Black Hollow: Beating Around the Bush

by Sheri Lyn

  Shayde didn’t bother to reply, they both knew this was a one in a million occurrence. All they could do was to make the best of it until they figured out how to fix the situation and get Kohen with some stable and somewhat normal adults.

  “Hey check this bedroom out. It’s got all my favorite stuff and it’s even painted my favorite color.” Kohen hollered from somewhere in the back of the small house.

  “One thing’s for sure,” Choal commented as he took in the living room and dining room combination they were standing in. “If this is longer than a few days we’ll need a bigger place. This is not going to cut it long term.”

  Shayde nodded as he studied the room, a small loveseat, a kitchen table with four chairs, and a TV mounted on the wall. Not that anything else could possibly fit in the room, of course. It almost looked overcrowded even with what little was there.

  “Um….” Choal fidgeted as he stepped out of the doorway a few feet away. “So the kitchen is there.” He pointed to the doorway directly behind the dining area. “And this is the bathroom.”

  Shayde raised his eyebrow, “Yeah, and?”

  “There’s only two more doors. One leads to Kohen’s room, and the second one goes to the only other bedroom in this place.”

  Choal winced as he moved so Shayde could see in the tiny room. “It’s barely bigger than my closet back home. And I think that’s only a full-size bed.”

  Shayde, huffed out a laugh, “Well, shit. I don’t think there’s room to sleep on the floor beside the bed and the couch is way too small. I don’t think even Kohen could fit on it. So, that means we’ll have to share, I guess.”

  “I’ve never done that before.” Choal choked out in a panicked whisper. “I ….”

  Shayde would have laughed at his friend’s panic if it wasn’t so tragic. “Dude, chill out. Its fine I can sleep on the living room floor if you’re not comfortable sharing.”

  “No.” Choal took a deep breath and tried again. “No, there isn’t enough room for that and besides we can share a bed. It’ll be fine. I’ve just never thought of doing that, and it threw me for a loop.”

  Shayde opened his mouth to ask if that meant Choal was a virgin but decided he’d freaked his friend out enough for one night. “Do you care which side of the bed you sleep on?”

  “We have to choose sides?” Choal asked in wide-eyed disbelief. “That’s something people do?”

  “For fucks sake,” Shayde whispered to himself as he studied his friend. “Let’s try this. How do you sleep at night?”

  “In shorts and a T-shirt. How in the hell do you sleep?” Choal demanded, panic edging into his voice again.

  Shayde hung his head to hide his laughter at the situation. “Good to know, but that’s not what I meant. Do you sleep on your right side or your left? Your front or your back? Do you prefer to be close to the door or away from it?”

  “Oh,” Choal let out a breath, and licked his lips, “Guess I’ll take the left side of the bed then since I sleep on my right side. Is that okay?”

  “That works perfect, I just happen to prefer the right side.” Shayde moved to his side of the bed and dropped their bags down. “Oh, and I normally sleep naked.”

  Chapter Six

  Choal

  “He’s awake and happy. What fresh hell is this?” Choal demanded as the sounds of Kohen laughing from the living room invaded their small bedroom. “Is the sun even up yet?”

  “It’s eight in the morning, so yeah the sun is up.” Shayde laughed, “Get up and get dressed, we’ve got a lot to do. Plus, we don’t know when Bishop will be here, and we don’t want to make him wait.”

  Choal groaned as he pulled the pillow over his head and glared at his friend, “How are you so cheery today?”

  “I had a great night's sleep, I woke up refreshed and ready to face the day. The question is why are you so grumpy this morning?”

  “I hardly slept at all. Do you know how disconcerting it is to sleep in the same bed as someone else? I felt your every move, and if your arm or leg brushed against me, I woke up startled. A lifetime of having a bed to myself doesn’t make sleep easy when I’m asleep and forget and something touches me.”

  Shayde smirked, “not something. Just my arm or leg, you said.”

  “You know what I meant.” Choal pushed the covers off and swung his legs to the side to stand up and face his friend. “You’re like a fucking heater too. Who needs blankets with you in bed?”

