Chapter 19, Part One.

The Interlude lightens up a bit with Chapter 19, part one! The usual warnings apply: This is a rough draft with adult situations. Thanks for reading!







Getting an invite to Strangefellows from a member of the club hadn’t been as difficult as Katherine feared. Just knowing the place existed was a mark in her favour. She wasn’t looking for sympathy, but she didn’t turn it down when a group of twenty-somethings took pity on her wet and torn state and had invited her in. By then, her coordination had improved enough that she was able to blame her stumbling steps on simply being cold and wet, rather than the public drunkenness it had looked like a few hours earlier.

Even though it was well past three in the morning, there were several small groups of people loitering outside the beige box of a building and more coming and going through the door. She wouldn’t have expected the place to be this busy, even during the dinner rush.

As she shouldered her way inside, she collided with a wall made from the buzz of conversation and the smell of food and furniture polish. Four parts of a Kellas cat prowled the bar while a woman with flame-coloured hair was pirouetting through the tables with a sigil-etched coffee carafe.
Nearly all the seats were occupied, but after some searching, she discovered an empty huge wingback leather armchair next to a fat man with a shaved scalp. The man was drinking coffee and idly shuffling a deck of tarot cards on the small table in front of him. She sat down with a sigh and the squeak of leather.

“I’m Christopher,” he said, looking up and extending a long-fingered hand. His body language and voice were extremely animated. Some gay men liked to blend in, others were loud and proud. Christopher was clearly of the latter variety.

Katherine took his hand and shook. "Katherine," she said. She needed to think about where to put her tongue as she spoke, it ended up making her sound stoned.

“I haven’t seen it this busy since the night Cobain was shot,” he observed wistfully, looking over the room. “There’s nothing like the rumour of a Necromancer to bring the community together.”
“Is that what this is?” she asked slowly.

Though her tongue might slow, her brain was working just fine. It was no coincidence that news of a rogue necromancer broke the night Elanor was killed with necromantic magic.

Her new companion looked at her more closely, taking in her wet and torn jeans. He nodded in understanding. “I’ve had nights like those,” he said sympathetically. He raised a finger in the air and motioned to the woman with the flame coloured who was serving customers a few tables over. He pointed at Katherine, then his coffee mug. The server nodded and spun away.

Katherine tried to protest, but Christopher wouldn’t hear of it. “Even if you don’t like coffee, sweetie, it’s a cold night and you’ll have something to warm your hands up with.”

Said like that, Katherine began to wonder if she did like coffee. Elanor had been indifferent to it, preferring tea, but she’d never tried it before.

It took a while, but when the coffee arrived, it did so in a glass pint mug carried by a red haired man in a flannel housecoat. He placed her drink on the table with an apologetic shrug. “The dishwasher’s not here yet, and Sue is having a hard time keeping up with refills, he apologized. “This should keep you going for a while,” he said, setting down the mug in front of her with a thunk. He rubbed at the small of his back and surveyed the room.

“I’m Sam by the way,” he said, looking back down and extending a hand to her. “I don’t think I’ve seen you in Strangefellows before.”

Her mind went suddenly blank. What should she say? She hadn’t even thought of giving herself a back story. Looking back on it, it should have an obvious first step. Where could she say she even came from? Where do I come from? I come from?… Ohh I come from… Then, it just came pouring out, “Katherine,” she blurted, shaking his hand, “I come from Alabama.” She neglected to mention that she had a banjo on her knee, but it was a close thing.

“Really? I can hardly hear your accent. Welcome to Vancouver. Will you be here for long?”
Katherine took a huge gulp from the steaming pint mug to give her time to think. The coffee was scalding hot and Sam’s eyes widened in concerned surprise. The drink was hot enough to badly blister a normal mouth but it did nothing to hers, it didn’t even tingle.

She tried to smile with her eyes over bulging cheeks. “Mmmm,” she said, smiling brightly. She was struck then by how much she probably sounded like some sea mammal. This couldn’t get any worse. She was a whale from Alabama.

“Wow!” Sam said, impressed, “isn’t that hot?”

She swallowed and nodded. “I really like hot drinks.”

“It shows.” He looked around the room and squared his shoulders. “I’ll be back around to check on you guys in a bit, it’s busy, so shout if you need something. Good seeing you Christoper. Nice to meet you Katherine, hope you enjoy your stay in Vancouver.” With that, he left to attend a table of women who were done up for a night out on the town.

“Alabama?” Christopher asked with a raised eyebrow, idly thumbing his deck.

Katherine nodded.

“If you say so, girl. How’s the coffee?”

Good question. She’d been so focused on the server she hadn’t taken the time to pay attention to the flavour. She took another sip and thought about it.

“It tastes sort of burnt,” she answered, adding some cream and sugar.

“Sam probably made it. He might be a talented char witch, but he can’t make coffee worth a damn.”
The cards in his hand continued to rearrange themselves without his help, they fanned themselves out like the tail of a peacock.

“Do you mind?” Christopher asked. “She wants to read you.”

“What? Your cards?”

“She gets sulky if she doesn’t get her way,” he nodded toward the deck in his hand. “This little lady can be quite the diva.”

“Do I need to cross your palms with silver, or something?” She knew the answer, but someone unfamiliar with the arcane community might not. Acting like someone just sponsored seemed like a good idea to her.

“Oh no, nothing like that, she’s taken a shine to you is all,” he presented the deck for her to see. It quivered on his hands and suddenly reminded her of a dog waiting to be told it’s alright to meet someone new.

Christopher looked at her questioningly, and Katherine, unable think of a polite reason not to, nodded her ascent.