There Will Be Blood

by Michael Todd

  20

  Timothy yawned, covering his mouth as they watched the screen. He glanced at Sean. “Do you miss going into the action like Rambo?”

  Sean shrugged. “Sure, a little bit. But I’ve still got a part to play, and I want to be what I am supposed to be, not amped up by a demon.”

  Timothy chuckled and looked up as a red dot appeared on the screen. He leaned forward and narrowed his eyes. “That’s Kabbus. He’s moved locations.”

  Sean furrowed his brow. “Where is he?”

  Timothy shook his head, typing as the screen zeroed in on the location. He stood up quickly, knocking his chair over behind him. “Shit. That’s here. He’s here.”

  Turner rubbed the side of his face and shook his head, goosebumps running up and down his arms. “It was terrible. You should have seen it. There were these little green goblins. They were everywhere. They were giggling and screeching, and then my dick…”

  He looked up at Pandora with sincere worry. “My fucking dick.”

  Brock sat down on the curb, his face sullen and lost. “There were so many of them. My life’s work. The most amazing piece I have ever written. The piece I had been trying my whole life to find, and nothing. They hated it. They hated me. They could have killed me at that point. There were so many of them. They were everywhere.”

  Eddie reloaded his gun and looked through the scope. “It was like the bullets had a mind of their own. They went everywhere but where I aimed. Then there was the woman. She was so scared. So scared, and I killed her. It was an accident, but I killed her right there in the street like an execution.”

  Eddie put his head in his hands and began to sob. Pandora stood with her hands on her hips, watching the guys. “I need to get you guys back together. This fight isn’t over.”

  She took a deep breath and pressed her palms together. Rubbing them fast, she pulled the energy from her chest, down her arms, and into her palms. When the light was bright enough, she pushed it out, aiming the full effects at the three guys. She held on to it for as long as she could before letting the leftover energy seep back through her body.

  The guys all looked up, Eddie confused as he wiped his tears. They walked over to Pandora and nodded. “Thanks for that. That was terrible.”

  Pandora squeezed Eddie’s shoulder while she looked at the other two. “We have to move, and fast. Are the three of you okay to keep going?”

  They all nodded and pulled out their guns, double-checking that they had ammo. Brock took a deep breath. “Let’s do this.”

  Pandora smiled. “All right. Stay close, and remember, don’t let your mind get away from you.”

  She gritted her teeth as she used every ounce of her energy to open a portal. She was damn glad she had been practicing since Katie was nowhere to be found. She looked at the open space in front of her and breathed heavily as she stepped through, allowing the guys to follow her before closing that portal. They stepped quickly into an alternate dimension, looking around.

  Pandora raised an eyebrow. Everything there was spotless, and even though she had not seen that part of the city, it looked very familiar to her. Standing on the sidewalk and glancing at the newcomers was a parade of beautiful naked people. Some sneered at them, while the rest looked at them both longingly and curiously. Everything sparkled brightly around them.

  Brock looked at the people and then at himself, making sure he was still fully clothed. He leaned forward, clearing his throat. “Uh, Pandora? This is an alternate universe, correct? I’m not in another dream, am I?”

  Pandora closed her mouth, having let it drop open when they first stepped through. She swallowed and glanced back at the guys. “Nope, this is definitely an alternate universe, and it happens to be one I’ve been to a couple of times before.”

  Turner turned his head, watching a beautiful redhead walk by. She glanced over her shoulder and winked. “Why does that not surprise me in the slightest? I feel like we may be overdressed for this occasion. Should I begin to disrobe?”

  Brock put his hand on Turner’s as he reached for a button. “In case you hadn’t noticed, this is a dimension of beautiful naked people, not creepy, hairy, naked people. You might get us thrown in some kind of prison if you do that.”

  Turner narrowed his eyes at Brock. “You are no fun, not even a little bit. Is this what we get when you have a girlfriend?”

  Brock patted him on the shoulder. “This is what you get when I’m looking out for your safety and our eyes.”

