Life After Death

Corryn: sub shifts

{Corryn}

Gawain had sent me back when he went to bed, and I found myself in the bar, just as Roger was opening up. A pile of glasses had been left to wash and I set to it, careful wiping each of them and reorganizing my establishment.

"How was your night?" Roger boomed. It was the only volume he really had.

"I was summoned by a seven year old boy," I replied. "He wants necromancy lessons."

"He summoned you, didn't he?" Roger pointed out. "Doesn't sound like he needs lessons to me."

"He didn't even have a circle of protection," I said. "He didn't even know what it was. And at seven years old? He was going to get himself killed."

Roger laughed. "I didn't picture you as a man who liked children."

"I...this one is all right," I admitted. "He wants to learn so badly, and he has never had any teachers, at least not to instruct his magic."

"So you'll be summoned again?" Roger asked.

I nodded, sliding the rest of the glasses back into the counter. I would need to come up with a plan, another bartender or something. I didn't know any other dead down here. Did I put up signs? It seemed like a bad idea.

"He'll probably summon me after school," I replied. "Do I put a 'Help Wanted' sign up? I don't want to attract the wrong kind of person."

"I'll ask around, since I'm the one who will deal with them," he said. "You should warn the customers in the meantime while you're still here."

"Will do."

But demons and the dead were coming inside and I still had to restock. It was almost fun, talking to the demons after their hard days' work. I imagine that I would have been just a vagrant on the streets had Eldreial not owned this bar. I hadn't realized how helpful having an income was in Hell, but it was damn useful to not be afraid. Roger, with his glowing eyes and writhing muscles, was a useful ally.

Still, it was nice to be in Otherworld. I had missed blue sky, even if I only got to see it from Gawain's window.

The night passed without any broken glasses and only one fight. I didn't do much to help in the fight; Roger broke up the two dead faeries and threw them both out after shaking them down for payment. I was able to even help with closing before vanishing.

Gawain had a fresh notebook in hand and he had shoved his bed against the far wall. He had candles on his desk and chalk all over him.

"Did I do it right?" the boy asked.

I looked down at the rudimentary pentagram I was in. The runes were wobbly and the lines not straight, but it was much better than my first attempt had been. His circle of protection was, however, one of the worst circles I had seen.

"I think you'll have to practice drawing some," I answered. "But it's definitely not bad." I tried to take a step out of the pentagram, but it flashed, giving me an electric shock. I should have known better. "You'll have to order me out of the pentagram before I can move."

Gawain waved all the lines away with one hand, and I could move once more.

"Mom made me candles and chalk," he told me. "And I finished my homework and everything."

"Even math?" I asked with a smile.

Gawain dug into his backpack and pulled out a rumpled piece of paper. "Take this and see."

Part of me wanted to step back and wonder how I had reached this point. I was a ghostly bartender, moonlighting as this boy's tutor. I would have never guessed I'd be here ten years ago. But I took the page and glanced over the addition and the subtraction.