. "You friend is waiting."

The Naga glanced back at the door where his irritated, tall, vampire friend was waiting. "Uh yeah, sorry Andy!" He called out to the vampire just before he said good-bye and wandered off to his vampire friend.

I spent the rest of the day helping rude customers, stocking up the back, or folding and putting out clothes onto display. The day was pretty boring, but since I only had half a day today, I finished at 1pm and I left the store to visit my friend.

My friend is a Shifter, and he lived in a better area of town. I've never seen his animal form, but considering how volatile a Shifter's animal form can be, that's a good thing. Usually when a Shifter takes on their animal form, it's to attack or defend someone they consider a friend or family.

It didn't take me long to reach his house, although it took longer than it should have; the other Shifters in the building could smell the magic on me, and they begged me to make them some Protection Amulets. However, I had to turn them away since I couldn't use defensive magic, but I gave them directions to a person I knew who did good Protection Amulets for a cheap price.

I knocked on his apartment door, number 43, and I stepped back slightly. If my friend's slightly bipolar girlfriend was there, then I didn't want to be within arm's reach of her, especially if she's in a bad mood.

The door was opened by my friend, Jinxx, his black hair was shaggy and fluffy, and as usual he was wearing gothic clothing; black ripped jeans, a black shirt and a black hoodie. His grey eyes looked into mine for a moment, and he took a discreet inhale of my scent before he let me in.

It was hard to fake the typical lilac witch eyes, but it had been done before. However, according to Jinxx, no-one can fake a scent, and he knew mine very well.

"Hey," I greeted the quiet Shifter, and I dumped my bag and coat by the door before I joined him in the conjoined lounge and living room. He was curled up on the sofa as he stared out into the window. Jinxx was odd in that he found it hard to look someone in the face for more than a few seconds, and I was no exception to the rule. I didn't mind too much, people usually stared at me because I'm a witch, and my damned lilac eyes always give it away.

"Hey, how was work?" Jinxx asked me, and he turned his grey eyes to me for a moment before they remained at the window once again.

"Same old, same old," I replied with a strained smile. "How's Sammi?"

His eyes narrowed and he avoided looking at me even more than usual. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Ok," I said with a shrug. If he wasn't ready to talk about it then I won't push him, pushing him will only make him for frustrated at me and I was too stressed from my near non-stop working already. "Do you have any left overs?"

The Shifter nodded and I immediately dived for the fridge where I ate the last of his chinese takeaway, it was cold and a little dry but I didn't care too much, I haven't eaten since this morning at 6am.

"I have some good news," Jinxx told me, and he grinned happily.

I smiled and once I finished chewing I asked; "What is it?"

"I'm in a band now," the Shifter replied, and he squirmed in excitement as his grey eyes sparkled in his excitement and joy.

I was happy for him, I tucked my golden blond hair behind my ear as I said; "That's great, will I get to meet them?"

Jinxx lost his smile. "There's two vampires in the band."

Oh.

"Well, that sucks," I said after a few seconds of awkward silence. Jinxx shrugged and then I rolled my eyes and said; "Awkward turtle."

My Shifter friend laughed.

~*~*~*~

I left Jinxx's place at around 8pm since Sammi (Jinxx's girlfriend) was due to arrive any minute. Sammi was good for Jinxx, we just don't get along; she's unnecessarily rude and slightly bipolar, which really put me off, and instead of making things awkward for Jinxx, I left before she would arrive to avoid any arguments.

It was dark and cold outside, so I huddled into my thick, warm, old hoodie, and I marched down the street towards my home. It was oddly cold and dismal for a night in June, and it was dark too. I shivered as the darkness coated the alley ways and surrounded the streets like smoke.

"What the hell?!"

I paused as I heard a voice in the alley way behind me, the voice was filled with outrage and a hint of fear. Despite my better judgement, my curiousity won out and I peaked into the alleyway. I focused on the group of non-humans as they stared down a very pissed off Naga.

In the group of non-humans were two vampires; one tall and slender with dark hair that was shaved at the sides and blue eyes, he was snarling at the pissed off Naga whilst the other vampire was shorter but with more muscle to him, he also had black hair but his was neater and he had brown eyes, and he kept a sharp eye on the Naga without moving an inch.

The other one in the group of non-humans was CC, the Naga from earlier today, however, he looked for more humanoid that the pissed off Naga, although CC was very intimidating with the angry expression on his face too.

The pissed off Naga was separate from the group. His skin from the waist up was hairless and more reptilian and he was bauld with yellow, slitted eyes like a snake. His long, claw-like nails were pointed at CC as he hissed; "Mark my words, Coma, if you tell the human, there will be riots, and I'll be the leader of them."

CC scowled as he replied; "Well what else are we supposed to do? There's a human witch in the prophecy, and I know I've found her!"

"No, this prophecy is fake, you little human lover. Then again, considering how your father liked to fuck human women, I shouldn't be too surprised that you want to fuck them too!"

