Other Places 2: Road Blocks Read online

  All of that was probably even true, so Zack didn't answer.

  Judy followed him, waving to everyone again, seeming content to be led to his hovel, and she knew what to do at a rift, but was surprised that it was all so close together.

  "This must make for a short commute each day."

  "Yes, it really does. One of the perks of the job." He used his key, which still had a string tied to it, to make it easier to find in his pocket, the black slacks being easier that way than old jeans. Troy wasn't home, so when he flipped on the lights, he waved around at the place.

  "I did warn you. No need to claim it's cute or quaint. My bedroom is through here."

  That actually looked nicer, having a new king sized bed in it, an actual dresser and a table with a mirror, that Lenore had put in. Clean sheets and everything, so he didn't have to worry that way too much. There were even throw rugs to hide the ugly orange and brown carpet underneath, all a deep red, with the same black pattern woven into each.

  "I'll take the sofa." He dropped the bags inside the door and went to the dresser to pull clothes for sleeping in. Sweats and a t-shirt. "We have food in the kitchen, and in a bit my roommate should be home, if you need sex or anything. He might have someone with him, but if not I think it's fair game."

  She smiled and looked around the room.

  "Thanks. I could use that. You have someone?"

  "Yeah. Lenore. She did most of the stuff in here, which you might notice doesn't match the rest of the place? She's the Vampire Ambassador for the area. Really, we could have sex, but I'm pretty tired, and my energy is messed up enough that I don't think you'd get a lot from it." He suppressed a groan and yawned. "Speaking of which, I need to do some exercises for that before I sleep. The phone's in the other room if you need it. You probably won't wake me up by talking, but shake me if you need anything."

  Then he left her alone, since he really was about to fall over. He did grab a pillow and a blanket from the linen closet for the sofa though, which was something else Lenore had given him. The pillow and a set of matching blankets. They looked old fashioned and handmade, but, she'd assured him, store bought.

  He spent ten minutes on breathing exercises, drawing energy from the universe and passing it through his body carefully, over and over again. It set up a bit of a flow, but it still wasn't what Wu-Li, the herbalist at the Mall, wanted to see. Not even close.

  Then he changed and curled up just in time for Troy to walk in and see him doing it. He had a rather plain and slightly heavyset girl with him, who'd obviously been at the club until closing. She wasn't falling down drunk, but had been drinking. It was obvious in the way she clung to Troy's arm.

  Troy whispered to her.

  "I don't know why he's out here, but let's go to my room..."

  He drifted off, but thought he heard some light knocking a while later, and then some quiet talking.

  Zack got to sleep until ten, and felt like crap when he got up, after only six hours of rest, but made himself do it anyway. It was the girl Troy had brought that did it, by poking him in the shoulder. She waited for him to stand before talking though, which gave him a few seconds to blink enough that his eyes sort of worked again.

  "Um, sorry. Can I use your phone? I have to be at work later and need to call a cab."

  "No problem. Need a phone book?"

  "Yeah. That and money for a cab. I was not planning ahead last night. I can call my friend Jill and get her to have something ready when I get home. I hope." She didn't sound all that certain about it really.

  "I can cover that for you, if you need. Let me get the book."

  It took ten minutes for the woman to realize that her friend wasn't in and that the other people she knew didn't like her that much. He could see why, just looking at her. She was scattered and jangly, which meant her mind wasn't very well put together. At a guess it was probably the early stages of schizophrenia. Not that he was one to judge brands of crazy. He didn't let her get that worked up though.

  "No problem. I'll give you forty for it, that will be enough, right?" Unless she lived over in Portland, or something. She made a slightly silly face and nodded.

  "Twenty will do, but I don't know you at all. Why help me?"

  The real reason was so that she wouldn't have a meltdown in his living room, or be forced to walk the cold February streets in high heeled shoes for hours. He couldn't say that and anything he tried to say would end up with him saying that.

