"Do you think anyone's in there right now?" I asked as we stepped over to the storefront. The large windows were covered with thick black paper and the only thing that indicated it was more than an abandoned building was the help wanted sign tacked to the door. However, that sign didn't say where or when to apply and I wondered if I would have to hike out to Calista and Matias's home on the outskirts of town.

"I don't know," muttered Everett, his tone subdued and his expression blank. "It's still daylight so Matias wouldn't be able to be in there."

"That doesn't mean Calista isn't there," I said with a shrug before stepping forward and giving the door a knock. At the sound of my knuckles against the glass, I heard a shuffle of feet and what sounded like a few words of surprise. "I think someone is in there," I exclaimed as I turned back to Everett.

"Hm, well then, maybe I should get back to patrol."

"Oh, okay," I said, the disappointment in my voice forcing my lips to twist slightly into a frown. However, despite my hope he'd stay around for emotional support, it was a childish expectation and Everett didn't deserve my regret. So I took a breath and gave him a smile. "Wish me luck then."

He paused, looking me over as he considered how best to send me off. Just as he was about to say his goodbyes, the door opened and an unexpected face greeted us.

"Oh, it's you."

Stepping aside to avoid the swing of the front door, I found the zombie clan leader, Raid, peeking out of the store. As usual, he wore a leather bomber jacket adorned with several patches that I was never close enough to decipher. The head zombie didn't have the best first impression of me since I suggested Calista be autopsied when we met. At the time, I didn't realize that Calista was in fact alive and also that, though a zombie could survive an autopsy, they would be brutally maimed with no hope of healing. Protective of his clan, he deemed me an enemy and treated me as such. So it wasn't a surprise when he looked at me with bland disinterest in his green eyes.

"Uh, hello Raid. Is Calista in? I wanted to speak to her about her help wanted sign."

"That's between you and her," he said, stepping out onto the sidewalk, letting the door swing behind him. I probably would have been locked out again, had it not been for Everett's lightning quick reflexes, which stopped it just before it closed completely.

"Raid," growled Everett, who peeked inside the store, before holding the door open wide for me to go through.

"Hello, Sheriff," said the zombie as if the werewolf had intended to greet him instead of chastising him. "You're just the man I was hoping to see."

"Well, I'm a little busy at the moment," he said, urging me to step between the clan leaders and slip inside the store. "What is it you want?"

"It's important," replied Raid, his eyes sharp as they watched me slide by. "It's also a sensitive issue so I would prefer to talk about it in private."

For a moment, it looked like Everett may deny him the chance to talk. However, his job as Sheriff won out over what resentment he may have had for Raid's blunt nature. Everett gave him a nod, indicating to Raid that he should wait a little ways down the road. As for me, he turned with a fragile smile on his face and downcast eyes.

"Hey, Delilah. Good luck, okay?"

"Thanks, Everett," I replied, taking a step forward to give him a hug of gratitude, only to stop short. It should have been a gesture friends easily shared, but for some reason I couldn't commit myself to it, afraid of how he might respond. Instead, I bit my lip and sent a hesitant gaze up to assess his face. I found a look of wonder gazing back at me.

"You should go," he said with a gruff roll in his voice, his face turning to where Raid stood down the street. "I can smell Matias in there, so we don't want to keep this door open longer than we have to."

"Oh, okay," I said, stepping in. "Thank..." But, he was gone the moment I cleared the door. With a sigh, I turned back to face the bulk of the store, which looked grim in the dim light.

A line of refrigeration units filled the back wall. Each one had several shelves that looked like they were intended for dispensing half gallons of milk. Instead, in their place were bags of a dark red liquid, which I knew to be blood. There were even signs tacked above them that indicated what blood type could be found in each unit.

Along the right hand wall was something that resembled a butcher's counter. It too had a couple chillers in the back of it, but they didn't have glass windows revealing their innards. However, I knew Calista's intentions well enough to know that human flesh hid behind those doors. She had contracted with another supernatural being in my home city of Whitmere, to run a crematorium where the flesh was harvested from the dead before burning the bones to ash for the cadaver's family members. Looking over I found squat refrigeration units running down the middle of the store which I felt certain were intended to showcase precut meat for zombies to purchase.

On the left side of the building was a counter for check out as well as shelving with a few jars of spices and sauces. I could only guess that those were intended to flavor the blood and decaying meat. I shivered a little at the thought, but tried not to think poorly of those that would hopefully be my future customers. Instead I focused my attention on the two people standing behind the counter and watching me with curious eyes — Calista and Matias.

"Del, what are you doing here?" The zombie who had originally hoped for an eternity as a vampire, moved from around the counter and stepped out into the dark center of the large room.

"I saw your sign out front and...I'm sorry if I caused you trouble Matias. I didn't think you'd be in with it still being the afternoon." I had trouble seeing him as he glided over to a spot along the back wall. Considering how well the paper on the windows filtered out the sun, I supposed it wasn't that much trouble for him to be at the store. However, the door appeared to be a problem.

