Other Places 1: Shortcuts

by P. S. Power

  The large frosty concoction the woman put in front of him wasn't however. It looked marvelous. Like the kind of thing that restaurants had on the front of their menus to fool people into buying an anemic and weak version of the same thing. It was nearly a foot high, with a tower coming out of a drinking cup, made of frozen yoghurt. There were chopped nuts on it and the scent of caramel in the air, his stomach growled, but he shook his head, a little sadly. If he had money for things like that, he would have spent it on more Ramen, or possibly deodorant.

  "Sorry, I'm a little light on funds right now. Hence the looking for work. I'm good though. Show up on time, follow instructions and hardly ever do strange things that no one else can understand. Honest." He didn't wince, but knew that he'd said too much. For some reason the Vampire girl in front of him just smiled and handed the treat over anyway.

  "Part of the job interview. I can't eat them. Bad for the waistline. You look trim enough however, to safely test some things out." She was being very polite about pushing the food on him, so he took it and tried not to use the plastic spoon as a shovel, and went slowly, in case she was serious about it being part of the job process. He really needed the work. The food too. He'd show up just for one of these each day.

  Lenore gestured for him to sit, pulling out a pad and pen, the big yellow legal kind, which came from under the counter too, then moved into the small booth across from him. It had orange seats in a hard and shining plastic, which meant his but slid easily into place.

  "So, may I enquire as to your name please sir?" She sounded cute, her voice holding just the slightest hint of an Irish accent. At least if the people on television had it right. He blinked and nodded, waiting to finish his bite, feeling a bit awkward, if this was a real interview.

  "Um, Zack Hartley. Twenty-two years old, horrible job history and only mediocre luck with women. They tend to like my honesty at first, but then when I tell them everything they don't so much. I'm a good worker though, that isn't a lie. I can't lie at all. I just tend to mess things up in other ways. If you hire me I'll probably scare all my coworkers and part of the customers away." He did that. It wasn't the best way to get a job, being honest like this, but he couldn't help it. Not really. When he spoke, that's what came out, the truth. Compulsively.

  He started to eat a little more quickly in case she kicked him out for it.

  "Oh? Well honesty might be refreshing. You don't get a lot of it in the world today. Do you see any particular problems working here with us? A lot of our people are a little different. Is that an issue for you? It would be just you and I on days, and as I said, part time, perhaps two days a week?"

  His face fell a little. Not that he didn't want the work, but if it paid minimum wage he needed at least full time. She started watching him very closely then, as if expecting him to have a problem with the conditions.

  "I... I've been without a job for months. The economy isn't great, so I'll take anything, but I need more. I can't live on that. I don't suppose there are more hours available or anything?" She hadn't said so, but she had mentioned night work. He could sleep during the day if he had to.

  She shook her head, then tilted it prettily, a delicate movement that drew his attention to the dark little shop across the way. The sign said Candles and More.

  "Not here, but an enterprising man might be able to make his stake working two places. Go tell Lisa that if she wants you fulltime there she can get with me so that we can pick when you work here. That might work better anyway. I don't need that much time off and should really be here most days. But having someone to open occasionally would be a Godsend."

  Zack looked at her and smiled, then ate more of the dish in front of him, which was nearly gone. He felt stuffed, but it was so good.

  "Are they open? It looks... Honestly, it looks abandoned, to tell the truth." He tried to scan the interior for movement, or even lights, nothing showed, but some plain tan cardboard boxes in the window, one half open.

  The Vampire nodded, an efficient movement that looked almost a little disapproving.

  "Far be it for me to tell anyone how they should run their properties, but Lisa, while a dear, isn't up to handling the whole thing by herself. Her boss had to take a leave of absence, his wife is dying of cancer, which is a very sad thing. Then shortly after that, the secretary they had doing their books over there left without giving a reason. I suspect peculation, but that has yet to be proven. Since then the place has gone steadily downhill. Not to speak out of turn, but she's taken to drugs to try and meet her obligations and it just isn't working. No one wants the job however. So if you go and ask it might just work. Remember, you have a position here as well, so hold yourself with pride and tell her about that."

