by Michael Todd
Timothy slapped his hands to his cheeks and began to scream at the top of his lungs. The high-pitched noise startled the thieves. They backed up a bit, unsure what to do. Nobody else was on the street. The mustachioed thief shoved his gun in Timothy’s face once again. Timothy immediately shut his mouth, letting a smirk cross his lips. The robber moved forward, pressing the butt of the gun to his cheek.
The thief looked at him with furious eyes. “Shut. The. Fuck. Up. You do that shit again, and I can promise you at least one of you is going home in a body bag. I think I would pick that beauty right there.”
The robber stared at Sofia, his smile nasty and jagged. “Give the girl something special before she makes her groom a widower, right?”
The women looked at one another. Angie looked scared. Stephanie was shocked. Pandora was gone, and in her place, Katie was expressionless.
Sofia spat in his face and let loose a stream of Spanish. “Usted sucio pedazo de basura del pantano. No tienes idea de quiénes somos. Estas señoras te arrancarán las pelotas y las empujarán por el culo.”
The thief wrinkled his nose. He had no idea what she was saying. Timothy started screaming again. The thief put his hands to his ears. “Enough!”
Timothy laughed loudly. “I’m just fucking with you.”
Angie’s scared face fell away, and she yanked a gun from her bag. Stephanie, Katie, and Sofia stepped forward.
Timothy sighed, looking at his nails. He glanced at the robbers. “I almost feel bad for you guys.”
Together the women rushed the poor, stupid thieves.
Morning light cascaded over the desert. A cold breeze blew through, waking the workers of the fall carnival from their slumber. All across the carnival’s camp, you could hear the sounds of the animals waking in their cages. Carnies loading up trucks and flatbeds filled the air. They were headed for their next performance and woke with the sun to get a move on.
There were carnies of all types, everyone pulling down tents and getting ready for a big move. There were ride operators, a strongman, a bearded lady, and about three dozen more freaks of nature, or curiosities, in the caravan. They had to work year-round to make ends meet. Now they were traveling south to Phoenix for the winter. They would set up shop there and enjoy the warmth.
As the workers packed their trunks into the trucks, Beelzebub ripped open a portal in the center of the Ferris wheel. He stepped out onto the metal platform and looked down at all the unsuspecting carnies below. A flood of demons rushed through behind him, the beasts snarling and growling as they climbed down the wheel and ran into the camp.
Beelzebub grabbed one of the demons by the neck. “Remember, no killing. I mean, not at first. You get it.”
He let the creature go, and it howled as it ran toward the humans.
14
Katie groaned as she rolled over in the bed. After a few failed attempts, her waving hand hit the alarm. Her head was pounding, and the room was still spinning. Hey, bitch. Why are you not saving me from this horrible hangover?
Pandora growled. Because the hangover has gone deep, my friend. I feel it, and I don’t even have a body. Lucifer’s balls, I must have drunk more than Juntto’s body weight last night.
Katie pulled herself to the edge of the bed and sat up. The world tilted, and her head throbbed. She grabbed a receipt from the nightstand and read the tab the bachelorette party had managed to accrue. The numbers didn’t help her hangover. I assume you drank the whole bar. This tab is thousands of dollars.
Pandora yawned. Hey, we party like rock stars.
Katie crumpled the paper. And now we meet Calvin in the dining room for breakfast like hungover college freshmen.
That’s not fair. If we’re acting like college freshmen, there should at least be a dumb, cute boy to kick out of bed.
Katie pulled on a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt and shuffled down to the dining room. Calvin was trying to open two boxes of donuts as he leaned on his crutches. He looked just as hungover as Katie. Katie snorted and fell into the chair. “You look as bad as me, and I’m nursing two people’s hangovers.”
Calvin chuckled and sat down. “I don’t think I’ve ever been that drunk in my life. Juntto is an animal.”
Katie scoffed. “As soon as Pandora stops spinning, hopefully she’ll take care of my hangover for me.”
