Read Enter the Janitor (The Cleaners) (Volume 1) Online
Authors: Josh Vogt
Chapter Nine
A choked cry escaped Dani. Not just from the unexpected pain, but the fact that he was
touching
her. Skin to skin. She could almost feel germs crawling over from him to her.
Mycosis. Shingles. Scabies.
In another moment of shock, she realized the rest of the bar now stood empty of any patrons. Where had they gone?
Warts. Ringworm.
Ben cupped Tetris against his chest, where the lizard clawed at the janitor’s suit. Dani could tell he wanted to throw the reptile aside even as he struggled to contain it. Despite circumstances, she felt ridiculously relieved to see Tetris alive. The lizard was the one remnant of her former life; so long as he survived, so did a flicker of hope that she might stay sane.
Ben finally got the lizard held firm in one hand, and then stepped their way.
“Keep your distance, Janitor,” the bartender said. “I’d prefer you don’t take her back to HQ in a dustpan.”
Ben halted. Fear brightened his eyes. Fear for her, Dani realized, and that spiked her already-escalating panic.
Leprosy!
Her power swelled with the burgeoning emotions, rising to her defense. Before it could break loose, however, the bartender’s fingers flexed. Dani twitched as something cold shot through her. Her power recoiled from the invading energy and then … died off.
“Ah-ah,” he whispered. “Let’s keep calm. Despite what you might think, I’m here to help.”
Ben raised his free hand in a comforting gesture, but his face remained strained. “It’s gonna be all right, Dani.”
After sucking in a slow breath, she managed to speak without vomiting. “Ben? Who?”
His jaw clenched. “His name’s Sydney. He’s a handyman, or used to be. Now he’s Scum.” Ben’s empty fist clenched. “What’dja do with the real bartender?”
“Dust to dust,” Sydney said.
“He was innocent.”
Sydney chuckled. “Innocence. What a quaint notion. Now, Dani and I were having a chat. Let me finish what I came to say, and we can all go out for tea and cookies afterward.”
“I swear,” Ben said, “if you turn so much as a hair on her head gray—”
Dani whispered, “Ben.”
His attention snapped to her. “What?”
“You’re squeezing Tetris.”
Ben looked down to the writhing lizard, which hissed against the pressure the janitor unconsciously applied. He relaxed somewhat and Tetris’ struggle abated.
“It’s always the violent threats with him, isn’t it?” The warmth of Sydney’s breath tickled Dani’s ear, and she fought a shudder.
Influenza. Nasopharyngitis.
“You got a thing against violence?” she asked through gritted teeth. “How about letting go of my arm before you break it?”
“Hear me out first.”
She choked a laugh. “Why should I listen to anything you say? You stole my lizard.”
“Actually, I saved him,” Sydney said. “If Ascendant Francis’ team had gotten to him first, they would’ve simply disposed of him to remove another tie to your old life, just as they cut you off from your family and friends. You must wonder, if their cause is so pure, their authority so just, why do they force people into their service in such a brutish manner?”
“We ain’t forced,” said Ben. “We got choices—”
“Like the ones you’ve given this poor girl?” Sydney shot back. “To do whatever you say or be scrubbed out so her power won’t fall into—what you claim to be—the wrong hands? Oh, yes. I can see how that’d be a difficult one to make.”
He dropped back to a confiding whisper. “I’m here to save you, Dani. To give you a way out. My methods may be a bit extreme, but I can help you avoid wasting so much … potential.” He made a purring noise, and nausea washed through her. “Even my most drastic techniques are a mercy compared to what the Cleaners do. Their slow leeching of your power, your very existence, all for some thankless job scrubbing out the gutters of the world—a fight they’ll lose in the end, no matter how hard they struggle.”
“What are you talking about?” she asked.
The hand at her throat slipped away and reappeared, holding an empty pint glass before her eyes. The veins on that hand pulsed purple-green. Before Dani could blink, the glass crumbled into dust. And then not even dust remained.
“Entropy is at my command,” he said. “I could annihilate you with a touch. Often, when I cross paths with poor, misguided recruits the Cleaners have suckered in, I ease their torment by simply removing them from existence. I came here planning to do so with you.” He must’ve felt her breath catch, for he hastened on. “But fear not. If it were my desire to have you meet their fate, I would’ve done so already.”
“Why haven’t you?”
“I confess, there’s something about you that stays my hand.”
“Got a thing for redheads?”
“While I won’t deny the allure of your mane—”
“Did you really just call it a mane?”
“—there’s far more to you than physical beauty and strength, dearest.”
“Did you really just call me dearest?”
