by Michael Todd
Misty’s eyes twinkled. “She better. Come on in. Who’s this you have with you?”
Damian slapped the trainee on the back. “This is Max. He is studying under me and will be joining the church’s demon exorcising team once he is good and ready. For now, he is shadowing me and assisting whenever I need some help.”
The guys walked in behind her, and Max closed the door. He looked around the room. It looked like it used to be some sort of small warehouse with separate rooms, but she had turned it into an apartment and workspace. She had strings of large-bulbed lights strung through the ceiling rafters, different tables full of random items everywhere, and pictures on the walls. He leaned forward and stared at one of them. It was a map, but not just any map. It showed one of the catacombs beneath Vatican City. It was something he didn’t think anyone but the church had.
He looked at his mentor in shock. “She knows about us?”
Damian laughed. “Yes, she knows, and don’t worry—you can trust her. Misty—or Maps, as I like to call her—spends her days in a perfectly respectable job, making maps for whoever needs them. And by night—”
Misty tossed an apple in the air and caught it with a grin. “And by night, I turn into a vampire gangster.”
He sighed, then smirked. “By night, she is the girl to see if you need anything you can’t readily get your hands on by yourself. I met her at a coffee shop on the first day I got here.”
She took a bite of her apple. “Pops here paid for my coffee because I was short. I saw some old journal he was reading and got interested. Of course, he wouldn’t sell it to me, but that opened the lines. We ended up ditching the coffee and going for an early afternoon whiskey instead. He had my back when I needed it.”
Max watched as the two of them exchanged a glance. He wasn’t sure what else went with that story, but he knew that wasn’t all of it. He also knew from the way they both went quiet that he wasn’t about to ask.
After a couple of moments, Damian motioned toward him. “So yeah. Max is the new me, only young and stubborn.”
Misty put her apple down and giggled. “I bet when you were our age, you were stubborn as hell too. I can see the crazy streak in you, old man. Don’t try to fool me. I may be young, but I’ve seen a lot in these twenty-something years. You may be a man of the cloth, but you know what the boundaries are, and you push them until they are about to burst.”
He grinned. “You know me all too well, Maps.”
She skipped across the floor, straight for Max, and stopped barely inches away from him. He stood up straight, trying not to look nervous though his heart was beating out of his chest. She leaned forward and squeezed his cheeks. “Are you one of those creepy red-eyed freaks like Pops?”
With his cheeks squeezed together, he simply nodded, unable to think of what to say. Misty clicked her tongue and let him go, turning and bouncing away. He relaxed his shoulders and let out a deep breath, rubbing his cheeks.
Astaroth laughed loudly. Careful there, priest. Your heart isn’t supposed to beat like that for a woman. I think you just rethought your vows in about fifteen seconds.
He rolled his shoulders. Shut it. She just caught me off guard.
The demon scoffed. Oh sure, and your dick too.
She grabbed a large glass ball from the table and turned to toss it straight at Max, who caught it by startled reflex. “Pops here is right. I am able to find pretty much anything you need if I don’t already have it. When it comes to people, they take a bit of time. I don’t store those in my closet very often.”
Max shuffled his feet nervously and put the ball back down. Misty smirked, seeing both his nerves and the way he looked at her. She could tell he thought she was pretty, which was screwing with his mind really bad.
Idly, she ran her finger through the dust on one of the shelves. “In all seriousness, I can find people, information on people, business dealings, cults, etc. I also track down rare books, rare and not so rare maps, and pretty much anything else that you can think of. Sure, I know you’re thinking it’s probably illegal. I want to point out that it’s only sometimes against the rules. It’s not like I find plutonium for Russian terrorists. I only deal with small stuff.”
He lifted a hand. “I don’t need to know the details.”
She closed one eye and bit her tongue, pointing her finger at him. “Damian, you found yourself a smart one here. The less he knows, the less likely he is to be in trouble. I like him. Good job, Maximus.”
His face fell. “It’s just Max.”
Misty ignored him, turning toward her things and opening a chest of weapons. Damian looked at him with an entertained smile on his face. She pulled out a gun and cocked it, pointing it at the ceiling. “I also supply weapons, mostly the untraceable kind. I can get the special ammunition or the regular, but I don’t sell special to anyone with red eyes. It’s simply a policy of mine. Except, of course, Pops here, but he doesn’t buy weapons from me.”
Max glanced from one to the other. “Why not?”
Her face dropped, and she put the gun back in the box and closed it loudly. “Because he gets all his bad-ass weaponry through some secret channel. He’s a very mysterious guy for a priest, but nothing surprises me anymore. I personally don’t like selling weapons. It’s risky, but we do what pays the bills.”
Misty walked to a chair and sat down, crossing her hands over her knees. “So, enough chitter chatter. I know this isn’t merely a nice visit for tea. What can I do you for, Pops?”
Damian nodded and walked over, sitting down across from her. “I wish it were only a friendly visit. That would make things a lot nicer, wouldn’t it? I have a job I need to do tonight. St. Benedict has been overrun by infected, and the leaders of the church are pretty much trapped there. The demons have taken over half the congregation and would love to have one of the leaders to sacrifice.”