  Shayde let out a bark of laughter as he moved to the bedroom door. He pulled it open and looked back over his shoulder, “So what you’re saying is I make you hot?”

  Before he could reply, Shayde had shut the door leaving Choal to stew over his retort. He quickly threw on some clothes, ripped the door open, and drew up short as he saw Bishop standing in the living room with a sheepish smile.

  “I brought breakfast.” He offered with a tentative smile. “Hope I wasn’t interrupting anything.”

  “No, of course not.” Choal walked into the room in confusion. “Why would you think you were?”

  Shayde snorted and shook his head at Bishop, “Let it go, man. Not worth it, I promise.” Shayde offered the bag of treats to Choal, “Come eat, he brought a bunch of awesome stuff from the local bakery. What did you say it was called again?”

  “Magical Delights Bakery. It’s actually owned and run by unicorns.”

  “This place is so cool,” Kohen announced as he raced over to the bag to pull out something to eat. “Smells great too. I don’t want to ever leave here. I had a real bed, TV, and fresh baked goodness.”

  Choal scowled as he waited his turn to grab breakfast. As much as he hated this situation, he was happy they were in a position to make things better for Kohen. He could withstand a few restless nights of sleep if it meant the kid had some stability in his life finally.

  Bishop cleared his throat, “So the bank opens in a few minutes, I thought we could take a tour of the town, stop by the bank, then the school, and go from there.”

  “School?” Kohen piped in with excitement. “You mean I get to go to a real school? One with other kids too?”

  “Sure do, and they’re not just kids. They’re paranormal kids. So you won’t have to hide what you are to them.” Bishop winked as he ruffled Kohen’s hair.

  “If I figure out what that is, first.” He grumbled as he took his pastry and plopped on the couch.

  “Yeah, about that.” Choal moved closer to Bishop and spoke softly, “It’s a long story, we can tell you later. But is there any chance there's someone in town who can help us answer some questions about what he is and some of the things that are related to him?”

  “Seraphine would be the best option.” Bishop pursed his lips as he contemplated how to handle this. “I think we should just go about what we need to do today, Seraphine has a way of showing up when she’s needed or wanted. She’ll find us at some point.”

  Choal hesitated and then nodded, “Is putting him in school the best idea? We don’t know how long we’ll be here. What if whoever takes him, doesn’t live in Black Hollow?”

  Shayde bit his lip, “We’ll just have to make sure they agree to keep him here in this town and let him go to school. He needs and craves what that school can give him.”

  Bishop studied the two men and frowned, “I admit I’m confused and I’m sorry if I overstepped myself. I just assumed he’d go there.”

  “Not your fault.” Shayde was quick to correct. “It’s a natural assumption and a good idea. The sooner Seraphine can talk to us and get things figured out the better though.”

  Choal sighed and he took a bite of his pastry. “Whoa.” He moaned as he licked his upper lip of the buttery flavor that lingered. “What is this deliciousness and can I have it every day?”

  “Fuck yes.” Bishop offered quickly, casting a sheepish look to Shayde with a shrug. “I mean that can be arranged.”

  They quickly finished up their breakfast, put the leftovers away in the Tupperware the house
came supplied with after explaining their use to Choal. They climbed into the truck with Bishop explaining the layout of the town.

  “Pretty much everything you can need is here in town somewhere; if not we have an excellent parcel service that can obtain and deliver it. This is Phoenix Parkway,” He turned left onto it. “You’ll see the park and playground on your right side, and just after is the school I was mentioning. This road ends at Unicorn Terrace.”

  “The school is so big.” Choal Interjected in excitement.

  Bishop laughed, “Well, it has to be. Everyone goes there from kindergarten up through high school after all.”

  “The woods in front of us are all part of Black Hollow?” Shayde asked curiously as he studied the area.

  “Yup, out a bit is a couple of houses, a lake and an animal rehab and hospital too. The wards of Black Hollow extend out far enough that we can explore, run or fly without fear of being spotted by humans that live outside of the town.”

