Page 1 of Hello, Nurse!
Prologue
Blabbo
“In here,” I say hurriedly, shuffling my makeshift family into what appears to be an abandoned building. Absurdo and Angelina huddle together in the far corner of the room, away from the windows. The helicopter spotlight sweeps over the building, flooding the room with light, but thanks to our dark coloring, we blend in with the shadows. The helicopter repeats its message, garbled nonsense in all the noise, but we understand the meaning all too well. They want us back.
Not going to happen.
Angelina’s hands squeeze my arm, her little mouse companions perched on hershoulder. “I can’t go back, Blabbo. I just can’t.” Tears well in her eyes.
“You’re not going back, Lina,” I say. “None of us are.”
Absurdo rocks back and forth, something he does to calm himself. Angelina and I have been together since we were pups, grown or altered in the lab for who knows what purpose. Absurdo joined us as a teen. It took a long time for him to open up and trust us. He spent that entire first year more or less silently rocking, nervously waiting for the next experiment. When we broke out tonight, Angelina wanted to grab more of the others, but I had to prioritize my family. We may not be a family by blood, but there is nothing I wouldn’t do for them. I proved that tonight getting us out of there. I don’t regret anything that happened. It was our best, and maybe only, opportunity, but it ended up tripping more alarms than I’d expected, and now there’s a fucking helicopter overhead.
But we got out. All of us. Now we just need to make it a little farther. Angelina’s mouse friends had actually escaped the lab before, but paid dearly for it when they got caught. It took months of convincing to get them to help us. The short one, Encephalon, has an overgrown frontal lobe and is smarter than the rest of us put together. Unfortunately for him, his partner isn’t nearly as bright. Last time, they were able to find a nearby town to lie low where the unusual is more accepted. They hid out there safely for months. Only got caught when they tried to travel to Wisconsin for a dairy expo. Seems like an unnecessary risk, but it was Peanut’s dream, and Encephalon would do anything to make him happy. Now, the next part of our escape hinges on them showing us the way to this mystery town. Encephalon says that once we’re there, he’ll pay us back by setting up our place with appropriate security. As long as he can keep Peanut out of trouble, I think I can keep us safe.
Not willing to put all my cheese in one mousetrap, I also have a back-up plan. A little ceremony I found out about from a demon Doctor Sinister had in his possession for a brief time. The ceremony doesn’t seem overly complicated as far as mystical dealings go. And there’s nothing I won’t do to keep my family safe.
Chapter one
Guardin' the Garden
Angelina
Ghostlight Falls is everything Encephalon said it would be. When he told us we’d be able to walk around this town freely, I honestly didn’t believe him, but it was part of Blabbo’s plan, and I trust him more than anyone.
True to his word, Encephalon has outfitted our hideout with a state-of-the-art security system. How he did it with only garbage he found around town, I don’t know, but the mouse is scary smart. He alsohelped us out with the next step in Blabbo’s plan: locating a human with demon blood.
Once we found her, I was assigned the job of following her, like some kind of stalker. I guess it’s slightly less creepy for me to do it, given I’m female, but I don’t think it’s going to matter much when she suspects a monster is following her home. No matter how cute my skirt is. I know what I am. What they made me.
The final bell rings at the elementary school. The children all leave with their parents, and she walks out about thirty minutes later. She smiles and waves at one of the teachers—Shirley, I think—as she walks to her car. As if she senses me watching, her gaze travels to where I crouch hidden in the shadows. I don’t think there’s any way she could see me here, and there’s no way she could hear my movements over the damn frogs, but I freeze anyway. She squints, but quickly moves on, getting in her car and driving away. There is after-school traffic, so I’m able to keep up with her onfoot. I’ve not clocked my top speed, but I’m certain it’s nowhere near as fast as a car. It also helps that I know where she’s going. She always heads straight home after work. I hide in the branches of the same tree I always do, watching her walk up her front steps. She looks over her shoulder before unlocking her door. Can she sense me? I’ll have to tell Blabbo we need to move up the timeline if she’s getting suspicious. I know he wants everything perfect, but if she panics before we make our move, we’re screwed.
