This couldn't be the right place. Kay whipped out her cell and double checked the address. Same street, same number, far out in the warehouse district. She took the city bus as far as the route would take her, then spent the next forty minutes sweating through the armpits of her interview attire as she hoofed it here.

Now Kay stood before a nondescript brick of a building that ate up an entire block of space. It looked like a monolith of stone dropped out of the heavens by some behemoth presence. The warehouse district seemed to abhor its presence, the buildings themselves giving it a wide berth so that it sat, an island of bleached sandstone, the narrow window strips glittering like flecks of Formica across the face of the building. There was something ominous about that plain boxy building that sent a chill up her sweat slicked spine.

This was Fantasy Land INC? Nothing about this place matched the rainbows and sparkles of its advert. There was a chain-link fence surrounding the property with what looked suspiciously like a spiral of barbed wire atop it. The whole vibe screamed max security prison, not gimmicky theme park. Kay debated turning back to catch the bus home, but two things stopped her; Jess and money.

She couldn't mooch off her roomie forever and she would never be in the position to dig herself out of this hole if she didn't land a job. Sure, this place looked like the sort to leave with one less kidney and a wicked looking new scar, but what was a little organ loss if they paid her?

Kay inhaled. Her shoulders hunched inward as she crossed that wide empty space surrounding the building, until she reached the security checkpoint booth outside the only entrance she could see.

A bored looking security guard glanced up from what appeared to be a physics textbook, which possibly explained his slightly cross eyed expression, as it wasn't exactly light reading.

"Name, please," he said. Kay did a slight double take at his appearance. His uniform strained at the seams, particularly around his biceps and shoulders. There was a scroll-work of tattoos down his forearms and around his neck, including a faded black ink tear on his left cheek. Adversely, his voice was light, almost musical in tone, and pleasant to the ears. She wondered if he was part of the Second Chance Program.

She was staring. Kay chastised herself for the assumption. "Kay Oritz. I have an appointment at ten?"

He held up a finger and flipped through a ream of papers on a clipboard. Kay glimpsed the list of names. They expected that many people to come in today for interviews? Her stomach shrank as her prospects significantly narrowed.

"Ah yes, Ms. Oritz. I need you to sign the waiver," he said. He retrieved a piece of paper from a folder on his desk and pen and slid them across the counter between them.

"What? Waiver?" Kay scanned the document. "Excuse liability from bodily harm? What sort of interview process is this?"

The security guard tapped the paper with his forefinger. "Sign, please." There was a skull tattoo on his knuckle, leering at her. Kay waffled once again with the idea of heading back to the bus stop. Maybe she could get a job as one of those sign holders that stood on the sidewalk all day, slowly suffocating in a mascot suit. She gnawed her lip raw with indecision. Her interview was in ten minutes.

She made an audible whine as she signed the waiver. The security guard peeled it off the counter and tucked it into another folder. His name tag read Tyson. Cute. From beneath the desk, Tyson produced yet another folder, this one a cheery sky blue with the company logo emblazoned on it the front in silver and gold.

"Here's your introductory packet, Ms. Oritz. Head through the front doors and to the elevators to the left. Interviews are on floor five." He smiled then. There was a tattoo on his right canine of a tiny dagger. "Good luck."

"Thanks," said Kay. No, this wasn't strange at all. She took the inch thick packet from him and clasped it to her chest as she waited for the gate to click open. She followed what was most definitely a barbed-wire lined path to the front door, where she waited to be buzzed through again, into a cloud of blissfully cool air. Least the mysterious Fantasy Land INC didn't skimp on the air conditioning. The sweat dried to a tacky film on her skin as she crossed the vast, empty floor to the elevators. This lobby area was deserted. There wasn't even an information desk, nothing but a few lonely black plastic chairs set at clustered intervals on the seamless mirror polish black floor. She could see herself reflected at her feet, wan and wide eyed as she waited for the elevator doors to open. Kay jumped when they slid open with a ding that echoed through the empty space.

The elevator panel also gave her pause. There were twenty five floors listed, though she was certain the building hadn't seemed that tall from the outside. Then there were the other buttons, a whole row of them underneath the lobby button, blacked out. A prickle of curiosity went through her, but Kay dutiful pressed the button for floor five and waited as the doors closed and the car rose. A faint strain of indie folk music played over a pair of embedded speakers. Kay hummed along. The doors opened to a packed room.

