by P. S. Power
Hope.
Chapter twenty-one
Of course, before he did anything else, Zack sort of needed to see if he could find Detective McKenzie. The plan had been for him to get to go to a bunch of places, but life, as it often did, had gotten in the way. That meant, no doubt, hours, or even days of searching, looking for the man...
Except that when Zack stepped through, along with Eve, who'd come just for the heck of it, the man was sitting almost exactly where he'd left him. About fifteen feet away, up against a white wall that looked a bit like it might be made of plastic. When the man saw him, he jumped to his feet, his face having not been shaved for days, and the fellow dearly needing a bath.
The idea, most likely, was to charge him, possibly to do some real damage. At least he bellowed and started to pull his right hand back, stopping only when Eve took a step toward him, aggressively.
"I wouldn't try it. If you do, I will mess you up." As threats went it really should have gotten no more than a smile from the man, but it was pretty clear that Zack, and therefore Eve, weren't his first intended victims. Someone had beaten him pretty soundly already.
From the different sizes of the wounds, it was three different people, all at different times, and at least one of them had been tiny. Those fist imprints looked to be the freshest.
"I'll kill you!" He moved again, so Zack slowly pulled the not overly large cheerleader out of the way, gently, to protect the man. He limped as he covered the distance between them, which meant that it took a lot longer than it should have. "Kill you!"
The fight, well, Zack actually felt bad about it. The whole thing was sad, since the man clearly thought that he'd been drugged and was being held captive. By Zack, too, so he couldn't even just take the fellow home and have him committed, or sent out to find the real kidnappers. To his mind, it was Zack.
Which, he reflected, was actually right. He had done that, hadn't he?
Still, the man barely managed to slap at him and didn't have a firearm, meaning that someone else had taken it, most likely. His spare and throwaway weapons too. It really was a bit like fighting a handicapped child, which left him feeling like he was doing something wrong.
After knocking him to the ground, hard, Zack decided to give him one more chance to fix himself. If he couldn't, or wouldn't, then... Well, Zack could just toss him into the middle of the ocean, and let him drown. Or into an underground lava pit. Either would work. It wasn't what he wanted to do though.
"Detective, I need to ask you some questions. Please answer honestly. Or, really, lie convincingly enough. Either will work for me in this." He waited, and the man glared, but did it from the ground, not even sitting up yet. "Great. Are Vampires real?"
He'd been told it was true, by an authority figure. At least one person that had beaten him was one too. The warping on the man was faint, but clear enough to show that he'd been hit several times by one. Zack waited, feeling hopeful, but the man disappointed. It was very sad. Enough so that he had to fight the feeling back, so he wouldn't just give in and let the man go.
"That horse crap again? There's no such thing as Vampires, Elves, or Fairies, unless we're talking about your boyfriend, of course." The last bit was said to Eve, who rolled her eyes, not bothering to hide how she felt.
"Great, so stupid and a homophobe? Listen dickweed, when someone suggests that you try to lie, that means they're probably trying to help you. So, Vampires are real, right? It isn't hard. Say it... It begins with a 'Y'..." She looked both bitter and hopeful for a few seconds, then threw her hands out when the man muttered something that sounded a lot more like "fucking cunt" than "why, yes, Vampires, I know them well."
She turned to Zack and shook her head.
"I tried. Well, let's kill him and get rid of the body. We need to pick that carefully, so there won't be traces. Maybe we could find a landfill first? March him out at night and cap him there?" She grimaced, seeming to mean it. "I... don't have a gun on me. I left mine at home, hidden so that it wouldn't be taken away." Her fingers snapped, the sound making McKenzie twitch, violently. "I know, let's find out where bigfoot lives and leave him there for a few decades. I bet that changes his mind."
Zack froze for a few seconds, and then realized that he'd actually been there before. The trip he needed to make would be an interesting one, but he thought he might be able to do it. Of course it was dumping his problems on the Trolleinkein, but they could use him as a teddy bear, or a child's toy. Then, when he was ready, Zack could get a message to come pick him up.