He cleared his throat, and she sensed herself edging out to the brink of his patience. Even Ben’s wide eyes clearly communicated,
Quit being a smart-aleck, princess.
“Dani, you’re an infant in our world,” Sydney said. “Yet I’ve exposed myself in order to do you a great service.”
“What do you want then? A kiss on the cheek?”
“I want you to recognize that I’ve spared your life—even that of your scaly friend—while the Cleaners plan to drain you of the marvelous power you wield. Just look at Ben. Do you think the Board truly appreciates what he’s given for their cause? Everything he’s sacrificed in the name of Purity?” He sounded truly distressed. “You’ll become the same sort of husk, Dani, and it breaks my heart to imagine you so.”
Ben shuffled in place, eyebrows twitching. “Sydney, just let her go. She don’t wanna sign up for your loony bin.”
Sydney’s weight shifted along with his attention. “Why don’t we let her make up her own mind? And while we wait for her to do so, let’s discuss the other matter that brought us together today.”
“What other matter?”
“Now, don’t be disingenuous. It’s a waste of both our times. We’re already searching for the same thing, old man. Why not pool our resources and avoid any further unpleasantness?”
Wariness and confusion edged onto Ben’s face. “What’re we searchin’ for?”
A chortle. “The second lie is no better than the first. But I can tell you’re determined to be the stubborn mule. As for you, sweet one,” Sydney’s voice lowered, “will you show a bit more sense than your mentor and come with me? I won’t force it, as they have. Your choice.”
Dani coughed. “I have to go with
no
. Next time you want to seduce someone, try not assaulting them.”
“I’m the first to decry violence against women,” Sydney said, “but I have to consider my own safety. Without you, dear old Ben might’ve given himself a heart attack trying to kill me. We wouldn’t want that. You’re sure you won’t change your mind?”
“Uh … yeah.”
A sigh. “No matter. This is just the beginning of what I expect to be a long and satisfying relationship. We’ll bump into each other again soon enough. Perhaps you’ll reconsider in different circumstances.”
Sydney slapped a hand atop the bar. Dani’s eyes widened as the wood crumbled beneath his touch. Gray lines of decay shot down to the floor, across to the walls, and ate up the stone to ceiling. A chunk of brick dislodged and plummeted toward Ben’s head.
The janitor leaped just clear of the falling debris. The impact shook the floor and Ben lost his footing. Dani’s heart skipped, as she feared he would squash Tetris. He rolled, surprisingly agile, and came up into a crouch.
Another shudder shook the building, and Sydney released her. Hacking, both from Sydney’s chokehold and the dust filling the bar, she pushed away from the counter right before it collapsed. Lines of decay spread, connected, and ate away the majority of the bar’s infrastructure within seconds. And still it spread.
Dani covered her mouth and nose as the walls disintegrated. The mirror turned to slag. The floorboards rotted and, in the back, the floor fell into a gaping basement. Chairs, tables and light fixtures puffed away in a blink.
“Look out!”
Ben barreled into her side and knocked them both clear as a brick pillar toppled over where she’d stood. Even as it fell, the red brick faded to brown, then gray. By the time it would’ve crushed her, it had crumbled to the last speck of mortar and wafted away.
In their fall, Dani bruised an elbow on the packed earth where there’d once been concrete. Ben lay at an awkward angle, Tetris cradled in the crook of his raised elbow.
“Mind takin’ it?” he asked.
Dani sat up and accepted her pet with near reverence. Unspooked by all the chaos and destruction, he angled his head this way and that, no doubt keeping an eye out for the nearest cricket. She took what comfort she could from the familiar bump and prick of his scales, the way his claws dug in, even through her rubber gloves.
Ben grunted and groaned as he stood. A dust cloud obscured their view beyond five feet. Dani held Tetris in one arm while covering her mouth and nose in a sad attempt to filter out the floating particles.
Bronchitis. Pneumonia. Lung cancer.
Ben coughed while trying to wave some of it away. Sydney was nowhere to be seen.
He glanced at Dani. “Are you okay?”
She scowled behind her hand. “Okay? Are you ******* kidding me?”
“I ain’t one to judge, but you might wanna get a better handle on the cussin’. Too much of it and the Board shuts down your ability to talk for a couple days. Trust me. It’s a bit more effective than washin’ your mouth out with soap.”
“Yeah? Well, guess what? My mouth was perfectly clean not five minutes ago, and now who knows what I’m sucking down?”
“I got some dust masks in the van.”
“A little late for that.”
He stuck hands in his pockets. “Guess so. But it’s like I toldja, bein’ a Cleaner comes with some perks. Our link to Purity buffers us against all the normal dirty business.”
