Enter the Janitor (The Cleaners) (Volume 1)

by Josh Vogt

  She looked him over, gauging him in light of this new information. Likely guessing what he used to look like, imagining what it would be like if she’d contracted the infection from him.

  “How did it happen?” she asked.

  “Sydney fed you a slice of the truth. Karen and I worked together, cleanin’ up some of the nastiest Scum around. We loved our work. It … brought us together.” He ran a hand through his hair, pangs of memory tightening his chest. “I ain’t even got the foggiest of what the original assignment was. We went in ready to wipe the place clean. Next thing I know, I’m wakin’ up back in HQ, Karen’s dead, and the Ravishing is gnawin’ up my arm. But …” His voice lowered into a growl and his teeth ground together. “I ain’t never killed her. Never. I woulda died before raisin’ a hand against Karen.”

  Each word clawed at the old wounds. He tasted bitterness, and his hands trembled until he clenched them, resisting the desire to strike out against the ghosts of a not-so-ancient past.

  “Destin stuck me in quarantine for months to make sure I weren’t no threat. When the Board finally let me out, I’d been stripped of my position, bounced back to janitor, and given side jobs to keep me busy. Whatever or whoever did this to Karen and myself ain’t never been caught. I don’t even know if they tried to hunt it down. Any reports got locked away from my pryin’ eyes, and I ain’t got the clout anymore to dig ’em back up.”

  His rising fury sputtered as weariness overtook him. He sagged against the wall and hid his face behind a hand, keenly aware of Dani watching him. These days, as his body continued to fail, it was hard even for him to remember himself as a young man. A lifetime shed in a matter of years. No chance to avenge Karen. Not a single friend left—if they’d ever been such—who trusted him, what with a Corrupt disease eating his flesh away. He’d kept doing his job because it was the only thing left. It provided a false hope that he might uncover something that would cure him, or reveal a clue about what happened. Some way to gain closure.

  But nothing ever did.

  Dani moved his way, hesitated, and then stepped back. “I’m sorry,” she whispered.

  He closed his eyes. “Yeah. Me too.”

  They stayed that way for another minute as he struggled to collect himself.

  “What’d Karen do here?” Dani asked. “Was she a janitor too?”

  Ben pushed away from the wall. “Naw. She was a maid. A Handmaiden of Purity, as they’re rightly known. You mighta called her a witch.”

  “A witch?”

  “Yuppers.” He mimed sweeping. “Witches have always worked for the Cleaners. Why d’ya think they’re pictured carryin’ brooms? They’re some of the tidiest folk you’ll come across. I’ve always been partial to mops, m’self. Somethin’ she and I never agreed on.”

  She squinted. “I still can’t tell when you’re being serious or not.”

  He rolled his shoulders, forcing himself to focus on their situation. “We’ve wasted enough time. C’mon. It’s just around the corner.”

  Dani looked around as they started jogging again. “What is? A back entrance to this place?”

  “Naw. Only exit is that elevator we came down.”

  “Then shouldn’t we have cut loose before we got locked in here?”

  “Mebbe. But then we’d be stuck tryin’ to get through HQ by ourselves.”

  “By ourselves? Are we here to get backup?”

  Ben turned the corner in question, where the hall dead-ended in a steel door. He strode up to it, grabbed the handle and yanked it open to reveal an unlit room. At his side, Dani eyed the darkness.

  “Why isn’t this one locked?”

  “’Cause if whoever is kept in here gets loose, a locked door ain’t gonna stop ’em.” He stepped inside. Motion sensors detected his presence and illuminated the room.

  Dani gasped.

  A man sat in a chair that had been bolted to the floor in the middle of the room. Two metal rods extended from the ceiling on either side of him, with iron tubes held parallel to the ground. His arms had been locked into the tubes, and his bare hands stuck out from the far ends, unable to touch anything. A garbage bag had been tied over his head.

  No one could mistake the tuxedo t-shirt, however.

  “No way.” She stared at the imprisoned Sydney while Ben did a quick circuit of the room. “How’d you know where they stashed him?”

