Between Jobs

by W. R. Gingell

  “Is there anything you particularly want me to ask about?” Athelas’ voice was polite and even faintly interested. Why did it occur to me that he was annoyed? Why would he be annoyed?

  “Where they came from, how long they lived here, who actually owns the place, that sort of thing.”

  “If I may ask—?”

  “I don’t know that it’s important,” said Zero. “But things are different this time, and I want to know why. I’d also like to know why this place is so close to Between.”

  “Very well,” said Athelas. “Oh, are you going now?”

  JinYeong shrugged and tossed a remark at Athelas over his shoulder as he sauntered toward the front door. I didn’t know what it was, but this time Athelas was definitely annoyed. His hand paused in the act of picking up a biscuit, a very faint frown etched between his brows, and although his face cleared a moment later, it had been unmistakable.

  “I don’t want the trace to fade too much more,” said Zero. “If you go to the real estate agent tonight, Athelas, try to bring something back for dinner. You can throw out that saucepan, too.”

  I thought the house had smelled a bit burnt when I got up that morning. Good grief, Zero really was a bad cook—I hadn’t ever burned a saucepan, even when I was first learning to cook. Mind you, I like food, so I had an incentive to learn well, but even so…

  “Very well,” Athelas said again. He sipped his tea tranquilly, with only the slight tapping movement of his foot to show that he’d been annoyed. He didn’t seem to notice when the other two left; occupied with his tea. So polite and gentlemanly, and old fashioned. What about Zero’s request had annoyed him enough to break him out of that habitual cool politeness?

  Whatever it was, it occupied him for long enough to keep him at his tea—and when he finished that, to pour himself another cup—for an hour, his eyes distant and thoughtful. I glared at him through the latticed doors, with his neatly crossed legs and his well-bred sips, and wished that he would go and think elsewhere.

  By the time they were all gone and I was able to come out, my left leg had gone to sleep, and I was kind of wishing that my hip had, as well. I must have been sitting on one of the spray clean bottles; there was a red trigger mark etched into my skin above the waistband of my jeans. Great. I’ve always wanted a tattoo.

  I went straight up to my room. I could probably have showered now that they were all out of the house, but I still felt on edge from my close call earlier, and all I wanted to do was pull the covers over my head and pretend I was still in the house by myself. Well, maybe I would go to my listening corner when they got home, but that was as far as it went.

  I didn’t make it to the listening corner; I lay down in bed and accidently went to sleep instead. That meant I didn’t wake up until far too late the next morning—funny how your alarm doesn’t wake you up when you don’t set it—and that meant I had to rush to work. I was late anyway, but the boss is always annoyed with me anyway, so I suppose there might as well be a reason for it.

  There wasn’t time to open the window for myself as I left that morning, but I was lucky; none of my psychos were at home when I got back. I made myself a cup of coffee and scurried back to my room before that could change.

  I’d left my room a bit messier than I’d thought this morning; nothing dreadful, I just hadn’t straightened the bedspread like I usually did, and I must have kicked my beanbag on the way out, because it wasn’t sitting as plumply as it usually did. I gave it another kick twitched the bedspread straight again.

  JinYeong got home first, a few minutes after I shut the door to my room. I didn’t hear the front door open, just the sound of his footsteps across the kitchen floor. Funny. The door opening and closing was usually the clearest sound from up here.

  “Sneaky vampire,” I muttered.

  JinYeong was muttering to himself, too; I could hear him pacing up and down in the living room below me. He must have something he wanted to discuss with Zero.

  I was halfway through my coffee when I heard him make a sharp, satisfied noise, and stop pacing. Zero and Athelas must be back, too. Good thing I hadn’t done more than get a cup of coffee. I peeked out the window, sipping my coffee, and caught sight of Athelas’ shoulders and shiny shoes disappearing from my eyeline. Oh, good! They must have been out investigating, which meant there would be something to listen to tonight apart from JinYeong’s pacing.

  “Hyung!” Why did he sound so gleefully bloodthirsty?