She swiped hair out of her face. “That might work for you. You might be fine going around looking like you just had sex with a garbage truck, but guess what? I don’t
feel
clean. And that’s what matters.”
After staring at her a moment longer, he looked around and shook his head. “Cleanse me. I liked this place.” He smiled wryly. “At least the lizard’s safe, right?”
Dani felt a prick of regret for her harshness. He could’ve tossed Tetris aside in the face of Sydney’s attack, but he’d kept him safe for her sake.
As they trudged out through the rubble to the van, something Sydney mentioned wriggled back into her mind. Unable to shake her curiosity, she edged closer and spoke softly.
“Ben?” He paused with a hand on the driver’s door. “He—Sydney—said you’ve sacrificed. For the Cleaners. For Purity. What have you given up?”
He grimaced and yanked the door open, mumbling as he hauled himself inside.
“A lifetime.”
***
Chapter Ten
With Dani cuddling with Tetris in the passenger seat beside him, Ben got out his handheld radio and tuned it to a private channel.
“HQ, this is Janitor Ben. I gotta priority report to make.”
Several seconds of static passed before a voice broke through.
“Janitor, please state the nature of your situation.”
Ben pulled the radio away from his mouth. He shared a glance with Dani, who asked, “Is that …?”
He brought the radio back up and triggered the speaker. “Francis, what’re you doin’ on this channel? Since when do you—”
“This is not the channel for comparing job descriptions, Janitor. That’s what Human Resources is for. Please state the nature of your situation or sign off.”
Ben chewed on a lip, debating whether it’d be worth cramming anything into Francis’ ear. Grumbling for Destin’s attention wouldn’t get results, and another visit to HQ would waste time. He belonged in the field, and if Francis wanted to wrap what he gave them in red tape, then the ensuing sticky mess belonged to him.
“We just had a run-in with Sydney. A scrub-team needs to check out Matt’s bar over on Tenth and Garnet—what’s left of it. I wanna to know why this snake reared his scaly head and if it has anythin’ to do with the earlier disturbances we bumped into.”
Silence. Ben imagined Francis’ raised eyebrows and his fist tightened around the radio. If he heard so much as a single chuckle …
“We’ve had no reports of Sydney’s presence in this region for almost eight years.”
“Well you’re gettin’ one now, ain’tcha? I’ve done my job, Francis. Now get out here and do yours. Something’s goin’ on, and I’m steppin’ in cow patties no matter which way I go. We’re done for the night. I got a new apprentice who needs a shower, food, and sleep if anyone’s gonna expect her to work tomorrow.”
Dani’s eyes narrowed. “I need a shower? You’re one to talk.”
“Nothin to be ashamed of, princess. Fear does that to a body. Sours everythin’ up.”
She opened her mouth to retort, but the radio cut her off.
“I’ve received your report and will follow up on it. If there’s any evidence of Sydney’s presence, I’ll handle it, rest assured. In the meantime, I suggest you return your focus to the assignment already given to you by the Chairman.”
Ben bellowed into the speaker. “Don’t you sign off on—”
A click signaled Francis’ going off-channel. Ben slammed the radio against the dashboard and barely resisted flinging it out the window and driving over it. He only stopped at Dani’s alarmed look, and forced himself slump back and breathe evenly.
They sat that way for a few minutes, his arm itching, her silence cautious until she cleared her throat.
“I take it you and this Francis guy weren’t bunk-buddies at summer camp.”
Ben snorted. “Ever since he got promoted, Ascendant Francis has been one of the most straight-laced, clean-nosed, boot-polished Cleaners our company has ever known. He’s been Destin’s right hand man for years.”
“And you hate his guts.”
That prodded a laugh. “Not as much as you might guess. He’s just … too young to be in his position.”
“Too young? That applies to pretty much anyone around you.”
Another dry chuckle. “I mean he’s makin’ a lotta mistakes but is just too caught up in his own big britches to ever accept a little advice that might save him from trouble down the road. I’ve tried to give him some perspective, but that ain’t exactly been taken kindly.”
“I can’t imagine why, seeing how charming and diplomatic you are.” Dani leaned back, tapping the spikes on Tetris’ head. “You think he’s watching to catch you screwing up? Make you look bad so he can look better?”
“Naw,” Ben said. “He’s not the kinda guy who needs to prove himself. He’s already convinced he’s better. He just don’t agree with the Board’s decision to stick you with me. But don’t break a sweat over him. I’ve handled bigger pricks in my day.”
She snorted and giggled. “Oh really?”