  Eddie was ignoring everyone, standing a few steps away and watching everyone who passed. “Woah. Where the hell are we, and can we please stay here, just for a little while?”

  Pandora snickered. “This is my happy place.”

  She opened another portal and grabbed Eddie by the collar. “And no, we cannot stay. Remember, we have to save our friends, planet Earth, and all humans? You know, the ones who are facing a Nightmare Leviathan?”

  Eddie sighed. “If only I didn’t have any morals or a conscience. This would be the place for me to call home. I wonder if we could vacation here?”

  Angie and Juntto stood in front of the jet in the hangar bay, looking around at the crew trying to prep the plane as fast as they could for take-off. They had just finished the routine maintenance when they had gotten the call to fuel up the jet. Juntto set his heavy bags of Juntto-sized weapons on the ground with a clunk.

  One of the crew members walked by, and Angie reached out to clutch his arm. “What are we looking at here? We need to get in the air.”

  The crew member nodded with a serious expression. “We’re finishing up the fueling now. Shouldn’t be more than ten, maybe fifteen minutes. We are going as fast as we can.”

  Angie gave him a forced smile and nodded her head. “Of course you are. Sorry, it’s kind of our job to push people.”

  The guy patted her hand. “I know. I’ll grab you both when it’s ready.”

  He walked off and Angie looked up at Juntto, making sure he didn’t take the whole grabbing comment literally. Normally she would have to explain that he hadn’t meant it in the literal sense of the word, but she realized that he hadn’t even heard the guy. He was staring out of the hangar with a very worried look on his face.

  Angie rubbed his huge arm. “Juntto, are you all right? I’ve seen you worried before, but never to this level. Katie is there. She is keeping things under control.”

  Juntto let out a deep sigh, shrinking as if he were deflating. He turned to Angie and looked her in the eyes, taking her hands. “When I was a young boy in my dimension, we heard all the stories of our people. Some were bright and heroic, and some were sad but taught important lessons. Then there were the ones that gave us kids dreams that would wake us through the night. There was a story about the Nightmare Man. It was about the things that came in the dark. The creatures that lurked close, pushing you into your darkest nightmare and then draining your body dry of not only your fear but your soul as well.”

  Angie swallowed hard. “We all had stories like that. For us, it was the boogeyman.”

  Juntto wrinkled his nose. “He came for your boogers?”

  Angie giggled. “No, it was like your story, only humanized.”

  Juntto nodded, flashing back to his memories again. “This Nightmare Man… He was the worst of all of them. As warriors we feared very little, knowing our weapons and our sheer strength could overcome any foe that tried to attack us. But this one…he was different.”

  Angie furrowed her brow. “How?”

  He took a deep breath, glancing down at his weapons. “Because the Nightmare Man was a thing that no sword could kill and no shield could protect you from. He killed you all right, but not before he took over your mind.”

  Angie bit her lip, watching Juntto’s frightened face. Her phone buzzed in her pocket, making her jump. She let go of Juntto and reached in, pulling it out. “It’s a text from Timothy.”

  She opened the screen and looked at the message, her face going pale. She reach
ed up, shaking Juntto’s arm. “It says, He’s here. He’s here. The Leviathan is, and it ends there.”

  Juntto’s face fell and he turned, pointing at one of the crew. “You. How long a flight is it from here to Vegas?”

  The guy thought about it for a moment. “About six hours.”

  Juntto turned back to Angie with frustration on his face. “Six hours is too long. They could all be dead by the time we got there, not to mention that the pilot could be affected and crash the plane right into the base. We have to figure out another way to get there.”

  Angie was stunned, still staring at Timothy’s message. Juntto grabbed Angie by the shoulders and shook her slightly. “Angie. I need you to stay with me right now. Our friends and family are in danger. I can’t have you freezing up.”

  Angie took a deep breath and nodded. “Right. Sorry. It’s just…it’s such a cryptic message, and it cut off. We need to get there. Okay. I’ll call Katie. Maybe she can portal us in. She has to know that he is there.”

