2005
GRAVEYARD SHIFT
CHAPTER 15 -Castle and Checkmate-
Did you know that:
Alice Chase, who wrote 'Nutrition for Health', died of malnutrition?
"This is a cousin of ours, Zelgadiss," Valgaav said by way of introduction. "We work together. Ah, these are my brothers, Gravos and Jillas."
The shorter man with the straight red hair, moustache, and beady eyes bounced off the couch. He had been the one to say hi before, and now he let words loose in rapid succession. "Hey, just call me 'The Fox'. Get it? 'Cause I'm so foxy."
Other than the red coloring and the overall presence of hair, he looked nothing like their father, Gaav. Zelgadiss could not help noticing the black patch he wore over his right eye, but he refrained from staring at it.
"I thought your friends called you 'The Bomber' cause you 'bombed out' so many times with the babes," Valgaav said with a grin. He had scored a point on his older brother, who chose to ignore him in favor of Zelgadiss, for the moment.
"Whoa, are you blue for real, dude?"
"Um, yeah," Zelgadiss replied. He nearly added, "Wanna make something of it?" but didn't. Jillas seemed to ask the question in a good-natured way. Besides, he must have been only 5'6", making Zelgadiss feel superior by his additional three inches.
"Yo, get off yer butt and get over here and meet the new cousin. Ya gotta take a look at this dude's hair. Zel...ah..." Jillas turned his head from Gravos to Zelgadiss, and asked, "Ah, I can call ya Zel, right?"
"Well, there is this other guy..." Zelgadiss began, but then Gravos approached him, cutting off the light in the room. Here was the image of Gaav coming at him, but without the hair. Gravos wore his hair shaved completely off, but from the impressive pair of eyebrows curtaining off his eyes, Zelgadiss guessed his hair would be dark.
"Hey, dude, your hair's like...I don't know...wire or something. Shit, if my hair'd do that, I'd grow it out. How'd ya get it to do that?" Gravos pawed at Zelgadiss' hair, strands sliding between his giant fingers like streams of silver.
Zelgadiss blinked at a glacial pace, too stunned to speak or move away. Only the incessant barking of a dog a few doors down broke the silence. Zelgadiss was without words, so Valgaav helped him out. "Leave off, Grav-ass. He was in a chemical accident at work, and it just about killed him. I think Zelgadiss, in case you missed the intro earlier, is pretty cool looking."
"Oh, I think Zel's awesome," Jillas put in, pushing himself to the forefront. He was obviously the spokesman of the pair. Zelgadiss was about to say that he preferred to be called 'Zelgadiss' these days, but he was over-ridden by the booming voices and distracted by the noisy dog, which was still barking with gusto.
"Yer name's...Xel?" Gravos was catching on now. Zelgadiss knew now where all the brain-genes had settled in Valgaav's family, but then he remembered that Valgaav had been adopted, and so was not a blood relative.
"You know, now that I hear you say it, 'Zel' sounds too much like 'Xel', doesn't it? Ha! Ha!" Jillas laughed at his own cleverness.
"It sounds exactly the same," Valgaav pointed out. "Just say his name. Zel-GA-diss. You can do it even if it's got multiple syllables. Listen, why we stopped by was this: we're hitting the clubs and need to change clothes. Our cousin Zelgadiss here, doesn't have anything to wear that'll fit in with the other clientele, so I figured something of yours, Jillas, would fit him. My stuff's still stored here, or have you guys sold it all?"
"Sold our dear baby brother's gear? Never, never, never! How could you think that? Naw, it's back in the storage closet on the floor behind the pile of books."
"So that's where it was," Gravos scratched at his bald pate. "I was wondering..."
"Anything's pretty much lost to you if it's near books," Valgaav muttered beneath his breath. "Gravos is here on a football scholarship," Valgaav explained as he and Jillas walked Zelgadiss to bedroom. From over his shoulder he yelled back to Gravos, who was bringing up the rear, "This your senior year, isn't it?"
"Yeah, then I'm goin' into the pros. I almost quit last year, but Bomber here made me stick around one more year."
"Well, I didn't want to lose my roommate. They don't come any better than you," Jillas said. "Okay, let me see what we can put you in."
Zelgadiss began to feel the heat rising to his face. "I'm okay, really. You don't have to..."
"Oh, sure, you're okay, but we're gonna make you better than that. Blow everyone's mind out. Your pants will do fine-- I mean, black jeans go with everything, just pull them down lower."
Jillas continued to chatter as he dug through his shirts, discarding some to a different pile in a random sorting process. Zelgadiss wasn't at all sure he wanted to wear anything of this man's; it might contain toxic chemicals. The stuff certainly didn't look clean.
"How can you stand that dog barking? Is he like that all the time?" Zelgadiss asked.
"What dog?" Jillas looked up. He must have spied exactly what he had been looking for, because he hopped over to his closet and removed a shirt and vest from a hanger. "This is where you were at! Had them cleaned. Try them on, and then I'll see what we can do with your face. I have some eyeliner here in the drawer someplace. You guys going right now? If you wait a minute, Gravity-boy and me will go with ya."
"My face...?" Zelgadiss passed a fearful glance to Valgaav, hoping he'd put a stop to those plans.
Valgaav did. "We can't wait. I know it'll take you guys hours to get ready. We'll run into you at the Cavern after midnight." However, the protection stopped there. He caught Zelgadiss' eye, then explained, "Jillas means he wants to highlight your features, not cover them up." Valgaav raised his voice to carry to the bathroom where Jillas was rummaging for the makeup in a drawer. "Not much, you hear me, Jillas? Light on the liner and sparkles. Got that?" Valgaav repeated.
"Sparkles? I don't like that showy stuff. I think I'm eye-catching enough." Zelgadiss was going to put his foot down somehow, on something. The shirt was tight-fitting and translucent gold, while the vest was leather. He re-hung the vest, choosing not to look like a bigger idiot than possible and then discovered that the shirt was missing the top few buttons.