  “We built this room specifically to put entropy mages into a time-out.” Careful not to brush against Sydney’s fingers, Ben undid the first clamp holding the mage in place. Before he could remove it, however, Dani planted herself in the way.

  “What are you doing?”

  He looked from the locks to her and back. “You got eyes, don’tcha?”

  Her green eyes darkened. “Ben, give me a single reason we should free this lunatic.”

  “Don’tcha trust me, princess?”

  She glowered up at him, an expression he found himself growing far too fond of.

  “I do, but I still want to know why. I’m done running blind. I want to help, but I can’t unless you tell me what to expect.”

  “Fair ’nuff.” He brushed himself off. “We need his help to get outta here. I ain’t strong enough to do what needs doing, and your powers—”

  “I can control them now!”

  “—are still a might bit too cranky. I want us grabbin’ what we need and walkin’ out without killin’ anyone. These are still coworkers we’re gonna go up against. If we got him backing us up, mebbe they’ll get smart and stand down.”

  She frowned at the floor, then at the entropy mage. “What’s to keep him from killing us?”

  “Ain’t no entropy mage ever been caught before. They’ve all gone down fightin’, or offed themselves before we could bag ’em. That means Sydney …” he nudged the man’s ankle with a toe. The mage didn’t twitch. “He’s here ’cause he wants to be. He’s got somethin’ planned, and I’ll bet a month’s pay he’ll work with us so long as we got the same goals in mind. That and I’m countin’ on a healthy dose of sibling rivalry.”

  “Sibling … what are you talking about?”

  “You ain’t noticed the family resemblance?” Ben bent back to the clamps. “This here’s Destin’s baby brother.”

  ***

  Chapter Twenty-eight

  Dani stared as Ben continued undoing Sydney’s prison. Where he touched the metal, blue glyphs flashed and then faded. After he freed the legs and torso, Sydney’s arms remained in the bars as Ben tugged the bag off the man’s head.

  She saw it then, and was pissed that Ben had to point it out to her. Sydney and Destin sported the same blond hair, the same fine-boned features, the same self-assured look to the eyes, though Sydney radiated cockiness in place of Destin’s managerial authority. If the two men had stood side-by-side, or if Sydney had worn a white suit, she’d have noticed earlier.

  The mage beamed at the two. “I wondered how long I’d have to languish here. You took your time.”

  She slapped him hard enough her palm stung. His head snapped to the side, and a red mark painted his cheek. She wiped her hand off on her jumpsuit and knew it’d take several bottles of gel before it’d feel clean again. Worth it. Totally worth it.

  “Not quite the welcome I was hoping for.” He worked his jaw. “But from you, a slap is practically a kiss.” He looked her over. “By the missing hair and smell of smoke, I take it the ceremony didn’t go as planned. Don’t worry. I can appreciate the sensuality of a bald scalp as much as flowing curls.”

  Ben stepped in, forcing Dani back as he glared down at Sydney.

  “Right, then,” said the mage. “To business?”

  “Pleasure first.”

  Ben’s fist cracked across Sydney’s opposite cheek. The mage slumped with a groan.

  “That’s for makin’ it personal earlier,” the janitor said. “Mess with my past again, and you’ll get worse comin’, hear?”

  Sydney coughed a chuckle, and his words came out slurred, �
��Roger. Loud and clear. Over.”

  “Now, we’ve all made nice, so listen up, pretty boy.” Ben scratched at his right arm. “Your big brother is dippin’ his toes into a deep muck pond. I know there ain’t nothin’ more you’d love to see than him drown, but we both know he’s got an annoyin’ habit of spinnin’ these situations to his advantage. Now, we either get your help stoppin’ him, or you can rot here. What’s it gonna be?”

  Sydney stretched, arching his back as much as his arm-bindings allowed. “It’s worse than you think. Destin never did learn the value of humility, and being appointed Chairman of the Board only exacerbated things. He thinks he has to control everything. If a single element goes beyond his authority, he fears his world will come tumbling down. Now that he’s alerted to the existence of the fledgling, my guess is he’ll take it as opportunity to elevate his power all the more.”

  “What’cha mean?” Ben asked.

