Part Four

********** What Size? How Much? When? If you don't know - don't bother me! - Sign over the paper inventory control manager's desk.
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Rupert gave the final door another try. "Damn it! Every blasted door locked." He turned and went up the side of the building toward a loading dock. A small sign beside a buzzer read:

Employee Entrance
Drivers/Delivery Call Bell

"Yes. I'm making a delivery." Rupert went over to the dumpster and began to root around for something to 'deliver'. After a few minutes of digging he felt something odd. A strange vibration that he was not sure if he was hearing or feeling. Earthquake maybe? He swore and jumped out of the dumpster just as the car came into the parking lot. The alleged music that was the source of the bass vibration stopped as the vehicle whipped into a parking space.

Rupert slid behind the dumpster an watched as a young man exited the car and came toward the building head down, fiddling with his keys. As he looked at his watch Rupert heard him say. "Oh shit, I'm dog meat." With that he broke into a trot which took him up to the door.

As Adam fumbled with the lock Giles pulled a thin sheet of cardboard out of the dumpster and took a few steps toward the door.

"Come on damn it....." The kid muttered then he flung the door open with a bang. Giles moved quickly up from behind and before the door closed slid the cardboard between the bolt and the doorjamb. Rupert counted off thirty seconds and then slowly pulled the door open and entered the receiving dock.

Behind him the door shut with a thud and a sharp click. Rupert went back up to it and jiggled the knob - locked tight. "This could bode ill..." He thought as he turned to scan the deserted area. A pair of swinging doors still in motion told him which way the young man had went. Giles went up to them and looked through the scratched Plexiglas. To the left a row of sheetfed presses of various sizes came into view. On the right rows of eighteen foot high racks containing skids and press sheet size boxes of paper stock ran parallel to the aisle.

Rupert slipped into the pressroom and went in behind the first row of racks. He slowly made his way forward until he could see down the length of the presses. No Joyce, but there was quite the heated argument going on between two men. A bearded man sat on a paper skid a few feet from the two shaking his head and laughing at the confrontation. Giles strained to hear, but could not understand anything over the roar of the presses, but it was obvious that the uniformed man was upset and the man in the suit was trying to calm him down. A third man in a supervisor's uniform joined the other two and gave them a motion to follow him.

"Oh hell." Rupert said outloud as the party started down the aisle toward him. As the uniformed man had turned to follow his vampire features had come into full view. Rupert ducked down behind the skids as the three passed him in the cross aisle.

"Herron, you are a damned idiot!" Andy snarled as they passed.

"I'm telling you, I'll take care of it. NO PROBLEM!" Herron yelled back.

Rick got between the two and grabbed each by a shoulder. "Andy, don't go off the deep end on me... and Herron, you brought the Slayer's mother in here, that is a problem. My office - NOW."

Rupert peered between the skids and watched as the three entered a small office at the end of the racks. As the door slammed he stood back up and looked back down the line of presses. Halfway down the pressroom a woman came through a door carrying a stack of plates and put them down beside a smaller press. The bearded man got up and went to her. Looking down at the other press crew for a second he bent over and said something to her which caused both of them to bust out laughing. Gary put his finger to his lips and shook his head and they both went into another chuckle fit.

"Yes, very funny... damn, damn, DAMN." Rupert muttered in response to their actions. "That must be the platemaker vampire Joyce saw and I think we should have a little private chat."

Kimmie went back through the door and Gary started to prepare the plates that had been brought out. Giles looked around the pressroom. The only other activity was at the far end, he should be able to slip down and follow her. Then he noticed a large wooden rack of uniforms. "Yes!"

Giles slipped a uniform off the rack and went back into the paper storage area and changed. "Guess I'll be 'Mike' for the evening." He said as he noted the name on the shirt. He picked up a box of copier paper and balanced it on his shoulder before starting down the aisle toward the plateroom door.

Gary didn't even look up from his task as Giles walked by and entered the prep area. Away from the noise of the pressroom the radio could now be heard along with a woman singing along with the oldie. He rounded the corner and saw the platemaker leaning over the vacuum frame cleaning the glass, back to him, belting out the lyrics she heard at least twice a night.