Valgaav agreed. "Yeah, you won't need that vest. Don't need those buttons either; you'll have the shirt off in no time anyway. It gets hot in the clubs and the Cavern is...well, you'll see. Let Jillas do your eyes, dude. He's got a truly steady hand, while I go change into my par-tay clothes."
Zelgadiss gave him a squinty-eyed, dirty look for reneging on his defense while Valgaav barked out a laugh. Reaching for his overly warm hoodie in order to cover up, he was interrupted when Jillas called for his immediate attendance in the bathroom. "Plant your ass on the can and lean your head back a ways."
Zelgadiss sat gingerly on the edge and waited as Jillas rolled up a wad of towels, jammed them all between the wall and his head, then pushed on his chin. "Lean back."
His head was resting comfortably in obeisance as he silently prayed that the towels had at least been washed recently. To his surprise, Jillas' weight landed on his lap.
"Sit still and close your eyes again," Jillas commanded. "I'll do the left one first, but ya gotta hold real still or else it smears and I got a mess to clean up and haveta start all over."
Zelgadiss closed his eyes more out of shame than in the spirit of cooperation. He wondered what he had gotten himself into? The day had been going so well, and now he had a guy on his lap, a cousin, with a hand on his mostly bare chest, applying eyeliner.
"I was thinking of some lip gloss. You sure don't need the blusher, do you?" Jillas asked.
Zelgadiss knew his cheeks were the color of burgundy wine by now, and didn't answer.
"You know, you were mentioning that dog barking. I don't even hear that dog any more. Damned thing barks at EVERYTHING. A real annoyance when the owner's gone, which is most of the time. Now it's just background noise. We got the windows shut and air on, so you must have good hearing with those pointy ears you've got. Mine are kinda pointy, too."
Zelgadiss couldn't nod. He was forced to answer. "Yeah, I do."
Gravos wandered in to watch. "Know what bugs me?"
No. Zelgadiss did not, and cared even less. He wondered what was taking Valgaav so long– probably doing his eyes as well. Zelgadiss had never heard of guys wearing makeup before, at least not real guys. He wondered what his grandfather would say if he saw him right now. He would have a fit. A ghost of a smile hovered over his lips as he imagined Rezo walking in on them and having conniptions. "Oh, what the hell, do sparkles and whatever."
"Good boy," Jillas patted Zelgadiss' cheek, and moved slightly to paint his other eye. "No, Gravity, what bugs you?"
"When I listen to the radio and the talk-dude doesn't tell you who sang that song, that sucks. That's why I don't like radio no more."
Zelgadiss agreed. "Yeah, and ever notice how a station comes in brilliantly when you're standing near the radio, but buzzes, drifts, and spits every time you move away?"
"Ye...ah?" Gravos' face lit up as he processed the complicated thought and recognized the situation as related to himself. "Yeah!"
"Or how about when you rub on hand cream, and then can't turn the bathroom doorknob to get out?" Jillas asked. "I just hate that."
Zelgadiss had never used hand cream, but he had gotten into cooking oil. "Or opening a bottle with greasy hands."
Gravos laughed as he said, "Oh yeah! Beer and greasy chips!"
"Sure," he agreed, although Zelgadiss was thinking of pickles and olive oil.
"You ever bite down on a piece of foil candy wrapper and have it make electrical contact with your filling? Now that sucks painful." Jillas reached over the counter for a bottle of glossy, sparkly gel.
"Well I work graveyard, which means I sleep mornings, and I can tell you that it's no fun if you set the alarm on your clock for 7AM instead of 7PM." For Gravos' benefit, Zelgadiss elucidated. "The alarm goes off just after I've fallen asleep and then it's hard to relax after that."
"V-bo works graveyard."
"Yeah, Gravity-brain, he knows that. They work together. Val told us that already. Weren't you payin' attention?" Jillas ran a finger over Zelgadiss' lower lip, leaving it wet and glossy-looking. "Done. Now you're ready for Atlas City, Zelgadiss my man."
Valgaav entered the bathroom just as Zelgadiss got to his feet. "You look exotic, dude."
"Thanks, you look..." Zelgadiss just gawked a moment, then sputtered out, "Val...I...ah...never saw you that way before."
Valgaav had tied his long hair off his face with a black silky headband, which showed off his dramatically kohl-lined eyes. His exposed chest glowed with bronzing cream beneath heavy bands of a black leather harness studded with sharp metal points and rivets. What caught Zelgadiss off guard most, though, was the above-knee length black leather kilt. He thought of gladiators whirling axes in the lion pit.
"What you have here is the height of Atlas City clubbing gear," Jillas said, laying a heavy emphasis on the rhyme pattern.
"Oh."
Valgaav was pleased to have shaken up his younger cousin, and said to them all, "He's just happy we didn't put him in a getup like this. Come on, Zelgadiss. Let's do the City."
On their way to the door, Jillas said to Zelgadiss, "I thought you were a bit stiff at first, but I can tell you're all right."
Zelgadiss shrugged. "I might come here next year, haven't decided."
"Oh yeah? What major?"
"Chemistry, probably. And track."
"Hey, cool. I studied that. Now I'm doing grad work in chemical engineering."
Gravos patted his brother on the shoulder with pride. "He makes bombs, so we call him Bomber."
"I thought that was because he bombed out with the girls." Zelgadiss was sure he remembered Valgaav saying that.
"Nah, it's the work. He's got a girlfriend." Gravos collapsed onto the couch, much like the way they found him earlier. "And a kid."
Valgaav shuttled his cousin out the door, leaving with smiles and 'see you laters.' "That wasn't so bad, was it?"
"No, they were...funny. I can't believe I'm related to Gravos, though."
"Jillas says the same thing!" Valgaav said, and they both laughed as they picked their way around the neglected garbage cans on their way to high adventure.
On their way to the dining room, Xelloss had noted that their overnight bags had arrived and were resting on a small table by the stairs. He would have to remember to take those to their rooms later. In the meantime, he and Lina were standing just within the door to the dining room, and they were not alone.
