I turned toward the sign.“Now me, I don’t think it’s unreasonable to expect peace in my place of business.I’ve got a lot of patience, but I won’t stand for you lot putting my job in jeopardy.”
I turned back to where the goblin should be, only to realize I was addressing an empty store. I sighed. Figures. At leastI’d earned a little peace. That threat should keep them away for the rest of the week. After that, we would see.
I set about returning the store to its normal state of untidy orderliness. The first thing to go was the sign. I unhooked it from its stand and dragged it outside. The thin poster board was about the same height as me. It was awkward more than anything, as I carefully carried it around the side of the building.
Cutting it into small, jagged strips was harder thanI’d thought. The box cutter didn’t want to slice through the thick paper, the blade dull and useless. Eventually I tossed it aside after checking to make sure there were no prying eyes or cameras watching. Finding myself alone, I grasped the sign in my hands before ripping it apart piece by piece.
Having a vampire’s strength came in handy sometimes. This was one of those times.
After reducing the sign to about twenty small pieces, I threw it in the dumpster and turned back to the interior of the station.I’d like to see them reassemble that, I thought with an evil smile.
Next, I gathered up the burst soda cans and carried them to the dumpster along with any other un-salvageable items.
I tried to save what I could, tidying the newspapers strewn about and returning the change dispenser to its normal position. A stray case of Diet Coke and a few candy bars probably wouldn’t be missed. Much more than that, and the owners might try to take some of the damaged goods out of my paycheck. I couldn’t afford the loss of income. I just had to hope and pray no one did inventory for a while.
The rest of my shift was uneventful. Only two more customers ventured inside—both human—both content to pay and go about their business without even a grunted word of greeting.
After an interminably long time, five a.m. finally rolled around.
My replacement dragged in muttering,“Good morning,” around a wide yawn.
“Tough night?” I asked Josie as another yawn cracked her jaw.
“The best kind,” she said, before making a beeline for the coffee machine.
For a gas station with ninety-nine cent coffee, its flavor wasn’t half bad. At least, that’s whatI’d been told. Food and I were on a break at the moment, and beverages like coffee were one of the many things I couldn’t have.
Josie had dark circles under her eyes that said she’d probably been out partying until the early morning. Her hair was a snarled mess, barely restrained in a messy bun at the top of her head.
“Any problems?” she asked.
I shook my head.“Pretty quiet.”
By some miracle, the cameras hadn’t caught anything from my earlier encounter that might reveal the spook world. I looked mildly crazy at one point talking to myself, but that was about it.
“I don’t know how you stand that shift. I would go insane,” Josie said with a shudder.
I shrugged.“It’s not that bad. I get to catch up on my reading at least.”
Josie did a faceplant on the counter. Her words came out garbled, but I thought she said something like,“Books, bleh.”
I revised my earlier opinion regarding the dark circles being a result of partying.
“Studying not going well, I take it.”
A muffled response came along the lines of,“Studying sucks.”
Josie was in college, studying to be a nurse. She worked here for rent and spending money.
She raised her head off the counter, a crease mark on her cheek.“It’s pretty dead in here. I don’t think we’ll pick up again until closer to rush hour. You’re welcome to take off if you’d like.”
I hesitated, glancing outside and calculating how much time I had left until sunrise. It was early September and the sun wouldn’t be up until nearly seven. Plenty of time to bike home and be under the covers of my own bed before the pesky ball of fire in the sky put me out for the day.
As a baby vamp, my tolerance to the sun was a lot less than a vampire a century or so older. It meant I had to be careful, always keeping one eye on my watch. The sun probably wouldn’t kill me, not as long as I was topped up on blood. Death from sun exposure was a myth, one created after a few starved, weakened vampires caught fire after exposure. For vampires at their peak strength, it was a pesky irritant capable of giving you the worst sunburn of your life. For me, it would put me into a coma-like sleep—the kind you didn’t wake up from easily—no matter how much someone shook and slapped you.
Still, I was torn. The extra money would be nice. Summer was killing my wallet. Reduced hours of dark meant limiting my working hours, leaving me to get by on the bare minimum. I was looking forward to winter and increasing my hours and paycheck.
Accurately reading my hesitation, Josie propped her cheek on a hand and gave me a sleepy smile.“Here’s a tip. If you check out at the forty-minute mark, you still get paid for the entire hour.”
