First Day

Nahuqeeta shoulders sagged slightly as she placed her name tag on the Velcro patch on her new work jacket. She cringed thinking of her new coworkers trying to pronounce her very, some might say too (namely herself) indigenous name for the pacific northwest.

‘Bah!’ said her fathers voice in her head, ‘you should be proud of where you come from! Your name is part of your heritage,” never mind that he had hailed from Idaho, or that her name was suppose to be spelled Nahunta, but had the n replaced with the qee sound for reasons that were still unclear to her. It seemed to either have been a nurses negligence or her fathers inability to spell coupled with the the no sleep for nearly forty eight hours due to labor.

“Umm almost ready?” said a female voice from behind Nahuqeeta.

“Yea coming,” said Nahuqeeta slamming her work locker shut startling herself more than the fellow guard.

“Nervous?” said the girl.

Turning Nahuqeeta found herself face to face with an exorbitantly lanky pasty woman with short cropped ginger hair. The name Alice was paralleled on her jacket, the name tag slightly faded and the corners slightly upturned contrasting with the freshly pressed zip up jacket, giving Nahuqeeta a sense of vertigo as she felt she might be looking at a bizarro version of herself.

“Yea are you-”

“Gonna be showing you the ropes tonight? Yea, come on,” she gestured out of the room before exiting, you staggering to follow, your much shorter legs finding it a bit of a challenge to keep up with Alice’s long gait.

“So I’m Alice I’m acting shift commander. I’ll introduce you to the rest of the crew during the briefing, remember its always in the cam room,” she said once Nahuqeeta had fallen in step beside her.

“Cam room?” Nahuqeeta said with more of a chuckle than she had wanted too.

“I know right?” said Alice with a smile, “So Nahu-qeeta,” Alice winced slightly as she fumbled over the name, surprising Nahuqeeta with her delicate and proper pronunciation. Seeing that she had at least not butchered it Alice smiled triumphantly before asking, “what’s your story?”

“Umm,” before you could answer Alice jiggled the handle to a door with the words Security written in big bold type on it.

“Dammit Jah, open the door,” said Alice.

“Not until you do the knock,” said a voice from behind the door.

“I’m not doing the knock,” said Alice stubbornly with a shake of her head, her face set in a playful grimace.

“Can’t do it. Shift commander said-”

“I am the shift commander,” said Alice with a level of firmness that it clearly stopped whoever was on the other side of the door.

“What happened to Larry?”

“Moving to the morning,” said Alice before cupping her hand and whispering to Nahuqeeta, “No need to tell him about the acting part,” a wink was sent Nahuqeeta’s way before Alice turned back to the door, “So open up Jah.”

The sound of locks clinking came from the other side of the door before it creaked open, “Really?” said another tall lanky individual, this one as dark as Alice was pale with long back dreads lightly dancing on his shoulders. The name Jah-Psalm printed on his jacket, his name tag seemed newer than Alice’s but older than yours.

“Yes really,” said Alice pushing her way inside. Nahuqeeta followed unsure of how to insert herself into what was clearly a very familial atmosphere. Thinking it best to play it safe Nahuqeeta posted on the wall next to the door ready to split as Alice advanced on Jah-Psalm who had taken a seat in rolling chair pointed half way between the door on a grouping of monitors with live security feeds displayed.

Jah-Psalm leaned back and forth in his chair his eyes trying to stay fixed on Alice but darting over to Nahuqeeta clearly wanting an introduction but found himself paralyzed by Alice who was lecturing him on protocols of some kind.

“Don’t worry there always like that,” said a voice in the corner of the room, startling Nahuqeeta who jolted back hitting the light switch behind her exploding the room in flood of cheap florescence blinding everyone in the room for a second.

“Awh come on newbie give a guy some warning next time,” said Jah-Psalm rubbing his eyes as he stared at the floor.

“She shouldn’t have to give you a warning because the lights should always be on,” said Alice the only sign of discomfort being the rapid blinks between words, whether this was due to the new illumination or exacerbation at Jah-Psalm’s antics was anyone's guess.

“Sorry about that, didn’t mean to startle you,” said the fourth voice with a chuckle.

