It was a slow and quiet morning. The kind of mornings that Molly loved. She'd wake up, make a pot of coffee, warm herself up some leftover pastries from the nearby bakery, and maybe do the crossword. That was, in fact, exactly what she was doing this particular morning. She figured she'd take a nice bath after this and then get to work drafting in her home office, until the knock came at her door. Visitors at 9am? Who the hell would be here now? She groaned, pushed herself up from her breakfast nook in the kitchen and headed to the front door, which she opened to find, of all people, Zoe standing there with a few bags.

"...I need help," Zoe said, "I need to hide."

"Hide from what?" Molly asked as Zoe exhaled.

"My folks," she said.

Now that, Molly felt, was relatable. She let her in without a single hesitation. Zoe set her things down in the living room, then walked into the kitchen and sat at the table as Molly poured her a cup of coffee and warmed her up a pastry as well, setting both down in front of her before seating herself once more.

"Everything okay?" Molly asked as she sipped her coffee.

"I woke up to my mom folding my underwear, does that answer your question?" Zoe asked.

"Oddly enough, yes," Molly replied.

"I can't be around them," Zoe said, "I just...I had to bail and fast, and you were the only place I could think of to go to. I couldn't go to Allie's."

"Why not?"

Zoe didn't want to admit it, but she had thought about going to Allie's first, actually. At least until she remembered Nick was back in the picture. These days it seemed as if all of Allie's spare time was taken up by her relationship. And she felt uncomfortable going to Effie, asking if she could stay with her for a while. Sure they'd been together for over 6 months now, but it still made her feel icky. Zoe sighed and ran her hands over her face.

"thanks for letting me in," she mumbled.

"I have a guest bedroom," Molly said, "You're welcome to stay as long as you want. I'm happy for the company."

Zoe smiled. Perhaps, despite not actually being her first choice, Molly really was the best alternative after all.

                                                                               ***

Truth be told, Allie wouldn't have answered the door anyway if Zoe had gone there, because that morning in particular, she was on her back in bed, with Nick on top of her, thrusting away like there was no tomorrow. After they were finished, Allie lay there and stared at the ceiling, feeling better than she had in ages. During their brief time apart, she'd forgotten how good he was in bed, and she was grateful to be reminded now. Allie grabbed her cigarettes from the bedside table and lit one, taking a few puffs as Nick was in the bathroom, combing his hair and brushing his teeth.

"Was there anything else besides me you wanted to do today?" Allie asked, making him laugh.

"Actually," he said, "I was hoping to go check out this antique shop. I'm trying to redo my apartment, and I'm tired of living in essentially a college boys dorm. I wanna be more like a classy older man, you know, the kind of guy who drinks scotch and reads russian novels and collects things from the 20s."

"Oh okay, you wanna be a stereotype, I got it," Allie said, making him laugh again as he pulled on his shirt over his head and entered the bedroom. Allie sat up, still naked, still smoking. He sat on the bed and pulled her in, kissing her. She didn't hesitate for a second. She was, if anything, extremely happy to see him be this romantic towards her. Maybe, she thought, getting her life together was for the best after all, especially if it meant he wanted to be with her again.

"You're gonna come with me, right?" he asked.

"Of course, why wouldn't I?"

"I don't know, I don't know when your practice days are or anything," Nick said.

"Ah, we're not practicing lately. We're just doing the same show for a while," Allie said, "lemme get dressed and we can go, so long as we can get tacos while we're out."

Nick watched as she started to stand up, then he jumped back on the bed and held her down, kissing her neck, making her laugh.

"Well," he said, "maybe you don't have to get dressed just yet. Antique shop's not closing at 10 in the morning after all."

"You're a tiger," she said, "but, you know, the kind I'd like be mauled by."

Nick threw his head back and laughed. Allie's dark sense of humor was always one of his favorite qualities about her. So they stayed in the bedroom for another hour, before showering together and finally going out antique shopping. The place Nick wanted to go was called Cleopatras Closet, and it was on a somewhat abandoned drag in Vegas. In fact, the only other places opened on the same street were a Pho shop and a dirty bookstore. This was my kind of neighborhood, Allie thought, as they headed inside.

Trinkets and tchotchkes galore lined the shelves inside; old magazines, marionettes, vintage lamps. Whatever it was you were in the market for, there was a good likelihood that Cleopatras Closet had it. Allie was impressed at their selection, as she strolled along and looked at all the various items. Nick was apparently looking for things that were western themed, as he'd long since been a fan of the genre, so Allie kept her eyes peeled for anything of the sort; horses, cowboys, etc.

As she turned a corner, she bumped into someone and immediately apologized, before realizing it was her cousin Megan.

"Oh, hi," Allie said flatly.

"What are you doing here?" Megan asked.

"Shopping with my boyfriend, wherever he is now," Allie said, "What about you?"

"Shopping for a friends birthday," Megan said, as they continued to walk down the aisle together; she brushed her hair out of her face and continued, "but I'm just not good at birthday shopping. You remember, all the awful gifts I gave you over the years."

"No, I don't, cause I returned them for better ones," Allie said, making Megan laugh. They stopped and she started flipping through a scattered collection of old black and white framed photos.

"So I hear you're doing really well, you have a big marquee at the new casino and everything," Megan said.

"It's been good, yeah," Allie replied, "Zoe's been a great teammate honestly, and I've stopped drinking and taking pills, and...I mean, I occasionally have a drink and I do take painkillers if I have a headache but, I'm doing much better. I'm nowhere near as messed up as I was even just a year ago, and it feels good, it feels good to be sober and in control. It's like, you never realize-"

Allie just noticed Megan was crying. She reached out and put her hand on Megan's shoulder.

"Uh, you okay there, champ?" she asked.

"Jeff is cheating on me," she said quietly.

"What??"

"Yeah," Megan said, nodding, "He, uh, he doesn't know that I know, but I do know. I don't know what to do about it. Do I confront him, do I just leave, and then there's Lane and how would she react? Do I do what a lot parents do and stay together for the kid? I just...I never thought this sort of thing would happen to me. Jeff was always the best, he was always so supportive and romantic and..."

They heard a cluttering sound and looked down the aisle to see Nick and a little boy playing with old metal trucks together and laughing. Allie and Megan couldn't help but smile.

"...Nick's a good guy, Allie," Megan said, "Don't lose him this time. Do whatever it takes to make it work. Um, I'm free a lot of nights now, if you wanna maybe catch up and get some dinner or something. I miss you."

Allie leaned in and hugged her cousin tightly.

"I miss you too," she replied.

After Megan walked away to purchase her items, Allie couldn't help but think about how things had turned around so much. Just a year ago or so, she was the one with the relationship problems. She was the one who was breaking down. Now everything was topsy turvey and Allie was on top of the world, with the best boyfriend one could hope for. Maybe she'd invite Megan to do magic with her and Zoe some time, for old times sake. She heard the sound of metal beside her and looked over to see Nick there, holding a old toy firetruck.

"What happened to the whole western theme?" she asked.

"I mean, I still like it, but firetrucks are cool," Nick replied.

"You know you shouldn't just play with other peoples children like that," Allie said, "You're a guy, it looks weird."

"I'll try to remember that next time I'm about to abduct a child," Nick said, making her laugh.

                                                                           ***

Molly's home office was lovely.

It was filled to the brim with plant life and books about architecture and, of course, her multiple drafting tables and equipment. All of it was set in front of a large bay window, and when the sun hit at just the right time of day, yes, it was the nicest room in the house and Zoe felt lucky to see it. Standing there, looking through the bookshelf while Molly did a little work at her table, she couldn't help but notice the only photograph, framed even, sitting on the shelf in front of the books. Zoe picked it up and looked at it; a teenage Molly with, presumably, her parents.

"These your folks?" she asked, glancing over her shoulder.

"Yep," Molly said, not even looking back.

"You not on good terms with your parents either?" Zoe asked.

"I..." Molly started, then turned around in her chair and looked at Zoe, "uh...not particularly. Um. I was sexually assaulted when I was in high school, and when I told them, they blamed me for some reason, even though that was like the first relationship I'd ever had. Anyway, I got a scholarship to a college here, moved away and we haven't really spoken much since. My mother has since sort of backed away from the whole religious conservative mindset that soured them, but my father's a whole different story entirely. If anything he's only gotten worse with age. My mother has apologized to me, but everything is still on shaky grounds."

"I'm sorry, I didn't know," Zoe said, "my parents think I'm a criminal, for what it's worth. Not that they're far off...the problem is, they act as if the things they've said or done have been justifiable, and aren't even remotely aware of how their actions have hurt me, so I've just avoided them. Been living with my sister for years now."

"It hurts. Not having family," Molly said, playing with loose threads on the knees of her jeans, "I mean, it's good to not be around that much toxicity, but to not have family it makes the world feel a little smaller, a little colder. Makes holidays less enjoyable. You realize what so many others have that you don't and you feel a weird combination of jealousy and anger and regret, even though you know you're better off without them. It's...it's hard."

"It is, but that's why it's important to have found family, like Allie and I. I can't imagine not having her in my life," Zoe said, "Growing up I was such a fan, and now I'm her partner in magic, like, that's mind blowing to me, you know? You're our friend too, that's why I came here, cause I trusted you."

Molly smiled.

"Well, thank you," Molly said, "I appreciate being your friend, and I'm glad you know how I feel about family. I'm glad we're on the same page there at least."

"What are you designing?" Zoe asked, walking towards the table.

"Nothing official. I design homes for fun," Molly said, "I think I got into architecture because I came from a broken home. In my off time, I design some of them for fun, places I'd love to live but could never afford to build. But it helps seeing the dream on paper, you know? Makes it feel tangible, if nothing else."

Zoe nodded as she pulled up a seat and watched. Magic was good and all, but she liked seeing someone else make something out of nothing.

                                                                          ***

"Anything?" Agent Tropper asked as he approached Siskel's desk. She had feet up and was sucking down noodles from a chinese takeout box while her phone tucked under her chin. She shook her head and he groaned, sitting down. After a minute, she thanked the person on the phone, then hung up.

"I don't get it, this guy is the son of the governor, but nobody knows what happened to him?" Agent Tropper asked, "How's that even possible? How does a governors son just up and disappear?"

"I don't know man, but we're getting nowhere," Agent Siskel said, "All I do know is that he and Claire were mutual benefactors. Hell, he probably supplied a good portion of the people in this city. What we need to do is get access to his apartment, you know? Get a warrant and get in there, see if he left any kind of paper trail."

Agent Tropper leaned back in his seat and sighed.

"And what do we do about Driscoll?" he asked.

"Eventually she's gonna have something else for us," Agent Siskel said, "Especially if she wants to not get the death penalty. If she wants to work out some kind of deal, she's gonna have to work with us on this. I think she knows more than she's letting on."

"Why would she hide it if she did?"

"Loyalty? I don't know. Running a cult can create a kind of mindset that you can trick anyone into doing anything. It's like a magic trick, you know? You create an illusion out of nothing. She got these people to believe in something just by being charming enough, and a magician never reveals their secrets."

"You're a dweeb," Agent Tropper said, making the both of them laugh; he groaned, stood up and sighed, "Welp, guess I'll try and get that warrant. Otherwise we have no leads and it's gonna go cold before it even started."

With that, each agent went back to their respective work, each not knowing where it all would eventually lead. In the end, it would turn out that Agent Siskel was far more accurate in her comparison than they could've ever anticipated.

                                                                              ***

"I like it," Allie said, admiring the firetruck now sitting on Nick's mantel in his apartment. She was holding a glass of wine, as he came into the room, holding his own.

"It's okay if you drink wine, right?" he asked.

"Hard liquor is my issue, but yes, a glass or two is okay," Allie said, "I'm capable of restraining myself...can I ask you a question?"

"Certainly," Nick said, sitting on the couch as Allie paced in front of him.

"Do you see any kind of future?" Allie asked.

"You asking if I'm a seer, or?"

"No, idiot," she said, laughing, "No, I mean, like...what do you see for yourself, maybe, 5 years from now, you know? Do you see yourself ever owning a home, ever having a family, ever...ever having a wife? Does that sort of stuff ever cross your mind?"

"Yeah, I mean occasionally," Nick said, leaning forward, "...why, does it cross yours?"

"I like things the way they are right now," Allie said, setting their wine glasses on the table by the couch and climbing into Nick's lap, "but I can't say I'm not open to change. It just all depends. I just wanted to see what your head was at about it all."

Nick kissed her and then kissed down her neck to her collarbones, making her breath heavily.

"Let's just take it one day at a time," he said softly, and she nodded in agreement.

Seeing Megan so upset messed her up, and had gotten her thinking about her own future. Whether she'd ever want children. Whether she'd ever want to be married. And if so, could she see herself having those things with Nick? Megan wasn't wrong in calling him a good guy. Nick was, in fact, a good guy. He was the best guy she'd ever dated, and she was so happy to know him and to have him. But she couldn't help but think about the future. Things had changed so drastically in the past year that it made her think that maybe change wasn't all that bad after all.

Of course, by the end of this year, she'd go back to believing change was awful.

But like Nick had said, best to take it one day at a time.

It was just another day for Claire Driscoll.

She would wake up, take a shower, get dressed and then drive a few miles out of town to the outer desert area of Vegas, until she finally came to the compound. She'd park, she'd walk inside and she'd eat breakfast that had been lovingly made for her. She would go over her speech while she ate, sometimes even rewriting sections minutes before reciting it, and once breakfast was done, Claire would slip into her black robe and put the wooden crown on her head. She'd walk slowly, cautiously, out to the stage and look out over the large group of people she had standing, waiting for her, who cheered upon her arrival. Claire shut her eyes and smiled, basking in the adoration from her followers, and then would hold up her hands to silence them, before clearing her throat and speaking.

"Hello and good morning to you all," she said, "This is a day we will not forget soon, for it is the day the last required death will be attained. I will do this with my own hands, like all the others, so you all remain pure. Once they have been killed, we shall we be protected, just as I have promised."

The crowd murmured, some light applause scattering throughout.

"As you all know," Claire continued, pacing across the stage, "It will take a while for the world to understand, and accept, what we do here. But in the end, we will be vindicated, and you will be saved, that much I can guarantee."

Suddenly her head throbbed and she reached up, touching her forehead before suddenly exiting the stage, leaving one of her higher ups to speak in her place. Claire leaned against the wall and groaned as another higher up of hers, a young woman named Annie, approached.

"Have we heard from him yet?" Claire asked, and Annie shook her head.

"He's still not answering his phone," she said.

"Ugh," Claire groaned again, pulling her crown off and running her hands through her large matte of red hair; she continued, "this is unacceptable, I need that medication. I needed it months ago. Find out where he is, okay? Do whatever it takes."

"Yes ma'am," Annie said, leaving with her cell phone again.

Claire Driscoll hadn't wanted to lead these people in this sort of ritual, but her poor mental health had overwhelmed her. In the beginning, she'd merely been a leader of a group of people who'd wanted something more out of life, but ever since her dealers disappearance - thus losing her access to her antipsychotics - she'd slipped further and further into her delusions, eventually leading her group to follow her as she began to kill people and store their remains in the walls of an abandoned apartment complex she'd purchased.

Eventually, when her crimes were discovered and Claire was finally arrested, she swore up and down that it wasn't her fault, that if she'd just had her medication, none of this would've happened. She told them to find her dealer, to find the man who had been selling her pills since she couldn't attain healthcare, but they didn't listen to her. To them, it was just a flimsy excuse for her actions, but Claire swore she'd somehow discover what had happened to the man who'd been keeping her in line with his access to pills.

She'd discover what had happened to Sunny Sykes, the drug dealer Allie Meers had killed and buried.

                                                                               ***

Allie rolled over onto her side and opened one eye, her focus blurry, as she saw Nick lying in the bed beside her. She smiled and reached over, rubbing her hand down his arm, making him wake up a little and smile at her. After a moment, he scooted closer to her and climbed on top of her, kissing her neck, making her moan. After fucking, Allie and Nick showered, got dressed and went to get breakfast at a nearby pastry place that Zoe had been going to and raving about lately.

Zoe was already there, standing in line, with Molly by her side, waiting to order. It had been about half a year since the opening of The Card Shark, and things had only gotten better for them all. Every morning the four of them got together for breakfast at a different place, and Zoe had recommended this place the previous night because she'd been here with Effie time and time again. Waiting to order, Zoe folded her arms and sighed, tapping her foot.

