Other Places 1: Shortcuts

by P. S. Power

  "Incoming." The path was really clear and he could tell where it would hit, that being nearly on top of him. He stopped at the door and pulled back, slamming it, heading to the fire extinguisher on the wall. There were actually several, since the club had unshielded gas lamps, which meant large open flames that they used around drunk people on a regular basis.

  There was a sound of flame expanding, a deep concussion that meant it had hit. Calmly he walked back to the door and kicked the bar to open it, figuring that it would be too hot to touch with his skin. Then, after pulling the emergency pin, Zack started spraying the canister immediately, even before he could see the fire. The fuel kept trying to reignite as he worked and his one device wouldn't have been enough, if Troy hadn't followed along holding another two extinguishers, having taken the time to think about what was happening.

  The first pool of fire was out faster than the front of the building, but they got both pretty quickly. All of the Vampires were gone, except one, a blond man that hadn't spoken inside, who was treating the burned people. There were three of them, one of whom was really badly burned.

  "I know it hurts, hang in there. I'm a doctor. We have help coming. The ambulance will be here in a bit. Hang on." There was a lot of moaning and scared people. The police got there first, the men looking panicked, as if it were Middle Eastern terrorists, instead of someone just trying to... Terrorize them.

  He doubted they were really from the Middle East however.

  The first one back to them was another of the Vampires he didn't know, a woman that looked like she'd been about forty when she died. She drove into the lot, in a nice and decently large blue car, as if just getting there. Instead of talking to him or Troy, the woman waved at the police.

  "Mason! What's the situation here?" There was a sound of command in her voice that got one of the men in blue to jog to her car.

  "Chief Sims... We don't know who did it, but it looks like someone threw a couple of Molotov cocktails at the place. Hit the crowd first. No one saw it coming. From the sound of it they were fired over that building." He pointed to a place that was far too close, probably not seeing how anyone could have done it from farther away.

  Edom came jogging up slowly, his face looking tight, most of the others didn't come back at all.

  He ignored the police altogether and walked toward Zack and Troy, nodding when he saw the extinguishers and the damage done, which could have been a lot worse.

  "Good thinking. Thank you both." He turned to stare at the skyline, waiting for a new attack to come.

  "So much for getting out of this without bloodshed."

  Chapter nine

  There was a nice carpet, in a deep and festive red that was very nearly exactly what he'd wanted, laying across the front door of Candles and More when he got in at about eight-thirty. There was a receipt with it too, showing that it cost a little over one hundred dollars after tax. It took a few minutes to move it inside and get the cords around and plugged in, the lights on and all that, and a few more to make exact change, but before nine he was able to use the money from the envelope for the store that Lisa had left and get it over to Lenore.

  "That was fast! Thank Edom or whoever got it for me, if you see them before I do? I didn't know how I was going to get that handled." It wasn't that he was ignoring the real problems as much as the fact that the night before had kind of shown that no one else was talking about what was going on in public at all. Since he had no clue what the rules were, Zack had decided to just stay silent on the matter of people firebombing the Terran 2 LA.

  The Vampire across the counter took the cash from him deftly, not making eye contact with him at first. After she wrote a note and tucked it into an envelope for Edom, who had handled it out of pocket the night before it seemed. She gave him a slightly strange look.

  "You could charge more you know. The going rate for node transport is... much greater. Not that you working here isn't making me look good. The Bey thinks I'm a genius, having you take the occasional mornings here. I'm pretty sure it's the only reason that we're all still alive after last night. Everything else is being put on hold while we try to find those responsible." She started making something as she spoke, not talking about it at all, just working to keep busy, it looked like. She wasn't very often idle at all.

  "Yeah, it was... stupid. They should have used something a lot more powerful if they wanted to kill you and the others."

  There was a nod, but also a tight move that he realized was what a shrug looked like when a person was still working.