Calvin went silent. He took a donut from the box and stared at it rather than eating it. Katie took one too but set it down. She grabbed a cup of coffee first, sipped the deep, dark brew, and let out a deep breath. She could see Calvin was lost in his thoughts. “What’s up with you?”
Calvin shrugged. “Honestly? I miss Marty. Not so much the company, but what the demon did for me. I was indestructible. A hangover was something to laugh at, but now I feel like I got hit by one truck and backed over by another.”
Katie patted his hand. “I’m sure that feeling will go away in time.”
Calvin looked at Katie. “Will it? I don’t think it will. God, Katie, I have mulled this over and over and still haven’t come to a conclusion. Everything in me wants to ask you to grab another demon for me. To put me back together like I was before. I don’t know how to live like a normal human being. What do I do with myself when all the excitement wears down and there is just quiet? Read a book? I don’t know how to do it.”
Katie was shocked. She hadn’t expected Calvin to feel that way about his demon. She figured he would be happy to live as a normal human for the first time in over a decade, but at that moment, he looked beat down, worn out, and desperate. There had been a time when they’d talked about having a normal life every day. That was something all Damned thought about at one time or another, but when given the choice, they almost felt powerless. They couldn’t imagine life without their demons.
Pandora cleared her throat and spoke very carefully for the first time in her life. Look at him, Katie. He is desperate to be himself again. He has had a demon so long that he doesn’t know who he is without one.
Katie sighed. Yeah, but he will figure it out. When you first become Damned, you don’t know how to live your life with a demon, but it comes to you. You learn. This is all fresh and new to him.
Pandora didn’t agree. Some men are made for this. Calvin is a badass, and he could be of use in the fight against demons. This war needs a man like Calvin.
Calvin could tell Katie was thinking. He put down his donut and leaned forward. “Look, you can do it, I know you can. I’ve seen you do it. You did it for Stephanie and Korbin when they decided they wanted to rejoin the fight, and you did it for Brock a few days ago. Granted, that was to save his life, but it shouldn’t be any different for me. I feel like I need to save my life.”
Calvin sat back. Katie looked at him for a few long moments, thinking about what he was asking her to do. She was torn. It was ultimately his decision, but she knew that he would regret it if it affected his relationship with Sofia.
Katie wiped her hands and let out a deep breath. “Calvin, this is a big decision. You were given a second chance at having a normal life. I know it’s hard to think about living the rest of your life without a demon, but that will fade. You will be able to do it and be happy in it. That being said, if you are sure it’s something you really want, I will do it for you.”
Calvin let out a sigh of relief. “Thank you, Katie.”
Katie shook her head. “Don’t thank me. I’m not done yet.”
Calvin looked at her sheepishly. “I should have seen that coming.”
Katie chuckled. “If you really want to go back to the fight, then yes, you need a demon. But is this really about the fight? Is it about the battle between humans and demons or is it about the battle with yourself? Are you uncomfortable because you are left with just your thoughts? If that’s the case, then you need to think about this some more. Life doesn’t give you second chances very often. You know as well as I do that when we become Damned, we assume that it will be until death do us part. For many of us that came sooner r
ather than later. It’s a big choice if you haven’t figured that out yet.”
Calvin’s hands dropped to the table. Katie picked up a donut and began to eat it while he mulled the decision. After a few moments, he slumped his shoulders and shook his head. “I want it, Katie. I do. I want to fight to save the world. I want to kill demons. I want to get rid of that silence in my head. I want all of that. But…”
Katie was relieved to hear a “but.” Calvin nodded, taking a sip of his coffee. “I want a life with Sofia more, and I don’t know if I can have both. Having a family and a marriage while battling demons? What’s that life like? Always being in danger, never being able to settle? That’s not the life I want to give her. She deserves so much more than that, so I guess I choose Sofia.”
Katie smiled and winked at Calvin. “That’s the right choice, Daddy.”
Calvin assumed it was Pandora speaking. “Thanks, Pandora.”
