the line.
“Xiaoming? It’s Maggie. What’s…”
“Where you been? It been three hours!”
“Sorry, I was taking down a genie…”
“You stop making excuses! Your father come here looking
for vampire information. Werewolves find him. They wake my lions.”
A little seed of panic rose in my belly, “Where’s my dad,
Xiaoming? Put him on the line.”
“He gone now.”
“WHAT? Where?”
“He gone. You come now.”
“Where did he go, Xiaoming?”
The line went dead. He hung up on me.
I rested my head in my hands and then picked up the
receiver. I pounded Dad’s number into the phone. He didn’t pick up. Like
always. I tried again. Straight to voice mail. I ended up leaving him three
messages but knew he had probably already forgotten his pass code.
I got up and paced around the office. I knew what I had to
do, but man, a girl shouldn’t have to make those sorts of calls twice in one
lifetime. I would have gladly faced a horde of vampires at this moment rather
than pick up the phone. But I knew I didn’t have a choice. I pulled together
all my courage and dialed the number.
“Hello, Mom? I think I lost Dad again…”
Chapter 11
I finally made the jump from The Other Side to Earth after
a stupid long wait in line to get through the one official portal that could actually
fit my car. It dumped me out on Mulholland, right above the Hollywood Bowl,
which is convenient to nothing. Rush hour in Los Angeles was in full force and
the freeway from Hollywood to downtown was bumper-to-bumper. Everyone and
their mother was between me and where I needed to go.
I finally pulled in front of Xiaoming's place in Chinatown
and checked my watch. He was going to be so cranky...
I got out, marched up his sun-baked steps, and knocked on
his flimsy metal screen door. Xiaoming’s concrete lions were looking a little
worse for wear. They were displaying some new cracks and their nails looked
like they could use a good manicure.
“Sorry, guys,” I apologized. “I have no idea what is going
on.”
The lions gave me the silent treatment.
Xiaoming shuffled over in his ratty old robe and open-toed
terry slippers and undid the door. He grunted at me from behind the long ash
of his cigarette. His entire apartment smelled of old fry oil, stale smoke,
and chrysanthemum tea. I followed him through the beaded curtain into the
kitchen and sat down at the table.
Mom had been terrifyingly quiet on the phone with me. I
knew I wouldn’t be getting any presents from Santa if I didn’t find Dad and get
him home before the street lights came on.
“What happened to my dad?” I asked.
Xiaoming pointed at a folder I had seen my dad looking
through earlier. I picked it up and flipped through. There, on the top page,
was a crime sheet on a certain dude named “Vaclav”.
My dad had decided to start hunting down Vaclav and not
tell me about it.
Vaclav was the head of the vampires. The Big Bad. Vaclav
wanted to take over Earth and celebrate with a champagne pyramid, except
instead of champagne, it would be the blood of every man, woman, and child on
the planet.
He and I were not friends.
He and my dad were not friends.
And, despite the fact my dad and I had agreed that we
weren't going to take any more jobs from the old man, behind the crime sheet
was Mr. Smith's envelope, the one he had given to me when he mentioned he'd
like to keep some choice magical artifacts out of the hands of the bad guys.
This led me to believe that Vaclav and Mr. Smith were not
friends, either.
And it looked like my dad had decided to let Vaclav know he
wasn't going to be getting any love letters from our crew.
“Shit.”
“You not a lady. You swear too much.”
“Xiaoming, I swear just the right amount,” I said, “Tell me
what happened.”
“Your father come looking for information on a vampire. Says
man needs him to find jade comb. Only your
“Xiaoming? It’s Maggie. What’s…”
“Where you been? It been three hours!”
“Sorry, I was taking down a genie…”
“You stop making excuses! Your father come here looking
for vampire information. Werewolves find him. They wake my lions.”
A little seed of panic rose in my belly, “Where’s my dad,
Xiaoming? Put him on the line.”
“He gone now.”
“WHAT? Where?”
“He gone. You come now.”
“Where did he go, Xiaoming?”
The line went dead. He hung up on me.
I rested my head in my hands and then picked up the
receiver. I pounded Dad’s number into the phone. He didn’t pick up. Like
always. I tried again. Straight to voice mail. I ended up leaving him three
messages but knew he had probably already forgotten his pass code.
I got up and paced around the office. I knew what I had to
do, but man, a girl shouldn’t have to make those sorts of calls twice in one
lifetime. I would have gladly faced a horde of vampires at this moment rather
than pick up the phone. But I knew I didn’t have a choice. I pulled together
all my courage and dialed the number.
“Hello, Mom? I think I lost Dad again…”
Chapter 11
I finally made the jump from The Other Side to Earth after
a stupid long wait in line to get through the one official portal that could actually
fit my car. It dumped me out on Mulholland, right above the Hollywood Bowl,
which is convenient to nothing. Rush hour in Los Angeles was in full force and
the freeway from Hollywood to downtown was bumper-to-bumper. Everyone and
their mother was between me and where I needed to go.
I finally pulled in front of Xiaoming's place in Chinatown
and checked my watch. He was going to be so cranky...
I got out, marched up his sun-baked steps, and knocked on
his flimsy metal screen door. Xiaoming’s concrete lions were looking a little
worse for wear. They were displaying some new cracks and their nails looked
like they could use a good manicure.
“Sorry, guys,” I apologized. “I have no idea what is going
on.”
The lions gave me the silent treatment.
Xiaoming shuffled over in his ratty old robe and open-toed
terry slippers and undid the door. He grunted at me from behind the long ash
of his cigarette. His entire apartment smelled of old fry oil, stale smoke,
and chrysanthemum tea. I followed him through the beaded curtain into the
kitchen and sat down at the table.
Mom had been terrifyingly quiet on the phone with me. I
knew I wouldn’t be getting any presents from Santa if I didn’t find Dad and get
him home before the street lights came on.
“What happened to my dad?” I asked.
Xiaoming pointed at a folder I had seen my dad looking
through earlier. I picked it up and flipped through. There, on the top page,
was a crime sheet on a certain dude named “Vaclav”.
My dad had decided to start hunting down Vaclav and not
tell me about it.
Vaclav was the head of the vampires. The Big Bad. Vaclav
wanted to take over Earth and celebrate with a champagne pyramid, except
instead of champagne, it would be the blood of every man, woman, and child on
the planet.
He and I were not friends.
He and my dad were not friends.
And, despite the fact my dad and I had agreed that we
weren't going to take any more jobs from the old man, behind the crime sheet
was Mr. Smith's envelope, the one he had given to me when he mentioned he'd
like to keep some choice magical artifacts out of the hands of the bad guys.
This led me to believe that Vaclav and Mr. Smith were not
friends, either.
And it looked like my dad had decided to let Vaclav know he
wasn't going to be getting any love letters from our crew.
“Shit.”
“You not a lady. You swear too much.”
“Xiaoming, I swear just the right amount,” I said, “Tell me
what happened.”
“Your father come looking for information on a vampire. Says
man needs him to find jade comb. Only your
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