Chapter 10

"I love what you've done with the place," Celestine said.

Fumbling with a roll of gauze, Joshua glanced over at her. She stood on the other side of the office, examining his pieced-together poster.

"Why Arboliva Forest?" she asked.

When Joshua didn't answer, Celestine looked back at him. She watched him struggle to wrap the gauze around his injured arm. "Need a hand with that?" she asked.

"I'm fine," replied Joshua.

"Really?"

Joshua looked down at the mess he was making with the gauze that Celestine had pulled from a kit that had been stashed in the bottom drawer of one of the filing cabinets. He was pretty sure a two-year-old could have done a better job at wrapping his wound. He sighed. Clearly, this was not something he could do on his own.

Flushing, he held out his arm toward Celestine. She grinned and crossed to the desk. Perching on the edge of the desk near the VCR, she leaned over and removed the tangled mess Joshua had made with the gauze.

Celestine, Joshua discovered, smelled very good. Was it her perfume? Her shampoo or lotion? Whatever it was, it was nice…a combination of something flowery, along with vanilla and apples.

Celestine began wrapping his arm, efficiently. Her movements were quick and precise. Joshua hoped she couldn't hear his heartbeat. It quickened when her cool, soft fingers brushed against his skin.

While Celestine worked, she started talking at a rapid-fire pace. "I'm a former EMT, y'know. I did that first before I became a cop. I don't do rescue runs anymore, but if your heart ever gives out, I'm the one you wanna call…assuming you can still speak…and hold a phone." She spoke so quickly that her words ran together. Joshua had trouble keeping up. Her hands flew over his arm, too. She was acting almost manic.

Nonplussed by pretty much everything about this unexpected, apparently former, cop, Joshua was mostly perplexed by her familiarity with the pizzeria. "You seem to know your way around this place," he said.

Celestine's fingers jittered against the bandage, which was almost complete. She spoke quickly again. "Spriggy's was on my beat, and well, I still like to stay informed." She looked up and gazed around. "I also loved this place as a kid."

She tugged on the gauze, tightening it. Really tightening it. Joshua grunted.

"That should do it," Celestine said. She patted his upper arm. Then she pushed off the desk and stood, extending a hand. "Anyway, My name's Celestine." She grinned. "Might as well finish our meet-cute."

Joshua blinked at Celestine.

She laughed. "Just kidding, but seriously," she shoved her hand forward forcefully. "Let's see if we can do this. Celestine." she repeated.

Joshua was a little reluctant to take her hand. She was such a powerhouse that he wouldn't have been surprised if he somehow lost his hand in the process of shaking hers. But still, he took her hand and shook it twice, vigorously. "Joshua, but you can call me Josh," he said.

"Pleasure to meet you, Josh," Celestine said, squeezing his hand once before she let it go. She stepped back and looked up at the intercom before returning her gaze to Joshua's face.

Unnervingly, speaking in a totally different tone of voice, she said, "So, are you doing alright this evening, Josh?" Gone was the breakneck, light chatter. Her tone was now measured and low, as though she was a cop again.

Joshua fidgeted as Celestine's eyes narrowed. She seemed to be studying him with suspicion.

What the hell?

Not sure how to respond to the out-of-the-blue, hard-right turn, he could only say, "What do you mean?"

Celestine's eyes narrowed even more. A muscle at her strong jawline twitched. "Are…you…alright?" she repeated, slower, as if speaking to a person with an IQ of ten. "As in, are you okay? Are you cool? Is everything…copacetic?"

Joshua crossed his arms, ignoring the pain in his left forearm. "I know what alright means," he said.

Celestine's demeanor flipped again. She smiled brightly and began speaking quickly once more. "Hey, that's great!" Still talking fast, she dropped the smile as she continued. "Did you also know that your eyes are bloodshot, and your pupils are dilated, and your heart rate is through the roof? All of this is aside from the gash on your arm, which…let's be honest…is pretty frickin' bizarre. And you've been acting shifty and suspicious since the moment you opened the door. Did you know that, too?"

Joshua stared at Celestine, open mouthed. "It's…uh…"

Celestine put her hands on her hips. "Yes?" she asked with mock tolerance.

