Page 20 of Cloak of the Vampire

Best of luck!

Maika Russo

Deputy Director, Vampire Resources

“Shit,” I murmured. I was expecting that—itwaswritten in the agreement. But kitchen duty? I could hardly even make instant noodles.

Zoey sighed. “Nothing comes free.”

As the three of us headed to the cafeteria, Tansy said in her natural, dreamy voice, “I like Margarita.”

From the disgusted scowl on Zoey’s face, it seems that made only one of us. “Well, lucky for you to get a job at her office, then.”

Tansy shrugged, nonchalant. “A job is a job,” she said.

“I wonder why we were given these specific jobs?” I thought out loud, glancing at Zoey. “I don’t think anyone could ever accuse me of being a good cook.”

Like Tansy, Zoey shrugged. “I guess we’ll have to wait and see.”

In the cafeteria, we found a table with Gus and Jakob from our CNC class. The two of them, I learned, had been neighbors in one of the finest districts in their city, leading me to question what they were doing here in the first place. I didn’t voice it, though; the two of them seemed to be content where they were.

Unlike me.

“What job did you get?” Zoey asked them at one point.

Gus replied, “I’m an Archives Assistant, while Jakob, the bastard, got a job in one of the Lieutenant’s offices.”

“Lieutenant?” Tansy asked, cocking her head.

“Every Lord has a couple of Lieutenants, a second-in-command, if you will,” Jakob explained. “I read about it in the classroom reading material.” He seemed proud of himself. “I’m eager to learn everything I can and explore the League that’s going to be my home,” he added, his eyes bright like a kid’s on Christmas morning.

“Who are the Lieutenants, then?” Zoey inquired.

“Our Lord has two.” Jakob shrugged. “I got Margarita from VR, and I have no idea who the other one is. Anyway, what did you three get?”

“I got Archives too,” Zoey said, smiling at Gus. “We can go together.”

“Vampire Resources,” Tansy responded, and before I could, too, she answered for me. “Aileen’s in the kitchen.”

Everyone gave me sympathetic looks. “Kitchen duty is rough,” Jakob informed me as if I didn’t already know. It seemed that even Maika Russo had it in for me.

“I’m fine with hard work,” I said blankly, determined not to show them how anxious I was about it.

“It’s not the Sisyphean work that’s hard,” Jakob said, face somber. “I’ve been here for a couple of weeks now, and I’ve seen the way the kitchen staff is treated.” He paused, almost dramatically, before murmuring, “It’s not good.”

Zoey nodded gravely. “I noticed it too. It seems like most people don’t consider kitchen duty as something honorable, or respectable at the very least.”

That didn’t sound good, indeed. “Well, I don’t have much of a choice, do I?” I murmured a tad too bitterly as Ragnor’s face came to mind. I began to think all kinds of murderous thoughts just then.

Once breakfast was over, our group disbanded, each heading to start their new jobs.

I approached one of the apron-clad cafeteria ladies as she cleaned off the table next to ours and said, “I’m looking for Lon. I start work here today.”

The lady jerked her head toward a double door behind her. “Go to the kitchen. Lon’s there.”

I did as she said and went through the door, which led to a dishwashing room. There, a man was yelling at one of the workers. I waited a few feet away until he finished scolding the girl, who had tears in her eyes. When she noticed me, she wiped the tears on her white apron and ran into the kitchen.

Stepping forward and taking a guess, I asked, “Are you Lon?”