"Xelloss? Gracious! Is that you?"
"Hello, mother. This is my good friend, Lina Inverse. Lina, I introduce to you Zelas Metallium."
Lina, not to be wowed by any adult for long, said, "Nice ta meetcha. Hey, this is some place ya got here. Xel didn't tell me you lived in a castle. Kinda dark and gloomy, but I like that aspect of it. Good looking spread on the table. This all for us?"
"If you like." If Zelas was nonplused by Lina's forthrightness, she didn't show it. She revealed nothing with her polite smile. The fine-boned woman with the chin-length blonde hair didn't look a day over thirty. She could have been her son's wife. "What happened to your face? It looks terrible. Does it hurt?"
"I ran into a door just before leaving. I plan to take some pain killers and go to bed after dinner, but thanks for asking."
"Had I been given advanced notice, I would have had rooms prepared, some entertainment planned." Zelas poked at her salad and warily watched the two guests, like a lioness on the hunt. They were her quarry, which could supplement or compromise her ongoing project. She was ever alert to impending problems. Her son in particular posed a dilemma for her-- include him or eliminate him.
"I called and left a message," Xel said in his defense as he pulled out a chair for Lina and then took his own seat nearby.
"You did? I didn't find any message from you. What number did you call?" She asked, and he told her. "Oh, I stopped using that one months ago. I didn't give you my new one?"
"No." Xel was curt, holding his temper in check. He had business to conduct, but his mother was to be kept unaware of it, if at all possible. He knew that the best way to do this was to say little so that he could conceal all his motivations and not upset her.
"Must have slipped my mind. Here, dear, try the eggplant in garlic. You can have all the sausage you wish; it's too spicy for me tonight."
Lina wondered how a mother could forget to inform a son of her new phone number. But, then, she and her mother were just as estranged, so she set the thought aside for the time being. She wasn't going to let anything interfere with her meal, which she ate with her usual gusto.
"My son never brings his girlfriends home for a visit, so you must be someone special." Zelas was scrutinizing Lina warily. She was curious about this young woman who seemed to be a very cool customer under the strained circumstances, but didn't want to put her on the defensive.
Luckily, Lina's mouth was too full for her to make a sharp and most likely disparaging remark. Xel cut in. "Lina and I are on the same bowling team. She expressed an interest in Wolfpack Island, so I offered to give her a tour. I'm expected back tomorrow, so we won't be here long. It wasn't my plan to put you out, Mother."
Lina noticed that he had refrained from mentioning their work connection and thought that strange. He had his reasons, she suspected, and so did not bring it up herself. The bowling team thing sounded like a safe excuse. It became the topic for the remainder of their conversation.
"Well, I shall look forward to beating you both in our upcoming game." Zelas flicked off her beeping alarm watch. "Oh, the time! I'm afraid my time as hostess is over for the evening. The lab requires constant supervision, and now I must relieve my chief scientist. Xelloss, you can show your...friend... to the pink room across the hall from yours. It hasn't been used in a long time, but I'm sure it will do for one night." Zelas said to Xel, and then turned her attention to Lina. "I am glad you visited the beach earlier. I think our shores are quite lovely, but frequently inaccessible, sadly, because of the constant bad weather. We sit out here in the ocean with no protection from nature's whims. Tonight another storm is blowing in, I understand, so it may delay your departure tomorrow until late." Zelas concluded her speech with the placement of her napkin on her plate, and then stood. "I must go now."
"Oh? Well, nice to meet you, Mrs. Metallium," Lina said in a burst of rare polite behavior. The good food was in part the cause, but mostly Lina was frightened. There was something creepy about Xel's mother. No, Lina decided, not creepy so much as inherently evil. The woman's cold demeanor suppressed an underlying annoyance, although disguised, with their presence on her island. Lina felt it like the bass line in rock music– ever-present, but not expressed in the melody. Zelas had been surprised by their arrival, and they were most unwelcome, Lina was sure of it. And then there was the woman's unearthly youth, which had so magnetized Lina's curiosity that she repeatedly sneaked peeks at her when Zelas was attending to Xel. There was no way that woman was old enough to be Xelloss' mother. The reserve, controlled aggression, and unnatural lack of aging all put together set Lina on edge. To her it suggested a hidden agenda and evil intentions.
"Yes. Perhaps we'll meet in the morning, then. Goodnight." Zelas stepped briskly to the door and closed it after her.
"So, Xel, what now? You really off to bed so early?" With Zelas gone, Lina's spirits returned to near normal.
"That's right. It's later than you think, Lina. We didn't leave the beach until nearly ten, and now it's after eleven."
"Don't I get at least a quick tour of this place? I mean..." She paused to take in the fatigue-etched lines around his eyes and the dark bruising climbing up from his jaw. "If we go tomorrow late, we'll have time. I guess I can wait."
"I appreciate that." Xel tilted his head to the side. "I almost believe you care about me, with that rare show of sensitivity."
Lina punched his arm. "How's that for sensitivity?"
"I stand corrected, my dear. Come on." He escorted Lina out and up to the third floor, picking up their bags as they passed them. "Most of the private living quarters are on this level. This is your room," he said as he opened the door wide and flicked on a light switch. He set her bag just inside the entry.
"Oh, wow, Xel! This is great. There's a balcony and everything. I gotta tell you, when your mom said 'pink room' I was thinking something pretty perverse, but this is great."
The walls were covered in burgundy striped wallpaper with dark cherry wood wainscoting below. A small bed with a creamy bedspread and tissue-thin matching canopy occupied the center of the room. There was space at the side for a small dresser, which acted as a bedside table, and an alcove with built-in rod and hangers. The only pink item in the room was a beautiful floral carpet adorned with full-blown roses in various rich shades of pink and red. Light issued from an out-of-place modern fixture overhead.
"Where will you be?" she asked.
