Other Places 3: Detours (41 page)

"Eve!"
She got a hug too, and it lingered a lot longer than was normally polite. The
girl just did it back, looking a little baffled.

"Hello,
extremely good looking person I don't know."

He
was about to introduce her, but the Alede smiled.

"Yes
you do, you just don't know me in this form. I'm also Kyle? We've done it,
like, half a dozen times?"

Eve
blinked, and then just hugged her back a bit harder.

"Oh,
hi! Okay, Keeley mentioned that part to me. So you work here too? I'm not
really going to be in until this summer, or, I don't know, maybe on
weekends?" She looked at Zack who made a considering face.

"That's
not a horrible idea. She might be part time down at Yoghurt World or Candles
and More too, part time. I'll check that."

The
girl looked at him, but tried not to seem upset by what sounded like a vast
amount of work having come from her opening her mouth.

Zack
put his arm around her gently and gave a light hug.

"Don't
worry, it's cooler than it sounds, contact wise. We still have to ask too. They
may not need you. If that's the case, well, there's always lots to do around
here. Don't worry, you won't be bored."

She
at least tried to look eager, even if she didn't feel that way.

It
was a good thing. A hopeful one.

That,
he decided, was going to be his theme for the time being.

Hope.

Of
course, before he did anything else, Zack sort of needed to see if he could
find Detective McKenzie. The plan had been for him to get to go to a bunch of
places, but life, as it often did, had gotten in the way. That meant, no doubt,
hours, or even days of searching, looking for the man...

Except
that when Zack stepped through, along with Eve, who'd come just for the heck of
it, the man was sitting almost exactly where he'd left him. About fifteen feet
away, up against a white wall that looked a bit like it might be made of
plastic. When the man saw him, he jumped to his feet, his face having not been
shaved for days, and the fellow dearly needing a bath.

The
idea, most likely, was to charge him, possibly to do some real damage. At least
he bellowed and started to pull his right hand back, stopping only when Eve
took a step toward him,
aggressively
.

"I
wouldn't try it. If you do, I will
mess
you up." As threats went it
really should have gotten no more than a smile from the man, but it was pretty
clear that Zack, and therefore Eve, weren't his first intended victims. Someone
had beaten him pretty soundly already.

From
the different sizes of the wounds, it was three different people, all at
different times, and at least one of them had been
tiny
. Those fist
imprints looked to be the freshest.

"I'll
kill you!" He moved again, so Zack slowly pulled the not overly large
cheerleader out of the way, gently, to protect the man. He limped as he covered
the distance between them, which meant that it took a lot longer than it should
have. "Kill you!"

The
fight, well, Zack actually felt bad about it. The whole thing was sad, since
the man clearly thought that he'd been drugged and was being held captive. By
Zack, too, so he couldn't even just take the fellow home and have him
committed, or sent out to find the real kidnappers. To his mind, it was Zack.

Which,
he reflected, was actually
right
. He had done that, hadn't he?

Still,
the man barely managed to slap at him and didn't have a firearm, meaning that
someone else had taken it, most likely. His spare and throwaway weapons too. It
really was a bit like fighting a handicapped child, which left him feeling like
he was doing something wrong.

After
knocking him to the ground, hard, Zack decided to give him one more chance to
fix himself. If he couldn't, or wouldn't, then... Well, Zack could just toss
him into the middle of the ocean, and let him drown. Or into an underground
lava pit. Either would work. It wasn't what he wanted to do though.

"Detective,
I need to ask you some questions. Please answer honestly. Or, really, lie
convincingly enough. Either will work for me in this." He waited, and the
man glared, but did it from the ground, not even sitting up yet. "Great.
Are Vampires real?"

He'd
been told it was true, by an authority figure. At least one person that had
beaten him was one too. The warping on the man was faint, but clear enough to
show that he'd been hit several times by one. Zack waited, feeling hopeful, but
the man disappointed. It was very sad. Enough so that he had to fight the
feeling back, so he wouldn't just give in and let the man go.

"That
horse crap again? There's no such thing as Vampires, Elves, or Fairies, unless
we're talking about your boyfriend, of course." The last bit was said to
Eve, who rolled her eyes, not bothering to hide how she felt.

