Ash stared at a gap between two dilapidated buildings off the corner of 16th street just wide enough for a person to squeeze through if they kept their arms pinned to their sides. His mind immediately wandered to the occasional cave diving video he couldn't help but watch, and how often people would get trapped and starve in spots just like this, or worse.

  “At least if I got stuck here I wouldn’t be upside down.” Ash tried to remember the name of the cave he was thinking of, nutterputter or something?

  “So is this a joke, or is your soulbond power to push buildings apart?” Ash put a hand up on one of the walls and peered through the dark, overwhelmingly claustrophobic alley. There was light at the other end of it, so it was a straight shot to the other side, but rubbing shoulders with jagged bricks wasn’t high on his priority list.

  “No, and no. This is a shortcut to the office, or at least a shortcut to the shortcut to the office.” Gray slapped the side of the wall once, as if that made the squeeze look any more inviting.

  “What happens if I put on weight?” He ran a hand down his vest, stopping at his stomach.

  “Dead people usually don’t, but if you do, then going the long way will help you lose a few pounds.” Gray moved his way past him, slipping into the gap with ease as he slowly trudged forward. “The long way takes another 10 minutes, and you have to go past the diner that the waitress is always shouting in the window from.”

  Ash sighed just quietly enough to not be heard and gently nudged his way inside, his shoulders barely grazing the brick edges of both buildings surrounding him. “Gatsby’s?”

  “That’s the one,” Gray stops for a half second, almost as if he was about to bend down, but continued as he walked over a crumpled plastic bottle.

  “I went there once for their Saturday special.” The price was the main defining feature of the special, six dollars for two breakfast entrees on the sixth day of the week. Ash omitted mentioning how many empty seats there were, despite the attractive price.

  “Because the lady in the window called you over, right?”

  “Well that was part of it,” Ash admitted. “The waitress makes a bit of an impression.” Ash could recall the uniform pretty clearly with its bright orange fabric and white apron that were easy to spot from the diner’s window. In his recollection he saw the nametag, shaped like a smiling cat with the name ‘Betty’ in its mouth.

  “See? She’s pushy, and has enough time on her hands to yell at people to come in. What does that tell you about the food?”

  Ash stepped on the bottle in his path, crunching it further into an unrecognizable plastic lump. “I’ve had better, but Betty’s not that bad. They give you free refills on coffee too.”

  “Did you actually finish a cup of that sludge?”

  “No, but that didn’t stop her from filling the cup back up anyway.”

  Gray squeezed his way out of the narrow passageway first, and with Ash soon behind him the pair found themselves in an open lot the size of a small bedroom. They were surrounded by brick on all sides, but the open air was still above them a few stories up.

  “This office looks a lot like a dead end back alley.” Ash looked around the surrounding bricks, looking like they were made up of at least three different buildings. He expected a door, maybe a utility box, or a sleeping bag, but there was nothing really to speak of. “If I wasn’t already dead I’d say this is usually where you bring someone to stab them.” Ash stared at the back of his hand as he flexed his fingers a few times, feeling like this was exactly the kind of place you’d want a gun on hand, or at least get a gun to come out of your hand.

  “You’re joking, but more than a few people have already died here, it’s why it’s a good spot to set up shop.” Gray put a hand up to one of the walls, slowly pulling his palm against the bricks as the nine pointed star he showed off earlier became visible again on the back of his hand. “There was a murder suicide here just a month ago, not much came out of it though.”

  Ash looked down at the ground as his feet suddenly felt a little heavier while he stared at his brown shoes digging into the soft ground. His mind wandered about all the different kinds of people that have found themselves in this exact spot, dead or alive, but he got pulled back into reality by Gray suddenly speaking.

  “Got it,” he said with a nearly audible smile as he pushed in on one of the walls. The outline of a doorway burned into the bricks before a flash of flame revealed a new passageway that wasn’t there moments earlier. “You’ll need someone with their badge working to get in this way, but I’ll show you the front entrance later.” He said as he looked behind him at Ash, right before walking through the doorway himself.