"I'll show you, so you don't get lost." Xelloss pointed out the bathroom a door down from hers and his room directly across from that. "I'll leave my door ajar in case you need anything."
"Not likely," she replied. "Okay, well then, I guess I'll see you in the morning. What do I do?"
"Get some sleep and wait there. I'll come get you early. I want to beat the storm out of here, if possible. Good night, Lina. Sorry I can't be any more entertaining for you tonight."
"'S okay." Lina waved and returned to her room, the pink room.
Lina flung herself upon the bed, not bothering to remove her clothes or turn down the bedclothes. She had no intention of sleeping; resting a little would do fine. But resting was difficult. She could hear all manner of things– the wind gathering force caused the windows to rattle and the gusts sounded eerily like howling. The room was stuffy, so Lina slid off the bed and unlatched the windows. A burst of wind swept her hair from her face and tossed the long, red curls in the air. She wrapped her arms around her body and shivered as the cold dampness chilled her. It was as if the weather had capriciously skipped from summer into winter while she and Xel had dinner. Then she heard the howling. It was coming from someplace else, not from the wind over the ocean.
"Wolves!" she gasped aloud. "Those must be the wolves Xel had told me about." It was a terrible sound to hear, alone like that in her room, and what was worse, there were more noises growing in intensity with the wind. All around her were the sound of voices moaning, wailing cries on the wind, and the groans of the wooden stanchions supporting the overhanging portions of the castle bending under pressure.
It took all her inner strength to step back, push the windows shut, and latch them tightly closed. Her heart pounded against her ribs, fighting to get out. "This will not make it any easier to get to sleep," she thought.
In fact, she found the dark room pressing in on her, the floral rug oppressive. "I'm not staying in here another minute."
Choosing the lesser of two evils, Lina grabbed her overnight bag, and then ran out the door and down the hall to Xelloss' room.
The first thing that Xelloss did when he entered his childhood bedroom was to give his face a thorough examination in the bathroom mirror. One side of his face had become a tight splotchy mask. Xel muttered under his breath how he'd love to take Gourry apart with his bread knife someday, which appeased his ego slightly. Certain that there were no broken bones, he brushed his teeth and swallowed two more Tylenols. He had business to conduct before he could sleep. He needed to be alert and would be better off fighting down some pain then trying to battle the fogginess of the more effective pain killers he had bought. Those he would reserve for later.
He slipped off his shoes, shirt, and pants, rolled onto his bed, and then lay beneath the covers. He had no plans to sleep. He would rest just a little, and so for his final act, he set his watch to buzz him in an hour. He allowed his mind to drift; it landed squarely on Lina and how close at hand she was, yet untouchable, particularly now that he couldn't even kiss her. She was nice to kiss, though...
"Xelloss? Xel?" Lina whispered as she entered his bedroom. It was absolutely dark, but her eyes were adjusted so that she could make out the general furniture arrangement and void stubbing a toe as she crept to his bedside.
He was dead to the world. "This is so bad an idea I probably need my head examined, but here goes..."
Lina scrambled into bed alongside Xel, soaking up his warmth gratefully. She was careful to keep a decent distance between them as she watched his face for a hint of wakefulness. He lay on his back, still; his unharmed jaw side was to her, giving her the opportunity to stare at his profile, pale against the darkness beyond. He lay motionless. Lina couldn't resist reaching out to smooth his hair, pushing the bangs back to reveal his dark eyebrows. She was struck by his usually animated features now immobile. Handsome-- perfection in still life.
"Man, am I glad no one can see this," she thought to herself. It was exactly what Xel wanted, wasn't it? Climbing into bed with Xel was what her sister had warned her about and what she had adamantly denied would ever happen to her. And yet here she was. However, she had not let him entice her into his bed; she had climbed in on her own, which made all the difference. Besides, they weren't doing anything but sleeping; at least Xel was. It was comforting to listen to him breathe and know that he was between her and the unknown terrors out there.
She moved closer. Her breath drawn, her movements slow and even, cautious not to jar and awaken him, she kissed him lightly on his cheek. "Night."
Lina turned over with her back to him, and fell to sleep unexpectedly in an instant.
Xelloss awoke with a jolt. When he moved to turn off his watch alarm, he noticed a weight holding his arm to the bed. It took him nearly a minute to pick out Lina's features and comprehend who she was, and another one to recover from that realization. Lina was snuggled up to his side. It was a dream come true, which, sadly for him, he was unable to build upon. Oh, he considered wrapping himself around her and enjoying her fully, but he had a purpose in coming to the island which was more time-dependent. He hoped to steal out, explore for the evidence he sought, and then return to this precisely identical position.
He was pulling on his pants when he heard Lina's sharp intake of air. "I can explain," she gasped out.
"No need. You hear the wolves? That can be scary, I know." He didn't need light to see how embarrassed she was.
"Where are you going?" she asked. She was happy for that diversion.
"Stay here. You shouldn't be running around an unfamiliar place. You'll be safer right here. I'll get things done faster without having to worry about you, and then I'll be back as soon as I can."
"I asked because I wanted to know, not to be put off with weak platitudes."
Xel reached for his shirt and sighed heavily. "Lina, I have some investigating to do. There is something going on here, I am certain, and it relates to the attack on Rezo, his lab, and the other deaths. That last one, Joe, was an employee here, as I told you."
Lina paused to absorb what he had said, and still came up empty. "You know more than you are telling me."
Unwittingly, and unfortunately, he used an arrogant tone of voice when he replied. "I know lots of things you don't, Lina, but I'm not discussing everything with you here and now."
She was standing on the bed holding him in a headlock before he could button a single button. "Think again, buster." She tightened her grip as he struggled to break free. "You're not leaving me alone in this place. I'm going with you. Nod if you understand."
He may have budged slightly. His jaw ached with the additional pressure.
"My bag's packed, if we gotta make a break for it," she said as she let go and hopped to the floor.