Turning away from the spectacle that was Alice and Jah-Psalm Nahuqeeta found herself staring at some sort of unholy hybrid between Johnny Depp and Leonardo DiCaprio in their prime covered in the most beautiful light brown skin covering a thin frame long dark brown hair just past his ears, dressed in the identical security outfit to everyone else in the room. His name patch read Jake and looked at least as old Alice’s if not older.

“You must be the new hire, I’m Jake,” he stuck out his hand with an awkward crooked smile.

“Yea I’m Nahuqeeta,” she said gripping his hand which she noticed was perfectly soft like warm butter.

“Glad to meet you,” said Jake clearly intending to add but found himself interrupted by two new entries into the room. One a cute heavy set girl with flawless skin and perfectly round cheeks, the other a lanky blonde girl who looked like she belonged on track and field not working security. The blonde girls name read Rachel and the others Adriana.

The new arrivals had just enough time to make introductions before Alice began, what Nahuqeeta could guess by the bored looks on everyone’s face, her regular pre-shift speech. Nahuqeeta would have been hard pressed to remember it too busy avoiding eye contact as everyone else sized her up, nothing like being the new girl, Nahuqeeta thought her shoulders slumping. Soon though everyone but Jah-Psalm filtered out the room and Alice showed Nahuqeeta were to find a radio, and a rechargeable flashlight as well as these nifty wrist watches that allowed whoever was in the control room to check where everyone was at as well as shut down the entire museum in the event of an emergency. Ironically though they did not tell time…

All equipped Nahuqeeta was shown were she would be, while Jah-Psalm took the control, and Adriana and Rachel would take the front desk area of the museum and the parking lot directly out front, it would be up to her and Jake to patrol the interior of the museum.

The job was simple, walk around make sure all the art was still where it was suppose to be and radio in every fifteen to twenty minutes to let everyone know you are alive. Investigate anything Alice or Jah might ask, which Alice assured her would be almost never. It was simple enough as far as jobs went. Her biggest worry was probably boredom rather than someone breaking in. Cool capers only happened in big museums in New York or London, not the small beach town of New Victoria, whose biggest attraction was the Victorian styled hotels and clothing shops. Most of the painting and sculptures seemed to be old Victorian and other fancy European pieces with a few more modern ones just to show how trendy the town was. The only other exhibit worth visiting was a special on Japanese puppets and a traveling exhibit on Mesoamerican statues and monuments.

While not what she would call a warm and inviting atmosphere the museum was at least pleasant until Nahuqeeta got her first shock when everyone had exited for the day and half the lights shut off in a dramatic fashion.

This of course caused Nahuqeeta to jump with a startled “Ahhh!” which sent Jake rolling on the floor as he nearly hyper ventilated from laughter.

“I’m sorry I just love watching the new hires the first time the lights go out,” he said wiping a tear from his eye.

“Why do they do that?” Nahuqeeta asked.

Before Jake could respond a voice blurted on the radio, “Newbie are you okay? I repeat are you okay, do you need a change of pants?” said Jah’s voice over the radio.

“Oh shut up!” Nahuqeeta replied without think, a gasp escaping her lips as she realized what she had just said. This elicited another burst of laughter from Jake.

“Don’t worry girl it happens to all of us,” said either Adriana or Rachel over the radio.

“Yea Jah jumped out at me with a voodoo mask on my first day,” said the other girl.

“And that’s why he’s not allowed to leave the control room,” said Jake a grinding screech piercing the air as Jake and Nahuqeeta realized that them both having their radios out at the same time was probably a bad idea.

“Come on ya’all you know the radio is only suppose to be used for official business,” said a very somber Alice over the radio.

“Aah I guess the fun is over,” said Jake clipping his radio back onto his belt.

“Wait,” said Nahuqeeta stopping as she herself wasn’t sure why she did that.

‘Yea?” said Jake turning around confused but a level of intrigue clear in his eyes.

“I was just wondering if umm, like there was anything I should keep my eye out for while I’m doing my rounds,” Nahuqeeta asked, not sure what she was doing. Did she want to get a private tour from this guy or get him alone, I mean sure he was attractive but this was work and she really needed the job and-

“Come on I’ll show you my favorite,” he said turning without waiting to see if she was following.

Quickly Nahuqeeta fell instep behind him and they briskly made their way into the Mesoamerican exhibit fierce visages of jaguars, large birds of prey and stone faced men dressed in elaborate wardrobes that one could only have pulled off at Carnival in today’s age.

