by P. S. Power
“Cleaning? You were just about to jump in and start? I know, it’s dazzling, having such incredible women here with you, but you’ll live. Honest. From now on, if you aren’t doing something else, business related, I expect you to be wiping something down. For now, explain the milkshake thing? You don’t have a machine for it. Are you hand mixing them? That’s not a horrible idea.”
He grinned, which on him looked vapid and annoying.
“The frozen machine things stopped working a few weeks ago, not like they did, so we improvised. Pretty clever, right?”
Eve nearly growled, but then stopped.
“Actually, yeah. If you don’t know how to get anything fixed, or how to do it yourself, that isn’t too bad. Let me see here though… It probably just needs to be defrosted and reset.” That turned out to be the case, since they didn’t clean their machines between uses, normally just dumping in premade ice cream base each day. Then they sold it as frozen yogurt, like there was no difference.
Eve sighed, and started making a list of what they needed. It was pretty much more of everything, though they had a decent start on the basic machinery, so at least there was that. There was also, when they moved the larger of the two frozen base mixing machines out, a dead rat underneath it. Not a little mouse, but a stinking, desiccated, dead thing the size of her hand. She just cleaned it up, since it was kind of clear that beating Jay wouldn’t fix anything. If he was more than a place holder there, meant to keep the doors open, no one had ever told him about it.
At two he got to leave, having taken several breaks, which were mandated by law. That he came back baked from each one was illegal, but it wasn’t her job to fix that. Cormack was there after all. Talking to people on the phone, nearly constantly. There was an hour long gap until the next worker got there, which showed either that she was late, Jay couldn’t read, or that there was a major weakness in their scheduling. The short, chubby, white girl seemed to think it was everyone else.
Definitely not her though. No matter what.
“My schedule said to be here at three when I left yesterday! I can’t be expected to come in if I don’t know I’m supposed to.” She sounded angry about it, but Eve just smiled and shrugged.
“No big thing, this time. You’d be Deena, then?” She’d read it off the schedule. It was pretty clear that the thing had been changed, but it was done in pencil, which kind of invited that. Her guess was that Jay had wanted to get off early, for some reason. One that would involve smoking things, she didn’t doubt.
“Wait… Who are you, and what happened here?” She looked confused, and didn’t seem smart enough for it to be fake. She stared at Ginger for a long time, then shook her head. “Am I not working today?”
Eve was about to answer, when Cormack came out of the back, finally. He looked normal for him, which this time of day meant there was a fixed grin.
“Ah, there you all are! I’m the new ambassador, and store manager, since we have two staffs working here on different projects. Deena? I’m Cormack. These are Ginger and Eve, who both came from the corporate office to help us get up to speed here. We have a lot of work, and remodeling, that will be taking place over the next month or two, so be ready for that. Also, we’re getting uniforms. The store provides them, for free, so it won’t cost you anything. We’re going to be tightening things up and improving, from here on out.” He let his smile get bigger though, showing a nice row of very white teeth. They weren’t perfectly straight, but no one would think twice about it if they noticed the fact.
Deena, for all she seemed a bit slow, let her chin come up, and then looked at each of them, closely.
“Is this because of the Vampires? My mom was telling me about that. She babysits Gina for me, when I have work. That’s my baby girl.” Then she went silent, as if that news was over sharing. It might have been, but Eve smiled, and so did Cormack. Friendly was better, after all.
Ginger just kept cleaning, moving faster than was strictly Human.
Cormack regarded the short girl, who might have been twenty-five, though it was hard to tell, and then tilted his head to the right, just a bit. Enough to get her to notice him.
“That’s right. This is actually an embassy, so we need it to be up and running, but also looking nice, all the time. It will be a change, and not everyone that works here right now will make the cut. If you do, however, you’ll be earning nearly twice what you did before. So it’s worth trying for. It won’t be easy though, I’ll warn you right now. Still, I hear tell that you already have the job, and that has to make it easier for you to keep it than for someone else to come in and get.”
He sounded decently positive about the threat to the woman’s employment, but Eve really couldn’t see how anyone coming in wouldn’t do just as well as the Humans that had let the place fall into disgrace like they had. She also realized that she was thinking like Lenore on the matter. With the exception of the beatings that the elder Vampire would have been handing out by then.
Making a face that said she knew her real worth to the people she was with at the moment, Deena screwed up her little pig like face, and went hard.
“I’m not a Vampire. I bet you hire someone to take all my shifts. What am I going to do? I need this job, it’s hard to get anything around here. The economy kind of sucks right now, in case you haven’t noticed?”
Eve had, after a fashion. She’d done all right, even before she was a Vampire, but a lot of that had to do with the fact that she had some powerful friends that had been looking out for her. Plus, she’d worked her ass off. She’d had three jobs really, and hadn’t done much for entertainment for a long, long time. Asking this person to do the same seemed mean though. She had a little girl that would need her. One she cared enough for that she didn’t just leave her in a room alone while she went off to get high, but had her mother babysit, and went to her crappy job, instead.