"All right. We'll do that."
Eve smiled, and looked shocked.
"Wait, Bigfoot is real? How awesome is that? Can I meet one? Should we take something to trade with them? That's a thing. I read about it online."
That, actually, was a good point. A nice big load of exotic foods might work. As a people the ones he knew needed to eat a lot, and had trouble getting enough. It might work, anyway. The thing there was, as soon as they marched the rather troubled and slightly seedy looking Police Detective out of the book store, he stopped and blinked, looking around as if he wasn't half insane or drugged to the gills.
"Wait..." There was a general stopping of forward motion, and Eve actually stopped walking, turning to look at him. Ready to fight, if she had to.
That part was fun to watch, Zack decided. Oh, the girl wasn't some great martial arts master, and wouldn't be able to take even an injured and disoriented man in a fight, not unless she was well armed, but that wouldn't stop her from trying really hard, if it came to it. It would almost be worth letting it happen, just to see the results. Except that he knew them already.
If anything started, McKenzie would die, right then and there. Eve was one of his people now. Technically so was the Detective, living inside his territory, as he did, but that didn't mean he'd be allowed to get away with being a moron. Not forever.
The man actually surprised him then.
"I don't... want to live with Bigfoot." He sounded slightly confused, and a little sad at the idea.
Zack slowed and turned, well out of the fellows arm's reach. Then he nodded, trying to get the man to show something, anything, approaching thought. Crumbs would be enough, if he'd just do it and not stubbornly refuse to see reality.
"Really? So you can admit that Bigfoot might be real enough that you don't want to live with him? Or, in this case, them?" He didn't coach the man however, since that time had passed. He wasn't an imbecile, just mentally crippled. Unable to really know what was around him.
But if he was willing to pretend hard enough, it could still work.
It was pretty much how Troy got through the day, after all, and he was making it work for himself pretty well.
The Detective grunted.
"Everyone knows that Bigfoot is real. It's just the other stuff that doesn't make sense. Vampires? Elves?"
Eve pushed the man, getting one of the lone real shoppers, a woman with a pink stroller and several bags from different shops, to glare at her, as if the girl were being mean. Which she was, a little.
"Right, but can you make yourself believe? Zack isn't saying you have to be perfect, just willing not to make problems. I think. Is that right?" She looked over at him, giving the Detective enough time to try and push her back, or run off, if he wanted. That didn't happen, but it was still too big of a gap, if she was going to be a Vampire someday. They fought often enough that letting her guard down wasn't going to work in the long term.
"That's right. Can you pretend well enough to get along with people you think of as delusional? Harmless, really..." It was so far from true that he had to use magic and a lot of focus not to smile about it, but Zack schooled his face in time to seem earnest, and not like a clown.
A freaky, scary clown.
"Um... If it means I don't end up abandoned in the woods with Bigfoot? I guess... This isn't real." He was definite on that point. He knew what reality was. The man was simply wrong. Most people were though, and no matter what they di
d, couldn't really change that about themselves. It was enough if he could just learn to avoid them all.
That might not work in the long run, but it was worth a shot. After all, like he'd just been thinking, McKenzie was one of his people. Geography was a thing too, after all.
"All right, come this way then. Eve, take the rear and don't let him run off? We're headed to the yogurt shop."
That didn't take long, since it was only about fifty meters away, if on the other side of the main hallway. The place was brightly lit up, and both Edom and Lenore were there, since it was just about shift change. It was strange, but his girlfriend actually ran around the counter and held him, much like Kaitlyn had done.
She gushed less, seeming a bit less surprised to see him.
"Zack! With new friends too? I missed you. You've been gone for days..." There were a hundred questions in the words, buried inside them, which he could feel pouring out of the Vampire woman. His Vampire woman. Zack kissed her, gently.