Xel had lost his will to argue. He had no choice since he couldn't lock her in his room. "My bag is over there, not that it matters if it got left behind. I have all I need in this." He patted a small brown leather bag that hung from his shoulder. From the look Lina gave him, he could tell hers mattered to her. "Okay, we'll carry them to the basement, where there is an underground sewer causeway to the other facilities. I'll have someone I trust load our things onto the plane and prepare it for take-off, just in case, though I hope to learn what I need to without being caught. If there's a storm coming, flying or sailing off the island may be impossible."
"Oh, it's coming, all right. The wind's blowing like there's no tomorrow."
"Then we'd better not waste any more time."
"So, what's on your agenda?" Zelgadiss asked. He couldn't feign disinterest. His eyes were dancing already. "That Cavern place I heard you mention?"
"Not to start with. The Cavern is an exclusive club. Has the best bands, deejay, and atmosphere. So, here's what I figure: we go there last."
"Like the dessert."
"Yeah, definitely the 'whipped cream and cherry on top' place. I think I know your taste in music pretty well."
Zelgadiss shrugged. "Like you and Xel, I like it all."
"Even hip hop?" Valgaav was testing the waters for Zelgadiss' taste in more ways than one.
"Ahhhh, not that one so much. Why? Is that all there is around here?"
Valgaav look changed from tense to relief. "Not entirely. No, that'll work out fine. I'll take you to a few interesting but on-the-edge kind of clubs first. Right around the corner is our first stop."
What Valgaav chose first was the least odd of all the spots he and Xel used to frequent. The Miami Nice club had a tropical theme, which meant that the walls were decorated with garish neon lights in the shapes of parrots and palm trees, and the folks at the bars drank tall drinks sporting colorful umbrellas or slices of fruit.
"Remember," Valgaav warned him. "You got a long night ahead of you. Take it slow on the drinks or you'll pass out before the fun starts."
Valgaav wandered over to a table as Zelgadiss picked up a menu from the bar. "Shark Bite, Lava Flow, Blue Banana? Gods those are drinks! That last one sounds vulgar."
"It is. Stay away from the mixed drinks. I'll do the ordering," Valgaav told him.
Zelgadiss wasn't paying much attention to him. He had found something far more compelling. "Gator bites? Is this for real? Valgaav! Do they really serve alligator here?"
Afraid that Zelgadiss might start to jump up and down like a ten-year old, Valgaav whirled around and grabbed him by the shoulders. "Yes, and you can try them, but let's not draw too much attention to us." He meant that he didn't want to be embarrassed for bring a novice into the club.
It did shut Zelgadiss up. He hadn't been allowed to leave the house with his hoodie. His silver hair and blotchy blue skin were on display for all to see. He had thought that the dark clubs would be cover enough, but he was wrong. His hair caught the light and sparkled like tinsel. A few girls giggled as he passed by. He slunk into a chair at a corner table, well out of sight of most of the other customers. "Sorry."
Valgaav smiled. "Don't worry 'bout it," he said, and then ordered gator-kabobs and two beers from their young male server.
There was no band, but there was nonstop music and few dark forms quivering in time to it on the dance floor. "The deejay's named Mojo," Valgaav told Zelgadiss, and sent a salute his way.
Zelgadiss craned his neck to get a look at the guy. "He looks more like a Bill sort of guy. 'Mojo' is probably a pseudonym."
"No doubt," Valgaav agreed. "He was a psych major last I knew."
Mojo ambled over and pulled up a chair. He sat in it backwards and draped his arms over the back. His waist-length blonde dreadlocks hung like dirty ropes over his arms. "Hey, V-bo. Howya doin? Looks like ya got yerself a new friend." He looked Zelgadiss over like he was goods for sale.
"Been okay, you're looking good. Mojo, this is my cousin Zelgadiss." Valgaav gave them both a bemused smile.
Zelgadiss nodded and frowned. "Hi." He was unused to being scrutinized by anyone like Mojo.
"You sticking 'round tonight?" Mojo might have asking Val, but his eyes were holding steady on Zel.
"No. We're making the rounds. Showing my cousin the highlights."
The deejay looked disappointed. "Too bad. Come by later, maybe. You back in fall?"
Valgaav nodded. "Yeah, maybe. Zelgadiss will be a chem major. You graduating this time around?"
"Maybe, depends. Money's good with this job, but the hours don't always work with the classes. I might have to drop classes or quit work to graduate. Another year's not so bad, either. Hey, come back so we can talk more. I'd like to get to know you, Zelgadiss. Song's over, gotta go back to the box. Later!"
"Bye." Valgaav sipped at his drink and listened to the music while Zelgadiss sampled the kabobs. "How do you like it?"
"How do I like what? This place, the music, Mojo, or the food?"
"Start with the alligator."
"The meat's like chicken, Mojo-- if I never see him again I'll survive fine, the music's okay, but loud, and this place is not really me, I guess."
Their server limped over and asked if they wanted anything more.
"No thanks. Just the bill."
"Here's your check, mate," the kid said glibly, and then waited for Valgaav to pay.
"Here, and if you drop the fake accent you can keep the change," Zelgadiss said as dropped a five onto the table.
"Sure thing!"
Valgaav finished off his beer. "Cool. Let's move on then."
As they reached the door the server shouted, "Ciao, baby!"
The next club they visited was a smokier, busier place, still with a tropical flavor, but more 'organic' with overhead fans, wicker bar stools, and coconut beverage cups.
"We're here to try the snacks. Head for the bar," Valgaav directed them.
Zelgadiss wore a bemused smile as he scanned the drinks others were sipping. One couple was sharing a drink that mostly ice and arguing over who 'drank it all!' A livid, smoky drink in a tall, tapered glass was just too vile-looking to be appealing, he thought, although a two-tone green concoction caught his eye. He pointed it out to Valgaav, who shook his head. "Midori sucker, I call it. Melon liquor and tequila that can make you go blind. I'll get you something green, if that's what you like."
"That's what I like," Zelgadiss said in time with the music.