"Do you want coffee?" she asked, glancing at Molly, who shook her head.

"No thanks," she replied, "No, I'm in a constant state of anxiety without the help of caffeine, thank you very much. I've been trying to drink less coffee for a few months now."

"How's that working out for you?" Zoe asked.

"Well, let's put it this way," Molly replied, "I was hired to make a suite of offices a month ago and I haven't started conceptualizing because I'm too tired all the time. That answer your question?"

"It answers my question about whether or not you're a grouch in the morning," Zoe muttered, the both of them chuckling.

Zoe suddenly felt a hand on her shoulder and looked to her side to see Allie standing there, smiling, as Nick went and got them all a table. Allie's hair was braided and she was wearing jeans and an orange v-neck with a green windbreaker. Molly was in a blouse with jeans, while Zoe was in a striped shirt with slacks. The three women stood their place in line, almost at the counter.

"What about you, you're still drinking coffee, right?" Zoe asked, glancing at Allie.

"Me? Yeah, duh. Why, who isn't drinking coffee?"

"Heyo," Molly said, raising her hand.

"You're not drinking coffee? What do you drink in the morning?" Allie asked, sounding concerned.

"Oh, usually I just lift up the toilet seat and take a few laps out of the bowl," Molly said, staring at her sternly, "I drink tea, I drink water, what the hell do you think I drink? At least I'm not out here drinking half a flask of scotch before noon."

"Don't knock it til you've tried it," Allie said, making them all chuckle.

Yes, things had been great for the girls in the six months since the Card Shark had opened, and each woman had never been better. Zoe was becoming more and more proficient in her magic skills - to the point where she was, at times, outright opening for Allie instead of just assisting her - while Molly had gained more attention for her work on the new casino and had since been offered multiple jobs by high profile clients. And Allie? Well, Allie was as Allie always is.

Astounding.

                                                                               ***

Zoe awoke in a flash, sweating, breathing hard. She'd been having these nightmares for a few weeks now, and she was beginning to get tired of them. She rolled over and looked at the clock on her bedside table, which informed her it was only 3am. She sighed and sat up, running her hands through her bushy hair. She got out of bed and headed down the hall, to the kitchen, where she made herself a sandwich and got a soda from the fridge before seating herself at the table.

She hadn't thought about Sunny in months now, so why all of a sudden was his death invading her dreams? She just tried to shake it off, best she could, and focus on her sandwich. She wondered if Allie ever had dreams like this. If Allie ever had nightmares about Sunny...about what they'd done to him. She shook that off as well, trying to outright ignore anything Sunny related now. Sandwich. All that mattered was the sandwich. She heard footsteps approaching, and glanced to the doorway to see her sister Thea coming in, yawning.

"Bad dreams again?" she asked, stretching as she took a seat.

"Yeah, why are you up?" Zoe asked.

"Period cramps," Thea replied, making Zoe nod in understanding; Thea took a sip of Zoe's soda, smacked her lips then said, "so, uh...mom called me last night while you were at work."

"Really?" Zoe asked, genuinely surprised, "Why would she ever do that?"

"Heh, I guess she just was feeling melancholy. She asked how you were doing. I told her you were doing great, and that you had a good job and a good circle of friends. She sounded actually happy for you. She said she'd like to talk to you."

"Yeah, well, that would require me wanting to talk to her, and I don't see that happening," Zoe said.

"Fair 'nuff, just thought I'd tell you," Thea said, shrugging, "Well, if you're having trouble sleeping, or are afraid you might have more bad dreams, try listening to some white noise. That always seems to relax me. But who knows, might not work for you. You might not find the soothing sounds of ocean calmness as soothing as they claim to be."

Thea stood up, kissed her little sister on the head and then headed back to bed. Zoe stayed seated and continued eating her sandwich. Once she was done, she washed her plate, crushed her soda can and tossed it in the recycling can, and then headed back to her bedroom. God. Mom...mom wanted to talk to her after all this time? Ugh. As if she didn't already have enough people she was trying not to think about without adding her parents to the mix.

                                                                               ***

Allie was seated at the bar, eating pretzel sticks out of the bowl on the counter while watching the television that was hung up overhead for patrons. The bartender, a 30sish woman by the name of Portia, walked up and started wiping the counter near Allie.

"Not working today?" she asked.

"Not til tonight," Allie replied, "these pretzel sticks are stale."

"I didn't know nor do I care. I am not the one who keeps these snack bowls filled. You wanna lodge a formal complaint, take it up with whoever that guy is," Portia said.

"Who is the guy who fills these bowls?"

"I don't know, his name's probably Greg or something, I've never met him. I just show up and they're filled, as if by some magical unseen snack loving force."

"Sounds like something a guy named Greg would do," Allie replied, the both of them smirking as Effie climbed onto the stool beside Allie and pulled a granola bar from her pocket, ripping it open with her teeth and biting into it. Allie slowly looked over at her, one eyebrow raised.

"I didn't have breakfast," she said mouth half full of granola bar.

"You're also not having breakfast now," Allie said, laughing.

"It's the closest thing I could get!" Effie said, as Allie turned Effie's wrist and looked at the wrapper.

"Honey, marshmellow and chocolate granola," Allie read, "Yeah, sounds like a real part of a balanced breakfast."

"So," Effie said, swallowing her mouthful of granola, "Zoe's not here yet?"

"I haven't seen her, no," Allie said, "She didn't spend the night with you?"

"Nah, I had to work late and then I had to do some press junkets for a TV special, so," Effie said, "I didn't want her waiting around for me. She's been doing good in her magic, I've stopped by to see her open for you and boy she's really coming along."

"Yeah, she's a very talented young lady," Allie said.

"That make you nervous? Like she could usurp you?"

"Usurp me? I'm not a king."

"You know what I mean," Effie said, laughing.

"I mean," Allie replied, shrugging half heartedly, "Sort of I guess but I also know she respects me and that we're friends. I trust that she wouldn't do that sort of thing. She has admiration for me, and frankly I've gotten used to having her around, so it wouldn't be the same without her. Besides, now we're known as a team basically, despite not being billed as such, so that sort of change would confuse showgoers. You know how the public is, they need everything to stay simple and stay the same. One little move to the left and you've got them all worked up."

"It's true," Effie said, "Once, instead of doing a set of comedy, I came on stage and performed open heart surgery. They just didn't get it."

Allie threw her head back, laughing heavily, as Effie smirked. Allie knew she should find Zoe at some point, preferably before the show that night, but until that happened she didn't mind just sitting here with Effie and having fun. Life hadn't been fun for so long, she was having a good time getting used to it again.

                                                                              ***

The door opened, and a man and a woman entered the room. The man, younger, the woman, older, both in suits. They sat down at the table, looking across at the young woman sitting opposite them, who wouldn't bring her eyes to their level. After a moment, the woman in the suit sighed and slid a file across the table towards the other woman.

"It's pretty bad," she said, "You're looking at a life sentence. Anything you wanna inform us about before the justice system makes some kind of assumption?"

"...I needed medication," Claire finally said, "...I don't think I would've done what I did had I been properly medicated. The health system is a joke, so I turned to outside sources, primarily drug dealers, and primarily one drug dealer in particular. But when he stopped returning my calls...that's when I got bad again. That's when I started spouting all that stuff about rebirth."

"So you don't believe any of it?" the man asked.

"I do, because it's all I have to believe in," Claire said, "but this is just as much his fault as it is mine, for letting me down."

The man and woman exchanged a look, then stood up and started to exit. As the woman started to pull the door shut behind her, Claire turned her head and spoke again.

"His name was Sunny Sykes," she said, "and if I'd gotten the chance, I would've killed him too for what he did to me."

With that, the door shut. The man and woman found themselves standing in the hall now, staring at one another.

"Well that's an admittance of sorts," Agent Tropper said, shaking his head, "I mean...she flat out admitted she'd have killed her own drug dealer. Then again, trying to rope him into the blame for her actions...I mean, on some level she's not wrong, cause yeah, he stopped providing her and let her slip into unreality, but he wasn't the one who carried out these acts."

"This is pretty clear cut," the woman, Agent Siskel, replied, adding, "she committed the crimes, drug dealer or not, and now she's the one who'll be facing the penalty for it. I don't think we have to work too hard to convince any judge or jury of her crimes."

"You wanna get lunch?" Agent Tropper asked.

"Yeah, sure," Agent Siskel said, the two of them heading down the hall. Suddenly, Agent Siskel stopped, her eyes glued to a board on the wall. Agent Tropper walked back to her and watched her momentarily, snapping his fingers.

"Everything alright?" he asked.

"Look," she said quietly, pointing.

There, on the board, was a "Missing" poster for a man named Sunny Sykes...and below it, a statement which read:

                           "Help find the Governors Son! Any information welcome!"

"...shit," Agent Tropper whispered.

The alarm went off and Zoe groaned. She rolled over and put her hand on it, turning it off again before rolling back over and sighing. She felt an arm slump around her and pull her close, and she smiled. She could smell Effie's shampoo, and it made her feel safe. It was quiet outside, and Zoe felt like she could stay in this bed the whole day, until she realized this was it, this was the anniversary of The Forgotten Tomb. God, had it really been a whole month already? Where had the time gone?

                                                                         ***

   30 DAYS PRIOR

Allie was sitting at a slot on the main floor of the Card Shark, putting coin after coin into it, when she felt a stool being dragged up beside her. She turned and looked to her side, surprised to see Molly of all people sitting down beside her, eating a churro.

"What are you doing here?" Allie asked.

"Getting my nerves up for the opening," Molly mumbled, "I just...I'm terrified. What if something goes wrong?"

"What could possibly go wrong at this point? It's already built. It isn't like someone's going to die during construction," Allie said.

"Well what if one of the wings hovering over the road collapses because it was rushed and not properly attached and it falls on a busload of special ed children on their way to visit an orphanage?" Molly asked, making Allie look at her with a smirk on her face.

"Wow," Allie said, "you're really good at coming up with absolutely bullshit scenarios."

"It could happen!" Molly said, taking a bite from her churro.

"When has that ever happened, except for that one time at The Prospector?" Allie asked, making Molly look at her in shock; Allie continued, "oh yeah, you never heard about that? That exact thing happened, verbatim, and it was horrible. The parents of all the kids killed themselves, and then the orphanage caught on fire thanks to an arsonist who lost their child in the bus and blamed the orphanage for their loss."

Allie looked back at Molly, who was staring at her in annoyance now, and Allie began to laugh.

"You're meeeean," Molly whined and Allie patted her on the shoulder.

"Come on, you're a professional, you didn't do a slipshod job, alright? It's fine, everything's going to be fine," Allie said, "Now, take this glass of coins and keep piling them into this machine, cause I'm going to order a thing of nachos from the bar."

Allie scooted her stool out and walked to the bar, only to find Zoe already there, drinking a soda. Allie seated herself beside Zoe and sighed.

"Well, we have a few hours before we have to get ready," Allie said, "How you feeling?"

"I'm feeling....nervous, but, ya know, that's probably normal. I just want it to be over," Zoe said, taking a sip, "...is the stuff already there?"

"Yeah. I took it all over there last night and put it in my presentation area. The tomb is sealed tight, remember? Nobody can open that son of a bitch if they tried," Allie said, "so there's no real worry about someone discovering it beforehand. Plus we packed the inside with preservatives so it's not like, you know, any smell is going to be noticeable."

"...I can't believe we're going to get away with this," Zoe whispered, "it feels so wrong."

"I know, I know it does, but hey, like I've said, we didn't have a choice," Allie said, "Sunny was a bad man, perhaps not the worst guy in the world, but he kept me hooked far longer than I should've been just because he made the drugs so easily accessible that it felt like an effort to actually quit."

"You're going to your meetings, right?" Zoe asked.

"Yep," Allie said, "Haven't had a drink or a pill in weeks. It's...been tough, hah, not gonna lie, but I'm doing it."

"I'm proud of you," Zoe said, smiling, surprising Allie.

"Th...thanks, I'm proud of you too," Allie said, "Now if you'll excuse me, I need some lunch. Gonna get me some nachos."

                                                                           ***

Allie and Zoe drove over to the new Card Shark later that afternoon. Allie was planning to meet Nick there, seeing as he'd agreed to bring over the fireworks for the ending of the show. In the car, Zoe was nervous, pulling on her hair a little, while Allie chewed on gum.

"You want some gum?" Allie asked, "it always helps me when I feel antsy. Gives me something to do."

"No thanks," Zoe said, "I don't like gum. Too much effort for something that isn't actually edible."

"Fair enough."

They pulled to a red light, only a few minutes away from the casino. Allie turned the radio down and lit up a cigarette, rolling down her window so she could blow the smoke out and not bother Zoe, not that Zoe had ever made a fuss about it before, but Allie was being polite nonetheless. Sitting there, Zoe felt a knot in her stomach, and she looked at her fingernails, painted salmon.

"I have to tell you something," Zoe said, "if we're going to be partners, and friends, and criminals together-"

This made Allie chuckle.

"-then you should know that I...I started seeing someone," Zoe said, "...romantically."

"Oh yeah?"

"It's Effie," Zoe said.

"Really? Wow. I wouldn't have pegged you for a lesbian," Allie said, "but hey, that's cool, I'm happy for you! So long as she treats you nice and you're enjoying yourself, then more power to you. I'm certainly not one to judge anyone for who they love. In fact, I'm the last person in the world who should be judgemental, really."

Zoe looked down at her nails again and smiled. She could never tell her parents that she was in a same sex relationship, but she felt glad to be able to tell Allie. She knew Allie would never judge her for something so normal. As they pulled up to the back of the casino, they saw Nick leaning against his car in a leather jacket and jeans, with a button down collared shirt, smoking his own cigarette. Allie parked and climbed out of her car and looked at him.

"Hey look Zoe," she said, "it's The Fonz."

Nick smiled and tossed his cigarette on the ground, stomping it out before approaching her.

"You got our stuff, right?" she asked.

"Yeah, it's in my trunk. Really small but really powerful explosives," Nick said.

"Thank you," Allie said, walking over to the trunk and lifting it open, asking "So, how're things?"

"They're alright. Just trying to get by day by day. You sound good. You don't smell like alcohol, which I have to admit, is oddly confusing to miss," Nick said, making Allie laugh.

"Yeah, well, that's what happens when you get sober I guess. You and Jenny doing okay?"

"Jenny? Why would we-"

"I heard her on the phone with you," Allie said, turning from the trunk to face him.

"Yeah, we were trying to get you a pass to see Domino," Nick said, "Believe me, Jenny isn't interested in me. Nor am I in here. I mean, she's cute, but. She's..."

Allie and Nick looked at one another, until Nick looked at the ground and scratched the back of his head.

"...she's not you," Nick said softly, making Allie's eyes tear up. She approached him and took his hands in hers, kissing them and pushing her face against his chest. He kissed the top of her head and could hear his voice crack when he spoke again, saying, "...it's been so hard without you. It's been calm, but...boring."

"I've missed you so much," Allie whispered, "All I wanted to hear for the last few months was that you still loved me."

"Of course I do," Nick whispered back, "I'm happy to hear you're getting help. If there's anyway I can help in that-"

Allie leaned up and kissed him, to which he didn't resist one bit. Watching as she unloaded the fireworks, Zoe couldn't help but smile. Seems like everything had come full circle. Like everything had worked out in the end after all. They'd hide their crime, Allie and Nick would get back together, and everyone would be successful at what they did career wise. Nothing could stop them now. By the time the show rolled around that night, and the girls were ready to perform, Zoe no longer felt nervous. She felt...excited. Even though she knew, in the back of her mind, that this trick was partially to hide a murder committed seemingly in her name, she was overjoyed to finally be doing a real big show with her hero, her partner, her best friend.

And as she watched the fake tomb be lowered into the base of the building, to be sealed away and never seen again, Zoe couldn't help but smile. All Allie had needed in the end was a friend, someone willing to go that extra mile to help her, and she'd gotten it and Zoe, in return, had gotten someone who finally had her best interests at heart. As the fireworks exploded above the stage, and Allie appeared out of the other tomb - the one the audience thought was the one she'd been lowered in - and cheers erupted, Zoe finally felt like she'd achieved her lifes goal.

All she'd ever wanted was to do magic by the side of Allie Meers.

Turns out it was worth it after all.

                                                                         ***

             30 DAYS LATER

"What, you're not coming tonight?" Allie asked on the phone.

