The Haunted Onsen

by Phil Gabriel

  “Damn,” said Ally, “that stings worse than a Brazilian wax!” She turned away from us and rubbed herself to ease the pain. I saw the bruises from her fall in New York had not yet healed.

  “See, Ally-cat,” I said, “your new boss is even helping you with your grooming. Now the stockings won’t run.”

  Turning to Daeng, I said, “Good work on getting it to only affect part of her body.”

  “Yeah,” said Daeng, “I wasn’t sure if I got the up-down axis correct. It was a fifty-fifty chance she would lose all of the hair on her upper body.” Daeng stared at her open palm, and another ball of flame appeared. “I’m sure of the direction this one will take.”

  Turning back to Ally, I said, “So, you didn’t even prepare for the possibility that I was serious? Didn’t even stash away a uniform in case—”

  Ally’s glance at the filing cabinet showed I had guessed right, but she shook her head. “So, I’ll have to send you out to the mall naked to buy a new uniform.” I rubbed my chin, then said, “But that’ll make you late for work.”

  I turned to Daeng. “What should the punishment be for being late for work?”

  Daeng looked down at her pulsing hair-removing fireball and grinned. The flames grew brighter.

  “OK, Ally-cat,” I said, “grab your purse and hit the mall. You’ll get your punishment for lateness when you return. The clock ticked over to 8:45 a.m.

  There was a knock at the office door. Kitty-Sue sniffed and said, “Oh, good. He’s here. Ally, please let our guest in.”

  Ally opened her mouth, took one look at Kitty-Sue’s face, and went to the door. Opening it, she said, “Welcome to Freeman Enterprises. Please come in.”

  29

  Freeman Enterprises

  In the doorway, mouth dropped open in surprise at the naked, nearly hairless, foreign woman who greeted him, stood a familiar man from Chiang Rai.

  “Bandit!” squealed Daeng as she stood up.

  Bandit made a wai at our group as he entered at Daeng’s gesture, totally ignoring the naked woman, the hefty Kitty-Sue, and the ball of mystic flame in Daeng’s hand.

  The flame went out as Daeng made a wai to Bandit and started chattering in high-speed Lanna Thai.

  After a few minutes, Daeng turned to me and said, “Bandit has lost his job in Chiang Rai. He said he was invited here to interview for a job. Did you invite him?”

  “That would be me,” said Kitty-Sue. “I thought you might need help here.”

  I raised an eyebrow at Kitty-Sue. Was she sure she could trust this guy? He had been part of a group that attacked us a short time ago.

  She shrugged and touched her nose, then nodded at Daeng. I mentally translated her gestures. Not a great choice, but basically honest, and loyal to Daeng.

  “Pe-Daeng,” I said, “ask Bandit to run an errand for us. We need more coffee and a couple of boxes of mixed donuts.” I handed a wad of Thai baht over to Bandit.

  After Bandit had left, I turned to Ally. I nodded at the clock, which stood at 8:55. “It looks like you won’t make it into your costume before work starts,” I said. Daeng held up her hand, and the ball of flame sprang into existence again, the reflection of the blue flames glittering in her eyes.

  “Wait! Wait!” Ally said. “I just remembered, there’s a spare uniform here.” She ran over to the filing cabinet and pulled out a French maid outfit.

  I turned away from her. Not that either of us cared about nudity; Ally was a former werewolf, and I was jaded. Kitty-Sue gave a slight grin of approval. She never did like me looking at the naked bodies of females. Except hers, of course.

  “Could one of you help me?” said Ally. After a pause, she added, “Please? I can’t do this with my broken hand.”

  Daeng looked down at her ready-to-throw fireball and shook her head.

  Surprisingly, Kitty-Sue stepped over and helped Ally get dressed. Maybe her Pam persona was nicer than Kitty-Sue.

  Thirty seconds of frantic fabric rustling noises, followed by Kitty-Sue saying, “Hell, no! Throw those panties away. They’re not part of the uniform.” Well, not much nicer.

  Just as the clock ticked over to 9:00 a.m., Ally scrambled to stand in front of the desk. She cradled her broken right hand in her left, gave her brightest, fakest smile, and said, “Good morning, Mr. Freeman.”

