by P. S. Power
“That's what this place is. A nexus. At some points where this happens beings have set up shops of one kind or another. In other places, where there's no need to hide what it is, there are just offices and embassies. That's what Underwood really is, a bunch of hidden embassies. When this place was discovered Humans already lived all throughout the area however, so a mall was picked as a cover, allowing people to come and go without notice, day and night. Plus it allowed a structure to be built that was the right shape to encompass all of the node points.”
Cold fingers pulled him toward the front again. She unlocked the door again and turned, facing him.
“The world is bigger, much bigger than you Humans know. It contains not just hundreds, but thousands of species all nearly as powerful as mankind. Some more so, some less.
“This place, Underwood, has representatives from several different groups. Vampires, Weres, Mages and more. Each operates a store front where their own kind can come for aid and trade and others can come to have disputes settled, make deals for goods, services and so forth.
“Different groups have different strengths and people go to them for different things. The Demons control the passages better than anyone else, with the Mages coming in second. They both charge through the nose to open and hold a passageway, too. The Demons are so bad that it's better generally to let your people die than to make a bargain with them. That's not their only business, but it's the main reason for them to set up here, specifically. They do manage very good work on clothing here, but go in with cash or gold in hand and don't sign anything if you want to buy something. Pay up front and they have to honor the spoken bargain, but only for goods, so keep that in mind.”
She started pacing and clasped her hands together in front of herself, bouncing them a little as she did. Her long skirt shifting as she moved. He wondered at that, seeing plainly that all of her movements were contrived, a show to set him at ease. He didn't mind, it just didn't make sense, why bother?
“We Vampires deal mainly in world politics, Weres tend to be involved in weapons and warfare. No one knows what the Djinn do really, but they're so powerful that they may not need to really do anything.” She spread her hands as if to say she had no more to share for now.
Zack looked out the front window.
“So each group runs a different place here? The Trolleinkein run the gym, right? What do they do mainly? Other than lift heavy things I mean? They look like they'd be pretty good at that, but I don't know if it would make being here worthwhile, just to move piano's or something.”
Her eyebrows rose a bit.
“They... tend to work as mercenaries. They're very powerful in combat. If one comes for you, it's best to run away and hide, even for my kind. Their sense of smell is as keen as nearly any, so for someone like you, running would be your best bet. Possibly begging. They have a tremendous sense of honor and often won't harm someone too much weaker than themselves. How do you know of them? Their kind are not common knowledge, I don't believe. More to the point I know it's not. Remember I was Human too and have lived in this world for a long time now...”
He shrugged again. “Hilda told me. She works at the Gym. We met at lunch today.”
Claire shook her head at this. “A lovely girl, but not the sharpest tack, I'm afraid. Not if she's sharing such things with a person she just met.”
Zack didn't point out that Claire had just told him a lot more than Hilda had, also having just met him. He wanted her to keep talking and pointing out that it might be a bad idea wouldn't help him.
“So they do the gym, the Succubi and Incubi are at Beautiful Plus, the Weres run a clothing store where Hilda wants to shop, so that's not the Men's store. The Chasm then, most likely. What other groups are there, what do they do?”
“Mr. Hartley... you really need to take care. You have a fine mind on you and a startlingly keen wit, but at the rate you're uncovering secrets some may take offense if you don't play them a bit closer to your chest.” She looked up at him, into his eyes. “Still, as you've already dropped into the nest, you should probably know what kind of things you may be facing. The Djinn are powerful, as I said. They do things with fire that... Well, let's just say I suggest politeness with them at all times. They run the import store. They're fine as long as you don't cheat or cross them.
“The Brer and the tricksters run the Fun Zone. If you have to deal with them, deal as fairly as you can. It may not save you, but sometimes it can. They aren't bad, but if you have things to learn and resist them teaching you, it can get hard, fast. I don't know if I can even explain what it is they actually do. It's nothing Humans easily understand in general, or my kind either. What I can say is that it's best to just go along with what they want, no matter how odd or uncomfortable it sounds at the time.
“There are those from Underhill that work preparing foods for those that eat in the food court. They... don't like my kind much. Which is mainly a political thing, so I can't tell you a lot more about them, except that their ways are strange and they hold to different rules of politeness. Apparently they make good food, I hear tell. They call themselves Alfric. I recommend not calling them anything else.
“The Demons work out of the fine men's shop.” Seeing that mentioning Demons created shuddering and cringing in him, she nodded. “You seem to have the right reaction toward them at least. Don't trust them. Don't deal with them. Let yourself die, let those you love die, before dealing with them in more than the most mundane of matters. Even Humans should know this, but you'd be surprised how often...”
Zack continued to eat as he listened. Since her deeper-self hadn't contradicted any of what she said, that meant truth. Still, he noticed a significant absence in her story.
“What about Princess Pretty Nail? What kind of creatures run that?”
“That is run by a strange race indeed... They combine hard work, skilled craftsmanship and greed in ways seldom seen by the likes of mortal man. They are... Korean women.” Holding her face still her Shadow finally rose up and started laughing.