  "Was it though? It was an act of war, but the meaning was an economic one I think. Probably meant to drive patrons away from one of our busier establishments. We need to be on the lookout at other locations for more of the same. Here, try this. It's peanut butter."

  It was also very good, after a few bites he pointed at it with the long red spoon she'd handed him.

  "I love the topping, what is it?"

  "Peanuts sweetened with honey and turned to powder, dusted lightly over a whipped topping made from the heaviest of cream." She looked pleased that he liked it, which didn't seem to fit the rest of what was going on around them.

  "Hey, um, if you get time later, after work, I made up a little plan for some decorations. For here I mean. Some seasonal stuff, it shouldn't cost much. But if you're doing seasonal treats, it seems like something you might want to think about. Unless this other stuff is..." He didn't have the right words for it. Was this attack going to make everyone stop their lives, or not?

  The look on her face said it wasn't, which was nice to see.

  "I'd love to. I won't be able to stay late tonight, but if I could just pick that plan up so I know what to get for it?" Waving her right hand slightly she explained. "I need to run home and see to my children. Then we'll need to be making the rounds on guard duty."

  Part of that made him blink, "you have kids?"

  He got that she meant young Vampires, not real babies, since he really was paying attention, despite what M.H. was whispering in his ear about his lazy mental habits.

  "Oh, certainly. It's very rewarding. You've met some. Barbara is one of mine, as well as Cormack. He mentioned that you met?"

  He didn't recognize the name, but after a bit he looked at her, a slight hint of extra red in the brown part of her eyes for some reason.

  "Wait, the man that vanished into the supply closet yesterday?"

  "The very one. He's young, only about fifty, so he can't stay awake easily past dawn. I pushed him a little, but it worked out. Thank you by the way. I have to admit that I would have come in if I'd known that Bey was planning a visit, but so far we've managed to all survive, which is seldom the case when he's about. I used to work for him directly, for several hundred years. Don't be fooled by his kindness, he's a singular force in this world. There's a real reason that most of the Vampires in this area have fled. If he chooses for them to die, they will."

  It explained the woman from the day before at least, running out like she had. Sort of. When he mentioned the conversation Lenore winced, a fake thing that was so obvious it seemed out of place and awkward.

  "Well, that's the thing, isn't it? No one really uses the nodes. Every group here can open them and shove a few people through, but most of us have to sacrifice a lot of people to get that done. Not knowing about your skills, she probably thought that this was such an emergency that Bey had slaughtered over a hundred Vampires in order to do it. So she ran and most likely won't be back any time soon if that's the case. It really isn't a good thing when he comes to visit for most people."

  That she was more than a little nervous herself was clear too. Zack didn't question her a lot more, since the phone rang and she turned away to talk. That was what her job really was, talking on the phone, so he headed back to his own store. Wondering if there would be anything to do that day at all. That turned out to be something he almost didn't have to worry about, since it actually got busy. The whole mall did.

&nb
sp; At first he wondered if they were being raided or if some tour buses had broken down, but it turned out to be real people, just... shopping.

  It wasn't huge traffic for a regular mall maybe, but he made sales to nearly twenty people by the time he was closing up and actually had to straighten the store up. For a Sunday in December it wasn't bad, he decided. Lenore had come in at five and grabbed the plan he'd made, not even glancing at it before she scurried out, tucking it in her purse. Edom was actually busy off and on making up treats for people, with Barb helping him, smiling the whole time. When he finally closed up she ran out, hopping a little, grabbing his shoulders as if trying to keep herself steady.

  "Hey, I'm supposed to walk you home. Or drive you, but I told Ed that I didn't think you'd want that, unless you have shopping to do? I'm supposed to pay you back for taking me to the club last night. Lenore said." The very pretty girl shook her hair around a little and then smiled winningly. "So, do you want me to blow you or something? I don't really have a lot to offer otherwise. It's that or house sitting when you go on vacation. Or, well, other sex stuff. Limited means, and all that. So take your pick." She shrugged, an overly cute thing that had to have been practiced more than once to get right.