"I can't," Molly said, "I have book club, sorry. Hopefully that doesn't throw your plans off."

"Naw, I'll still have Nick and Zoe and Effie, it's fine. Just wanted to see you," Allie said as she stirred her straw in her drink in the kitchenette of her new suite while Nick finished making a snack platter behind her on the counter; she finished with, "I guess I'll see you sometime this week for bowling."

"Absolutely!" Molly said.

Allie and Molly said their goodbyes and respectively hung up, leaving Allie to turn around and look at Nick, who smiled at her as he cut some cheese and placed them on crackers with slivers of fish.

"Awww, look at my little house husband," she said.

"Shut up," he muttered, chuckling as she walked to him and kissed his cheek; after the kiss broke he asked, "When's Zoe and Effie getting here?"

"Should be here anytime now," Allie said, checking her watch, "Probably making out in the parking lot."

"Nice," Nick said, making Allie laugh.

When Zoe and Effie finally did arrive - and subsequently admit that, yes, they were in fact making out in the parking lot - everyone gathered to give a toast to everyones varied success, and all were drinking non alcoholic drinks to support Allie's sobriety. Nick cooked them dinner, a ham and a duck, along with mashed potatoes and asparagus, and as the girls seated themselves, Allie couldn't help but feel at peace.

"It's been a long weird year," Allie mumbled as Zoe nodded.

"Indeed it has, but it paid off, we're in the new casino, we're a big draw, you're doing better numbers than you've done in ages, partially thanks to my excellence-" Zoe said, making Allie chuckle as she finished with, "-but all in all it was worth it. All that turmoil, tribulation, all that trouble...it was really hard but it was worth it in the end, and I think that's a pretty positive way to look at life right now."

"I'm doing so many shows a week it's unbelievable. I guess Tony really did figure out the best possible spot for a more upperclass casino," Effie said as Nick cut some duck off for her and scooted it onto her plate; she added, "and that girl he got to design the place, wow, she did an excellent job."

"Molly? Yeah, she's awesome," Allie said, "She called and apologized for not being able to be here."

"That's a shame," Nick said, "I wanted to talk to her about renovating my grandparents home."

"I'm sure she'd be interested in doing something less commercial for a change," Allie said.

Nick seated himself after serving everyone else, and together they all got ready to eat, but Zoe interrupted them and stood up, holding up a glass of sparkling apple cider. She looked around and cleared her throat.

"I just wanna say that I am so grateful to be here," she said, "Almost a year ago I was...I was nobody. I was terrified I wouldn't find a place where I would fit in, or make any friends, and then I was assigned to work with Allie, and while it was touch and go at first, uh, it has ultimately proven to be worthwhile. She's the best friend, and mentor, I ever could've asked for, and she allowed me to work at the casino where I was able to meet someone who really showed me I was worth loving."

She glanced down at Effie, who blushed and covered her face, making Allie and Nick laugh. Zoe continued.

"All I ever wanted to do was magic, I was obsessed with magic, and my parents hated me for it. But it's all Allie ever wanted to do too, and I think we understand that about one another, and I think that's why we work so well together is our commitment to such an underrated and often written off field of entertainment and artistry. Magic isn't just a bunch of card tricks or something, it's also a way to create the illusion of something out of nothing, and that's what it's done for my life. I had nothing, and now I have something. So thank you, Allie Meers, for letting me be your friend, and your partner."

Allie nodded, and hugged Zoe.

"Thank you for sticking by me," Allie whispered into her ear, "Nobody ever did."

"Don't you worry, I'm not going anywhere," Zoe whispered back, "Besides, we have it all now. What could possibly change things?"

Little did they know that, while they ate and celebrated, deep down in the base of the casino, under the concrete and the dirt and the metal, where The Forgotten Tomb was lying, a cell phone was beginning to ring. It rang and rang, because nobody could answer it, and when it finally stopped ringing, the man on the other end of the line was frustrated.

He sighed and hung up his office phone, turning around in his chair and looking out the large window as the door opened behind him and a woman entered.

"Mr Sykes?" she asked, "Sir? Were you able to get a hold of him?"

"No. I'm starting to get worried. We've lost contact before, usually when he goes on benders, but never for this long. Elizabeth, I want you to draft up a public response, a uh...a sort of Missing Persons report, if you will, and in a while, if things don't get better, I'll go public with my plea to get help to find him. He's a drug addict, but he's my son, and I love him. I need to know he's okay."

"Yes sir Mr. Sykes," his secretary said, as she started to exit the room, before stopping and adding, "Oh, and there's another phone call on the line for you."

"Thank you Liz," he said, waiting for her to leave the room before picking it up, "Hello? Hi honey. No I just tried again, but still no answer. It's ringing though, so that's hopeful. If it were going straight to voice mail, I'd be more worried. Don't fret, we'll find him, we always do. Besides, I have a lot of power to use if I want to put that much effort behind this. I am a senator for the state, after all."

"All we have to do," Allie said as she lined up her shot, her hands gripping the cool metal of the golf club, "is make sure we get it into the right hole, and all our problems will disappear."

She putted gently, sending the ball rolling uphill til it tilted, hugged the rail and then bounced off a piece of plastic lightly, sending it towards the hole, until it dropped inside. Allie stood back, one hand on her hip, admiring her accomplishment.

"Yeah, but..." Zoe said, almost whispering, "...she doesn't even know what kind of game she's playing."

"Good," Allie said, walking to the hole and picking up her ball, adding, "then there's no way she can lose."

                                                                           ***

Construction had begun, and it had been a few weeks, but the time for the new Card Shark opening was fast approaching. Sitting in bed and watching TV while eating ice cream, Allie couldn't help but feel like she was about to attempt to pull off the greatest magic trick of all time. Her mind was racing at all hours now, both terrified and ecstatic at the idea of somehow managing to get away with their plan. Her phone on the bedside table rang, and she answered.

"Hello?" she asked.

"It's me," Zoe said, "...what are you doing?"

"Eating ice cream and watching TV," Allie said, taking another bite.

"What're you watching?"

"A show about weight loss success stories," Allie said, "I figured this way the two activities cancel eachother out and I don't waste my day."

Zoe laughed and then got quiet, saying, "I...I think we have a problem. Molly's car is in the parking lot. I know because I just pulled in, and parked right next to her. She's probably in the casino somewhere, and last time we talked-"

"You two talk?"

"She calls me on occasion, not sure why, but last time we spoke she said that she's nervous about her abilities to pull off what Tony wants her to pull off. I'm thinking she might be here to pull out of the project," Zoe said, "If that's the case, you need to find her before she reaches him and resigns, or we're in a lot of trouble."

"I'm on it," Allie said, hanging up, putting her now empty bowl on the bedside table and throwing a t-shirt and some jeans on before heading out of the suite. She bit her lip and decided to head in the direction of Tony's office, knowing there was only one way to get there and that was her best shot at intercepting Molly if she was going to have any chance to do so.

Thankfully, by the time she reached the hallway his office was located on, just as she was passing by the elevator, the doors slid open and Molly stepped out, the two of them nearly bumping into one another and laughing a little.

"Hey!" Allie said, acting surprised to see her, "What're you doing here?"

"I'm...I'm here on business," Molly said, as she continued to walk, Allie by her side, as she went on saying, "I just don't think I'm right for the job. I've looked over my plans, and I just don't think he'll be satisfied and I don't think I trust myself to make something structurally sound in the area he wants me to and especially not for the cost, and I just-"

"Well, Tony isn't in right now," Allie said, lying out of her ass.

"He said he'd be in last night," Molly whispered.

"Yeah, well, he got called away suddenly," Allie said, "but, uh, he'll be back this evening and we can always talk to him then, right? Hey, how about until then, we go somewhere, get something to eat and, I don't know, play miniature golf to take our minds off things? Have a nice leisurely day out for a change? There's an awesome miniature golf course nearby you should really see."

"...I...I guess it couldn't hurt," Molly stuttered.

"Great, head back to the elevator and wait for me, I'm going to get my jacket," Allie said.

As Molly did what she was instructed, Allie headed swiftly back to the suite, grabbed a coat and called Zoe back.

"Everything okay?" Zoe asked.

"Yeah...I've got her, we need to convince her to stay on the project, so meet me at The Wagon Wheel," Allie said.

"That western themed miniature golf course?" Zoe asked.

"Yeah. We're gonna play some minigolf," Allie replied.

                                                                           ***

The Wagon Wheel was a local minigolf, located only 15 minutes away from Card Shark. It was a place Allie and Nick had gone to on numerous occasions, often while somewhat drunk, and one of the best family themed areas around, which was exactly the sort of atmosphere the girls needed today. It was moderately crowded, but it wasn't overwhelming, and the girls decided to have some lunch there first before heading out to the games. Sitting inside, eating pizza and cheese sticks, Zoe couldn't stop looking around.

"You know," she said, biting into a cheese stick and pushing the cheese hanging out her lips into her mouth, "I've never been here. I've driven by it a whole bunch, but I've never actually been here. I did go minigolfing a lot as a kid, but...never came here."

"I used to go minigolfing now and then too," Molly said, "...my first boyfriend and I went often, because it was one of the few places my parents would allow me to go without adult supervision, and it was public so nothing unexpected could happen. That being said, just because a place is public doesn't mean you can't find privacy within it. We made out inside a windmill a lot."

Zoe and Allie laughed loudly, making Molly feel more accepted.

"I don't think I realized, at the time," Molly continued, "that those would be the days I'd really remember. You always think you're going to remember the big days - graduation, weddings, birthdays, funerals - but no, the days you actually recall most vividly are the ones that seemed the most generic and mundane. Going to a movie with some friends, or renting movies with your dad for the weekend, or making out in a minigolf windmill. Those are the days you'll wish you had realized were so important later on in life."

A hush came over the table and Allie sighed.

"I know what you mean," she said softly, sipping her soda from her plastic cup, "I didn't go minigolfing a whole lot as a kid or whatever, but you're absolutely right. I have this very clear memory of doing things with my folks when I was a kid, especially my dad. We used to build things together in the garage, especially once I got into magic, and he helped me build props. I guess you just have to find the right people and the right moments will follow."

Zoe glanced at Allie when Molly started looking around at the kids playing arcade games indoor. Zoe knew exactly what Allie was doing. She was emotionally manipulating Molly into feeling accepted, as if they were the right people and this was the right moment. She knew it was necessary, but fuck if it didn't make her feel sleazy. She also knew Allie wasn't wholeheartedly manipulative, and she likely did in fact believe the things she was saying, but she was beginning to have trouble telling when she was being sincere and when she was being a fraud.

Zoe had never really thought about it before but, to be a good magician, one has to be a good liar, and that was what Allie had learned to do well. She'd learned to hide her drinking, her drug habits, her problems from the world, and still come across as somewhat professional. She was a liar, and an expert one at that. Suddenly Thea's warnings were starting to seem a little more reasonable...

"Well," Allie said, "How about we get to it?"

The girls got their balls, clubs and headed outside. The first hole was of a miniature saloon. You had to get the ball through the doors, and it would wind up in a lower area where you could shoot for a hole in one. Sometimes, if you hit it just right, it'd roll right into the hole in the lower area. Molly offered to go first, and as she set her ball down on the faux grass, she couldn't help but remember the last time she'd been on a minigolf course.

                                                                           ***

"I don't think I'm good enough," she whispered.

"Of course you are," James said, holding her hands, "you're absolutely good enough. What makes you think you aren't?"

"Because if I were, things wouldn't have turned out this way," Molly whispered, "...things would be different."

"You need to go to college, you need to build places, that's what you're good at, hell, it's what you're great at," James said, "besides, it'll give you a chance to get away from this place and the awful people who inhabit it."

Molly smiled a little as she wiped her eyes on her long sleeves of her sweater. She'd always appreciated James, and she was happy to be spending her last free days in her home state here with him, inside this windmill. James scooted beside her and put his arm around her, pulling her in to hold her.

"This was the same windmill," she whispered, "....this is where he did it."

"I know."

"I never wanna see this windmill again," she continued softly, "I hate it now. I hate windmills."

"Then go build something that's the opposite of clean and energy efficient, like a casino or something," James said, making her laugh.

Sure, her first boyfriend had abused her here, but her best friend had made her feel better, and that was something she was always grateful for. She swore then and there that she'd build something better, something that wouldn't be used to house such evil, and then she met Allie Meers.

                                                                           ***

"God damn crap sucking bucket of shit faces!" Zoe shouted, slamming her club onto the green as a family walked by, the parents holding their hands over their childrens ears and glaring at her. She waved politely, and mumbled, "...sorry."

Allie cracked up, "Jesus, I don't think I've ever heard you swear like that," she said.

"Well, when I know I can do something but I don't do it right, I get very annoyed," Zoe said, "I'm all about perfection, it's part of what drove me into magic, because magic is all about do it right or you everyone will know you did it wrong."

"Well put, and not incorrect," Allie said, setting her ball up for a shot.

It was the 5th hole now, and unsurprisingly, given her statements about playing often as a teenager, Molly was in the lead. Zoe sat down on the bench beside the hole, looking at Molly tallying up the score and chewing nervously on her lip.

"Everything okay?" Zoe asked.

"Yeah, I just...maybe I should quit my job and play professional minigolf," Molly said, "is that even a thing? Can you do that? Is that even a career option?"

"Why would you quit?" Zoe asked.

"I just don't feel like I can do what Tony wants properly, within the time limit and safely under regulation standards. I feel like I'd have to cut a lot of corners, and it might come back to haunt me if I do. I don't know. I want to do the job, but I'm so nervous about being the wrong person for it. Then again, I always get this way before a big job, so maybe it's just my general building nerves coming out to play."

Molly and Zoe looked up to see Allie cursing under her breath, taking another shot and missing again.

"I think you should stick with it. Prove yourself wrong," Zoe said, "because if you give in, all you'll really be doing is allowing someone else who likely doesn't care as much as you to do something you probably could've done excellently yourself, and then you might scare yourself off doing other projects as well."

Molly smiled and nodded.

"...yeah, yeah I guess you're right," she said, "thanks."

Zoe had also manipulated Molly, making her no better than Allie, but she'd done it by building Molly up instead of outright scaring her emotionally, and she felt that that at least made somewhat of a difference between herself and Allie. As they watched Allie continually fuck up her last shot, Zoe couldn't help but feel like what they were doing was immoral, but then again, they'd already committed murder.

How much more trouble could lying actually get them into?

                                                                              ***

By the 12th, and final, hole, Molly was winning with no doubt about that. Zoe was in second place, and Allie was far behind in what would generally be considered third, if she were actually still viable to be placed. But she didn't care. All that really mattered to her was proving to Molly that she had friends, and that they cared about her well being, and getting her to not back out of the job she'd accepted. As she watched Molly finish the hole and excuse herself to use the restroom, Allie stepped up to take her shot at it.

"All we have to do," Allie said as she lined up her shot, her hands gripping the cool metal of the golf club, "is make sure we get it into the right hole, and all our problems will disappear."

She putted gently, sending the ball rolling uphill til it tilted, hugged the rail and then bounced off a piece of plastic lightly, sending it towards the hole, until it dropped inside. Allie stood back, one hand on her hip, admiring her accomplishment.

"Yeah, but..." Zoe said, almost whispering, "...she doesn't even know what kind of game she's playing."

"Good," Allie said, walking to the hole and picking up her ball, adding, "then there's no way she can lose."

"This just feels so slimy and underhanded," Zoe muttered, making Allie turn around and look at her.

"I know," Allie said, "I don't...I don't like it either. Molly's actually really cool and seems like a genuinely good person, but if she backs out, we won't have the insider information into the building that we require, and we need that kind of access. I've told you before, and I'll say it again right now, I won't let her be held accountable for anything."

"I know you say that but you can't possible keep that promise," Zoe whispered, "what if something comes up that makes you have to break it?"

"What could possibly do that?" Allie asked, "Zoe, just trust me, okay? I'll keep everyone shielded from blame, and I'll take the fall myself if I have to."

Zoe wanted to believe her, and on some level she did, but she couldn't shake this feeling that things would somehow not go right. Guess only time would tell. After the girls finished, they piled back into Allie's car and headed back to the casino. While driving, Molly - sitting in the backseat - was thinking back to her time in the windmill, and realized that she wanted to create places that brought joy instead of pain. She wanted to make places that would be used to bring fun instead of sadness. Zoe was right, she realized, she had to take this job head on and make the best of it. Especially if, as Zoe had put it, she allowed it to fall into the hands of someone who didn't care as much, and something terrible happened, she'd never forgive herself.