He squinted at her. “What’d I say this time?”
She waved it away. “Forget it. I’m less concerned about a few ****fights …” She went cross-eyed for a second. “Are you serious? I can’t even say that?”
Ben grunted. “Francis maintains a long list of naughty words and phrases he submits to the Board each week to add to the foul-filter. I’ve contributed a lil’ bit.”
“Guh. Fine. I’m less concerned about a few
rooster
fights and more about the two attempts on my life before dinnertime.”
“It ain’t like this for everyone,” he said. “Some new recruits go months before buttin’ heads with their first Scum.”
“Is that supposed to make me feel lucky? I understand I’m supposed to be learning things, figuring out what it’s like to be a Cleaner, but I feel like I’ve walked into my first class and got handed the final exam. Aren’t you supposed to help me be better prepared?”
He knuckled his forehead. “I didn’t think it’d hit the fan this fast. I’m all for puttin’ you on the advanced track. You just gotta realize I got some mucky history stickin’ to my boots, and I don’t want you steppin’ in it. So let’s keep the questions to the business at hand.”
“All right. Start with Sydney. Who is he?”
“Mucky history.”
“Uh, no. Not since he went all Gropey McGroperson on me and stuck his tongue in my ear. Whatever’s happened between you two before, I’m involved, whether you like it or not.”
Ben stared out the windshield, wrestling with the emotions and memories her question summoned. He’d conquered the flashbacks years ago, but that didn’t mean every ghost had been exorcised.
Focus on the facts,
he told himself.
Facts are simple, and don’t involve punchin’ out the window.
“Sydney used to be a handyman in the Cleaners,” he said. “Handymen are all sortsa gifted in healing—our version of puttin’ on Band-Aids and kissin’ booboos. When he went over to the Scum, his powers got all twisted. He’s an entropy mage now.”
“Entropy mage?”
“Yup. He can accelerate the entropic forces around any object or person he gets his hands on.”
“And you knew him? Why didn’t you recognize him right away?”
“There was an ol’ muddy spell on the bar. Some call it a murk, like an oily film on the surface of a puddle. Confused me long enough for him to get us by the short hairs. The other customers never existed, either. They were part of the murk.”
“I thought you said he dealt with entropy. Isn’t illusion a bit different than turning things to dust?” She smiled at his sharp look. “What? I read some fantasy books as a kid.”
He allowed himself to smile back. “Well, I guess you’re right. He ain’t known to muck around with that kinda whim-wham. So he had help.”
“Or he’s more powerful now than he used to be. Does he … does he really go around killing new recruits?”
“We ain’t really sure what he’s been up to, but we got our share of folks who go missin’ on the job. Not a lotta Scum take prisoners. For most, the best Cleaner’s a dead one.”
“Then why’d he spare me? I can’t believe he really thought I’d see it as being saved.”
“You’re new. Mebbe he figures you’re vulnerable. Plus he’s always had a thing for younger women. And with all your power, I warned you others might try to get’cha to switch sides. Do you know how many Catalysts are actually alive today?”
She shook her head.
“Six, not countin’ you,” Ben said. “Two are in locked up in loony-bins. One’s been missin’ for a decade, and everyone figures she’s long gone. One’s over with our Europe division, and the last two are twins that can only control their power s’long as they’re within a hundred paces of each other. So we need to figure out how to control your powers before someone else does it for you.”
Huffing, she glowered at the floor. “Okay. Yeah. I get it.”
“I don’t think you do, princess, but you’re gettin’ there. And I gotta apologize.”
She shot a suspicious look his way. “Apologize?”
He drummed on the dash, avoiding her eyes. “I’m your trainer. That means my main duty is keepin’ you safe until you learn to handle things on your own. I shoulda never let Sydney get to you. I won’t let it happen again.”
Her voice softened. “Are you sure?”
“No. But I’ll die tryin’. I swear it on my mop and plunger.”
Surprise slapped away her usual sulk. She tilted her head as if seeing him for the first time.
“Okay then,” she said.
“So why a lizard?”
She looked to the scaly rascal in her lap. “What? Him?”
“Yeah. Why on earth does a spooked-by-her-own-spit princess have a crawl-in-the-dirt pet like him? Woulda pegged you for somethin’ lower maintenance and lots cleaner. Like mebbe a set of collectible spoons.”
Dani cupped her hands around Tetris. “My parents made me get him, actually. Said they wouldn’t pay for med school until I proved I could get over my fears enough to keep something alive.”
“So why not go with a kitty or pup?”