  Did Zero sound mildly amused? “What is it?” he asked.

  I listened to the flow of JinYeong’s voice and wondered why it was that it had begun to sound so close. Their voices were usually clear, but not as clear as all that. Even the sound of the kettle boiling didn’t drown it out. Was he standing right against the wall in the downstairs living room? I put my coffee cup down in anticipation and stood closer to the corner; if one of them was standing up while the others sat down, it meant they were about to discuss interesting things, and the sound had a habit of rising and falling.

  I leaned against the wall with one hip and ran my finger over the bubbles in the wall paint. JinYeong was still talking, but after a little while he stopped.

  Instead, Zero asked, “Athelas, what do you know about this?”

  “A little something,” Athelas said, with the clink of china against wood. Like me, Athelas liked to have a hot drink in his hands when he sat down. “I wondered how long it might go on. Ah. I got some information for you from the real estate agent, by the way.”

  “Don’t change the subject.”

  “I wouldn’t dream of it.”

  “It didn’t occur to you to tell me about this?” There was the exasperation in Zero’s voice again.

  “It occurred to me,” said Athelas. Oh, he was definitely amused. “But it also occurred to me that I would find this more enjoyable.”

  “If it comes to that, you deliberately lied to me. I don’t know how you’ve managed to be employed by my family all these years; they value loyalty above nearly everything else.”

  “I think you know,” Athelas demurred. “A person like myself has many uses.”

  “Not enough,” said Zero, and his voice was a threatening rumble. “There were hairs on the kitchen floor this morning. Long ones.”

  Seriously? Who notices hairs on the floor! I can’t help shedding them, and it’s not like they’re dog hairs, anyway. At least they were something that could have been from the last tenants, I suppose. It’s not like they were talking about me, right?

  “It amused me to see coffee disappearing,” Athelas said.

  I froze. Ah heck. I was in trouble now. They were definitely talking about me.

  “I’m surprised JinYeong didn’t notice anything sooner,” said Zero. “But then, he has been complaining about not being able to smell. And disappearing coffee could be rats or house imps.”

  “It’s an odd imp that takes a shower while we’re out,” Athelas said. “Or leaves the upstairs windows open a crack so that it can slip in and out. Obviously, we have an interloper.”

  “Next time,” said Zero, and it sounded like he said it through his teeth, “tell me straight away.”

  “Very well,” sighed Athelas.

  I suppose at least they didn’t know I was actually still in the house. That had to count for something, right? They thought I was slipping in and out to steal stuff and have showers, didn’t they? Didn’t they?

  But had my room really been this messy when I left it this morning?

  “I suppose that’s it, then,” Athelas said. “JinYeong is taking a while, isn’t he?”

  “He should be behind it by now,” said Zero, sending a shiver down my spine. How did I end up with such creepy men in my house? “We’ve given him enough time.”

  Athelas’ voice said softly—almost too softly for me to hear without straining—“He’s talking about you, you know.”

  Chapter Four

  I went cold to the top of my ears and whipped around. Som
ething brushed against the tips of my fingers as I turned, soft fabric and cool skin. I snatched my hands into my chest, stumbling back against the wall.

  He was there in the room with me; JinYeong.

  How? How did he find the door? How did they know I was in here?

  His hands were in the pockets of his beautifully cut suit and his blue tie matched it to perfection; close up, he was an elegant, aloof thing that made the hair stand up on the back of my neck. When one side of those elegantly pouting lips lifted slightly in a mocking smile, I could see the pointed tip of one incisor.

  I’m gunna die, I thought.

  “Ya,” he said. “Mwoh hae?”

  “I don’t know what that means,” I said. My voice sounded scratchy.

  “Yogi wae?”

  Why couldn’t he speak English? “Still don’t know what it means.”

  “Nawa,” the vampire said; and there was no mistaking what that meant, because he grabbed me by the collar and swept me toward the door.