Lying in bed that night, her sleep mask on and the white noise machine making the sounds of a calm forest beside her, Molly couldn't help but feel grateful that she had friends like Allie and Zoe, who were looking out for her best interests, completely unaware they were looking out more for their own interests than hers. Molly had rarely had female friends, and she was very happy to say she now did, even if she wasn't knowledgeable about their reasons.

Molly rolled onto her side and thought about her time golfing that night, and smiled. She'd had the best score, and that bolstered her confidence. Yeah, Zoe was right, she thought, she really could make this new casino work. After all, she thought, why would her friends lie to her?

                                                                               ***

Allie was bringing Zoe a bowl of ice cream in the living room, before climbing over the couch and seating herself. Zoe thanked her for the ice cream and started to dig in while Allie stuck her own spoon in her mouth and shuffled her jacket off her back before leaning back, sighing and starting in on her own bowl.

"I feel bad," Zoe mumbled, looking at her bowl, "I feel like such an awful person. We just lied, right to her face, and have gotten her involved in something super awful and immoral."

"Zoe, look, I don't feel great about it either, but we didn't have any other options," Allie said, "...but I promise, as I've always said, nothing will happen to either you or her. Besides, who's going to even care if someone does find him? Sunny was a drug dealer, it's not like anyone but his own clients are going to come looking for him, and why would they risk their own lives by going to the cops?"

"You say that as if he didn't have family. Drug addicts, drug dealers, they're still people, Allie, and they have people who care about them somewhere," Zoe said.

"I mean, sure, okay that's fair, maybe I'm being a little mean about it, but still," Allie said, turning her attention to the TV, adding, "I was a drug addict, and I'm trying to get my shit together, and have people who care about me, so I suppose it's unfair to say that sort of thing about others who are like me."

"...so when do we start practicing?," Zoe said.

"Who knew hiding a body would be so difficult?" Zoe asked, lying upside down on Allie's couch in the penthouse. Allie was pacing, chewing on her hair, nodding at anything Zoe said.

"The thing is," Allie said, turning on her heel and pointing at Zoe, "it's not that it's hard, it's about doing it so it's undetectable. We have to get him into the other sarcophagus but somehow convince nobody else to look inside it once we do. We have to get someone to move it for us, someone we trust, someone we know won't open it even by accident."

"What about Molly?" Zoe asked.

"I don't want to drag her into this any further, she's a good person," Allie said.

"I'm a good person, and you dragged me into this," Zoe said, turning right side up on the couch, looking at Allie.

"He dragged you into this, not me, okay? I need that distinction to be very recognized," Allie said, "I could ask Nick. I trust Nick, and he wouldn't question me if I gave him explicit directions."

Zoe sighed and checked her watch, running her free hand through her frizzy hair. Allie stopped in her place and lowered her brow.

"I'm sorry, am I taking up your time?" Allie asked.

"No, no, I'm just curious what time it is. I'm getting kind of hungry, maybe we could get some lunch up here," Zoe said.

"That," Allie said, pointing at her, "is not a bad idea, actually. I could certainly order us up some room service. I know I always think more clearly after I eat."

"I actually have problems with my blood sugar, and if I don't eat regularly I could have a seizure," Zoe said.

"I didn't know that," Allie said, landline in one hand, her other hand firmly on her hip.

"Not a lot of people do, it's not exactly something I prefer to parade around," Zoe remarked, lying back down on the couch, "...how about we just...seal it? We just straight up seal the thing? I mean, it's a prop, right? People expect it to be empty or hollow or whatever, so why not just seal the damn thing up? They do that to actual sarcophaguses."

"Sarcophagi," Allie said.

"What?"

"The word is sarcophagi," Allie said, "The plural, that's what you meant."

"Thanks teach," Zoe said, making Allie smirk.

"Yeah, hello?" Allie asked into the phone, "This is Allie Meers. Can I get some room service up here? Just send up the entire lunch menu. Thank you very much."

Allie hung up and sighed, leaning against the wall and running her hands down her face, groaning loudly. Zoe shut her eyes and put her notebook over her face, letting her arms hang down behind her head, off the couch. The girls were tired. They'd been doing this for 3 weeks in a row, and they desperately needed a break. The new casino wouldn't be opening for a while still, so they had plenty of time to figure it out, but until then, they couldn't let themselves get stressed out over it all.

"How about after we eat, we just...go downstairs and gamble?" Allie asked.

"Now that's a plan I like," Zoe said.

                                                                              ***

Sitting together at adjoining slots downstairs after eating, each one pumping quarters into their machines, the girls felt a bit of relief and tension lift from them. Zoe put her soda to her lips and sipped, then wiped her arm on her sleeve and popped another quarter into the slot.

"You know," Zoe said, "if you'd asked me when I was hired to work with you what I'd be doing in a few months, it certainly wouldn't be any of this, I'll tell you that much right now."

"I'm just happy you stayed," Allie said, "...a lot of people don't. I was beginning to think I was the problem. I mean, I know I'm part of the problem, but I don't think I'm the whole problem."

"I don't like being left either, or leaving. It's bad enough not being able to really talk to my parents anymore, so it's nice to know I have my sister, and you," Zoe said, as Allie eyed her; she'd mentioned her parents briefly in passing before, and this made Allie all the more curious.

"So, if you don't mind me asking, what exactly happened between you and your folks?" Allie asked.

"God, where do I even start?" Zoe asked, "I guess I should say that after seeing you perform that night, I became even more invested in doing magic than I had been prior, and so I started performing at my family events. One time, when I was 14, I did my cousin's birthday, and..."

A pause. Zoe sighed deeply, shut her eyes and continued, a bit more sullenly now than before.

"...and I needed a volunteer so I asked a younger cousin who was really into what I was doing to help, and I...I thought I'd learned the trick right. I thought that I'd, like, prepared enough and stuff, but I had never tried it with another person, and that was my mistake. It was just supposed to be a little fireball."

"oh fuck," Allie whispered, putting her hand over her mouth, knowing what was coming.

"And before I knew it," Zoe continued, "it was out of control, and their clothes and hair were on fire and...they were pretty okay in the end, thankfully, with only minor burns, but...my parents never wanted me to do magic again. For a short time even I didn't want to. But then I remembered what'd happened to you, and that only made me feel like I could understand you even more because we'd both now been involved in something awful during a show."

"Zoe, I am so sorry, that is just-"

"They won't really talk to me now, and my sister took me in because they won't let me come home," Zoe said, a few tears rolling down her cheeks, "but, I mean, that's okay I guess. I like my sister anyway. But, I know what it's like, to be a criminal in one way or another in someone else's eyes. I feel like I'm just bad luck, and bad things keep happening to the people around me because of me."

"You are NOT bad luck, Zoe," Allie said, "What happened then wasn't your fault and what happened with him wasn't either."

"You said it yourself. You did it FOR me," Zoe said.

"I mean, sure, yes, but he was a problem in my life long before you showed up," Allie said, "You just happened to be worth doing something about him. I...I never managed to protect myself from the shit he got me hooked on, the shit he supplied me with regularly, and I never cared enough about myself to try anyway. But I wasn't about to let him take away from my best friend."

Zoe smiled and looked at Allie, her hand on Zoe's shoulder lovingly.

"Thanks Allie," she whispered.

"We're partners, okay? We have to look out for one another, no matter the cost," Allie said.

No matter the cost. Even if the cost was too high to justify, as they'd find out. The girls finished their drinks, picked up their jars of coins and headed back to the bar, seating themselves on stools while they waited for a plate of nachos to split and more sodas. Allie was making small talk with the woman beside her, when she noticed Zoe was staring at the TV bolted in the upper corner of the bar. Allie looked at her, then at the TV, then back at Zoe.

"Hey, what is it?" she asked.

"Look at this," Zoe said.

Allie asked for the remote, and when she was handed it, she turned the volume up so they could hear. There was a woman in a suit standing outside an apartment building somewhere, with police cars and an ambulance parked behind her, just barely in frame. They came in mid sentence.

"...they're saying now that there's 23 bodies hidden somewhere in the vicinity of this apartment complex," the reporter said, addressing the camera directly as she pointed to the building behind her, "The owner of the building, one Miss Claire Driscoll, is the culprit behind the slayings, who is now in police custody. She is one of the most successful female serial killers we've seen to date. From early reports, it seems that Driscroll managed to hide the bodies inside of walls, after sealing them in plastic collapsible coffins she got from a friend with a plastic extruding factory. More details will be released as they come to light. I'm Kim Dwyers, for-"

Allie pushed the mute button as she and Zoe slowly looked at one another, and smirked.

                                                                             ***

Molly was sitting in her kitchen eating a sandwich and doing some preliminary sketches of the new casino when she heard her doorbell ring. She sighed, stood up, wiped her hands on her outfit and headed to the door to answer it. Standing there were Allie and Zoe.

"Oh," Molly said, smiling a little, "hi guys. What're you doing here?"

"So, we need some supplies for our upcoming performance at the new place," Allie said, "Can we come in?"

"Yeah, of course, I'm having lunch so just follow me into the kitchen," Molly said, shutting the door behind them and beginning to return to the kitchen as she asked, "what kind of supplies?"

"Well, we figure you're an architect, so you must know how things are built," Allie said, "We wanna fill one of our props up with trinkets from the casino and our lives, kind of like a time capsule, and then seal it and lower it into the base of the casino so it won't be dug back up, you know?"

"That's a neat idea," Molly said, sitting back down, picking up her sandwich and taking a bite.

"Yeah," Allie said, seating herself across from Molly now, continuing, "so we figured you'd know how to do that sort of thing. You have all kinds of sealants, right? You know, you put bricks together, lay a foundation, shit like that, so what do you propose we use?" Allie asked.

The way she'd explained it to Zoe was simple: if they get Molly to help them without her realizing she's helping them, she cannot be held accountable. After seeing the news report, Zoe's plan of somehow sealing the coffin up made perfect sense, and now all they needed was a professional to, with no awareness of the fact that a crime was being covered up, help them in their hour of need. Molly was that person.

But Zoe didn't feel exactly great about it. Molly was a perfectly nice, normal lady who just wanted to build places for a living. She felt guilty for dragging her into their mess, and especially so against her judgement and knowledge. She felt like, if she was going to be involved, she should have the right to know, but she also knew Allie was right in the sense that if she knew, she'd either - best case scenario - decline to help or - worst case scenario - potentially report them for what they'd done.

Now, standing in the kitchen, Zoe once again felt like she did when she'd accidentally set her cousin ablaze. Here she was, right back where she started, using someone without them knowing the consequences of their actions, or really, the consequences of working with her.

"Well," Molly said, "what you're really going to want is..."

And just like that, Molly was in, even if she didn't know it.

After leaving Molly's, the women drove for a bit, went through a drive-thru and then parked somewhere high up on a scenic spot that overlooked the entire Vegas strip. Sitting in the car, Zoe couldn't help but feel simultaneously sick and enraptured. What had her life become? Just a few short months ago she was nothing more than a helper, an assistant, and now she was a full fledged partner involved in covering up a murder, a murder that was done in her name nonetheless. Life sure was weird. Sitting there, drinking their slushies together, Zoe felt like she was lucky at least to have a friend who really had her back.

"You promise this is going to go fine and nobody will ever find out?" Zoe asked.

"I can promise anything you want," Allie replied, making Zoe smirk, as she continued, "but yes, I think it's safe to say that, at the moment, we're out of the woods. Once the sarcophagus is fully buried, the woods will also be razed behind us and something else, likely a new high rise high rent low quality build apartment complex, will be built in its stead."

"...and what if we're found out? What do we do then?" Zoe asked.

"Listen, you have no claim to what happened. You weren't even in the room when it went down, okay? You can call yourself fully innocent, and I would take all the blame. Besides, I'm the one with a reputation, and a questionable one at that these days, so it'd be totally believable that I'd committed this crime. It's not like my drug problem was exactly a well kept secret. Nobody would be particularly shocked, I think," Allie said, "Zoe, no matter what happens, you will not go down for this. I promise you that much above all else."

This made Zoe feel a bit better. She was almost as innocent as Molly, in a sense, and Allie was helping her swallow that horse sized lie, even if she nearly choked on it.

"You know," Zoe said, sipping her slushy, "Vegas is really beautiful from far away."

"Yeah, it is," Allie said, leaning her chair back and looking through the sunroof, as Zoe followed her lead; she went on, "when I first started out, I used to come up here a lot, and then after the accident I used to come up here with Nick all the time, and now, here we are. It's not like it's a very secret spot, but...I feel like I can appreciate it more than others. People like to say these big cities are the blame for the horrible shit that happens within them. New York, LA, Vegas, all cities are excess and greed, but...the city is just that, a city. It isn't sentient. The problem is the people. We often forget that."

"Yeah," Zoe said, "...yeah, I guess you're right."

Allie clinked her plastic slushy cup against Zoe's and smiled.

"Here's to pulling off a disappearing act," Allie said.

All Zoe had ever wanted to do was magic. All she'd ever wanted to do was magic with her hero, Allie Meers.

"Look where dreaming gets you", she thought.

"What happened to Goldielocks?" Zoe asked, tapping gently on the glass of the fishbowl as her fish floated belly up near the top. Thea sighed and pulled her little sister away from the bowl as she pulled up her shirt sleeve and reached in to grab the fish.

"He's dead, sweetie," she said.

"What's that mean?" Zoe asked.

"It means he isn't alive anymore, and he's gone to Fishy Heaven," Thea replied, as she walked Goldielocks over to the sink and put him in an old piece of tupperware. Zoe watched intently as her sister lovingly carried the tupperware out to the backyard and grabbed a spade, kneeling down and digging a small hole in the dirt. Zoe leaned down beside her as she continued, saying, "that's what happens when things die, they no longer exist among us and they go away."

"Am I going to die?" Zoe asked.

"Not for a very very very long time," Thea said, rubbing Zoe's back and handing her the tupperware, "You wanna put Goldielocks in his grave?"

Zoe nodded and carefully placed the tupperware into the hole Thea had dug. As she watched Thea cover it back up with dirt, Zoe wanted to cry, but she didn't understand what it was exactly she was crying about. She'd never been this close to death before, she didn't really understand what she was dealing with, and yet it made her immeasurably sad inside. Thea kissed her sisters head and patted her back.

"I'm sure Goldielocks appreciated all the love you gave him, that we both gave him, and I'm sure he's okay wherever he is now," Thea said, "Come on, let's finish making you lunch for school."

Zoe never expected to be that near death again, but she was, repeatedly. First she had to witness her hero get nearly mauled to death by her own tiger, and now here she was, sitting on the couch in said heroes suite, staring at the drug dealer she'd just killed. Zoe couldn't believe this, she once again felt sick. Allie paced back and forth, finally putting an old unwanted sheet over Sunny's body to cover him up, and then stopped and looked at Zoe.

"You okay?" Allie asked, "He was going to try and get you interested in drugs, I...I couldn't let him do to you what he did to me."

"Did it ever occur to you that maybe you were just more weak willed than I am and I would've been able to say no?" Zoe asked.

"...I...I wouldn't trust him to take that no seriously," Allie said, "he was pushy, he was arrogant. He wasn't a total outright jerk, but...but he could make a person wanna do something, and I was...I was just trying to protect you, Zoe. Now there's blood all over my floor and I don't know how to clean this sort of thing up."

Allie looked at Zoe, who at that moment keeled over and vomited on the floor in front of her.

"...or that," Allie said.

"Sorry," Zoe said, wiping her mouth on her sleeve.

                                                                            ***

While Allie spent the day in her suite trying to come up with a way to get rid of Sunny's body, she suggested Zoe go down to the bar and relax, play some slots or get some food. She even gave Zoe her Casino Card, so she could charge it all to her. So Zoe put on her jacket and headed down to the main casino floor. As she stood at the bar, waiting for her soda, she felt a hand clasp her shoulder.

"Hey there!" Effie said, coming around her side and seating herself, "You okay? You don't look too good."

"Stayed up too late, threw up a few minutes ago, just a sick sort of day I guess," Zoe said, making Effie smile.

"I'm sorry," Effie replied, rubbing Zoe's arm, "Well, if you need anything, just let me know."

"Allie's already given me her card for the casino so I can get whatever I want or need," Zoe said, "I'll probably have something to eat and then just go back to bed."