She unfolded her legs and let her face settle into a serious expression. “That’s terrible. I know several people who go to St. Benny’s. I, of course, don’t because you are all a bunch of loons with your God stuff, but hey, I don’t judge.”
Damian cracked a tight-lipped smile. “Clearly. So anyway, I need information on the history of the church, a list of everyone who works there, and a blueprint of the facility, including any old underground tunnels. I know it’s a lot on short notice, but I will take anything that you have. We have a lot of people to save, and I need to go into this smart since it will only be the two of us.”
Misty shifted her eyes from Damian to Max and back again. A smile moved across her lips, and she jumped up from the stool, ran across the room, and threw open a large chest. She went from place to place, digging through piles, laughing to herself, and stacking up books and papers as she went.
The young man looked at his mentor who shrugged, stood up, and wandered around the room. Max turned around to look at the map of the Vatican again, but when he walked over, it was gone. He looked over his shoulder at Maps, who shook her finger at him. He couldn’t help but laugh to himself, finding her incredibly amusing and very off the wall.
They gave her several minutes, glancing quietly at her things as she searched and every once in a while let out a small shriek. After the third one, though, Max ignored it, knowing she was not talking to them. It wasn’t until she dropped a stack of heavy books on a metal table that he turned his attention to her.
She patted the stack, breathing heavily. “So, this is everything I have on the church. It will take you six months to go through all this.”
Damian walked over and looked down at the pile. “I have two hours before I have to get back and begin preparing.”
Misty sat down on the stool. “That’s what I thought. Take a seat. I’ll give you the CliffsNotes version of all of this, and you can take whatever you find pertinent.”
He complied. “Perfect.”
She pulled a single piece of paper from the top of the stack. “First of all, here is a list of all the people working at the church.�
��
Max was shocked. “You just had that sitting around?”
Misty blinked at him and pointed at the desktop computer in the corner. “No, I hacked into their system and got the list.”
Next, she pulled down a folded piece of paper and pushed several things out of the way. She unfolded the sheet to reveal a detailed blueprint of the church. “This includes the renovations they did in 2016. Down here, you can see the tunnels that lay beneath the church. I did a little reconnaissance because I like to have accurate shit. It was about a year ago, but I doubt much has changed since then.”
Damian looked at the different colors on the tunnels. “What do all these colors mean?”
Misty grabbed a marker and started to circle them. “Red: blocked, green: straight through, and this area is probably where you will find your friends hiding out. It’s like an old bomb shelter from World War II. That’s where they hid out when London was getting heavy fire.”
The priest wrote the information in his notebook. “This is perfect, thanks. What else you got?”
She pulled down a large leather-bound book and flipped it open. “So, these are the writings of one of the deacons dating back to the inception of the church in the 1600s. There is a lot of stuff in here, but apparently, this church, before it was completely finished, was a center for demon worship. They performed seances, cult ceremonies, sacrifices, the whole nine yards. When the church found out, they burned the whole place to the ground and started over on top of the ashes.”
Damian smacked his hand to his forehead. Max looked at them both, confused. “I don’t get it.”
His mentor looked at him. “A church is situated on holy, sacred ground. There are tons of tests done, history reviewed, and services performed before work starts. They rebuilt this church over the ashes of a devil-worshipping site, which strips away the holiness of the ground. If this information ever went public, people would demand bodies be exhumed from the cemetery. They would lose certification from the head church. It would be a mess, but it helps to explain why these demons are so drawn to the place.”
Max nodded. “And why they move so easily in there.”
Misty flipped the page. “Not necessarily. From these texts, the ground was blessed by the holy father himself. They should be good to go, but I’m assuming since it’s all make-believe, you are having an issue.”
Damian pulled an envelope from his pocket and handed it over. “One day, I’ll get you to one of my church services, Maps. You will start to believe. I promise.”
She snorted and withdrew the cash, sticking it in her bra. “I love ya, Pops, but keep dreaming.”
He gathered his things, and Misty walked them to the door. Damian gave her a big hug, and she pulled back, looking worriedly at him. “Keep safe out there, Pops. Call me later, and we can all grab a drink.”
“I’ll do that,” He replied.
Damian walked out, and Max gave her an awkward wave before jetting off back to the SUV. His demon laughed. Smooth move, buddy. Smooth move.
Chapter Fourteen
They pulled out of the alleyway and back onto the road, heading for the house. Max stared out the window, trying not to catch Damian’s eye. He knew he had acted like a clammed up thirteen-year-old boy back there, and there was no way that his mentor didn’t notice.
Damian cleared his throat. “That was really great information we got back there. I would be interested in reading more of that book, even though I didn’t have time today. It was strange to me.”
He turned his head. “What was strange?”
The priest’s lip twitched. “I thought a human being couldn’t get any quieter than when you first got to my house, but I was wrong. You almost crawled inside yourself when we went into Misty’s place.”
At that point, he was laughing, and Max rolled his eyes. “Hey, it was a weird place, and I knew we weren’t supposed to be there.”