  “And Seraphine’s family did all this?” Choal leaned by Kohen to get a view out his side window. “That’s amazing.”

  Bishop turned right when he reached the stop sign at the end of Phoenix Parkway, “Yeah. So anyway, if we take Unicorn Terrace here up a bit, we’ll come to Yeti Way. It’ll lead us back towards the center of town.” When they came to the road in question, Bishop paused and pointed to the building up and to their left. “That’s Valhalla Gym. It’s run by Valkyries. It’s pretty fantastic and hardcore.”

  “I think I might need to work up the courage to go in there,” Shayde whispered with a small laugh. “We have some Valkyries that we work with, they take their training seriously.”

  Bishop snorted out a laugh, “That they do.” He turned right on Yeti Way and continued pointing out buildings. “On the left is the movie theatre followed by the bank. On the right the library and police station. You’ll see Chief Sebastian walking the streets, greeting people. He’s a gargoyle.”

  “Does that say Medusa’s Locks?” Kohen asked incredulously. “Like the lady with snakes on her head, Medusa?”

  “The one and only. She’s been living here for as long as I can remember. She’s a wizard with hair. And this is Main Street, on the right, you’ll see the town square. We hold all kinds of events there, and the townsfolk love to gather and hang out. On our left, at the very end, you can just make out the gates that lead to Seraphines mansion.”

  “Cuddles Pet store, isn’t that the place you mentioned?” Choal pointed to the shop on the corner across from the bank. “Twin Grim’s run it, right?”

  “That’s it. Vasily and Rasputin are their names.” Bishop agreed as he waved to a couple of people walking by on the street.

  Kohen gasped as they moved farther down the road. “That said Arcade. I’ve never been to one, but I’ve heard about them on TV. Can we go sometime?”

  Choal scrunched his face as he repeated the word in confusion, “What’s an arcade?”

  Shayde shared a laugh with Bishop, “For any adult, it’s a mix of fun and hell depending on the day.” Shayde laughed harder at Bishop’s description before turning to Choal. “There are lots of electronic games, pinball machines, and stuff like that. Kids love it, and so do adults. It can just become a bit overwhelming at times with the amount of noise and how quickly you’ll go through money.”

  Choal nodded, clearly not impressed with the place. He’d let Shayde take Kohen he decided. That was one place he had no desire to experience for himself.

  “This is Shifter Street in front of us. Set back on the left you’ll see Fireside Grille, it’s a fondue type place and I highly recommend it.” He turned right and headed around the slight ‘S curve’ road. “Now this is one of my favorite places for a staycation. On your left, you’ll see Day Dreamer Inn. It’s run by the Sand Man, and I can guarantee you’ll never get a better night’s sleep than when you stay there.”

  “This place is surreal as hell.” Shayde grinned as he craned his neck to get a better look at the building.

  “It only gets better and better I promise you.” Bishop winked. “Now, we’re gonna take a left here at the stop sign and head back down Phoenix Parkway. On the corner of Main and Phoenix you’ll see on your right, the best damn cup of coffee you’ll ever have. Hell’s Brew is owned and operated by King. He’s one of the princes of Hell. Across from that is Thirst Bar. On the other side of Main Street, on the corner is Stoney’s Bar. They had a long-standing feud, but it’s finally been settled and any and everyone is welcome in both bars.”

  “The butcher shop your pack runs is just down from the bars, right?” Shayde clarified.

  “Yes, and you guys are staying on Gargoyle Street, which is the next one over. It’s not really hard to navigate the town once you’ve got the basics down.”

  Shayde winked, “Or an awesome tour guide.”

  Choal studied the two men but couldn’t figure out what he’d missed. Why were they both acting so strange all of a sudden? Their behavior was almost as hard to figure out as humans. With a shrug, he turned his attention back to the town and the myriad of people milling around.

  Chapter Seven

  Shayde

  “I’m hungry,” Kohen complained as they climbed back into the truck after their final stop of the day. “Thinking that hard used up all my energy.”

  Shayde rolled his eyes, “That test took you all of half an hour to complete, how bad could it have been really?”