"That's pretty nice of her," Effie said as she pulled her metal cigarette case from inside her jacket and slid one out, lighting it and popping it in her mouth, "but I'm sure once the new casino gets going, you'll get your own card, if you're gonna be a major part of her act. Things seem to have been going fairly well for you guys lately, show wise, so I'm sure Tony is planning to swap y'all over to the second location."

"...second...second location?" Zoe asked as her drink was finally placed in front of her; she adjusted the straw and took a few sips as Effie nodded and explained.

"Yeah, Tony told me about a week ago that he's planning on opening a new casino," she said, "A second Card Shark, over in the classier area of the Vegas strip."

"There's a classier area of Vegas?" Zoe asked, making Effie laugh out loud.

"That was my reaction!" she said loudly, "Anyway, since you guys are doing so well, I'm sure that you'll be brought along to the nicer one. I know I've already secured my spot, so you guys should be a shoe in. He just is having an architect make up some plans for him first, because he wasn't a huge fan of the way this one was designed."

Zoe's brain was running a mile a minute.

"Who is this new architect?" she asked, and Effie shrugged.

"Don't know their name, just know it's the same person who did Ceaser's Ghost," Effie replied.

And like a bullet, Zoe was gone.

                                                                              ***

Zoe and Allie were seated in Allie's car, across the street from a very small but nice looking home in a quiet and clean neighborhood just outside the strip. Allie sipped her coffee and looked at Zoe, who was elbow deep into a bag of chips, shoveling them into her mouth with a kind of reckless abandon.

"How do you just...become friends with someone?" Allie asked, "Isn't it going to be weird, that we just showed up and wanted to know her?"

"You became friends with me," Zoe said through a mouthful of chips.

"Only because friendship was thrusted upon me," Allie replied, chuckling, "but yes, I suppose I did, in the end. We can't just go and dump his body at the site. They're going to do a lot of digging up and reconfiguring of the area before they even begin to build, so we have to hold onto him for a while, and even once they start building, anything we place in there will seem out of place."

"...maybe we should hide him in The Forgotten Tomb," Zoe said, making Allie's eyebrows arch; Zoe sighed and rolled her eyes, continuing, "You don't even remember your own tricks, do you? The Forgotten Tomb? The big gaudy sarcophagus that you used to do disappearing acts in? Remember? You'd go inside, it'd be buried, and then you'd come out in a second one that wasn't buried?"

"Oooh, yeah. Geez, that thing's been in storage forever," Allie said, sipping her coffee, "but we'd need to actually bury it for good."

"Exactly. And nobody would ever question it because, oh, gee, it's just a prop," Zoe said, "It wouldn't be anything out of the ordinary for it to be underground."

"...wow, you're a criminal," Allie said.

"Yeah why do you think my parents don't talk to me."

This got Allie's attention, but it would have to wait. The front door opened and a meek, awkward young woman stepped outside to water her flowers. Allie and Zoe looked at one another, nodded, and got out of the car. As they headed across the street and up the driveway, Zoe whispered.

"What are you gonna say to her?"

"I have no idea," Allie replied, "Just let me do the talking. Hey! Hi there!"

The woman looked up, somewhat frightened, but relaxed a bit when she saw it was just two other women approaching her.

"Hi," she said in a very quiet voice, "Uh...I don't...I don't wanna buy anything and I'm happy with my religion."

"Hah, no, no we're not, uh...we're from the Card Shark," Allie said, "I'm its resident magician, and this is my partner in show business. I'm Allie, she's Zoe. We just...we heard about the new casino being built soon and we had seen the work you'd done on Ceaser's Ghost and we, well, we were big fans of what you did so we wanted to meet you before you started on this one."

"Oh," the woman said, standing up now, a small smile forming on her face, "Well, th...thank you. Would you like to come inside?"

As she turned and headed up the porch stairs and indoors, Zoe looked at Allie in amazement.

"Wow you're a good liar," she said quietly.

"I'm a magician, my entire career is based on lies," Allie remarked as they followed the architect inside.

The inside of the architects home was super minimal, and yet very chic. She had hanging plants, unique pieces of art on the walls and very nice furniture. Allie gazed around in wonder at how this lady was able to live so well just from designing buildings. She leaned closer to Zoe and lowered her voice as they headed into the kitchen.

"I think I'm in the wrong career field," she whispered, making Zoe laugh a little.

"Please, have a seat," the architect said, "My name is Molly. It's nice to meet you guys. Would you like some coffee?"

"I had some on the way over, but I'm always interested in more," Allie said.

"I'll have some, yes, thank you," Zoe remarked.

Molly poured the women their drinks, and then put their mugs in front of them before seating herself down at the table with them. There was a plate of sugar cookies on the table and Zoe looked at them for a moment, before Molly told them to help themselves, which they did, happily.

"So," Allie said between chewing, "When's construction supposed to start on this new casino?"

"Well I have to go out there first and ensure the land is actually viable to be built upon, but I'm sure it will be. After that then I draw up some plans and show them to Tony, and then we get the show on the road," Molly said, her voice very soft and velvety, as she added, "So...maybe...three weeks before we begin actual construction? Should be finished in about 4 months. The way I design things is to maximize space without taking too long in production."

"Wow, that's really cool," Zoe said, "Seems like most things take forever to be built."

"That's why people come to me," Molly said, picking up a cookie for herself, "It's my specialty."

"So you think Tony's going to be having some sort of special opening ceremony or something?" Allie asked, and Molly shrugged.

"You know him better than I do," she said, "though, in my experience, yes. Most club owners want their places to open with flourish, so it's highly likely he'll host some kind of enormous opening party or event."

Allie and Zoe exchanged a look, and they knew then and there they would be alright.

                                                                              ***

"All we have to do is do the same trick," Allie said, "but instead, we put him in the second sarcophagus and me in the one we're making people think we're burying, then we swap them somehow, so he and his gets buried forever while the one I'm in gets brought back up."

"We could use smoke to obscure everyone's vision while we switch them," Zoe said, and Allie shook her head.

"Smoke is too obvious, it's long since been recognized as a misdirect," Allie replied.

"Dude, we're not trying to wow people, we're trying to cover up a murder," Zoe said, making Allie chuckle.

"Okay, fair enough," she said, "but...I don't know. Maybe I should just pay my dues. He was a drug dealer, maybe I won't get too harsh a sentence, especially with my fame, and-"

"I'm not letting you go to prison," Zoe said through her clenched teeth, "you're my only friend and I'm not letting you go away because you were trying to protect me. The only other person who's tried to protect is has been my sister, and I won't let anything happen to you just like I won't let anything happen to her, okay?"

"O...okay," Allie whispered, rubbing Zoe's back, "It's okay, we'll make this work somehow, I'm sorry."

Allie didn't speak for the rest of the drive home.

                                                                             ***

Standing in the doorway, watching Zoe unpack and fix up her bedroom, Thea couldn't help but feel weird. Here she'd thrown herself at the mercy of their folks, and taken Zoe into her own home, and yet she felt like perhaps their parents were oddly right in some way. Like Zoe hadn't tried hard enough. Like Zoe had made one too many mistakes. But...but she couldn't just let them cut her loose. She was her baby sister, and she had to be there for her.

"You think you'll do well here?" Thea asked as Zoe sat on the bed and plugged her landline in on the bedside table.

"Yep. I'm gonna get a job and I'm gonna get my own place and I'll never have to talk to mom and dad again," Zoe said giddily.

"You know, if things get better, if you get better, then you won't have to cut them out of your life entirely. Though, I completely understand wanting to, believe me. They're nothing if not impossible to deal with. I think some people just weren't meant to be parents."

"Thank you for letting me live with you," Zoe said as Thea walked inside and sat on the bed; she fiddled with the cord of the phone and smiled weakly, adding, "you've always been there for me. You've always been the one to look out for me, and I'm so grateful you're my sister."

Thea smiled and hugged Zoe tightly.

"I'm grateful to get to be your sister," she replied softly.

A few months later, after a handful of failed attempts at odd jobs around the city and on the verge of total emotional collapse, Zoe wound up impressing Tony the same way Allie had so many years before, and it was then that Tony's plan was hatched to get Allie to clean her mess up. He'd give her a partner. He'd give her something to worry about beside herself, and that would keep her out of trouble.

Oh how fucking wrong he'd be.

                                                                            ***

Allie couldn't sleep that night.

She tossed and turned, she groaned and took sleep aide after sleep aide but nothing seemed to work. She just couldn't handle it. All she could see when she shut her eyes was that moment of Sunny breaking his neck over and over and over again, forever played on repeat on the inside of her eyelids. Finally she gave up and she picked up the phone, dialing.

"Hello?" Nick answered, chewing.

"You eating?"

"Yeah, I took in some Italian food from the catering place," Nick said, "What's going on?"

"...do you think I'm a bad person?" Allie asked, and Nick scoffed.

"Are you kidding me? You're the best person. That's why it hurt so much to see you do what you did to yourself," Nick said, "Come on Al, you're great, okay? You're the fucking Astounding Allie! No, of course I don't think you're a bad person. I think you have problems, but who doesn't, and at least yours are understandable considering what happened to you. You're not just self destructing for no reason. Not that that's an excuse, but it's at least an explanation."

"Will you come over?"

"Al, I don't-"

"No, not...not for anything weird, I just...I can't sleep, and I don't feel safe, and I don't wanna be alone," Allie said, "Please, Nick? We'll just watch TV and stuff. I just can't be alone tonight."

A pause, and Nick sighed.

"Alright, I'll be there shortly."

Meanwhile, Zoe was sitting downstairs at a slot machine, playing endlessly on a loop. She was barely even registering what she was doing anymore when she heard someone stop and stand beside her. Zoe looked and saw Effie standing there, smiling at her.

"Having fun?" she asked.

"Not really," Zoe said.

"...you ok?" Effie asked, "You seemed distant earlier, and you, well, you don't seem any better now and I'm just worried about you."

"What are you even doing down here so late?" Zoe asked, checking her watch.

"I had a late show, I just finished up," Effie said, jerking her thumb over her shoulder towards the theatre, before adding, "...you want to come to my place? You don't have to stay here and gamble the night away."

"...okay. I don't think I could go home tonight anyway," Zoe said, as she got up, gathered her things and followed Effie to her car outside.

                                                                                ***

"Wow," Zoe said upon entering the apartment loft, "This is swanky."

"Yeah, and I don't pay too much either," Effie said, "frankly I'm lucky to be in the position I'm in because if I wasn't a comedian I don't know what the fuck I'd be doing with my life, so I count my blessings every goddamn day, believe me."

Zoe stood at the bar separating the kitchenette from the living room and watched Effie get something to eat out of the fridge. She unwrapped a large foil container full of spare ribs before plopping them onto a plate and tossing them into the stove to reheat. She then turned and looked at Zoe, smiling.

"Hey, I eat a lot of leftovers," Effie said, "Work so late I don't really have time to cook, so."

"I can cook," Zoe blurted out, "I mean, like...if you wanted someone to cook, or something."

"Are you offering to make me dinner?" Effie asked, laughing.

"I don't know, this is new to me," Zoe said.

"What's new to you, exactly?"

"...everything. This life. Being in show business. Hanging out with celebrities. These...feelings," Zoe said, as Effie leaned on the counter and posted up, listening.

"Tell me about these feelings," she said quietly.

"I tried to ignore them," Zoe said, "but they're always there, just under the surface. You remind me of a girl I went to school with, and I think that's why it's easier to talk to you, cause, like, I'm already kind of familiar with you in a sense? Even though, you know, you're not the same people, or whatever. But...mom and dad were so...weird, so restrictive. They only took me to that show for my birthday because I begged them to, and even then I had to make a bunch of promises in order for them to agree."

"What kind of promises?" Effie asked.

"Do better in school, take better care of myself...stop talking to other girls," Zoe said, feeling embarrassed.

"I'm sorry," Effie said, "For what it's worth, my dad is an asshole about me, so I kind of know what it's like, but there's nothing to be ashamed of. Having spent time with you, you seem to be a really genuinely nice person who cares about your friends and your career and...and there's certainly no shame in being who you are."

Effie came around the bar and stood next to Zoe, who turned to face her.

"...I did something horrible," Zoe whispered, as Effie rubbed her fingers against Zoe's cheek.

"Then how about doing something better to counteract it?" she asked, as Zoe nodded.

Effie put one hand on Zoe's hip and pulled her closer, pushing her lips against hers and kissing her. Zoe had waited all her life to kiss another girl, and now that it was happening, she couldn't be happier. What a good end to a shitty day. After the kiss broke, Zoe looked at the couch.

"You're not gonna make me sleep out here, are you?" she asked.

"Not if you don't want to," Effie said, smirking.

"I'd like it if we could just...lay down, and just...I really wanna be held," Zoe said.

"I can do that for you," Effie whispered, pushing Zoe's bangs out of her eyes and leading her down the hallway towards the bedroom.

"What about your ribs?" Zoe asked.

"They'll be alright," Effie said, "you're more touch starved than hungry right now anyway it seems."

"Oh, that was cute," Zoe said, giggling.

"I make jokes for a living, this is what I do," Effie replied, shutting the bedroom door behind her.

                                                                             ***

"Do you ever regret being with me?" Allie asked, her head leaning on Nick's shoulder as she was swaddled up in a blanket on the couch, the both of them watching some awful cooking show on TV.

"Not really," Nick said.

"...I did something horrible," Allie whispered and Nick stroked her hair.

"It's fine," he said back softly, "We all do something horrible."

"Allie?" a voice asked, and then it repeated, "Allie? Yoo-hoo?"

Allie finally snapped out of it and looked up, remembering she was in AA. She sighed, scratched the back of her head and nodded.

"Sorry," she mumbled, "Uh, I've found it really hard to concentrate lately."

"That's okay," the man running the group, Michael, said with a smile, "Anything you'd like to share with us?"

"Uh...just that, it's been a few weeks now since I've stopped drinking, or taking anything, and I've been sleeping like shit and I haven't had much of an appetite, and I keep wondering if maybe my body was so used to what I was doing to it than it won't know how to survive without that input. Certainly I know that I theoretically am doing better, but...um...mentally, I just feel like I'm not there at all anymore, if that makes sense? My whole identity became so entangled with the substance abuses that I almost don't remember how to be the person I was without them."

Michael nodded, jotted something down and then looked back at her, indicating she could continue. Allie took a deep breath and looked around the room, at the others watching her, as she went on.

"I'm mostly doing this for a friend," she said, "...my only real friend, I guess, because I need to be sober in order to help her. Because she's the only one who really proves that she believes in me. I'm sick of letting down the people who say they believe in me."

"What do you do when you can't sleep?" a young woman sitting to the right asked, and Allie exhaled.

"Uh...watch TV or read or just try and pass the time any way that I can, really," Allie replied, "You know, it's weird, you don't realize how much it not only becomes a necessity but a hobby, or vice versa, until you've stopped. Only then do you kind of look back and recognize just how much time was spent on your substance abuse. Which makes sense, if it's all that kept you going, but then if it's all that kept you going...what do you do with yourself when it's gone? I guess that's, like, where I'm struggling the most."

Allie slumped back in her seat and let someone else speak, as she dug her nails into the knees of her jeans and chewed her bottom lip. A few weeks now without a sip of alcohol or any pills....god, it felt like a lifetime ago, and even though she knew it was better for her, she didn't know what to do with all her spare time other than focus on her magic, so that's what she decided to do.

                                                                              ***

"Well, I'm proud of you," Effie said, holding up a glass at the bar and clinking it against Allie's.

"Thank you," Allie said, before taking a sip of her soda, "yeah, it's been....an adjustment, that's for sure."

"But a welcome one, I would assume?"

"I guess, sure," Allie said, shrugging and glancing around, "I don't know, man, it's weird. Everything is weird. When you're sober you have to, like, actually see the world around you, and wonder how your life got to be this way. When you're fucked up all the time, it doesn't matter. The ordinary now has become the abnormal."

"Well," Effie said, lighting a cigar, "With any luck, your life could benefit from having less actual abnormality. You owned a tiger, for fucks sake, dude. I think you can manage being kinda boring for once."

Allie genuinely laughed at this, and appreciated having a stand up comedian being a close friend. They heard a chair scrape the floor beside Allie's stool, and saw Zoe seat herself.

"Hey kid, where you been?" Allie asked.