When the soft and rather friendly thing was done, he moved back smoothly.
"The Mistress of Souls got scared and tried to enslave me, so I had to kill her a few times. Think of it as a Greater Demon spanking. She's alive now and we've smoothed things over, more or less. Eve here is one of my new people. I got her from The Technician. Edom, she's the one I mentioned working with you this summer? She'll be around on weekends too, in order to work mornings. If you want her, that is. She's researching Vampires to see if she really wants to be one, so..." He turned and shrugged at the girl, then looked at Ed. "So, if she doesn't behave, rape and beat her and throw her crying into the corner? That's what happens to little Vampires that don't mind, right?" It was out then, but Eve didn't shy away, just nodding, as if that was just part of the price of doing business.
"I'll mind, sir."
Edom smiled hugely then.
"Good. I was a bit worried about that, to tell the truth. The Line Walker is a good friend of mine, but he might not want you hurt. We'll keep that to a minimum, if we can, but I'll teach you what to really expect, so be ready for that." He turned and stared at Zack, his face a bit more serious. "Will she be living with me?"
"No, or at least not unless you think that's needed. We already have plans for her to stay with Troy and me. You know, since they're both planning to sign up with your team?"
Lenore smiled and moved in, taking Eve's hands as if they were old friends.
"Lovely! We can use you on the weekends for now. Starting at six in the morning, Saturday and Sunday. Do you have church services to attend to?" She said it as if that were the normal thing to ask, not something strange or bizarre.
It got an even stranger response.
"Yeah, Keeley, Hally, Darla and I have been going. Catholic. I'm not really into it, but she, Keels, says that we should at least make an appearance and be involved in things like that. Like, you know, a cover? My parents go too. Dad and step-mother. They're... Um, friends of Darla's?" She looked at Zack, clearly not knowing what was polite to say really.
"The Technician. It's not a horrible idea, but she can miss for now. In the summer we'll go. Hally and Sheri will be up here too." He smiled a bit, and locked eyes with Lenore. "Rebekah the Manthori, too. I traded The Mistress of Souls for them. Some information that she needed. So the new blood supplies will be easier to get, I bet. None of them are slaves, so, you get the picture, get ready to do some courting. Sheri has a flower business. She's Keeley's mother. Still young and cute too, so you might ask if she wants to sign up with you too. Immortality is kind of a good door prize."
Lenore took that news in stride, as if trading in mothers just made sense in her world. Maybe it did? She lit up and didn't let go of Eve's hand. She finally looked at the slightly reeking Detective, clearly getting who he was.
"Are you delivering him for disposal?"
Like he'd need help with that?
"Nope, he's agreed to pretend that Vampires and Shifters are real, and to that end, will be sent back to the Chief. Hopefully this works, since... Well, I hate to waste things. Anyway, I'm going to leave him here. Will you order some food for him? I'm going to see if Eve can get in to the candle shop part time too. If she goes your route, then having contacts there won't hurt."
"That's true." Lenore let Eve's hand go, looking at her very directly. "They need aid, and we have good relations with them, in this area. It might seem a small thing, tidying a store, but that might well be enough to make lifelong friends there, if you make the effort. You should try."
There was nodding all the way around, and the girl followed him over to the shop across the way, which was dark, and said it was closed, even though there was a sign in the front. It wasn't as bad as when he'd first started working there, but the whole place was dusty and the floor was in dire need of several sweepings and some mopping. It was, in short, a mess.
The wind chimes that he'd put up, once upon a time were still there though, and made a merry sound when he went in. Eve turned and wrinkled her nose up at them.
"That's going to get old, I bet. I wonder whose brainstorm that was?"
Zack grinned and patted her on the back, since he had a right to, being literally the boss of her.
"Mine. And yes, it could get old. If they ever had enough traffic through here for you to get annoyed by it. That really isn't a big problem. Bob! Are you back there?" Zack could feel that he was, but announcing yourself was generally considered polite, so he did it. This time.
