by Sean Hayden
I knocked, and Reese motioned us in. The man sitting in front of his desk must have been The Director of the Secret Service. He stood as we entered, shook Thompson's hand and seemed somewhat hesitant to touch me, but he made it through the harrowing experience unscathed.
"These are Agents Thompson and Thorne. They're the agents who killed the demon the last time."
"I take it this is about the skull?" I interjected myself into the conversation.
The director nodded. "We suffered an attack at the holding facility."
"Where?" I asked curiously.
"I cannot divulge that information. I'm sorry. It's a top-secret facility."
I shrugged. "Apparently, not that much of a secret. Was it a black-skinned female with wings that did it?"
He looked at me in annoyance, but then in confusion. He shook his head. "No. It was vampires. A lot of them. They broke in, killed all fourteen agents staffing the facility, and left with only one thing missing. The skull of the demon."
"Gosh, it's almost like I warned a secret service agent this would happen," I snarked.
"Ashlyn," Reese warned softly.
I shut up and just stared angrily at the Director. He at least had the decency to look embarrassed by the situation. "The location has walls that are six feet of poured concrete, reinforced with carbon nanofibers. The only door is a sealed vault door of titanium of the same thickness… They should have not been able to get in."
"How did they?" Thompson asked curiously.
"Ventilation system. They sent poisonous snakes, enough of them that the ones blended by the fans and defense systems, clogged them long enough to let the rest inside to overwhelm the agents. The agents who survived fled, opening the doors and letting the vampires in to steal the skull."
"That's a pretty well thought out plan," Thompson said, almost impressed.
"Not a pretty way to go either," the Director added.
"So, what do you want from us?" I asked. "I'm sorry, and I don't know if I should be telling you this, but we have another demon to worry about running around Chicago."
"Nothing. I did hear about your demon problem, good luck. I just flew out here to personally let you know of the situation. The skull was our responsibility, one we assured the other departments would not be a problem. We dropped the ball. Just giving you a heads up in case this other demon holds a grudge."
"Oh, he will," I said without a doubt. "But thank you, director," I said respectfully. Hey, if he could say sorry I fucked up, I could accept his apology. I was a big girl.
He nodded, stood, and left.
"I like him a lot better than that bitch I dealt with the last time," I said to Reese who could only nod.
"What's the plan?" He made a shutting motion with his hand to Thompson and pointed at the office door.
My partner walked over and closed it before taking the seat recently vacated by the Director. I slipped into the other one.
"Are we talking about the new demon or the old one?"
"New one. The old one is their problem." He pointed in the direction the director had gone. "Until it becomes our problem."
"Good. One demon at a time. But honestly, sir, I don't have a clue as to how we're going to deal with this thing. We can't track it. We have no idea how to look for it. Hell, I don't think we could beat it even if we could get close to it. Ash got her ass handed to her last night." He paused to shoot me an apologetic look. "No offense, kid."
"None taken. She did."
"Well I have a message for you, from Darenthalis. Maybe it will help find it. He said don't look for her, look for her vessel."
"That might have been helpful if she were still in California. She could have left it there and came here."
Reese shook his head. "I mentioned that to him. He said she can't be that far away from it."
I nodded in understanding. "That makes sense, but how the fuck are we supposed to find a clay jar in Chicago. There are only like forty-two-billion places she could have hid it."
"He also said you would say that. He told me to tell you to ask the ghost for help."
I felt sick to my stomach.
"I'll try," I said meekly, not looking forward to it at all.
Reese nodded. Thompson looked worried, but he didn't say anything.
"Do you think you can find her?"
"The ghost or Rayna?"
"The ghost."
"I don't have to. She'll find me."
"What about the demon?"
"I don't have to. She'll find me," I repeated honestly. "But I don't want her to. If I'm going to kill her, I need the element of surprise. So, I have to."
"Be careful, with everything," he said and sat back in his chair. "When this is all over I'll find you both an assignment on a nice tropical island with no demons, somewhere in the South Pacific."
"Yeah, but with my luck, I'll stumble across some forgotten god and piss him off."
"That does seem to be a theme with you," he said with a small chuckle, lightening the heavy atmosphere that had settled in the office.
"Vic, you here?" I called out to the empty house from the hallway.
"Boo," Mel said from behind me.
I reached back and slapped her hands. "That's not funny," I hissed.
"Yeah. It kind of was," she whispered.
I walked into the living room and called out again. There was nothing. No temperature drop. No ghost. I didn't think it would be that easy, but I had to try.
"Shit."
"Come on. You totally weren't expecting that to work."
"I know. But, it would've been nice to have something go easy for a change."
"Good luck with that. That's not how life works, Ash."
"I know, but a girl can dream."
My phone beeped, and I pulled it out of my jacket. It was a one-word text from Ginger.
HELP
"Back in the car," I told Mel.
"Where we going?"
"I don't know, but we need to get there quickly."
Where? I sent the text back.
As soon as Mel was outside, the temperature dropped.
"You've got to be fucking kidding me," I said angrily. Vic's timing sucked. I looked behind me and she materialized, begging once again for help. "I'll be back," I told her and went through the door, pulling it closed behind me.