  “Don’t really want to nawa,” I panted, unable to resist the strength of that hand on my collar but still trying in spite of that. Squirming and tugging—and, when that didn’t work, making myself into a dead weight—I was effortlessly dragged into the living room outside.

  Zero and Athelas were already there; they must have hoofed it up the stairs after they did their creepy little dialogue for my benefit. I was scared, so I was probably scowling at them when JinYeong chucked me into the middle of the room.

  Not that it bothered them. Zero looked me up and down and said, “Is that it? Bring it down to the kitchen. It’s shedding more hair on the floor.”

  “Can’t help it,” I muttered. My throat had stiffened with fear, and I didn’t seem to be able to speak in a proper voice. I’d forgotten how big he was when you were right in front of him. “That’s what hair does.”

  “Mine doesn’t,” Zero said briefly, and led the way downstairs.

  “Nor does mine,” said Athelas, following.

  It was left to JinYeong to push me ahead of him at arms-length, as if the few hairs I always shed were likely to house fleas. He said something, too, and it didn’t take much imagination to guess that his hair didn’t fall out, either.

  Was that really how they’d figured out I was in the house? I left hairs around the place?

  They didn’t offer me a seat in the kitchen. Well, maybe I wouldn’t be offering a seat to someone I’d just found hiding in my house, but they didn’t try to call the cops, either. And if you think that’s a good sign, you’re even madder than they are.

  I sat down anyway; jumped myself up on the kitchen counter and crossed my legs under me, still scowling at them. I was probably going to die, so I might as well show them I wasn’t scared. I was, but there was no reason for them to know that.

  They each stared at me in varying degrees of hostility—and, in Athelas’ case, outright amusement.

  He looked like being the least dangerous one of the three, so I looked at him when I said, “I was here first.”

  “What should we do with it?” he asked, and at first I thought he was talking to me even though the question made no sense. “There’s precedent for keeping it.”

  It wasn’t until Zero said, “We are not keeping it,” that I realised I was the it Athelas was talking about.

  “Oi!” I said. My throat wasn’t as tight as it had been, and I found I could still be annoyed by their attitude.

  JinYeong flicked my knee. When I looked at him, he put one finger over his lips, and there was a dark liquidity to his eyes. I shut my mouth.

  “Where are its parents?”

  “Maybe they abandoned it?” suggested Athelas.

  “Yes, but then how did it crawl in here?”

  “I didn’t crawl,” I said, since it seemed like they were actively looking for information. “I was already here.”

  Zero’s eyes turned on me with a suddenness that made me jump. “You said that before. Is that why you wouldn’t tell me anything when I stopped you on the street?”

  I’d assumed he didn’t remember me. “No,” I said. “I wouldn’t tell you anything when you stopped me on the street because you’re a stranger and you choked me. Why would I tell you where I live and work?”

  Athelas smiled faintly. “It’s got good instincts. What are we going to do with it, though?”

  “We’ll give it back to its parents,” said Zero shortly.

  “My parents are dead.”

  “We’ll find someone else to give it to.”

  JinYeong spoke, a questioning lilt to the end of it. There was still that dark liquidity in his eyes, and I could still see the tips of those very sharp teeth.

  My toes curled defensively inside my socks. I edged a little closer to Zero; he was bigger than JinYeong and he hadn’t actually strangled me to death.

  “That’s a very good point,” Athelas said mildly. “What if it does talk?”

  There was the shadow of a line between Zero’s white brows. “We can’t keep it!”

  I sat up straighter, my throat unclenching again. I knew that tone of voice. It was the one Mum used when Dad was about to talk her into one of his daft, fun schemes; the disbelieving, protesting tone of voice that knew better but still might be convinced.

  Zero was really thinking about me staying there. And I wanted—no, I needed to stay. For them it was just a place to stay for a while, while they investigated their murder, but to me it was mine, my home. At least, it would be when I was old enough to legally buy it. All I had to do was wait until they left, putting aside my money as usual.

