The Sunset Apartments #9
Floor: 4
Apartment Number: 451
Complaint: Leak
Name: Dwight the Stalwart
Hector and Vartan arrived outside the door to unit 451 sweating.
As the super tried to throw on his coveralls, his massive set of keys kept catching on the garment’s edge. He pulled the giant wad of metal keys off his hip and tossed them into the welding cart. He then threw on his heavy gloves and his welding mask. “Get your gear on, we’re going in.” His assistant threw on his matching outfit. “When we’re in there… you listening?”
“Yeah.”
“Pay attention, man!”
“I was getting dressed, what did…”
Hector cut him off. “As soon as we’re inside you’re going to plug in the cart. Don’t look around to take in the place, just get it plugged in. While I’m welding, cover me with the shield.”
Vartan looked in the bottom of the cart to find a rectangular piece of steel with a handle attached to it. “What?!”
He picked up his keys once more, unlocked the door, and tossed them back on the cart. Opening the door made the quiet of the hallway die as a roar of darkness lurched out of the unit. Its tendrils latched on to the drywall as it pulled and strained against the door frame trying to escape. Its shape could not be defined as any light was swallowed as soon as it hit its inky black skin. As jarring as it appeared, it also vanished, as a mighty voice from inside the unit yelled, “Hooooooooooooooooooooooo!”
Hector turned to Vartan, grabbed him by the coverall, and said. “Follow me!”
With the welding cart in hand, the two men rushed into the unit and passed a tall man with a giant sword fighting the tendrils. Vartan shoved the power cord into the wall socket nearest to the door as Hector charged toward the floor to ceiling wall of riveted metal. Distracted by the tenant, the darkness did not pay attention to the super as he clamped the electric welder to a nearby metal loop and started sealing the leak on its cage.
As the sparks started to fly, it was then that the darkness noticed Hector and went for him only to be blocked by a shield.
Vartan pushed against the shadow as it lurched and pressed against the roughly cut steel in his hand. He yelled, “Are you done?!”
“Almost!”
“Hoooooooooo!” Yelled the tenant as his blade cut through the blackness pressing against the humble shield. “It's weakening, Hector!”
With his hands shaking, he continued to bead each weld into place, until finally the leak was sealed. The two super attendants collapsed on the floor as Hector threw his face shield up and said, “Did any of it get out, Dwight?”
“Some, some. Through the window.” He pointed over to the only window in the room that was now broken. “I cut off its escape.” He held up the sword. “Ha ha!”
Catching their breath, the two men stood up as Hector went to unplug the cart. “And it’s an election year. Great.”
Vartan took off his mask, let the shield fall to his side, as he yelled, “What the hell just happened?!”
A grin formed on Dwight’s face as he pointed at the gangly man. “Ah, tis your new assistant, Hector?” The point turned into an open palm. “Dwight the Stalwart. Protector of this keep.”
He took off his glove and shook. “Vartan Petrosian, confused.”
“Ha ha! And a jester to boot! You’ve found yourself a good one, Hector.”
The super was winding up the power cord onto the cart as he said, “I know.”
Gesturing over to the fresh seam laid down by Hector, Vartan asked, “Soooo, what the hell was that? And why is the room-sized wall filled with many, many welds?” His hand pointed toward the iron wall that was filled with many welded scars and bolted on patches. “Because that many welds hints at a much bigger problem.”
Dwight pointed at the iron wall with his claymore. “This patchwork, this quilt, as I call it, holds evil.”
“You mean the devil?”
“No, no, noble squire, I mean evil. The devil is an entity, evil is a thing, and that thing lives inside this cage of iron.”
Vartan took a step away from the wall. “How did this cage of evil wind up on the 4th floor?”
“I built it.” The knight placed his hand on the iron wall. “I have strived for decades to cage the evil in our world. To contain it, but I needed a space that wouldn’t ask too many questions.”
“So you built a cage for evil in the middle of Los Angeles on the 4th floor of an apartment building?! Why not in the middle of nowhere?”
“I may seem like a lone hermit, but I have needs. Human contact, conversation, these are things I crave for and being in the middle of nowhere, as you said, wouldn’t have provided me with enough of those things. I am not a monk, Vartan, I am a man… who has summoned and contained a massive amount of this world’s evil into a single iron cage. Also, free rent.”
“It doesn’t seem like your wall is doing much these days.”
Hector chimed in while leaning on the welding cart. “Numbers tell a different story than what is seen on the news. We are, right now, living in the most peaceful time ever seen by a human being.” He stood, walked back to the iron wall, and placed his hand on it. “We are told that things are bad, and bad things do still happen, but for the most part things are good. Why do you think people give a shit about culture wars? It’s because they aren’t starving, dying to disease, or at the hand of one another because of resources. Could things be better, sure, but I’d say Dwight’s cage has done some good.”
“As the modern folk say, ‘What he said.’”
Vartan walked over to the welding cart and looked at the keys sitting on it. He then turned toward the two men, keeping his hands behind him, and said, “And Rosewater is okay with having a lot of evil just sitting and causing damage to his building?”
Hector firmed up before saying, “Mr. Rosewater.”
“Lord Rosewater knows of my cage, of course.”
“Has he asked any favors in return?”
Dwight poured over his brain for an answer. “He did ask how it was constructed. I gave him some idea of how I built this box, but that’s been about it. Is there a reason for me to question this? I felt it was a reasonable enough ask for what I was proposing to do inside his building.”
Keeping his hands behind his back, Vartan let out a loud cough, at the same time he grabbed the keys and slid them into his back pocket. Recovering from his hacking fit, he then said, “Sorry, allergies.”
Dwight smiled. “Yes, when the evil cracks its cage it does do that to some people.”
Hector walked over to the door. “Do you need anything else before we go?”
“Yes, the drywall will need replacing.”
“I know, we’ll get it tomorrow. Top of the list.”
Dwight chuckled. “Ah, yes, as always after one of these incidents. Then nothing else. Good evening.”
The two men walked into the hallway. Once the door closed, Hector turned to Vartan. “What did I say about bothering the tenants?”
“I know, but seeing as the man is keeping EVIL in his unit, I thought I would ask what Rosewater wanted from him.”
“It doesn’t matter what Mr. Rosewater wants. What matters is the people here. Remember that.” He took the welding cart from Vartan and pushed it toward the elevator. “I’m kinda surprised by you.”
“How’s that?”
“That’s our last ticket for the day, involving evil being caged, and a knight with a sword, and you didn’t ask that many questions about it.”
Vartan stretched out a little as he said, “It’s been a day and I’m tired and yeah, that last one was insane, but again, I’m tired. I’ve seen clones, alternate realities, and vampires all in one day. It’s a lot to take in, so caged evil, sure, why not?”
“Today was a little above average, but I wanted to see how you would stack up against it.” He pressed the call button for the lift. “You did good today, even if you bucked a little at the end. Still want to keep doing this?”
The weight of the keys sat heavy in Vartan’s pocket as he answered, “Yep.”
Hector smiled. “Good, I’m beat. Heading home. You know the way out.”
“Yep. Is it okay if I walk around a little?”
Automatically the elevator doors opened. “Would’ve thought you would be done, but sure. Make that mental map, be careful. Just make sure you scan your badge on the way out. That way I can pay you properly.” He stepped onto the carriage. “See you tomorrow.”
Vartan waved.
The doors closed.
The lift went down.
He pressed the up button.
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I wonder if Vartan is heading up to look into Rosewater. The cage thing is definitely suspicious in terms of what Rosewater would want with the construction method.