"Do you have a last name?" Chelsea asked, and Juno shook her head. Chelsea groaned and ran her hands over her face. In the months since Juno's hiring, Chelsea hadn't managed to learn a single thing about her, and it had begun to wear on her patience. Juno was polite, a good worker, fun to be with, but the mysteriousness bothered Chelsea in a way she hadn't expected and didn't like. Juno chewed her gum, her jaw clicking as she did.
"I have a first name," she said in response, "and really shouldn't that be enough?"
They continued down the aisle, as Juno stocked the lower shelves and Chelsea stocked the higher shelves. They figured, by arranging things this way and splitting the load, they would finish the restocking faster. Juno handed Chelsea another box of what appeared to be some sort of pasta and cheese microwavable bowl, but written in a language she couldn't read and images of maggots on the box, and Chelsea, after grimacing, slid it onto the top shelf with the others.
"Why can't you tell me anything about yourself?" Chelsea asked.
"Why should I have to?" Juno replied, "after all, it's not like you're my mom."
The bell over the front door rang, indicating someone had entered, but neither girl paid much attention to it.
"Were you cursed by a witch and now you can't divulge personal information or she'll hurt your family?" Chelsea asked, grinning, as Juno looked over her shoulder at her, deadpan.
"Yeah. That's it. You got me. Cursed by a witch," Juno said, making Chelsea laugh.
"Excuse me," a voice said from the end of the aisle. Both girls turned to face what, appeared to be anyway, a floating black void of nothingness; the void continued, "I'm looking for a specific kind of nose spray you used to carry."
"Don't you need a nose?" Juno asked, as Chelsea shot her a glare.
"Follow me, I'll get it for you," Chelsea said, walking towards the counter, the void floating along behind her; Chelsea continued, "please forgive my trainee, she hasn't been here that long and she completely lacks people skills or any kind of socialization it appears. We've had to start stocking these kinds of things behind the counter because too many folks were coming in and stealing it, I guess it can be used to create some kind of street drug."
"Oh, that's a shame," the void said, sniffling, somehow, as they added, "I can't imagine the kinds of folks who would use medicine for nefarious purposes."
Chelsea rang up the spray, handed it to the void who, again, somehow, managed to carry it and exited the shop. Chelsea leaned on the counter, happy with herself being able to help someone who clearly was in need of some kind. Juno came around the end of the aisle, tossing the empty boxes into a corner together.
"Hey, we have a recycling bin for a reason," Chelsea said.
"Yeah. Outside. In the back. In the dark," Juno said.
"You guys never stop arguing," Monica said, floating near the end of the aisle, right behind Juno, Chelsea smiling at seeing her; she continued, "A dead girl can't even rest in peace around here because all I ever hear is bicker bicker bicker. You're like an old married couple...and...now realizing the age gap, that was an incredibly creepy thing to say and I regret it immensely."
"Regret what?" a voice asked, and all three girls turned their heads to see Polaris entering the store, looking at his perfectly manicured hands. Monica squealed a little and hid back behind a shelf. Chelsea chuckled and shook her head.
"Nothing," she said.
"Regrets are an important part of life," Polaris said as he approached the counter, "Without regret, how do you learn from your mistakes?"
"Uh, other people tell you they're mistakes?" Juno said, shrugging, "pretty easy actually."
Another ring of the bell and Chelsea rolled her eyes, huffing, as she excused herself and headed to the back of the store, Monica floating closely behind her. Monica glanced back over her shoulder and watched as Polaris and Juno interacted, and if she were alive and could shiver, she would've done so.
"I take it you're not exactly a fan of the guy," Chelsea said.
"He's evil incarnate," Monica replied, "if I were still alive, I'd be terrified he'd kill me at some point. I don't trust him as far as I, well not I since I don't have much upper body strength, but, someone can throw him. He's just got this...aura about him that's so untrustworthy."
As Chelsea stood in front of the freezer section, and Monica floated down, sitting atop it, they could hear this new customer talking to both Juno and Polaris. Chelsea figured it'd be good for Juno to get some upfront social work for a change. She couldn't hide in the stocking area forever. Chelsea opened the freezer, pulled out a popsicle of some kind that she'd become a fan of, and ripped open the wrapper, sucking on it.
