by Michael Todd
She headed around the side to where she had caught the gang earlier that week and landed outside the back door. She folded her wings in but left her angelic armor in place. She wasn’t sure why she was back there, but whatever it was, it didn’t give her a happy sunshine feeling in her chest. Katie knocked the chain off the back door and opened it, stepping into the darkness. She ran her hand along the wall and found the light switch. The lights came on one at a time, in order down the hall to the room she had originally kicked ass in.
She made her way down the hall and into that room, looking around at the scattered papers and the remains of the gang’s takings, still left behind from when the cops had come and arrested them all. There was nothing she hadn’t seen before, though, mostly trinkets and packs of cigarettes strewn everywhere. From the corner of her eye, she noticed something flapping and looked over to see a black curtain covering the doorway of a room she hadn’t seen before.
Carefully she walked over and gripped the curtain, taking a deep breath and yanking it down. The room was dark, with dark floors and walls. She clicked the light switch, but nothing happened. She took a flashlight a nearby table and clicked it on, shining it quickly around the room to make sure she was alone.
Feeling more comfortable, she walked forward to what looked like an altar covered in candles. She narrowed her eyes as she approached, looking at the melted red wax covering the wood. Small items were melted into the wax. Crow’s feathers, dead flowers, and what seemed to be a chicken foot. Katie backed up, shining the flashlight down on the floor beneath her. Sure enough, drawn in either blood or red paint was a pentagram. This was a Satanic altar, hidden in the shadows of the bowling alley.
Katie rolled her eyes. “Leave it to those fucking morons to not only pick a fucking bowling alley as their hangout but to be worshipping and possibly summoning demons at the same time. Seriously, where do these fuckers come from?”
She shook her head, realizing that no one was going to respond to her, and let out a deep breath. Biting the inside of her lip, she let a thought run through her mind. Normally this was where Pandora would put her two cents in, but since she wasn’t there…
Katie pulled her sword from her back, a flash of light sparking around her hands. She took a deep breath and shook her head as she raised the sword high over her head. She slammed it down hard, slicing the altar in half. Dried wax flew everywhere as she dragged the blade across the pentagram in the floor. She swung the sword to the side and slashed, scratching through the star and the hastily-drawn symbols beneath her feet.
Sparks flew from her sword as it scraped the cement. “Okay, you demon sonsofbitches. This is your chance. Your gang is all gone and can’t call on you anymore. I don’t know if you are causing hell or just have a tight squeeze on the other teams in the bowling league, but now’s your time to show your faces. I’m calling on you!”
Katie wasn’t sure if she’d done that right or not, but as soon as she went quiet, she stepped back, holding her sword in her hands in front of her and preparing for some sort of reaction. She turned, moving her whole body in one fluid motion. She spun to the other side, quick and direct, ready to strike if anything were to attack her. She waited, her eyes narrowed, staring around the room.
She took a step back, knocking over a chalice and turned, stabbing her sword into it. She realized she was killing inanimate objects and cleared her throat, standing up and letting her weapon hang in her hand. Pursing her lips, she glanced back and forth, putting her hands up.
She whirled around in a circle looking for any changes, but the only things that were different were the splintered pieces of wood and chunks of wax from the altar she had demolished. “Well, shit. Worth a try, I suppose,” she muttered to herself.
Katie sheathed her sword and pulled out her cellphone, scrolling through the numbers. She stopped on Travers and pressed Send, putting the phone up to her ear to hear him say, “This is Travers.”
Katie stepped out of the dark room. “Hey, it’s Katie.”
There was a lot of noise in the background. “Hey, hold on a sec. I’m at a crime scene.”
Katie stared around the room, waiting for him to come back. Finally, he answered. “Sorry about that. What’s up?”
Katie tapped her finger on one of the tables. “I’m at the bowling alley where we got the gangs. I was wondering if you knew who owned the place. There is some interesting shit hidden in this place.”