  I tilted my head, inspecting the uniform for flaws. Black, low-cut blouse, very short black skirt over visible garters and silk stockings, and a frilly immaculate white apron, all topped off with a tiny white lace hat. The perfect French maid. Of course, she was also a perfect killer in her preferred form.

  I shook my head in disappointment, which wiped the smile from Ally’s face, before turning to Daeng and saying, “Miss Daeng, this is Ally MacGill, your newest employee. As you can see, she has a bit of trouble following orders.” I nodded at the ball of clothing-eating flame in her hand. “But you have the tools to discipline her.

  “Ally-cat,” I said, “say hello to your new boss. Refer to her as Miss Daeng.”

  Ally bit her lip but finally said, “Good morning, Miss Daeng. It will be a pleasure working with…” At my glare, she backtracked. “Working for you.”

  “Good morning, Ally,” said Daeng. “I’m sure we will get along well.” She looked regretfully at the orb of magic in her hand, and the flames died out. Ally heaved a sigh when the flames disappeared.

  Then the ball returned, the flames much brighter. “I’m sure more lessons won’t be necessary?” said Daeng.

  Ally’s good hand went to cover her head as if protecting her hair. “No, no,” she said. “I learn quickly.”

  The ball of flames faded away, much slower than before. Daeng reached into her purse. “One more item to make your costume complete. You must wear it every day.” She tossed the item to Ally, who grabbed it out of the air with her good hand.

  “Is this a name tag?” asked Ally. Then she turned it over. “No name. Why does it only have a number on it?”

  “That’s my old number,” said Daeng. “I want you to wear it every day to remind me about my past.”

  Ally gave Daeng a puzzled glance, then tried to pin the number to her blouse. Her broken hand stopped her until Kitty-Sue stepped in to help.

  “Ally,” I said, “the kind woman who helped you get dressed is Pam. She may drop in from time to time to check on our project.”

  “Good morning, Ms. Pam,” said Ally, not realizing she had met Pam in her kitsune form before.

  “Let’s get to work,” I said. “We have a flight to catch. Ally, show us what you’ve accomplished here.” I nodded at the computer on the desk.

  “Well,” she said, “I have leased these offices for us. I have rented a very nice apartment for Miss Daeng.” She opened a drawer and drew out a set of keys and handed them to Daeng. From the way Daeng’s eyes widened in surprise when she saw the address on the key chain, this must have been a very nice address.

  Ally sat down at on small stool in front of the computer to log in and show us documents. She grimaced when she tried to use the mouse with her right hand, shifted to use the mouse clumsily with her left, and took a long time to get logged in.

  “Stop,” I said. “Give me your hand.”

  “No!” she said. “I can do it! Don’t punish me, please.”

  “I’m not going to punish you, I’m going to fix your hand,” I said. I reached over and took her broken hand. An ultrasonic probe showed a mess. Hitting that desk had fractured many bones in her hand and ripped some tendons. Used to the regenerative abilities of a werewolf, she hadn’t known how bad the damage was. She should have seen a specialist.

  “What will it cost me?” she asked, wary of making a Deal with a magician.

  “You work for me now, right?” I asked. She nodded reluctantly.

  “You get the employee discount,” I said. “One year.”

  Her face broke, and tears flowed. “I’d rather cut my arm off than give you a year.”

  “OK,” I said, “your loss.�
�� I released her hand, and it thumped to the desk, eliciting a gasp of pain from her. If she thought tears would change my mind, she didn’t know me at all.

  Kitty-Sue reached over and tapped Ally’s shoulder. The look of relief on her face was quickly followed by horror as she found her entire arm was numb. She jerked her arm off the desk, and it hung limply at her side.

  “Quit crying,” said Kitty-Sue. “The nerve block will go away in about ten minutes. I only did that to stop you from wailing. Why don’t you want to be healed?”

  Looking at me with a strange expression, she continued, “You know he ends up healing almost all the woman who try to kill him. You should take advantage of it.”

  “I can’t stand the thought of adding an extra year of being stuck in human form to my sentence,” said Ally.