Zack smiled and after a few moments more Claire did too.
“For some reason they got in on the original charter. They're too popular with the ladies here to get rid of now and they keep to themselves enough not to notice too many strange things. One of the rules of this place, being open to the public as it is, being that everyone has to blend with the locals. It's why there are so few stores here. Most groups can't field enough people to keep a concern going. Or, as with the Mages, few are willing to put in the work, being inclined to laziness as they are. Leaving poor Lisa alone for months at a time like that, even though this area has many of them. She's a good person, if a little too trusting...”
Zack had to nod at that one.
"I know. Did you hear how she hired some guy off the street and then basically left him in charge for nearly two days once? With the keys and everything." He shook his head, but didn't add any sense of irony to it. It was, after all, just the truth.
Reaching out she patted him on the upper arm, letting her cold fingers rest there for a moment before she said goodbye and headed back to her own shop.
She glanced back at him, smiling. It was charming. It was meant to be, and she was decent at making her moves seem real.
Zack went in the back again to look at the contained glow hovering in the air above the carpet. He could just make out where it led, to a stream in a dark place, or so it seemed to him. It felt familiar somehow, in a way that frightened him a little. Enough that he started shaking, even if he didn't feel that frightened consciously. It was odd, his body reacting so obviously while his mind didn't. He shook his head, smiled and forced a laugh. It was just a shortcut, if a weird one.
After a few minutes it occurred to him that he was being paid to work, not uncover mysteries, so he made himself forget about it and went back to cleaning and arranging the shelves.
A hidden embassy? Well, that made... Zack wanted to tell himself it made sense, but that wasn'
t true. It was better than finding out that the place really did sell drugs or fronted stolen goods. Of course, it might also do that, too.
That stuff with Willet Stone hadn't exactly been kosher, had it? Were all Mages like that? Zack had to wonder... He didn't think so, not really. They were probably like most people were. As bad as they could get away with. Having extra powers just meant they could get away with more.
It occurred to him that he hadn't made any plans to get dinner earlier. Luckily he didn't think he'd really need to eat again after all that frozen yogurt and Chinese food he had earlier. Not that day at least. One good thing about the low rations he'd gotten used to was that he didn't have to eat all the time to feel good any more. The extra calories from the frozen yogurt rushed through his system, making him feel a lot stronger and more energetic than he had in a long while.
Zack set to work again, feeling pretty good about things. After all, the Vampire girl he'd seen had turned out to be real. Go figure on that one, right? He'd really expected her to just run away after mentioning her age and stuff. Maybe stopping long enough to call him crazy first, or at least think he was weird. That had worked out a lot better than he could have hoped. She'd even seemed happy enough as she left and not just because of the getting away from him part.
He'd just finished organizing the shelves along the back wall when he heard the front door open again. The sound was normally soft, but something seemed off this time, a feeling that told him something was wrong... and people were anxious. The very air distorted from the anxiety. When he looked up he saw about fifteen, maybe twenty, people coming in and walking toward the back with a sense of purpose.
Lisa waved to him when she caught his eye, summoning him over. She looked bad, like tears had recently been running down her face. Shocked too.
Afraid? That seemed right, but there was no obvious threat yet.
“There's an emergency, I can't explain now... but people will be showing up here soon. We need coffee and something to eat. Donuts or cookies? Can you get that for us? Take money from the till. We should set up a coffee machine, it's going to be a long night.” Then, without saying any more, she turned and led everyone else into the back room.
Chapter five
It took him about five minutes to follow the shortcuts first back to his house and from there go around the corner of the building to Krogers. Which, luckily, stayed open until nine.
Grabbing a cart he looked at coffee makers. For a store that he mainly associated with food, they had a decent number to choose from. As he stood looking at them, Zack realized that the subject of which machine to get was one he personally didn't have the knowledge to handle. He decided that expediency seemed best, since Lisa had said emergency after all. It was probably wasteful, but Zack grabbed two different brands in hopes that one would work.
Then coffee, filters, disposable cups and plates, plastic eating utensils. Half a dozen kind of crackers. The flavored kind so he wouldn't have to bother with dip or spreads. Three dozen donuts, a platter of deli sandwiches and some sodas. Mt. Dew and Coke, for the caffeine and sugar. Then he grabbed four different kinds of readymade creamer, real cream in a big carton, and a box with little packets of sugar. Some people didn't like coffee, Troy had told him that once. He found it hard to understand personally. Hopefully sugary sodas would be a good substitute if it came up for someone like that. He also grabbed a flat of bottled water, the expensive kind, but not mineral water. That stuff tasted horrible. Literally no one liked it. Not even the people that fooled themselves into thinking they did.
At the counter, the woman that rang him up, a twenty-something chubby blonde in glasses with a kind face, asked if he was having a party. She laughed when he shook his head and told her that this was just a light snack. Zack had to correct that almost immediately, because it wasn't true, telling her that it was for work, but the woman laughed anyway. He smiled in a way that he hoped didn't look creepy, and paid in cash, making sure to keep the receipt.