Joshua sighed. What was the right way to go here? He couldn't tell her about his dream, obviously. But maybe he should be honest…to a point. "It's been a really, really weird night," he admitted.

Celestine tapped her long, dark-purple-polished fingers on her ribs. She eyed Joshua for a long, disconcerting moment.

Then, as if an invisible switch had been flipped, Celestine's cop-esque posture deactivated. She flashed a wide, warm smile at Joshua and said, airily, "Sounds like Spriggy's."

Joshua was now totally mystified. What exactly did she mean by that?

Joshua's befuddlement must have shown on his face. Celestine let out a short laugh and waved an arm to indicate the building around them. "This place…it gets to people." Then she leaned toward Joshua. "That's one of the reasons why you're gonna quit." The light tone was gone again. She was dead serious.

Joshua felt like he was being spun on a merry-go-round. "What are you talking about?"

Celestine nodded twice. Her voice returned to the cheerleader sprightly. "Oh, yeah. You security hires never last long here. That's just a fact."

Joshua had no idea what to make of that. The only thing he could think to say was, "Maybe I'm different."

Celestine studied him. Her eyes darkened, and her face went still. She looked like she'd fallen down a deep, dark void of introspection.

Then, almost immediately, the dark Celestine-clouds cleared. The sun came back to her face, and beamed at Joshua. "So, have you met them yet?"

"Met who?"

"Them," Celestine said. "You know. Spriggy, Ducky, Flamer…and Captain Fluffy?"

Joshua gaped at her. She smiled at his cluelessness. She turned toward the door, then looked back at Joshua, motioning for him to follow her. "C'mon," she called.

The dining room was dim, but the ceiling lights were on. Strangely, when Celestine had used the light switch near the entrance, it had worked. Even in better light, though, the dining room was still not one of Joshua's favorite places. There was something haunting about the open space, the trash, the children's drawings…and the expanse of the crusty, red stage curtain.

Celestine didn't seem to be bothered by any of the things that made Joshua's skin crawl. She strode confidently and purposefully toward the stage.

Joshua trailed behind her, hanging back enough to soothe himself, but not far enough to look like a total pussy. Attempting to distract himself from his nerves, Joshua called to her, "So, what are the other reasons?"

Celestine glanced over her shoulder. "Huh?"

"You said I'd quit my job because this place will get to me, among other reasons," he reminded her. "So, what are the other reasons?"

Celestine stopped. They'd reached the stage, and she now stood in front of the main stage. Joshua sidled away from it, ending up in front of the small purple-curtained stage. Celestine faced Joshua, putting her hands on her hips. Something flashed in her eyes. An annoyed look? A challenging one?

"You tell me," she said. "Is this where you see yourself in ten years? How about twenty? Look down the line. What do you see? I mean, what do I know? Maybe the benefits are great."

Joshua felt like he got whiplash every time Celestine spoke. Even though the pendulum pace of his interaction with her was giving him a headache, he laughed.

Celestine smiled. "Didn't think so." She cocked her head. "Add to that the thing with those kids going missing…"

It felt like she had just kicked Joshua in the nuts. He struggled to get his next breath in. "What…what did you just say?!" he asked.

But Celestine acted like she hadn't heard the question. Walking away from Joshua, she strode to the wall in front of the red SHOWTIME button.

"Prepare to have your mind blown," she said.

Then she hit the big red button. The instant she did, it felt like a dozen things happened at once.

The first thing to get Joshua's attention was the swish of the purple curtains. They swung apart, and…

Joshua yelped and scuttled backward.

The pirate-Eevee animatronic was lurching forward out of the darkness. It shot to the edge of the stage, just inches from where Joshua had just been standing.

At the same time, the main curtains reeled open. The entire room was suddenly lit up with psychedelic color. Floodlights came on, shooting blinding streaks of colored light toward the stage. Simultaneously, a rousing rock song began thumping from the overhead speakers. Joshua recognized it immediately. It was the same song he'd heard in the office when all hell broke loose. It was now that he remembered the song: it was called "Rival Destinies". He even remembered the names of the original singers: Alex Nackman and Kathryn Ralo.

The deranged-looking Eevee that had nearly scared the shit out of Joshua started jerking around in a spasmodic dance. Joshua was mesmerized by the convulsive motions. He especially couldn't take his eyes off the gleaming silver hook, which cut through the air over and over as the animatronic gyrated.