  He blushed a little, which of course she noticed as they started walking out. Mirror Him sighed in the background, a noisy thing that spoke of more than a little frustration.

  "Say yes. Yes to sex. Say it or I swear I'm going to keep you up all night singing the best of Eddie Murphy." As if to prove it he started up a hum of a little tune and mumbled in his right ear. "My girl wants to party all the time, party all the time...."

  Zack laughed and shook his head.

  "I'd love that actually, but I don't trust your teeth yet. I know, I know, very untrusting of me." He looked at her hoping it wouldn't be offensive. Not too much at least.

  She giggled a little.

  "Not a problem. I can pull them back, see?" She opened her mouth a bit and retracted her canines, they didn't make a snapping sound or anything just moving up, which left her mouth a little distorted under the upper lip. "Totally safe. Plus, Lenore would have my head if I bit you. So no matter how hungry I get, or how much you beg, no can do. You'll have to keep it to using me for my lovely and tender flesh."

  He scrambled to find something else she could do, since it was pretty clear she was under orders and that Lenore knew he liked sex. She even probably knew that he'd be willing to do Barb. Most guys would after all, so it wasn't exactly hard to figure out. It just felt wrong, her being made to trade sex for something that meant that little to him.

  "Um, when you get your car fixed, you could take me shopping sometime? Groceries and maybe to get some new clothing. These actually belong to Troy. I don't want to make you do anything... Is that being too quaint for a Vampire? I'm not shy about sex and you're really hot, I'm just... You know, not into rape." It was the truth but she stopped walking at the door of the mall, not starting again until a family of four tried to walk through, so they had to stand out of the way. It was a little late for it, but they clearly weren't human, being very large and heavy boned.

  Zack smiled and waved, which got the giant man to nod back a bit, not opening his mouth. He had a heavy jaw and brow, like a Neanderthal, but was a good seven-six at least and hugely muscled, the others were similar, but smaller. One of them was only about six-six, and stared at him a little, but managed a brutish looking smile.

  "Hello." It was hard to tell her age, but he guessed somewhere in her late teens. The smallest one was still larger than him, and a boy, who waved back at him with a happy look on his face.

  They went on their way quickly enough, the older woman in the group looking a little suspicious for some reason. Probably thinking he wanted to pick up her daughter. Which, unique as she was, he had to think was probably right. She wasn't ugly after all, just different looking.

  When they were well past Barb looked back a little and waited for the door to close before saying anything.

  "Trolleinkein. Basically big foot. They have incredible senses of smell and are pretty tough. Smart too, don't let the accents fool you, or the looks. That kid can probably do particle physics in his sleep and speak ten languages. The girl could tell you're a bit sexually excited, so it attracted her. I mean, I can pick it up, so there's no way they didn't notice it."

  Zack sighed and kept walking, "great, so now I have to be worried about how I smell too? Used to be as long as I wore the right pants and didn't let the erection show too much I was fine... This is a really weird job, you know that?" He looked at her and shrugged. "Well, at least you know that my turning down your offer isn't about you, or anything like that. Just what I said."

  They got to the rift and stood for a second, with the Vampire girl holding her arms out, "carry me through? I can at least check things out, then, if it's safe, you can put me back real quick."

  That took about a minute all told, with her looking into the darkness and sniffing a bit.

  "I can do the shopping thing, if I schedule the time. This time through doesn't count, since I'm kind of working for you. As for sex stuff... Thank you. I don't like being forced to do things any more than the next girl. Probably less. It's part of why I became a Vamp. It doesn't mean it's off the table, just, you know, I want flowers, maybe a movie first."

  He sighed and took her back stepping through quickly, wondering why she'd been sent to watch him really. It seemed like she was just checking on things like she said, but it wasn't like he was a target or anything. Not that he knew of. If so, the people trying to attack needed to focus a bit more, since he wasn't all that important to their bid for power.