Travers let out a groan as he flipped through his notepad. “Uh. I don’t seem to have that information on me. I’m headed back to the station, and I’ll get back to you with that.”
Katie nodded. “Sounds good.”
Turner and Eddie tore down the steps to the bottom level. They hurried down the hall to Calvin’s room and knocked hard. There wasn’t an answer, so Eddie reached for the doorknob.
Turner put his hand on Eddie’s. “What are you doing? That’s Calvin’s private room.”
Eddie shook his head. “And Calvin’s private wife just looked like she was going to crab-walk upside down on a wall. I think we’ll be okay.”
They cracked open the door, but it was dark, and there was no one inside. They closed it and headed out of the barracks into the yard. They looked around, shielding their eyes from the blowing sand. Turner pointed to the training area. “Over there with Brock and Stephanie.”
They took off and came to a skidding stop in front of the three. Stephanie was in the middle of explaining a new piece of armor they were going to use. “It will go over on the left quadrant, and… Uh, you guys okay?”
Turner straightened up, and Eddie pulled down on his shirt. “Uh. Yeah. Can we see Calvin for a hot second?”
Calvin glanced at Stephanie and Brock and then turned, walking with the two of them a few feet away. He lifted his eyebrows. “What is this all about? You two look like you saw a demon in your toilet or something.”
Turner glanced at Eddie and elbowed him in the side. Eddie groaned and stared at Calvin. “We saw Sofia in the dining hall. She was…uh…acting really weird. Wearing only her nightgown, hair all over the place, shuffling around eating off of random people’s plates.”
Turner nodded. “And it might have just been the lights, but it looked like there was red in her eyes.”
Calvin’s expression changed, and he took off toward the barracks. He ran down the hall to his room and threw open the door, but there was no one inside. He turned and headed to the Comm room. “Timothy. Can you scan the grounds? I’m trying to find Sofia. It’s important.”
Timothy nodded and quickly began to type, looking at the security footage. “There she is. She’s at the armory door. What is that girl wearing?”
Calvin groaned and took off out of the building, booking it across the base to the armory. He didn’t know how in the world he hadn’t seen her come out there. When he got close, he slowed, putting up his hands. She had her head down, but her feet shuffled back and forth. He moved toward her, pushing her back into the corner alcove outside the armory.
Calvin narrowed his eyes, looking at her nightgown, which was covered in what looked like peanut butter, jelly, and some sort of soda. “Hey, baby. The boys told me you weren’t feeling too good. What are you doing out here in your nightgown with no shoes?”
Suddenly, Sofia’s head snapped up, her hair flying back from her face. Her skin was pale, and her lips dried and scabbed. She ground her teeth, and a low growl came from her chest. She blinked her eyes as they roamed up Calvin’s body to his face and they began to glow bright red.
Calvin shifted, his heart beating wildly in his chest. Her body twitched unnaturally and she screeched, putting her hands up like claws and lunging at him. “I’m going to gut you like a fish, you fucking meatsack!”
Calvin put up his arms, grabbing hers. “For fuck’s sake. How the fuck did this happen?”
He struggled for a moment, trying to get her arms pinned to her side. She hissed and wailed, pushing against him hard. To Calvin, it seemed t
hat whatever demon had infected her, it was struggling to be able to physically control her body and her soul at the same time. He couldn’t even believe what he was seeing. He had left her alone inside the base. How in the hell had a demon managed to get to her there? And why the fuck did they pick her?
At that moment, though, it didn’t matter. Sofia was the only one who could get control of her body. He lowered his head next to her ear, wrapping his arms tightly around her to hold her steady. “Sofia, I know you can hear me. I know you are still in there. The demon can’t handle your body and keep your soul pushed down. You need to fight. You don’t have to let this demon take control of you.”
She tilted her head up and screeched, the raspy hollow turning to a human scream and back to a growl. “That’s right, baby,” he said. “Keep fighting it. You have to fight with everything you have. If this demon keeps you down, you will die. I know it’s hard. I know. Fight this demon. Fight for our baby. Fight for me. Fight for our life together.”
