by Gabi Moore
“Here,” he said and pointed to a store on the map. “It’s a pharmacy called The Alchemist Shop. The Elemental Grandmaster has to reside there. Makes sense when you consider alchemy was the ancient science of purification of material matter.”
“I thought the alchemists were trying to find a way to make gold,” Emily said. She continued to keep the progress of the ghouls under observation.
“That was what they told everyone. It was a way to get royal patronage while you continued your work. They attempted to understand the basic forces of the universe with the materials they had with them. Sometimes it was a quest for the philosopher’s stone or the universal solvent. Sometimes it was internal and the ‘great work’ would change them as much as it changed the object of their experiments.”
“It appears to be on the opposite side of the restaurants,” Lilly said, “if that’s what is supposed to be here. Funny, I count three restaurants on this map across from it; I thought there were only two…”
“Number three is for werewolves,” Dion told her, “you’re not supposed to know it’s there. It looks like a short walk down the concourse, so let’s go.”
Dion rolled the map up and tied it with the leather strand Mr. Jehuti gave him when he was handed the map. They began walking in the direction of the pharmacy. Naturally, their path took them on a collision course with the ghouls.
Chapter 5
Three of the ghoul cleaners were directly in front of the trio as they headed to the pharmacy. However, this time of day the mall was crowded with shoppers who wanted to take advantage of the early shopping.
Two of the ghouls put their brooms down and glared at Dion and his friends as they walked past them. The ghouls didn’t dare interfere with them, as it would alert the other shoppers. Emily could see the rage in their faces as they walked past them. The ghouls had attempted to close in on them by stealth, but now they walked past them. There was nothing the elemental creatures could do about it.
Emily smiled at the ghoul cleaner as she walked by him. She could see him twist the broom handle in his hands as they went past.
“It won’t be so easy the next time,” Dion said to his friends. “They tried stealth to put a stop to me this time. Next time they’ll be more aggressive.”
“I don’t see what they can do to slow you down,” Lilly told him. “Imagine the bad publicity if a mall shopper is jumped by the janitorial staff. The papers will be full of stories and the county will launch an investigation. What happens when they find the ghouls living in the subbasement? I don’t think they want it to happen.”
“They may look slow and stupid,” Dion warned them, “but they’re out of their environment. They’ve managed to survive outside for thousands of years by avoiding contact with humans. They have all kinds of ways to get back at us. So long as we’re in the mall, they are fighting on their own territory. Keep that in mind.”
Soon the pharmacy loomed ahead. It was directly across from them in a few minutes. It was also next to one of the mall theaters.
The Alchemist Shop was a small pharmacy, which was easy to miss from the outside. The exterior had few glass windows and only one entrance, which was behind a closed door. Unlike most of the mall shops, this place had a reason to restrict traffic from the inside and out. There was only one sign on the exterior, which proclaimed it to be a “Full service pharmacy” and a smaller one which promised “Compounding on premises”.
“It has those colored water glass things,” Emily observed as they stood outside and looked at it. “You can tell it’s a pharmacy.”
“I suspect the Elemental Grandmaster wants it that way,” Dion said. “He or she has plenty of customers who come to him or her alone, I would guess. No reason to advertise the presence to just anyone.”
“At least we’re here,” Emily said. “Now let’s go inside and see what the deal is with you receiving these powers. Maybe I’ll even go home early.”
The moment she spoke, there was a commotion in from the lobby next door. They turned and watched as twelve ghoul cleaners emerged from the lobby with floor polishers, vacuum cleaners, mops, brooms and rags. As they stood and watched, the ghouls set up a barricade right outside the pharmacy and began to clean. In minutes, the floor polishers ran at full speed and the ghouls were busy with glass cleaning and doing what they could to remove every speck of dirt in front of the pharmacy. They parted to allow a few confused customers to leave the pharmacy, but prevented anyone from entering it. At no time did any of the ghouls speak to each other or the shoppers. It appeared they had a way to communicate which did not involve sound.
“I have to give them credit for planning,” Dion said to his friends. “Still, they can’t block the entrance to the pharmacy forever. Eventually they’ll have to move on. Even Officer Karanzen won’t tolerate this kind of behavior for long.”
“Yeah, but what do we do in the meantime?” Emily asked him. “We can’t sit out here all day waiting for them to move.’
“The restaurants,” Lilly pointed out behind them. “We can go to one of them. Shouldn’t be much trouble. We can go have dinner and hope they’ll be gone by the time we’re finished. Maybe we can get a table near the window and keep watch on them.”
They all agreed this was as good an idea as any of them had. The ghouls weren’t moving, but eventually the Elemental Grandmaster would make them leave the front of his or her pharmacy. Dion and his friends couldn’t wait all day so they turned to the restaurants behind them.
“We have two choices,” Dion said to Lilly and Emily. “Chinese or this New Orleans place.”
“Never ate New Orleans style before,” Emily said. I vote in favor of it.”
The other two agreed and they walked to the entrance.