When the Eevee looked down at Joshua, or at least it seemed like it looked at him, he finally moved. He stepped over to join Celestine, who now stood center-on, at the base of the main stage. Joshua followed her gaze.

And there they were…the rest of the characters Joshua had seen in the posters. The blue Quaxly with the pizza slice. The red Fuecoco holding the electric guitar. The green Sprigatito with the bow tie and top hat. The animatronic Sprigatito spoke.

"HEY KI-IDS! PUT O-ON YOUR HAP-HAP-HAPPIEST FACES, BE-E-CAUSE THE SPRIGGY FAZ-AZSPRIG SHOW IS ABOU-BOUT TO BEGIN-IN!"

The voice that came from the animatronic Sprigatito was gruff and nasally, very obnoxious.

Joshua put all the names to the toothy-smiled faces. Spriggy. Ducky. Flamer. Captain Fluffy. All of them were rocking out.

Joshua's gaze locked on the bopping and twirling animatronics; he couldn't decide whether to be entertained, repulsed, or sympathetic.

The display was at once fascinating, disgusting, and sad. Maybe when they'd been in their heyday, bright and pristine in all their glory, the animatronics might have been fun to watch. Now, however, the faux-fur-covered robotic Pokémon were filthy and mottled in certain places. The animatronics' mechanisms made chunky, glitchy, whirring noises. The Fuecoco's…Flamer's…electric guitar was faded and dusty, too.

"This is…" Joshua tried to say.

"The best thing you've ever seen in your life?" Celestine filled in.

Joshua shook his head. "I was going to say 'deeply traumatic.'"

Celestine shot a look at him, but he shrugged indifferently. Celestine returned the shrug, and then she held out a hand. "Wanna dance?"

Joshua stared at her hand. Was she serious?

He wasn't going to find out, though. While he tried to work out the answer to her question, a burst of sparks exploded from Flamer's guitar. At the same time, the rock song sputtered and screeched to a jarring stop. Red-hot and bursting with bright color, sparks spewed from the stage. As a few of the sizzling bites of heat hit the black-and-white-checked dining room floor, the flood lights went out. Then the swirling lights were gone, and the curtains began to close.

Agog, Joshua couldn't take his eyes off the suddenly rigid animatronics. His gaze went from one to the other, landing finally on Spriggy.

The curtains sweeped together in front of the Sprigatito. As they did, its gaze seemed to shift. It appeared as if it was staring directly at Joshua.

The curtains finished closing. Joshua shivered.

Surely the animatronic couldn't have been making direct eye contact with Joshua. They weren't that sentient. Were they?

"Maybe next time," Celestine said.

Joshua pulled his gaze from the closed curtains. He looked at Celestine. She was expressionless. He couldn't read her.

Celestine headed toward the archway. Joshua started to follow her, but he felt compelled to the closed curtains again. They remained shut, but they swayed back and forth ever so slightly. Now that all the bright lights were out, the curtains were engulfed in shadows.

Joshua felt tingles on his arms. He rubbed them, and the gesture brought back what Celestine had said earlier.

Hurrying after her, who was still heading toward the lobby, he called out, "Um, you said some kids went missing?"

Celestine stopped. She turned and looked at Joshua, cocking her head as if she found him interesting…or maybe dense. "Sure," she said. "But that was years ago."

"What happened to them?" Joshua asked.

Celestine crossed her arms."It was big news." She made a face that Joshua couldn't interpret. "It's why the place shut down," she explained.

Joshua felt like the floor under his feet was falling away. What?

Glancing at his face, Celestine gawked, "Wow, you really didn't do your homework, did you?" She looked him up and down as if in mock disapproval. Or maybe her disapproval was real. She shook her head. "And you're not even wearing your badge."

"Huh?" Badge? What badge?

Joshua was pretty sure Celestine had seen his face arranged in expressions of totally vapid ignorance more than pretty much anyone he'd ever met before. And that was saying a lot.

Raising an eyebrow at him, Celestine motioned for him to follow her as she veered away from the arch and headed to the far side of the dining area. Skirting around an overturned table and a pile of chairs, she led him into the arcade. Their footsteps made little purring and tsk-ing sounds as their feet scuffed over the dusty floor and kicked aside debris. The dry smell of dust mushroomed up around them.