  Mirror Him stepped in, taking over smoothly, stretching to buy time with his hands over his head.

  "All part of the service, doll. Let me hook that up for you with the cab company, and get you something to eat. What do you like? We have bagels, eggs, I can do some frozen waffles, if you want?"

  "Oh, I couldn't. Thanks."

  Then he did the whole thing, calling the first cab company in the book, which Zack knew to be located less than a mile away, giving the address quietly. Then he walked out with the girl, who had never given her name and made sure that the cabbie, who was a man in his sixties or so, had the fare, plus a nice tip.

  He leaned in, slipping the man an extra twenty.

  "Take a few extra turns, and make sure she can't find this place again, will you?"

  It was strange, but the guy just gave a nod, as if he understood what was happening, and took off.

  Zack waved, since the girl was turning around and looking at him, and then went in to get a shower. He was fast about it, since others were there and might want one too. That, it turned out, was right, with Judy bringing in an armload of stuff as soon as he opened to door. She smiled at him at least on the way past.

  Having a bit more time and clearly being a better cook than MH, being able to also make pancakes without burning them, he made a meal for two. He had the table set and everything when Judy was out of the bathroom, her hair still a bit damp.

  "Oh, this looks good. I noticed that you got rid of Troy's new friend? That's good. She's... Not well. I could, I suppose taste is the wrong word, but it's what we call it when we analyze energy. She isn't going to be in for an easy time, poor thing. It was dark last night, and I didn't give a name, so I don't think she understood who I was. It's one of the tricks I've learned over the years to keep people from thinking I'm a giant slut. That goes without saying, but the press can be brutal about things like that still. I doubt they'll catch on to my location yet. Not doing what we did to get here. As long as I don't get a hotel room it should be all right."

  Zack nodded, looking at her for a moment. She was nice and pretty enough, in a fresh faced way. Probably more of an eight than a nine or ten, which, he realized, was probably why she got to be the famous actress and the others kind of hid in the woodwork. Some of them were so good looking it would draw too much attention. Actresses could be pretty, but the fantastically good looking ones were often hated too.

  A bite of buttered pancake went into his mouth and he savored it, still remembering when all he had was the ramen that Troy had bought them. It hadn't been enough food by far. Now he had four pancakes on his plate and had made them really big, using their old griddle. Four eggs too.

  "That has to be a pain. Being famous I mean."

  "Not really. People complain about paparazzo, in the industry, but you don't go into the profession of acting unless you're a bit of an attention hog. Behind the scenes they spend more time counting how many magazine covers they have, and the number of hits they get on Google than they do actually being worried that someone will catch them eating at McDonald's. It's part of the game, for all of us. You try to hide a little, so they have to work to find you, and so it's a big deal when they do. Right now I don't particularly want attention, because it could be drawn to Westfield." She ate for a while too, finishing half her food before continuing the thought. "It's a bit hard to explain that I have both a daughter and a granddaughter to the masses. They just wouldn't believe it at all, but attention can lead to stalkers and that kind of thing, which is already a big enoug
h danger for my kind."

  That was news to him, but Zack didn't bother asking if she meant Kaitlyn and Valerie Swanson. It didn't take a Mensa member to work out that Judy Swan might just be a shortening of that last name. She didn't look that old at all, but then, she looked almost exactly the same age as Val. The perfect age to have sex with in American culture. About twenty-four or so, give or take. Old enough to clearly be legal, young enough that nothing would be expected to sag much yet.

  Thankfully a mouthful of food kept him from saying that out loud.

  When they finished he washed up immediately, since dirty plates bred, he'd noticed, and started to leave about eleven-thirty.

  Judy looked around and let her eyes light up.

  "I guess I should get my stuff?"

  "Or stay, if it's a good enough place to hide. Want to come with me? I can get you back whenever you want." Or provide the address to her people, so they could pick up her things, whichever was needed first.

