Parasitical

Chapter 9

Chapter 9

"Ow, ow, ow!" I hiss and clutch my hand to my chest. Goshdarn cramps! How does a hand even get a cramp in the first place? This is cruel and unusual. Child labor!

"Keep cleaning!" Councilman Terry snaps at me. I shoot a glare over my shoulder but continue to scrub away. Is this even allowed? I want a lawyer! My hands feel pruned and defenseless from all this water. II mutter obscenities under my breath.

"What was that?" Terry asks, her voice full of icy sarcasm, "You want to clean the bathroom too? Well, if you insist!" My mouth drops. This is definitely illegal. They're making me clean the disgustingly dirty council room floor by hand with a scrub brush and a bucket of water. I feel like Cinderella except there's no fairy godmother, prince charming, or rags. Just combat boots and a cramp in the hand. There is an evil stepmother, though, but that shouldn't be surprising. The only thing to be thankful for is the fact that we are not indeed related. Hell would have to freeze over before I would accept that. Not even then.

Blowing a strand from my face I examine my handiwork. The floor looks a heck of a lot better and brighter without all those years of grime caked on. Haven't they ever heard of a janitor? Also, a lot of this looks suspiciously like dried blood. Or ketchup. There was a hotdog party in here one year. The council had no idea, it was hilarious until Terry came in. I fled the scene, of course, but was still caught. They had no proof though so my only punishment was sitting in a white walled room for three hours waiting for them to come interrogate me. Yeah, that was fun. I took naps.

"Councilman Terry!" A voice booms and the big doors slam open. A man walks in with an official looking document and outfit. That's not what caught my attention though. It was the dirty boots. My eyes narrow.

"We have the documents you requested about Project X. Would you like me to read it for--"

"That's quite enough." Terry interrupts. She looks at me suspiciously to which I only glare. What the heck is Project X? And why is she suspicious of me? I'm not hiding anything I'm only cleaning like ordered. There's nothing for her to be suspicious about unless that document contains important information. Information I may be interested about.

I play stupid and go back to my angry cleaning while listening closely.

"Take the document to Location 3." Terry orders in hushed tones. It's hard to hear over my vigorous scrubbing which only seems to rise in volume at the growing suspicion. The man looks at her in confusion but nods and departs. I sigh angrily. Gosh darnnit I want to know. I need to follow him.

Looking at the rest of the dirty floor I formulate an idea. The Council is distracted talking to each other in hushed tones again and I make my move. The dirty water races over the to-be-washed part of the floor and I dash after it scrubbing a mad storm. I sense the council's eyes look over at me in surprise and I loudly mutter a few more obscenities hoping they'll think that it was an accident. Glancing I see that all their heads are turned back and whispering except for one with narrowed eyes. Terry slowly turns back to the group.

After scrubbing what I can, I throw the towels I was given on the randomly placed puddles.

"Done!" I announce and start on my way to leave.

"Not so soon," Terry says stopping me, her phone snapping shut, "You still have the bathroom left." I raise my eyebrows and almost let out a growl of frustration.

"Yeah, I know, I was just on my way to--"

"Not without an escort." She declares with finality.

As if on cue, the large doors open yet again to reveal a familiar face. Professor Goodwind!