by P. S. Power
Finally, about fifteen minutes after the first officer was on the scene, they actually subdued the stabby cult woman. There was proof of her attack, and that he hadn't done anything except take the knife away. They also had plenty of proof of police abuse, but that wasn't going to go anywhere. He didn't even bother to mention it. The man really had just been afraid, after all.
For that matter he still was, when one of the other officers let Ty go finally. It actually wasn't policy to beat up crime victims, after all, no matter what it had looked like. The yellow shirt guy, and there were four of them now, seemed to think he was going to come for him. At least he had his hand on his weapon and the little keeper clasp was undone. Ready to shoot him for the crime of being a Vampire. Sure, he wasn't one, but how was this guy to know the difference?
Ginger moved over to him, and put an arm around him gently.
"Are you okay?" It was the kind of thing that people asked one another. The older Vampires probably didn't, but she wasn't one of them.
"Peachy, more or less. My clothes are trashed, and my behind is going to be all over the net now, thanks to these guys, but other than that, I'm fine." He waved toward the car that was on the cement walkway, blocking things, that had the cult lady in the back. "She might not be working alone. I had a run in with her group yesterday. A kidnapping thing. Then when she stabs me, you jump me... What the heck is with that? I mean, I'm the wounded one. That's a good sign right there, isn't it?"
Yellow shirt bike cop number one glared, then acted like he wasn't going to talk for a bit, but finally he shrugged.
"When a man and a woman fight, we take the man in. It's pretty much the law. Then you couldn't be subdued, and I saw the Vampires, and figured you were one of them. Like you said, I was freaked."
The man was almost apologetic about it all. Ty gave him a hard look.
"Okay. That can happen to anyone. Now, apologize for the shorts thing? Hmm?" He didn't really expect it, but he wasn't suing them, regardless.
"Sorry." He didn't sound like he meant it, but the man that actually did it cleared his throat. He was in a full blue uniform, and had come in riding in a car.
"Me too. That wasn't a good moment. I should have fixed it. Without admitting to any other wrongdoing, I mean."
He nodded.
"Good enough. Now, what's the plan? I should report this? I was just coming to see about getting free food, then maybe do some work. I should get back to that at soon as possible. Mainly because I won't let the terrorists win." It was funny, and Eve got it. Again, it seemed like Ed did too, and Troy seemed ready to...
Fight, actually. His hands were empty, but there was a knife near right in front of him on the table. The one they used for the onions. Seeing Ty looking at it, he picked it up, then moved to the pile and started slicing them very thinly. They were the good kind, being Walla Walla Sweets.
It took until nearly five to get everything taken care of. The only good thing about the whole matter was that his cell phone hadn't broken. It was probably proof that there was actually a God, since he would have figured that would have been the very first thing to go. The pocket had kept it from being too dinged up even. He realized that when it rang, in the middle of talking to one of the cops. The man did not look pleased when he answered it, but it was possible that the call could be important. He had it for work, but didn't explain that.
"Tyler Gartner, Coalition of Nations. How may I help you today?"
"This is Althea Sims. I heard there was a small issue at the celebration today? Do you have anyone on the scene? It seems that a few of the officers are feeling threatened by the Vampires there."
Not able to help himself, he snorted. Then he pulled the phone away and gestured at it with his head.
"Chief Sims. She wants to know if you guys are feeling too threatened. Do you need something to drink, or eat? I'd offer hugs, but after the beating you guys gave me earlier that might be a little bit soon." Then, stopping the smart assed remarks, he waved to Ginger.
"Can we get some cold drinks for people? I can't pay."
Edom nodded however.
"Good idea. Anyone? If you need something, come and get it. We should smooth this over now. Barbara, will you help Ginger with that? Troy, can you work the grill and fryer at the same time?" He moved over there himself, but oddly enough left Eve, who was relaxed and calm seeming. Also a girl. A deadly one most likely. They all could have taken all of the police there by themselves. Honestly he wasn't really certain that he couldn't do the same thing. Alone and unarmed.
