Tenebris Tower was a shoddy old piece of work, rising ten floors out of the foggy cityscape below, with two basement floors just to make extra use of the space. None of the units had balconies, but the fire escape zigzagging down one end of the building worked well enough for midnight smokers. Each corner of the fifth floor and roof were beset by stone gargoyles snarling and gnashing their teeth, with flued tongues designed to act as water spouts during rainstorms. Cracks snaked up through concrete column and brick wall, and most tenants kept their curtains drawn tight.

  For the foreseeable future, this was Paige Turner’s new home.

  It wasn’t much, but it would do. The rent in Festerfield was far cheaper than any other city in the state, and Tenebris Tower wasn’t even the cheapest apartment Paige could find. There were plenty sketchier places to go that charged half what Tenebris charged for rent, but safety was worth the extra money. Whatever the case, Festerfield had to be better than her hick hometown. Cities were places for opportunity and growth!

  Some of her optimism died when she walked into the building and saw that the elevator was out of service. The three flights she’d have to take each way to bring her moving boxes were no small task, especially once she had learned how creepy the stairwell was. It was narrow, with peeling wallpaper, exposed pipes snaking between walls, and buzzing fluorescent lights that threatened to flicker every few steps. Under her breath, she muttered, “This is the price for freedom.”

  By the time she had all of her furniture and boxes pulled up the steps, it was already the afternoon and she was starving. All that back-breaking labor meant that grocery shopping wasn’t on the docket for today. Fortunately, cities were full of places to eat. Once she gathered enough strength to move again, Paige set back downstairs and out onto Festerfield’s streets to hunt for lunch.

  The city provided so many more kinds of food than her hometown ever did. Her old choices were barbeque, burgers, and breakfast. Here, there was no end to the kinds of food she could try. Sushi and Thai and Vietnamese, her thoughts were racing, Hell, I can even try good old-fashioned pizza, too! Pizza, now that was a thought. What kind of American was she if she never tried pizza?

  A street down from her apartment, she saw a nice little pizza joint called Luci’s and she slipped in. Luci’s wasn’t full of people; there were a few of small parties seated inside – a group of goth teenagers crammed into a corner booth, two women doing some jolly gossip over meatball subs, and a handful of old people hunched over their plates – but it was clear that Paige wouldn’t have to wait long for lunch. She ordered a slice of cheese and a slice of pepperoni and sat by the streetside windows to people-watch while she waited.

  A tall, long-limbed young man came by with her slices and set them down on the table. He looked friendly, but moved with a sense of urgency. “Here you go, er, miss,” he mumbled.

  Paige’s gaze flitted down to the nametag on his apron. Trey. The tag was flanked with enamel pins of cartoon crows cawing. Finding it cute, Paige couldn’t help but quirk her mouth into an amused grin. “I like your pins, Trey.”

  A look of panic flashed across his face. “I’m sorry!” he blabbered. He rushed off back into the kitchens. Paige recoiled. He must be shy. Poor guy.

  She took one of the slices, bit into it, and melted. It was everything that she hoped it would be. Bless Mama Turner’s heart and all, but her tuna can casserole paled in comparison to a nice, fresh slice of pizza. Is this a new favorite food? This could easily be a new favorite food. She savored every bite and patted her tummy when she was done. I’m so lucky this place is so close to home.

  Paige took her time walking back to Tenebris Tower, enjoying her new neighborhood. As miserably grey and dreary as Festerfield was, she already loved it far more than her hometown. It was different, and it was alive. She was already beginning to miss the vibrant greens of the cedars and firs, changed out for autumn-dead maples and oaks, but the rush of people walking up and down the streets and the roars of car engines were so exciting and new. The tall buildings reaching up into the sky made her feel safe rather than small. There was so much potential for this to truly become her new home.

  As she reached her apartment building, she grew heavy and tired. All the up-and-down of the stairs from earlier must have finally started to kick in. She dragged her feet up the stairs, into her apartment, and crashed out on the couch for the day.

  –

  Her head felt like lead when she finally awoke. She groaned as she rose and shuffled instinctively to the kitchen. Still empty. Still did not go grocery shopping. She thunked her head lightly on the fridge door. Feeling like this, she wasn’t sure shopping was the move today either. Tomorrow, she decided. Tomorrow, I’ll get groceries. Today…

  Today was going to be another couple slices of pizza. It was affordable and nearby. She slipped into cleaner clothes and set out on her way. She repeated the same order as last time to anxious Trey at the register and sat in her spot. The place was even more empty today. It was just the goth teenagers in their booth, today. They must've been regulars.They glanced to her while they talked, and when they noticed that she was paying attention to them, they fell quiet and looked away.