"I mean, to be fair to Polaris, aren't there a lot of terrifying creatures here? Surely he can't be the only evil one," Chelsea said.
"Oh, definitely, this place is a death pit," Monica said, "but still, it isn't the same. He has powers nobody else has, and nobody even really knows where he came from. I think that's why most are scared of him. The lack of information surrounding his origins, and his incredible abilities."
The patron who had entered left, the ball ringing over the door - Chelsea never even seeing them - as Juno and Polaris came back to the front, laughing together. Admittedly, their camaraderie made Chelsea a mite nervous, but she tried her best to ignore it. Juno hopped up onto the counter and uncapped a drink, sipping from it, as Polaris lit up a cigar to smoke from...well...Chelsea wasn't sure where, because he had no facial features with which to utilize, so.
"Have you finished unboxing the rest of the products from the backroom?" Chelsea asked, and Juno rolled her eyes; Chelsea scowled, adding, "you know, it's actually kind of important to do the job you've been hired for."
"I didn't get 'hired'," Juno said, making air quotes with her fingers, confusing Chelsea further.
"Oh, give her a break," Polaris replied, "she's new to the scene, she's still settling in! Chelsea, tell me...has Luna been in lately?"
Chelsea slowly shook her head. Luna had, in fact, been around, but had specifically requested, if asked for by Polaris, to not be given up. She just didn't want anything to do with him, if she could avoid it and Chelsea was more than happy to oblige by that request, even lacking clarification. Polaris puffed smoke into the air and shook his head.
"What's it take to track that woman down," he mumbled. Just then the bell over the door rang again and a large, vertical fleshy creature slithered in, an opening slit down the middle, filled with jagged teeth, gleaming under the light of the store as it approached the counter.
"Excuse me," it asked, "would you happen to carry a tooth filler of any kind?"
"I'd be happy to help you, follow me," Chelsea said, gladly leading the creature away and towards the hygiene aisle. Monica watched as Chelsea left, then looked at Juno and Polaris and smiled awkwardly.
"Welp," she said, "time for me to get back to being dead. It was fun."
Chelsea and the tooth creature, meanwhile, continued their small trek to the aisle.
"Are you in need of something to fill in holes?" Chelsea asked, and the creature nodded, or, as best as it could anyway.
"Yes yes, I am growing in new teeth, but some are breaking before falling out," they replied, "I'm in pain, and want to alleviate it best as I can until they fall out properly."
"Well, we have a really good one here called Ectopaste, it's made from the ectoplasm of ghosts, so it's very sticky," Chelsea said, kneeling down as they reached the proper spot and gathering two boxes, holding them up in front of the creature, adding, "see, this stuff'll really keep your teeth from falling apart, guaranteed. It's the only one we even stock because it's literally the only one worth using."
"You have no idea how hard it is to be a monster who just wants to look their best," the creature said, two fleshy tendrils reaching out from both sides and taking the boxes, looking at them for itself.
"Well, thankfully, I like to help monsters when I can," Chelsea said, smiling brightly, as her thoughts turned to her sister.
***
"How's work been?" Xorlack asked.
Xorlack, Chelsea and her sister, Maddy, were sitting in the spruced up janitors closet. Ever since this version of her sister had come into her life 3 months ago, Chelsea had been doing her best to keep this space maintained and make it fun and cute for her. Thankfully, it was a defunct closet that nobody bothered to use, so between its space and its privacy - Chelsea was, in fact, the only one with a key to it even - it made the perfect spot for keeping her sister for the time being.
"It's been frustrating," Chelsea said as she set down a grilled cheese in front of Maddy, who immediately dug into it violently; Chelsea continued, "This new girl still won't tell me anything about herself, and Polaris and her are gettin' buddy buddy and that makes me uncomfortable. Honestly, if not for Monica I'm not sure how good I'd feel working there right now."
"To be fair, Polaris is friendly with, like, everyone," Xorlack said, and Chelsea nodded, crossing her arms.
"I know, I know that, he's just a charming fella," Chelsea said, making Xorlack smirk; she continued, "but this new girl feels like she's upended the natural order of the store, and what's with all the secrets? Why won't anyone just tell me what's going on? Luna and Polaris won't tell me why they have this weird relationship, Juno won't tell me a damn thing about herself, and I feel like I'm constantly being left in the dark."
