Other Places 1: Shortcuts (4 page)

It didn't take that long to change and he had to admit that he felt better about himself in the nicer clothes. It would have been awkward having to explain that he was too poor to afford to get anything else, even at a thrift store. When he came out Troy nodded, pausing the game again.

"There you go. Need a ride in to work? Westfield's a good way away. I'm kind of surprised you went all the way out there actually. Worked for you, so I guess that shows you know best, right?"

"I have a shortcut. It's actually faster than if you drive." A lot faster.

It was one of those funny things about Troy. He was open minded about almost everything, including the occult and supernatural. When Zack had mentioned once that his grandparents were Mages the guy hadn't even blinked, or acted like he was crazy for saying it. When it came to actually noticing the things around him though, it was a different matter. He'd seen Zack go through rifts a half dozen times over the last year, and come out at least as many times, but he wrote it off each time, as if his mind had been playing tricks on him.

The great part was, that even seeing things he didn't understand, his friend hadn't
blamed
him for it, not even subconsciously. Most people did. That made it hard to stay friends with a lot of them. What people couldn't understand, they tended to fear, which led to thinking you were bad, if it seemed that you had anything to do with it.

"No problem, either way. When are you getting back?"

"I don't know. I think my boss is having some kind of emergency. She's on drugs, so I could be in for some extra hours. Seems nice otherwise. A little hyper. My plan is to work as long as possible each day." It had to be, since he needed the money too badly to play games, especially as the new guy.

Troy snorted, letting his head nod as he went back to the game.

"I hear that. Well, see you when I do." It was a thing he said, even when that was going to be ten minutes later. He almost never actually said the word goodbye. It was almost like he thought it would be forever if he did. Zack didn't push him on it, because he might be right. Troy was clearly better with people than he was, so if he didn't say goodbye, it might actually mean something.

He slipped his warm jacket on, knowing that it looked kind of ratty compared to everything else he had on. After a few seconds he headed out, locking the door after him. There was very little point to having a lock if you didn't use it. Then he hit the shortcut, hurrying along, the cold trying to seep deep into his thin body. It was a lot less than fun. At least this time when he got to the parking lot through the rift in front of the elm, there were no Vampires hassling old women. In fact there were only a few cars at all. There were four parking lots however, the place being surrounded by them and this was the second smallest, if his memory served. The one across from it was actually the smallest one.

There were two stories to the place, built more to make certain all the major nodes were contained it seemed, rather than for efficient use of the land it was on, the shape of the whole thing being just a little off. He got through the large glass door easily enough, since it wouldn't be locked, people needing to get in all the time. It was only about eight-twenty when he walked in, but Lenore was already there, working away industriously. She was cleaning the whole place it looked like.

That was a good idea, so after he got the door unlocked he headed to the back, threw his coat on a chair in the big back room, which was empty, except for a binding circle around the node. That was silver and looked complex, glowing with power. He didn't know what it was meant to keep out, but when he stepped over it on a whim it became clear that it didn't have any effect on him at all. That was good, because it meant he could use the thing, if that was allowed at all. For a few minutes he just stared at it, changing his position a little every few seconds to see the different locations it was linked to. There had to be thousands of them. Maybe more than that. Millions. It was lovely and entrancing.

Shaking his head a bit Zack decided to not get fired on his second day and hung up his jacket in the supply closet, then grabbed a roll of paper towel and window cleaner. He started on the outside of the glass and worked on every surface that might shine until nine, when he opened the door. Then he dusted and swept the whole place several times, until he wasn't collecting up anything.

No one came in, or called at all, not even Lisa to see if Zack had actually bothered to show up on time. Just as he decided to risk mopping again the door opened, showing a cute Vampire girl holding a plastic tray with six small yoghurts on it.

"Hi Zack! I brought some things for you to test for me. This is my Christmas collection. I think these are the tastiest, but if you'd give me your opinion? We need the best three. If they're no good, tell me. I can take it." She held the back of her left hand against her forehead dramatically as if she really couldn't. It was funny.

Looking at the clock he nodded, figuring that he was supposed to get a break every now and then. It might be a little early, but if he turned down free food he was insane.

Which he was, but not
that
level of crazy. Mirror Him spoke from the reflection in the top glass of the front counter, next to the register.

"Damn. You know what it means when a chick feeds you right? She's looking for a little hot Zack action." After a few seconds he kept going. "Of course, in her case that action might just involve you and a straw, so be careful. She could just be fattening you up."

It wasn't lost on him that an alternatively living person of her sort might just be doing that. He still needed the food.

"Gladly. Thank you. I'm starving."

She didn't comment on that part of things, handing the first container over.

"Rum fruit cake. Spiced rum. I turned it into a syrup for the topping." It was a stunning design, the alcohol drizzled over the top. It wasn't strong, but it was clearly real and not rum flavoring. The spices contrasted nicely with the very tiny bits of minced candied fruit. There was no cake to it that he could find, just a blend of gram cracker crumbs and brown sugar.

He pointed at it with the long handled spoon.

"This, is amazing." He took several bites and then shook his head. "Also illegal. Unless you have a liquor license. If Lisa came in right now she'll have to fire me for drinking at work."

The Vampire made a face.

"Stupid laws. When
I
was a girl we could drink whatever we wanted. It might seem strange, but not everyone became an alcoholic or anything." She stopped moving for a few seconds, then pretended that he hadn't noticed her saying it. Like it was something he'd have missed, that her childhood had been at a different time than his own? "This one then. Nothing but candy and sugar, with cookies in it."