“You every play Mystic Sword?” asked Jake his pace slowing.

‘No whats that?”

“It’s a role playing game slash tabletop game slash book series and all around cool fantasy world, also has one of my favorite card games based of it...” He smiled sheepishly as he spoke and if him letting her in on how big a nerd he was some kind of sacred secret. Nahuqeeta just thought it made him all the more adorable.

The two of them walked in an awkwardly cute silence until they reached an impressive statue with a figure sitting on some kind of dais.

“Well if you had ever done anything with Mystic Sword this would probably be a lot cooler but I still think he’s worth looking at,” Nahuqeeta took a closer look at the figure, in the half light the figure looked haunting, he was clearly wearing some kind of headdress with large gauge earrings, his mouth open caught between ecstasy and pooping, his eyes seemed to be dilated beyond what would be medically advisable, his body was covered in tattoos Nahuqeeta guessed all resemble different vegetation, his hands were empty clearly originally holding something.

“Who is it?” asked Nahuqeeta.

“Xochipilli, or the flower prince in English,” Jake answered his eyes enamored by the statue. Nahuqeeta was not sure what she thought of the way he looked at that statue, it was cool sure, very different than anything else in the museum but to Jake it seemed to be alive a living god.

“So what’s his deal?” Nahuqeeta asked hoping that Jake wasn’t just a really handsome weirdo.

“Well in Aztec mythology he was the God of, well a few things; art was a big, dancing painting, also drugs believe it or not, like the hallucination kind, see all those flowers on his body? Yea each one can leave you tripping, they called it the flower trance or flower dream, basically he was the God of having a good time!” Jake sucked in a gasp of air his word vomit clearly not planned.

Nahuqeeta watched him smile, his smile reminding her dad and the goofy smile he wore when recounting tales of Coyote or some lost first nation hero. Making up her mind that Jake was just cute not a weirdo.

Now smiling and hoping for another heaving of word vomit Nahuqeeta asked, “So what’s the connection with Mystic Sword?”

“Well in Mystic Sword there are four gods of Discord, one of which is Xochipilli, though they spell it Xochipelli, not sure why. Someone should really tell them that he’s in the public domain. Either way he’s pretty cool, basically he’s always trying to get people to give into their desires and lives in a pleasure palace with concubines and has really good sexy demons that his priests can summon, also his colors are fuchsia and purple-”

“Isn’t fuchsia just pink?” Nahuqeeta asked quickly cursing herself for interrupting his cute rant.

“Yea sorta I guess. Anyway, he’s basically like a more adult Peter Pan, he just does whatever he wants seeking pleasure wherever he can find it. Same with his followers, I don’t know, I just think he’s cool. Makes me sound lame when I say it out loud…” Immediately Nahuqeeta could see all the years of bullies and cousins making fun of him, heck even his parents thought he was weird probably. Nahuqeeta’s heart broke just a little for him.

Without think she grabbed him forcing him to look at her while her fingers traced the lean but surprisingly muscular man’s arms, “I don’t think your lame.”

“Umm thank you,” he said his face drifting closer.

A loud shriek vibrated from their radios breaking the moment and causing them both to recoil. “Nahuqeeta, Jake go on lunch. Rachel come and cover Jah for his.”

“Aww come on Alice, why can’t you do it,” whined Rachel.

Jake reached over and turned off Nahuqeeta’s radio. “You know me and Jah were probably going to hang out here and play a few rounds of Mystic Sword the Card game if you wanted to stay and see what it’s all about.”

“Because Rachel I want to check in with our new hire before I take my lunch,” replied Alice clearly rushing to speak.

Nahuqeeta wasn’t sure why but it set off warning bells in her mind. “Maybe another time,” she said with as cute and casual a smile as she could manage before setting off to retrieve her lunch, not waiting to see Jake’s reaction hoping that he wouldn’t take offense to her abruptness.

Hoping to avoid Alice Nahuqeeta nearly dashed to her locker which contained her packed lunch, she contemplated going without it but knew she would regret it if she didn’t eat.

“Hey,” said Alice sheepishly trying to seem nonchalant as she posted up by Nahuqeeta’s locker.

“Hey there boss lady,” said Nahuqeeta trying her hardest not swoop in and out of her locker like a falcon.

