Chapter 2

Usher

Drucilla didn’t understand how she had failed.

“But don’t customers want to be well informed?”

Jenna was rubbing her forehead, eyes tightly shut. “I thought you had worked in retail before,” she muttered to herself.

A tall male stepped into the kitchen, looking like a giant Celtic god in a white shirt and tie.

“Jenna! Steve called in sick last minute and I am already short staffed. Do you have anyone you can spare?” the god asked, straightening his glasses.

Jenna’s face brightened considerably. “Yes! Drucilla here is new and can start her training as an usher!”

She turned towards Drucilla. “This is Robbi…”

Robbi coughed, smiling.

Jenna laughed, “Sorry, Sir Robbi. He’s over the ushers. Go ahead and help him out tonight. You won’t have to deal with customers that way,” Jenna whispered the last part with a wink.

“What are you two conspiring? There are no secrets betwixt comrades!” Robbie called from the doorway.

“Just girl stuff, Robbi. Of course we’ll tell you…”

“No need! A Knight would never press a lady to divulge her secrets!” Robbi laughed nervously, and waved Drucilla over. “Come squire! We have need of haste and talk. Have you ever cleaned a theater by chance?” As she crossed the kitchen to follow Robbi, Drucilla was shocked to find how dwarfed she was by him.

“No.” To abrupt? Not enough emotional connection? What else could I possibly add to that? “But I do have experience clearing negative energy and cleansing hexes from places.”

“A white witch, eh?” said Robbi scratching his head. Drucilla blushed, slightly. “Unfortunately, we are only allowed conventional cleaning potions. But I’d say your experience will be useful none the less! Our merry band will have you leveling up in no time!” Robbi spoke as he walked. While he didn’t appear to be rushing, at almost seven feet tall, his long stride required Drucilla’s small frame to hurry beside him. “There they are now!”

Down a long hallway, a group of boys gathered, good naturedly rough housing and chatting around rolling garbage bins. Drucilla stopped abruptly. The tallest of the group of boys, not nearly as tall as Robbi though, was a pale haired, blue-eyed Adonis, with broad shoulders and a toothy grin. He waved to Robbi and elbowed his companion, a shorter boy with close cropped black hair and smooth chocolate skin. Both of which seemed to glow with a sickly oily film that clouded their auras.

Deceivers. Unfaithful. Tainted by lies. Just like the girl in the box office! They must all be connected in some way. Drucilla thought disgustedly, her upper lip curling. The shorter of the two noticed her glare and took a half step back, confusion marring his handsome face.

Yes, I bet you’re used to people fawning over that symmetrical face of yours.

“Meet Drucilla, men! She will be aiding us this evening, so let’s show her the ropes and see if she has what it takes to be an usher! Sam, why don’t you and Devon take Drucilla with you and..”

“Actually Robbi,” the shorter boy, Devon, interjected, “Caleb and I were in the middle of cleaning number two. Hate to break up the team, ya know?”

“Very well,” Robbi said hesitantly, “Sam will take our two newest ushers to theater eleven, and Ollie and I shall beat you all by cleaning theater seven in record time! Come Ollie! We fly!” Robbie ran off with a chuckling Ollie jogging backwards behind him.

“Later suckers!” Ollie yelled, “Enjoy cleaning Marshmallow Friends Two!”

Sam, the corrupted Adonis, looked at Devon, confusion on his face. Turning, he appraised his team; a slim boy, with stylishly disheveled brown hair and Drucilla. Seeming unimpressed, he waved them toward the theater doors. “Come on, it’s not hard.”

Entering the theater, unusually well lit, Drucilla trailed after the two boys. Sam handed out brooms. “Sweep it all under the seats. Popcorn tubs and cups get tossed in the garbage. Any personal items get put in this tote,” he kicked a plastic tub connected to the garbage trolley. “The mop is for spills.”

“Hey, shouldn’t we like, sweep this stuff up?” the other new hire asked.

“Nah. Takes too much time. Cleaners come through at the end of the night with leaf blowers and clear it all out.” Sam swept like a maniac, his broom clacking against the chairs on either side of the row. The other boy shrugged and began mimicking Sam.

Drucilla watched Sam, keeping him in her line of sight at all times. Such a tainted aura made her sick but the thought of having it creep up on her made her nervous. Occasionally Sam would bend down and pick up something small and tuck it into his pocket. What is he grabbing? Drucilla didn’t find anything worth picking up in her own rows, just popcorn, loose paper and the occasional half-empty cup. But as he moved on, Sam kept finding things to add to his collection.

“Hey Matthew, did I see you the other night talking to Siobhan Macey last night?” Sam said to the other usher.

“Oh! Yeah. You know Siobhan?” Matthew replied awkwardly.

“Yeah dude! She was the hottest senior last year! No one could get her attention. You guys dating or something?”

“No, we went on one date, but it didn’t go too well….”

Matthew clearly wanted the conversation to end, and Drucilla was no longer paying attention to them anyway. Sam, gripping the back of the seat and laughing with his entire body, dropped a piece of paper from his back pocket.

Quickly sweeping the row below his, Drucilla picked it up and read. It was a short list of unfamiliar names with doodles all over it. Scanning it quickly, she didn’t see anything of interest until she saw the symbols at the bottom. Her eyes widened in shock. This must be some sort of curse! He’s a dark witch!