Enter the Janitor (The Cleaners) (Volume 1) (6 page)

Chapter Six

Ben grumbled as he wedged himself between the soda machine and wall, pinning his arm behind him so he couldn’t scratch. Scratching only made it worse.

Should he peel back the sleeve and check? No. Last time he did that, he couldn’t eat for a couple days.

Carl made concerned burbles in his bottle. Ben started to snap at him to keep his opinions to himself, but bit back the words. Minor irritants flaring his temper so much wasn’t a good sign. He’d been grumpier than normal, what with being forced into a Siamese twin act with Dani, but still … no excuse.

He ran a thumb along the spray trigger. “Sorry, buddy. I know you’re just tryin’ to help. Do one thing for me, will yah? Lemme know if I ever go overboard with her, eh? Be a bit of a moral compass so I don’t steer her too far off the crooked and narrow.”

Carl swirled in question.

“Mebbe, but it’s the only way I know how. Hit ’em with the truth, hard and fast, and sort out the pieces later. That’s all I can do with her. Hard and fast, and hope she can handle it.”

Carl slapped tiny waves together, snickering. Ben frowned until comprehension made him scowl. He shoved back out into the open.

“Oh, c’mon. You know I didn’t mean that. You really are a dirty little drip of … hang a sec. What’s that?”

He sniffed as he scoped the length of the hall. The area appeared undisturbed, but a foul odor threaded the air, and not one of his old-man farts, either. A scent of Corrupt energies made his arm prickle more.

He stiffened as he spotted the dusty footprints. They originated from a floor-level vent and led past the cleaning sign into the restrooms—and they hadn’t been there a minute before. The spray bottle on his hip jerked as Carl spouted in alarm.

“Oh, polish my puckerhole,” Ben said. “Get ready for a little hoe-down, buddy.”

As he sprinted into the restroom, he snatched the bottle up and triggered Carl, who spun out into a water-whip. All the stall doors were closed, but Dani’s feet were visible below the one she’d been working in. The heels of her rubber boots drummed the floor while another pair of dirt-colored feet straddled them.

He wrenched the door open and snapped the whip around the thick neck of the creature that pinned Dani. Its hand had deformed into a shapeless mass that covered her mouth and nostrils. She bucked and strained, but it had her butt stuck in the toilet bowl. Her eyes, gleaming with panic, locked onto him. A muffled scream pushed through the gagging muck.

Ben jerked back as hard as he could. With a hiss like poured sand, the creature released Dani and clutched at the whip as it staggered out of the stall. A ragged wheeze broke from Dani, who spat up a wad of mud and scrambled to her feet.

“What—” She gagged and coughed up more dirt as she grasped the top of a stall wall, looking ready to climb over to get away. “What is that thing?”

Ben wrangled the creature up against a mirror. A flurry of tiny scratches appeared on the glass wherever it touched.

“It’s a dust devil,” he said over his shoulder. “Don’t worry. The water should neutralize it long enough for me to—”

The dust devil reached up and snapped the cord from around its neck like a silk thread.

Ben’s eyes widened. “Uh—”

The dust devil barreled into him with a hot blast of sand. It ground in, cutting and scratching; its body plastered against his, trying to smother him like it had with Dani. Ben stumbled back into the stall next to Dani’s. The dust devil raised an arm, which narrowed into a spike.

“Holy ****.” Ben slammed the door shut.

With a screech, the spike punched through the door and jutted an inch away from his ribs. Ben sucked in his gut and pressed back against the toilet to keep from being disemboweled. The spike withdrew, only to spear back in repeatedly. Soon the creature stood visible through the holes. Not much longer and the door would provide as much defense as shredded tinfoil.

Dani yelped as the dust devil started alternating attacks from Ben’s door to hers, giving neither of them a chance to escape.

“Ben!”

“Water,” he yelled. “Hit it with water!”

“The bucket’s out there!”

“Use the toilet.”

“No ******* way!”

Ben ducked as the dusty spike shot past his neck.

“Dani …”

“This is so GROSS!”

Splashing combined with disgusted whimpers. Handfuls of water flew over the top of her stall. The first missed, but the second and third splashed against the dust devil’s head and shoulders. Muddy chunks broke off and plopped to the floor. Moments later, grit replaced the damaged spots, but it provided enough of a distraction for Ben.

He timed the charge right as a fourth watery missile smacked into the construct. He flung the door open, dodged another stab, and flung himself at the creature. He managed a last breath before clamping his lips shut as grit scoured them.

Dani yelled in the background, but the dust devil’s hissing and the scrape of its body drowned out her words.

Gripping the spray bottle with both hands, he bear-hugged the dust devil and squeezed the trigger. Pure energies focused into the water, he mentally directed Carl until liquid encased both hands. Then he dropped the bottle and thrust his hands into the creature’s back. The dirt and dust recoiled from his touch. It should’ve penetrated like a knife through newspaper; instead, it felt like trying to punch hardening cement.

The dust devil stopped trying to thrust its limbs down his windpipe and reached backward with jointless arms. Its hands clamped around his wrists and tried to pull him out.

Even as he dizzied, Ben kept his mouth shut to avoid breathing. His heart pounded and his lungs felt ready to pop. Then his fingers connected with the dust devil’s core. With a mental shout, he yanked it out—a crystal-clear orb with thorny tendrils that tried to dig into his hand.

The dust devil shrieked and reeled back, while Ben gaped at what he held.

“Where … where’dja get this?”

Short hisses drew his gaze to the dust devil.

“Are you laughin’ at me?”

Its horned head swung to regard Dani, who peeked out from her stall. She shrank back and moved to shut the door again. The dust devil struck the door off its hinges, and the ruined metal clattered to the floor. Dani raised her hands as she hunched.