  Juntto nodded as Angie pulled out her phone. “How did it get from Utah to Vegas so fast? As far as I know, it doesn’t have teleportation powers.”

  Angie shook her head as she pressed Katie’s number and put the phone to her ear. “I don’t know, but we have to do something.”

  Katie turned the corner in the training barracks and ran down the hall, pulling hard on all the doors. No matter where she turned, she couldn’t seem to find a single soul. She knew they had to be there, but where? She turned and headed back out, taking off across the courtyard and heading over to the armory. It hadn’t been put on lockdown yet, so that had to mean they didn’t know what was going on.

  Katie flung open the doors and looked around, but there was not a single person inside. All of the machines sat perfectly still, and open boxes of ammo lingered like they had been abandoned. She backed out, rubbing her hands over her face. “Think, Katie. What is going on?”

  Suddenly her phone rang, and she patted her pockets until she found it. She felt like she was in slow motion, her emotions hanging in the wind. She pressed the Answer button. Angie’s voice spilled through the speaker. “Katie! It’s Angie! Come to the airfield in New York and get Juntto. The Leviathan, it’s at the base. I got a text from Timothy.”

  Katie looked around, not saying a word. Angie cleared her throat. “Katie? Are you okay?”

  The sound of Kabbus’ tentacles slapping against the smooth floors inside the base echoed like bare feet on a wet floor. The fog cascaded both in front and behind him, searching out any of the people still on the base. He didn’t sense their fear just yet, meaning he had made it inside without anyone knowing he was there. That was exactly what he needed—a sneak attack so that everyone would be down before they even had a chance to fight back. Katie had played perfectly into his scheme.

  Stephanie leaned back against the pillow on their bed. Korbin slid in at her feet, pulling them into his lap. “I find it thrilling that even as a badass mercenary, you still find time to paint your toenails.”

  Stephanie laughed. “I just did it before you came home.”

  Korbin smiled. “Sorry. It was busy at the fort, and I lost my polish.”

  Stephanie smiled. “So where is the next fort going to be put up? I’m expecting they will be all over the world, and will eventually be a mainstay in most places. Hopefully even in small towns.”

  Korbin nodded. “That would be preferable. They would really protect small towns well. As far as the next ones, we are looking into Russia. I thought somewhere in the islands, but it’s also looking like possibly Brazil, which is at least warm. We will see. I just want to make these people safer and to make their lives a little better when they go to sleep at night. Wherever I go next is going to be right, because regardless of the geography, they are going to need the fort. I guess that’s all that matters.”

  Stephanie nodded, rubbing her hand over her chest. She cleared her throat and pulled her feet out of his hands, sitting up cross-legged. He looked at her, confused. “Are you all right?”

  She cleared her throat again, pressing her hand to her chest. She got up from the bed and walked in a circle. “Yeah. I just feel so…so…”

  Korbin watched her as she turned around, her eyes flashing red. He stood up. “What’s wrong?”

  Stephanie pursed her lips. “I just don’t understand why you feel you have to be away all the time. You could send someone else to do this. You come back here thinking it will be all fine because you are visiting. Well, that’s fucking bullshit. Sending me flowers? Fucking bullshit.”

  Korbin rubbed his chest, his brow lowering. He pointed at Stephanie, narrowing his eyes. “Really? Well, that’s just typical of you to say that. It’s fucking typical of you to play the me me me card, isn’t it? I want to help other people, and there you are, trying to control every aspect of my fucking life. Would you like to dictate my bathroom schedule? When I take a sip of water? When I breathe?”

  Stephanie gasped. “Oh, okay, so now it’s me being selfish. Turn it around on me.”

  Korbin scoffed. “Can’t turn something around if it’s only facing one direction.”

  Stephanie rolled her eyes and laughed. “You idiot, you can too. Good lord, how do you even know which way to point the fucking guns on your precious forts? I…I…”

  She gritted her teeth and looked down at her shaking hands. Her eyes shifted around the room and back to Korbin’s face. He looked at her angrily, putting his hands on his hips. “Well? You what?”