  Lost as she was staring out the window at the thickly fogged streets and odd cityfolk, Paige jumped when a man came with her food. He was short and squat with a wide mouth and flat face that made him look somewhat like a frog. “Hey! You’re new here!” he croaked. “Not often a new face comes in here. I’m Luci. How’s about a whole pie on the house, huh?”

  She tittered while finding her words. “Yes! Hey, thank you! I’m Paige. I just moved in. Luci, huh? The Luci?” She smiled and gestured at the restaurant’s name set into the decorations on the walls with a glance of her eyes. The Luci’s logo had a cartoonish, fat, red devil using his pitchfork as a pizza peel in an oven. The smile jerked into a playful smirk. “Is that short for Lucifer or…?”

  Luci’s wide grin faltered a bit into a smaller, polite one. “Luciano, really. Was my dad’s name, too. Luciano Sr., y’know, founded the place. Anyway, enjoy your pie, Paige, and welcome to Festerfield.”

  Without any further word, Luci set the half-cheese, half-pepperoni pizza down on the table and walked back into the kitchen. Paige set her head in her hands and sighed. It seemed like a reasonable guess. You can’t be upset when your name is Luci, your mascot is the devil, and people assume…

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  She shook the frustration from her mind. No use crying over spilt social interactions. She boxed up what remained of the pizza after she had her fill and, as she got up to pay and leave, she stole a glance into the kitchen to see Luci staring down at his ovens, pizza peel in hand, shoulders hunched.

  On the way home, her muscles began to ache and her head felt heavy. She felt like she was trudging through mud or honey. Must’ve been all the up-and-down yesterday. I hope they fix my elevator soon. She managed to slog up the steps, down the hall, into her apartment, and onto the couch before she passed out for the day once again.

  In a haze, after it already became dark, she woke up staring at the cobwebs on the ceiling. I should apologize tomorrow, she thought dully, I should go back and apologize. She yawned and fell back asleep.

  –

  Leftover pizza was the breakfast item of choice. Paige had heard all about cold pizza, and now she finally got to try it. The way the cheese solidified when cold was oddly satisfying to eat. The fridge made the crust a bit stale and harder to chew, but it wasn’t so bad. Once she was done, she threw on some cleaner clothes, grabbed her bag, and headed out the door.

  Paige stood at the unmanned counter for a while until Luci came out of the kitchen wiping grease off on his apron. “Sorry, sorry, my cashier called in last-minute, didn’t mean to keep you wait– Oh, hey, kid.” There was that same enthusiasm and friendliness he had when he introduced himself yesterday. “Did you already eat that whole pizza? There’s no way we’re that good.”

  Paige laughed, and started to feel stupid for trying to apologize for something so small. He didn’t seem to care anymore. Still, she had set out to do this one thing, and she would do it. “I came in to say sorry for the joke I made yesterday. I wasn’t thinking. You probably hear that joke all the time.”

  “Oh.” Luci looked at her blankly for a long moment. “Was that all?”

  “Um… yeah. No, wait. I wanted to try those cheesy garlic things?”

  “The bread? Yeah, sure! It’s pretty good, or so I hear. Go get seated and I’ll bring it over when it’s done.”

  I guess this wasn’t a problem after all, then. She sat in her same booth next to the same booth from yesterday. She leaned her head against the window and started to people-watch again. I guess cityfolk are just like that.

  She must have dozed off. The next thing Paige remembered was startling herself as she fell forward into the booth table. How long have I been out? Am I really still wrecked from all that moving? With a groan, she stood up and walked to the counter. Silence. Too much silence. All she could hear was the ringing in her head. If she didn’t know any better, she’d think she’d been drugged.

  She looked around to notice that the restaurant was empty. She didn’t even hear any clanging of pans in the kitchen. Had they closed? Nobody was there to kick her out, and the sign was still turned to say “open!” so maybe Luci had gone on break. She leaned over the counter to get a glance into the kitchen, but couldn’t see anything. “Hey, uh, hello?” she called. Nothing.

  I really want my bread. I already paid for it. But…

  With a bang!, the door to the kitchen flew open, and Luci stood there with his hands full of some small, flat boxes. “Sorry for the wait, kid. The oven wasn’t working, but I’ve got it all fixed now. To make it up to you, I brought out a free Thursday Special for you.”

