Rabbit Blood

Chapter 31 - Narcissistic Cannibal

The following week, Leslie re-distanced herself from Alastor, and he was content to let her do it. He'd grown better at sensing when he pushed his luck too far. However, the one time they had spoken, he found the chink in her armor, saying, "It was your idea, remember."

It was. There was no debating that.

"So you're coming up with a plan?" she asked, to which he hummed good-naturedly and patted her head. Leslie took that as a yes. Her end of the bargain was done. Her horror-filled dreams got the best of her at night, usually with a horrible snap that sprung her awake, but she refused to spend another moment of the day dwelling on the magnet thing.

It wasn't all bad. The free time gave her ample opportunity to reflect on her life choices, and she made a plan. Something to improve her tiny lot in this hellish life. Today, two Wednesdays after the incident, she organized a meeting with Vaggie and Charlie. Early in the morning, Leslie knocked and let herself into an office room on the fifth floor, close to the room with her Sardines hiding spot. Vaggie was already there, shuffling paperwork at a tiny desk.

"Hi," Leslie said. "Where's...?"

"On her way. Do you want to wait?"

"Sure." She took a seat. The two women sat and listened to the birds chirping by the window. Pleasantries were exchanged, and how was Leslie's stomach today? Much better, thank you. Tweet tweet.

"And nobody's been... bothering you?" Vaggie asked, scratching the spot beneath her eyepatch.

"Er-"

The door squeaked as Charlie entered, killing the conversation. She sat on the edge of the desk, rather than behind it like her girlfriend.

"OK," Leslie said. Time for the pitch. "The Shawshank thing really impressed me the other day. I hadn't seen it in years. Just inspiring, you know? My favorite was how Andy built the library out of nothing, helped out that kid."

Charlie smiled so hard, she almost glowed. "Wholesome, wasn't it?"

"Yeah. Now, you guys have let me use a downstairs rooms to give dance lessons, which I really appreciate, by the way-"

"You're welcome!"

"So I was thinking the hotel could employ me officially. Obviously combined with other things, dance could really help the rehabilitation of our guests, at least as much as the woodworking and shit. It's good exercise, it encourages cooperation..."

Charlie and Vaggie exchanged a look.

"If you need credentials, I have old recordings of me and students, fellow performers, et cetera," Leslie added, "maybe an old resumé on my phone."

"Oh no, that's no problem," Charlie assured her, "we'd actually considered it ourselves, just... Teaching the hotel guests might not go like you're expecting. It's not easy to lead a lesson for people who are reluctant to be there."

"Yeah," Vaggie said with a wan smile, "take it from us."

Leslie hasn't thought of that, but she shrugged. "Got to be better than getting sexually harassed as a waitress."

"Also, did you get yesterday's email?"

"Not sure."

"So, after the Shawshank thing, a few guests got... annoyed about the lengths of their stays," Charlie admitted. "Bit of a backlash, I suppose. So, we decided to reduce the rent for anyone who's been here over five months, and we can only apologize that it's taking this long. What we're doing is completely unprecedented, you know."

Vaggie placed a supportive hand on the small of Charlie's back. "Hey, don't focus on that. Hun. It's OK."

Leslie felt a flicker of sympathy, but there was optimism too. Reduced rent payments were good news. Her dream of waking into Hades and telling Rapier to shove it was looking more likely, unless... "Does this mean you can't afford to employ me?"