"I have been getting props for our upcoming show," Zoe said, "It's...uh, well, it's going to be good, is all I can say. I actually feel somewhat confident now that we've had a few smaller performances under our belt. You're lucky Tony pays for everything though, cause this stuff is expensive."

The bartender came and set yet another soda down in front of Zoe, which she happily thanked them for and started to sip. After a moment, she pushed her glasses up her face and sighed.

"It's weird, feeling, like, serene for a change," Zoe said, "For the first time in months I feel like nothing is going wrong. You almost get used to waiting for the other shoe to drop, you know?"

"Absolutely, that's what being raised catholic is all about," Effie said, "like, something good happened so something bad is on the way. Everything's got a guilty price tag attached to it. Nothing can ever just be nice and happy. You always have to suffer for something you got that you wanted."

Allie laughed again and turned around in her stool while they talked, only to see Sunny standing by the slots a few feet away. Her drink caught in her throat, she almost choked, then managed to swallow before slipping away from the girls and heading over to him.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, as she approached.

"Hey!" Sunny said, "Nothing, just hanging out. I live in Vegas, I think I'm allowed to visit a casino. It's kind of the selling points."

"Alright, fair enough," Allie said, "but you could visit any casino and you just happened to choose the one I work in? That I live in?"

"You live here?"

"You didn't know that?"

"No, I didn't know one could live in a casino," Sunny said, running a hand through his long blonde hair as the showgirl beside him hit a small jackpot and continued pumping coins into the machine; he added, "That's pretty cool actually."

"I have your money," Allie said, "If you're here to square up."

"Sure," Sunny replied, "Let's go."

Allie glanced around, making sure nobody was watching, and then the two of them headed up the stairs. As they walked, Sunny chuckled, making Allie nervous.

"What?" she asked.

"You're choosing the stairs?"

"Elevators have cameras. Nobody knows you're here, right?"

"I'd be a pretty lousy drug dealer if everyone knew my whereabouts, sweetheart," Sunny said, making Allie snicker, as he added, "but you know the floor of the casino has cameras too, and they likely captured us together."

"Yeah but those get wiped every night," Allie said, "so it's okay."

"Huh, didn't know that."

"Saves on memory," Allie said, "That way they don't have to continue to pay for more storage, especially when nothing of interest is happening and thus why should they save the footage."

Allie and Sunny had known one another for a long enough time now that they could easily have a conversation like friends, and not just dealer and client. This helped them feel more comfortable, trust worthy around one another, and eased the tension of their business together. Sunny was better than the other drug dealers she'd met in her time in Vegas, mostly because he wasn't total scum. He was somewhat sleazy, something even he'd admit to, but he wasn't an outright creep. He didn't hit on Allie, he didn't try and get her interested in other stock, he merely sold her what she asked for and appreciated her business.

It'll be weird, Allie thought as she walked up the stairs heading to her suite, after I give him his money, he'll be out of my life forever.

                                                                          ***

Allie had met Sunny a bit after the hospital had cut off her prescription to painkillers.

She'd heard through the grapevine in the casino, from other workers who used him, that he was the best there was, precisely because he wasn't an outright weirdo. He was just a normal, sometimes scuzzy dude, who happened to sell the things they needed. So Allie got his number, and he and Allie met up at a small italian bistro downtown. When she first saw him, she was surprised by his lack of professionalism. There he was, sitting at the table, in one of his patented hawaiian shirts and his zip off shorts, his long blonde hair pulled back into a ponytail, drinking a beer.

"Hi," Allie said, as she approached the table, "I'm Allie. I called you about-"

"I know what you called me about, no need repeating it where others can hear," Sunny replied, "Please, sit down."

"I'm...I'm nervous, I've never done anything like this before, and if the hospital hadn't cut me off, I likely wouldn't be."

"Why'd they cut you off?" Sunny asked, nursing his beer.

"Uh, they just don't think I need it anymore, and I may have been somewhat abusing it, but...I do still need it. I'm...I'm in tremendous pain daily."

"From what?"

"I was attacked by my tiger in my stage show," Allie said, "I'm a magician at a casino, The Card Shark, and this whole thing went really wrong, and...anyway, I'm in screaming agony constantly and the only thing that really seems to help is heavy duty painkillers."

Sunny smiled and reached down to his backpack on the floor.

"You know, that's pretty cool that you work with big animals."

"Not anymore."

Sunny laughed, and Allie smiled.

"I don't blame you," he replied, "After an incident like that, fuck that noise, am I right? Well, I can provide you with basically whatever you want. I recommend you start with what you were taking though, if that's what worked best for you."

"Do you...have like, medical training or something?"

"Yeah, I was going to school to be a doctor," Sunny said, "That's why I know all this stuff, and it's why I have connections, because most of my friends wound up being doctors, so we scratch one anothers backs, you know?"

Allie nodded as Sunny pulled out a pad of paper and a pen.

"So, let's talk about what you were on," he said.

Sunny was, to Allie's surprise, extremely professional, and they would go on to have a long and fruitful partnership together. Sunny never tried to get her on anything else, he never tried to push anything harder on her, and he never threatened to cut her off if she was a little behind on paying him, as she had been as of late. But he was still a drug dealer.

And that was something Allie couldn't believe she'd ever gotten involved with, and couldn't believe she would finally be free of.

                                                                              ***

"Shit, dude, nice digs," Sunny said as he entered the suite, "You live like a goddamn queen."

"I am a goddamn queen," Allie said, making him smirk as she walked to the bookshelf, pulled off a fake book and opened it, taking out a wad of cash and unfurling it, counting out the exact amount he was owed. Sunny wandered around the room as she did this, taking in all her memorabilia, all her old show posters and photos.

"You know, I'm gonna miss you," Sunny said, "I really am. You were certainly my coolest client."

"That's sweet, Sunny, thanks," Allie said, smiling a little as she licked her finger and continued flicking through bills.

After a few minutes, she finally finished counting, wrapped a rubber band around the wad and handed it to Sunny, who took it and shoved it into his pocket.

"Not even gonna count it?" she asked.

"Naw, I trust you," he said, "...I guess this is goodbye, unless you just want to hang out sometime."

"Maybe, maybe sometime when I'm, like, really sober and won't backslide," Allie said, "Sorry to put you out of a client."

"Eh, lots of people who need my services," Sunny said, shrugging, "Like that new partner of yours, who knows, she might want something sometime."

Allie stopped in her tracks.

"No, I told you, she doesn't...you need to stay away from her, she doesn't need anything."

"She can say no. She has the option."

"She doesn't need the option," Allie said, starting to get angry, adding, "There's plenty of people in this casino alone, you can't just, you know, peddle to them? You have to go after the one person I'm regularly associated with now?"

"Why not? Look dude, I'm a businessman, alright? I have to keep my numbers up. I lost a customer, now I need to gain a customer. That's just basic economics. Need to replace that loss with growth," Sunny said, "It isn't personal, Al, it's...you know, it's just business."

Allie couldn't believe this. She had squared up with him. She and Sunny had had such a professional relationship, and now this? Where was this coming from? She'd told him specifically to stay away from Zoe, and now here he was, with Allie's last pay installment and stating he was going to ask Zoe anyway? What the fuck.

"I need you to promise me you aren't going to approach her," Allie said, walking in front of Sunny and standing in front of the door, "Before I let you leave, I need you to promise me that."

"Jesus, why is that so important to you? She's just some kid, Al, she's gonna leave you anyway. She probably doesn't wanna play second fiddle to someone else forever. She doesn't want to live in your shadow. Would you?"

"I....I don't...that doesn't matter, this isn't about losing her as a partner, this is about doing the right thing, and that is that she doesn't need anything you're selling."

"Allie, get out of my way," Sunny said, sounding stern, his brow furrowing.

"Not until you promise me-"

"I'm not promising shit!"

Sunny grabbed her shoulders and pushed her aside. Allie stumbled and grabbed onto the wall, then grabbed a trophy from the shelf and slammed it against his back. Sunny cried out in pain, then turned to face her. As he approached, she stumbled and fell onto her back as he stepped forward, getting ever closer. Allie kicked him in the shin, forcing Sunny to slide forward in pain, then lose his footing and fall forward, his neck hitting the side of the coffee table and his lifeless body rolling to the floor. Allie sat there for a few moments, in absolute stunned silence.

"Sun...Sunny?" she asked, crawling toward him, seeing the blood leak from his head onto the floor, beginning to pool; her lip quivered as her breath caught in her chest, "oh fuck, oh shit, oh fuck shit."

The door opened and Zoe was standing there, looking down at this sight.

"...what the fuck?" she whispered.

"It was an accident, he...he came at me, and he was...he was going to get you hooked on something, he...he threatened to get you addicted to something, I had to stop him," Allie said, her words falling out of her mouth at a mile a minute, her pulse pounding as she said, "I...I did it for you. I just...I wanted to protect you, and he-"

Zoe walked around the body and helped Allie up, hugging her.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"Y...yeah, I'm fine," Allie muttered, "I'm okay."

Zoe and Allie broke from the hug and looked down at Sunny's body, both unsure what to do or say. After what felt like an eternity, Zoe cleared her throat.

"We have to hide him," she said.

                                                                                ***

"They say police are in the most dangerous profession, the ones who are most often killed in the line of duty, but honestly that's my field," Sunny said that day at their first meeting, after he and Allie had sorted out their arrangement and ordered lunch; he added, "Do you know how many drug dealers are killed by their own clients?"

"A lot, huh?"

"It's unreal. That's why we have to be so careful," he continued, "but you don't seem like a threat, so I don't think I have much to worry about in regards to you."

"You better watch out, I'm a magician," Allie said, wiggling her fingers, "I can make you...disappear."

They both burst out laughing.

Little did they know how true that'd wind up being.

"I have to be hallucinating," Allie mumbled as she tried to stand back up, one hand on the hood of the car, the other hand on her forehead, massaging it, as if that'd somehow make the cardboard cutout of herself stop speaking to her.

"Well no shit you're hallucinating, dumbass," Cardboard said, "because your life is in shambles and you took a dangerous combination of pills and alcohol. Now stand me upright so we can have a proper conversation."

Allie stumbled over, grabbed the cutout and shoved it back into the passenger seat of the car before going back around and climbing into the drivers seat, starting the car back up.

"This is going to be a long night," Allie muttered, as Cardboard scoffed.

"Please, at least you have autonomy," they replied.

Allie backed the car up and headed down the road that led them up here. As she turned the radio dial, searching for something - anything - to listen to, Cardboard sighed.

"So you're just gonna ignore me? Seems to be your MO, after all, ignore anything in your life that you might possibly be at fault for," Cardboard said.

"At fault for? How am I at fault for you?" Allie asked, sounding annoyed.

"Okay, well, sure, you didn't create me, I was made in a processing plant somewhere in the city, but still. You gave yourself this victim complex."

"Victim complex?"

"Yeah, you heard me, victim complex. You think you're a victim, but the only thing you're a victim of is your own poor choices! And everything bad that's come as a result, are also directly because of your own poor choices! You have a disease, an addiction, and it's somewhat understandable, considering what happened to you, but it's still something you've never really sought actual help for once it overtook your life."

"That...that isn't true, see, I have Zoe now, and-"

"She's half your age and it isn't her responsibility to clean up your act!" Cardboard shouted, making Allie swerve momentarily.

"You yell at me again and I'll set you on fire," Allie said coldly, and Cardboard laughed.

"Yeah, right. Like you could ever destroy a piece of yourself. You're such a narcissist," Cardboard remarked, "I mean, you can tell the true narcissists by the fact that they're the kids who thought they'd be famous as adults and actually followed through with it, no matter what it cost them. You didn't do what you did for the magic, you did it for the fame, because mommy and daddy didn't love you enough."

"That isn't true!" Allie shouted, changing lanes suddenly to keep driving without stopping at a red light, "They loved me a lot! And I did do it for the magic! I love magic!"

"Sure, maybe at first, but now you're just desperate to get back to that good spot you were once in instead of accepting that that time is over and now is the time to build something new, something maybe even better," Cardboard said, "but nooo, you're too hung up on the past. Hung up on Nick."

"Nick loved me..."

"And look what he did. He left."

"He left because...because of me..." Allie said, realizing what Cardboard was saying was true. She pulled over the an empty parking lot and turned the car off, glancing over at Cardboard and, biting her lip, asked, "I know that I'm why Nick left. It isn't even something I tried to blame on anyone else. I know my behavior, my refusal to change it, is why he's gone, and I...I don't even really blame him. I wouldn't stick around for me either."

Cardboard looked at Allie as she wiped her eyes on her arm and tried, poorly, to hold back tears. Allie felt terrible, she wanted to go to Nick, to tell him how very sorry she was for everything, for putting him through all she put him through all because she couldn't stop abusing medication and alcohol, but...

"...I can't even tell him he didn't deserve it, and that I'm sorry, because I've done that. I made promises I quickly broke time and time again, it's nothing he hasn't already heard. No apology I will ever make will sound sincere and genuine, because I've...I'm a liar."

"You're not a liar. You're sick," Cardboard said, "but you can get better, and you have people around you who want you to, who want to be your friends. But people will only put up with you for so long before they realize you have no intention to follow through on getting better. Then they begin to distance themselves, not because they don't care for you, but because they care for you so much that it hurts to see you do this, and they can't stand to be there when it goes south."

Allie leaned back in her seat and sighed, running her hands over her face and into her hair. She chewed on her lip, her eyes still wet with pools of tears.

"...everyone leaves though," Allie whispered, "first Megan left the act, then Domino hurt me and had to be taken away, and now Nick...you're not right though, about mom and dad, I mean. They loved me. But I do admit I think they're annoyed I'm not doing something to better the world. They don't view entertainment as a necessity. Great works of art? Sure. That they're fully behind. The american novel, the classic paintings, the life changing songwriters. But just entertainment for the sake of entertainment? Things like board games, and sitcoms and...magic...things that don't need to exist and that the world would be no different without...yeah, they don't view that as a necessity, and it kind of hurts."

"But you're successful beyond your wildest dreams? Doesn't that sort of prove them wrong?"

"Of course not. To them, people will pay for anything. My success only further strengthens their beliefs in the idea that mindless entertainment is an opiate for the masses who aren't smart enough to take in real art, and instead get wowed by some goofball in a top hat do simple card tricks," Allie said.

Cardboard sighed as Allie tilted her seat back, opened the sunroof, and then tilted Cardboard's seat back as well, so they could both look up to the stars again.

"But you're proud of yourself, aren't you?" Cardboard asked.

"Shit yeah I am," Allie responded, "Are you kidding me? I set a goal when I was a child and I reached it. How many people can say that?"

"And yet your folks disapproval hurts?"

"Of course it does. I mean, I've shrugged it off mostly at this point, but it still stings a bit," Allie said, "...but Zoe...she seems to be the kind of person whose life I really touched without even trying. She was there, as a kid, and saw the attack. I feel terrible that a child witnessed that, and even worse that it set her down a path to doing what I do, but...I've seen her do magic, she's very talented, and if she could get over her stage fright, she'd be a spectacular magician. But am I simply using her as a way to escape my issues?"

"If you are, is that so bad?" Cardboard asked, and Allie shrugged as she uncapped her flask and drank more.

"I don't know. I don't want her to feel like I'm using her, because I'm not. I see her for what she could be," Allie said, "I want to help her reach her potential, because I can see what she has, what she's capable of, and...and I want to really be her friend."

A long pause filled the car, as the sound of nearby cars flooded in through the open sunroof. Allie rubbed her eyes on her palms and lit a cigarette, taking a few puffs before blowing the smoke out the sunroof.

"...what can I do to show her that I'm ready to be better? That I'm...that I'm willing to work with her? She's my friend, she's my business partner, what can I do?" Allie asked, noticing the silence when Cardboard didn't respond. She rolled her head and glanced at the cutout, to see it had stopped talking, stopped moving whatsoever, and she realized whatever trip she was on...

...it was over now.

                                                                           ***

Zoe was seated on her bed when the door opened and her sister, Thea, was standing there. Zoe looked up, her bushy hair pulled back in a ponytail - or the best ind of ponytail she could manage given her hair type - as her scrapbooking effort was interrupted.

"What's up?" Zoe asked.

"Someone is here to see you," Thea said, "They're outside in the driveway, and they may be drunk."

"...oh," Zoe said, "Okay."