Kay stepped into the gathered crowd of people, men and women, in various states of formal clothing, though a few were in jeans and t-shirts, or more interesting fair like the goth chick in full sleeve bustier and fishnets, but they all had a sky blue folder in hand. There were at least fifty people here, which after Kay gave in and did a head count, turned out to be seventy two. Seventy three people, including herself, here for an interview. How many job positions did this company have? Kay licked her lips, and opened her folder for a distraction. Her eyes scanned the paper without really reading anything. Fortunately, she didn't have too long to dwell on her chances before a row of six doors opened along the back wall and names were called. Everyone stood in silence as the applicants filed in. Least the process would go fairly fast with six at a time, though she wondered how long the interviews were.

The answer was not long as the doors opened and the first six emerged with equally befuddled expressions and a new large manila envelope added to their growing pile of packets. The first group filed together into the elevator as the next six were called. Kay watched the six doors close in tandem. The first group couldn't have been in there for more than five minutes. How many questions could be asked in that time?

Promptly, five minutes later, the next group was called in, and the second headed for the elevator, manila envelopes in hand. Kay didn't have any better grasp on what to expect other than the aftermath by the time she her name was called in the third wave.

Her stomach fluttered. She wished she'd eaten at the house, but she had too much nervous energy. Kay entered a plain, bare bones office, where a young woman in a brown suit waited for her behind the desk. The walls were a dismal shade of taupe, and the dark maroon carpet under her feet swallowed the sound of her footsteps. Kay sat down in the same sort of black plastic chair that dotted the lobby. It was as uncomfortable as it looked. Fantasy Land INC must have blown their decorating budget on the air conditioning. It was at an arctic setting, raising goosebumps on her skin.

"Welcome, Ms. Oritz. Thank you for coming," said the woman. She couldn't be much older than Kay, maybe mid twenties, blond and blue eyed, with a smile she usually saw in a toothpaste commercial that made Kay self conscious of her own coffee stained teeth. "Now, I've had a chance to review your file--"

"You have?" Kay blurted out. Her heartbeat stalled in her chest.

"And I was wondering if you could tell me more about what skill set you've acquired working in the office."

Her heart tripped back into a steadier rhythm. Kay forced herself to swallow and moisten her parched mouth. This was a rudimentary question about her skill and experience, nothing more. Get it together Kay.

"As you know, I received my bachelor's in pre-law two years ago. I learned a great deal about contractual law during my internship for Hermann, Silverstien and Schwartz." Kay did her best to fluff her office skills, since fetching coffee and filing paperwork were not the best examples.

"Thank you Ms. Oritz. Do you have any known allergies or aversions detrimental to job performance?"

Kay faltered. "Excuse me?" What sort of question was that? "Um no, no allergies or uh, aversions that I'm aware of." How else was she supposed to answer that? What sort of aversions were they worried about?

"Were you vaccinated as a child? Have you received a seasonal flu shot?"

"Uh yes?"

"Did you believe in the bogeyman as a child?"

Kay's eyebrows rose to her hairline. Aside from the oddity of such a question, it was also curiously personal in nature. "No, no I never went in for that stuff." Not when reality was much scarier, and deadlier, and her mother never came home from a late night run to the store in the rain.

Much to her bewilderment, her answer pleased the woman. "Oh good, we have so few candidates in that pool." She opened up a filing cabinet behind her and extracted one of the large manila envelopes. "We have each of our candidates take a job assessment test. This is your test packet. Your examine room is level three. A writing utensil will be provided. You have one hour to finish your assessment exam, then you'll return it to the packet and hand it into to the supervisor on duty." The woman smiled, and nine out of ten dentists approved. "Do you have any questions for me, Ms. Oritz?"

Kay hesitantly reached for the packet. "What exactly does Fantasy Land INC do?"

Her interview's smile turned up at the corner, a small change that made the pearly whites slightly sinister and mocking. "Why, we keep the world safe, Ms. Oritz."

Kay should have caught the bus home. "Right."