  Ash followed, leaving the thoughts about the alleyway murder suicide behind almost as quickly as he had learned about it. As the two crossed the threshold the open doorway vanished, leaving a wooden wall behind with a large framed painting hanging on it. In the middle of the muted brown frame was a painting of a black cat that Ash could only assume was his new employer, or at least someone in his family tree.

  “It’s just around here.” Gray said as he walked through the hall, slowly turning a corner to allow Ash enough time to follow him. Just around the corner the two were greeted with a dimly lit bar scene, complete with a fully stocked wall of various colorful bottles, and a counter separating it from the rest of the room. At least nine velvet red stools were placed at the bar’s counter, with one of them currently occupied.

  Sitting on one of the stools was a young looking girl with short red hair, actively tipping back a brown bottle with a colorful label until she meets eyes with Gray and Ash from across the room.

  “Gray!” she nearly spits out whatever she was drinking as she slams the bottle down onto the counter. She spins on her stool to face the pair, but doesn’t get up just yet. As if color coordinating with her hair, she was sporting a light green half jacket made out of a very thin, shiny material with a plain black shirt underneath. The jacket’s sleeves only came down halfway, showing off a pair of arms that proved she could probably shatter the bottle she just slammed down pretty easily. “C’mere c’mere! Vandal finally stocked stuff from the brewery across town!” She lifted the bottle up again, giving it a shake with a grin. Her pleased expression however suddenly sobered into surprise once she noticed Ash.

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  “Oh shit, we got a new guy?” The girl wiped her mouth in case she really did spit some of her drink out with how surprised she got. “You want one?” she looked to Ash now, holding the bottle up a little.

  “Slow down, Abbey,” Gray told her as he slowly made his way over to the counter. “He just started today, don’t overload the poor guy.” Gray lifted a hatch on the side of the counter, giving him easy access to the other side of the bar.

  Ash felt a little awkward just standing there in the hall, so he took a few steps forward. “I’ll take one, today’s been a lot and I need to loosen up.”

  “That’s what I like to hear!” Abbey practically cheers as she spins around in her stool back towards the bar. “Barkeep! One more chilled sour aardvark for the newbie here!”

  “Aye,” Gray responded, already knelt down behind the counter as he was digging around in the fridge for something himself. Ash took a seat on one of the stools a couple of seats away from Abbey, crossing his arms on the counter as he looked over the bottle selection. “I got your name when I came in, but I’m Ash,” he said as he turned to look over at Abbey who was already almost about to finish the bottle he saw her with when he came in.

  She stopped drinking with a pleased sigh, placing the bottle back down a little gentler this time. “Won’t stop me from giving it to you again,” she gave him a grin as she looked over, “I’m Abbey, and looks like you already know Gray.” She took the last sip from her bottle before she slid it gently across the counter, which Gray caught before placing another one down in front of her. “He’s a real asshole on the job, so hope you can work with me next!”

  “Hey,” Gray slid another one of the bottles towards Ash, which was easy enough to catch, “I’m the one who found him, and I thought I was pretty nice, right?”

  “Eh,” Ash let out before he twisted off the cap of the bottle in his hands, “you could have been a little gentler. Didn’t even offer a dead guy a hug.”

  “You didn’t really look like a hugger,” Gray dipped below the counter again to rummage through the fridge, but popped back up for another comment, “and you had a gun.”

  “I’m not, and I did, but I would have appreciated the gesture.” Ash took a sip, the flavor shocking his tastebuds awake as he looked down to see what the abv was.

  “Oh wait shit, did that happen today?” Abbey took a big gulp from the bottle she was holding. “How long have you been dead for?”

  Ash took another sip, a little more ready for the flavor profile this time. “A few hours, still not really sure how different it is from being alive though.”