"Don't worry about it, Del," said the vampire that once was the lover of Bernadette before he fell for Calista. "Our glass is some of the best you can buy on the supernatural market. It doesn't allow any of the harmful effects of the sun to damage us. So long as I stay out of the way of the door, it's fine." With that, he flicked a switch and a light turned on. He then turned to me with a small smile on his face. "Sorry, neither of us need light to see so we didn't bother to have them on."

"That's okay," I said, blinking in the sharp light of the fluorescent bulbs. "What's the point of the paper if you have special windows?"

"We'll be opening in a couple days so we wanted to stock our shelves with product in time for our launch. However, if anyone saw we had blood stocked in here, we may have a small riot beating down our door." Matias sighed and shook his head before stepping over to Calista's side. Hunger was a huge problem for both the vampires and zombies. Both could sustain off of animal blood and meat, but they needed human sustenance to flourish. Since humans weren't readily available unless the sponsor could afford to house them, many went without. That was the whole reason Matias and Calista set up their market in the first place.

"You're opening in a couple days?" Surprise widened my eyes and raised my brow. I had walked past their store several times over the previous couple weeks without seeing any request for employment. "Are you still hiring?"

"Yes, we only put the sign out today," said Matias with a laugh before wrapping his thick arm around Calista's small shoulders. "We reached out to some people privately about filling positions, but we're having trouble with the last few job openings we have, so we decided to spread the word to anyone and everyone."

"You're looking for a job?" asked Calista, whose brow pinched with confusion. "You really have given up on the sponsor thing." With the two busy with setting up the store as fast as possible to get their brethren fed, I wasn't completely shocked to hear they were unaware of my quest.

"I don't know about the whole sponsor or conversion thing yet, but for now I want to feel stable without having to beg for gifts." I shrugged before continuing. "Seems easier to look at the situation without bribery getting in the way."

"Well, I couldn't have you work the night shift," said Matias with a frown and a shake of his head. "That's the only time vampires can come in and though, I'd like to think with our store they'll eventually gain control over their hunger, it's still not safe to have a human serving food to them."

"I get that," I said, my hopes dampening upon hearing his words. "I don't think that would be the best position for me either."

"However," he said, his voice brightening as he glanced over to Calista, "she could work the day shift. That's where we're really hurting for people."

"R-really?" I asked, excitement shaking my words. "You don't think people would be bothered with me serving them?"

"You'd be serving zombies," said Calista as she crossed her arms and huffed, a bit of agitation darkening her handsome features. "That's why we're having trouble finding clerks for that time of day. No one seems to want to serve zombies."

Matias frowned as Calista cast her gaze to somewhere in the distance. Then, he continued. "Most seem to think it's beneath them to serve a zombie. The only ones we currently have employed for the day shift are zombies. Unfortunately, Raid's clan is low in numbers with the famine and most of them are already employed at Killian's farm. We just had Raid in here to see if he had talked anyone else into helping us, but he said Killian has been offering incentives to keep people working the fields so the crop doesn't rot. To be fair, Killian has always been a friend to zombies and a lot of them feel loyalty to the old mage."

"I don't blame my clan for not abandoning Killian," growled Calista with a shake of her head. "Just frustrated with everyone else."

"Well," I said, biting my bottom lip with apprehension, "I'm happy to work with zombies. In fact, I think most of my friends in town are zombies."

Calista turned slightly, watching me from out of the corner of her eye. She wore a look that seemed to contemplate if she was one of those zombies I'd call a friend. I too, wondered if she would call me one.

"I certainly don't have a problem with it," said Matias, with a wide smile. "But, Calista is in charge of the day shift so it's up to her."

"I hope you'll consider me for the job," I said, trying to keep the pleading at a minimum in my voice. "I promise I'm a hard worker and reliable and...well, I don't frankly have anything better to do so you know I'll always be here when needed." I tried to finish it off with a confident smile, but I could feel how awkward it felt on my face. My nerves tugged at the corners of my lips and raised the heat of my skin on my cheeks.

Calista watched me for a moment, her eyes tracing me as a finger rubbed the bottom of her lip.

"I won't consider it," she said with a shake of her head, her words knocking the wind from my lungs. Then, she took a breath and a step forward. "There's no need to. You're hired."

My emotions suffered from whiplash and words failed to find my lips as Calista took my hand and we shook in agreement.

***

Del is finally employed!  She'll be serving the finest cuts of human flesh this side of the Mississippi River!  Things seem to be going well for Del, but trouble might still be on the horizon for the quiet town of Whisper Valley...

I've had a long history of jobs. I could never hold a job for more than a year or so.  Not because I've ever been fired or laid off, but I would feel trapped and claustrophobic after awhile.  I later realized this was due to a serious case of social anxiety, but that doesn't mean I didn't value all the experience I've received over the years.

I've worked at a fast food chain, a day care center, a movie theater, an administrative office, a library, a web design studio, a retail store, a video game company, and a children's party studio.  I've got wild stories about the children's party place.  That was a crazy summer...

What's your favorite job you've had?  What about the weirdest?