  Kohen huffed, “It was hard, I had to think about the answers to make sure I got them right. I didn’t want them to put me in a class that I’d already completed, right.”

  Bishop nodded, “You’re right. And I think that’s pretty smart of you to realize that. Tell me what you want and I’ll buy as a reward for doing so well on that test.”

  Choal sat forward from his seat in the back, “We’ve got money now, you don’t have to pay.”

  “I want to.” Bishop smiled and turned his attention back to Kohen, “So, what’ll it be, little man?”

  Kohen cocked his head in thought, “Pizza, I think.”

  “Somehow I’d guess that would be your choice.” Bishop started the truck, “I just might have a few bucks you can spend in the arcade while we wait for the food to be done.”

  Choal scowled, “What exactly is pizza?”

  Shayde gaped at his friend, he’d known the man didn’t know a lot about human things, but to not know pizza was unimaginable. What was life without a slice of the cheesy pie from the gods? “It’s amazing, you’ll love it. Trust me on this one.” That was all he could think to say. It would be so much better for him to experience firsthand.

  They found a spot on the street just down from the pizzeria, as they met on the street Shayde became aware of the stares they were getting. “What’s going on?”

  Bishop waved to the group, “They’re staying, you’ll meet them soon enough.” He called out before turning to face Shayde and Choal. “You’re new to town and the gossip has already started to spread. They’re curious about you guys is all. It’ll die down soon enough.”

  Shayde watched the group from the corner of his eye as he entered Slice of Life. Immediately his attention was focused on the delicious smells filling the air. His stomach grumbled, and he looked up to meet the amused eyes of Bishop. “Guess Kohen’s not the only one hungry.”

  They ordered a few pies and with a bit of grumbling Choal took a few dollar bills and Kohen over to the arcade. Shayde couldn’t hide the smirk as he watched the pair walk off. Choal needed to experience the arcade at least once. He turned his attention back to Bishop and offered him a lazy smile. “So…”

  “You ready to explain some of this weird shit I’ve seen today? I’ve been pretty patient I think… besides I don’t want to …. Overstep myself…”

  Shayde could feel his cheeks burn in embarrassment, “It’s…. Let’s start at the beginning. Choal and I began working together a few hundred years ago now. The first couple was total misery. Our styles are so different.
He does his job and goes back to his room to wait for his next summoning. Me... I loved the vitality and vibrancy of being around humans and in this plane of existence. I stayed here and enjoyed some of the opportunities that were on offer. Choal hated that, he’d been brought up to believe our two species shouldn’t mix unless it was for business.”

  “But that changed?”

  “No, not really. I mean yes, in a way I guess. He’d listen to my stories and slowly he began to realize that it did no harm to anyone for us to interact. He’d been told it was harmful, so as the years passed and he realized it was all a lie, he thawed a bit. He refused to come with me, but he stopped hating me. And slowly we became friends until we’re where we are now.”

  Bishop cocked an eyebrow, “Which is?”

  “Platonic hell.” Shayde chuckled sadly. “To be honest, it’s friendship. He’s clueless that there could be more. Some days I think I’m in love with him, other days I can lie to myself that it’s only love. If that makes sense at all.”

  “You’re saying that you convince yourself that you love him, but that you’re not ‘in’ love with him.”

  “Yeah.” Shayde agreed with a sigh. “Anyway, yesterday or the day before…. Hell, the days are running together, but anyway he’d gone out on a call and we were going to hang out when he came back. He called me frantic though saying there was a problem to come right away.”

  “How did you know where he was?”

  Shayde grinned, “We’re each assigned a certain area, I know where his is and who was on his list. So, it wasn’t hard to figure out. Anyway, I showed up and have to admit I freaked too. You see humans can’t see us unless we allow it. Which when we’re collecting souls, we never do. But here is this wisp of a child, staring us down, daring us to take the soul he was standing guard over.” Shayde paused as he thought back to the furious look on the kid’s face. “He was terrifying in his intensity. Add in that he could see us, and yeah things were fucked up, to say the least.”

  “That was Kohen?”