Now that he wasn't in handcuffs anyway.
The thing was, the cops had a real reason to be afraid. Treating them like they were just thugs wasn't going to help anything. No one wanted to be the bad guy. Especially if they'd fucked up and actually were at the moment. There had to be limits. It was one thing to over-react in the heat of it all, but to keep doing it and not learn from your mistakes was criminal.
Also not his problem.
There was speaking from the device in his hand, since he hadn't ended the call yet. He'd kind of forgotten about that, doing the rest of it.
"I think that should work. Thank you, Mr. Gartner. I'm certain that none of the people there meant any harm." She sounded a bit miserable about it, but that was better than fake anger.
"Yeah, they already apologized. I'm not thrilled about the fact that twenty people have pictures of my bare behind, but I'll live. I just can't seem to not be handcuffed and beaten these days, can I?"
That led to him going over the events of the day before, which at the end of the story got a soft laugh.
"So it would seem. I'll let you get back to work then. May I speak to the officer in charge there?" That wasn't his friend the report taker, but some other man in blue. He watched his phone, just to make certain he got it back. The thing wasn't really his, after all. If he lost it, The Mistress of Souls might just be annoyed with him. Since she was the most wicked and dangerous thing in the world to him, a hot young woman, he really wanted to avoid that.
So he was a little distracted by that, not wanting to take his eyes off the thing, just in case. Finally, the man in blue snapped his fingers in his face.
"You with me here?"
"Sorry, yeah. I can't lose that phone. It belongs to a Greater Demon. That's exactly as scary as it sounds. Don't worry though, if you ever run into one of them, you can just shoot yourself, so they can't enslave you for the rest of your life. Not all of them will, but if you tried to pull the kind of lame stuff with them as you're guys did here, the entire force might die. Or so I've heard. To be fair, all the ones I've met have been nice enough to me, personally, but I don't want to risk it."
The man let his mustache twitch a little. It was a well trimmed thing that looked fairly reasonable on him. He was a bit heavyset, but in a way that showed he tried to keep in shape, and was simply not making it.
"Is that bullcrap? Demons? I saw one on T.V. A big red thing, with horns, like that?" He seemed curious rather than scared.
"Nope. I'm talking about the ones that those types of Demons are afraid of. They can look any way they want, and could be anyone around you, including people you know pretty well. The one that gave me the phone to use for the Coalition has always looked like a hot woman in her early twenties. On the great side there aren't that many of them. A few hundred I think. So you might never meet one, or..." He didn't say anything else, since Zack stepped out of nothing, about ten feet away, like he'd heard him and done it on purpose.
The Greater Demon walked over like there wasn't a cop right there, or more to the point, like he just didn't give a damn.
"Hey, Tyler. Can you watch the store for a while? I need to go and make nice with Darla and some of the others for a bit. Things are busy there, more or less. I hate to make you miss the big show here, but there's a thing, so..." He tried to look cute. Which worked.
He recalled something that his mother had told him once. While looking like a little girl from a movie. Th
at he wasn't up to working with her people yet, because he bargained too softly. That he should fix that too. With most people being nice worked, but letting Greater Demons have the upper hand with him like that was a poor idea.
"What are you offering for it? I mean, I'm busy here, working with my new police friends. They need a seventh report about me being stabbed. Plus, I'll need to go home first, and leave not one, but both of my girlfriends here. All alone, under the brilliant fireworks display, longing for companionship. They're both hot too, so they can get that without me. That isn't a good thing, in my book. I can't even think of anything I need in particular either." He was angling for more overtime, which wasn't going to be happening that day, since the week was going to turn over at midnight. Well, he could get some time in that way, but it would be nice if it all counted at time and a half, wouldn't it? "I also need to be with the Alede Ambassador to go pick up Vivian in the morning at six. I already made plans and have to go." That was overselling, but he didn't want to be too lazy about it.
