The office was all abuzz when I showed up to work the next morning. There were coffee mugs on almost every desk, as though everyone had made the effort to get up especially early so as to make a good impression, and now needed the extra caffeine to stay alert. Mason had actually cleaned his desk for once, and as Natalie passed me to refill her mug, I could have sworn I caught a whiff of perfume.
I tugged at my best blouse self-consciously before plunking down in my chair.
“Lynnette!” Maggie exclaimed, her usual chipper attitude magnified by the excitement. “Oh my goodness, I’m so nervous! What do you think they’re going to talk to us about? I’m afraid it might be budget cuts—hopefully we all still get to keep our jobs, though! We just have to be worker bees and show them how much we can get done!” She pumped her fist in the air triumphantly, the many-colored bangles on her wrist clacking together and sliding down to nearly her elbow. “Don’t worry, Lynnette,” she proceeded to whisper. “Since we do a lot of Ron’s work as well as our own, they couldn’t possibly fire us.”
Just then, the stairwell door opened, and the entire office fell into a nervous hush—the woman from the upstairs offices had arrived. As the clack-clack of high heels drew closer to the center of the office, everyone’s eyes tracked the movement of a large black bun—the only thing visible over the rows of cubicles.
Finally, the bun—and the woman with it—turned down the main aisle, and we at last got a look at our visitor. She looked to be in her late fifties, with fairly neutral makeup save for eyelashes heavily accentuated with mascara. Her clothing was no-nonsense—black dress pants and a smart red jacket with black buttons and gold trim. A sharp nose and lips pressed in a straight line emphasized her professional attitude, accompanied by the quick staccato of her shoes.
Ron Webber emerged from his office, face expressionless as the woman walked up to him. She gave a small, short-lived smile, as though unused to giving such an expression, before turning smartly on her heel to face those of us who had gathered around. Surprised by her abruptness, a few people took a step back.
As the woman’s direct gaze scanned each of us unapologetically, I turned away to look at our boss, who was readying himself to speak.
Finally, Ron Webber took a deep breath. “Everyone, I’d like to introduce you to Ms. Hawke. I’ll be leaving my position here by the end of next week, and she’ll be taking over as your new boss.”
The whispers of my coworkers hummed in the air as they shared their confusion at the sudden change. My stomach suddenly felt made of lead, and I glanced at Maggie, who seemed just as shocked as I was. Ms. Hawke looked strict and shrewd, and she looked back at us without a glimmer of a friendly smile. If she was going to be the new head honcho, I was going to have a much tougher time getting away with my excuses for moonlighting as a demon hunter.
“Thank you for the introduction, Ron,” Ms. Hawke said flatly. “Now, I’d just like to make a few things clear before I assume this position. I want to ensure that we are all working at our optimal abilities and that our work ethic—”
To my horror, a very distinctive show tune interrupted her speech. My ringtone. I yanked my phone from my sweater pocket as quickly as I could and pressed the end button to silence it, though not before glancing down and realizing that I was hanging up on my mother. There were only a few reasons why she would call me at work: another emergency like Rachel’s disappearance, or to yell at me for forgetting something important.
I cast an apologetic glance up to Ms. Hawke, who was glaring at me with more fire and brimstone in her gaze than an angry fire daemon. I bit back a sigh. Could this day get any worse?
“I’m sorry,” I said meekly, ducking my head.
Before Ms. Hawke could continue, three loud dings sounded from my phone, and I cringed.
“Sorry, I’ll just put it on silent…” I muttered, my cheeks burning with heat as I felt all eyes in the room look my way once more. Why was it that I could never remember to turn off the sound on my phone when it was important? Yet my embarrassment completely vanished as soon as I saw the texts.
Mom: They found Rachel by the…
Kaden: Hey, not sure if you’d heard…
Kamali: Your sister has just been…
I forgot where I was. I opened the first message to read its entirety, and then, hardly able to believe my eyes, moved on to the second, and then the third.
“Uh, Lynnette…” Maggie whispered urgently, but it failed to break me from my stunned glaze at the final message. Rachel had been found. Pat was still missing, but my sister, at least, was safe.
Maggie nudged me with her elbow, and I looked back up from my phone.
“I have to go,” was the only sentence I could manage. I was breathless. I needed to see her, to confirm it was real.
“You will do no such thing,” Ms. Hawke snapped. “You are at your workplace and will behave in a professional manner.”
“They found my sister.” All rational thought left me, and I turned away from the group without thinking of the consequences of my actions. I ran over to my desk, grabbed my coat and bag, and hurried from the room without another glance back. Behind me, the room erupted into excited conversation at the news, despite Ms. Hawke’s attempts for silence.
I had one arm in my coat, and the shoulder bag was hindering my ability to get my arm through the other sleeve, but I stumbled outside into the cold regardless, my cellphone at my ear. It only rang once, and then my mom picked up.
“Lynn!” My stomach, already wrung out from the anxiety over my new boss, took another turn at the relief in her voice. From the sound of it, she was near tears, and it caused my own eyes to well up.
“Mom, where are you? Where’s Rachel? How is she? Where did they find her? How?” The questions came pouring forth. Maybe it would be better to ask Kaden about the how part. I doubted my mom would know anything about demon kidnappers with giant claws.
“They just found her in some alleyway. She’s being taken to Johns Hopkins right now, and your father and I are trying to get a flight to Baltimore as soon as possible. Can you get there to see her?”
“I’m on my way,” I said. “I’ll call you back when I get there.”
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Sorry, short chapter. Things have been a bit busy lately as I get ready to move back to school. What do you think of this discovery? :)
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Dance with Darkness - Ghost Dance
Fantasy“So, what are you doing this weekend?” Maggie asked me. “Oh, nothing much,” I replied. Just working as an indentured servant and hunting demons while possessed by a ghost. No big deal, right? Lynnette Cromwell gets thrown into the supernatural wor...