Pandora came forward to reply. “No problem, Big Papa.”
Calvin wrinkled his forehead. “Okay, that’s quite enough creepy sexual daddy references. It’s starting to make me feel like a weirdo.”
Pandora cackled out loud. “You better get used to it. Pops.”
Calvin faked a laugh but stopped. His eyes slowly rose to meet Katie’s. “Wait…”
“You’re going to hear that a lot,” Katie added and her eyes sparkled.
Calvin dropped his donut. “Do you mean…”
Sofia walked up behind the chair and leaned over to place her lips at his ear. “That’s right. You made the right choice. You’re going to be a father.”
Calvin’s expression went wide, and he struggled to his feet and hugged Sofia tightly. “I’m gonna be a dad. That’s fucking amazing.”
Timothy came stumbling into the room, red-eyed and groggy. He rubbed his forehead and held the iPad tightly in his hands.
Sofia laid her head on Calvin’s shoulder and winked at Katie. “I want you to be happy, I do. And if being Damned will do that, I won’t stand in your way. But I ask that first you think about us, and you think about this baby. You are being given the opportunity to be a father. How amazing is that?”
Calvin kissed Sofia’s forehead. “I would never go against that. I have wanted to be a father my entire life. I cannot turn my back on that. Being Damned with a family would be far too dangerous. I am going to be your husband very soon, and that is a huge responsibility. I am supposed to protect you and my children from any harm, and as a Damned I cannot promise that.”
Sofia put her hands on his face. “I love you. You are going to be the most amazing father ever. You don’t need a demon in you to be whole again. We are here to fill that space in your life. We don’t need a hero; you’re already one. We need you—just you.”
Calvin looked at Timothy and put his hands in the air. “I’m going to be a dad!”
Timothy lifted an eyebrow. “Wow. There is a lot of information rolling in right now.”
“I know, I can barely believe it myself.”
“Not that. I mean, that’s great, but there’s a lot of activity, is what I mean.”
Katie looked at the screen of the iPad and saw a blinking warning sign. “Timothy, what’s going on?”
Timothy looked down at the screen and jumped. “Oh, yeah. There has been an incursion close to the base. It’s out near an old highway about fifteen miles from here.”
Pandora pushed her way to the front. She slapped Timothy hard on the back. “Duty calls, drunk bitch.”
She sank back into Katie and went to work on her hangover. Katie whirled and stared at Calvin for a second. They didn’t have to speak. He put his arm around Sofia and smiled at Katie, giving her a nod. Katie grinned and turned, happy that Calvin had chosen to stay human. He was going to be a father, and that trumped the fight in all of their eyes. The Damned didn’t have that option, or at least the women didn’t.
Katie looked at Timothy, feeling relief as Pandora eased her hangover. “Are you getting any readings on the number of demons?”
Timothy pressed some buttons on his screen. “No. Actually, it looks like this happened a couple of hours ago, at least the first portal signature reading. But there are no heat waves. Then again, I’m not sure what the area looks like at this moment. The satellites are busy this morning. There could be a building, a covering, or any number of things keeping the satellites from reading the heat index. I would go prepared. If you don’t find anything, that’s even better.”
Katie nodded. “I want Joshua and the girls to be on high alert just in case. We know they know where we are. If this is a diversion, I don’t want you guys to be caught with your pants down. Alert the front security guards, and wake up Korbin and the rest. I don’t care how hungover they are. We need to be on our toes. Demons don’t just pop up for no reason.”
Timothy’s fingers danced over his tablet as he sent Joshua an alert. The lights in the building flickered as they always did when Timothy started the alert system.
Katie took off out of the room and down the hall, heading for her room. Time to gear up. Shit is going down.
Katie burst out of the doors of the barracks and covered her eyes. The sun shone brightly. She pulled out her glasses and slid them on as her wings spread wide. She sprang up and flapped them hard, which sent her racing through the sky. The guards watched her pass, dirt swirling around on the ground around them.