It was eggnog flavored, but not the real kind and the sugar cookies were whole and tasted fresh. After a few bites he nodded at it.

"This one, definitely. Unless one of the others cures cancer or something, I doubt you can beat it. I didn't even know I liked eggnog before this." That got her to smile as he finished that container too. There was a cookie at the bottom. Like a toy surprise. It got him to chuckle a bit as he ate it, trying to chop it apart with the side of the spoon.

The rest were good too, but some of them were a little strange. One was basically strawberry shortcake, which was a Japanese tradition. His grandmother always made one for Christmas Eve, so he got what Lenore was going for. The strawberries made him want to melt, because he hadn't had real fruit in nearly forever, but it wasn't exactly right, he didn't think.

"Save this one for summer. Maybe try one with blueberries too, you know, red white and blue? To go with Independence Day."

The woman looked at him seriously, even making notes in a little notebook when he said things a few times.

In the end they ended up with a very fresh peppermint and chocolate dish, with dust made from candy cane, the eggnog and cookie one and one that turned out to be a plum pudding with custard frozen yoghurt over the top. It didn't sound like it should be very good, but it was delicious. It was like he could feel the spices trying to merge with his system.

"Thank you. It's so hard for me to tell what things taste like, not eating them. May I run other things past you as well?" She looked eager enough and while it might have been about fattening him up as Mirror Him kept saying, he actually needed it. That could have been the reason too, since he'd been nearly starving for so long it was kind of apparent.

"I'd be happy to. These were all really good. Better than what people are actually paying for I think."

She waved her right hand a little and took the tray back, a smile on her lips. They were red, which was lipstick he noticed, her face looking slightly flush thanks to blush, her natural color contrasting with it a little more than normal, being so pale compared to a living person.

"Edom mentioned that there was some small problem in the parking lot when he came in last night?" It was leading, her face looking concerned, as if worried he was hurt.

He nodded, letting his shoulders come up a bit.

"Is that the Vampire that helped me out? Well dressed, dark skin, fangs kind of like yours? Not as cute as you, of course." He winced a little after he said it, since he really hadn't meant to add the last bit, the truth just pouring out like it did.

She looked a little shocked, "I wasn't aware that you knew what we were. Did Lisa mention it? I would have sworn that she was too preoccupied yesterday. The store looks much improved however. Very much. It smells less like a tomb as well. More like a perfume shop now, thanks to all the scented candles. Not too strong, thankfully. That could be a problem, with our shop being just across the way."

The woman stared at him hard for a few moments, but didn't seem upset of anything, just curious. "So, you weren't harmed... and don't need to file a complaint? It was a very unfortunate incident, but I assure you that it wasn't a sanctioned action. Those responsible will be fined and spoken to most harshly for their trespass."

That got him to blink.

"Um... I'm fine, no one touched me. They scared that woman, which was pretty bad. I mean, if they keep doing things like that, the police will have to come and check the area constantly and too many things around here would confuse them, which could cause problems. Too late to fix that part now." He didn't know what else to say about it. The whole thing had been scary, but it wasn't her fault.

"Edom mentioned that part as well, that there were three of them, all moving many times faster than you were and that none of them managed to even brush your skin. That shows remarkable skill." She grinned, a hint of fang showing in it, since she didn't have to try and hide it as hard now. "Good then. I can go back to my work safe in the knowledge that you won't be filing endless complaints. It's within your rights, certainly, but a hardship for me since I'm the one that would have to do all the paperwork."

She waved as she left, taking all the little cups and even the napkins with her. For the first time in weeks he felt comfortably full. A little hyper from the sugar, sure, but that was a side effect that Zack had to kind of welcome. He turned to mopping the floor again to make use of the energy. It meant pulling the little yellow sign that cautioned people about the wet floor from its plastic wrapping. It took several goings over and nearly three hours of repeated work to actually get it clean. Just as it was about to finish drying the first customer of the day came in. It was just before two, but a slightly seedy looking man sprinted in, his shoes leaving prints on the fresh floor.

At least they'd come up easily enough. As long as the man didn't go over the whole room for hours, looking for just the right thing. He ran directly to the back room and pounded on the office door. Which made a nice straight line of footprints. Carefully Zack moved toward him, looking for the dry spots, hopping from one to the next, figuring that it was better to be safe than sorry. On the good side the back of the room was almost totally dry.

The frantic looking man pounded harder, looking at the front, where a second man stood, a very sharp looking knife in his hand. It was decently long, nearly ten inches and had a nice gleam to it. Shiny.

"Come on! Let me in Lisa! You freaking carpet munching lesbo! Let me the fuck in! Asylum! I claim asylum as a guild member in good standing!"

He cradled a backpack to his chest, looking scared as the whip thin man started to make his way back. Finally the seedy looking man with short hair and a receding hairline pointed at Zack.

"You! Protect me!" It was, oddly enough, a command. Zack had never really done well with people giving him orders. It was a thing he had. An issue.

He sighed.

"Shut up. Come with me. To the front counter." He gestured to the other man, who looked to be in a murderous rage. "You too, please. Notice how I said
please
, instead of just barking
orders
at people? That's the
polite
way of doing it." He glared at the first man a little when he said it, not trying to be funny.

For some reason that got a strange look from the man with the knife, who put it away. Then the knife man pointed at the first guy and did his own evil staring for a bit.

"I've come to kill him. He stole from me and lied. He can claim asylum all he wants, but that don't make a bit of difference unless you're going to die with him too, that your plan?"