Enter the Janitor (The Cleaners) (Volume 1) (18 page)
Read Enter the Janitor (The Cleaners) (Volume 1) Online
Authors: Josh Vogt
Chapter Twenty-six
Dani focused on not tripping. Despite fleeing for her life, she felt ridiculous as they sprinted between rows of pillars, heads bent and arms tied behind their backs. She couldn’t help the thought that they ran through an amusement park haunted house. The Janitor’s Gauntlet of Soapy Horrors.
Ben seemed to turn at random. He cut down dark halls, taking them through empty rooms and past stretches of glass doors where motionless figures stood backlit by the glow of containment spells. Some of them were humanoid, while others had far too many limbs and heads, or none at all.
Ben and her breaths filled her ears as they ran, making it sound like a huffing competition. None of the walls were marked or sectioned off in any way she could see, and the blue film over her eyes cast everything into the same pallor, making it impossible to tell one corridor or room from another. Sweat ran down her face, unimpeded by eyebrows any longer, but the water lenses blocked any salt sting.
As they turned down the umpteenth hallway, Ben stopped so suddenly she smacked her face against his back. As she stumbled, he turned and tilted his head apologetically.
“This oughta be far enough. No sense keepin’ on if we’re just gonna trip over our own feet.”
Dani eyed the way they’d come. Lights flashed along it. Emergency alarms? She had no sense of how far they’d run. She flexed her arms, but the zip-tie still dug into her skin.
“How do we get out? Open sesame?”
He turned sideways, displaying his arms.
“You mighta noticed I’ve got a bit of a way with water, yeah?”
“So?”
“So, with all them school smarts, I’m sure you’ve learned that we’re … what? Sixty or seventy percent water?”
“That’s something kids learn in kindergarten, Ben. What’s it—whoa.”
Ben’s arms withered as she spoke. The sleeve of his left and the trash-bag wrappings of his right hung loose over bone-thin appendages, while other spots in his body filled out until he had a padded waist and triple chin sagging out from under the bag.
The zip-tie slid over his wrists, and he sighed in relief as he tossed the binding away. After another moment, his bony hands swelled back to normal and the rest of his body thinned down. Flexing his fingers, he peeled the garbage bags away from his right hand, but left the arm covered.
“It ain’t that hard,”
he said as he stretched and popped his knuckles.
“You just gotta clench the bladder until things get back to normal.”
“I didn’t need to know that.”
A tug drew the bag off his head, revealing his haggard features. The stubble on his cheeks and chin made him look ten years older, though his eyes gleamed with energy. Dani thought he might be having a little too much fun showing off.
He released her bound hands, and she relaxed slightly as the bag whiffed off her head. Water dribbled out of her eyes and ears to splatter on the floor. She shook her head as normal senses returned, bringing with them a smell of lemon and pine. Cold air made her scalp prickle. She rubbed her bald head and where her eyebrows used to be, silently bemoaning the loss of her hair. Though, on the upside, it’d be much easier to keep her scalp clean.
Sirens wailed in the distance, warning them not to stay in one spot for too long. Warning lights sliced yellow and red beams across gray walls. Distant yelling was followed by howls, snaps, and splashes. These died off, and Dani glanced at Ben, who nodded for her to follow as he walked the way they’d been heading.
“Ain’t nothing to worry ’bout,” he said. “The Ascendants can handle themselves.” He trotted along, not quite as fast as before, but not wasting time either. Dani jogged to catch up, swinging her arms wide to enjoy being free.
“What are Ascendants, anyways?” she asked as they loped down the hall.
Ben grimaced and kept his eyes forward. “Well, you got the Chairman and the Board. So think of Ascendants as upper management. They’re the ones Purity gives a bit more
oomph
to.”
“Oomph? Do they get a little
sproing
and
whizzbang
too?”
“Their glow ain’t just for show, is what I’m sayin’. Those auras repel pretty much all but the cruddiest Corruption. They don’t ever gotta shower, use the bathroom, or all that other daily maintenance. They stay spit-shined twenty-four-seven. Plus they get better benefit packages, company cars, and gold watches when they … uh … what’s wrong?”
Dani went stock still in the middle of the hall and threw her hands up. “Why didn’t anyone tell me this from the start? I would’ve signed on without a second thought!” She shook her head. “I swear, if we live through this, I’m applying for the Ascendant fast-track.”
One side of his face scrunched up. “I wouldn’t aim that high, kiddo.”
She glared. “What? Don’t tell me this place has a glass ceiling. I saw plenty of women wearing those zoot suits.”
His frown deepened. “It ain’t that. It’s just most people don’t know that bein’ an Ascendant grinds down the soul, little by little, until all you’ve got left is a nice pile of white powder, with barely any humanity left to be worth a snort.”
