I give Blake a pitying look, "For the third and final time, Blake, there is no such bloody thing as magic!" I shouted and stalked off toward the shelves. Maybe there was a manual for this thing somewhere.
"Come on, man!" Blake shouted after me, "What could it hurt to try?"
"Sandy!" I shouted back, "Smack Blake for me, and tell him he's being an idiot..."
Smack, "Ow!"
"You're being an idiot," I turned back toward the pair, expecting to to see Blake holding his empty head and Sandy looking pleased with herself. Blake was indeed holding his empty head defensively, but Sandy didn't look pleased. She looked terrified, "Cal..." she started, eyes welling up with tears.
"Very funny, guys" I said.
"Yeah," Sandy said, trying to hide her fear without much success, "Haha. Funny joke, right? We got you good didn't we? Yeah hehe... can I take off the ring now?"
"Sure, whatever" I replied distractedly. She tugged at the ring. No dice. "Hmm... still nothing. Come out here under the skylight and lets have a better look."
Sandy walked around the counter and approached me in the pool of sunlight, looking increasingly freaked, "Cal..."
"Sandy, enough of this nonsense," I said testily, "Fun's fun, but stop screwing around. Tell me the truth, are you seriously unable to disobey me?"
"I am seriously unable to disobey you" she replied, matter-of-factly, the terror disappearing from her voice for a moment. Then it came back double as she clamped her hands over her mouth.
"No way..." Blake said, awestruck, as he approached.
I stared at her. "Jump up and down." She did. "Walk around me in a circle one time." She did. "Open your purse and hand me the 20 bucks you owe me,"
"I don't owe you any money, Cal." She said. We'd had this argument before. But all the same, she retrieved her wallet and handed me a 20 dollar bill.
My head hurt. I'd always said that as a true skeptic, I'd accept magic if presented with evidence. Evidence was now standing 2 feet away waiting for orders. "Blake...?"
"Yeah Cal," he said, eyes glued to Sandy.
"Looks like I owe you an apology. Apparently magic is real. Now lets get the fuck out of here before we get ourselves killed. Sandy, take off the r--"
"WAIT!" Blake interjected. He moved between me and Sandy, speaking in a low, conspiratorial register, "Think about this, man..."
I blinked audibly, "Think about what?"
"You sure you wanna tell her to take that ring off?"
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