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Sky pointed at Fox. “Don’t freak out, but you might want to back up.” He then pointed at Gideon. “Yes.”
Fox scurried toward Gideon and Ryder while Sky reached into his bag. This time he withdrew a small paper plate, a sandwich in a plastic bag, and what appeared to be a small bottle of mustard. They all watched in a kind of speechless wonder as Sky took the sandwich out of the bag and placed it on the plate in his lap. After lifting the top piece of bread on what seemed to be a ham and cheese sandwich, he drew a complicated design with the mustard.
Sky had barely set the mustard aside and placed the bread on top when there was a poof of black smoke next to him. Except the smoke didn’t dissipate. Instead, it solidified while remaining smoky. Spindly arms and legs grew out of it. The fingers were long and tipped with curved black claws, while toes that had almost-talons clicked on the wood.
“Holy fucking shit!” Fox shouted, scrambling even farther away.
“I told you. That’s what I saw at Phoenix, but just a hand!” Gideon exclaimed.
Sky ignored all of them, his full attention on the figure that stood less than two feet tall and was grabbing frantically for the sandwich Sky was holding in the air.
“Oh, don’t give me that shit, Frank. You’re not starving,” Sky chastised. “I need you to do a job for me.”
The creature continued to reach for the sandwich, this strange chittering noise coming from it.
“Greg and the others don’t get sandwiches for nothing. No one gets free sandwiches from me, and you know it. Go fetch the book, and you get the sandwich.”
The shadow monster stopped reaching for the sandwich and pointed at Sky, another rush of sounds coming from it.
“I didn’t bring chips. Only the sandwich. I even got gouda and sourdough this time.”
The creature pointed at Sky’s bag as he continued to argue.
“I’m not hiding chips in my bag. I forgot them. The only thing edible in there is maybe some old Tic Tacs.”
Ryder’s eyes opened wider. He still couldn’t understand a word the thing was saying, but he was pretty sure it laughed at Sky.
“Fuck you! There’s always a chance I can meet someone hot in a cemetery. Just because I haven’t doesn’t mean it’s impossible!” Sky snarled, poking his finger at the creature.
The creature turned its back on Sky and plopped on the floor as much as a smoke creature could plop. Sky groaned loudly and scrubbed his free hand over his face. When he lowered it, he was looking directly at Gideon, who was frozen in Ryder’s arms.
“I know it’s a long shot, but you wouldn’t have any chips or snacky treats in the kitchen, would you?” the witch asked.
“I-I-I haven’t actually bought any food since I moved in,” Gideon stammered.
“What did you expect?” Sky demanded, turning his attention to the creature he’d called Frank. “This is avampire’shouse. They’re not big on snacks.”
“Oh!” Fox suddenly shouted, startling both Ryder and Gideon. “Did you eat those snacks River and I left behind after moving you in?”
“How is it possible there are snacks that River didn’t devour?” Ryder asked dryly.
“No, I didn’t see them,” Gideon replied, and Fox was off like a shot, running toward the kitchen. He returned, proudly holding up a half-empty bag of potato chips and a full bag of cheesy puffs. “We got these.”
“There. Do you want cheesy puffs or plain chips?”
Frank jumped to his feet and started doing this hopping, skipping dance toward Fox while making grabby hands at the cheesy puffs.
“Book first, sandwich and snack after.” Sky had barely finished talking when Frank disappeared. He extended his hand to the bag. “Give me the puffs. Put the chips in the kitchen or he’s going to bargain for all of it. Frank is usually helpful, but he can get greedy.”
Fox had barely left the room to return to the kitchen with the bag of chips when Frank reappeared next to Sky, holding aloft an old leather-bound book bigger than he was. Sky accepted the book, placing it in his lap, and handed over the sandwich and bag.
Ryder watched as the creature sat on the floor next to Sky, eating his sandwich, though he couldn’t make out a mouth. Frank would raise the sandwich to what had to be its face and a chunk would disappear from it. Same with the cheese puffs. The thing would stuff a spindly hand into the bag and lift it again with puffs speared on the end of its claws. One by one, they would disappear.
And the entire time, the creature was rocking and wiggling, making these strange noises as if he were humming. It was happy. Almost cute.
Sky paged through the book as if having a humming, munching little smoke minion next to him were a normal, everyday occurrence.
“Okay, I found what I need,” Sky announced as Frank finished his sandwich. “You can take the book now. I’m good.”