The music bounced from reggae to rocksteady to ska. Currently, Feel So Good was playing, which Zelgadiss recognized, but not the particular recording.
A large tumbler of green carbonated drink with ice was placed in front of him. "What's this?"
"Just try it."
"Lime and melon? I thought you said this could kill me?"
"Maybe I want you dead, ever think of that?" Valgaav gave him what Zelgadiss regarded as a very unsettling stare. He must have looked alarmed, because Valgaav immediately shot back, "Shit, man, I was just joking with you. This is non-alcoholic and might upset your stomach, but it won't kill you."
"Sorry," Zelgadiss said as blood rushed to tint his blue skin pink at the cheeks. "It's good, thanks.
Hold Me Tight played next. They could see a few young people undulating with the rhythm on the dance floor.
"These are odd. Good, but strange. What am I eating?" Zelgadiss asked after downing his third pinch of crunchy finger food.
"Deep fried bugs," Valgaav answered. He hid his smile behind a bottle of sparkling water.
Zelgadiss showed considerable poise when he did not spit out his mouthful.
"It's a bug bar. One of a kind. Jamaican rum drinks are good here. At one time they had a band on Friday and Saturday nights, but not any more. Probably too small a place. They don't have enough room for all the customers good bands can draw, and the bad bands drive customers away. You like art?"
Zelgadiss hesitated to answer. Would a positive response mean they'd be visiting galleries? "Ah, some. Why?"
"Come on, I know a cool place."
Zelgadiss chased after his cousin wondering what was next.
"I'll grab a couple drinks and you find a table," Valgaav told him.
Zelgadiss was getting a bit tired of being ordered around, but then again, he never showed much initiative around his older cousins, so what did he expect?
"What's the lime for?" Zelgadiss asked.
Valgaav crushed the juice of his slice into his glass deployment before filling it to brimming with beer and dropping in the peel. "Mexican beer. Just try it."
"Not bad." Zelgadiss took another sip. "I don't know a thing about beer or wine, as you can tell, I'm sure."
"I can tell. I'm no expert, but I like this and try something knew every so often. Xel's the wine guy. Look up there. See?"
There was a narrow catwalk circling the room and disappearing into the next. "Yeah."
"We'll go up there in a minute. It's the gallery."
"Gallery, as in paintings? I thought maybe it was the route to the bathrooms."
"Gallery as in all kinds of art. Paintings, sculpture...it changes." Valgaav nodded to someone Zelgadiss couldn't see. "Here're some friends of mine..."
Zelgadiss greeted the two young men and committed their names to memory. Having contacts up here would be nice, come fall; that is, if he decided to enroll. "Nuriko and Chichiri, hi."
Both men were around their same size and ages, Zelgadiss estimated. They wore their hair long, held back in ponytails, and they were dressed in short kimono shirts left open to the waist and tied with sashes with loose silky-looking pants underneath. Nuriko shared the same penchant for makeup as Valgaav, although where Valgaav looked Egyptian, the other guy looked more like a Japanese Geisha than anything else Zelgadiss could come up with.
Chichiri, on the other hand, was fresh-faced, but badly scarred on one side and wore a large gold earring in his right earlobe. Zelgadiss and Chichiri locked eyes a moment in silent understanding.
"I like your hair," Chichiri said to Zelgadiss.
"Thanks, it used to be long and dark, but..." He said no more. Clearly, both men knew more about transfiguring injuries than they wanted to share.
"So," Nuriko interrupted gently, "I've been told you're cousins and that you're to be a freshman this fall. That's nice. We're in religious studies and martial arts. How about you?"
"Um, chemistry and track, I guess. I haven't really decided whether to come or not."
"Oh? Tell us what's stopping you and we'll do everything to change your mind!"
Chichiri said this with such good intentions, that Zelgadiss couldn't help but be drawn into the discussion. "I don't know how I'll fit in. This," he gestured to his face and hands, "happened just this summer. I'm trying to cope with it, but it's changed a lot about my life. Being out around other people, well, it's not fun."
"Oh, you'll fit in fine. Creeps are everywhere and will diss you, but there would have been people like that to denigrate the old you, too, so that's not gonna change. Besides, we think you are beautiful and perfect, having never seen you before, so it doesn't matter. Now you have to come back in fall. We won't have it any other way!" Nuriko chided him, and then laughed.
"Have you been upstairs yet?" Chichiri asked.
"No, Valgaav was telling me about it."
"You guys go on up. We'll meet you," Nuriko said. "I haven't talked to Vally in a long time."
"Okay."
"It's really very experimental art," Chichiri explained. As the soles of their shoes hit the metal rungs there was a scrape and a ringing sound. "Oh, how can you lean out like that? I get vertigo, I think."
Heights had never bothered Zelgadiss. He imagined that he had been a bird in a former life. He looked out over the railing to see figures bobbing to the best of the music and couples hunched over tables, heads together to be heard over the noise. Somewhere down there was his cousin, but he couldn't make him out. When Chichiri tapped him on the shoulder, Zelgadiss tuned around and noticed the whitewashed brick wall to the other side was dotted with paintings and drawings framed each in a unique style.
"Watch your head!"
Above them hovered a mobile which dipped and swayed with the air currents, nearly clipping Zelgadiss' wild locks.
"Psychological studies," Zelgadiss muttered. "All a bit strange. This one looks like one of my bad dreams."
"I guess its something you share with the artist. The common theme to these pieces is symbolism. You ever study art? You have a feel for interpretation."
"No, but I think I'd like to."
"So, you thinking more like you'd want to come here in fall? You'll make friends, I promise."
Zelgadiss saw the earnestness in the guy's face, and blushed hotly. "I'm leaning more toward coming, I think." He had the uneasy feeling that he might have suddenly become the object of this young man's affection, which was not intentional or desirable from Zelgadiss' point of view. He didn't want to say anything to hurt his feelings or insult him and make him mad. What if he was wrong? He knew what to say then. "I just lost my girlfriend because of the way I look, but I still want to try getting back together. There's no hope at all if I come here, because she's still in Seyruun."