  He resisted the urge to scrape the bottom of the cup and used a napkin, noticing some nuts had fallen on the table. He cleaned them up and then dumped them in the garbage can, which was just his habit and got a very appreciative look from the red headed woman. It wasn't a true red, more of a very red blonde. It seemed real to him, though he didn't want to ask, if he could help it.

  "I'll give it a try. We don't really have a phone, I mean, my roommate Troy has a cell phone, but that isn't mine." Zack was about to explain it all but she just shrugged as if it wasn't expected at all. Everyone else always made a big deal of that, as if they didn't believe him for some reason. It probably meant she was older than she looked. From a time when not having that kind of thing wasn't an issue.

  That would explain the dress, but maybe not. Really it was none of his business, unless she told him.

  Not trying to seem ungrateful, since he wasn't at all, he waved to her and then walked directly over to the little hole in the wall shop. The door was glass, inside a wooden frame, which was painted red. The portion under the display window on either side was green and looked poorly done, as if whoever had performed the work hadn't really been interested in doing it at the time. That could have been due to the warping though, since the node in the back was huge. The handle was real brass at least. He expected a bell to chime when he opened the door, but it just made creaking noises. It would work, but that was going to get old, if he got a job here.

  The store was a mess. Not just a little dusty and filled with cobwebs, but so disorganized it actually looked like the place was in the process of being packed up. There were boxes of candles and, one had to presume, more, all over the floor. Sometimes stacked on top of one another. There seemed to be lights in the place, they just hadn't been turned on. It was already noon, and the sign he'd passed had said "Open", he was almost certain.

  "Hello?" He pitched his voice to be decently loud, and friendly at the same time. Just like the third string characters in teen horror movies did, right before they were attacked by machete wielding maniacs. "Hello?" No one answered. Looking around in the dim light, he got part of it. Why the lights weren't on. Someone had been placing wards all over the place. It was strong work too, so it glowed a bit to his eyes. Most people wouldn't be able to see it, including Mages, especially if strong lights were on. That was a good thing in general, because most of the time energies like that were just random, not spells or whatever they called them at all.

  Zack could see it, and recognized the general pattern, but not specifically who or what it was supposed to be keeping out. Not him, or he wouldn't be there. He probably wouldn't have seen the place at all. It might explain the lack of customers if it was hidden from regular people. Who would try and run a store like that though? Maybe it was about stopping people from shoplifting?

  "Um, Lisa? I was told to come and get a job from you." It was funny, and the woman that walked out of the back seemed shocked more than anything else, but smiled when she saw him.

  "Ah! Thought I heard someone. Now what's this about a job? Who sent you?"

  Zack glanced at her, noticing a couple of things right off the bat. She was definitely on drugs, something like speed, since her hands and legs moved constantly, almost as if she was a baby bird pract
icing for her first big flight. She was also not too far gone yet. At least she still bothered to put on make-up and was wearing nice clothing. She looked to be in her early thirties, but that could mean anything. Mages didn't age as fast as other people, depending on what they specialized in. Healers could live for hundreds of years, looking no older than Lisa did right that moment. They didn't do a lot of recreational drugs however. There was a kind of shaman that did those sorts of things, but they aged pretty fast. At least that was what he'd been taught while being home schooled. His grandparents were both educated, but they had some strange ideas about what the curriculum should hold for someone like him.

  Zack pointed behind him at the front of the store.

  "Lenore, the Vampire from across the way? I went to try and get a job, which I did, but it's only a few hours a week. She suggested that I come and get you to hire me, since you need help and no one else wants the job for some reason."

  He waited for a few seconds and then stuck out his right hand.