"Great,
so stupid
and
a homophobe? Listen dickweed, when someone suggests that
you try to
lie
, that means they're probably trying to help you. So,
Vampires are real, right? It isn't hard. Say it... It begins with a
'Y'..." She looked both bitter and hopeful for a few seconds, then threw
her hands out when the man muttered something that sounded a lot more like
"fucking cunt" than "why, yes, Vampires, I know them well."

She
turned to Zack and shook her head.

"I
tried. Well, let's kill him and get rid of the body. We need to pick that
carefully, so there won't be traces. Maybe we could find a landfill first?
March him out at night and cap him there?" She grimaced, seeming to mean
it. "I... don't have a gun on me. I left mine at home, hidden so that it
wouldn't be taken away." Her fingers snapped, the sound making McKenzie
twitch,
violently
. "I know, let's find out where bigfoot lives and
leave him there for a few decades. I bet that changes his mind."

Zack
froze for a few seconds, and then realized that he'd actually been there
before. The trip he needed to make would be an interesting one, but he thought
he might be able to do it. Of course it was dumping his problems on the
Trolleinkein, but they could use him as a teddy bear, or a child's toy. Then,
when he was ready, Zack could get a message to come pick him up.

"All
right. We'll do that."

Eve
smiled, and looked shocked.

"Wait,
Bigfoot is
real
? How awesome is that? Can I meet one? Should we take
something to trade with them? That's a thing. I read about it online."

That,
actually, was a good point. A nice big load of exotic foods might work. As a
people the ones he knew needed to eat a lot,
and
had trouble getting
enough. It might work, anyway. The thing there was, as soon as they marched the
rather troubled and slightly seedy looking Police Detective out of the book
store, he stopped and blinked, looking around as if he wasn't half insane or
drugged to the gills.

"Wait..."
There was a general stopping of forward motion, and Eve actually stopped
walking, turning to look at him. Ready to fight, if she had to.

That
part was fun to watch, Zack decided. Oh, the girl wasn't some great martial
arts master, and wouldn't be able to take even an injured and disoriented man
in a fight, not unless she was well armed, but that wouldn't stop her from
trying really hard, if it came to it. It would almost be worth letting it
happen, just to see the results. Except that he knew them already.

If
anything started, McKenzie would die, right then and there. Eve was one of his
people now. Technically so was the Detective, living inside his territory, as
he did, but that didn't mean he'd be allowed to get away with being a moron.
Not forever.

The
man actually surprised him then.

"I
don't... want to live with Bigfoot." He sounded slightly confused, and a
little sad at the idea.

Zack
slowed and turned, well out of the fellows arm's reach. Then he nodded, trying
to get the man to show something,
anything
, approaching thought. Crumbs
would be enough, if he'd just
do
it and not stubbornly refuse to see
reality.

"Really?
So you can admit that Bigfoot might be real enough that you don't want to live
with him? Or, in this case, them?" He didn't coach the man however, since
that time had passed. He wasn't an imbecile, just mentally crippled. Unable to
really know what was around him.

But
if he was willing to pretend hard enough, it could still work.

It
was pretty much how Troy got through the day, after all, and he was making it
work for himself pretty well.

The
Detective grunted.

"Everyone
knows that Bigfoot is real. It's just the other stuff that doesn't make sense.
Vampires? Elves?"

Eve
pushed the man, getting one of the lone real shoppers, a woman with a pink
stroller and several bags from different shops, to glare at her, as if the girl
were being mean. Which she was, a little.

"Right,
but can you make yourself believe? Zack isn't saying you have to be perfect,
just willing not to make problems. I think. Is that right?" She looked
over at him, giving the Detective enough time to try and push her back, or run
off, if he wanted. That didn't happen, but it was still too big of a gap, if
she was going to be a Vampire someday. They fought often enough that letting
her guard down wasn't going to work in the long term.

"That's
right. Can you pretend well enough to get along with people you think of as
delusional? Harmless, really..." It was so far from true that he had to
use magic and a lot of focus not to smile about it, but Zack schooled his face
in time to seem earnest, and not like a clown.