Sofia broke free of his grasp and backed up, her hands clawing at her head. “Get….out…of… me.”
Her body turned hard to the side, bending backward slightly. The demon growled from within her. “Nooo. You must die, and your family will die too. He wills it!”
By then Stephanie, Brock, Turner, and Eddie had all run over, stopping a few feet away, not knowing what to do. Calvin clenched his fists and fell to his knees, putting his hands together. “Please, baby, keep fighting. I can’t fight this battle for you. This demon is trying to take everything you have. Think about the sunsets on our honeymoon. Think about making love. Think about the moment we looked at each other as husband and wife. Use those feelings, baby. Use them to push him out.”
Sofia’s body lurched and the demon screamed, but the growls quickly turned to Sofia’s voice. It sputtered out and she took in a deep breath, looking at Calvin. She swayed and he jumped up, grabbing her before she could fall. “Baby?”
Sofia opened her eyes, which were still red but not as bright. “Calvin, we really need to talk about your job.”
Calvin laughed, tears in his eyes. “Are you okay?”
Sofia stood up with Calvin’s help and looked down at her nightgown. “The demon’s name is Coco. I managed to put that motherfucker in timeout.”
Calvin chuckled, hugging her tightly. “See? You’re going to be a badass mom.”
23
It was daytime in Paris and the sun was high in the sky, warming the park next to Notre Dame. The recruits had been up since the crack of dawn, running drills, practicing moves on each other, and listening to the drone of the screamed orders from both Juntto and Pandora. They had been out there for hours, but no one was about to complain, not even the ones who had joined them that day.
Pandora had flipped the switch, no longer meek and throwing her own pity party. She had pulled her inner goddess out and was more than ready to whip those Damned into shape. The crew had just finished the fifth round of push-ups, and they were standing at attention, breathing heavily. Pandora stood tall next to Juntto, her eyes narrow, her body strong. Juntto smirked every time he looked at her, glad that the real Pandora had finally gotten her ass to the front lines.
Pandora had pulled in every ounce of confidence, remembering exactly the kind of warrior, both demon and angel, she had been through the years. She remembered the beasts she had battled, the situations she had survived, and the pure drill sergeant power she knew she had in her when she’d trained the demon army decades before.
Juntto stepped back as Pandora took a deep breath. She eyed every one of the troops, giving no one any chance to think they could be off their guard for even a second. “All right, you pack of pussies. I’m going to whip your motherfucking asses into shape. BATTLE-READY!”
The seven Damned immediately jumped into action, getting into defensive stances and using their fake wooden guns and swords to protect themselves. Pandora figured it might be safer that way; she really didn’t want to be “accidentally” shot.
She summoned her angelic powers, the crew flinching at the clap of thunder that echoed as her armor slapped onto her body and her sword appeared in her hand. She pushed the sword into its sheath and groaned as she grew her body to twelve feet tall. The soldiers looked at her with crazy wide eyes, never having seen anyone but Juntto do that, and definitely never an angel.
She stomped to the center of the training area and pointed at the first Damned in line. “Come at me, bro! Show me what you fucking got.”
The guy took a deep breath and sprinted as fast as he could straight at her. He lunged high into the air with his sword up, but before he could hit her with it, she swiped her arm to the right, knocking him to the ground. She turned as he jumped up and watched him with a smirk as he ran around to the back of her. He leapt on her back at an angle, which allowed her to grab him and slam him back to the ground. She pulled out her sword and put the point to his neck, staring him in the eyes.
“You have to be sneaky. You can’t just charge without thought. The little ones, yes, but the big ones pack a fucking punch. When you jump, latch your fucking legs around them. And jab small before going for the head cut. You want to draw their attention to the pain of the special metal, so they stop trying to pull you off. Then you can go for the kill shot. Got it?”