  "Thanks, I was worried I'd have to beg. This place is nearly ideal for me right now."

  They had to wait for a bit by the tree the rift across the street was near, but then timed it pretty well. She stumbled a bit on the landing, but managed not to take the both of them to the ground. The problem there was that the door was locked when they tried it. He scrambled, trying to think about what to do, considering a multi-shortcut jump to another Nexus, so that he could enter through the back, when Mirror Him sighed in his head. Loudly.

  'I can't even call you stupid, because that would be too easy. Just go around and pound on the back door, so they can let you in.'

  That made more sense and for once would probably take less time. It was a droopy eyed Hiram that was there, alone, running the Embassy. The very idea made Zack grin.

  "See, in charge already. Why at this rate you'll be the Guild Chair in no time." Turning to Judy he explained. "Hiram is a month or two into his attempt to give up a life of crime. This is actually a great sign for him."

  The voice that came from the man croaked a bit.

  "Everyone else just had to go. Lisa said she'd stay and camp on her office floor, but I ain't leaving a Wistra addict alone in a high stress situation with no sleep. The calls have slowed down, so at least the ones coming in now are half important, and not just people trying to find out the news. Nothing has really changed, not yet. After the first bit of shock, most of the different groups are kind of understanding that this isn't a full on Vampire assault. That will last until the first hothead starts some shit and ends up getting caught on camera." He sat and sipped at a cup of coffee that looked black and bitter, and smelled cold, if he could tell that kind of thing at all.

  "Wonderful. Well, let me see if the Alede Embassy is open or not, and then I'll take over for you, so you can get some rest too."

  The man smiled a bit, but let it fade and pretended to fall asleep, waking with a start. It was way more comical than he could have managed, but he did smile.

  Judy did too, and walked with him to the front door, smiling when Lenore saw them through her large and spotless front window. Zack walked to the door of the shop and stuck his head in.

  "Hi! How are things?"

  "Tense, and the stress is making those of us here hungrier than we would be normally. I don't suppose you could manage another basket of blood? That or find someone for us. That wouldn't be as useful though however and would be hypocritical to the new effort." She smiled and waved a bit. "Who's your new friend?"

  "Oh, this is Judy Swan. Alede, but don't worry, I fed Troy and the crazy girl he brought home to her. She's really nice. You'll like her I think. Right now I need to get her to her Embassy before they think I kidnapped her."

  "Indeed. We should all get together later then."

  Judy was technically outside the shop, so didn't make conversation with Lenore, meaning they were underway a few moments later.

  "So... You're dating Lenore Hawthorn? I didn't even know she was a Vampire. She used to do movies, back in the thirties for a while. Now I know why she quit. It's hard to hide not aging for too long. Hmmm."

  This time there were actually people in the plus sized women's clothing store, and the door was unlocked, so they were allowed in and everything. It was a vast improvement. Several of them walked over, but Kaitlyn ran up to hug her grandmother, just in case he had any doubt who was related to whom.

  "You made it! Mom said she was trying to get Zack to go get you, but didn't know if it would work or not. We're paying for it ourselves, since he won't work for the governing body." She pushed her fake nerd glasses up with a single finger, her brown eyes looking as perfect as always. "Except no one knows what to get him, and we can't afford the millions of dollars it would cost." She looked at them and nodded. "At least you left your bags. That would technically double the debt for each one. That's the consensus at least. Everyone is scrambling right now, trying to make him take something."

  Zack sighed and gave her a hangdog look.

  "You don't owe me anything. We can just claim it was your Christmas present. Then I won't have to put up with Valerie coming by twice a day to see if I need anything. Not that she won't just avoid me, like everyone else that thinks they owe me something."

  Valerie herself moved in and did the whole hugging thing too.

  "You really did it? That's incredible. I thought you were blowing me off..." She licked her lips, seductively and pushed her chest forward toward him. "I hadn't thought about that, do those gift certificates count for something like this?"