  "Sorry, I'm Zack Hartley, and I can fix this store. If you want me to." This time he stopped before going on about how odd he was at least. After about ten seconds she started to nod.

  "Zack? I'm Lisa Weis, and if you can start today I'll be your new best friend."

  "Deal. First, are there some lights in here? I'm going to need to see what I'm doing."

  She chuckled and showed him to the back, where there was a big gray panel box full of switches. He turned them all on, which didn't make the place pretty, but did let him see exactly what he was going to have to deal with, just as the phone in the woman's office rang twice. She ran toward it, so it was probably important. That wasn't his business.

  No, Zack only had one mission now, which was to fix Candles and More as quickly as possible.

  Hurrying he started by finding the gear needed for cleaning. They had a lot of it, most sitting unused and unopened in plastic wrappers in the supply closet. Whatever Lisa was in to, she wasn't going to be a micro-managing boss it seemed, which was where he was at his best. No one worked well being watched constantly, and people doing that to him had cost him more than one job in the past. Too much attention caused ripples in space, after all. People just didn't realize they were doing it.

  First he dusted everything, not even bothering to move it, then he swept, twice. It barely made a difference at all. There was just too much grime. Still, now he wouldn't kick up as much dust when he did the next part, which involved him unloading all the boxes of product and organizing the shelves. Nothing in the place had a price on it at all, he noticed, as he did that.

  Of course, they hadn't had a customer either, so it probably didn't matter. Not yet.

  He was on his second mopping when Lisa came out and applauded, getting his attention.

  "Wow. So, my new best friend, can you open tomorrow? I know it's a bit of a hardship, but we need to be open at nine in the morning and it's going to be a late night. There's an emergency going on, hence the warding I did earlier." She looked at him and shook her head, smiling. "I just meant... the mess."

  Zack shrugged, "I didn't break the ward line. It means we have some boxes up front that I can't move however. I covered them with some material I found under the counter and built a little display. It sucks, but it's still better than nothing. Let me know when you plan to redo them and I'll fix the displays first next time. We should get something seasonal going anyway. A tree or something maybe?"

  She smiled and shook her head.

  "I didn't recognize you, so I figured you for a regular person. Are you in the guild?"

  He shook his head.

  "Um, no, I'm not a Mage at all. I'm just a shopkeeper. Now anyway. But yes, get me the keys and I can open the store on time." Or he could come in through the back, using the node that he'd carefully not looked at all day. He really wanted to, but then he wouldn't get anything else done at all. It would be like gazing into pure splendor, he figured. The giant rift called to him, but Zack resisted, needing to keep his new job, if possible.

  The woman just blinked at him, her blonde hair and slightly round face, that way due to bone structure, not fat, a little pale from lack of sunlight. That or it was just the way she was built. He didn't exactly have dark skin either.

  "O...K... Well, as long as you can open and take care of things it should be fine. Most of our work here is over the phone, but when I'm out it transfers to my cell automatically. There shouldn't be a problem, but if there is, common sense will normally fix it. Worse comes to it, just ask them to wait, or come back later. Now, go home so you can sleep. I don't want to scare you away on the first day."

  The woman looked nervous and licked her lips a lot. It could have been the drugs Lenore had mentioned, or it might have been the emergency. Either way, she'd be better off with him around he decided.

  That was something that had never happened before, but it really did seem to be the case this time. So far she didn't even seem to think he was all that strange. However that had happened. It was probably just that she was even more broken than he was, so he seemed pretty normal, by comparison.

  Chapter two

  The parking lot was actually a little busier than it was when he'd gotten there earlier. The keys in his pocket made him feel nearly trusted and important as he left the mall. A feeling which lasted all of twenty seconds. It was the three people walking toward the old car that got his attention first, the woman inside, who looked to be in her seventies at the very least, locked her doors as they closed with her.