Chichiri responded with a sympathetic smile. "You can give it one more try, but from my experience it's best to go with a fresh start. Oh, here's my favorite piece!"
An hour later, they rejoined their other two friends back at their table. "Nuriko suggested that we go to Cool Matter's. They've got a new conceptual art thing going on there. We can stay here longer, if you like, but Nuriko and Chichiri are heading out to a show, meeting friends."
"Let's go then," Zelgadiss decided. "We still have the Cavern to go to, right?"
"Oh, yeah. I save the best for the last."
Valgaav and Zelgadiss parted ways with their friends and wound their way out of the club and out the door. The streets were full of kids out on the town, just like them. It was Friday night, and that was party time. Everywhere they walked, people paused and stared to mark their passing. Valgaav was tall, lean, and sculpted naturally by rock climbing. He was topped with marvelous green hair and could make a stir all by himself in any crowd. When you had Zelgadiss with his otherworldly appearance at his side, it was a sight no one could miss. Zelgadiss couldn't help notice that they were being drooled over by females and males alike, and his confidence grew. He would occasionally meet the eyes of some attractive girl and smile. It was fleeting and anonymous, and so it wasn't very brave of him, but it was something.
'You look like you're having fun. Are you?" Valgaav asked him as they entered the next club. The beers had loosened him up a little, that and the friends. He had put in a call to Nuriko before leaving Seyruun, and it had paid off. He knew that for Zelgadiss this was his first bout of club drinking, and so he carefully regulated his cousin's consumption of alcohol. Zelgadiss hadn't said anything to the contrary, so Valgaav decided to continue to be the one doing the ordering. This next place would be another no-alcohol stop. After all, this was all for Zel's benefit, not for Val's.
"Yes, actually, I am. I haven't thought about my grandfather, that he was blinded in the same accident that caused...this. I haven't given a moment's thought to that random birth certificate, and how it is that I'm a relative. I have pondered my future and the effect my new appearance has on others, though. And I don't care right now." If nothing else, the beer had loosened Zelgadiss' tongue.
"That art do all that for you? Wait till you get a load of this stuff, then."
Cool Matter had previously been an old house. The owner had died several years back and his only child had shown no interest in living there, so it stood empty for years. The youngest grandson saw it as an opportunity, and poured the rest of his inheritance into creating a unique club. It had many rooms, which partitioned off different activities. Dancing occurred in the 'front room'; the bar occupied what had once been a kitchen.
Conceptual art was exhibited throughout. In a 'bedroom' the floor was covered in turf, the grass crushed by the many feet passing through. The title: Outside In.
"Well, it smells like rotting compost," Zelgadiss said as he exited the room to check the next. "So, why haven't we been carded?"
"Because I've gotten the drinks and they know me and trust me. This place I've not been to so they should and the Cavern always does. They won't even let you past the door without ID." Valgaav hesitated at the entry to the next room. "What do you think?"
"The cages are extreme, but the people inside them probably belong there." Zelgadiss approached one of the cages with a girl inside. It was 4 feet by 3 feet, so he crouched low beside it to talk to her. "So, how're you doing in there? Need anything? Food? Water?"
"Yeah, but then I'd have to go and my shift's not over for two more hours so... no...thanks. You part of a show?" She had an unkempt look, but he thought it had something to do with her incarceration.
"No, this is...natural," he said as he gauged her response.
She took in his exotic looks then shrugged. "Nice."
He smiled and asked, "You get paid to do this?"
"No, I'm a grad student doing a favor for a friend. Over there, the girl in the smaller cage? It's her master's thesis. She'll help me out when the time come for me to do mine."
"Oh, so you're a student at the university."
"Yeah, isn't everybody?" she asked.
He felt good thinking that she mistook him for another student, maybe one her age. "Yeah, mostly. Well, see you around, eh?"
"I'll see you for sure. Maybe you'll do a thing for me?"
"For one of your art projects? Sure. Not until fall, though. I got this job in Seyruun now."
"That's cool. I'm Nicene."
"Zelgadiss."
He left the room and went looking for Valgaav. Zelgadiss wore a wry smile and decided that everything was going to be just fine. He would work and save money this summer, then get Valgaav to room with him and come back here. Here. He could get to think of this as home, he was sure of it. Well, maybe. He'd see, anyway.
He located Valgaav on the dance floor. He was dancing alone, or with five other people, it was hard to tell. Feeling good, Zel danced out to meet him and joined in with the crowd for the next few songs as well. The music was alternative and likely from local bands passing out free CD's trying to get publicity. Soon, he found himself pinned between two guys, getting closer than comfortable. Using his athleticism, He leaped and spun and slid out of the ever tightening cluster, and then the song was over.
Valgaav joined him at the bar, where they both ordered sodas. Zelgadiss asked the expert, "Why is it that there are so many... you know...gay guys at these bars?"
"They're mostly gay bars." Valgaav took a long drink and let his words soak in.
"Oh? So, you aren't gay. I know you like Amelia, so why?"
"Well, you got your two kinds of bars here. There are the hip hop music bars or the gay bars for different music. Most folks end up infiltrating the gay bars and turning them into mainstream. Plus the lines are fuzzy."
"What lines?"
"All kinds of lines, Zelgadiss. Like the way you feel about your grandfather. He's practically raised you, so you must love him, and yet, you hate that he may have had something to do with your accident, even if it was just being in the wrong place..."
"The bastard made me quit the job I liked and made me work for him and then got me blown up! He's involved with something bad, or he would have tried to see me afterwards, regardless of his own injuries. He's guilty and can't look me in the eye."
"So, why don't you confront him about all this if you think he's to blame? If he's innocent then you'll be able to forgive the man before he dies. If he's not, and you're right about the guilt thing, then maybe you can hit him up for the truth about your mother. Would Rezo be her father or your father's?"