Katie spun and made her way as fast as she could to the incursion site. She told the others to remain on standby until they knew what they were facing. Until then, she was scouting. There was something in the distance. Katie circled the campsite, which had been torn to hell. Several carnival rides lay in pieces. The Ferris wheel was the only large ride still intact. It was swaying in the wind, still mounted on the back of a flatbed truck.
She slowed her wings, searching for any sign of demons. What the hell is this?
Pandora sniffed. Ugh, carnies. I had a run-in with some two lives ago. Not the nicest people to hang out with. They cheat at cards. But still, I don’t smell any demons, at least not any who are still there.
Katie lowered herself to the ground in the center of the site. Strange. Their animals are all still here, but there isn’t a soul around.
She walked up to a board full of ads for different attractions. Katie frowned at the pictures of clowns and old sketches of a bearded lady. I don’t like this at all.
No shit. It’s creepy enough to warrant burning it to the ground.
Katie shivered. For once I agree with you. There are no demons, no bodies, and no workers. It’s just an abandoned carnival.
Katie and Pandora took a tour around the place, checking out the different tents. There were belongings, empty beds, and full suitcases, but no carnies. Katie stepped out of the tent and put her hands on her hips. Nothing. So fucking weird.
Pandora groaned. God help us if there are demon carnies rolling around. I’ll shit my pants if I have to fight a demonized clown.
Katie chuckled, glancing down at her phone. “Oh, shit! We’re going to be late for the wedding!”
She pulled her phone out and dialed Korbin’s number. He answered in a raspy voice, “What does it look like?”
Katie glanced around. “Like something out of a creepy horror flick, but there are no bodies. No people either. Nothing. There might have been a portal here, but whatever came out is not here now. They either took the carnies with them or they are hiding somewhere. Pandora can’t smell them.”
Korbin let out a deep breath. “Okay. If there is nothing there, then there is nothing for you to do. Might as well come back and enjoy the festivities.”
Katie looked around again, lifting an eyebrow. Her instincts told her to track them down, but her best friend was about to get married. She wouldn’t miss that for anything. “On my way, after we call someone to come get the animals.”
Katie hung up and spread her wings wide. “Let’s hope they’re just hiding.”
Timothy took a bracelet from a ve
lvet box. Sofia held out her arm. He carefully wrapped the diamond jewelry around her wrist and closed the clasp. Stephanie walked behind her and fluffed her train, smoothing the fabric. They were helping her get ready for her big day, and they were on high alert. Between Sofia getting married and the incursion that morning, nothing felt as peaceful as it should have. That was the merc life, though, and Sofia knew that.
Timothy held up two dangling diamond earrings. “Something old. Diamond earrings from your grandmother.”
Sofia put them in her ears. “I feel like a princess.”
Timothy nodded, looking at her. “You should since you look like one. Now you have something new—your dress.”
Sofia smoothed her hands down the tight fabric. “Yep. The dress of my dreams.”
Stephanie touched the clip in her hair. “Something borrowed, thanks to Timothy.”
He waved his hands, giggling. “I can’t let my girl go down the aisle without a piece of me. You know I’ll always find a way to make it about me.”
The girls laughed. Stephanie put her hand to her cheek. “What about something blue?”
Sofia grinned. “I have a blue garter on underneath this.”
Stephanie clapped her hands. “Perfect. Now, what about your family? I know you come from a big family. Weddings are big deals.”
Sofia sighed, looking at herself in the mirror. Her dress was exactly what she wanted, plain white, strapless and tight like a mermaid down to her knees, where it burst out in layers of tulle. Her necklace hung across her chest with long shards of sparkling metal dangling from it. “They may be upset. They weren’t invited, but all of this was so last minute. I’m not too worried. They love Calvin, and this just means we’ll have to go to Mexico and have a big family wedding with everyone later on.”
Timothy jumped with joy. “A second wedding, omigawd. You have to let me help decorate that one. I will brush up on my Spanish, and we can make it both traditional and chic.”