Asleep in Eden, Part Two

As a fair warning, this section is a little over five pages. If that seems too long to you, breathe calmly and back away slowly.

I stared longingly at the strands of spaghetti Marco twirled around his fork. It’s been forever since I’ve eaten, or needed to eat. I can’t remember what spaghetti tastes like, or if I’ve even had it before, but right now, I really want some. Isn’t food supposed to make people feel better?

Dishes clattered behind me, from the direction of the kitchen. I jumped and sighed slowly. Being this close to Cadence and my own body, I get squirrely.

Marco glanced up at me as he pulled his fork from between his lips and chewed slowly.

“You all right?”

“I don’t understand why we had to do this in a restaurant.” Anyone in here could be one of Cadence’s goons— the exhausted waitress, the starry-eyed couple in the corner, the drunk guy sitting alone at the bar. I shivered and focused on Marco’s plate. The less I looked at them, the less likely they were to notice me, even in my old-fashioned dress.

“I’ve gotta eat, you know,” he said, slurping on his soda. “Some people have actual appetites.”

I shrugged. There was a waitress beside us, setting up a tray to serve an older couple. She was making me incredibly nervous.

“So how’d you make her so mad, anyway?” Marco asked, setting aside his soda and twirling another bite of spaghetti.

“Told you,” I said. “Wasn’t me.”

Marco huffed. “I just want the story.”

I shrugged. “Sorry. That’s not a story I tell people.”

“I’m trying to help you,” Marco said, leaning over his plate for another bite. “I don’t want all of the juicy details, Jane. I just want to know what we’re up against, and if we can do anything to calm that crazy lady down.”

“We can’t.”

“So we’re gonna have to stop her some other way. That’s great. But I could help you a whole lot easier if I knew why she’s mad in the first place.”

I sighed, crossed my arms and leaned back into the red vinyl seat. “Why are you invested in this, Marco? I appreciate your help, but I don’t see why you care.”

He shrugged and bit off a hunk of breadstick. “Crazy lady trashed the store on my shift. I can’t tolerate that kind of blatant disrespect for comics. She won’t get away with that.”

I sighed. I needed help— not much, just with physical objects and to distract Cadence— but I really wished I’d gotten an offer from someone who knew a little bit more useful information.

“And I’ll get better revenge once you tell me why she’s mad enough to rampage through the shop, so... Please? I don’t want to invade your privacy, but I don’t know how else I could help.”

I sighed. He was right. A Galaxy Comics cashier would not be the most helpful person in my feud with Cadence, but no one else was offering, and I liked Marco so far. I leaned my chin on my hand to think of a good response, and it was a while before I spoke again. Dishes clattered in the kitchen. Marco sipped the last of his soda out of his glass.

“She and I are both looking for the same thing, in the historical district downtown. We have about a week to find it, or... neither of us gets what we want.”

“And...” Marco shoved his glass towards the center of the table and folded his hands. “What exactly are you looking for?” He grinned suddenly, as if an idea had just occurred to him. “I know! You’re really into vintage clothes and you’re after one of her favorite dresses?”

I rolled my eyes. It wasn’t exactly my choice that I was still wearing a dress straight out of 1914. I’m a spirit. I can’t exactly change clothes. But finding my body would be nice, because then I could ditch this dress and stop looking like someone’s grandma.

Telling the truth would definitely go over well.

“I’m not entirely sure, but I know it’s in the historic district.”

Marco gave a snort of laughter. “In the historic district? You know that’s gonna be hard to find. This entire town is a historic district, and you don’t even know what you’re looking for.”

 “I know,” I said. “But I need to find it. It’s important.”

The waitress strode up and handed Marco’s bill to him. I held my breath until she shuffled away and I was relatively sure she was not one of Cadence’s pawns.

Marco stuffed a twenty into the pocked and flipped the folder shut.

“What exactly happens when you find it?”

I sighed. Exactly the kind of question I had been trying to avoid. Sometimes I wonder why I am even running from Cadence. Even if I succeed, she won’t stop chasing me just because I’m in-body again.

“I buy myself some time,” I told him.

“And if she finds it?”

I bit my lip. “Then I’m probably done for.”