  Stephanie put up her hand and shook her head. She could feel fear building in her chest. It was so powerful that she was on the edge of letting it take her over. “Do you feel that?”

  Korbin looked her up and down. “Feel what?”

  Stephanie walked over to him and put her palm flat on his chest, taking his hand and putting his on hers. “The fear. It’s bubbling up more and more with every second that passes. We aren’t really angry at each other. We are arguing out of fear—fear that wasn’t there just two minutes ago. We were having a normal conversation and then there it was, erupting like a volcano.”

  Korbin’s face began to relax as he realized that what she was saying was true. He put his other hand over hers and shook his head. “This isn’t us. We don’t ever speak to each other in this manner.”

  Stephanie shook her head, looking at him sadly. “This is what Katie was talking about. It’s what she was warning us about. We’re experiencing our fears and manifesting them into anger, arguing with each other. It’s turning us against one another.”

  She stood there for a moment, grasping her chest, her breathing picking up. Her head shot up, and she looked Korbin in the eyes. “He’s here. Kabbus is here.”

  She turned to run for the door but Korbin grabbed her arm, bringing her in. He put his hands on her face and kissed her softly. “No matter what this beast brings, no matter how it makes us feel, we need to stay strong. For us. For the base. For our family here.”

  Stephanie nodded in understanding. “Right. Of course. For our lives.”

  He let go of her, and she ran to the door. Looking back at Korbin with love in her eyes, she slammed her palm against the panic button on the wall, activating the emergency alert. Immediately all the red lights began to blink, and a siren blared overhead. She pulled her phone out and dialed the tech room, tapping her foot as it rang. After a few moments, she slowly lowered it, looking at Korbin.

  She blinked several times. “There’s no answer.”

  The alarm blared across the base, breaking the silence and pulling everyone from their heads. War had come to them. A war of the mind.

  21

  Doctor Ozu put out his hands, He was sitting on the edge of the desk. “Take dinosaurs, for example. We have been trying to extract their DNA for decades. Making attempts to replicate long since extinct animals. It is difficult because their DNA had that different link. However, we have recently realized that we can work backward from living creatures like chickens. Unfo
rtunately, with the Leviathan, we don’t have samples. If we did, we could not only replicate but alter, creating forces for defense.”

  Sofia and Calvin glanced at each other and back at Ozu. “Wouldn’t that be dangerous? I mean, why would we want to bring unpredictable creatures here?”

  Ozu shrugged. “Personally, I don’t. But you have to understand the mind of the defense world. To create a creature that could do, say, three times the killing of Juntto but has never gone through the negative aspects of his time on Earth? It would be pivotal to defense efforts.”

  Sofia smiled. “That’s really amazing, that in such a short time span compared to how long humans have been alive, we have become that scientifically capable. I would have thought it would have taken much longer.”

  Dr. Ozu chuckled. “That, my dear, is only the tip of the iceberg in genetics. We are seeing breakthroughs no one ever thought possible. You know, if you are interested, I could help arrange an internship. They…”

  Suddenly Dr. Ozu stopped speaking and stared off in the other direction. Sofia looked that way and then back at him, unsure of what he was staring at. Calvin stood up, peering around. The doctor was acting very strange, and it seemed to have come out of nowhere. Calvin walked forward and put his hand on the doctor’s shoulder. “Are you all right?”

  Ozu got off the desk and took a couple of steps forward, one arm crossed over his chest and the other pointing at the desk. “Did you see that? There was a…”

  Sofia smiled. “Yes? What was it?”

  The doctor rubbed his hand over his chest and took a step closer. He narrowed his eyes and went down on one knee. Calvin and Sofia watched him warily. He crept slightly forward, his eyes growing frantic. Suddenly he jerked away, falling on his back and throwing his hands all over the place. Sofia gasped and Calvin stepped in front of her as he flopped around, finally jumping up and crawling onto the desk. He sat on all fours, his eyes combing the floor and then looking up at the ceiling.