From your point of view, the tour bus you boarded was huge, but you knew it was positively puny by an anthro's point-of-view. Behind the driver's seat was a kitchen area and a bedroom area with a bathroom in-between. Sliding partitions could provide some privacy for the band members... for a given value of privacy. Thin black walls didn't exactly block out much noise.
They couldn't afford a professional chauffer so BQ sat in the driver's seat. Given her small size relative to her friends, she worked the pedals with two long stilts. The vampire bat drove like a psycho and every time you boarded the bus you feared for your life even more than usual. You gladly would've volunteered to act as their driver, for no other reason than to avoid spending time in the back with Spike and Ob, but BQ didn't trust you with her "precious baby." As you walked past her, she was cursing at her "precious baby" under her breath.
"Come on, come on you stupid hunk of junk," BQ muttered as she turned the key in the ignition.
The tour bus was notoriously temperamental. Unsurprising considering the old rust bucket looked like it'd been built several centuries ago and it spent most of its time hauling several tons worth of musical instruments and musicians from gig to gig. Secretly you prayed for the engine to never start. The tour bus finally breaking down might be your only way to avoid going to the Dark Lands. Unfortunately, like most of your prayers lately, it went ignored. The engine gave a jolt and roared to life. The bus lurched forward and you were sent tumbling forward.
Melly was sitting in a chair by the window reading a doorstopper of a book. The seat opposite her was occupied by her suitcase. Spike and Ob were seated on the other side of the bus from her in a semi-circle booth in the kitchen area. Both of them were so massive that they each took up a side to themselves, leaving only a little sliver of leather available. The dragoness was already chugging a fresh beer and the vixen was stuffing fistfuls of potato chips into her mouth from a bag the size of a sack. You felt her bulging yellow eyes on you and shivered. Spike noticed your fear and laughed.
"Sit down and take a load off, Roadie! There's a seat right here!" Spike patted the thin space between her and Ob and you immediately turned around to face Melly.
"Ms. Melancholy, may I please sit in that chair?"
Apparently puppy dog eyes can even work on a cat, since, after a long silence, she sighed and said, "Fine."
You were so relieved that you didn't even mind nearly breaking your back lifting her suitcase off the chair and planting it on the floor. You heaved a sigh of relief as you sat down. A few minutes of pleasant boredom passed as you watched the scenery pass by. You caught a good look at the book in Melly's hands: a dusty tome as big as a phonebook that looked like it belonged in either a museum or a haunted house. Then the pleasant boredom just became regular boredom. Melly was obviously engrossed in her book. Your curiosity got the better of you and it was then you asked the seemingly innocuous words that would change your life forever.
"What are you reading?"
"A spell book."
The others heard her and laughed.
"Come on, Melly," Blood Queen called from the driver's seat, "I like the occult as much as anyone, but don't tell me you actually believe in magic?"
"Of course I do," Melly said boredly. "After all, I've done some."
She said it so casually that everyone laughed even louder and harder. Even you couldn't help but giggle, though you quickly shut up when Melly glared at you.
"Jeez, Mel, I always thought you were the straight man in this group," BQ said. She swerved to avoid something on the road--another car, from the blaring horn--and screeched like the bat she was. "RIGHT-OF-WAY, ASSHOLE!"
"It's true. I've done magic in the past. Nothing major, but enough to see if it's for real. I want to incorporate it into our shows to save us money on practical effects during our shows. I've already levitated some things."
"Oh yeah?" BQ asked. "Prove it. Do some magic. Levitate something right here."
"Magic is unpredictable," Melly said, sounding uncertain for the first time. "I don't want to make a mistake and destroy something valuable--"
"Then test it out on the roadie!" Spike chipped in. "He's the least valuable thing here!"
Blood Queen snickered. "Sure, why not? Try out your non-existent levitation spell on him. I'm game. How about you Ob?" The vixen looked at you and shrugged. "See? It's decided!"
"Wait," you sputtered. "You're, uh--you're joking right?"
"Why so scared, roadie?" Melly asked coldly. "You don't believe in magic either, right?"
You were really regretting asking her about her book now. You were regretting laughing at her claims of magic even more. Apparently she took it personally. You didn't get time to argue against her though, as she pointed a claw at you and started reading from the book. You tried to tell yourself that nothing would happen, that there was no such thing as magic, and the weird tingling spreading over your body was just your imagination. You kept telling yourself that as Melancholy's voice raised in volume, growing louder and louder until she finished in an echoing crescendo.
What happens to you?
1) Melancholy's magic is a success and you levitate!
2) The spell goes horribly wrong and you end up shrinking!
3) The spell goes horribly wrong in some other entertaining and implausible way!
View Portfolio
Visit Notebook
Send Gift Points
Awards
Badges
Send Email
Community Newsfeed
General Discussion
Sponsored Items
Book of Trinkets
Static Items
Books
Groups
Interactive Stories
Audio
Campfire Creatives
Community Notes
Crossword Puzzles
Documents
Folders
Images
In & Outs
Madlibs
Photo Albums
Polls
Product Reviews
Quizzes
Survey Forms
Web Pages
Word Searches
More by this author
