The new building didn’t feel right. Patty walked the halls and through the rooms. It


    had a waiting aura about it. What would it be like when they got going?


    She paused at the lamp room. Dr. Hadron and Jean were surrounded by pieces of


    circuitry and wiring. Mechanical casing leaned against a wall. He directed her where


    he wanted pieces soldered together with a small torch. She nodded as she went about


    her business.


    Lin and Kathy had decided to set up a small gym on the second floor. She paused as


    they looked at the boxes of parts that made up most of the equipment Kathy wanted.


    Dr. Hadron had put it on the company dime.


    The bell rang. She headed downstairs to get the door. They kept things locked down


    since they didn’t want people wandering around and looking at things.


    She looked through the peephole. It was another delivery man from UPS. She opened


    the door with a smile.


    “Miss Page?,” said the delivery driver. He held an electronic clipboard. A plain


    brown box sat at his feet.


    “That’s right.” Patty smiled. “I’ll sign for it.”


    He handed her the clipboard. She took the stylus from the top and wrote in her name


    in the signature screen with a flourish. She handed the thing back to look at the box.


    What had been ordered this time?


    She picked up the box and looked at the label. The sender was Lamplighters, INC in


    New York City. Janie must have sent something to Dr. Hadron. Her name was on the


    receiving line. She frowned. Why would Janie send her anything?


    She took the box inside as the brown van rolled away from the curb. She locked the


    door. Her eyes scanned what would be the lobby of the building. She winced that only


    one chair had arrived so far. The desks and the computers were still in transit.


    So were the parts for the weapons. She admitted she would feel better if she had


    something to stave off a monster at hand.


    She sat down in the chair. She placed the box in her lap. She worried at the tape


    holding it close with a thumbnail. Finally she had enough to pull on so she could open


    the box. Notebooks rested inside.


    She pulled out the first notebook and looked inside. Pages of reports and news


    clippings mixed together. She opened the others one after the other. They were all the


    same. She smiled. These were the copies of casebooks promised for them.


    She put the three copies aside. She noted each one had a different name on the cover.


    She smiled. Janie was still looking out for them.


    She picked up the one with her name on the cover and started reading. No one needed


    her at the moment. And Dr. Hadron wanted her to know what it meant to do what they


    proposed to do.


    Each report was a dry recounting of what the call had been about. Pictures of the


    scenes and graphs of the ambient energy index had been included. Several cases had


    taken months before something showed itself. Progress reports were included as the


    group tried to figure out what was going on.


    Patty smiled. She had followed the Lamplighters from afar for a long time. They


    weren’t powered like the Mark, or the old Hazard Scouts. They were just some guys


    trying to save the day against strangeness. She had cried for two days when the news


    came out that they had been decimated.


    Then Crenshaw had appeared. It was the same kind of event the Lamplighters chased.


    That was what had led her to heading for New York to ask for help. If someone could


    handle the ghost pirate, it would be a Lamplighter.


    Dr. Hadron’s reaction had been the opposite of what she had expected. It didn’t take


    a genius to see how angry he was. She had thought he was going to punch her when


    he answered the door.


    He might have if Janie hadn’t said what she had. She had been thoughtful and invited


    her group into the building. A meal and coffee had not warmed Dr. Hadron to their


    presence, but he didn’t seem as inclined to let them kill themselves as he had stated.


    She put the casebook aside. The cases swam in her head, the monsters pushing at her


    resolve. Did she have the gumption to stand up to the Kansas City Twister Sister, or


    the Jersey City Root Man, or the Los Angeles Cliff Dweller? Why had she gotten


    involved in this?


    She frowned. She checked her watch. She had spent hours on the casebook. Her


    stomach growled to let her know of its disapproval. She had to fix that.


    She wondered how the others were doing. She hoped they hadn’t noticed her slacking


    If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.off. She should be helping instead of reliving events she had watched from a distance.


    She picked up the casebook and put the rest back in the box. She picked up the box


    in her free arm. She headed upstairs. She could ask the others what they wanted to


    eat, while giving them the casebooks. Maybe they would want to read them while she


    was getting food together and bringing it back to the building so they could eat.


    She looked in the room that was going to be Kathy’s gym. Kathy and Lin had put


    several of the machines together. They were trying them out. Kathy gave instructions


    as they rode on what looked like regular exercise bikes to her. She shifted position


    and saw that screens on the front of the bikes showed pretend scenery to ride through


    instead of the blank walls around them.


    “You guys want anything to eat?” Patty put the box down. “I thought I would get


    some takeout for us.”


    “Sure.” Kathy smiled. “Can you get me a salad?”


    “Where are you going, Patty?” Lin let the wheel of her bike spin down.


    “I hadn’t considered where yet.” Patty smiled. “I was thinking maybe getting


    everyone’s order and then picking up something from somewhere local and bringing


    it back.”