Zack didn't even laugh at him, just nodding.
"I can offer you line travel. Say three round trips? Plus light backup if you need it. The trips aren't work related. You have that already. Just for vacations, or day trips. You can trade them out for other people on the same terms, which might be useful." It was actually worth a lot more than what he'd be doing.
Still, when he told his mom about it, he wanted to look good. To think, there had been a time not long before when he was nearly certain that Lucy would have been happy enough for him to just make it to work most days. Now the bar was completely different.
"Five round trips. That back up, and..." He scrambled, not able to think of anything at first. Then something hit him. It would actually help with work. The coalition part anyway. "And a computer."
He expected to be laughed at, but Zack just shrugged.
"Three trips, backup, and a computer. I'll get you something decent, even if you didn't add that part in." He waited, his eyes steely and closed off.
Ty took his boss's hand then, and shook, without saying much at first.
"I still have to get away from here, and need to get Keeley's phone back. That man is on with Chief Sims. So I can't go yet. Plus I need to do this." He waved to the really pissed off looking cop in front of him. The man was turning red, and veins were starting to show on his forehead.
It was like he didn't enjoy being ignored.
Turning to him, he put a hand out, "sorry about that. We were talking about the odds of meeting a Greater Demon? This is one. The Line Walker. This is his area, his territory, so if you need anything that way, get with him on it? Only, of course, you want to never need that. If you can get my phone back, I can get him to show you a trick. If we're done, I mean? I'm not trying to dodge out on you." Except that he was, being incredibly bored.
Zack reached out and touched the officer's hand lightly. It really seemed out of place, and the man glared, and seemed about ready to hit someone. Still, pissed off or not, he did go and get the phone, announcing loudly that The Line Walker was taking the gay kid away.
Ty shook his head.
"I'm gay now? They're the ones that wanted to see my butt. You can't tell me that was on accident. Ask anyone."
The mouthy officer that probably secretly wanted to date him, hence thinking he was gay, jogged back over with the cell phone, about half a minute later. It was handed over instantly, so there was that. Then the guy waved them away. Well, to be exact, Ty was told to leave. Zack wasn't even looked at.
As they walked away, the Greater Demon winked at him.
"It's that you don't grow hair on your body. I mean, you have pubic hair, and some under your arms, but other than that, nothing. To him that means you shave it all. Plus you do have a cute ass, so he was really responding to that a bit. He's straight, so it was messing with his head a little. It's not his fault that you remind him of that college girl he used to have sex with."
"Oh. I... Do I not have body hair?" He stared at his arms, and winced. "Fuck. I literally never noticed that before."
Taking him by the arm, his boss did something, which caused them to end up in the living room of his own house. There was no one there, since the others were all back at the Fort, having fun. Or, more to the point, dealing with annoying cops. It was probably bad form for him to leave like that, but he was kind of needed. Probably just to stand there, and act like he was busy fixing the shelves.
It was the Fourth after all. Even people that wanted sex would put it off to go to the parties.
Scrambling he ran to get changed, and decided on a shower first, since he'd been running earlier, and even if he didn't sweat, he still felt disgusting. Zack didn't ask him to hurry, but he did anyway. Ten minutes later he was dressed, had his phone and his notebook, and headed out the door. Getting there instantly wasn't really going to help him, after all.
Zack didn't tell him he was being silly either. The slender man just followed along beside him.
"Thanks. I know that you wanted to stay. I want to keep at least one person at the place all the time in case something comes up. Everyone else skated on me. Anyway, Hiram will be in at five, if he shows up. I wouldn't really count on that. I'll try to be in by then. If no one is, then just lock things up for me? I hate to do it, but we can only do so much in life."
"Yeah. So everyone is gone? Wow, that's going to make it hard, when all those lonely people come in to get some." He was working on the assumption that at least one or two Alede would be there, but Zack shrugged.