  Each of the three had an even gait, almost rolling and not exactly human. They stared at the woman intently, a thing that anyone could have seen without trying. They would have known it wasn't good as well. The car should have moved, but when the woman tried to start it, the stubborn thing just made chugging sounds. They weren't that far away, so Zack could hear the laughter. It wasn't enough that the Vampires were planning to eat the woman, they were making fun of her fear first. How obnoxious was that?

  He wasn't feeling all that brave himself, but if he started making a big enough fuss, maybe some other people would come and scare them off. It could work. As he passed a very nice sports car, a cream colored thing that looked like someone had shined it minutes before, his mirror-self stared at him from the window.

  "What the freaking hell do you think you're doing, Zackie boy? Are you going to crazy them into submission? Look, if you have to pick a fight, why don't you take on someone more your speed... Say the old lady in the car? No, wait. I kid... She'd easily kick your scrawny ass. Let me know if any of this is getting through to you."

  "Fine, I'm stupid, I admit it. I won't let her be killed though. Not without trying to stop it." He walked toward the group one of them, a man in a blue jean jacket and eighties hairstyle jumping on the car hood, stomping a couple of times, making the woman inside scream just a bit, afraid.

  "Stop!" Zack kept moving toward them, trying not to shake too much. He didn't have anything else, not even a witty follow up line. For some reason the truth inside him came out, like it normally did, when he bothered to speak. He couldn't stop it, almost like a type of truth Tourette's syndrome. "If you don't leave her alone, you'll have to fight me. It probably won't take long, but that's what will happen."

  They laughed. Even the girl, who looked no larger than he did. One of them, the man that was hanging back a bit, sniffed the air. "Oh? The food is going to fight us? How scary." Just so no one missed the sarcasm, he pretended to shake, cowering a bit, pretending to cower away from Zack. It was like something from a b-movie about high school.

  He saw the step that started the rush toward him, the man, who was dressed in black, coming at him faster than he could see. There was a missing place in the movement that the Vampire didn't notice. A looping rift in space that Zack spun through in comparative slow motion, causing the man to miss him totally. Before he could turn all the way around the other two were on him, their crossing paths making even more chances for him to get out of t
he way. After three passes, him spinning and turning, but not running away, there was a laugh. It was dark and deep, sounding smooth, but wasn't mocking as far as that went. Zack moved back, so he could see the new man, who turned out to be another Vampire. Of course.

  "I'd suggest you kids run along now, before this man stops playing so nicely with you. It shouldn't be lost on any of you that he hasn't tried to strike any of you yet, even as you attacked. If you can't touch him, what do you think that means as to your long term survival if he changes his mind?" The smooth voice belonged to a well dressed, and muscular, black man, in a charcoal colored suit that was probably pretty expensive. Instead of listening to the obviously brilliant person that had walked up, one of the men tried to rush the new fellow instead.

  That did not work at all well for Eighties Hair.

  The man was struck down so hard Zack wasn't certain he hadn't felt it himself. The Vampire actually bounced when he hit the pavement. No blood poured from his skin as he stood, a snarl on his face.

  "Fuck you big man. You're days are numbered! We own this world and we will not be denied!" Then he ran away, the other two following along at a much greater speed than would be possible for a human being.

  The woman in the car still looked really scared as the remaining Vampire knocked on her window, pulling out a cell phone, one with a metal case that had that dull shine that real silver did if cared for well enough.

  "Ma'am? It looks like you're having car trouble? Can I call someone for you?" He'd sounded cold and hard before and looked it, but now he sounded polite and soft. Smiling, with his mouth closed. The lady was very afraid it was clear, but she rolled her car window down nervously, just a bit.

  "I... don't have anyone to call. I was trying to get to the store for some cat food, but... My car died on me. I managed to coast here. I don't know what to do."

  Instead of putting the phone away, the dark skinned man smiled and nodded, made a fast call and then hung up after saying that he could use assistance for a tan car in the Westfield parking lot. That was all. Then he turned to Zack the smile dropping just a bit.