Dance with Darkness - Ghost Dance

Chapter 13

If I thought I was going to get a break on Friday after the exhausting night before, I was sorely mistaken.  First of all, I awoke to discover that I had severely overslept…in the Triple H conference room, of all places.  I was still in my running pants and jacket—nothing suitable for the office.  Given that my apartment was at least a twenty minute bus ride away and my work even further, I had no other choice but to call in sick, as going home to clean up and change at this point would have brought me into the office somewhere around noon.

As I stood up from the conference table, stretching to ease the kinks out of my back, I tried to calculate just how many more excuses I could make at work before they officially declared me a floozy and kicked me out.  Though it wasn’t my dream job, it paid well enough, and I wasn’t keen on losing my only source of income.

Maybe I should start looking for other openings, just in case?

I snorted at the thought.  As if I would even have time to look.  Whenever I wasn’t at my real job, I was working here at Triple H, and all the possessions were starting to take a toll on my body—especially last night, though we hadn’t stayed up nearly as late as usual.  My sleep cycle was off, my hand and head still hurt, I was crabby, and I was definitely hungry.

Hm.  Maybe there’s something in the kitchen.

As it turned out, there wasn’t much in the kitchen save for a lone clementine on the counter.  After a brief deliberation on whether or not it was someone else’s, hunger took over and I snatched it up with a shrug.  It wasn’t nearly enough, but it would have to do for the moment.

I ran my hands under the faucet and slurped a few half-handfuls of water to rinse the dry taste of sleep out of my mouth.  With the clear liquid flowing over my skin, I realized just how dirty I was from the tunnels of Underland.  Dried mud coated my left cheek like warpaint, and my hair had almost completely fallen out of its ponytail in a tangled wavy mess.  The finishing touch to my apocalypse-survivor ensemble was the little cuts and rips all over my jacket.  Apparently the feathers of the harpy had been sharper than I’d realized.

“Lynnette!  Woah,” I turned to find Owen standing in the doorway of the kitchen, looking at me with a poor attempt at masking his surprise.  “You, uh…there are showers upstairs, if you want to clean up.”

I made a sort-of reply in the back of my throat and started peeling the clementine.  Owen opened his mouth to say something, but upon seeing my expression closed it again.  From his regretful glance, I had a suspicion that the fruit had been his.

“Owen, Kamali just talked to the Aethers, and—” Evanna rounded the corner and broke off in a strangled yelp that sounded somewhat like a combination of a donkey and monkey.  “Uh…Lynnette,” she said slowly.  “Are you not going to work today?”

“I overslept and had to call in sick,” I replied in a monotone.  “Don’t worry, I’ll be out of your way once I don’t look like a psychotic killer.”  I had a feeling I wouldn’t be let on the bus home in my current state.

“Oh.  Well, I guess we could use your help, actually, if you wouldn’t mind staying.  We’re going to be questioning one of Jin’s allies, and it wouldn’t hurt if you came with us.  I’m sure Hearne would compensate for the extra time on your sister’s case.  Louise stayed overnight in one of the guest rooms upstairs and I’m sure she could lend you some spare clothes, since you two are about the same size.”

I sighed.  “Fine.  Just tell the ghost not to get too close to me until she absolutely needs to.”

As I left the kitchen to head upstairs, I heard Evanna not-so-quietly whisper to Owen, “Did she stay down here all night?”