Carrie Vaughn - Kitty Goes to War

I SAT AT my desk, my monitor and microphone in front of me, maps and notebook paper spread over the whole surface. I was writing down addresses and marking points on the map as people called in.

So youre saying it burned down and nobody could find out why? I asked Pam from Lexington.

Thats right, she said. My friend Stacy whos kind of a witch said its because it was on a crossroads, and something demonic must have happened there, one of those deal-with-the-devil-type things, and the energy overflowed and incinerated it. Could she be right?

I dont know, Pam, I said. Thats why Im discussing the topic, to find out if these events are all coincidence or if something spooky really is going on here. Thanks for the data point. Okay, faithful listeners, that gives me about a dozen independently verifiable stories about supernatural happenings at Speedy Mart convenience stores all over the country. This is already more than I thought wed get, so keep them coming.

After the third person suggested that something weird was going on at Speedy Mart, I started paying attention. And wondering. And remembering a couple more stories Id heard about intersections between the chain of stores and weirdness. Then I decided to devote an episode of my call-in radio show to the subject. It turned out that maybe something strange was going on here. That didnt explain why the Speedy Mart chain would have anything supernatural associated with it.

My next caller is Al from San Jose. Hello, Al.

Hi, Kitty. Im such a big fan, thanks for taking my call.

Well, thank you, Al. Whats your story?

Its more of a question: is it true that Speedy Mart hires vampires to work the night shift?

Funny you should ask, I said. I once got a call from a vampire who said he was working the night shift at a Speedy Mart. Now, I dont think this means that its a matter of policy that Speedy Mart hires vampires. I think this guy just needed a job, and theres only so many places open in the middle of the night. But you can definitely see the advantages of hiring the ageless undead to work behind the counter. I imagine they dont get too freaked out about holdups.

But theres probably not a whole lot of career advancement for vampires there, he said.

Does anyone working the night shift at Speedy Mart have a lot of opportunities for career advancement? Although with vampires it would literally be a dead-end job. I chuckled. I really shouldnt laugh at my own jokes so much. Right, we have Chuck from Nevada. Hi, Chuck.

Hey, Kitty! How you doing? He was brash, a real talker. This ought to be good.

Im doing just great, I said, the standard line. Where in Nevada are you?

Area 51.

Deadpan, I said, Really?

Okay, yeah, Im from a little town about thirty miles up the freeway from Las Vegas. Near Area 51. And you want to talk about weird stuff going on with Speedy Mart, Ive got a story for you.

Lay it on me.

UFOs.

I leaned back in my chair. Okay, now youre just making crap up.

No, seriously, we get sightings all the time. Were one of the stops on the Southwest UFO tour. The Speedy Mart parking lot is one of the best places to see them. UFO hunters park out there with their lawn chairs and binoculars looking for them. Its, like, UFO central!

If you say so, but like I always say, theres weird and then theres weird. But I suppose a data points a data point. Thanks for calling. I didnt have to tell him I wasnt actually going to mark that location on my map. Wed call it an outlier. A real far-out outlier.

I continued. The real question here is: why Speedy Mart? Is it a coincidence? Does the supernatural really have some kind of strange affinity for this specific convenience store chain over any other? Or is it a conspiracy? Is there a guiding hand behind these stories? A dangerous hand? Im not sure its possible to answer any of these questions, which is always the trouble with this sort of thing, isnt it? It turns out the Speedy Mart chain is a privately owned company, which makes its records harder to get at. The owner and president of the company is Harold Franklin, who seems to have a typical upper-middle-class white guy upbringing, degree from HarvardBusinessSchool, vacation home in the Hamptons and all that jazz. Nothing to suggest hed be behind any kind of far-reaching conspiracy. But who knows? For a company thats managed to open branches all over the country, not many people seem to know anything about it. It all seems a little strange to me.

I checked the monitor and picked what looked like was going to be a live one: the caller wouldnt give his or her name and city, but claimed to have worked at a Speedy Mart for several years.

All right, it looks like we have someone from the inside on the line, a former employee of Speedy Mart. Hello, youre on the air.

Um, hi. The voice was female, hushed, like she was trying to keep from being overheard.

So you worked at Speedy Mart, I prompted.

Yeah. For a couple of years when I was in college.

You were a night-shift clerk?

I worked whenever I could get the hours. Sometimes at night.

And did you notice anything strange during your time there?

I dont know. I didnt think it was all that strange at the time. I mean, I thought it was strange, but not supernatural strange or anything. These people would come in around midnight, about once a month. Theyd be wearing cloaks. I just thought they were from some science fiction convention or Renaissance fair, driving home late. Strange but harmless. But looking back on it, they werent really the Renaissance fair type, you know? These were all older guys, middle aged and clean cut, dressed normal except for the cloaks. They came in, walked all over the store, all the way to the back and every aisle, like they were looking for something. They never bought anythingtotal freak cheapskates. They were just some weird club. I never did anything about it because they didnt hurt anything, they werent trying to rob me or anything, what was I going to do? I couldnt kick them out just because they didnt buy anything.

What do you think they were doing? I said, intrigued. I tried to imagine it, cloaked men walking around the store, every monthduring what phase of the moon, I wondered? The whole thing screamed ritual.

I dont know , thats why Im calling. I thought maybe you would know.

Well, that these men repeated the same action every month forhow many months?

I worked that shift for maybe six months. It happened every month, she said.

And do you know if it was at the same time of the month? The same phase of the moon maybe?

I didnt pay attentiondo you think its important?

I dont know. The thing is, repetition says to me some kind of ceremony or ritual was going on. That means some kind of magic, some kind of power. Or at least they thought soit may not mean anything. Can you tell me where this was?

No, I cant, I shouldnt even be calling, Igoodbye. The phone clicked off.

Dang. Id have marked that spot on the map with a big star next to it. Of course, it could be coincidencesome weird local club had an initiation ceremony involving nothing more devious than wandering around the local Speedy Mart. Somehow I didnt think that was likely.

I checked the clock, and we had the time, so I clicked the next call through. Hello, Charles from Shreveport. Whats your story?

Charles from Shreveport talked fast. Youre right about Speedy Mart. And Harold Franklin. Hes up to something. And someone has to stand up to him before its too late.