“Fur creeps me out. But something about him living in a desert environment—especially a contained one—appealed. I just kept my gloves on, cleaned his terrarium each day, and got through feeding times as quickly as possible. Eventually, I realized I could handle it. After a while, the little routines I built up around him helped steady me in the face of everything else. Most of the time. I figured I could start small and then work my way up the food chain.”
He snorted as he started the van. “Food chain, eh? Here’s a tip. With us, it ain’t so much a chain as it is a big tangled ball of yarn. You don’t work your way up or down. You just gotta try to avoid gettin’ strangled by it.”
“Oh,
that’s
comforting.”
O O O
Ben walked out of the motel lobby and rapped on the passenger window. Dani, her face lit pink by the vacancy sign, rolled it down and frowned at the room key he offered.
“Why a motel?” she asked. The small glass aquarium in her lap held Tetris, who lounged on a square of plastic grass, content after having gobbled several mealworms. Dani had tucked away a plastic container full of the insects into one of her uniform pockets. Ben had paid for it all at a pet store they’d driven by on the way.
“You need somewhere to sleep, don’tcha?”
“Yeah, but motels are so … dirty. Did you know thirty-five percent of surfaces in a motel room have some contagious virus? Most places don’t even wash bedspreads between each guest.”
“I had no idea. But look. They got cable. And here. I gotcha somethin’.” He handed her a plastic bag through the window. “Consider it a little
Welcome to the Team
present.”
She took it and inspected the contents. “Mini toothpaste? Mouthwash? Hand wipes?” Her green eyes flashed with mirth. “You got all this from the front desk, didn’t you?”
He hemmed and hawed until she smiled, though still a shade nervously.
“Thanks. But if you think I’m sharing a room with you—”
He threw his hands up. “For Purity’s sake, you really think I’m that much of a dirty old man? You gotta room to yourself. This is just until we can set you up with somethin’ more permanent.”
“Where do you sleep then? Behind the garbage bins? Don’t you have an apartment or something?”
Ben thumbed at the storage section of the van. “If you’d paid attention, you mighta noticed there’s a fold-out cot behind the shelves.”
She turned to look, and her eyes widened as she spotted the canvas bundle. “You sleep in your van? Ben, that can’t be healthy. The fumes from all those cleaning products alone …”
“We’re immune to any side effects,” he said. “Another perk of the job. Regular cleanin’ chemicals don’t affect us like normal folk. We can gargle bleach and come out smilin’.”
“Really?” An uncomfortably eager gleam lit her eyes.
Boy, he really needed to learn when to shut his gob. “Yeah, but I ain’t recommendin’ it. Still painful and takes forever to get the taste outta your mouth.”
“But still,” she said, “you mean this is literally all you do? Drive from job to job, cleaning places and scrubbing out any Scum you run across? That’s your life? Don’t you do anything for fun?”
He scratched the back of his head. “Have I already mentioned what happens when you give coffee to imps?”
“Yeah. That doesn’t fit my definition of ‘fun.’”
“Gettin’ a job done and done well is enough for me.”
“I’m sure.”
The needle of his gaze deflated further personal questions. She shoved the door open, forcing him back as she got out with Tetris’ cage tucked under one arm.
“That’s your room there.” He pointed to the closest motel door. “I’ll be parked right outside. If you need anythin’, just kick the bumper.”
Dani alternated between looking at the door and him until impatience got the better of him. He spread his arms.
“Well?”
“I … I’m not sure I can do this. Can’t we go back to Headquarters?”
“Even if we did, you really wanna sleep with Francis and the Board watchin’ you all night? C’mon, princess. You can beat this.”
She let out a quavering breath, eyeing the door as if it was a portal to Hell.
Ben raised a finger. “Let’s figure this as a lesson in controllin’ your power. If you can spend the night here without freakin’ out and levelin’ the place, we’ll chalk today up as a success and go meet a friend of mine in the mornin’.”
She brushed her ponytail over a shoulder. “You have friends? Good. I was worried everyone you knew either wanted to kill or shun you.”
“Go on. Stop dallyin’ and get some sleep.”
“Fine. I can do this. I can.”
After she marched inside her room and the door clicked shut behind her, Ben parked the van out front and killed the engine. He waited half an hour before slipping out and up to the room door. After unscrewing the spray bottle top, he hunkered down and poured Carl onto the concrete. The water sprite puddled and reflected his face.
“Keep anythin’ or anyone but me away from her, a’ight?”
A burbling noise, like a stream trickling over a boulder.
Ben flicked the puddle. “I know, but she’s a more long-term investment than me, you gotta admit. Consider this a favor. I’ll owe you. Oh, and make sure she doesn’t try garglin’ bleach.”