Baron Sam’s New Orleans Chicken didn’t appear to be very big from the outside. They were disappointed to see there was no window that looked at the pharmacy across the hallway. The trio stopped and looked at the menu outside the restaurant, which was posted for all to see. The prices appeared to be quite reasonable so they pushed the door open and went inside.
Inside, the restaurant was decorated for Mardi Gras. Colorful beads decorated the interior and vinyl masks lined the walls. The interior was designed to resemble some place off Canal Street with French influenced architecture built into it. They stopped and took it all in for a few minutes until someone came up to them.
“Greetings!” a loud voice said to them. “I am Baron Sam and I rule here!”
They turned to face a tall black man who wore a top hat. He handed each of them menus and asked them if they’d ever been inside his establishment before.
“I don’t believe so,” Dion told him. “At least not me. I don’t think any of my friends have ever been here either. I see you specialize in New Orleans food?”
“Yes,” he laughed again. “We serve food from Louisiana and also from Haiti. Have you ever tried blackened catfish? It is one of our specialties?” Baron Sam quickly found them a table and had a waiter bring them water.
Through the PA system Dixieland jazz music played. From one wall extended the branches of a tree with imitation Spanish moss. Dion expected to see a fog machine unleash a mist at some point. The girls took it all in and looked at the set-up before them. After reading the menu, they made their order.
Before the food was served, Baron Sam came back to see them. “Excuse me,” he asked them. “Did you by chance visit the bookstore down the concourse? It’s run by a relative of mine and he let me know three young people who fit your description might come by.”
“In fact,” Dion said to him. “We were just there before we came here. He gave me a special map I needed to find my way around the hidden sections of the mall.”
“Ah, you must be the young man on the quest. This explains those cleaners out in front of the pharmacy. The lady who owns it is Athena West and you will need to see her. I’ve been on the phone already with the mall management and told them to get the cleaning crew moved. Not o
nly are they causing people to avoid the pharmacy, but customers will also stay away from this side of the mall when they see all of them outside. People will just assume some kind of disaster has taken place and won’t go near here.”
“So you must know about who the cleaners are,” Emily said to him. “Have they always used ghouls to take care of the building maintenance?”
“Ever since the mall opened,” he told them. “They are normally spread through all sections, but they have their base of operations out of this part of the mall because it’s the element which governs them. I know the management threatens them all the time with gnome replacements if they have problems. However, today is the first time I’ve ever had to deal with them doing anything unusual. I’m guessing they really don’t want you to meet up with Mrs. West.”
“They’ve stalked me earlier in the day,” Dion explained. “They know I’ll be able to bind them if the Earth Element Grandmaster bestows her powers on me. But I really don’t know what they have to worry about.”
“They don’t want to lose their place in here,” the man explained. “The ghouls have no desire to hiding out around graveyards and forced to avoid humans. They’ll do just about anything to stay away from the way they used to live. Personally, I think the mall management takes advantage of them, but they don’t seem to mind the arrangement. At least for now.”
The food arrived and they finished their chicken dinner in less than half an hour. Dion had money with him that day and paid for all their meals. It was delicious food and they complemented Baron Sam on his cooking. He thanked them and quickly handed the trio change so he could return to the kitchen. As they left, Lilly could hear him barking out orders in Creole to the cooks in the kitchen.
The ghouls were still outside blocking the entrance to the pharmacy. They seemed to have an attitude that they could wait there as long as anyone else could. The three friends stood there and watched them continue to polish and clean the floor outside the pharmacy. Anytime anyone would attempt to enter it, they would stare at them and shake their heads.
“Can I have a look at that map?” Emily asked Dion. “Maybe I can figure out a way out of this mess.”
“You can try,” he told her while handing it over to her. “But I don’t see how you’ll have any better luck than I did. Remember, it’s all written in Coptic.”
“Whatever,” she said as she untied the scroll and spread it out on a nearby table. “I can figure it out from the layout. I scored the highest in my class on mechanical reasoning. I have a good head when it comes to abstract reasoning too.”
As the others sat down at the table with her, she traced a hand down the corridors and concourses marked on the scroll. “Funny thing,” she said, “not only does this map list a restaurant which isn’t supposed to be here, but it shows a separate service entry for it too.”
“I guess the werewolves don’t want it obvious what they serve,” Lilly said to her. “I’m sure it would cause all kinds of trouble with the health board.”
“Look,” she said while pointing out a few other eating establishments on the map. “If this means the same thing, there are at least five places scattered through this mall which are restaurants, but aren’t open to the general public. This one is pretty big and looks like some kind of a cafeteria. But why is it located in the basement?”
Dion looked at the map with her. “It’s for the ghouls. I’m guessing they don’t want anyone around to see what they’re eating. When you consider they have the same nutrient requirements that a vulture has, it makes sense. I’m sure the smell must be horrible down there.”
“But not to the ghouls,” Lilly said as she looked at it with her friends. “It probably gets a very different response from them.”
“Now that is something we can use,” Dion said as if he’d just had and epiphany.
“What do you mean?” Lilly asked him.