At the front edge of the arcade, a long, thick-with-dust glass counter enclosed a display of decrepit game prizes. Mounds of moldy, limp, faded plush Pokémon lay pathetically next to clusters of cracked plastic toys and crusty Spriggy's paraphernalia - Joshua spotted hats and mugs and pendants and rings and figurines and posters.

When they reached the counter, Celestine went behind it and slid open a cabinet door with a tap and a whoosh. She reached into the conglomeration of wasted prizes. Joshua cringed as her fingers kicked up dusty green spores and tossed aside what looked like colorful dead baby Pokémon. He wanted to tell her to stop what she was doing. It was too…disconcerting.

Before he could speak, Celestine pulled her hand out of the display. "Got it!" she said triumphantly. She held up a red plastic tub filled with play badges. Joshua took a step closer and looked at them. The plastic emblems read Spriggy's Honorary Security. Celestine plucked one of the badges from the tub and stepped over to Joshua. Smoothing the vest that, in spite of everything that had happened tonight, he still wore, Celestine pinned the badge to it.

She patted Joshua's shoulder, then she stepped back. Her gaze lifted to his face and then dropped again. "There," she said in a tone that came across as oddly resigned. "Now it's official."

The words sounded tired, and her tone dropped at the end of the sentence. Celestine seemed to be…almost sad. Why?

Joshua opened his mouth to ask what was upsetting her, but before any words came out, the beep beep beep of his watch alarm cut through the moment. It acted like a thrown bucket of cold water, putting a harsh end to the night.

Celestine looked at her own watch. Joshua knew it would read six a.m. That's what his alarm was set for, after all.

"Looks like our time is up," Celestine said. She gave Joshua a weirdly somber smile. "Come on. Let's go get your stuff. I'll walk you out."

The storm had finally thrown in the towel. Flat, ashen clouds lay supine over the pizzeria, as if spent and depleted. Between a narrow gap in the clouds, a hint of the day's coming sun sidled over the tops of distant trees, casting surreal golden light over the wet black sheen of the pizzeria parking lot's broken asphalt.

Joshua's car door was protesting its required movement with a clunking groan when an engine's drone and the swish-hiss of tires rolling through shallow rain puddles turned Joshua around. Celestine's large black SUV rolled to a stop behind him. She lowered her window.

"If you want," she called out, "I can check in from time to time. I know how lonely these nights can get."

Joshua kept his face neutral, but inwardly he cringed. He liked Celestine, even though her fickle personality made his head spin. The last thing he needed, though, was her dropping in unannounced. It would totally mess up his nighttime routine. But then, he realized that Celestine was watching him with a bemused quirk of the lips and a raised eyebrow. Joshua spoke quickly. "I-I can keep myself busy."

Celestine left her gaze on him for several long, inscrutable seconds. Then she shrugged. "Some friendly advice?" She narrowed her eyes. "Don't let this place get to you. Just do your job, and you'll be…fine."

Her intense stare and the hesitation before the word fine landed on Joshua like a physical blow…not a hard one, more like a warning tap. A shot across the bow. It felt like Celestine's words were more threatening than advice.

Ignoring the tightening in his gut, Joshua said lightly, "Sounds good."

Celestine gave him a friendly wave (there was that flip-flop again. Joshua couldn't keep up). Then she raised her window. She looked straight ahead and drove out of the parking lot.

Joshua watched the SUV's taillights for a couple seconds before getting in his car. As he started to close the car door, which let out a loud grinding sound, he thought he caught a hint of movement by the pizzeria.

He leaned forward to look through his windshield. Unfortunately, he couldn't see much. Leaves and pine needles were stuck to the wet glass, and Joshua's view of the restaurant was obscured. He hesitated as he considered whether he should get out of the car to go investigate.

As quickly as he thought about checking out what he thought he'd seen, he dismissed the idea. The building was locked up tight. He was tired, and his arm hurt.

He turned the ignition…four times. Finally, the car started. He cleared the windshield with the wipers, and he looked toward the slovenly building again. It was still. He shrugged, his mind must have been just winding him up again.