I turned away from the alley and I tried to walk away from the shouting in the alley way. I felt cold, and I felt like ice had been shoved down my throat, it was hard to breathe.

CC had been visiting me a lot, and then there seemed to be this prophecy about a human witch; there was no way this was coincidence. But, at the same time, it seemed so strange that I would be part of a prophecy, especially when my powers weren't exactly meant for the glorious battles that often appear after a prophecy was made.

I scowled; who had made the prophecy, and if I am part of it, why did no-one tell me?

I shook my head and sighted as my shared accommodation complex loomed ahead, it was tall and grey and coated in graffiti. I sighed and marched towards the door; no, I needed to stop thinking about this.

Should I confront CC tomorrow, or should I remain quiet about my knowledge? However, if I'm not part of the prophecy, and I reveal my knowledge of it, I might be killed to make sure I didn't tell anyone.

I'll keep quiet, I've always been good at that.

I opened up the door to my shared accommodation, and I tiredly greeted the people still hanging around the shared lounge before I unlocked the door to my bedroom and I went in and shut the door behind me.

My room wasn't very impressive with a simple, single person mattress on the floor, a lamp, a wardrobe for what little clothes I have, and an old laptop. Despite how tired I was from working full time all week, I felt wide awake.

I sat on my mattress and gathered my pillow and blankets around me to keep my legs warn whilst I turned on my laptop. After waiting a few minutes for my laptop to turn on, I went onto facebook and I messaged Jinxx about what happened, with a little warning that if I suddenly disappeared, it was because of that.

I've never been good at expressing my emotions, so I kept it brief and straight to the point and, I checked for any other messages or notifications before I shut my laptop off and I got ready for bed. I was in the middle of brushing my teeth when someone knocked on my bedroom door. I spat into the sink before I answered the impatient knocking.

"Yeah, yeah, hold your horses!" I called out just before I reached the door and unlocked it.

All I could do for a few seconds was gawk over who knocked at my door, and I looked behind them to see everyone else cowering behind the sofas or fleeing for the safety of their rooms. CC and his two vampire friends came here, and the tall, slender vampire from earlier was glaring at me whilst the more placid vampire seemed more amused, but CC was worried.

"What are you doing here?" I asked when I finally recovered from my shock. I kept a tight hold on my door but my legs shook; were they going to kill me for over-hearing their conversation?

"Are you ok? Has anyone been... following you?" CC answered my question with one of his, and, his eyes seemed to widen when mine met his, and he gulped and a blush coated his cheeks for he fled, er, slithered, out of the room.

"Uh..." I just stared after CC, more than a little confused, then I turned to the placid Vampire (I didn't look him in the eyes of course, I was in no way his equal). "Is he ok?"

The placid Vampire laughed; "Yeah, but seriously, were you followed?"

I fidgeted awkwardly. "I don't think so, although it's hard to detect non-humans so I can't say for sure."

The placid vampire nodded whilst the more aggressive one muttered something along the lines of 'fan-fucking-tastic'. The placid Vampire's arms were coated in tattoos, and his open shirt revealed the OUTLAW tattoo on his stomach, he was beautiful, and I blushed.

"May I ask why you care? It's... usual, for Vampires to take an interest in humans," I asked, my voice so quiet that I could barely hear it, but both vampires seemed to hear me very well.

"We'll talk back at our place," the aggressive Vampire butted into our conversation, and he ignored the 'Andy!' the placid vampire exclaimed in outrage. "Hurry up."

I bristled with indignation. "Excuse me?! I'm not going anywhere with you two!" I slammed the door in their faces and locked it for good measure. For a moment I felt proud, and then I had a mini-heart attack as I realized what I just done; they might beat me up at the very least for being so disrespectful!

I swallowed and murmured; "Well done Calla, you just gave yourself an early funeral," I rushed towards my wardrobe and pulled out my only backpack from it, and I stuffed it with clothes and a pair of shoes. There was no way I was going to hang around after offending a vampire!

After I packed I pulled on my boots and coat over my pajamas (old shorts and a tank top) before I opened the window and climbed down the fire escape. The last set of stairs rusted so much that I had to jump and, with my heart racing and my ear pounding, I jumped.

However, my landing wasn't quite as painful as I expected it to be; I landed on CC. The half-Naga (or I assumed he was, since he was far more humanoid than the other Naga from earlier) had fallen to the ground when I crashed into him, and he stared up at me with shock in his deep brown eyes.

Still scared, I leapt off him and I ran down the street, and into the darkness.

"CALLA!"

I ignored the desperation in CC's voice and I ran, and I concentrated as hard as I could as I thought of the one place I could go to hide from these crazy non-humans. I disappeared from the street in a flash of light, and my surroundings blurred before I ran into the back room of the club I worked in.

The manager had set up this back room as a safe room for his strippers just in case anyone started stalking them (it had happened before to one of the Shifter strippers) and luckily for me, I was a stripper in this club, and I needed a place to hide.

This was perfect.