“All we have to do is find some roadkill outside to distract the ghouls. Shouldn’t be too hard with all the cars speeding past the mall.”
“Yuck,” Emily turned her face in disgust and tossed her blond hair over one shoulder. “You can go find some roadkill and bring it inside; I’ll try and locate another path around the ghouls.”
They looked at the map for another ten minutes, but nothing emerged that made any sense. The ghouls continued to block the front of the pharmacy and acted as if they were doing some kind of advanced cleaning. Anyone who approached them found a reason to leave after they glared in response. Even with the sunglasses on, the ghouls could be imposing.
“If they are paralyzed by strong light,” Lilly said, “might there be a way to direct some powerful sunlight on them and get through to the Earth Grandmaster?”
“Where are we going to find the arc lights?” Dion said. “You have to rent those things and I have no idea where we’d find one.”
“Get a mirror of some kind and shine it in their direction?” Lilly suggested as she continued to search through the map. “It might blind them long enough to get past.”
“Same issue,” Dion said. “We have to find one. Where would you find a mirror large enough to shine light on the whole group? In addition, there is the problem of finding a beam of intense enough sunlight to direct in their direction. I don’t see one handy.”
They continued to stare in the direction of the ghoul cleaning crew who returned their gazes with contempt.
At one point, the owner of the pharmacy opened the door and walked out to confront the ghoulish crew in front of the store. This had to be the Athena West, The Earth Grandmaster, they realized, although they could only see her from a distance. She stepped out and nearly slammed the door behind her.
“So this is why we haven’t had any business in the last hour,” the woman thundered at them. “Can’t you finish up whatever you are doing and move on? Look, I have bills to pay and you need to get this wrapped up.”
The ghouls stopped working but continued to stand in place. Finally, the storeowner realized they blocked the entrance to her pharmacy for a reason.
“Oh, trying to keep someone from coming to me for elemental help, is that it?” she said. “Do you have any idea what I can do if you keep this charade up? All it takes is one phone call to the center and you will all be scampering under the moonlight trying to survive. You have fifteen minutes and if you aren’t gone, I will go directly to the mall manager.”
She stood there and maintained the standoff.
The pharmacy owner was a tall woman, who appeared to be of African ancestry. Dion stood there and thought he’d never seen a woman so black in all his life. She was the color of anthracite coal in a mine at midnight. He didn’t think it was possible to make a person so dark in complexion. She wore a lab coat over a short dress and had a pair of boots, which were made from tooled brown Moroccan leather. Her hair was teased out but tied back by a black wrap that descended down to her shoulders. She was tall and had to be a good six foot two in height, and the boots she wore made her appear that much taller.
“Fifteen minutes, you hear me?” she said to the ghouls. “You are gone in fifteen minutes or else.” The door shut hard behind her as she returned to the pharmacy.
“That’s her!” Dion said to his friends. “It has to be the Earth Element Grandmaster! She matches the description on the map! And Baron Sam told us about her!”
“What description?” Emily said to him as she rolled the map up. “I didn’t see one.”
“It’s there if you read Coptic. And I felt the power from her. Didn’t you?”
“Oh, I felt something all right,” Lilly said, “but it was mostly her wrath.”
“If she’s the Elemental Grandmaster,” Emily said, “then why don’t we just go over and meet her? The heck with those idiots trying to keep us away from the pharmacy.”
Still carrying the map, Emily leaped up from the table and walked in the general direction of the pharmacy. Dion and Lilly tried to say something, but her mind was made-up. Emily had a r
eputation for being headstrong and nothing was about to stop her from going in the direction of the ghoul cleaning crew.
She got as far as the first line of the ghoul crew.
Before he could do a thing, Dion watched Emily being grabbed by two of the ghouls. It wasn’t so obvious as to attract the attention of the shoppers. They were incredibly organized and coordinated, better than he ever thought possible.
The first ghoul acted as if he was ready to let her pass. Emily ignored him and walked right into the middle of the ghoul assembly as another ghoul innocently dropped a bucket of water in front of her. Emily stopped at the puddle, which formed in the floor as another ghoul took her by the shoulders and pushed her in the direction of yet another one. She started to say something but the final ghoul grabbed her by the shoulder as the one before him took the other shoulder and walked her to the nearest service exit. The doors swung behind them as they vanished into it. The remaining ghouls finished cleaning the floors and fixtures, picked up their cleaning implements and followed their brethren into the service corridor.
The entire episode took less than thirty seconds.
Lilly looked at Dion in disbelief. “What are we going to do? They just kidnapped Emily!”
Chapter 6
“We’ve got to stop them!” Dion said and began fast walking to the service corridor, just in time to be confronted by officer Karanzen and four of his security guards.
The guards materialized out of nowhere, blocking him as he approached the service door and stopped both him and Lilly from walking further.
“Bella, Bert, Bayer and Izzy,” Dion said to them as he remembered their names. “Let me guess, you ran out of B’s and had to make with a last minute replacement?”
“Check this out,” Bert said, his bad breath already assaulting the nose of Dion. “The kid remembers our names. We have a real smarty here.”