Zoe got up and pulled her jacket on, then headed outside. She spotted Allie leaning against her car, still smoking her cigarette. Allie tossed it on the ground and stomped it out as Zoe approached, her hands stuffed in her coat pockets.

"What are you doing here?" Zoe asked, "It's really late."

"I had the weirdest most fucked up night, man."

"Yeah? Was that before or after you left us all at the zoo?" Zoe asked, clearly sounding pissed.

"...okay, yeah, I deserve that, and I'm sorry, and I hope Effie understands I'm sorry too. I...I overheard Jenny talking to my ex on the phone, and I think between losing Domino and then that, I sort of...snapped. That...that doesn't excuse my abrupt exit, but I hope you understand now what happened, and how sorry I am."

Zoe kicked a small pebble with her shoe and shrugged.

"I guess, yeah, that's understandable."

"Zoe...I believe in your skills, and you've been such a good friend to me, and I don't want to let anyone down anymore, especially someone who seems to actually believe in me as much as you do, so please, will you come with me to rehab meetings? I...I need to get clean, like, for good, and with the help of professionals. I can't keep doing this."

Zoe smiled and nodded.

"Yeah, yeah of course I will. You know I'd love to do that with you."

Allie threw her arms around Zoe's shoulders and squeezed her tight, crying into her bushy hair.

"I'm so sorry," she cried, "I'm so sorry I've been so bad to you."

"It's okay," Zoe replied, "...uh, is that a cardboard cutout of yourself?"

"Yeah, yes, that's another thing, can you hold onto that thing for me for a bit? It's freakin' me out," Allie said, reaching back in and tugging it out from the passengers seat out the drivers side door and shoving it into Zoe's arms, adding, "please, just...I need some time apart from it."

"You two have an argument, or?" Zoe asked, smirking, making Allie laugh.

"Zoe," she said, "You have no idea the kind of evening I have had."

                                                                           ***

Sitting in the car, chewing on her nails, Allie couldn't help but feel nervous. She hadn't ever expected to actually go to rehab with the intent to truly fix herself. Everytime she'd gone before she'd done it to make Nick happy, not to actually get better. She'd just always assumed that this was how she was now, and that she couldn't get back to who she'd been before.

"You okay?" Zoe asked, "You gonna be alright?"

"I think I'll be fine," Allie said, "Thanks for coming with me."

"That's what friends do," Zoe replied, smiling as she touched Allie's hand.

The two got out of the parked car and headed into the building. It was a quiet building, used mostly for group meetings such as AA and other types of things, and the silence was welcoming to Allie, who was feeling extremely overwhelmed by the amount of sound the casino had daily. As they headed down a hall and approached the door on the slip of paper in Zoe's hand, Allie began to get nervous. She was ready, she knew she was, but she just needed another minute before taking this step.

"I think I should use the restroom before we go in," she said, "I...I don't want to interrupt group by having to piss."

"Okay. I'll go inside and hold your seat," Zoe said, letting Allie head further down the hallway until she found the bathroom. As she put her hand on the bathroom door leading into the womans room, she heard the man standing by the water fountain speak.

"Haven't seen you in a while," he said, and Allie stopped cold.

"Sunny?" she asked, turning to look at him.

A handsome man; long blonde hair and in a hawaiian shirt and some tan slacks. He grinned at her as she pulled herself away from the door and approached him, her arms folded.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"Good place to find new clients," Sunny said, "what are you doing here?"

"God that's sleazy," Allie whispered, "I'm....I'm here to get sober, honestly."

"That's a shame. I always thought I could count on you," Sunny said, "You know you still owe me some money."

"I know," Allie said, "I'm a little tied up right now, but my boss just gave me a partner and we'll be making more very soon, so I should have it for you any time."

"I've already given you a while, but I suppose another week or so couldn't hurt, just try not to make it longer than that," Sunny said, running his hands through his hair, "...you got a partner in the show now?"

"Yeah."

"She need anything?"

"No, and you stay the fuck away from her. She's a good, clean kid and she doesn't need to be dragged down with filth like us," Allie said, almost sneering at him.

"Alright, cool your jets, it was just a question," Sunny said, checking his watch, "I have to run. I'll try and catch up with you in a week or so and we'll see if we can square up. And hey, if not, maybe I can get your partner interested and she can make it up for you with her own habit."

He smiled, patted her on the face and headed down the hall. Allie stood there, fuming, as it began to dawn on her just how hard to might actually be to get out of this habit once and for all, especially if Sunny were involved. She groaned, then headed inside to pee. When she rejoined the group, she found Zoe sitting with her hand on the chair beside her, reserved for Allie. Allie smiled and took her seat by her friend, as the group was going around introducing themselves to one another.

"You're a little late, but that's okay," the group head, a short haired man named Michael, said to Allie.

"I had to use the bathroom."

"That's fine, why don't you introduce yourself to everyone."

Allie exhaled and looked around at this room full of alcoholics and drug users, realizing she was just the same as them, and that with their help, soon none of them would be those things anymore. This level of support was something she admired. She shut her eyes and nodded.

"My name is Allie Meers, I'm a professional magician here in Vegas...and I really need to get sober."

                                                                           ***

Lying in bed that night, staring at the cardboard cutout of Allie in her room, Zoe couldn't help but feel like she'd done something good. Something truly good. Something that nobody else, not even Nick, had been capable of doing, and that was getting Allie to really want to fix herself. The bedroom door opened and Thea stood there, eating from a bowl of cereal.

"What's that?" she asked, mouth full of trix.

"That's a cardboard cutout of my friend," Zoe said, "She wanted me to hang onto it for a while for her."

"Creepy," Thea replied, "...everything okay?"

"Yeah. She just needed some help...Thea, thanks for not making me go back to mom and dad, and letting me stay here with you," Zoe said, pulling her knees to her chest on the bed as she sat up and Thea smiled as she entered and seated herself on the bed.

"You're my little sister," she said, setting her half finished bowl of cereal on the nightstand and ruffling Zoe's hair, "I'd do anything, within reason, for you, you know that. I think it's great that you're actually helping this lady, especially if it helps you further your own career."

"I don't even know that I care so much about that anymore," Zoe said, "I mean, I do, I can't lie, but...she was my hero, and she's still my hero, and I hate seeing her destroy herself like this. If it could happen to her, it could happen to me, and maybe if I help her get sober, she'll help me stay clean."

"That's a good way of looking at it, yeah," Thea said, rubbing Zoe's back.

"It's more than a partnership, it's a friendship," Zoe said, "and I know there's a boundary, there's a line that can't be crossed because I can't let her take advantage of me, but...without her I don't know that I could do anything."

"You're talented, don't ever tell yourself you can't do something," Thea said, "You don't need someone else. Remember that. She needs you way more than you need her."

"...okay," Zoe mumbled, as she laid back down and rolled onto her side. Thea stood back up, scooped her bowl back from the table and headed out of the bedroom after saying goodnight, which Zoe didn't respond to. As she heard the door click shut, Zoe rolled back onto her back and sat up, propped by her elbows, looking at the cardboard cutout.

Thea was wrong.

They needed eachother equally.

That's what friendship was.

"He's beautiful," Allie said, standing in front of the cage and smoking a cigar, "He's the most beautiful cat I've ever seen. I cannot believe this is actually happening. Like, I've dreamt of this my entire life, and now it's happening. It's so surreal."

Tony smiled and patted her back, chuckling as he puffed on his own cigar, saying, "This is the big time, kid. You've really made it. What are you gonna name it?"

She hadn't really thought about this, actually. She'd never had a pet growing up, so she wasn't exactly a professional when it came to naming animals. Allie stood there, looking at this tiger, and thinking for quite some time before finally sighing and smiling.

"I think I've got it," she said.

                                                                             ***

Sitting in the car on their way to the zoo, Allie couldn't help but feel torn about what was about to go down. She should feel happy, knowing that this tiger would be taken as far away from her as possible, and be given a new life, but at the same time she felt as though she were losing her only tie to the life, the person, she had been before the incident. Effie rolled down her window as she puffed smoke out into the air and coughed.

"This feels surreal," Zoe said from the backseat, glancing at the cardboard version of Allie sitting beside her before adding, "I haven't seen that tiger since the night that happened. I never thought I'd see it again. I didn't even know you still had it."

"I don't," Allie said, "technically, anyway. It's owned by this local zoo. I didn't know they may sell off their assets though. Guess that possibility simply never occurred to me. I wish I had the money to buy him back."

"...if you wanted to buy him back, why'd you sell him in the first place?" Zoe asked.

"I didn't," Allie said, her voice quieting, "it was a decision made for me while I was in the hospital."

Effie pulled the car into a gas station, explaining she needed to fill up the tank, and Allie climbed out of the car, excusing herself to use the bathroom. Effie put her cigarette out and stuck it in her shirt pocket, as Zoe climbed out from the backseat and stretched beside her, watching Effie stick the gas nozzle into the car. Effie looked at Zoe and smiled.

"Sorry we couldn't meet again under better circumstances," Effie said, making Zoe laugh.

"Yeah...so, you've known Allie for a long time, right?"

"Long as I've been working at the club, so a few years, yeah, why?"

"...why did they sell the tiger?" Zoe asked, "I mean, how did they-"

"The thing you have to understand is this. Allie, and by extension everything she uses in her act, is technically owned by the owner of the casino, Tony. Therefore he had legal right to sell anything he wanted, and he figured this would be the best thing to do, to further the gap between her, the tiger and the incident that happened on his property. So when Allie was in the hospital, he sold the tiger and only told her when she got back. She was in so much pain and so angry I think she was sort of grateful at the time, but after a while she seemed to grow sort of resentful."

"I mean, the thing tried to kill her, I can't imagine she thinks there could actually be a relationship still to be had there, right? How do you come back from 'well, sure, they tried to kill me, but I've forgiven them for it'? If it were me, I doubt I could do it."

"You've never had a fragile relationship with anyone?" Effie asked.

"I...I mean, my parents, I guess, but..."

"Listen, I'm going to tell you this because you seem like a really nice person, and you don't seem worn out yet, but just be very careful with whatever this partnership you've got with Allie is. She's cool, and I like her a lot. but I also recognize she's extremely self destructive, and I don't want to see someone as nice as you seem to be to get dragged into her bullshit. I know you respect her, I do too, but...she's volatile. She's unpredictable. I chock most of that up to the pills, the alcohol, and what's happened to her, but that doesn't excuse how she treats others."

"...she's my friend," Zoe said, stammering, "I...I can't just...you know-"

"No, I know, I get it, believe me, I do. When I first started doing comedy I befriended this older comedian I really looked up to, and she taught me a lot about comedy, and I was thrilled to pieces to be considered good enough for her to care about my career, thinking she saw something special in me. What she actually saw, though, was my naivety, and my willingness to do anything for someone I admired so greatly. Needless to say, she took extreme advantage of me, and was very predatory. I'm not saying Allie is that way, but..."

Effie sighed and hung the nozzle back on the pump, pulling her wallet out and sliding her card through the slot to pay for the gas.

"...hero worship is a bitch, that's all I'm trying to say. Just be careful," she finished as she walked back around to the drivers side of the car.

Meanwhile, in the bathroom, Allie was standing in front of the mirror and wiping her face clean, looking at the long scar running down her face. This scar was the only thing - besides a pill addiction - the tiger would leave her with, and she hated that. It'd taken everything from her...her sobriety, her relationship, the full use of her wrist, and yet...yet she felt like she had a kindred spirit in this animal. She too was angry and violent and lashed out. But only because it'd made her that way, really, she knew. She hadn't been like that before hand. What would she do now, to confront her past and her pain?

Allie bought a few beef sticks inside the gas station after leaving the bathroom, a bottled coffee and joined the girls back in the car. She handed out the beef sticks, each girl getting one, and then unscrewed the lid of her coffee, taking a long swig.

Watching her from the backseat, Zoe tried to take heed of what Effie had told her, but she wanted to believe in Allie. She wanted to think the best of her. This was her mentor, her childhood icon, her hero. And yet Effie's words ran through her head again and again...

"Hero worship's a bitch."

                                                                            ***

Jenny knew they were coming.

As soon as she'd gotten wind of the deal, she called the Casino and spoken to Effie when she couldn't reach Allie. She was now patiently waiting for them at the front gate, eating from a bag of chips and she thought about what kind of loss Allie had been through. A loss she herself could never imagine suffering, and not just of the tiger, but of everything. She knew Nick had dumped her, she knew she'd almost lost her hand, she knew she was damaged goods. She felt bad for Allie, but she made sure never to show it, she knew Allie hated people who took pity on her. Finally she rolled the top of the bag down and pinned it shut as the car approached the gates. Jenny came out of the small hut near the front, pulling her jacket on over her outfit.

"Hey," she said, reaching the drivers side window, "um, you guys can park round back, they're back there in a cage. Just pull round the back and I can open the back gates."

"Righty-o," Effie said, continuing to pull forward and head around the back.

After Jenny let the girls in, the four of them walked towards the enclosure where the cage was, but nobody was saying a word. After a bit of walking, entering some out buildings, Jenny cleared her throat and pulled her long silk black hair into a ponytail.

"Where's Nick?" she asked, making Allie scoff.

"As if I'd tell him," she replied.

"But...he was always the one who brought you out here," Jenny said.

"Yeah, and then he dumped me. That's over. This is over. No need to bring them into contact with one another again. I need to move on," Allie grumbled, "lord know he already has. After tonight I'm hoping for some kind of closure, and maybe I can finally get on with my life too."

Jenny nodded. This made sense. A warped sort of sense, but sense nonetheless. Behind them, Effie and Zoe were walking a bit aways, so as not to listen in on their conversation, despite driving here with Allie. Zoe pulled on the strings of her hoodie and sighed as Effie drank the rest of Allie's coffee and then tossed the bottle into a nearby recycling container. She burped and glanced over at Zoe, who smiled a bit from the burp.

"'Scuse me," Effie whispered, half laughing herself.

"...I want to help Allie get better," Zoe finally said.

"A noble cause," Effie replied, "and I think very highly of you for attempting that, but I also think you need to understand how people need to take responsibility for themselves, and it isn't up to anyone else to 'fix' them. Certainly the support helps, nobody's ever going to argue that, but in the end it boils down to whether or not Allie wants Allie to get better. I like to think she does, but only time will tell."

"You don't think I'm stupid for caring, do you?"

"Not at all! I think it's very sweet, honestly," Effie said, "I just don't want to see you get hurt."

Zoe blushed. She'd rarely had someone be so kind to her this way, and she liked it. She also acknowledged that Effie was, without a doubt, right. Much as she wanted to help Allie, it really boiled down to Allie wanting to help Allie. She could be there for her, sure, but there was only so much she could give to her without giving her everything. After a bit of walking, the girls stopped and noticed Allie was staring at a large cage, and inside was seated the most beautiful white tiger Zoe had ever seen.

"You have maybe 15 minutes before they get picked up, so I'd make it brief," Jenny said, "I'm not even supposed to let people who don't work here back in here, but I made an exception for you, obviously."

"I appreciate it," Allie said, smiling, patting Jenny's shoulder.

"I'm gonna go for a smoke, you wanna join me?" Effie asked, and Jenny nodded, the two of them exiting, leaving Zoe and Allie alone with the tiger. Allie pulled together some full, sturdy cardboard boxes, and together they sat there, staring at the tiger in the cage. Allie sighed and unzipped her jacket, then reached inside her jacket pocket and pulled out a polaroid, handing it over to Zoe.

"This is the day Tony and I went to get them," she said, "the day I actually become owner, or pseudo owner, of a white tiger. A white tiger who, very shortly afterwards, would attempt to rip my arm from my body, and nearly sever my hand in the process. I still can't feel much in that hand. I still am in tremendous pain and take too many pills for it, and for fun. Because why not, right? Why not."

"But you aren't making inroads to get better?"

"I am...I mean, I'm trying to. I threw out all my alcohol the other week," Allie said, "I know cold turkey isn't exactly the safest thing, but I would've kept over drinking if I'd even kept the smallest amount, and then just gone and bought more. I never drank before I was attacked. I never did anything before I was attacked. I wasn't straight edge, by any means, let people enjoy what they want so long as it isn't hurting them or hurting others, but...none of it ever interested me. Now I've been steeped in alcohol and pills for so long that I can't imagine how I was before it."

"I don't do anything, do you think I'm boring because of it?" Zoe asked, and Allie smirked.

"Of course not, but you're not me," Allie said.