“Look maybe this isn’t my place to say anything but I saw you and Jake-”

“On the cameras,” Nahuqeeta said practically punching herself with the words, of course in a museum they could see everything.

“Yea look, your not in trouble we don’t have a no dating coworkers policy or anything, they don’t pay us enough for that.”

“Than what is it?” Nahuqeeta asked slamming her locker shut.

“Look,” said Alice her back suddenly straight and her eyes sharp, “I’ve known Jake since high school. He’s nice and I love him like a brother, but just-”

“What be careful?” retorted Nahuqeeta blowing out thru her nose.

“No. Just know that he doesn’t have his stuff together, hasn’t in a long time and,” Nahuqeeta was going to make a snarky remark but stopped herself, something in Alice’s eyes told her she wasn’t just doing this to lay claim or show Nahuqeeta who’s boss, she was really worried, about who though was the question, “lets just say there is a reason Xochipilli is his favorite god.”

“What the hell does that mean?” Nahuqeeta hated it when people spoke in riddles.

“Do yourself a favor and look up The Stone and Xochipilli on your lunch,” said Alice before slumping her shoulders and leaving Nahuqeeta alone.

“Well fuck,” said Nahuqeeta marching into the break room, slumping in the chair Nahuqeeta took a bit of her soggy tuna sandwich before realizing she wasn’t hungry.

“Shit,” she said before pulling out her phone and Searching the words, The Stone and Xochipilli. She clicked on the first link as soon it loaded hoping against all hope that Alice was full of it, though Nahuqeeta knew there was something, Alice’s tone had been too remorseful to be a lie. Her phone screen loaded Nahuqeeta dared look at her phone, and there he was, Jake, a small round picture of him, a younger him though how much she couldn’t tell. It was than she realized he had one of those faces that could put him anywhere between eighteen to a good looking thirty. Past the point of no return Nahuqeeta mentally zoomed out from the picture and realized she was looking at a piece in the New York Times titled ‘Xochipilli a Millenials Peter Pan’. Nahuqeeta didn’t know much about journalism but she knew the New York Times was well respected and that if Jake had been published their it meant something.

“You read it yet?” said Alice from the doorway to the break room.

For some reason Nahuqeeta did not find herself startled, “Not yet. Honestly not much of a reader, want to give me the highlights? Or maybe stop sending me on scavenger hunts and tell me what you want me to know.”

With a sigh Alice slumped herself and than with what seemed great effort she began to speak, “If you couldn’t tell Jake is smart, really smart, always reading, always wanting to know new things. Its annoying actually and like most annoying people who like to know things Jake became a journalist. Wrote a few things, all good but nothing great until the Xochipilli piece.”

“How good?”

“Really good, news stations were calling him to talk about it-”

“Over one article?” Nahuqeeta asked skeptically.

“If you read it basically his thesis is that we all need to slow down, live it up some more, not be as focused on our careers, in general have more fun, oh and maybe do some more drugs both recreationally and medicinally.”

“Why is that such a big deal, everyone I know says the same thing?”

“Yes but you don’t put it in the New York Times. Either way people start calling conservatives hate him because hes a perfect example of the sloth like entitlement the greatest generation thinks us too be and the left, well they are honor bound to defend anything the right hates so naturally head were spinning and Jake loved it, he didn’t mind being on TV and pretty soon he was offered a book deal, TV show, and even talks of him writing a movie.”

“Wow, so what happened?”

“He-” broken up chatter from Alice’s radio stopped her, “Alicezzz Izzz shoulzzz checkzzzzz…” said Rachel before static overtook the radio.

“Hello? Rachel, come in,” Alice said over the radio, “Dammit,” standing up Alice headed for the exit, “when your done with your lunch check in at the cam room, hopefully we will have the radio situation sorted.”

“Is everything okay?” said Nahuqeeta a pit in her stomach starting to expand.

“One of the idiots is probably just sitting on their radio or something, fuckin idiots,” with that Alice was gone, though Nahuqeeta could hear her grumbling down the hall.