  “I never said that,” I said. “I said I would have to take a year’s worth of your life energy to heal you.”

  “So, you won’t add any time to my imprisonment in this human form?”

  “Not for this healing,” I said. Any time? She was trying to get me to agree to limit my options. I hated dealing with lawyers. This Deal would have to be crystal clear.

  “Here’s the Deal,” I said. “You will lose one year of your life force. In exchange, I will repair all damage to your right hand.” I waved a hand expansively. “Hell, I’ll even throw in a complete physical.”

  “Will it hurt?” she whispered. I saw the twinge of her eyes as Kitty-Sue’s nerve block started to fade. Ally lifted her right hand up with her left and carefully placed it on the desk.

  “Oh, yeah,” I said as I took her hand in mine and concentrated on how to fix the mess. I looked up at her face to see tears seeping from her eyes.

  “Can you stop the pain, like she did?” asked Ally.

  “A nerve block will interfere with the healing,” I said. Then I asked, “Do you trust me?”

  She shook her head involuntarily. Yeah, she trusted me as much as I trusted her.

  “Then my sleep spell won’t work on you,” I said. “I only have one other option, endorphin overload to block the pain while I work.”

  “What does that mean?” asked Ally suspiciously.

  “I’ll increase your endorphin levels while I work. That will distract you from the pain.”

  “Is it addictive?” she asked.

  “No more addictive than good sex,” I said.

  “Great sex,” said Kitty-Sue.

  “Really great sex,” added Daeng.

  “I don’t know...” she said.

  I could tell she wanted to argue more, perhaps get some more concessions, but the pain was coming back. The brief respite caused by the nerve block must have made the renewed pain even worse.

  I rose from my seat; I didn’t have time to waste on healing crazy ex-werewolves. “I’m sure you can find a local doctor to patch you up. You’ll probably lose the use of your ring and pinky fingers, and your hand will always be stiff and hard to use. You’ll have to learn to text and type left handed. I’m sure you’ll adapt.”

  “I’ll be crippled,” she said.

  “You did it to yourself,” I said. She wasn’t going to get a lot of sympathy from me. “As long as you can still do your job, we’ll probably keep you around.”

  It was the probably that did it. “OK,” she said. “Fix my hand like new. Take one year of my youth. Not a minute more. I accept your Deal.”

  She sat back on the small secretary’s roll-around stool on the right of the desk, one leg crossed over the other. I barely looked when she crossed her legs.

  I sat in the executive chair. Ally gingerly laid her hand on the desk, palm up. She was shivering in fear and pain.

  I stroked her arm to get a feel for her energy flows. I sent a wave of endorphins through her brain, and she relaxed visibly. “Pull your top down,” I said.

  She started to object but instead licked her lips as a dreamy look came over her face. She reached up with her good hand to loosen the collar of her blouse. Her top opened, revealing her small pert breasts, with rigid nipples. Strange how moments before, when she had been completely nude, she hadn’t looked so enticing as with her blouse open.

  I raised my hand to touch her chest, and she grabbed my hand and placed it on her left breast. She seemed disappointed when I slid my hand up higher. I felt her nipple slide across my palm as my hand moved to the center of her chest, to her chakra.

  With my magic superconducting tattoo against her chakra, I drew off one year of her life force. She was still young, with a youth maintained by her recently lost werewolf nature. Only the sharpest eye could see the tiny wrinkles deepen slightly around her eyes.

  Healing someone with their own life force is a balancing act. With unlimited time, I could encourage the body to repair itself and use a minimal amount of energy. With severe time constraints, like when Daeng was injured, and moments from death, I would have to burn up a lot of energy to complete the same repairs. Daeng’s healing couldn’t have been done using her own life force; the damage had been too great. The energy for her healing had had to come from an external source. I had burned through the decades of energy taken from our attackers to save her.

  The concentration for healing leaves me vulnerable, and I was only barely aware of our surroundings. But Kitty-Sue was there to watch my back. I dimly heard and dismissed Bandit’s return with our breakfast items.

  Ally’s pain levels were rising, so I sent a fresh wave of endorphins through her body.