"Don't go around tonight, it's bound to take your life, there's a bad moon on the rise..."

"Appropriate." Giles thought as he sat the box down and crept up behind her. He pulled a stake from his pocket, grabbed Kimmie by the neck and shoved her into the wall.

"Where's Joyce?" He barked as he raised the stake.

Kimmie's eyes darted back and forth between the stake and this crazy stranger.

"Where is she? You have three seconds."

"Don't know, gotta go, later asshole."

*Poof!*

Rupert's hand hit the wall as he fell forward. Out of the corner of his eye he caught the movement of something scurrying away. Giles turned and brought his foot down on the spade shaped tip of its tail causing the creature to fall face down onto the carpet. He reached down and picked it up by the scruff of the neck and held it up to eye level to examine About seven inches high with a tail of equal length it hung there snapping at him. Copper colored scales covered its head, back and shoulders fading into a dull brown on the rest of its body. Tiny parchment textured wings flapped uselessly on its back as it struggled to wiggle free.

"Goblin? Oh.... splendid!"

The critter stopped trying to break free and took a swipe at Rupert's face with its tail. "Well, I'm not too happy to see you either, shitbreath. Let go of me you numb nutted goat fucking piece of shit asshole cockbreath pussy whip dick nutless hosed dirtbag son of a bitching skankey twenty-five cent whore......"

Giles shut the goblin up by giving it a smack up against the wall. "You have a filthy mouth. Unimaginative in its crudeness, but still filthy. Guess we'll have to take care of that."

Another string of profanity greeted this statement which Rupert ignored. Instead he carried the creature over to a large sink, closed the drain and turned on the water full force.

"...pus balled shit for brains clap dripping sack of sucking..." Stopping mid curse it eyed the rapidly filling sink and blinked a few times. "Ah, excuse me, what are you doing?" It asked uneasily.

"Where's Joyce?"

"What'cha doing? What's with the water?"

"Since I don't know where the microwave is, I'm going to drown you." Giles held the goblin face down over the water. "Last chance, Where's Joyce?"

"Don't know."

"Wrong answer."

Giles held the creature under the water and then brought it back up. He listened briefly as it began sputtering a new line of swear words.

"Hummm, wasn't under long enough." Again he dunked the goblin underwater, this time for a bit longer.

"Wait... a.... minute!" It gasped out when it surfaced a second time.

"I'm listening."

Kimmie spit some water out and sneezed. "Try the warehouse, or the pump room, or the darkrooms."

Rupert started to lower it back toward the water. The goblin wrapped its tail around Rupert's arm for leverage as it increased its struggles.

"Come on Mike! I don't know! Damn it, I'm just a mushroom!"

Giles stopped and pulled the creature back up to eye level. "Mushroom?"

Kimmie gave him a toothy goblin grin. "Yeah, mushroom. You know, kept in the dark and fed shit. But listen you don't have to worry about that lady. This has happened before and no one ever came out of it any worst for the wear. Herron or Mary Ann or Hoss will just give her a zap and she'll forget everything and we can get on with bid-ness."

"Give her a 'zap'? Are you referring to witchcraft or high voltage?" Rupert asked while arching an eyebrow.

"Sorcery, of course. You don't go electrocuting customers, that's not good for repeat business." It said while batting its purple eyes. "So wat'ta ya say, handsome? Be a good boy and turn yourself in and it will all be just peachy."

"Not an option. So where are these rooms? Show me."

The goblin waved an arm around pointing in turn to three different directions. "Darkroom that way, warehouse that way, pump room that way." With the final motion it brought a clawed hand past Rupert's wrist and left a deep scratch across the bone. As Giles jerked, Kimmie twisted free, fell to the floor and dived under the sink taking refuge behind the supplies stored there. Giles swore as he pulled the cardboard boxes out and his curses became harsher as he heard a drain grate rattling free. As he pulled the last two plastic jugs of developer out of the way he saw the tip of the goblin's tail disappear down the drain.

"Fuck...."

A voice came out of the floor drain. "Hey bozo, that's not very imaginative."