Curses: The Danger of Witches [A Modern Tale of Magic & Mayhem]

Chapter 1 - The Dangers of Partying

DOING HIS BEST TO HIDE , Obi walked over to the drinks table and picked up his second beer. Why he hadn't just turned around and told the others he couldn't come he had no idea, but he hadn't so he was stuck now. It wasn't a huge party, but it was big enough that there were people all over the place, none of whom he knew, and he was getting a bit sick of people who thought they knew him.

To top it all off it was a costume party.

Not that Obi had any clue why their record label was having a costume party in the middle of June, but who was he to argue with the higher ups. They were publicising their new album, so moronic events were par for the course.

Everyone else was dressed up except him. Kit had been buzzing about the whole thing for weeks just because of that particular point. If there was one thing Kit loved, it was dressing up. Their enthusiastic singer had even decided to dress all of them as well and Troy and Georgie were dutifully wandering around in their costumes. However, there had been an accident with Obi's. He was supposed to have been dressed as an authentic-ish cowboy, but the costumers had messed up and sent a child's Lone Ranger outfit instead.

This meant that Obi was the only person at the party in his normal clothes. He was really fed up of people asking him what he had come as. For the last half an hour he had taken to telling everyone he was a clone of himself.

Could you ask the barman for a glass of red wine for me, please?

Obi turned to find that Kit was standing right behind him. He did a double take for the tenth time that evening. Kit had come to the party as a vampire because Kit had certain obsessions and that was one. As far as Obi could tell he had been causing the whole room to fall at his feet all evening. Even Obi had been having a little trouble because Kit was really playing up the androgynous thing.

Kit's outfit consisted of black breaches, a long, thigh length black jacket, white poet's shirt, and knee-high leather boots. He had done his hair down, pulling it back in a loose ponytail with a black ribbon and allowing tufts to fall around his face. The pale makeup, dark eyes, and red lips finished the whole thing off, along with a custom-made pair of fangs that showed whenever Kit smiled.

Before he could find himself staring again, Obi leant over the table and asked the guy serving the non-bottled drinks for a red wine. He knew that Kit wasn't overly fond of red wine, but as ever, a role was a role and Kit was playing it to the full.

Thanks, Kit said with a bright smile when he handed his friend the drink. Have you seen Troy? He said he was just going to the loo, but that was half an hour ago.

He probably met a pretty girl, Obi pointed out.

Kit pouted.

He's supposed to be playing up to his costume, Kit complained, the least he could do is try.

This is Troy, Obi said with a small shrug, did you really expect anything else.

Kit gave a little huff.

No, I suppose not, Kit replied, taking a sip of his red wine.

Troy was the only one who had resisted the idea of Kit being allowed to dress them. While Obi and Georgie had bowed to the inevitable, Troy had been stubborn. That was until he had been goaded into a bet by Kit and lost. Obi couldn't help smiling as he remembered the conversation where Kit had taken revenge for being rejected and declared that Troy was going to the party as a virgin. To say Troy had been unimpressed was an understatement, especially when Kit had extracted a promise out of his best friend to play the role for at least the first bit of the party.

That meant that Troy was somewhere in the area wearing sinfully tight white jeans, a white t-shirt of normal proportions, white trainers, and a purity ring on his finger. Given Troy’s reputation as the playboy of the band, it was utterly hilarious.

When they had arrived, Troy had played the role just like Kit had wanted, but Obi doubted very much that Troy could have kept it up for more than a few minutes.

How about Georgie, I haven't seen her in ages either? Kit continued while glancing around the room.

Oh, she's around somewhere, Obi replied, most likely lurking in a dark corner so she can scare the crap out of someone. Her you got spot on; she's having a blast with that ninja outfit.

Kit positively beamed and Obi scored himself a point for putting Kit back in a good mood.

They had all been under a lot of pressure lately and Kit's normally bubbly exterior had been beginning to show a few cracks. He was pretty sure that Troy had lost the bet with Kit deliberately so Troy could make his best friend happy without having to admit he'd done it willingly. He knew that he himself had enjoyed the delight with which Kit had picked out all their costumes. When Kit was happy it was infectious. The whole thing had done them all good.

It's a shame the costume shop messed up your outfit, Kit said giving him the up and down, you'd have made a really good cowboy.

Obi wasn't so sure, but he smiled anyway.

But a really bad Lone Ranger, he replied, trying to keep the tone light, especially since the most I could get in the costume was a foot.

That made Kit grin.

Might have given Dorian a heart attack, Kit commented and laughed.

Their manager was a long-suffering sort, but Obi could just imagine the headlines.

Might have won me the bet to see which of us can make Sven blush first though, he said with a grin of his own.

Sven was six foot four, all muscle and the head of their security. He was not a man to blush easily. They had made it into something of a game.

Obi was just trying to decide if there were any good lurking places where he wouldn’t have to deal with idiots for a while when the evening decided to go downhill.

Someone barged into Kit from behind and before Kit could do anything, or Obi could leap to the rescue, the large glass of red wine was sailing through the air. It was one of those times when everything went terribly slowly while disaster approached. He couldn't do anything to stop it. The wine launched in a huge arc and plastered some poor woman in a white dress from neck to ankle.

She was facing away from them, spinning on the spot with a screech.

I'm so sorry, Kit began apologising immediately, but Obi knew it was a lost cause, he had taken one look at the woman's eyes.

Kit began babbling at high speed, trying to explain that someone had pushed him, but the woman was clearly not listening.

A curse on you and those closest to you, she finally yelled, before spinning on the spot again and stalking towards the exit.

Kit looked like a