by Michael Todd
Katie eyed the abandoned cop cars. “Either hightailing it the hell out of here or in the demon’s bellies. Who knows, at this point?”
Pandora rolled her eyes. “Capitol police. They are supposed to be tough.”
Katie shrugged. “In their defense, they are trained to take down criminals, not demons. But that’s not why I’m hovering. You think we can close that portal with our angel powers? It is never going to stop raining flaming ballsacks if we don’t.”
Pandora looked over and shrugged. “Shit, let’s give it a fuckin’ whirl.”
Katie nodded. “We have to get a little closer. It’s too high to really see the formation from here.”
Pandora smiled. “Not a problem. Hey, frost giant!”
Juntto slammed his fist down, crushing a demon, and looked at Pandora. She grinned at him. “Clear us a path, will ya? We gotta get closer to the portal!”
Juntto smiled and nodded happily before pulling out his gun and turning toward the demons that were blocking their path. He opened fire, moving his gun upward as he mowed down the demons. One demon was huge, so Juntto paused, tearing the beast to shreds with his special bullets. He let off the trigger and grinned.
Pandora nodded. “Good work, buddy.”
Pandora and Katie flew forward while looking up at the portal. Katie pointed, making an oval with her hands. “You see the edges? They are shimmering.”
Pandora nodded. “Yep. Focus on that. Remember, it’s not much different than opening; just reverse it.”
Katie nodded. “I got it. Use my powers to imagine closing it. It’s going to take both of us, though.”
Pandora beat her wings, going higher in the air. As she did, she shrank her body back down to Katie’s size. Reaching out, Pandora smiled. Katie smiled back, her eyes flashing bright blue as she clasped Pandora’s hand. They both shuddered, their chests pushing forward and light rippling around them. They focused, the vibrations of their angel magic rippling from one chest to the other, connecting them and their powers. Their light shone brighter and brighter and Katie clamped her eyes closed, imagining grasping the edges of the portal.
They both screamed as the portal shrank before snapping shut, spraying the lawn with sparks. Pandora and Katie let go, hanging from their wings, their magic keeping them in the air. They both breathed heavily after the light dissipated and they saw nothing but clear night skies where the portal had been.
Juntto cheered, pumping his fist. The demons left on the ground all stopped and looked at each other, completely stunned and shocked. They hadn’t even had a chance to try to make it back through. The ones that had fanned out to the neighborhoods started coming back to the Mall to regroup with their fellows and Juntto chuckled, pulling his spear from his back. The special metal shone brightly under the moon, and he let out a battle cry as he charged toward them, ready to finish the mission.
Katie and Pandora were exhausted after cleaning out the remaining demons; they needed some energy to pick them up. They dragged themselves down nine city blocks on 18th Street, took a right on K for two blocks, turned left on N Street NW for another six blocks, then headed down New Hampshire, across Dupont Circle, and a half a block down Connecticut Avenue. When they finally saw the sign for Krispy Kreme, Pandora let out a muffled shriek.
She glared at Katie. “I told you we should have taken a cab.”
Katie shrugged. “And miss the beauty of Washington DC? Pfft. You’re fine.”
They walked through the door, and Pandora groaned. “Great. It looks like it was affected by the EMP all the way out here.”
The girl behind the counter smiled and waved. “Yeah, we’re waiting for the power to come back on. Everything is kind of at a standstill. If you don’t mind eating by candlelight, though…”
She pointed to the seating, where they had lit tea lights at every table. Pandora shrugged. “Well, shit, it’s like a dream come true. A romantic date at Krispy Kreme. I’m telling you, if more men did this, they would be snagging bitches right and left.”
Katie shook her head, walking up to the counter. “But then they would have stage-five clingers. No man gets out of a date like that unscathed.”
Pandora nodded. “You are too right, my friend.”
They looked down at the showcase and wrinkled their noses. The girl behind the counter sighed. “Yeah, sorry about that. We don’t get many people in this late, so we were just getting ready to start the new batch of donuts when the power went out. They are about a day old, but I won’t charge you for them.”
Katie smiled kindly. “Not your fault. We’ll take four of the chocolate glazed.”
That sat down at one of the tables by the window and Katie pushed two donuts across to Pandora, who sneered. “Just two? That’s a total cock tease.”
Katie shrugged. “Hey, it’s something right now.”
Just then a Humvee pulled up out front and Katie and Pandora watched, exhausted, as General Brushwood stepped out, nodding at them through the glass. He walked inside, taking off his hat and putting it under his arm. “I figured I would find you two at the closest Krispy Kreme. It’s very romantic in here.”
Pandora scoffed. “Don’t get all sentimental on us, General. What are you doing here, anyway?”
He rolled his eyes. “Politics. I gotta make sure that the powers that be are all okay.”
Katie smiled. “And?”
The general shrugged. “Well, the first thing I did was call Timothy. You know, he usually has the answers for all of this.”
Katie laughed. “He did, didn’t he?”
Brushwood smirked. “Of course he did. He went ahead and sent some general directions over for how to handle the initial electrical issues, and he’s currently writing up a plan for the more secretive locations and places that store sensitive data to get up and running. He is in contact with all of them at this point. Much easier than going through me.”