“Right. Most Vampires can’t manage being up during the day. Standing right here, with us, you’re probably in a room with half of the ones that can in the entire state right now, and two of us are going to be leaving in a few days. So if you hustle you can do it. We do need more Vampires here, and if we can get one to work days with you, that would be great, but you can still have a job. If you don’t come in high all the time, and then keep being lazy, like a certain Jay I won’t name.” She grinned, not because it was funny, but because that guy so needed to be fired.
Deena nodded, looking a bit sad. She wasn’t the most brilliant person in the world and knew that, it seemed. The job didn’t require that though, just hard work and perseverance. The rest would take care of itself.
Clapping, to get people moving, they all started to clean and straighten, again. Cormack got sent to the store for supplies, a bit highhandedly, but with enough humor he did it. Emergency ones, since the first real food order from their new provider wouldn’t be in for three days. It meant working out of cans for a lot of things, but the quality was very much improved by the time dark fell. The place didn’t look good, but it was clean, and smelled like someone worked there, and actually cared about their job.
The product was, if not perfect, then so much better that Eve kind of wondered if she should kick everyone’s butts the next day, to make sure they didn’t forget how to do things. It would be overkill, but what was the point of being her if she didn’t get to use her abilities to make a difference now and then?
On top of everything the entire place was incredibly orange too, which had to have been the cheapest color that had been available at the time they put the current fixtures and tables in. Otherwise no one in the world would have chosen it. That seemed to have been about fifteen to twenty years before. Eve looked at the cracks in the tables, and nodded at her own assessment. That was really about right, too. Since they had enough of a budget to not have to actually make a profit, not fixing things up was just being lazy, in her estimation.
Everything really did look better though, and at eight, when the first Vampire came in, she stoppe
d in the door and smiled.
“This looks great! Did the blood shipment come in yet?” She looked around, but was clearly speaking directly to Cormack, who shook his head.
“They called and said they’d be here at about eight-thirty. You mentioned that the problems we’ve been having with it won’t occur until later?” He glanced at Ginger, and then Deena, who was still working away, not whining about breaks, since she wanted to be seen as a good, hard, worker. It was a brilliant plan.
The black Vampire woman, who was fresh faced and slightly better looking than average, if not actually pretty, went a little wide eyed.
“Yeah. What did the Council rep say?”
Cormack turned to Ginger and Eve, his face holding a bit of a smile, and even though there was a glance at Deena, he didn’t mince words.
“A Manthori group here in the local area has been coming by weekly and robbing our patrons, taking half of their food monies. Sandra wasn’t able to do much to stop them, though she’s had words with them. There tend to be… Fifteen, is that right?”
The darker woman nodded, her wonderful hair, which was brown but had gold highlights, and individual ringlets, bobbed a bit.
“It varies, but when the others get here, they’ll come and shake down the entire line. A few of the people are old enough that they’ll tell them to go take a flying leap, but it’s getting bad. I didn’t know what to do about it. I’m still not certain.”
The ambassador, who was wearing a nice white shirt, a real tie and suspenders that were a stately black, cleared his throat.
“We’re to suggest to them that they stop doing it. If they don’t, immediately, we have license to kill them all, as a threat to public safety. We will not have a problem with them past tonight.”
Sandra took a breath that was nearly a gasp, and Ginger looked scared for a moment. Deena did, too, her eyes going very wide.
“I… We’re suppose to go and fight fifteen Vampires?”
The words, as frightened as they sounded, got Cormack to smile at the chubby woman.
“Exactly, or rather they’ll come to us, but I take your point. If it won’t offend you, would it be all right if the rest of us handled this one tonight? I’m sure that we’ll miss your aid, but it would look better if the Vampires handled things to start with. I’m sure that you’d make short work of it, of course, but…” He was actually being polite about it, and not making fun of the girl, though Ginger had to fight not to smile.
The second in command didn’t though, she just looked deadly serious.
“Can you work tomorrow, Deena? We may need the extra help here. I guess things are going to be changing? It doesn’t smell like a sewer anymore, which I have to say I like.”
“I’m on at three. I could come a bit early? I think my mom will watch Gina for me, if I ask?”
Cormack winked, his face cheery enough.
“Perfect. Thank you. Now, I think we have time to set up in here, for the rush. Things are handled a bit differently here? Most of the blood products are sold on Wednesday nights, people getting enough for a week at a time and taking it away with them. I can see the desire to do that. When the gang gets here, Eve and myself will handle them. Sandra, can you run sales with Ginger in here? Naturally, if we lose, then you two should avenge us immediately, or come to our aid, if we start screaming, and yelling for help.”
Eve nearly laughed then, but didn’t, since the others seemed scared about what might be coming. It could be a real threat, if there were that many of them. Especially if they were disciplined and well organized.
She just went back to cleaning, until the order got there, at about eight-forty-five. There was a line of people there, trying to get in first thing, but the blood wouldn’t be sold until nine. Almost as if they knew all of that, the Manthori crowd got there just as they started to portion things out, and crowded around inside, blocking the front counter.
All of them had knives, and black clothing, which looked sort of hard, given their chalk white skin and rows of fanglike teeth. The leader, who was, handily enough, the largest one, spoke loudly, his diction a bit mushy.