Not sure what to do with all the information Nahuqeeta decided to stop investigating and just watch videos until her lunch was over. Besides who cared what her hot coworker had done or not done or whatever. Nahuqeeta was here to work, not play and besides what’s the worst that Jake could have done? Gone off the rails, she doubted he had done anything serious like kill someone otherwise he’d be jail. He was probably just a bit damaged, nothing wrong with that. She wasn’t dating him or anything, worst case scenario she could have some fun with a damaged boy, they were always better when a few screws were loose anyway.

Her worries alleviated Nahuqeeta headed for the cam room, checking her radio on the way but finding nothing but static.

Nahuqeeta knocked, “Hello!” she said entering the room, with the light off it took a moment to adjust before Nahuqeeta could see Rachel slumped back in her chair eyes wide open her pupils dilated to an impossible, yet familiar degree the cameras flickering in and out switching between live feed of the museum and black and white static.

“What the fuck?” Nahuqeeta said, stunned into panic, what was she suppose to do? What was going on? An art robbery seemed the most likely explanation but in New Victoria? An art robbery in fucking New Victoria on her first fucking day!

“Grbp,” said Rachel half gasping and half choking.

“Shit!” said Nahuqeeta rushing to help Rachel into a position where she wasn’t choking.

“Don’t fucking die on me!” howled Nahuqeeta to an unresponsive Rachel.

“Hhahe,” said Rachel like a fucked up frat boy after a bender.

“Are you fucking high?” said Nahuqeeta letting go of Rachel, that was where she had seen eyes dilated like that before. She could remember it clear as day, her dad watching a documentary on some pre-Colombus (Or as he liked to put pre-white man) culture and it had showed live footage of people taking, some kind of hallucinogen to enter a trance or something, but there eyes looked the same as Rachel's with pupils far larger than any doctor would think was healthy.

“What the fuck happened to you?” said Nahuqeeta taking a step, she looked around the room looking for clues as to what the fuck was going on, than to the monitors but they were no help and just made her dizzy.

“Yo *static* what the fuck are you doing?!” Nahuqeeta heard Adriana yell over a staticy intercom from somewhere, glancing at the screens hoping for something she saw her, near the front of the museum.

“Stay alive girl!” Nahuqeeta yelled as she bolted out of the room, though whether to Adriana or Rachel she wasn’t sure. Nahuqeeta tried to reach someone on the radio but again nothing. What the fuck is going On?! Was all Nahuqeeta could think.

Turning a corner Nahuqeeta found Adriana rag dolled off the ground by Jake. At least she thought it was Jake, he no longer wore his security outfit instead garbed in some kind of lace up sandals, and only a pink and purple checkered breechclout to cover his privates, the rest of his body nude and covered in strange tattoos portraying plants and mushrooms that seemed to move and sway as if alive and to finally top of the weirdness his feet hovered maybe six inches off the floor.

“What the Fuck!” said Nahuqeeta her eyes going wide.

The strange being that looked like Jake turned to Nahuqeeta a look of pure curiosity on its face and saw that his eyes even more dilated than Rachel’s his pupil now a deep midnight purple nearly expanded cover his entire eye ball, the edge marked by a thin layer of a vibrantly pink iris.

“You Know Who I Am?” asked the strange figure draped in Jake’s skin. The words cold and crisp with no inflection, like someone reading a script not a native speaker. The voice was still Jake’s but the personality was foreign.

“Your Jaa-” Nahuqeeta stopped herself knowing it was wrong, but yet something was familiar…

The tattoos she realized, “Xochipilli,” she said her mind cross referencing the statue and this strange Jake.

“Yes,” he said dropping Adriana who fell like a feather to the floor her eyes dilated the same as Rachel’s.

“Tell me how is it that only you know me?” said the God wearing Jake’s skin as he glided over to her.

“You told me?” said Nahuqeeta her pulse racing as he came closer, she didn’t what had happened to Jake but one thing that had not changed was his desirability.

His face leaned in close and he rose slightly or got bigger it was hard to tell but Nahuqeeta now had to crane her neck to look up at him, “You are not one of mine,” he said matter of fact.

“No I mean yes, I mean you, Jake told me about you,” said Nahuqeeta gulping as she stumbled over her words hoping that she could avoid Rachel and Adriana’s fate. Fighting was out of the question, this God Xochipilli or demonic spirit or whatever was clearly playing on a whole other level but maybe she could out maneuver him, it was all she could hope for at this point.