“I’m not afraid of you,” she cried. “I’m not!”

Ben turned in place, searching for the spray bottle. Hearing the panic in Dani’s voice, he held a hand out her way even as the dust devil closed in.

“Focus and control,” he said. “Don’t let it frighten you.”

“I’m not frightened!”

“Just gimme a second …”

The spray bottle had rolled under the nearest sink. Ben jammed the core into a pocket and lunged for the bottle just as the dust devil went for Dani again.

“You mother******!” she screamed. “You got me
DIRTY
!”

Her voice rose into a keening, and Ben braced himself.

The power burst out of her in uncontrolled shreds of Pure magic. Every light bulb and fixture exploded at once. Jagged forks of lightning shot out from the sockets and arced into metal fixtures and stall walls.

Twin strikes hit his water-encased hands, stinging the fingers. Ben yelled and shook them to release the liquid gloves. They splashed to his feet as the room flashed purple, yellow, and green.

A spear of lightning pierced the dust devil. It split the grainy body and connected with a black orb in the creature’s chest.

Two cores? No …

The body drew back together as the dust devil twitched and jerked. Ben sensed the power flowing into it, like a river refilling a cup. Some outside force maintained the creature’s form despite Dani’s overwhelming attack.

In another strobe-light flicker, the dust devil’s body expanded into a giant face. Each eye as big as Ben’s head, it looked like a generic mask with a bland collection of features. The mouth opened, a tongue of sand formed, and a moan reverberated out like constipated cow.

“Mmmmooommoo …”

Ben shielded his eyes from cutting particles. “Who are you?”

Features twisted into an agonized theatre mask.

“Ppammommoo …”

The face vanished, the remaining core shattered, and the dust devil flew apart, spattering the walls. Lightning continued streaming from outlets and sockets with increasing fury. A sharp smell of ozone filled the air and singed his nostril hairs.

“Dani, that’s enough!”

Her wail cut through the fizzing and cracking. “I can’t stop it.”

“Try!”

“******, I am!”

Ben dropped to his knees as the electrical storm rose to a peak. With a final sputter, the lightning vanished, leaving the restroom dark except for a faint wash of illumination from the hall.

After he caught his breath, he took a physical inventory. Aside from stinging hands, bruised knees and aching arms, he felt intact. Mostly. The smell of burnt hair wafted through the bathroom, and his knuckles were suspiciously bare.

“Ben?”

“Here.” He coughed and struggled to his feet. “You okay?”

A sniffle. “I’m … fine. What just happened? Why did that thing attack me? What did it want?”

He wiped over his sweaty, grit-plastered face. “I can’t rightly say.”

Her snort pinged off the walls. “You don’t know? Great. How long have you been doing this again?”

“Hush it and lemme think.”

Glassy blotches covered the walls where the dust devil’s remains had hit. Ben touched one, and then jerked his hand away.

“Hot,” he muttered.

Carl wobbled in his version of
Duh.

“Did you see the face?” he asked Dani. “Did you hear the voice?”

“Um, maybe? I’m not sure. I’ve seen and heard too many weird things lately. Now I have to add walking piles of murderous dirt to the list.”

“They’re called dust devils. But it shouldn’t have existed. Not like this. It’s impossible.”

“Why?”

Her hand found his arm, but he knocked it away. He didn’t think any of the dust devil’s attacks had broken his skin, but he couldn’t see well enough to tell.

“Go get cleaned up,” he said, waving her to the sink.

She reared back. “No way. Do you know how many infectious microorganisms are in tap water? Coliforms. Clostridium. Giardiasis. That’s not even considering all the corroded pipes it runs through, or all the toxic chemicals they pump in, trying to kill the bacteria in the first place. Might as well drink sewage. I need pure water.”

“Suit yourself.” He plucked the bottle off his belt and started to unscrew the top.

She raised a fist. “Don’t you dare hit me with Carl again.” She fished a packet of wet wipes out of a pocket and started cleaning muddy streaks off her face and neck.

He walked out into the lit hallway with her a few steps behind. He hated leaving such a mess. It went against all his training and what pride he had left in his work, but something more important had come up.

As they piled the equipment back onto the cart and headed out, Ben let thoughts tumble free.

“Dust devils are Corrupt constructs. They don’t just pop out on their own. Someone’s gotta create them and send ’em out with a purpose. Plus, they never travel in less than pairs, never attack randomly, and sure-for-shootin’ do not—” He retrieved the unbroken core from his pocket, “—have two cores, one Pure and the other Corrupt.”

“Cores?” Dani echoed, as she dug a wipe into an ear.

“Yup. Any spell or construct has to have a core of power that the caster makes, usually by channelin’ raw energy or with some fancy ceremony. Otherwise they gotta maintain constant focus or the spell puffs away. With constructs, sometimes the core is an actual physical thingamajig. Somethin’ you can tear out and smash up. Other times, it’s like … like a psychic knot that you gotta find and snip.”

“Oh.” She plucked at her gloves, pretending to adjust them, but he still noticed the slight shake of her hands. “So if there were two cores, one Pure, one Corrupt, what does that mean?”

“It’d mean somethin’s terribly wrong. It’d mean the dust devil was rigged by someone using powers from both sides.”

“So? You can’t be bi-magical?”

He shook his head. “It’s impossible for the opposin’ energies to mingle. They destroy each other. I ain’t never experienced somethin’ like that before. Far as I know, no one has in the history of the Cleaners.”

They pushed out into the back lot and trundled the cart over to the van. Dani rubbed a wipe over the back of her neck as she spat on the asphalt.

“Now what?” she asked. “Go clean some grout and get attacked by mutant termites?”

He waved to the cart. “Help me get this secured. We’re gonna go see the boss.”

***