“We’re heresh for our tributes. Come pay, or we will take it, and your lives!” It was pretty dramatic sounding really. He even waved his large knife in the air several times, to menace the fifty or so Vampires collected just outside the door. Grumbling, some of them actually started to comply, rather than fight.
Cormack moved from the back of the room to the front.
“Sorry, that bit of robbery ends now. I’m Cormack Gillhall, the Ambassador for Iowa. This activity has been deemed unlawful by the Council, and will end. Instantly. If you choose not to comply, your lives will be forfeit.” It was a good speech, but for some reason, none of the people watching were all that impressed.
Nervous was more like it. It certainly wasn’t a big show of faith in their ability to pass out the white boxes of blood, without letting people be ripped off, was it?
The large man, who was thin, but well over seven feet, tried for a menacing laugh.
“I think not, Council fool! We rule here, not those scum that try to,” he didn’t make it to a pronouncement of what the leadership did that he didn’t like.
Eve moved in fast, ready for him to do the same, or try to use a mind power on her, since his kind were all pretty strong that way, but first his chest and then head exploded when she hit him. She managed to hop up and get the heads of the two people on either side of him, and then moved back behind the counter again, standing about where she had been.
No one yelled or screamed, and other than a bloody hand, which was a bit black and red, given who’d been hit, there was no sign who’d done what. The bodies fell, crumpling slowly, the sticky blood that came out of the holes in their bodies making a mess. It was probably going to be her job to clean it up, too. It would have made her sigh, if she’d had any air in her lungs.
After a moment, everyone froze, except for Cormack, and oddly Ginger.
Eve stayed ready to move, but didn’t, since there may not be a reason to kill the entire troop of Manthori. Vampires generally had to do what the leaders said, and that might well change, if the ones in charge shifted around.
Cormack waved at them, his face a bland study in calm.
“Now, get those bodies out of here, without being seen, and pass the word. We do not have this kind of thing in our area anymore. The orders have come down for us to integrate into the Human world. We won’t be doing that as criminals and scum. Do you understand?” He was speaking directly to the other gang members, one of whom rushed him.
That was a mistake. Cormack might not have had Eve’s speed, but like he’d mentioned once, he was a bit stronger than most. The single punch he used knocked the knife wielding woman back. The only thing that stopped her was the wall, on the far side of the room. She screamed, in pain, but didn’t try to get back up.
Ginger, very cutely, moved to the register.
“Next? I think this is done now. Can I help you, sir?” Her tone was very, very polite, as she addressed a young looking fellow in jeans and a t-shirt. He looked very Human, on the outside, and pulled two fives from his pocket laying them on the counter.
“Two please?”
Eve smiled at him, and then tilted her head.
“New Vamp? Have you considered signing up with the Council? We could use a good person on day shift, here. I don’t know what it pays, but it’s important work.” She had heard what Deena had said, which seemed to be a real enough thing, since several Vampires in the line paid attention to her, and not the remaining Manthori gang members.
Cormack caught that too, and walked forward, addressing the assembled people.
“Day and night shifts. You’d need to be able and willing to work with Humans and other beings, but we’re putting on nearly a complete staff right now, so it’s a great time to get your foot in the door, if you’re so inclined? If so, please come see me, I’ll be right back here. Eve, would you make sure the bod
ies are disposed of well enough?”
It took a bit, but some of the Manthori that remained stared at her, and noticed the bloody right hand. One of them, who was a male, and looked a bit short for his kind, being only about six feet tall, tried to compel her, his mind suddenly reaching out to hers, slamming against her so hard that for half a second she nearly lost herself to him. She fought then, seizing control of the buzzing in her head, and taking him instead.
“Stop that. You heard the man. You’re going to get rid of the bodies, and do it right. I don’t care how, but do it without attracting notice. Understood?” She glared a bit, as the man that had tried to take her mind and will stopped and then shuddered a bit.
“Yesh. It will be done. Master.”
“Good. Go. Now.” For some reason that was enough to get the others in line. One of them, who had been at the back, near the door, looked like a boy, compared to the others. Maybe sixteen or so. He wasn’t the smallest, in how tall he was, but the kid had an abused and neglected aspect to him. His clothing was ragged, even though the rest wore nice, fairly new things. He also held himself with his arms across his body, a weak, but defensive, position. That he was also the very first one to move when she ordered it told her a lot about what he was used to in life.
He was, in short, this group’s slave. Probably their sex bitch, too. Rebekah had told her that a lot of the Manthori groups worked that way. Even if they had money enough, the lowest person in the group could be beaten and raped for fun, and would have to do most of the hunting and work.
She pointed at him, which got a large wince, one that had him stumbling back, away from her, in case there was about to be violence.
“What’s your name?”
“Hank. Ma’am.” His words were clearer than the leader’s had been, which meant that he either really cared to be understood, had been around for a long time, or both.
“Fine. You work here now. That may change in the coming days. Start cleaning the back up. Sandra, will you make sure Hank knows what to do? He’s your assistant now.” To her shock, the woman did it, even though she was an assistant ambassador, and Eve was only her. Barely a yogurt girl even.