  The house was empty, so he took time to change clothing, getting into an old pair of sweats that were ridiculously loose still, and started making dinner. Troy wasn't around, which was a little odd, but he walked in through the back almost immediately, wearing blue jeans and a t-shirt, which had some paint splattered on it. Without explaining he gestured down at himself.

  "Kevin and I were repainting the front of the club. It took a little carpentry work. I was the only one there that knew how to do that part, but we managed. We should be ready to open in a few days. Edom thinks we should give it a bit, to make sure no one is going to try again right away. It kind of sucks, since that means I won't be getting paid for a while. Get a promotion and raise, and then this bullshit happens. Who'd throw fire bombs at the TTLA? It's just a dance club after all. No one told us anything. The police think it's some kind of local nut with a grudge. Doesn't like the noise or something." It sounded like he really didn't know, even though he'd been in the room the night before listening to the whole discussion.

  Troy was smart, but the idea of "real" Vampires just didn't mesh with his version of what life had to be. That meant that the easy answer, the one most likely to be the truth, that it was a group of Vampires, probably wouldn't be accepted.

  "Vampires, Troy. Real ones that don't like your boss." It wasn't like he could lie about it either. It was kind of inconvenient at the moment, since claiming they were role players with a hate of dance music would have probably worked at the moment. "Look... Think of this like a video game. I know it's not, but pretend it is for a while. You have the information you need, but you can't really understand it, since it can't be real. So, I don't know, pretend that it's all about a terrorist gang that thinks they're Vampires and uses drugs to become super strong and fast. Or, I don't know, something like that. You need to be careful and keep the others from work safe, since this gang is going to try and make it so you can't work to cut off money to your side. They might even try to hurt some of you, so that you won't be there to open the doors in a few days. Think about what you'd do if it was a video game and you knew all that. Then act on it."

  Zack went back to cooking, making hamburger patties with cheese. That and some corn chips would be dinner. They had fresh buns for it too, so it was like real food and everything. After munching a small handful of Doritos for
a few minutes Troy started bobbing his head.

  "Well, the first thing I'd do is get with Edom and make sure I knew enough to protect myself. Get some weapons, just in case, and build an adventuring party. Then we'd go and find these suckers and kill them all, before they had a chance to destroy the town. You in? We could use a Mage."

  Zack shook his head slowly.

  "I'm just the quick travel point. You probably won't need that at all. Remember though, these people get super powers and you don't, so organize, don't try to fight yourself."

  They kicked ideas around for a bit and then, surprisingly Troy actually made some phone calls. Edom was first, and for some reason the Vampire didn't tell Troy to mind his own business, asking for suggestions instead.

  "I'm thinking a strike team. Get the gang together, maybe hire some mercenaries, and find these people before they can really organize. Zack said I should run it by you, just in case. The faster this gets dealt with, the better off I'll be, money wise." Troy had a strange sound to his voice then, as the words came out into the phone he held. It was as if he'd finally accepted that things were a little different than he'd thought before.

  Then, without mentioning where he was going, he went back out and didn't come back until well after Zack had gone to sleep. In the morning he was there, or at least his door had closed and his car was back in the garage out back.

  "Mondays." Zack grumbled at the mirror, wondering if M.H. was going to come and harass him for not getting Barb into bed the night before. There hadn't even been mild ribbing over it yet. Just thinking that got the image in front of him, above the bathroom sink, to shrug.

  "You know, I would get after you for it, but face it, you've actually got some options going on right now. Barb would totally do you. I think Nikki would too. Lenore... I don't know there. You should get with her and ask. If nothing else you'll know where you stand. She obviously isn't that hot for you, but, I don't know, I think she likes you well enough. If that all falls through that big girl from last night might be around. A little ugly, but hey, pussy is pussy, am I right?"