"Try not to lock yourself away with anyone? Really, if anyone comes in, it will probably be about node work. I really need to get going. I'll tell your mother hello, if I see her."
"Cool. Thanks." He was about to ask where he was going, as he walked, but the other man was gone already. It was both a neat and an annoying trick.
Jogging a bit, he went into the bookstore to find it totally devoid of life. It had just been sitting there, empty the whole time. The whole mall was pretty quiet, even though most of the locations were actually open still. As far as he could tell the whole place had no one in it that didn't work there. Even the Cafe in the back was dark and the chairs had been put up for the day. Given no one was there, that was practical.
So he started straightening the place, dusted swept and mopped the whole place. Then he vacuumed the few carpeted areas. Feeling kind of bored, he did the owl room next door. No one else called it that, but the door to the place and the walls within had fine carvings of the birds all over them. They were pretty good, but needed to be cleaned. Dusted and polished, then the fine marble floor was cleaned. There was time to get things done after all.
The night wasn't as fun as being at the Fort would have been. Heck, if he'd been there he could have cuddled with at least one girl while it happened, which would have been a first for him. He was being paid which was important, if in computers and node travel. Those were good things and worth keeping the place open and tidy. At nine there was a phone call, from a man that wanted a blowjob.
Ty cleared his throat.
"Well, I suppose, if you really want one. None of the hot girls are here right now though, and I'm a five at best, maybe a seven if I dress up, but if you want to..." He laughed, but wasn't mean about it. "Or, you know, they should all be back in tomorrow?"
"I guess. I've never done guys. I am kind of desperate... I'll wait, but no offense?" Then he chuckled, and hung up.
Then there was a lot more cleaning, with things being moved, dusted and scrubbed, the papers behind the desk being tidied too. By midnight, it was all done. The whole thing looked good. He even managed to get into the back and scrub the showers. It was all done. That meant he was kind of just standing in the front after that. For the first time since he'd started their Tyler wondered if it would be all right to just sit down and read something.
At midnight almost on the dot, a man walked in, and for a second he wondered if it was the fellow looking to have that blowjob
, having changed his mind. If so, as bored as he was, Tyler was kind of game. When he spoke the voice was different, sounding more youthful, even though his face was seamed and wrinkled. He was also a Catholic Priest, and Ty wasn't a ten year old, so that one probably wasn't happening.
The man gave him a bemused look and shook his head.
"That was a rather unfortunate part of their history. People, even those of the Church, have free will however." Gesturing at the front counter, as if suggesting Ty go behind it, the older man put a slim case on it. It was tan colored, and made of hemp, rather than leather. The work on it was fine, but it seemed handmade somehow. If so it was really high quality work, however.
Heading behind the counter, Tyler smiled at the other guy.
"If you've come to rob us you've picked the wrong time. As you can see, we haven't made anything all night."
That got a simple stare that wasn't even mean. Just blank. Opening the case, a single sheet of paper was pulled out. It looked to be heavy, and the words on it were handwritten. They were still very clear however. So much so that it might have as well been typed or printed professionally.
Without preamble, or even a hello, the Priest started speaking.
"I need three people collected. They won't be harmed, but they might not wish to see me in particular. Two of them might actually be difficult to gather, and the other one needs to be done with care. They're all Greater Demons."
Tyler let his eyebrows go up, since he didn't have a clue what the guy was saying.
"You can't just call them yourself? Or send a letter?"
"Not and be heard. You however, might be able to work this out, Clerk. It was suggested to me by a friend that heard of you from The Rotted. Here, look at the list first."
The thing was turned, and the names came into view suddenly.
"Lyn Hartley, who's The Changling. I've met her. She was nice, but I don't know if I can do anything about setting up anything. I can ask? Then Keeley Thomson, The Mistress of Souls and..." He froze, going very still, since the last name wasn't who he'd figured it would have been. "Eve Benson? The Snowflake."