Marco’s eyes widened. “What?”

I shrugged and stared at the speckled tabletop. Marco tried to sip his soda. When he finally realized that he didn’t have any left, he stood up for a refill, and it was a while before he sat down again.

“So... um... have you tried looking downtown any?” Marco asked.

“I’ve tried, but she usually has someone down there keeping an eye out for me. I’ve had to be really careful.”

Marco’s eyebrows shot upwards. “She’s got other people helping her?”

I nodded and leaned out of the way for the waitress to pick up Marco’s bill. Please please please don’t work for Cadence. Please.

Marco whistled. “She’s serious about this.”

“Yeah, I know,” I said. “Anyway, I need to get downtown, skirt around her goons and find that... room. Fast.”

Marco emptied the change from his meal into his wallet and stood up.

“So,” he said, “How can I help?”

Maybe I liked this Marco kid more than I thought. Even if he did just want revenge, at least he was going about it in a straightforward way.

“I just need to find the room where my— this thing is.” I said. “If you could help me look, that would be great.”

“So... what exactly am I looking for? There are a lot of rooms downtown.”

I sighed. I could not tell Marco where my body was resting. I had not been there since 1914, before it was the historic district. When I was there, I hadn’t been conscious long enough to get a good look at my surroundings.

“It’ll be a pretty normal room, on one of the upper floors,” I said. “It might look like a storeroom or something. You won’t be able to get in— not that that’s unusual. There might be leaves or greenery poking out from under the door.”

“Leaves or greenery?” Marco smirked. “How’s leaves or greenery going to grow in a locked room?”

Fairy magic, that’s how. I wondered briefly what Marco would do if I answered these questions honestly. Probably back away slowly.

“I don’t know,” I said, “but I’m sure glad it does. If you look for anything, look for that. No other rooms will have gardens growing out of them.”

“Great,” said Marco. We stood up and headed out of the restaurant. I was immensely relieved when he held the door for me. Explaining how I managed to walk through it would have been tough.

Marco walked west, towards the historic district, with a spring in his step. He almost looked excited.

“So!” he said, walking backwards to face me, “Are we gonna start looking now?”

“Absolutely not.”

The smile fell off Marco’s face.

“Look,” I said, and caught up with him so I could whisper, “We can’t go into the historic district now. Cad— This lady has pawns down there, and there’s no way of telling them apart from the tourists. Sorry, but I’m just not going to risk it.”

“So when are you going to look?” Marco asked.

“Tonight,” I said. “We’re looking tonight.”

Marco’s eyes got so wide I thought they were going to pop out of his head.

“You want me to break into the historic museums in the middle of the night?” he yelled. Across the street, a woman glanced our way and pulled her children closer, hurrying them towards her car.

“No,” I said, just as loudly as Marco had. I forced a smile. “No, Marco. I DON’T want you to break into the museums.”

He frowned. “Really?”

I sighed and headed over to one of the benches lining the sidewalk. The streetlight above it was on and I had no idea why, at five o’clock in the afternoon. Marco followed me.

“Just don’t talk so loud, all right?” I said. “Not everyone needs to know that we’re breaking into the museums.”

“Oh,” Marco said. “Well, we aren’t breaking into the museums. If you want my help, either we’re going when the museum’s open or we’re not going at all.”

I sighed. “Look, I know it’s counter-intuitive, but it’ll be a lot safer to go when it’s not open. The tourists will have gone home, and we’ll know exactly who her pawns are.”

“Nope,” Marco shook his head. “I’d love to help, but I’m not breaking the law for you. If you want to go after dark, you’re going alone.”

Annoyed, I turned my face away from him. As much as I hated it, I needed Marco’s help. Even out-of-body, I couldn’t sneak through the walls of my room and get to my body. Beatrice had said that only one person could get inside, and that one person was not me. I am not usually one to dispute with fairy magic, but maybe Beatrice had overlooked the option of busting through the walls with a sledgehammer. I would need Marco’s help with that.

“All right.” I sighed. “Fine. We’ll go now.”

“Good,” Marco said, and stood up again. “We better hurry. Most of these places close at six.”

He was already halfway down the street. I hurried to catch up with him, dreading our search. This was not going to turn out well.