Wanted: Undead or Alive

Cider in the Morning

When I emerged through the security door, Mx. Landry was nowhere to be found. I stood there, alone, uncertain what to do next.

"Hello?"

No one answered. Perhaps, they'd taken Nick somewhere for whatever medical care a creature like him required after doing whatever it was he'd done.

What I really needed was information. I knew there was a warehouse the size of Ford Field behind the wall, but I had no idea how to open the door. Calling out again got the same results, so I edged closer to the magical portal, or whatever it was, and waved my arms around.

"What are you doing?"

I jumped and squeaked like a dog toy that had been stepped on. Mx. Landry stood in the hall. A cigarette dangled from their puckered lips.

"I, uh..." I cleared my throat. "I thought I'd read some of the books you showed me."

They moved the cigarette from their mouth and exhaled a long plume of smoke. For the first time, it occurred to me that the tobacco was ever present, yet I never smelled it.

"You go in there, you touch the wrong thing, I'm cleaning your entrails off the equipment for the next six weeks. I don't have time for that kind of nonsense," they said.

"Right." I fidgeted with the crucifix hanging around my neck. "Is Nick okay?"

Their eyes narrowed on me. "I told you you'd get dead."

"I'm alive now."

They took a long drag from the cigarette. "Nick will be fine. He knew what he was doing. He's done it before. He'll do it again. Sometimes his heart is bigger than his brain."

Did that mean they'd have preferred he left me dead? Asking seemed foolish, so I focused on the books again. "May I have some of the books, please? I promise not to explode."

"No. You were dead an hour ago. Go home. Rest. Eat something high in protein. Let what you've learned settle for a while."

"But—"

"Go home, Nowicki. Come back tomorrow. Take the Honda so we have a trace on your location if you get dead again sooner than expected."

I slunked away like a kicked puppy.

I bet they never talk to Benji like that.

But then I second guessed myself. They talked to Nick like that, so maybe even Wonder Woman wasn't immune.

Going home felt weird and unproductive, so I turned toward Mandrake's shop. The closed sign hung in the window, but the lights were all on, so I knocked on the door and waited for him to come out of the back room. When he emerged and saw me, his whole face lit up. Damn, it was good to have someone that happy to see me.

He let me in and locked the door behind me.

"Too late for cider?" I asked.

"So late it's almost early," he said. "But I always have cider for you. Maybe you can pay me with information. I want to hear the too-long-to-text story."

Telling him I needed to wash up bought me a few minutes to settle my mind. When I came back into the shop, he was sitting at the table with two cups of hot cider. I slid into the booth across from him and inhaled the spicy fragrance. "I swear you do something unnatural to this stuff."

"Don't need to. The unnatural stuff is the junk you're used to. My magic lies in using real ingredients."

Holding the cup warmed my hands. The flavor warmed my soul.

Mandrake waited patiently and watched as if my every motion captivated him.

"So, I got a new job."

He grinned. "Did I get you fired?"