“Thoughts?” said Xochipilli coming back to eye level and dropping the menace all together. Nahuqeeta let out a breathe she didn’t even know she was holding.

“Umm,” Nahuqeeta said not sure how to respond.

“I know,” Xochipilli looked distant for a second, checking his or more likely Jake’s memory, “you just learned of me but I must have done something to be remembered, the others didn-” he stopped himself probably releasing how desperate he looked. Was that why he had done what he’d to Rachel and Adriana, heck probably Jah-Psalm and Alice too. He was like a damn reality TV Star, all he really wanted was attention. It made sense him being, what had Jake called him? The God of having a good time, well Nahuqeeta had dated enough primadonna to deal with this insecure God.

“I remember you because you just seemed like the kind of God you could have a beer with,” said Nahuqeeta wishing she could slap herself. Was she trying to impress a God or sell the 43rd president.

“Hahahe,” he said bending backwards at an impossible angle as he laughed moving thru the air like Peter Pan.

‘You are bad liar Nahuqeeta,” he said saying her name flawlessly, “but I like you, and have given me the most joy sense waking from my longer slumber underneath the Aztec shadow. Perhaps I can offer you more than a guarded walk into a waking dream?” he said like Nahuqeeta was suppose to know what that meant.

“I don’t know what that means,” than looking at Adriana she said, “But I do not want to end up like that.”

“In a waking dream?” he said seeming genuinely perplexed.

“If that is what you did to her than yes?” Nahuqeeta winced somehow acutely aware that one wrong word and he would leave Nahuqeeta just like her coworkers.

“Hmm,” the answer seemed to suffice if not nourish him. “You desire me, you desired this body before I came to inhabit it.”

“I-” He was right of course, but what could she say, ‘yes’ and than be taken on the floor. “I shouldn’t,” was the only defense she could muster.

“Why he has given me this body willingly, I will share my seed with whoever I please,” he said deadpanned and serious, Nahuqeeta knew she shouldn’t but couldn’t help herself as the laughter started.

“You serious, you want to get it on just like that?” said Nahuqeeta wondering if this day could get any weirder.

“Why not, we are,” she could see him searching Jake’s mind, “consenting adults are we not?”

“I mean I guess technically-” he was in front of her now his hands caressing her arms. What was she thinking, she couldn’t go to bed with him, especially not here in the middle of a museum while her coworkers were tripping balls.

“I can’t, not here at least,” she said unwilling to close the door completely, he was a God of pleasure she thought…

The God possessed Jake wore a face of boredom, “As you wish,” he said handing her a hollowed out ceramic flower that looked suspiciously like a vagina. Nahuqeeta barely got to look at before he closed her hand over it and said, “keep it close should you change your mind,” his grip not loosening.

Nahuqeeta was going to say something before the world started to shift, not spin or flip on its side, just move like it was made up of a million crawling insects that had been still until now.

“What..” she began to say more but words came out as chalky gurgles, the God of pleasure laid Nahuqeeta gently on the floor a mischievous smile on his face as her pupils became engorged like the others.

Xochipilli was awash with feelings for the first time in a long time, hundreds of years he knew peering into Jake’s memories still piecing together all that had befallen the world sense his forced slumber at the hands of Mixeca.

The God let out an exasperated sigh, no point any being angry besides they had gotten what was coming to them and worse at the hands of these Europeans if the one they called Jake was to believed, and the God had no reason to doubt him. “Jake oh blessed Jake!” The God thought. The first one to really believe in him in centuries, the one that had awakened Xochipilli by truly believing in him, he wondered how many other Gods and Goddesses lay in slumbers across the world waiting for someone to believe in them and take them from that stagnant place of ideas and force them into being.

Which brought up another thought in the God’s head, where were all the other Gods according to the humans memories people still prayed, worshiped and made sacrifices.

“Later,” said the God stepping outside of the museum, ignoring the alarm blaring behind him, knowing he would need to move soon, knowing that there was a whole world to explore and enjoy and mysteries to solve for it was a very different time he found himself in. Yet looking at the befuddled faces on the people driving in there metal...cars he believed they were called, and seeing the night sky for the first time in a long while Xochipilli knew he would find his kingdom again, he was the Prince of Flowers after all. For now though he set off in a direction no particular direction looking for fun, there would be plenty of time to do serious things later, after all it was only his first day.