Mark and his friends went to the nearest diner that Luis’s recommended. He said that the burgers there were “the bomb”. When they arrived at the diner, they went to a corner table so they could talk about what happened in privacy.

After they ordered their lunch, Melissa made a comment on Mark’s new weight.

“When did this happened?” Melissa gestured at his body

“What do you mean?” Mark acted innocently.

“What do you mean what do I mean?! This! This!” Melissa still pointing at his body. “You’re as cute as a button before and if you lose a few more pounds, you’ll be as hot as a button on a leather jacket!”

“Yeah, it’s weird! Just a couple of days ago he was still so fat!” Sam said.

“Are you doing drugs to lose weight? That’s very bad for you! I have a friend who did it and now she looks like one of those zombies from the walking dead.” Melissa said while taking the plates of food from the waitress and distributing it to the gang.

Mark took his hamburger and made a huge bite. “I just followed a secret meal and exercise plan that I paid so much money for. I even signed a NDA! I was even told to not tell anybody because they only find clients themselves and not by referral.”

“I call bullshit! How many pounds did you lose in just a few days? Fifty?!”

“That’s about right. And in a few days I’ll be so fit I can be an Influencer!” Mark boasted even though he actually lost about seventy pounds.

“What! I need that plan! Give me, give me!” Melissa shouted.

“Don’t Melissa! It’s questionable.”

“You shush Sam! Mark please!” Melissa wheedled.

Mark apologized to Melissa and told her that he really cannot divulge any information. He felt a bit sorry for the story that he concocted about his weight lost.

“Why do want that plan anyhow? You look great!” Mark said to Melissa while looking at her body .

“I know I look great but I can look better!”

‘What, do you want to look like those over skinny bitches on TikTok? Yuck!”

Everybody laughed then after a while Luis mentioned what happened in the warehouse.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

“Don’t you find it weird? One moment, I felt like I was being poisoned to death for like a couple of seconds then suddenly I felt like something was leeching out the poison and healing me.”

“Yeah I know! One moment it hurt so much and then it suddenly felt so comfortable.” Sam said while chewing his burger.

“It’s all so mysterious! Maybe it’s a bruja? Remember, Sam we had this Aunt, well she was just a friend of mother, her name, I think was Ines, yeah that’s right, Tia Ines. I was so scared of her when we were back in the village in Mexico. There were rumors that she had mysterious witchcraft magic and everybody was respectful of her.”

“Yeah, I remember her. When we were kids, the both of us and mom were walking back home from the market and we were with Tia Ines. We went through a shortcut because it was getting dark and it’s like a jungle. Then we heard loud rustling at the top of the trees that sounded like something was following us from above the canopies. I remember Tia Ines stopped walking, looked above where the rustling were and said “irse”. The noise stopped and we just walked home.”

Melissa gasped. “Yeah, I remember that! I asked mom what made the noises and mom jokingly said it’s El Chupacabra and that Tia Ines drove it away.”

Luis then said, “Tia Ines is not a bruja. She’s just a very forceful woman.”

“You’re not there! I felt something different from her when it happened. Like she was not just saying go away. It was as if there were something more when she said it.” Sam said.

“Whatever she is, she’s not bad.” Luis insisted. She actually helped me and my mom when my father died.

“Were not actually saying she’s bad or anything. It’s just that she has something, I don’t know, more.” Melissa said.

Sam then pointed at Mark, “Actually, Mark has it now as well.”

“What? The something “more”? Yes, I have that. I am now more handsome.”

Sam and Luis laughed while Melissa threw a tissue at him.

Mark then asked what their plans were and if the thugs would cause anymore problems with them. Luis replied that more than likely that was the end of it since they did get the money. Sam then said that he will be bringing Melissa with him to Ventura so she can lay low for a while. Luis said that he would stay since he was not really involved with the issue. After eating, Luis parted with them and went home

Mark then mentioned that he would like to go to the nearest Costco to purchase some things to bring to Sam and Melissa’s parents for a quick visit before returning home. Sam said that he should not bother since he already spent enough money but Mark insisted.

After a short visit to Sam and Melissa’s parents, they mentioned to them that Melissa would be coming to stay for a while with Sam because he needed some help with a project. His father then asked what kind of project. Sam mentioned it was an online paying project asking to download media content like anime and stuff. As usual, when they heard anime, their eyes just glazed and then just said to not do anything illegal.

They bade goodbye and the three drove back to Ventura. While Sam was driving back home, Mark contemplated on what happened with the thugs earlier. He knew that his spells were not suitable to be used on regular life since most of them were showy. Even the healing spells that he had were highly noticeable. He also noticed that he tended to go directly to using spells instead of doing anything physical. He forgot that he was twice as strong as a regular person because of his stats but fortunately he did since nobody really got hurt. He imagined that if he scuffled with the thugs, the least they could have gotten were probably bruises.