I get comfortable. She doesn’t usually do a whole lot on weeknights, so I’m surprised when she heads back out an hour later, climbing into her car with a fresh change of clothes. I message the boys on the communication device Encephalon set up for us. I know they can track her car somehow. She drives away, heading toward the center of town. I follow for as long as I can, but inevitably lose her. They’ll tell me where she ends up. I think we’ve done enough surveillance, anyway. We’ve confirmed she’s what we need for the ceremony. Now it's time to move on to the next phase.
Chapter two
White Gloves
Rebecca
Iswirl the oversize ice cube in my old-fashioned, dunking the maraschino cherry below the surface of the drink. It’s one of those too-sweet, neon red ones better suited for an ice cream sundae, but this place doesn’t carry the proper fancy brand name cherries, or anything fancy for that matter. The cocktail is beginning to take the edge off my day, nonetheless. I got slurped again on my morning run through the woods. Fucking giants chasing their high. Will never get used to that. My ears are still ringing from the screaming kids, but at least no one vomited on me. Not myworst day at work. Being a school nurse is far from glamorous, but it beats working in a hospital.
My friend, Gwen, bailed on me, so I’m stuck drinking alone at a bar on a Tuesday. Luckily, in Ghostlight Falls, folks don’t get too judgy.
There are a few other small groups dotted around the bar, mostly folks I recognize from around town, but nobody I feel the need to talk to. There must have been a Wonder Balls game today, because a rowdy group keeps chanting, “Balls! Balls! Balls!” That, or they really like balls. My eyes keep flitting around the dark space, but stop on two creatures in the corner. They are unlike anything I’ve ever seen, but at the same time, they're somehow familiar. I swear I’ve seen their shapes in the shadows, or maybe in my dreams? Or, maybe, work stress is getting to me. I take another sip of my drink, trying to clear my head, but can’t help continuing to steal glances at them.
The first one is tall, lean, and shirtless, exposing a prodigiously hairy chest. He’s wearing khaki pants worn high, with a black leather belt and a pair of white gloves. The one next to him wears a backwards baseball cap, similar gloves, and a blue turtleneck, but, I notice glancing beneath the table, no pants. The shirt hits mid-thigh, making it decent… enough. He’s a bit shorter than his counterpart, but broader. His tail swishes around behind him, and when he catches me staring, he smiles wildly, his tongue darting out to toy with a lip ring. I quickly turn to focus on my drink.
The last thing I need right now is to get involved with anyone. I’m sure I’m just drawn to them because of those weird dreams. How I dreamt of creatures I’ve never seen before tonight, I’d rather not think about. The bar door swings open, and a third creature walks in. This one is wearing a tiny skirt and a flower in her hair. She’s bare-chested, but covered in fur, so I guess it meets the bardress code. Does Kyle’s even have a dress code? Doubtful.
She walks over to the table with the other two. After talking for a minute, she looks over her shoulder directly at me. Shit, I’ve been caught staring again. Finishing my drink, I figure I might as well go talk to them. They’ve clearly seen me eyeing them. What’s the worst that can happen? I place a few dollars under my empty glass and walk over.
“We were taking bets on when you’d get the courage to approach. I’m Blabbo. And this is Absurdo and Angelina,” the tall one says with a smirk.
“It’s nice to meet you. My name is Lilly.” I don’t know why I told them that. Lilith is my middle name, aftertheLilith. My great-great-something-grandma. No one in town knows my family history, and I intend to keep it that way. They used obviously fake names. Well, Angelina could be real? Why use her real name and not the others? It doesn’t matter. I meant to come up with acomplete fabrication, but the twist on my middle name spilled out instead.
“A lie,” Absurdo says with a wry grin. Shit, found out already, but it’s probably for the best they don’t believe me. Less chance they’ll make the connection to Lilith if they believe it’s a fake name, anyway.
“Shall we let it slide?” Blabbo asks the group.