Pandora shook her head. “It just baffles me that humans rely so heavily on these technologies but have no way to prevent the very weapons they create. I mean, they didn’t create a demon, but they have EMPs. I don’t know, I guess this was all a bit of a surprise.”
The general sat down. “You’re telling me! But my question is, why now? We went all this time with no incursions or demon attacks. So why now, out of the blue?”
Katie shook her head, wiping her mouth. “That’s a really good question. It took me by surprise too, but it could very well have something to do with the remaining Leviathans. They are looking for a way in at any cost, and the Leviathans, if they can control them, could be it.”
He sat back. “But they’ve been here this whole time. It’s not like they just dropped in now.”
Pandora swallowed her second donut. “Yeah, but right now, they are starting to wake up. I’m pretty sure it’s got something to do with all the demonic energy coursing through this dimension. That has a profound effect on those things.”
The general rubbed his face. “The big problem is, they are all so different. Even Doctor Thorough is struggling. He hasn’t been able to track the last few Leviathans. They are an enigma to him. We are trying to work with things we know nothing about.”
Pandora nodded. “That are not of this world.”
Brushwood sighed. “Exactly. From what the doctor tells me, they apparently all have had different genetic structures, and he assumes the remaining ones do as well. In order to track them, we would have to have some idea of what they are.”
Pandora shook her head. “I can’t help you there.”
He nodded and stood up. “Well, I figured that. Either way, I would like you two to be on standby with Juntto. I don’t want to find us having a repeat with only him here trying to take them out. That could be the end of him, and of the city.”
Kabbus made little sound as he moved through the woods to the edge of the forest. His tentacles writhed wildly as he peered around. Over the hill, he could see a sea of lights belonging to the closest town. He moved forward, sm
oke enveloping the world around him.
Down in the town, the people were either in bed or getting ready for it. In a small house on the edge of town, a mother squatted between two double beds, holding each of her twin girls’ hands. “It’s time for sleep. You have a big day tomorrow, so we can’t be up all night. I read you a story; actually two, because you are sneaky.”
The girls both pulled their blankets up. The mother rubbed her hand over one girl’s forehead and then the other’s. “It’s the middle of the night, girls. It’s time to shut your eyes.”
One of the little girls reached out and grabbed her mother’s hand, glancing at her sister. “But we’re scared.”
Her mother tilted her head. “Why? It’s the same old house, the same old room, and the same old moon you’ve always had.”
The other sister shook her head. “We’ve been having terrible nightmares. The same ones.”
Her mother sighed. “Now, that is just not possible. You are two different people. You must have told each other about your dreams, and now they are frightening you. They are just nightmares. They aren’t real.”
The first little girl shook her head, tears in her eyes. She clutched her mother’s hands tightly. “But these dreams are so real, and we had them at the same time.”
The other sister nodded wildly. “It’s true. There is a monster, and it’s trying to poke out our eyes.”
The first sister shivered. “It does poke out our eyes, Mom.”
The mother stood up, leaning over and kissing both of the girls on the forehead. She pulled the blankets up to their chins and shook her head. “That is just nonsense. There are no monsters. Now, I’m going to my room. You two shut your eyes and go to sleep.”
The girls tried to argue, but their mother shut off the light and closed the door behind her, shaking her head. She walked to her bedroom and flipped off the light, climbing back into her bed. She sighed and turned on her side, watching for a moment to make sure the girls didn’t turn the lights back on. Slowly her eyes closed, sleep overtaking her body.
Out of nowhere screams erupted, echoing through the house and through her head. The mother gasped, sitting straight up in the bed and clutching the covers to her chest. She blinked, looking in the doorway. Standing there were her two daughters, shadows shrouding their bodies.
The mother let out a sigh and turned on the light. “You two need to…”
She stared at them in shock as their eyes lit up. The eye sockets were empty and bloody. She covered her mouth, muffling a scream, and jumped from the bed. The girls left, slamming the door behind them and running down the hall.
The mother crept to the door and slowly turned the knob, her heart racing as she creaked it open. She slapped her hand against the wall and flipped on the hall light, but there was no one there. The sound of her daughters giggling faintly wafted from their bedroom. She clutched the front of her nightgown and swallowed hard, carefully creeping down the hall.
She collected herself and threw open the door, flicking on the light. The girls were there, fast asleep in their beds. She walked over to them and looked down; there was nothing wrong with their eyes.
Outside their home, slinking past the houses in the neighborhood, crept Kabbus. As he passed each home, the lights would suddenly flicker on and screaming would erupt. People all over the small sleepy town were awakening from nightmares that seemed all too real.
6
Korbin walked along the wall of the fort, examining the construction completed the day before. The soldiers and workers were just getting up and heading to chow, not having to report for another hour or so. Korbin couldn’t rest, though. He had woken several times through the night, a fearful feeling in his chest but with no memory of the dream he was shooting awake from. By four, he had gotten up and slowly made his way to the site.
Someone walked up behind Korbin and put his hand on his shoulder. Korbin jumped, turning around and grabbing his chest. “Soldier, you scared me.”