Damian back-handed him lightly in the chest. “Come on. I wasn’t born yesterday. Seriously. You expect me to believe that bullshit? I know good and well that you thought she was cute. I can’t blame you. Misty is a bright and beautiful young lady. I do have the responsibility of reminding you, though, that you are a priest with the church. What you feel on the inside is between you and God, but you can’t even entertain the idea of anything romantic with her. You are part of the church. It’s one of the vows we take.”
Max shook his head. “You don’t need to remind me what the vows are. I was not the least bit interested. She took me off guard with her weirdness. That’s all.”
His demon laughed loudly. You are such a liar. I could feel every single emotion you had and let me tell you, your heart wasn’t beating in time with the music.
Ugh, just stop.
Astaroth was enjoying teasing him. Hey, I was incredibly picky when it came to the women I slept with on Earth. I can’t imagine being a member of the church and not being able to get laid. That sounds like hell. Yep, just like hell on Earth.
Max had enough. I said shut it. I mean it.
Damian glanced at him as he drove along, seeing the expressions on his face change as he stared down at the floor. It was obvious he was having a fight with his demon, but it was amusing to watch. He could still remember what Katie looked like when she was first Damned, standing in the hall of the barracks and arguing with Pandora in her head.
Don’t think you are any different there, big shot, Ravi reminded him.
When they got inside, Damian threw the books down on the table and pointed at Max. “Hey, go get changed into some workout clothes and meet me upstairs in the gym.”
He looked up at the ceiling. “We have a gym?”
The priest shrugged. “Kind of. It’s more like a thirty-something mom’s home gym, but it will work for what we have to learn. Hurry up, though. We are running out of time, and I need to know that you can at least defend yourself against these demons.”
Max put his books down and headed to his bedroom. He pulled open his drawers and finally found a pair of shorts and a T-shirt. As a priest, he wasn’t used to doing a lot of physical activity. It really wasn’t in the requirements. He knew he would eventually have to do some training in their line of work, but workout clothes weren’t something he had stocked up on.
When he was done getting dressed, he stood in front of the mirror, staring at himself. “Dang, I’ve gotten kind of skinny. Gonna have to work on that.”
Astaroth scoffed. Yeah, and those white tube socks will get you there fast.
He looked down at his old tennis shoes and his pulled-up socks. I gotta go with what I have, dude. I’ll get other stuff later. Besides, who is gonna care? Damian? I doubt he will care about my socks.
With that retort, he headed out of his room, looking up as he heard the scraping of furniture on the floor above him. He took the steps two at a time, stopping when he got to the hallway. The treadmill and all the weights now cluttered the area. Past the gym door was a bouncy exercise ball, three yoga mats, and a weight bench.
Max scratched his head. “Damian?”
His mentor poked his head out of the gym doors and immediately looked down at Max’s feet. “Nice socks.”
Astaroth roared with laughter. Told you!
He ignored them both. “I understand the need to maximize space, but I don’t think running on a treadmill in the hallway will be very comfortable.”
Damian shook his head. “We don’t have time for you to cardio out today. I know you haven’t done any training since boot camp, so I am here to teach you defense and a bit of offense for tonight. I needed the space in here. We’ll figure out the rest when we get back. Come on. Help me with this mat.”
Max shook his head and walked down the hall to the gym, then stepped inside. The older man picked up a large blue mat and threw it down in the center of the floor. He nodded and pointed at it. “Unfold that. It’ll keep you from hurting yourself when you fall.”
He grunted slightly as he unfolded the mat and spread it o
ut, still not sure what he was in store for. “So, a couple of hours of this, and you think I will have a chance tonight?”
Damian laughed. “No, but at least I know you probably won’t die. Now, take six laps around this room to warm up your heart.”
Max narrowed his eyes. “This room is like fifteen feet by fifteen feet.”
His companion waved his hand. “Yeah, it’s only to get your blood pumping.”
He sighed and took off, running as fast as he could around the room. After about the third lap, he felt a little dizzy but kept going, knowing that eventually, they would get a bigger space for working out. When he was done, he stopped in the center of the mat and put his hands on his hips.
Damian looked up at him from his notebook. “Oh, good, you’re not even breathing heavily. Perfect. Now, before we start with any specific kinds of moves, I think it’s important that you know exactly what the most dangerous parts of the demon are. The number one spot is its claws. Those things may look like cat claws, but I can promise you, they are sharp as hell. I’ve seen them take a person’s intestines right out with one swipe before. It’s nothing to play around with, that’s for sure. Now, the second most dangerous part is their teeth. I think you saw the demon teeth from the painting in the house.”
Max grunted. “Yeah, those were vicious.”
His mentor tossed his notebook to the side. “They sure were. So, I’m going to show you a couple of moves to keep away from those two main spots. First will be the hands. As the demon is coming toward you, claws out, you wait until the last second and quickly step to the side. You then put your hands over and grip onto both arms, clamping them together. Then, twist your body around so that you are behind him, and the arms are up in front of its face. This will also keep the face away from you. I want you to try it on me.”
He took a deep breath and stabilized himself. Damian came toward him, his arms out, and Max spun to the side, only instead of simply shifting, he found himself face to face with Damian. “Okay, let’s try that again, and this time, keep your face out of the demon’s mouth.”