  “That was so sweet, Luci!” Paige smiled and started to walk towards Luci to take the boxes from him. Then she noticed. He was looking a little worse today.

  Luci already looked pretty awful, Paige had thought, but now, he looked clammy. He was walleyed, and he struggled to keep his wide mouth closed all the way. His tongue seemed swollen and it toyed lightly at his bottom lip. Surely the stress of working the shift by himself couldn’t be hurting him this badly. He looked half a corpse, but no customers were coming in today. Oh, and the smell. As Paige got closer, she was hit by a wall of stink, like stillwater and rotten fruit.

  The closer she came, the wider his bugging eyes got, and the more his lip quivered. She paused, mid-step, and they stood staring at each other. After a moment, it occurred to her that he wasn’t blinking.

  Maybe I am drugged…

  “Don’t you want your food, kid? It’ll get cold.”

  “You know, my hips are killing me. All that moving yesterday, y’know. I really shouldn’t be on my feet. In fact, I think I should just be getting home.”

  “At least take your food! You can eat it later if you’re not hungry now. A kid your age has gotta eat.”

  The standoff continued for a few minutes longer. At once, the mask of humanity slipped, and Luci let a long, blobbish tongue slither out from his mouth and coat his eye in moisture. Paige nearly exploded with adrenaline and sprinted for the door. She heard Luci croak behind her, the boxes fall to the floor, and she felt his fingertips brush the back of her shirt. But as she hit the doors and fought to open them, she found them locked. She screamed and tugged at the handles but to no avail. Luci grabbed both of her arms and dragged her to the kitchen. She kicked and yelled and bit, but she felt heavier and heavier until the drugs took over and her vision faded to black.

  --

  Her hands were ziptied behind her back, mouth stuffed with a dishrag. She had been propped up again the wall, sat on the floor of the kitchen. Where she sat, through her blurry vision, she looked up at Luci chopping vegetables. He occasionally stole a glance down at her with his bulging eyes. Now his long, swollen tongue hung out of that awfully wide mouth. It occasionally licked an eyeball or lashed out at a nearby flying insect. Luci shuffled over to the stovetop and started to saute the onions and mushrooms.

  "So, kid, I think you can figure out what's happening to you," Luci croaked. He didn't look at her, just kept looking at the pan. "It's a shame, really. You seem like a great kid, and I hope you don't take this personal at all. But," he paused to check out the window into the restaurant's dining room, "Well, you're little more than a drifter, looks like, and that's the best target for me! Less people looking."

  Paige worked at her restraints while he talked but it was no use. Zipties were not as pliable as rope. She needed a knife. While Luci was still looking away, she used the wall as leverage to work herself to her feet. The knife he had used to chop the vegetables was still on the counter. She put her back to the counter, got at the knife with her fingers, and carefully sat back down on the floor while working the ziptie with the knife.

  Luci continued, "I have to eat one of youse every week. It keeps me... er, normal, I guess. I always try to get one in just before the weekend rush. Really, kid, I'm sorry. If it weren't you, it would be some other poor schmuck walking home tonight. And maybe that guy would have kids, or a wife, y'know? On the bright side, I'll make you into something real tasty. I wouldn't just eat you raw. You'll be a carbonara, I think. Got that look to ya."

  As he turned around to address her directly, he noticed she was gone. His friendly demeanor shifted to something more primal. He growled and began to stalk around the counters. "I should've tied your ankles, too. Hobbled you. That's what I get for keeping you alive long enough to apologize."

  Through the molasses of her drugged brain, she crawled on her hands and knees around the side of the counter. What's the next move? What were the odds that he locked the backdoor, too? She eyed the hallway that lead to the office, and likely the back door. As Luci threw open a cabinet under a counter, Paige sped into the hallway with her feet as light as she could muster. Indeed, the back door was there, but as she went for the handle, she found it was locked. It was time to pivot.

  How fortunate it was to find that the back office had a window. Paige forced the window open and was met with the screen to fight through. She took a heavy paperweight off of Luci's desk and slammed it into the window screen over and over again. Finally, the mesh gave way, just as Luci's heavy footsteps approached. Paige climbed through the window, gave Luci a weak salute, and started running.

  As she sprinted down the sidewalk towards her apartment, she passed a couple of the teenagers from yesterday, and she swore she heard one of them say, “See, I told you, never get Luci’s on a Thursday.”