    “I would like some chicken and rice, maybe some soup.” Lin swung a leg over the


    seat of the bike and touched down on the floor. “See if they will give you some


    seasoning packets.”


    Patty pulled out a pen from her pocket. She wrote salad, then chk r won ton under


    that, on the palm of her hand. She put the pen up.


    “What’s in the box?” Kate pointed at the package in her friend’s hand.


    “The casebooks arrived.” Patty held the box out. “Your names are on the covers.


    They’re the same as far as what’s in them.”


    “Really?” Lin stepped forward. She took her notebook. She took Kathy’s and handed


    it over. “Is there anything bad in them?”


    “Just cases.” Patty shrugged. She didn’t want to scare off Lin. Mentioning the


    Lamplighters’ last case would do just that.


    “Scary cases?” Lin looked down at the front of the book. Her expression said she


    didn’t want to look inside.


    “The scariest.” Patty shook her head. “Don’t be scared. It’s just a book.”


    “I’ll read it with you,” said Kathy. She stopped peddling and dismounted from the


    bike. She cut the power to the screen and dashboard. “How bad could it be?”


    Patty smiled before moving on. She paused at the room she planned to use for an


    apartment. She put the casebook on a window sill. She carried the box to the lamp


    room. Jean and Dr. Hadron should still be fixing the lamp and trying to get it online.


    She found the two of them talking about what they needed to do next. The lamp’s


    base was put together. She could see the lens glittering in the middle of the rig.


    “I’m headed out on a food run.” Patty took the last casebook out of the box and


    handed it to Jean. “You guys want anything?”


    “A couple of hamburgers and a shake would be good,” said Jean. “Do you want me


    to ride along?”


    “I got it.” Patty wrote down the order under Lin’s order. “Dr. Hadron?”


    “Anything is good.” Dr. Hadron turned his eye on her. “What are the local restaurants


    like?”


    “Same as New York,” said Patty. “Some are good, some are bad, most are average.


    It’ll take me a bit to get back. We should have set up for snacks so we could have


    something between meals.”


    “The refrigerator will be here in a couple of days.” Dr. Hadron almost smiled. “We


    need a couple of parts to finish the lamp. There’s not much more we can do tonight.”


    “I’ll be back as soon as I can.” Patty nodded. “Are we breaking up after dinner?”


    “I don’t see why not.” Dr. Hadron checked his watch. “Anything else we need to do


    can wait until tomorrow.”


    “All right.” Patty smiled. She checked her hand. “I might go by my place and bring


    some chairs back. Maybe I can get a coffee table we can use until the official stuff


    gets here.”


    “Do you want any help?,” Jean asked. She wiped a spray of ash off her forearm with


    a thumb.


    “I got it,” said Patty. “I still have that thing Kevin’s mother gave us for our


    anniversary. I have been wanting to get rid of that table forever.”


    “Go ahead.” Dr. Hadron waved his hand at her. “We’re not going anywhere without


    you.”


    Patty headed down to the exit. She stepped out on the street. At least the fog wasn’t


    coming in off the bay. She walked down to the parking lot next to the building. She


    raised the gate with her pass key and walked to her car. She smiled when she settled


    behind the wheel.


    She decided to get the table first. She would pick up the food on the way back from


    the restaurants. She shook her head at the different orders. She thought she could get


    Kathy’s and Jean’s from the same place while picking up Lin’s last. She made a note


    to pick Dr. Hadron up something.


    She pulled out of the lot, watching the arm come down as she turned on the street.


    Her place was across town. Getting the table out of her living room should be easy.


    Maybe she should have brought Jean along.


    She drove through the streets, nodding as she turned into a residential neighborhood


    made up of condos converted from old houses. She turned into a driveway that wasn’t


    meant for her to park in. She got out and let herself inside the main door. She walked


    up to her place and let herself in. She cut on the lights. The place didn’t welcome her


    like it used to do.


    She took the pictures off the oval table and put them on the floor. She lifted the table


    and put it outside. She cut the lights and locked up. She carried her wooden prize


    down to her car. She opened the trunk and slid the table inside. It didn’t quite fit. She


    searched inside the trunk and found two old bungee cords. She used them to pull the


    lid down as much as she could to keep the table from falling out on the street.


    She went through a drive-thru and got Kathy two of the salads, a couple bottles of


    water, Jean’s burgers and milkshake, and Dr. Hadron a kid’s meal. She added a bigger


    burger for him. Then she headed for one of the Chinese places to get Lin’s order on


    the way back to the Lamplighter building. She pulled into the lot. She gathered the


    food up and carried it into the building.


    “Thanks, Patty.” Kathy took the food and divided it out. “Didn’t you get something


    for yourself?”


    “I have some donuts in the car.” Patty smiled. “Let me get the table. I’ll be right


    back.”


    “Let me help you with that.” Kathy dusted off her hands and the women walked out


    to get the prize.