"Not yet I'm not, but I'd like to be a magician like you," Zoe replied.

"Well, you can accomplish it without the tiger. That was the thing at the time, you have to understand. Vegas magic was showy, and glamorous. Not that it still isn't, but now it can be done without putting your actual life at risk. You don't have to fall back on cheap gimmicks to be a good magician, Zoe. You don't have to be a sellout like me."

"You're not a sellout," Zoe said, sighing and then saying, "...when I was a little girl, my parents argued all the time. Magic was the only thing that helped me escape that. It was...it was really all I had. Then, when I was a sophomore in high school, I..."

Allie got quiet as Zoe swallowed, audibly, and fought back tears, then continued.

"...when I was a sophomore in high school, I had an accident," she said, her voice softening, "I was riding my bike home from a party, a party I'd only been invited to because this guy liked me and wanted me to do magic for him and his friends, and it was raining so it was kind of hard to see and I was hit by a car on my bike."

"Jesus."

"Nothing was broken," Zoe said, her lip quivering, "except maybe my pride, but...I had a concussion, and...I don't really know how to explain it but I've never really been quite the same. I'm overly empathetic now, and overly emotional, and I don't rationalize a lot, and I've acted on whims when I knew they were wrong. It's like it destroyed any kind of logic system my brain had before, or something. Now I'm scared of the world, and everything in it, except for magic. Except for you."

Zoe looked up and to her side, at Allie, who was watching her closely.

"...I know what you mean when you say you don't, you know, know how to get back to who you were before it. I know what that's like. I know how you feel. I'm just glad we don't have to feel that way alone anymore," Zoe whispered, and Allie reached out and held her hand, before glancing back at the cage.

"I think the worst part is he can't apologize, because he doesn't know he did anything wrong," Allie said quietly, "Did your driver who hit you at least apologize?"

"No," Zoe said, "they just kept on driving. Someone on the street saw me lying in the road and called an ambulance."

"You were denied an apology and I simply cannot be given one," Allie said, "but maybe the blame is on us. On you for thinking people would be kind enough to apologize, to care, and me for assuming an animal could think it'd done wrong when all it knows is that it was essentially protecting itself. The world doesn't owe us apologies, even if that sounds like a baby boomer mentality, and it's up to us to find ways to move on, together or apart."

Zoe rested her head on Allie's shoulder, and Allie ran her long fingers through Zoe's curly hair.

"I like working through things together," Zoe whispered, and Allie nodded. The doors behind them opened and Effie came strolling back in, whistling at them.

"Hey, Jenny sent me inside to tell you it's time to go," she said, "These guys are about here."

Zoe stood up and followed Effie back outside, as Allie walked up to the cage and looked at the tiger.

"I don't know where they're going to take you, but I hope it's better than what I managed to give you," she said, "I forgive you, Domino."

Allie was trying to find her way back out, and eventually did, exiting through the back doors and spotting Effie and Zoe standing and chatting. She started to pass them, when she heard muttering from around a nearby corner, and she peeked around to see Jenny pacing back and forth on a phone, pulling at her hair.

"She's leaving right now, I guess. I just sent her friend in to get her. She seems...calm, yeah," Jenny said, "I'm surprised she's taking it so well, but her new friend seems to be helping her a lot. I'll drive on by after I get off work, okay? No, Nick, it's fine, I understand. I don't blame you. I'll see you soon."

Allie leaned against the wall and felt her blood begin to boil. She dug her hand into her coat pocket and pulled out the keys to the car, then took off running past Zoe and Effie, and sliding into the drivers side window, and quickly locking the door. Zoe rushed up to the car and started smacking her palm on the window, shouting.

"Allie!" she yelled, "Allie what's going on?!"

Allie didn't say a word. Instead she backed out quickly, and just as quickly started to speed away, only missing Zoe by an inch as Effie wrapped her arms around her waist and pulled Zoe out of the way. Zoe continued to shout at the car, but it was now nothing more than a speck on the horizon. Zoe didn't understand...what had she done wrong? Allie couldn't breath. She felt like the world was suffocating her, and she wanted to die. She looked in her rearview mirror, spotting the cardboard cutout of herself, and glared. She needed a drink. After a quick stop at a gas station, she came back out with a large bottle of gin and drove to a secluded area where she could look down at the city. She drank and drank and drank until her eyes blurred, and her teeth hurt. She pulled the cardboard cutout of herself from the car and laid it on the hood right next to her, then raised the bottle of gin up in the air.

"The only person I can stand is myself," she said, "Here's to me, the undesirable mess."

"Amen," the cutout replied, shocking her as she rolled off the car hood and looked at it from the ground. It was stationary, it couldn't move, but she swore it spoke. Allie pulled herself back up onto the hood and looked at it again.

"...what did you say?" she asked.

"You and I have a lot of catching up to do," it said, "Now finish that bottle and let's chat."

Allie hadn't been invited to many birthday parties.

Even now, she was sure she was only invited because the mother of the child who's birthday it was forced her to invite her entire class, so as not to cause a ruckus amongst those who hadn't been invited and those who had. Sitting in the backseat of her parents car, the present they'd made her bring loosely held in her lap, Allie couldn't help but feel like she'd be just as out of place here as she was at school.

"When can I come home?" she asked.

"You know, other kids like playing with kids their age," her mother said, turning onto a suburban street and coming to a crawl, "don't you like being around your peers?"

"Not really, they're not very nice," Allie said.

She was 10. This was likely the last birthday party she'd be invited to, as once kids became teenagers, their parents were a lot more lenient in who they made come to their parties and who they didn't. She figured, if nothing else, this was her final chance to eat cake and come away with a favor bag full of candy and puzzles. As the car came to a complete stop and Allie got out, she could hear the sounds of the kids in the backyard, and her eyes scanned upwards over the fence, spotting the roof of a bouncy castle behind the house. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all, she thought.

"I'll be back around 4 to pick you up, okay?" her mom asked, getting out and walking around the car to Allie, leaning down and kissing her forehead, "I love you, I just want you to try and get along with the other kids, that's all. Just try, okay?"

"Okay," Allie mumbled, as her mom watched her walk up to the front door. Once the door opened and the birthday girls mother had ushered her into the house, Allie turned and watched her mother drive away through the window, before following the birthday girls mom into the kitchen.

"You can put the gift on that table there," she said, pointing to a table absolutely overwhelmed with boxes covered in wrapping paper and bows, adding, "would you like something to drink?"

"No thank you," Allie said.

"We have fruit punch, we have soda, what do you want?" the mom asked, and Allie shrugged.

"Do you just have lemonade?" she asked, and the mom nodded, pulling a pitcher from the fridge and pouring her a glass, which she kindly took after thanking her and headed into the backyard with.

It was an absolute madhouse out here. Just as she'd expected it to be, really. Some kids were playing with water guns, other kids were in the bounce house, and some where playing fairly standard carnival games like beanbag toss. This kids mom had really gone all out, and it made Allie somewhat annoyed that she'd never done anything this spectacular for any of her own birthdays, but she also didn't have any real friends, so who knows how fun it'd have been with just her and her parents. She loved her parents, she loved spending time with them, but still. As she strolled across the lawn, sipping her lemonade from the paper cup covered in vaguely legal off model characters from a popular IP, she couldn't help but notice that she didn't see the birthday girl anywhere.

Allie sat down on the swingset in the backyard, and soon heard the creak of the other swing beside her being sat on as well. She glanced over and saw a teenager, maybe seventeen, sitting there and eating a piece of cake. She was dressed nicely, with a top hat and a cape.

"This is delicious, but I can't imagine it's a good idea to give this much sugar to children," the girl said, making Allie laugh.

"Why are you in a costume?" Allie asked, pointing at her top hat.

"I'm the magician," the girl said, "I'm The Marvelous Marcie. It's just something I do for fun and to earn some extra money. Do you like magic?"

"Magic is cool, yeah," Allie replied.

Marvelous Marcie set her now empty plate on the grass, reached into her pockets and pulled out a deck of cards. She then shuffled them, grinning at Allie - who appeared enraptured - the entire time, and then held them out to her. Allie picked a card, looked at it and then slid it back into the deck, which Marvelous Marcie shuffled once again. After she was finished, she picked a card and held it up.

"Is this your card?" she asked, and Allie shook her head; Marvelous Marcie glanced at the card and sighed, "Drats," she said, "What about this one?" she asked, reaching forward and taking a card from inside Allie's shirt pocket. Allie's eyes widened at the trick, making Marvelous Marcie grin.

"How did you..." Allie began.

"Can't tell ya, kiddo," Marvelous Marcie said, tossing her bangs from her face, "but you can learn to do it too. It won't make you the coolest kid in school or anything, by any means, but it'll at least make you the most interesting person at a party, plus you'll likely get paid to do it a lot."

As Marvelous Marcie grabbed her plate from the grass and stood up, she smiled at Allie and headed back inside the house, leaving Allie to wonder at the mysteries of magic, something that now, even as an adult, still marveled her. Most adults lose their sense of curiosity, but if Allie could be grateful for anything in her life, it was that she still was capable of enjoying things like simple card tricks. After she finished drinking her lemonade, the kids all gathered back inside to watch the birthday girl blow out her candles, open her presents, and then the lot of them headed into the living room to play board games.

Allie, however, opted to instead spend this time sitting in the kitchen, watching as Marvelous Marcie helped the birthday girls mother clean things up. This was more welcoming to her, she felt. A mother and magic. The two things she loved most in life.

                                                                            ***

"You need to get out of bed," Effie said, pulling the curtains back on the large window in Allie's penthouse bedroom, then turning to look at her; she put her hands on her hips and shook her head, "You look like hot garbage. Where's that kid you've got helping you?"

"No idea...what...what time is it?" Allie asked, pushing her messy knotted hair from her face.

"It is almost 3pm," Effie said.

"How'd you even get in here?"

"You gave me a key, remember?" Effie asked, walking to the closet and opening it, beginning to pull things out, "Christ, you really need help. I thought you were quitting drinking."

"I am, I'm not drunk and I didn't drink at all last night," Allie said, "I'm just extremely tired. I haven't been sleeping well, I think it's these goddamned painkillers. Also it's weird not having someone in bed with me."

"There's people you can hire to rectify that situation," Effie said, smirking, "This is Vegas, girl, get you some."

Allie chuckled as she swung her legs over the side of the bed and sighed, rubbing her eyes with her palms as Effie continued to dig through her closet.

"Anyway, you asked me to come get you if you ever slept past noon, so here I am. Sorry I couldn't be here sooner, I had a gig this afternoon. But you need to get dressed, something's come up. What the hell is this?" she asked, pulling out a cape from the closet and holding it up, forcing Allie to scramble across the room and take it from her.

"Don't touch that!" she said, "That's very special!"

"Sorry, geez," Effie said, backing away.

Allie held the cape in her hands and ran its fabric against her face, her eyes shutting. She had forgotten it was in there. She thought she'd put it in the storage unit ages ago, but no, here it was, just as nice as it'd always been. Just seeing it brought back a wave of memories, and she smiled. This cape...this cape meant everything to her.

                                                                           ***

"You don't wanna go play a game with the other kids?" Marvelous Marcie asked as she dried her hands on a small towel, looking at Allie sitting at the kitchen table. Allie shook her head and dug her hand back into the chip bowl.

"I don't really like the other kids," Allie said, "I don't know, they think I'm weird."

"But weird is cool, and eventually your peers will come around to realize that and regret not being your friend. Least that's what I have to tell myself, otherwise I was just a friendless loser," Marvelous Marcie said, making Allie laugh; she continued, "that's what's so great about magic. You hold all the cards, literally, as to their interest. You draw them in, you keep them there, you make them impressed and respect you. Life is all about misdirection, just like magic. You lie and you lie and you get people to believe those lies so they'll like you."

"But lying is bad, isn't it?" Allie asked and Marvelous Marcie shrugged.

"Sure, if it's about big things that hurt people, but not when it comes to being a person other people might be remotely interested in knowing, then it's fine," Marvelous Marcie said, unfastening the clip around her cape and pulling it off, looking at it, "everyone in the world creates a persona, someone they think will fit in better with society than who they actually are, because we're all too afraid to let others truly know us. That's all being a magician is. Putting on a face. Impressing others with the most minimal of abilities."

"...can you do magic for a living?" Allie asked, "Like, as a real job?"

"Sure, if you go somewhere like Vegas," Marvelous Marcie said, "But certainly not in a suburb. I'm only doing this to earn money for college. I mean, don't get me wrong, I like doing it, but it's...it's really not a viable way to make a living outside of being an over the top Vegas magician."

Just then the birthday girls mother came back into the kitchen and looked at Marvelous Marcie.

"You know," she said, "It's almost 3. Don't you have another show to get to?" she asked, and Marvelous Marcie checked her watch and gritted her teeth.

"Shoot, you're right, thank you for telling me," she said, grabbing her car keys and heading out of the kitchen before turning back and putting the cape around Allie's neck, clasping it shut in front of her throat and patting her shoulders, smiling, saying, "take my cape, it just gets in the way, and remember...the best trick isn't fooling others, but fooling yourself."

And with that, the Marvelous Marcie walked out of Allie's life.

Allie would ask for a magic kit for her 11th birthday, and she'd get it. Marvelous Marcie had put a bug in her heart that she'd spend the rest of her life chasing, and eventually she'd succeed in ways Marvelous Marcie likely never would've expected. But that's what Allie was good at, really, if her relationship with her parents and Nick had taught her anything.

Subverting expectations.

                                                                          ***

"You ok, man?" Effie asked, sitting on the bed beside Allie, rubbing her back.

"...I'm...I'm sorry, this just means a lot to me," Allie whispered, keeping the cape held close to her chest, "it was what made me want to do magic. It's very....it's very important."

"I get it," Effie said, "but seriously, you need to get up. I found some clean clothes you can pick from."

Effie stood up and gathered up the handful of clothes for Allie to wear, but as she turned back, she saw Allie was still sitting on the bed, looking at the cape in her lap, running her hands over it repeatedly.

"Didn't you ever have, like, a person change the course of your life?" Allie asked, and Effie shrugged.

"Sure, the first time I heard stand up I realize it was what I wanted to do," Effie said.

"Exactly, so you get it," Allie said, "You get what it's like to have someone influence you in such a way that it completely alters the future that you'll have. That's what this cape represents to me. I wore it when my cousin and I originally performed together, but not since Tony found me. But I still keep it close, keep it around, so I'm reminded that there even when it feels like there's no magic in the world, you can make some yourself."

"That's...really beautiful, honestly," Effie said, plopping the clothes down on the bed beside Allie and smiling, "I'm glad you have something that brings you such a level of comfort. Most I've got is my ex and a the first stand up Vinyl record I heard."

Allie chuckled as she stood up and started to get dressed.

"So why did you barge in here and wake me up to begin with? You say I have to go somewhere?" Allie asked as she pulled her blouse down over her head.

"Uh, yeah," Effie said, leaning against the closet door, tapping her feet, "Actually, when they couldn't get a hold of you, the girl from the zoo called me instead. Um, we need to get out there as soon as possible, really, so if you could hurry up and get dressed that'd be great, because I don't know exactly how much time we have."

"...what do you mean?" Allie asked, now eyeing Effie suspiciously.

"...the tiger's been sold," Effie said.

"...what?" Allie asked, feeling all the life leave her body, "my..they're selling my tiger? To who?!"

"She didn't give me any other details other than the zoo is unloading a handful of animals to another person, and they're among one of them," Effie said, "Look, I don't know much, alright? So don't go hounding me for information, I only know what she told me."

Allie finished getting dressed, then quickly called Nick and told him to meet her there. As the girls headed out of the penthouse and down the stairs, they ran into Zoe coming up.

"Where are you going?" Zoe asked, "I was just coming upstairs to look for you."

"I have an errand to run," Allie said, grabbing her arm and leading her back down the stairs with herself and Effie, adding, "and you're coming with me."

                                                                            ***

"Did you know that some magicians work with big cats?" Allie asked her mom once, to which her mother barely acknowledged as she dug through the fridge for ingredients for dinner; Allie continued, "They use tigers and lions and all kinds of other animals but mostly big cats! Do you think I could ever work with a big cat?"

"Anything's possible baby," her mother said.

Allie looked at the booklet that came with her VHS tape and smiled, seeing a man and a woman - magician and assistant - working with a bengal tiger.

"I'm gonna work with a big cat," Allie whispered.