  “I realized, in the many quiet hours of contemplation this place allowed me, that until a place is found for the newborn within either Pantheon, it remains exposed to outside manipulation. It has no realm to fall back to for strength, no sense of identity or purpose within the balance. It will be searching for some way to anchor itself. Destin might well offer himself and leash its power in the process.”

  “Is that possible?” Dani asked.

  Ben scowled, not taking his eyes off the mage. “Destin’s got a little trick where he can make others submit to him,” he said. “A little perk as Chairman. With some, he can totally take ’em over. You felt a touch of it when you met him, ’member? He gets his hands on the hybrid, and he might well twist it ’round his pinky finger. I don’t wanna imagine Destin with a demigod on his payroll.”

  Dani shuddered, remembering Destin’s touch, how worthless and unclean she’d felt, ready to do anything to raise herself in his estimation.

  “Oh, I’ve given lots of thought to it,” Sydney said. “Which is why I’m now determined to destroy it before anyone can sway it to their bidding. Some things shouldn’t exist.”

  Ben rubbed his hands together. “A’ight. We gotta get up to Destin’s office. Hopefully find somethin’ that’ll give us a bead on where he and Francis are headed. Then we’re gonna do everythin’ we can to stop ’em.”

  Sydney nodded. “Agreed. It’s refreshing to see a spark of intelligence left in you, old man. I suggest we hurry.”

  Ben spat a wad of water into his hand. He drew this into a cord between both forefingers and thumbs and then strung it around Sydney’s neck, where it tightened into a wire-thin collar.

  Sydney’s nostrils flared. He kept a mask of joviality on, but his eyes hardened.

  Ben crouched to meet his glare. “Before I let’cha go, lemme explain somethin’. You’re along for the ride, but only so long as you behave. That means there ain’t gonna be any killin’. You’re gonna get us out of here with as little fuss as possible. You so much as scratch someone and you’re gonna be lookin’ up at what’s left of yourself, wonderin’ where your head got to.” He raised a finger. “Oh, and if you’re thinkin’ about trying to dissolve the collar, get a hand within an inch of it and Carl will decapitate you faster than you can sneeze.”

  “Executed by a water sprite named Carl.” Sydney sighed. “How mundane that would be. But you’ve made your point. You have my word, however far you trust it. I’ll stand the indignity, if only to see my brother thwarted.”

  Ben swiftly removed the remaining clamps. Dani’s breath caught as Sydney stood and rubbed his bruised arms, but he made no aggressive moves. The mage and janitor eyed each other, until Ben nodded.

  “Let’s get going.”

  He took the lead, leaving Dani to jog alongside Sydney as they left the cell.

  “How’d you get caught?” she asked as they re-entered the hall.

  He turned his head enough for her to see an inflamed bump, like a mosquito bite, just below his ear.

  “Soporific dart,” he said. “Fear not. I only allowed it to touch me because I knew my capture would reunite me with you. Otherwise their efforts would’ve been useless. Over the years I’ve learned to be …” he winked, “… very talented with my hands.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Men. No matter how fancy your vocabularies are, you always resort to sex jokes.”

  They rounded the first corner into a larger, empty room, and then stopped. A barrier of janitorial carts blockaded the entrance to the adjoining hall. Five Cleaners stood in front of the barrier, all in orange jumpsuits. Mops. Brooms. Squeegees. They spun and hefted the tools like barbarians preparing to launch themselves onto a battlefield to fight for their independence.

  Ben took point, nodding at them in turn. “Lucy. Gabe. Raoul. Tim. Aaliyah. Good to see y’all.”

  Lucy, a heavyset Hispanic brunette with a plain face and serious eyes, shook her head at them.

  “Ben, your little stunt got us pulled off our coffee breaks.”

  Ben winced. “Ooh. Sorry ’bout that. You can head on back.” He looked over their shoulders. “Where’s the team that brought us in? I figured they’d be here by now.”

  “Still cleaning up the mess you left by the elevator,” Lucy said. “You let a gorgrum loose, you know.”

  Ben’s eyes widened. “I thought all of them were in the eastern facility.”

  The Cleaners glowered at the would-be-escapees.

