Page 37 of sWitch

“Hey,” I stumbled, almost fucking up my portion of the jump. “Is Fauna there?”

“She’s not in this week. Is there something I can assist you with?”

“Do you know where she went? I’m her girlfriend.” I put the call on speaker so I didn’t lose this puzzle for the team.

“If you’re her girlfriend, why don’t you know where she is?”

Joss chuckled between handfuls of fruity candy.

“Listen, dude, if you tell me where she is, I’ll make a sizable donation to the shelter. How about that?”

The young man scoffed. “How’s that help me?”

I sighed. “Alright… Do you have tattoos or piercings? I work at Skulls and Roses downtown. Come by anytime, and I’ll hook you up for free.”

Dogs barked in the distance as the dude considered my offer. “She said something about going to see her Gamma.”

Hope sprang in my chest. “Do you know where Gamma lives?”

Please be local, please be local, please be local.If Fauna moved or ran off to some faraway place, I would have simply lost my mind. It was killing me that I hadn’t heard from her in days. It was killing me to know I could have been helping her take down these bully bitches sooner. Why didn’t she ask me for help?

“Some nursing home on the west side.”

Trevor asked into the speaker. “Sunny Side Living? Or West Mount?”

The dogs barked louder. “The puppy got out of his crate—I have to go. Sunny Side sounds right.”

My phone flashed dark as the call ended.

“You going now or later?” Rollo asked, chopping the head off a troll.

Trevor awed. “Damn, dude, you’re a freakin beast in this game.”

Rollo did an imaginary hair toss. “I am, aren’t I?”

I answered my brother. “I don’t want to leave you guys, but I do want to check on her.”

“We’ve got this for a while,” Joss said before chugging an orange soda. “We’re almost to the sixth level of the moon core. We’ll need you for that, though. If we beat that, then it’s end game time.”

I awed. “I can’t believe we’ve made it so far. Alright, I’ll be back in an hour.”

Lennon tossed me my jacket as thunder clapped in the distance.

“Can I borrow your?—“

Lennon tossed me their keys.

I stepped over a pile of kittens and the various snack wrappers and kissed Len on the head. “You’re the best.”

The receptionist at Sunny Side Living flicked me a small glance before slowly unwrapping a piece of gum. Her sun-shaped name tag read Cheryl in bright blue letters. She slid open the glass divider and plopped her gum into her mouth. “How can I help you?”

“I’m here to see…Miss Belrose.” I leaned forward on my elbows.

Cheryl eyed me skeptically, raking her gaze over my tattooed arms, up to my snake bite piercings and messy wet hair. “Sorry, Sundays are family only.”

“Oh, I know. I am family,” I lied. “I am…Fauna Belrose. I come here all the time. It’s like a second home to me, really.”

Cheryl clicked her gum between her teeth. “Your name is…Fauna?” She eyed my getup suspiciously.

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