Strangely enough, the couple didn’t seem to notice anything unusual about my appearance.
“The nearest town? That would be Blut. It’s not far, we just came from there. It’s got a pretty wild night life, if you’re into that kind of thing.”
There was something about his mouth that nagged at the edges of my mind. Unfortunately, I couldn’t look at it directly without breaking eye contact, so, buoyed by my apparent acceptance, I pushed ahead with the conversation.
“Actually, I’m not too big on night life. I’m trying to run down an old friend of mine I’ve lost touch with. Is there a post office or a police station in Blut I could ask at?”
“Better than that,” the man laughed. “The one you want to talk to is the Dispatcher. He keeps tabs on everybody. The third warehouse on your left as you enter town. He’s converted the whole second floor into an office. If he can’t help you, nobody can.”
As vital as the information was, I only paid it partial attention. When the man laughed, I had gotten a better look at his mouth. His teeth were….
“Look at his teeth!” the girl gasped, speaking for the first time.
“My teeth?” I blinked, realizing with a start that she was staring at me with undisguised astonishment.
Her companion, in the meantime, had paled noticeably and was backing away on unsteady legs.
“You … you’re … Where did you come from?”
Trying my best to maintain a normal manner until I had figured out what was going on, I moved forward to keep our earlier conversational distance.
“The castle on the hill back there. I was just….”