A
freaky, scary clown.

"Um...
If it means I don't end up abandoned in the woods with Bigfoot? I guess... This
isn't
real." He was definite on that point. He knew what reality
was. The man was simply wrong. Most people were though, and no matter what they
did, couldn't
really
change that about themselves. It was enough if he
could just learn to avoid them all.

That
might not work in the long run, but it was worth a shot. After all, like he'd
just been thinking, McKenzie was one of his people. Geography was a thing too,
after all.

"All
right, come this way then. Eve, take the rear and don't let him run off? We're
headed to the yogurt shop."

That
didn't take long, since it was only about fifty meters away, if on the other
side of the main hallway. The place was brightly lit up, and both Edom and
Lenore were there, since it was just about shift change. It was strange, but his
girlfriend actually ran around the counter and held him, much like Kaitlyn had
done.

She
gushed less, seeming a bit less surprised to see him.

"Zack!
With new friends too? I missed you. You've been gone for days..." There
were a hundred questions in the words, buried inside them, which he could feel
pouring out of the Vampire woman. His Vampire woman. Zack kissed her, gently.

When
the soft and rather friendly thing was done, he moved back smoothly.

"The
Mistress of Souls got scared and tried to enslave me, so I had to kill her a
few times. Think of it as a Greater Demon spanking. She's alive now and we've
smoothed things over, more or less. Eve here is one of my new people. I got her
from The Technician. Edom, she's the one I mentioned working with you this
summer? She'll be around on weekends too, in order to work mornings. If you
want her, that is. She's researching Vampires to see if she really wants to be
one, so..." He turned and shrugged at the girl, then looked at Ed.
"So, if she doesn't behave, rape and beat her and throw her crying into
the corner? That's what happens to little Vampires that don't mind,
right?" It was out then, but Eve didn't shy away, just nodding, as if that
was just part of the price of doing business.

"I'll
mind, sir."

Edom
smiled hugely then.

"Good.
I was a bit worried about that, to tell the truth. The Line Walker is a good
friend of mine, but he might not want you hurt. We'll keep that to a minimum,
if we can, but I'll teach you what to really expect, so be ready for
that." He turned and stared at Zack, his face a bit more serious.
"Will she be living with me?"

"No,
or at least not unless you think that's needed. We already have plans for her
to stay with Troy and me. You know, since they're both planning to sign up with
your team?"

Lenore
smiled and moved in, taking Eve's hands as if they were old friends.

"Lovely!
We can use you on the weekends for now. Starting at six in the morning,
Saturday and Sunday. Do you have church services to attend to?" She said
it as if that were the normal thing to ask, not something strange or bizarre.

It
got an even stranger response.

"Yeah,
Keeley, Hally, Darla and I have been going. Catholic. I'm not really into it,
but she, Keels, says that we should at least make an appearance and be involved
in things like that. Like, you know, a cover? My parents go too. Dad and
step-mother. They're... Um, friends of Darla's?" She looked at Zack,
clearly not knowing what was polite to say really.

"The
Technician. It's not a horrible idea, but she can miss for now. In the summer
we'll go. Hally and Sheri will be up here too." He smiled a bit, and
locked eyes with Lenore. "Rebekah the Manthori, too. I traded The Mistress
of Souls for them. Some information that she needed. So the new blood supplies
will be easier to get, I bet. None of them are slaves, so, you get the picture,
get ready to do some courting. Sheri has a flower business. She's Keeley's
mother. Still young and cute too, so you might ask if she wants to sign up with
you too. Immortality is kind of a good door prize."

Lenore
took that news in stride, as if trading in mothers just made sense in her
world. Maybe it did? She lit up and didn't let go of Eve's hand. She finally
looked at the slightly reeking Detective, clearly getting who he was.

"Are
you delivering him for disposal?"

Like
he'd need help with that?

"Nope,
he's agreed to pretend that Vampires and Shifters are real, and to that end,
will be sent back to the Chief. Hopefully this works, since... Well, I hate to
waste things. Anyway, I'm going to leave him here. Will you order some food for
him? I'm going to see if Eve can get in to the candle shop part time too. If
she goes your route, then having contacts there won't hurt."