Page 55 of Foul Days

Kosara didn’t shake it. “I really wouldn’t go that far.”

She stood up and collected her dirty plate. “I’ll head to bed. You can sleep in my parents’ room—it’s the one next to the bathroom. There are extra blankets in the wardrobe. Just, please, don’t go into the bedroom with the red door.”

“What’s wrong with that bedroom?”

That’s Nevena’s room.

“Just a leaky ceiling.” Kosara walked away before he asked any more questions.

He’d seemed so worried when she’d told him about the household spirits. He’d probably sleep better if he didn’t know about Nevena. She’d definitely sleep better if he didn’t know about Nevena.

Kosara curled up in bed under the woolly blanket. A theatre poster hung on the wall opposite—Orhan Demirbash, the famous actor, playing an upir. He held onto the waist of a girl in a white dress with a deep neckline. His fake teeth were sunk in her throat.

Below the poster, on the vanity, rested a pile of cheap jewellery: spiderweb earrings and batwing pendants, skull bracelets and moonstone rings, and more charged quartz crystals than anyone could ever need. Kosara had regularly worn them as a teenager. Nowadays, she didn’t feel the need to advertise her witchiness quite as loudly. Still, she didn’t have it in her to throw these things away.

A few strands of horse-hair wigs peeked from a half-open drawer, blond and red and bright blue. They were from the time just after she’d escaped the Zmey the first time around, when her hair had been burned so badly, she’d had to shave it all off. Those, she’d meant to throw away, but she’d never got around to it.

The sound of running water drifted in from the bathroom. Asen must have decided to take a bath before bed.

She’d just started to fall asleep when his shout woke her up: “Kosara!”

She sighed. “What?”

“There’s an old man in the bathroom!”

“What old man?”

“Tall, lanky, with a long white moustache and a beard. Naked.”

“You can see him!”

“He can see me too!” A pause, and then, “I’m naked as well!”

“That’s the bathroom spirit. Don’t worry, he’s friendly.”

“The bathroom spirit?”

“He lives in the bathroom. He likes the warmth.”

“Does he have to look at me like that?”

“You can try asking him to give you some privacy.”

Silence. Kosara waited for a couple of seconds before she asked, “Did it work?”

“It worked!”

She shut her eyes again.

“Kosara!”

She opened her eyes. “What?”

“There’s an old woman in the kitchen. She’s got a very big rolling pin.” He paused. “Is this a kitchen spirit?”

“Yes.”

“What should I do with her?”

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