The soldier nodded. “Apologies, sir. I came to bring you news of the incursion.”
Korbin tilted his head to the side. “What incursion?”
The soldier stared at him for a moment. “Demons attacked Washington, DC. They did a lot of damage, but few people were killed. Katie, Juntto, and Pandora were there to rectify the situation. Either way, it looks like the demons are active again.”
Korbin sighed and nodded. “Thank you.”
The soldier left and Korbin jumped in the Jeep, heading back to the apartments. Calvin was up and getting ready for the day. “Why are you here so early, and why do you look like you saw a ghost?”
Korbin sat down at the table and Calvin plopped into a chair across from him. “There was an incursion in DC. Only a few lives lost, lots of damage, EMP from what I just heard, but the crew took care of them.”
Calvin rubbed his face. “That means they are back in action.”
Korbin nodded. “Romania isn’t ready for us. They don’t have the money for the whole thing yet. We need to figure out where to go instead.”
Calvin shook his head. “Right. There is no time to waste waiting for a country to be ready. We need to go where we can knock the fort out and keep moving. Russia and Brazil are two options, right?”
Korbin thought about it for a moment. “Yeah. Either can be ready within forty-eight hours for us to start their forts. Personally, I am leaning toward Brazil.”
Calvin agreed. “They are smaller and need the protection more than Russia. Then we can roll to Romania and back to wherever we should go next in Russia.”
Korbin sighed. “Yeah. They don’t have much in South America. It would be a good idea to have a fort down there and a team of Damned to help them any way they can.”
Korbin leaned back in the chair and tilted his head back, looking at the ceiling. Calvin stared at him for a moment, taking in his appearance for the first time since he had gotten there. He couldn’t help but notice just how exhausted Korbin looked. He had bags under his eyes, and they no longer shimmered with determination when he talked about things.
Calvin pursed his lips and tapped his fingers on the table. “There is no hiding it, dude—you look absolutely exhausted. Don’t try to deny it. You have been going nonstop for months now. You are the only one out of all of us who has not taken a break, except maybe Katie, but she has superpowers. On top of that, you haven’t seen your wife for a really long time, and I now know from experience that that can weigh on you more than anything else.”
Korbin chuckled. “It’s funny how when you are single, you can keep going like nothing in the world could stop you. Become one with another person, and it’s almost like when you are away from them, you only have half of yourself.”
Calvin smiled, looking down at the table. “It is funny how that works. I feel that way constantly. I feel recharged and whole when she is with me, then I go somewhere alone, and it’s almost instantaneous that I no longer feel like I can take care of my own head. Personally—and I know you might want to fight me on this—I think you need to take a break.”
Korbin looked out the window at the fort and wrinkled his forehead. Before he could say anything against it, Calvin put up his hands. “I know you will say you can’t. I know you; that is your nature. But think about it this way: you can only keep going like this for a short time. What if you are like this and we have an incursion? Can you imagine fighting for your life right now when you can barely open your eyes?”
Korbin looked at him, then his eyes shifted down to the table. “I won’t argue about being exhausted. I can’t. It’s written all over everything I am doing right now. But we are in the middle of a build…”
Calvin smiled. “I know, and I’m not saying abandon it. The Paris fort is going to be up and running very soon, and I promise you, they have this under control. They laid the last stone last night. It’s all cleanup and setup, and they have been trained on that. Before we leave and jump head-first into the fort in Brazil, why not take some R&R
? I know for damn sure Stephanie would love to see you. You both need a reminder of what the hell we are fighting for.”
Korbin let out a long deep breath and put his hands on the table. “I think it’s the best damn idea you’ve ever had, and even though I want to fight you on it, I don’t think I physically have it in me.”
Calvin laughed. “So that is the secret to getting what I want! Just wear you the hell out.”
Katie put down the black card. “Thanks to the sharing economy, I can now make money renting out my… Jack, you go first.”
Jack, one of the Krispy Kreme employees, bit the side of his mouth, looking down at his cards. He pulled one from the deck and set it down. “Thanks to the sharing economy, I can now make money renting out my…foreskin.”
Pandora and Katie grimaced. Katie shook her head. “I will not be renting your foreskin.”
Pandora laughed, pulling out a card and laying it down. “Thanks to the sharing economy, I can now make money renting out my…anal beads.”
Katie wrinkled her nose. “Also not very hygienic.”
Jack laughed loudly, shaking his head. “What you got?”
Katie snickered and laid down a card. “Thanks to the sharing economy, I can now make money renting out my…inner demon.”
Pandora gasped. “How dare you! I am the pimp in this relationship!”
Katie shook her head. “Not when I gots to pay the bills, bitch. Ante up, or you’re getting the pimp hand.”
Everyone laughed, looking at the cards on the table. Katie took a deep breath as Juntto walked in the door. “Hey there, Frosty. We were wondering when you were going to show.”
He shrank and sat down in a chair, nodding at Jack, who was eyeing him fearfully. “Had to chase a demon off the lawn of the White House. Wrestled him down and speared him as the Secret Service came out.”