  “I’m quiet,” I said, anxiety churning in my stomach. He had to agree to it, because I couldn’t leave this place. “You won’t know I’m here. Well, you didn’t know I was here until now, so—”

  JinYeong said something indignant, and I glared at him. He mouthed a word at me that I took to mean “what?” by the tilt of his chin.

  “I can make really good coffee.”

  Zero blinked. I wasn’t sure if it was because I’d startled him, like the first time we met, or if it was because he was weakening. “You want to stay?”

  “I can cook, too,” I offered.

  JinYeong’s lips made a thoughtful moue. He tucked his chin back in and folded his arms. Well. He was ready to listen, too.

  “We haven’t had a pet in a while,” Athelas said. “And if you expect me to continue to put up with your cooking, Zero—”

  “Most stewards,” remarked Zero, unoffended, “cook for their masters.”

  “Most of them don’t kill for their masters,” Athelas responded. “I’m able either to cook or kill. I find it inimical to success to try for both.”

  Hang on, what?

  I coughed, my throat suddenly too bulky and lumpy again to speak.

  “I never asked you to kill for me!” Zero said in exasperation. In exasperation. Not horror, or disbelief, or disgust. Exasperation.

  “If it can cook, we should let it stay and cook.”

  “What if it gets hurt?”

  “What if it does? It’s a pet.”

  I should have cut and run. I should have told them I wouldn’t talk—convinced them it was safe to let me go.

  But I didn’t. It was my house, and I should be able to live in it, psychos or no psychos.

  I put my chin up and said, “Get me some stuff. I’ll cook for you tonight.”

  I could do with a proper cooked meal after all this time.

  “Coll!” said JinYeong, and turned on his heel. I thought he was changing his yes vote to a no until I saw him snatch up his overcoat and flip it over his head and onto his back. “Caja!”

  What a flamin’ poser.

  “You’re a vampire!” Zero complained. “You don’t need to eat.”

  “Ne,” agreed JinYeong, his eyes glittering. “Hajiman, johaheyo.”

  “You like killing people and draining their blood, too. It doesn’t mean you should be allowed to do it.”

  JinYeong lo
oked at Zero as reproachfully as if he hadn’t just looked at me with liquid murder in his eyes. “Hyung.”

  Zero’s eyes closed for the briefest second and opened again. “It can stay for the night. If I think better overnight, I’ll kick it out in the morning.”

  “And who knows?” said Athelas. “Maybe it will come in useful. It has lived across the road from our scene, after all.”

  It was a weird experience, shopping with a vampire. Maybe it would have been less weird if he hadn’t been a Korean vampire. Maybe it would have been easier if I could communicate with him—or at least if he could communicate with me. I was certain he understood everything I said, but I didn’t have a clue what he was saying, and he wasn’t trying very hard to make sure I did, either. If he particularly wanted something he inexorably steered the shopping trolley in that direction with one finger on the side of it, no matter how hard I tried to go in any other direction.

  After a bit, I gave up and let him pull the trolley along wherever he wanted to go. I would have shaken some garlic at him if it wasn’t for the fact that he threw a whole punnet in the trolley as we went through the fruit and veg section anyway.

  “Sure you’re a vampire?” I asked sourly.

  “Ne,” JinYeong said, and went for the onion as well.

  “And who’s gunna peel all that garlic, I’d like to know?” I demanded. Or chop it, if it came to that.

  JinYeong shrugged and smiled complacently.

  “That’s what I thought,” I said, even more sourly, and steered the trolley down the dog food aisle. I could see the cold section at the end of it, where I would find the bacon I needed to make my bacon and mushroom pasta. It looked bright and cool down there, through the oddly twilit aisle, and it occurred to me that some of the lights in the dog food aisle must be on the blink. I looked up at the fluorescent tubes, but they weren’t there—instead, there was the much gentler glow of small lights in straight, fluorescent-tube-length lines dotting a ceiling far higher than it should have been.

  “What—?” I said.

  Beside me, JinYeong made a surprised sound and keeled over.