Getting the cart through the shortcuts only got tricky because he had to lead it going through. That meant pulling hard on the cart to get it over the curb in front of the Elm tree across from his house. The thing nearly tipped, being saved mainly due to momentum rather than quick reflexes. From there he was able to start pushing the cart directly into the mall. Toward the closest entrance taking him almost right to the front door of Candles and More at least.
He backed through the store entrance too, to avoid pushing the metal cart against the glass. Breaking that would get him sacked for sure, even if Lisa seemed like a wonderfully kind and understanding person so far. Only three people were in the store's front area, and all seemed to be looking at the candles. One of them had filled a small wicker basket with some plain tea candles. The kind that come in their own little metal cup.
A table in the back room, that just sat in the far left corner was what he picked as the staging area for everything. Zack set up the food and soda first, just putting them out for people to grab as they needed. Then he tried to figure out how to make coffee. It looked like it would be hard at first, since he'd never set up a coffee maker before, or made any for that matter. It turned out to be to be straight forward enough, just plug it in, get water, measure coffee grounds from the bag into a filter, then let it run.
This, somehow, produced coffee. Good to know. Now he had a new skill, and you never knew when even little things might come in handy. He glanced over the table, sensing he'd forgotten something. Zack couldn't see what it might be, but it nagged at him. Something important was missing.
Lisa came out of her office still looking horrible and turned to an older man, though she spoke loud enough for everyone to hear.
“All right, everyone listen up. We have less than four and a half hours to get Jennifer, or else she'll almost certainly be killed. The people that have her are... not... kind to children. Right now we have twenty more people incoming, but even with that it will take us nearly a day to collect enough power in order to punch a hole through to her probable location. That's about a thousand miles from here, in California, near San Diego. If we can get him there, we've contracted Master Wu-Li for the actual extraction. He'll lead anyone willing to go in. If you have skills in that area or know someone who does, let us know. If anyone has any ideas, anything at all, now is the time to share.”
Her voice had a rough edge to it. Her Shadow stood muttering, help, help, over and over again. Circles showed under her eyes that weren't there earlier. She looked up, saw Zack, and walked over.
“I'm sorry... I just walked in and barked orders at you. It's not your job to get us food... I don't even know if you have a car. If you need a ride, we can find someone to take you to the store to get...” The table loaded with food, coffee and soda caught her eye. “Or not... That was... fast work, we just got here...” The blonde woman looked puzzled, shaking her head a little after a few seconds, trying to clear it. “Anyway, if you could watch the front until nine, that would be great. Thanks.” She sounded so lost to Zack that he wanted to hug her, but knew it wouldn't help right then. Plus, that might not be socially appropriate. He didn't know the protocol for situations like this. Were you supposed to hug people in emergencies? How would that help?
Zack saw her stiffen as a soft sobbing came from her office.
Shadow Lisa turned to him. I failed her. I failed Beth. I said we'd guard her daughter and we didn't do it. I didn't do it. If Jennifer dies it's my fault. My fault for failing, as sure as if I killed her myself.
Then she turned and walked toward her office, setting her shoulders and face carefully before opening the door.
At that moment Zack noticed his own failure, what he'd forgotten. Napkins. He could run back to the store of course, that would take him out of the store front where he might be needed. Instead he headed to the YoGurt shop to see if he could borrow some instead.
“Claire, could I...” Except Claire didn't stand there.
A tall, good looking man with
brown hair and light eyes, probably blue, did instead. He smiled charmingly at Zack.
“I'm not Claire, but maybe I can help you instead? You're Zack Hartley right? From across the way?” He smiled, showing no hint of fang. A slight tint to his skin showed that he had probably fed recently, if that's what that rosy glow meant at least. That plus his Shadow rubbing his stomach contentedly, saying, Don't worry, I'm full right now.
“Good, glad you're not hungry... Can I possibly borrow some napkins? We have an emergency going on and I forgot to get any from the store. The emergency doesn't have anything to do with napkins, I just forgot them at the store....anyway if I could...”
The man dashed around the counter with good speed, reached down and grabbed three foot long bundle of white wrapped in plastic. “Here you go. Back to your emergency. I'm Keane, I'll be here most of the night, so come get me if you need more of anything.”
“Thanks. I'll bring back whatever is left as soon as possible, probably tomorrow.” Zack did his own dashing now. Not as fast as the Vampire had, of course, but fast enough. He hit the door quickly and headed toward the back again. He situated a nice pile of napkins next to the coffee cups and plates, another next to the donuts and sandwiches. Then he put a small wastebasket next to the table.
Finding no need to stand in the back with everyone else and mill about, he decided that the front made more sense for him. That was his job after all. Being a clerk was what he got paid for. It had just turned eight, and a few people looked like they might actually be ready to purchase something.
He sat on the chair behind the counter, a stool with a back on it rather than a regular chair, so whoever sat in it would be visible all the time. Zack didn't know what else to do. No one seemed to really be buying anything after all. They just milled in and out of the store, unfortunately.