He resumed jogging ahead, and, after a huff of disbelief, she followed suit.
“What do you mean?” she asked, once she caught up.
He eyed her sidewise, obviously displeased with her continuing the discussion. “Bein’ human means havin’ a little bit of dirt under the fingernails, princess. Ain’t none of us perfect or pure, no matter how much we wanna be. It ain’t in our nature. So when you get Purity’s little nightlight followin’ you ’round, forcing that kinda state on you … well …” He shrugged. “It might be fun at first. Never havin’ to shower or brush your teeth. Always smellin’ fresh-like, never havin’ to comb your hair. But all those little things ground us. They remind us of who we are. Strip that away, and you start thinkin’ all sortsa unhealthy things. You start thinkin’ you’re better than everyone else who ain’t Ascended. You wall yourself off from everythin’ and anyone that ever mattered. You get cocky. Anyone not at your level might as well be yesterday’s lunch—even other Cleaners who put as much sweat and blood into the job as anyone else.”
Dani pondered this as they ran along. It didn’t seem fair. Ever since seeing Francis in the library bathroom, she’d wanted to tap into the secret that kept him spotless. And now Ben was telling her it might have a cost higher than she was willing to pay.
“So that’s why Francis and the others always act like we’re something nasty they just stepped in.”
He nodded. “It takes a hard knee to the balls to make any of ’em realize they’re just as vulnerable as the rest of us.”
“Is that what we’re doing now?”
“Sorta. Except instead of a knee, we’re gonna use a sledgehammer.”
After another minute, a previous statement snagged on her mind and dragged a question out. “Ben?”
“Eh?”
“You said ‘most people don’t know’ about what it’s really like to be an Ascendant. How do you?”
He slowed to a walk, and Dani backpedaled to stay at his side.
“I was one,” he said.
“What?”
Ben hugged his right arm to his side. “I was an Ascendant when this happened.” He flashed a ragged grin. “Hard to believe, huh? One of the youngest the Board ever approved, ain’t that the truth. You think Francis is a prick? You shoulda seen me. Why Karen ever stuck with me, I ain’t never guessed.”
“Your wife.”
Pain cracked Ben’s face into a hundred fragments. “Yeah.”
“Will you tell me what happened now?”
He hunched, his earlier willingness to explain spooked by her pursuit of the topic.
She reached out, not quite laying a hand on his shoulder. “Please, Ben.”
“Dani, this ain’t—”
“The right time? I don’t think there’s ever going to be a right time, if you have your way.” She stepped around and blocked the way, arms crossed. “You promised an explanation, and I’d like to hear it before we meet up with more goons who will try to scour us out of existence.”
Ben lowered his head, giving her an eyeful of gray ponytail and bald patch. Dani didn’t budge. She kept one ear attuned for sounds of pursuit, but didn’t think a chase party had come close to cornering them, or else Ben would’ve shown more need for haste.
He looked up, but didn’t meet her eyes. “A’ight. First thing you gotta know is that I’m thirty-two years old.”
***
Chapter Twenty-seven
Ben watched Dani as his words settled in. He felt funny admitting it, a mix of shame and relief he couldn’t sort right away.
“You’re … what?” she asked.
He chuckled. “Thirty-two. What? I don’t look it? And no, before you ask, I ain’t jokin’, and I ain’t crazy. Leastaways, not that much.” He bent his right arm around. “It’s been five years since the Ravishing latched onto me. I was twenty-seven then. See? I can do math.” He grinned briefly. “It clogged up my power somethin’ fierce, but it also has some other nasty side effects. Like shuttlin’ me to the grave a might bit faster. I figure I got the body of a seventy-five-year-old now, and I’m gonna be dead in another year or two.”
She looked him over, gauging him in light of this new information. Likely guessing what he used to look like, imagining what it would be like if she’d contracted the infection from him.
“How did it happen?” she asked.
“Sydney fed you a slice of the truth. Karen and I worked together, cleanin’ up some of the nastiest Scum around. We loved our work. It … brought us together.” He ran a hand through his hair, pangs of memory tightening his chest. “I ain’t even got the foggiest of what the original assignment was. We went in ready to wipe the place clean. Next thing I know, I’m wakin’ up back in HQ, Karen’s dead, and the Ravishing is gnawin’ up my arm. But …” His voice lowered into a growl and his teeth ground together. “I ain’t never killed her. Never. I woulda died before raisin’ a hand against Karen.”
Each word clawed at the old wounds. He tasted bitterness, and his hands trembled until he clenched them, resisting the desire to strike out against the ghosts of a not-so-ancient past.