The door swung open. She realized for the first time, the woman never left her desk. Kay frowned at the door as she passed through. It didn't look like an automatic door. Rather than get caught up in the mystery of self opening hinges, Kay allowed herself to be swept up with the other five applicants into the elevator. Her fellow candidates included two Indian men who were around her age, the elegant goth chick in fishnets, and an older gentleman with liver spots on the back of his hand and a liberal amount of hair growing from his ears. Fantasy Land INC did give everyone a chance, which was more than just about anyone in this job market. Kay spent the short elevator ride guessing what circumstances landed them here. They seemed to know where they were headed better than she did, and she was more than happy to follow their lead as she observed her surroundings.

Like the first floor lobby, the third floor had the same black mirror finish, the walls painted a blase pale grey that drained the optimism out of the air. A plant or two would totally liven up the room. She wondered how open Fantasy Land INC was open to decor suggestions. Something fluttered by the tall thin windows.

Had a bird managed to fly inside? The windows were so narrow, Kay was surprised any bird would brave the crevice. Her eyes tracked the movement as another door opened to a stairwell. A man in a sky blue uniform tip-toed into the room carrying a net. Kay's steps slowed. Was he the janitorial staff?

The newcomer scanned the room through coke bottle thick lenses, and push his sweaty dark curls out of his face. He focused on the fluttering movement, eyes comically squinting through the magnification of his lenses. A tiny smirk pulled at her lips as she looked to the bird beating its wings against the wall by the window. Poor thing was just trying to find an exit--

Her thoughts turned over as her gaze focused on the 'bird'. There was something terribly wrong with the shape of it. Her mind struggled to identify what she was seeing but for the briefest moment, she was certain she saw a tiny blue butt framed by rapidly flapping iridescent wings.

"What--"

"Ms. Oritz, the examine has started. You are losing minutes." The voice yanked Kay's attention from the scene. Another suit stood in the doorway at the end of the hall, with a chastising expression. "Come along, please, unless you wish to forfeit the assessment."

She rushed forward. It was the lack of food. She had to be hallucinating. Get in, take the exam, and it would be fine. Kay slid into the last unoccupied desk and opened her envelope. The assessment was a twenty page packet, a mixture of multiple choice bubbles and short form. She could do this.

Kay read the first question.

Which president signed the unicorn migration act of the 20th century?

Had she missed something? Was there a typo in the document? She skipped down to another on the page.

Which factions were involved in the fairy wars of the 1980s?

Kay glanced up at the other candidates. They had they heads down, filling out the bubbles with gusto. This couldn't be right.

Which Elven leaders signed the 1860s treaty with the Union?

Who is credited with discovering a fresh colony of the endangered Western Palomino Centaurs in 2002?

Kay swallowed a lump in her throat. It happened. She finally cracked under pressure. She set down her pencil and pressed the palms of her hands hard against her eyes. First it was blue butts flying through the air, now it was an exam fit for that British comedy group her dad loved. Monty Python, that was it, an exam fit for Monty Python, dry, odd, and utterly absurd. If the next question was 'What is the airspeed velocity of an unladen fairy' she'd burst out laughing. Or into tears, it was a flip of the coin at the point.

"You have thirty minutes left to complete your assessment."

Kay raised her hand. "Excuse me, is this for real?"

The supervisor looked mildly affronted. "I assure you, it is. Now unless you wish to forfeit your interview, Ms. Oritz, I suggest you fill out your assessment."

"But--these questions--" Kay faltered. The goth chick shook her head and went back to her own packet. 

Kay stared down at the page. It all came down to her audacity to put salt in her dick of a boss's coffee, didn't it? The universe put a 'kick me' sign on her back. A muscle in her jaw flexed. Fine. Kay dug her pencil into the paper as she filled in the second bubble of each question and made a mad guess for the rest. By the law of probability she had to get a few of them right. She stuffed the packet back into the manila envelope and slapped it on the supervisors desk on her way out.

Fine, she was fine. She was done with the stupid, ridiculous place. She paused by the elevator. The man with the net and the bird were gone.

Her eyes lingered on the window, remembering the bird that was not a bird.

No bird had that shape.

It was because she was staring at the window she saw it, caught in the slim crack of sunlight through the window. A shimmering smear on the dull grey wall that ended with a tiny hand-print.