"They're not really your concerns. Whatever happened between Luna and Polaris is their business, not yours."
"Yeah, but if she's expecting me to stay away from him, restrict access to the store from him, I'd sure like to know why," Chelsea said.
Maddy finished her sandwich, then went back to finishing her coloring before tearing the page from the book on the perforated line and getting up, walking to Xorlack and handing it to her. Xorlack happily took it and looked, as Chelsea came to look over her shoulder. The drawing was of a beautiful unicorn in an echanted forest that Maddy had colored in so perfectly. The girls smiled at one another, then looked back at Maddy, who had since gone back to coloring.
"She doesn't feel like she belongs here," Xorlack said, "she feels like...like a good thing that exists in a bad place."
"Would you call The Elsewhere a bad place, exactly?" Chelsea asked, "because, personally, it feels more like a home, far more preferable than where I'm from, to me anyway."
"It has its pros and cons but ultimately yes I would," Xorlack replied, "take it from someone who's actually from here, yeah, it isn't great. But I suppose if someone as pure as your sister can exist within it, then it also can't be that bad."
The girls looked back at Maddy, happily humming as she laid on her stomach, coloring, her legs kicking up in the air behind her, and they both smiled. It was true. For all the weirdness, darkness, evil that surrounded them, all the frustrating things like Polaris's suspicious behavior and Juno's dodging of answers, there was a goodness here, in Maddy, and that alone was worth it.
***
Juno was counting money for the day, despite the shop not really closing ever, when Chelsea and Xorlack rejoined her. She didn't even look up or acknowledge them in any way as they re-entered the room, so Chelsea kissed Xorlack on the cheek and said goodbye to her for the night, before stopping at the counter, grabbing a candy bar she'd become fond of, and tore open the wrapper, biting into it.
"You gonna pay for that?" Juno asked, still not looking up.
"I'm an employee, this is a perk," Chelsea said, "Luna always said to just take whatever I want, so."
"Mmm," Juno remarked, nodding a little in response.
"Juno, listen," Chelsea continued, "um...I'm sorry. I'm sorry if I've been pushy or, like, annoying about getting information out of you. You're under no obligation whatsoever to tell me anything about yourself. I just figured, ya know, since we're working together, it might be useful to know one another better. But ultimately what you clue me in on is entirely up to you and I'll completely understand if you just simply never feel comfortable enough being open."
Juno finally put the money down on the counter and sighed, looking up at Chelsea.
"It isn't you," Juno said, "you seem nice. The few months we've worked together, you've been really patient and understanding with me, while I've been kind of a monster."
"Par for the course attitude for a place like The Elsewhere," Chelsea interjected, the both of them chuckling. Juno continued.
"But it isn't personal, just know that," Juno said, "I just...I don't really trust anyone."
"That's understandable, trust is hard," Chelsea replied.
"So maybe one day we can be friends, but for the time being...can we just...would it be okay if we were coworkers?" Juno asked, and Chelsea nodded, smiling warmly.
"It'd be more than okay," she said.
"Awww, that was so heartwarming," Polaris said from behind Chelsea, making her jump and put a hand to her chest.
"Christ! Don't you EVER leave?!" she shouted, making him laugh.
"I'm here on business today, ma'am," Polaris said, "I'll leave when my business is concluded, as soon as Luna is willing to provide me with ample time for said business. Until then, I think I'll stay, read a few magazines, have a few snacks, and just take in the quiet ambiance of the shop, if you don't mind."
Chelsea smiled weakly, shaking her head. She didn't mind. She really didn't. That was the thing, she couldn't see whatever it was that Luna had an issue with in regards to Polaris. Sure, he was weird and kind of spooky and sometimes, actually quite often, offputting, but he didn't come across as a bad guy by any means. Plus, his burgeoning friendship with Juno put Chelsea somewhat at ease because she felt like he wouldn't do anything to her, which meant he likely wouldn't do anything to Chelsea either. So the three of them stayed in the main foyer of the shop, enjoying snacks and drinks, doing magazine quizzes, and simply participating in the thing the Elsewhere called living.
Something Chelsea herself was finally becoming adjusted to.