Trix nearly ghosted through the floor as the woodgrains dragged across what was once flesh and bone. It was bizarre to exist in the world without nerves, stripped of the air against her skin, the warmth of the sun, the relief of a breeze. These were instead replaced by the vibration of those around her. Their lifeforce tugged at her edges, and their attention bolstered her strength. There was nothing like it while she was alive, but she'd trade walking through walls for a future where she was flesh and bone.
"Alright, this is the one." Jordan rapped a knuckle against the glass face of the vending machine.
"Well, get to it," Trix urged. "I don't have all day—do I?" She turned to Brent who hovered a few inches off the ground.
"Technically, you've got all day, and night, and day, and night." He tilted his head back and forth. "I suggest getting a good internet connection and investing in a Netflix account."
"We don't sleep?" Trix tried not to whine, but napping was one of her favorite pastimes.
Brent sighed, and his form dimmed. "Another earthly joy robbed of us, I'm afraid. But if it's any consolation, time moves differently, so you don't have to worry about dying of boredom."
"I will if I end up doomed to haunt packages of donuts for all eternity."
"Would you give me a second? I'm thinking." Jordan crossed his arms and tapped his bicep.
"Then I guess I better make myself comfortable."
"Don't worry, I can always shoot it." He grinned as if he weren't currently number two on her shit list.
"Is he insane? Should he be allowed to carry a gun?"
"I'm kidding."
Trix gave him a dubious look.
"We should find a crowbar," Jane insisted, obviously the most logical of the group.
Lilith merely seemed a mixture of both amused and bored as she leaned against the wall while scrolling through her phone.
"I don't know, it's pretty tight." He ran a finger along the seam where the front opened. "We could call the number, see if we can get them to come service the unit?"
"It looks like it was just filled yesterday, it'll probably be days before they send someone out." Brent hovered near the Cheetos, either accidentally or longingly, Trix couldn't tell.
"Great, I'll just go ahead and make myself home in the coin slot and try to scare everyone into going on a diet." Trix shot Jordan another dirty scowl.
Jordan snapped his fingers and dug into his back pocket. "Now wait a minute, that's not a bad idea."
"What?"
"We clean it out." He pulled a massive heap of dollars from his wallet.
"Wait, why do you have so many ones?" Lilith lowered her phone while also lifting an eyebrow.
"Eh." The right side of his face twitched. "No reason. This is a totally normal amount of ones, now let's see if it gives us change in quarters." He shoved a crisp bill into the machine, crossed his fingers, then hit the 'return change' button. The machine groaned, then spit three quarters out.
The fourth shot out of the tray, and Lilith caught it under her heel. "Arkansas." She flicked it over to Jordan after he checked the other three.
"I suggest you get comfortable, we might be here for a while." He fed another dollar in, and twenty minutes later, they were combing through a mosaic of coins spread across white linoleum.
YOU ARE READING
Night Beats: Ghost in the Vending Machine
Paranormal(Book 1) Night is a city of many names. It's a home to some, refuge for others and a glittering cesspool where monsters and humans live side by side. Join the semi-functional NCPD Cryptid Unit as they fumble their way through supernatural crimes by...