She put the sword away and helped the guy up, nodding to the next in line. One after another, the Damned mercs came after her, trying their best to get the upper hand. Whenever she was able to best them, she always gave them pointers afterward. She knew it would do no good to defeat them but not tell them how to fix the problem. To the side, Juntto stood with his arms crossed, laughing and smiling as he watched.
When the last person had taken his turn, Pandora shrank back down to her regular size. She stood in front of the Damned and clapped her hands. “That was good. Not good enough, but you know what you’re going to have to work on. You can’t fuck up like that in the field, or I promise you will die.”
Pandora turned to Juntto and pointed her sword at him. He stood up, surprised. “Yeah?”
Pandora smirked. “Grow huge.”
Juntto shrugged and clasped his fists, growing as big as he could without freaking out all of France. A shadow fell over the Damned and their eyes grew wide, staring up at him above them. Pandora laughed at their expressions, seeing just how terrified they were. “Now imagine he was that big but wanted to fucking kill you. We’ve faced multiple demons like that. Most likely, it will take more than one of you to kill it. I’ve only ever seen one Damned kill a demon that big.”
One of the Damned put his hand up. “Katie?”
Pandora smiled. “That’s right. And she had me on her side. So. Who’s gonna fight the big blue waffle over here? There is no need to be shy. He is adamant about not harming any of you on purpose. Mind you, I said ‘on purpose.’ He is pretty big and clumsy, and his brain does not fill that skull up there, let me tell you.”
Juntto furrowed his huge brow. “That’s not nice.”
From that high up and that huge, his words were deep and slow to come out. Everyone giggled loudly. Pandora snorted. “Way to show me there, Juntto. Maybe you could slow down since you’re talking too fast.”
Everyone laughed, but not for long; they didn’t want to piss him off. Pandora put her hands out. “Anyone?”
Someone yelled something, and Pandora put her hand to her ear. “What’s that?” She laughed, shaking her head. “Well, personally I would say that’s one mean-ass STD.”
Juntto growled, shaking the ground around everyone, and they all put their arms out to keep their balance. He shoved his huge finger into Pandora’s stomach. “I’m a warrior, not an STD!”
Pandora smirked, wrapping her arms around his big blue finger and squeezing. “Easy does it, Big Blue. Don’t want to get too wild just yet.”
Juntto straightened back up, huffing. Pandora clapped her hands and walked toward the first merc, pushing him forward. “The demons you’re going to fi
ght aren’t going to wait around. They aren’t going to make sure you are ready to fight them. Come on, people, let’s go!”
Korbin stood at the end of the long table in the dining hall at his office. All around him were members of the French government, staring down at the blueprints on the table. They were discussing the new fort and how well the construction was coming along.
Korbin stood up, patting one of the men on the back. “That’s right. This sucker is going to be really hard to knock down unless you have some fifteen-foot badass knocking on your door. And if that’s the case, you better deploy those Damned units, because they are the ones who will be able to knock them back.”
The building shook slightly, the chandelier above the table clanging around. The officials all stood up, staring at each other. There was another loud bang, and everyone slowly turned their heads toward the window. In the distance, they could see an enormous blue frost giant and a huge angel battling the Damned soldiers. There were soldiers flying everywhere, then getting up again and charging back into the fight.
Korbin smirked, covering his mouth and clearing his throat. The officials looked at him with wide eyes, and he nodded. “It’s a very intense training process.”
Pandora stepped into the training area, dropping an armload of swords and spears in the center. The Damned soldiers came over to pick out their weapon of choice. Pandora pulled her sword from its sheath and examined it. “Sometimes your weapon can be just as important as the demon giving you power from within, but you have to know how to use that weapon.”
Pandora and Juntto battled the soldiers carefully, using the sword and spears. Throughout the process, they made sure to talk them through it, giving them advice on how to fight without giving up their defenses. For the first time since they got there, the Damned were starting to look like actual mercenaries, and their body language showed that too. They were all really proud of themselves.