There was a slight shuffle, the sound of papers being moved around, and probably hidden, the squeak of an office chair moving back and then a decently youthful head popped out from around the corner of the office in the back.
"Hello?" He sounded a bit surprised, as if he'd been so absorbed in his work that he hadn't heard them come in at all.
"Hey, Bob!" Zack waved, as if he were a kid, or an old friend, visiting. The man smiled, but it had a professional air to it, rather than that of old comrades. Then, really, Zack didn't know him all that well, did he?
He had saved the man's wife once, or at least helped to do it, which apparently carried some weight still.
"Zack! I mean, Line Walker. To what do we owe the pleasure?"
It wasn't hard to explain at least.
"Weekend help. She can work evenings, and if she doesn't work hard, Edom from across the way will beat her." Zack looked over, to see the dark skinned man nodded. "Literally. You have to pay her, ten dollars an hour, and she isn't up on guild law, but she can clean and do that sort of thing. She can start tomorrow?"
Bob Millhouse looked at her and nodded, clearly willing to take just about anyone just then.
"We can use the help, Miss."
"Eve. Eve Benson. I have transportation here, but I live in Arizona for now, until this summer. Let me get you my cell number? Just in case you need me at some other time." She wrote it down, not having cards for that yet.
They were handy, so Zack decided to get her some. After they were done, she had to run back to Edom and do the same thing, since he was her new friend. That was how she put it, which got a smile from the man.
On the way out, Eve following right behind him, he cleared his throat.
"He might be your new friend, and it's a good thing to work toward, but he really will beat you if you don't work hard. Probably rape you too. It's a dominance thing with Vampires, and not personal, but it can happen. If you do what you're told all the time, you can avoid that. And should. If you want to have sex with him, you should just ask. He's your boss and from a different time, so that kind of thing is just sort of expected." He hadn't thought about it before, but it was true. As little as fifty years before, even in America, that had pretty much been the rule, right? He was a lot older than that.
"No worries. It isn't like I haven't done that one before. He's good looking too, and a nice dresser. I've been with worse. I've been raped by it too, so... Yeah."
They walked, and Zack didn't let himself feel bad about the abuse the girl ha
d lived through as a child. There had been a lot of it, and while not as intense or ultimately as major as what he'd gone through, it had done similar things to both of them. She wasn't sane, that was. Strong, and willing to fight still, so not broken totally, but she wasn't the sweet and positive girl that she should have been either. She was good looking, fit and smart, which should have left her being the queen of her little world, or at least the princess.
Instead she hung out with Greater Demons and Vampires and was considering becoming one of the undead, just to gain enough power that most people couldn't harm her.
It was sad.
Which was a thing that Zack couldn't afford to feel anymore. Not even for a girl that deserved better than that. The best he could do for her was get her the opportunities she needed to become something more than she was. Eve would have to earn it, since very little of true value was just handed to you. There was always work to be done.
He simply lifted her through the rift in the parking lot, which ended with them being right across the street from his little house. It had been repainted, not long before, and was white with rust colored trim, but seemed fresh and new, compared to the yellow one on the right hand side, or the two story white and gray one on the other side. It occurred to him that he really didn't know his neighbors at all.
Well, he could take them some cookies, later.
For the time being, he needed to get Eve settled and then either go and get her clothing and toiletries, or buy her some. Probably that second one, since she was going to be coming and going for a while, before she really moved. Troy was sleeping still, from the sound of things, and had a guest with him, who was moving around.
There was also a person in the living room.
One that looked like him.
Zack sighed, but before he could speak, the man on the new sofa jumped up and hugged the girl next to him.
"Eve! So wonderful to see you again! I see you're taking up with a better class of person now? Excellent." There was a grab at her butt, which the girl just accepted, though when the embrace ended she stood back, and examined the man in front of her.