  “C’mon.” Ben spread his hands. “Be smart about this. Trot on back to your coffee while it’s still warm.”

  Lucy held a mop over one shoulder, though Dani noted the woman’s white-knuckled grip.

  “Reports are you’ve been Corrupted,” she said. “And you’ve freed an entropy mage. You know the rules. We can’t believe a word you say. Even if you’re telling the truth, you’d do the same in our position.”

  Ben shrugged. “Eh. Probably. So, the hard way?”

  “You could surrender and save us the trouble.”

  “Naw. I gotta stop Destin before he enslaves a demigod.”

  Lucy sighed. “And here I was, hoping you’d at least try to pretend to be sane.” The mop swung off her shoulder, and she planted it in front of her, both hands on the pole.

  The smell of ammonia stung Dani’s nose, making her gasp. Her eyes watered as the opposing janitors drew spray bottles in unison and triggered them. Watery missiles, spears, and whips soared across the room.

  Sydney stepped forward, hands raised. As each attack struck, no matter the angle or speed, he touched it in midair. The water vanished as soon as it hit his fingers. His arms blurred as he spun, ducked, and jumped in an intricate dance that had Dani staring in grudging admiration. He moved gracefully, always balanced, nearly precognizant of where the next attack would come from. She and Ben stood a few feet away, but remained untouched by a single drop.

  After half a minute of the barrage, the janitors tossed the bottles aside, their reservoirs depleted. A few exchanged worried glances, but none retreated.

  “Shall we continue with this tiresome game?” Sydney asked.

  A janitor wielding dual squeegees sprinted at the mage, weapons raised. He slashed down. Sydney dodged and snapped a kick into the man’s near elbow. The janitor cried out, and the squeegee flew from his hand and spun past Dani’s ear. She turned and her heart hiccupped as the edge sliced into the wall and stuck there.

  Why didn’t anyone warn her about this sort of thing?

  The janitor recovered and struck out again. Sydney swiveled on a heel and snatched the remaining tool from his attacker. The squeegee crumbled into black dust.

  Sydney grabbed the man’s collar as he staggered off balance. The jumpsuit puffed away and left him standing in nothing but his boots. His eyes widened and he hunched to cover himself. Sydney smiled in apology before laying the man out with an uppercut.

  Dani almost clapped, impressed despite herself. As if sensing her approval, however, Sydney glanced back and grinned, which cooled her enthusiasm immediately.

  Ben put a hand on Sydney�
��s shoulder and drew him back.

  “C’mon, Lu,” he said. “It don’t gotta be like this.”

  The woman shuffled forward, mop raised. “Ascendants will be here soon.”

  “So stop wastin’ our time. Just stand aside and no one gets hurt.”

  She yelled and motioned for the others to attack as she did. Ben lunged to intercept. He caught the striking mop on a raised arm. The cloth tendrils of the mop coiled around his forearm and tightened. However, he braced and used the connection to yank Lucy his way. The woman stumbled into his arms. She started to rear back, but Ben grabbed her around the back and hugged her to him. As her face rose, he kissed her hard.

  Dani stood dumbstruck. The other charging Cleaners all stopped as well to stare at the lip-locked janitors.

  When Ben released her, Lucy clutched at her throat, face pale and strained. She sank to her knees. Gurgling noises bubbled out of her wide mouth and froth spotted her lips. Her chest heaved. Her eyes rolled up in their sockets and she slumped over.

  A watery blob flowed out of her lips and back over to Ben. It crawled up to his left hand, where it reformed into a transparent glove.

  They looked at the remaining janitors, who drew back after seeing two of their number dropped so quickly.

  Ben glanced her way. “Dani? Showtime.”

  Dani showed off her meanest, most sadistic grin as she strode forward. The janitors stumbled over their own carts in their haste to escape.

  She pouted at their scramble. “I don’t know whether to be relieved or insulted.”

  “They was just delayin’ us,” Ben said. “The real fight’s waitin’.”

  “How many should we expect?” Sydney asked.

  Ben grabbed the nearest cart and shoved it ahead as they left the room. As Dani snagged a pair of gloves off the cart, she noticed he winced with each step and favored his right arm.