  Mirror Him moved in a bit and moved his face toward her, like he was going to kiss the woman.

  "I'll have to check with the corporate office on that, but..."

  He moved away and nodded his head.

  "Oh, here I am, the CEO of Me corp. Yes, that does count. Whew, glad we dodged that one. So, tell me, how is everything-"

  There was a crash from behind them, a thing that sounded like and elephant beating the crud out of a tank. He was almost certain it was a fight, but it was coming from the food court, and not in the center where the tables were either. No, he realized, as he closed in on the scene, it was definitely coming from the back of the Chinese food place.

  Which was currently on fire.

  Chapter five

  Zack just stood for a minute, or at least it felt that long, freezing in place, even though a lot of others ran, one way or the other. The Alede all headed to the back of their clothing store, and a metal screen that was heavier than normal slammed down, leaving him in the hallway. That was fine, since he was supposed to go and do something, wasn't he? Help people.

  Mirror Him screamed at him, sounding freaked.

  'No! Everyone here is non-human. Running into something like this you don't understand is a death sentence you idiot! You need to help by not getting in the way and calling for help. Do that, which might be something that won't get me killed!' It was clear to Zack that the other part of him didn't expect to be listened to, but he was right. Running into that fire, with its billowing smoke and banging noises was not a wise move.

  Instead he started calling fire and found the red fire alarm on the wall, breaking the glass with a tug on the white handle. Instead of an alarm, it got the property manager to appear, walking quickly. He was wearing the same black suit he had been lately, which was always clean and tidy looking, and he seemed like a middle aged man of Middle Eastern origin. He'd never spoken to Zack, but he was good with fire. He didn't even wave in that direction, the flames just weren't there the instant he looked at the location. The smoke stopped too. There was still some noise, but it was metal clanging on metal.

  Then Zack started toward it, hoping that it really wasn't an attack. He was scared, his heart pounding, but that didn't mean he couldn't at least take a peek.

  The white door that was meant to swing both ways had been burned, but was still up, so he kicked it open, to find what seemed to be a piece of machinery that had exploded, and Merry, the tiny red haired Elth woman, tryin
g to do something with her brother, Conrad. It was strange, and was what made the noise. Her hands were held over him, light pouring from them as she shook, tears running down her face.

  Conrad was lying very still, with metal shards sticking out of his chest.

  "Line Walker..." The words were high pitched and firmer than he was used to hearing from her. "I require a boon. Pull the death metal from his form, so I can heal him, before life leaves complete. I beg-"

  Zack didn't know what to do, but he went to his knees, so fast they smacked into the tiled floor painfully, and winced, but started pulling the bloody bits of metal out. There were four large ones, which all came out easily, and three smaller ones. Two he just couldn't get a grip on.

  "I need tweezers or something..."

  Mirror Him snorted in his head.

  'Death metal is iron, moron. Use your teeth.'

  That didn't sound very pleasant, since Conrad had blood pouring out of him from the other holes, which meant he had to act fast, icky or not. Mirror Him got the urgency and the small distressed noises coming from Merry, and did it himself, taking control of the body without much hesitation.

  It was disgusting. So much so that had Zack been in control, he'd have hurled all over the man. MH used his tongue to find the sharp bits and then did it, clamping on and tearing them out inside half a minute. Then, after spitting them out, he pulled back, leaving a metallic taste on Zack's lips.

  Merry could work then, and the wounds closed. The tiny man was still covered with blood, red and sticky, but nothing new came out. She kept working, until after a few minutes, shaking and looking ready to go down herself, she stopped.

  "Thank you, and your shadow..." Then she dropped, tilting to the side, a red patch of blood on her own middle.

  Zack didn't know what to do, but as other people came to see what was going on, he found the large piece of steel in her side, bigger than the ones in her brother, the flesh around the wound cooked and blackened. He pulled it out, waiting for fresh blood, but nothing came.