  “Vandal can’t give the crash course,” Gray spoke up, holding a can of something Ash couldn’t quite make out from here. “I’m taking over for now until we can get him set up with some assignments.”

  “Where is he anyway?” Ash took a look behind him, studying the rest of the bar. It was mostly empty, save for a few other oak wood tables with a sparse smattering of chairs with that same red velvet for cushions.

  “He’s outside of Broolhaven right now for business,” Gray cracked the can open, “your guess is as good as mine for what that business is, but until he’s back we won’t get any new official work in.”

  “Yup, so I’m free to drink as much as I want!” Abbey raised her bottle up.

  “So is everyone working here as long as they got through their pending list,” Gray took a sip from his can as he walked over to the edge of the counter where a closed laptop was sitting.

  “How many people work here?” Ash asked as he took in more of the room, noting there were three closed doors leading away from the bar, and two open doorways.

  “Including you now?” Gray answered, “we’ve got five active Divers, an archiver, and I guess the beer guy, but he’s not dead, he just gets Vandal good deals from a supplier.”

  “That’s it? For like the whole city?”

  “Brools is allll the way at the bottom of the system,” Abbey spoke up, gingerly sipping instead of taking full swigs this time, “we’re a H rank city so we don’t get much official support.”

  The sour in Ash’s mouth started to turn bitter as soon as the topic started getting bureaucratic. Abbey, almost sensing that she might have put a damper on things, suddenly spoke up again. “None of that matters though, now that we’re got a new guy we need to hold a party!”

  Gray had opened the laptop, typing away with one hand as his other kept his drink steady. “He doesn’t really seem like the party type to me,” He peeked over his shoulder and Ash gave him a wishy washy gesture with his free hand. “I go to them if there’s food,” he holds up the bottle in his hand and tilts it in Abbey’s direction, “or drinks.” She gives him a wide smile back as she holds up hers from across the counter. “That’s as good a reason as any to celebrate!”

  Gray picked up a coaster from underneath the counter and placed it next to the laptop, right before he placed his open can on top of it. “Well you can sit here and party as much as you want, our new deadman still needs a tour around the rest of the office.” Gray closed the laptop and pushed it aside a little before he turned around and leaned his waist into the counter for support while he faced the two of them.

  “Is Fornin here?” Gray asked, looking over at Abbey. “Ash probably has a lot of questions still and I’d rather dump him off at his desk than talk like a brochure all day.”

  “He grunted through the door when I asked him to drink with me, but he’ll probably open up if you dangle a new toy in front of him.” Abbey looked over at Ash with a smile before she took another sip.

  Not leaving Ash in the dark for long, Gray spoke up. “Fornin’s our archiver, so he handles a lot of the paper work, reporting to higher ups, and recording soul activity.” Gray reached beside him to pick up the can he placed down before. “He’s basically the guy you want to talk to the second you wind up dead, and is a lot better at breaking the news to people than I am.”

  He started taking a pretty long sip from his can while Abbey took over talking. “He’s not super chatty about anything besides work, but he’ll talk both your ears off if you want to know anything about soul sea in Brools.”

  “He’s been here as long as Vandal has, so if anyone can answer your questions, he can.” Gray fiddled with the pulltab on his can, flicking it a couple of times. “He’s probably still typing up a report now, but he’ll make some time for someone new.”

  Abbey slumped over the bar counter, her latest bottle empty as she whined. “He never wants to come out and drink anymore.”

  Ash set his bottle, half finished, on the counter before standing up from the stool. “If he’s willing to talk to me, the more questions he can answer right now the better.”

  “He hasn’t had anyone new to probe since I moved here,” Gray twisted the pulltab off the can after playing with it a few times, tossing the trash into a bin next to him, “so I’m sure he’ll be happy to pick your brain for a few hours.”

  After Ash heard that he picked the bottle back up. “Hours?” Ash judged how much was left inside the slim brown bottle before he took another sip from it. “Gimme a few more of these.”