“Destin stuck me in quarantine for months to make sure I weren’t no threat. When the Board finally let me out, I’d been stripped of my position, bounced back to janitor, and given side jobs to keep me busy. Whatever or whoever did this to Karen and myself ain’t never been caught. I don’t even know if they tried to hunt it down. Any reports got locked away from my pryin’ eyes, and I ain’t got the clout anymore to dig ’em back up.”
His rising fury sputtered as weariness overtook him. He sagged against the wall and hid his face behind a hand, keenly aware of Dani watching him. These days, as his body continued to fail, it was hard even for him to remember himself as a young man. A lifetime shed in a matter of years. No chance to avenge Karen. Not a single friend left—if they’d ever been such—who trusted him, what with a Corrupt disease eating his flesh away. He’d kept doing his job because it was the only thing left. It provided a false hope that he might uncover something that would cure him, or reveal a clue about what happened. Some way to gain closure.
But nothing ever did.
Dani moved his way, hesitated, and then stepped back. “I’m sorry,” she whispered.
He closed his eyes. “Yeah. Me too.”
They stayed that way for another minute as he struggled to collect himself.
“What’d Karen do here?” Dani asked. “Was she a janitor too?”
Ben pushed away from the wall. “Naw. She was a maid. A Handmaiden of Purity, as they’re rightly known. You mighta called her a witch.”
“A witch?”
“Yuppers.” He mimed sweeping. “Witches have always worked for the Cleaners. Why d’ya think they’re pictured carryin’ brooms? They’re some of the tidiest folk you’ll come across. I’ve always been partial to mops, m’self. Somethin’ she and I never agreed on.”
She squinted. “I still can’t tell when you’re being serious or not.”
He rolled his shoulders, forcing himself to focus on their situation. “We’ve wasted enough time. C’mon. It’s just around the corner.”
Dani looked around as they started jogging again. “What is? A back entrance to this place?”
“Naw. Only exit is that elevator we came down.”
“Then shouldn’t we have cut loose before we got locked in here?”
“Mebbe. But then we’d be stuck tryin’ to get through HQ by ourselves.”
“By ourselves? Are we here to get backup?”
Ben turned the corner in question, where the hall dead-ended in a steel door. He strode up to it, grabbed the handle and yanked it open to reveal an unlit room. At his side, Dani eyed the darkness.
“Why isn’t this one locked?”
“’Cause if whoever is kept in here gets loose, a locked door ain’t gonna stop ’em.” He stepped inside. Motion sensors detected his presence and illuminated the room.
Dani gasped.
A man sat in a chair that had been bolted to the floor in the middle of the room. Two metal rods extended from the ceiling on either side of him, with iron tubes held parallel to the ground. His arms had been locked into the tubes, and his bare hands stuck out from the far ends, unable to touch anything. A garbage bag had been tied over his head.
No one could mistake the tuxedo t-shirt, however.
“No way.” She stared at the imprisoned Sydney while Ben did a quick circuit of the room. “How’d you know where they stashed him?”
“We built this room specifically to put entropy mages into a time-out.” Careful not to brush against Sydney’s fingers, Ben undid the first clamp holding the mage in place. Before he could remove it, however, Dani planted herself in the way.
“What are you doing?”
He looked from the locks to her and back. “You got eyes, don’tcha?”
Her green eyes darkened. “Ben, give me a single reason we should free this lunatic.”
“Don’tcha trust me, princess?”
She glowered up at him, an expression he found himself growing far too fond of.
“I do, but I still want to know why. I’m done running blind. I want to help, but I can’t unless you tell me what to expect.”
“Fair ’nuff.” He brushed himself off. “We need his help to get outta here. I ain’t strong enough to do what needs doing, and your powers—”
“I can control them now!”
“—are still a might bit too cranky. I want us grabbin’ what we need and walkin’ out without killin’ anyone. These are still coworkers we’re gonna go up against. If we got him backing us up, mebbe they’ll get smart and stand down.”
She frowned at the floor, then at the entropy mage. “What’s to keep him from killing us?”
“Ain’t no entropy mage ever been caught before. They’ve all gone down fightin’, or offed themselves before we could bag ’em. That means Sydney …” he nudged the man’s ankle with a toe. The mage didn’t twitch. “He’s here ’cause he wants to be. He’s got somethin’ planned, and I’ll bet a month’s pay he’ll work with us so long as we got the same goals in mind. That and I’m countin’ on a healthy dose of sibling rivalry.”
“Sibling … what are you talking about?”
“You ain’t noticed the family resemblance?” Ben bent back to the clamps. “This here’s Destin’s baby brother.”
***