"My father's," Zel mumbled. He looked away, glum again. What Valgaav had said sounded reasonable, but how he felt was anything but. Zelgadiss needed to blame someone, to hate someone for his disfigurement.
"Hey, sorry. I shouldn't have said all that. This was supposed to be recreational, not a drilling."
"Yeah, well, what you said made sense, too." Zelgadiss rubbed his eyes with a fist, and then cleared his throat. "We have one more club to go to?"
"Yeah, a special one, but only if you want to."
"Let's go."
After handing their overnight bags to a trusted servant, Xel and Lina hunted for the underground sewer entranceway. Xel illuminated patches of the floor with his tiny, but bright, beam from his mini-flashlight, scanning deliberately for a particular marked cover. "It has a funny mark. This one!"
He pocketed the light, and then used both hands to yank open the heavy grate. With the top off, Lina peered into the dark pit. "Just how dirty is it down there?"
"It's a storm sewer. When it's dry, like now, it should be fine. After a storm, we'd have to swim."
Lina knew from the wind she'd felt before that a storm was coming. They would have to move fast and immediately. "How do we get down?"
"There's a ladder, but it's about four feet down so you can't see it or reach it. Here, I'll lower you into the hole. Kick in and you'll hit it."
It was too late to go back now, so Lina agreed. It wasn't the dark or the unknown that bothered her so much, she loved mysteries. It was the thought of all the slimy things she might encounter down there. She hated all manner of slimy creatures, slugs in particular. In a leap of faith, Lina sat on the edge, then suspended by Xelloss' arms alone, was lowered into the darkness.
He had been right. There was a metallic ring as Lina's hit the rungs after just a few seconds. "Contact!"
"Go on a ways so I don't step on your hands or something."
"Don't let go until I gotta grip here!"
"Of course. I wouldn't let you fall, Lina." While still holding onto her hands, Xel knelt lower to the ground until he finally had flattened himself on the pavement around the opening.
He let her tug one hand free at a time, but didn't move until she called out, "Okay, there's room for you now."
Xelloss maneuvered the manhole cover back over his head as he joined Lina in the sewer. "Just keep going down. You'll hit the bottom rung in about twenty feet, then wait for me, or you can hop to the floor– about a three foot drop. No, better just wait for me at that point."
"As if I'd go running off alone," Lina grumbled. "Stumbling about in a sewer with no idea where I was headed in pitch darkness."
The only sound was that of their shoes scraping the rungs for a minute, and then Lina cried out, "Oh!"
Xel had jumped past her to the floor and switched on the overhead lights. From a hard-edged, cold, black pipe to a ghastly green glowing tube, their world was transformed instantly with the light.
"Why didn't you warn me before you did that? Hey, wait up!" Lina shouted as Xelloss jogged off.
"Keep moving, Lina," he said over his shoulder. She had no choice but to pick up the pace and run. "This is a causeway, so keep to the center where there's a raised walk, or you're likely to get your feet wet."
"Wet?" She shouted out, and then remembered that sewers carried detritus in a current of water. Although it didn't smell noisome, her imagination filled the concealed depths with foul things. "Yeah, sure. Thanks."
Other than the firmness of the cement block beneath her feet, the situation was otherworldly. They ran through a fuzzy blackness with their beginning concealed and no visible end ahead, punctuated every ten feet by a dim luminous glow from the overhead service lights. Lina felt it was endless, mesmerizing in its sameness. Her eyes remained focused on Xelloss ahead, trusting him to point out any traps or dangers. The sound of their heavy breathing and the sound of their footfalls were all she had to root her mind in the here and now. They ran a couple miles before Xel encountered a crossing, and slowed to a stop while he considered which way to go.
Lina was thankful for the break to catch her breath. "Lost?"
"No, we can take either path. I was just waiting for you to catch up, and see if you needed a rest."
"I can keep up with you. No problem. Get moving!"
Xel shook his head. Lina impressed him with her resiliency. "A few hundred more feet in this direction and we climb again."
"What's above us?" Lina asked as Xel reached the top rung of the ladder and stopped. Her hand grazed his ankle in her search for the next rung to hold onto. "Sorry," she mumbled. The personal contact embarrassed her, but he hadn't noticed, or indicated that he had.
"Research laboratory records. Ready? I'll climb up first, then give you a hand up."
Xel pushed the sewer cap open a crack and paused to listen. There was no sound or light coming from the room above them. Satisfied that it was safe, Xelloss pulled himself up over the lip of the opening. It took two hands with some muscle behind it to lift Lina off the last rung. Her fingertips could only touch the lip of the opening when she stood on tip toes. When he had her steady on her two feet he embraced her in a brief hug. "Glad you're small. It makes me feel needed."
"Idiot," she muttered into his shirt. "Let me go and tell me what we're looking for."
"The door," he quipped, and was rewarded with a slap to his arm. "We are in a utility space where the electrical and power supply lines run." He again flicked on his micro flashlight and swept the beam over a far wall. "Clear. Follow me and be quiet. There may be personnel on the other side of that door."
Lina nodded and straightened her blouse. "Ready."
They crept out of the darkness into a dimly lit room. Lina could make out the hum of several computers and the light from their glowing screens, some blue, others green. In the shadows there stood tall filing cabinets and bookcases. Xelloss nudged her arm and directed her attention to the far side of the room where another door appeared below a backlit sign warning them that they were entering a high security area. Clearly, this was where they wanted to be.
"What do they do here?" Lina whispered.
"Pathology, run medical tests just like a hospital. Mostly." He put a finger to his lips and cautioned her to silence as he picked a path to the door.
Where you would expect a handle to be, was a security lock activated by entering a code on the keypad. Xelloss had already gathered the necessary codes for his earlier database investigation into Joe's identity, so he wasted no time typing in what he knew would work. With a mechanical click, the bolt drew back, and the door slid back into the frame, making a sound of escaping air. Lina was unprepared for the scene before her, but was insistent. "Let's go!"
End Graveyard Shift, Chapter 15.