  “Sploosh,” said Kitty-Sue as the scent of Ally’s arousal wafted through the air. “Boss,” she said, “you might want to hold back on that.”

  I ignored her, almost done with the process. Bones went back in place, knitting together and healing; tendons reattached; swelling tissues shrank. Ally’s hand was as good as new.

  I took a moment to scan her body, looking for any problem areas. The bruises on her butt were quickly healed.

  Only her eyes were an issue. She had lost her werewolf-sharp vision and gone back to worse than average sight. She probably thought this was how all humans saw. I upgraded her vision to 20/20. No need, or Deal, to give her anything better. I certainly wasn’t going to give her any upgrades.

  I sat back and admired my work. Holding her hand up, I moved all her fingers and twisted her wrist to ensure free movement. I looked into her eyes, and she blinked rapidly, then looked around the office.

  Ally licked her lips again and wriggled on the stool; her nipples were still hard. She leaned closer and parted her lips to speak.

  Pam grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her back, pulling her blouse closed to cover her. “Boss,” she said, “turn off that orgasm whammy spell before she ruins the chair.”

  I looked down and saw I was still holding Ally’s hand. Very unprofessional. I let go, and she slid her hand back. She held it up and wriggled her fingers, then clapped her hands together like a child.

  “Are you happy with the results of your company physical?” I asked.

  Ally stared at her hand, the memory of the pain fading away as she moved her fingers. She peered at the far wall, where a calendar was mounted.

  “I can see the tiny print on the calendar,” she said. “I haven’t seen this clearly since I became human. Did you do something to my eyes?”

  “Just corrected your vision to 20/20,” I replied.

  “No extra charge?” she asked sharply.

  I looked at her levelly. “Don’t ever intimate that I lie or misrepresent a Deal.” I looked at her hand. “I can return it to its previous state with a snap of my fingers.”

  She covered her healed hand with her other, then looked down and said, “Sorry. I don’t do much business with magicians.”

  “Are you happy with the healing of your hand and eyes?” I asked. “You have to accept that the Deal is complete.”

  Ally’s eyes shifted back and forth as she tried to find a way to twist this to her advantage, but she finally said, “I accept that the Deal is complete
,” completing the pledge.

  I looked over at the fresh donuts and coffee that Bandit had set on the table. Next to the food was the change from my money. Don’t know if I could ever trust a man named Bandit, but this time he had been honest.

  I grabbed a black drip coffee and a donut. After healing someone, I was always ravenous. That’s why I had asked Bandit to bring two boxes of donuts. I had forgotten that our group included a Pam-sized kitsune, a Muay Thai fighter, a female magician, and an ex-werewolf who had just undergone healing. The donuts disappeared faster than if they had been plopped down at a policemen’s convention. I only managed to get three for myself.

  While eating, I noticed that Ally was still squirming in her seat. The endorphin rush hadn’t worn off yet. She was eying the impressively muscled Bandit. Was she licking her lips because of the frosting or because of Bandit?

  Office romances were not my business; only the results mattered to me.

  While eating, between yearning glances at Ally, Bandit had been talking to Daeng. Turning to me, Daeng asked, “Ajarn-Scott, what salary did you offer to Bandit? What do you want him to do?”

  Then, plaintively, “What do you want me to do?”

  Wasn’t it obvious? Well, no, it wasn’t obvious. I had never discussed my plan with Daeng. Too much time spent retrieving artifacts, dancing with spirits, and burgling fae princes.

  I suddenly felt foolish, like the idiot sergeant I had had in Nam. He had never explained his objective, just threw out orders and expected everything to work out.

  “Our objective,” I said, “is to find and nurture magic users. Children like Toy are rare. Magical talent is easily squashed, misdirected, or destroyed. Many magic users end up in insane asylums, unable to relate to the mundane world.”

  Ally interjected. “So, all of this,” she said, waving her hand around the office, “is to help one little girl? Hell, just give her money for school. You’re going to end up spending millions to help one child.” She had the stubborn look of someone who was convinced that she had never had any help, neglecting that she had been part of a werewolf pack who had helped her every step.