I dropped into the passenger seat when her second text came through with an address. I clicked on it and brought it up on the GPS.
"She's close. Palatine. Take Fifty-Three."
Mel gunned it and her sporty little car pulled away in a squeak of tires. I mentally vowed to get a motorcycle. I could have been there and back already.
I breathed a sigh of relief when we got off the highway and I started navigating for her. We pulled up to a little house with a mini-van parked in the drive. I didn't wait for Mel. I was out the door and in the house by the time she parked.
The front door wasn't locked. It wasn't even closed. It would have been a miracle if it were since it was dangling awkwardly from the top hinge.
I went for stealth instead of charging in like a demon bull, walking as quietly as possible and peering around the doors. I found her lying on the bed. Rayna was lying next to her and gently rubbing a circle on her chest. She wasn't a pile of chopped meat and I breathed a sigh of relief.
"Don't hurt her."
"Why? Want to."
"Because she doesn't deserve it…" I went for honesty.
"She does. They all do. Abominations."
"But she asked me to protect her."
"Good job. Fail."
"Please." I switched from honesty to pleading.
"Sweet child of mine," she said, leaning over to kiss Ginger. "Sweet."
Ginger's chest heaved, and she faded in and out of view. She stopped and screamed into the kiss, beating Rayna's shoulders, and then her back arched.
I could see the tip of Rayna's claw break the skin on Ginger's neck. The drop of blood that flowed down was all the
proof I needed. Ginger was now in ecstasy land. I debated tackling the demon and pulling her off, but she might kill Ginger before that happened.
Her lips pulled away and a blue light started glowing in Ginger's mouth. Rayna laughed, and I watched in fascination as the little bluish sphere began to float up into the air above her. It wasn't the magical bond that made her the Master of Chicago either.
"What is that?"
"Her true form. Soul."
"Why isn't it inside her where it belongs?" I asked but I already knew the answer. The term soul sucking demon took on new meaning.
"I sucked it out. Pretty." She poked at it with her talon and it swirled playfully around the demon's finger.
"Put it back, please. She needs that."
Rayna stopped and looked at me with a moment of clarity in her eyes. The crazed look vanished and was replaced with something fearful and formidable. She tilted her head and narrowed her eyes as she gazed at me. "So do I," she said and sucked it into her mouth before vanishing completely in a bellow of blue smoke.
"Fuck."
I walked slowly over to Ginger's body. She didn't move and her eyes were open, but her chest rose and fell in a normal breathing pattern. Her body wasn't dead.
"Ginger?" I gently slapped her cheek and looked down into her eyes. The lights were on, but nobody was home.
I gave it a last-ditch effort and stared into them. The room fell away and I floated above two distinct bodies of water. Ginger's large lake met my ocean and they danced. The moon glittered brightly above me, but I was alone. Ginger's power was here, but she was nowhere to be found.
In a moment of panic, I flew forward and looked around for the tendril that made her Master of Chicago. I breathed again when I found it. Apparently, that wasn't what Rayna was after. Hell, she probably had enough power. For now. I released it and came back to reality.
"Is she dead?" I looked up and saw Mel standing in the doorway of the bedroom.
I shook my head. "Her body isn't, but she might as well be. Rayna stole her soul."
"I didn't think that was really possible."
"Neither did I until I saw it happen. It's been too long since we've had to deal with demons. We don't know what they are capable of."
"In more ways than one," Mel added and shuddered.
I pulled out my cell and dialed 911.
Mel sat down next to me and held my hand while I called it in. I told the bored sounding operator that she had collapsed asking me for help. They were sending an ambulance.
We waited until they carted her away. The EMTs seemed a little confused as to what was wrong with her and what caused it. I sure as shit wasn't going to fill in any of the details. They'd sleep better that way.
We drove home in silence.
I felt a little down. Ginger added another name to the list of people I'd failed. Technically she wasn't dead, but I had no idea if I could reunite her soul and her body, if I could even get it back from the demon who stole it. I'd still failed her.
"Sorry, Ginger," I whispered softly.
"You had no idea she was going to go after her. It's not your fault."
"She seems to be one step ahead of me, no matter what I do. I mean seriously," I paused and turned to Mel as we pulled onto our street, "she is only attacking people I've come into contact with… Can she smell me on them? Is she following me? What the fuck?"
Mel shrugged and pulled into the driveway.
"So, what's next?"
"We get Vic to help us and let her rest in peace."
I opened the door to the house and marched in, shouting Vic's name in every room before parking my ass in my bedroom. Mel followed me in, but I held up my hand. She understood and slowly and quietly shut the door and went somewhere else.
I waited for a few minutes before I felt the temperature start to change. Before too long, I could see my breath fogging in the air of my room and then the shimmering outline came into being at the end of my bed. She looked tired and hurt. I offered her a small smile and she raised her arms, pleading with me once again.
"I'm going to help you, Vic. You deserve to be at peace. Is that what you want?"
She slowly nodded, her movements almost as if she were underwater. Maybe that's why I couldn't hear her. I had scattered her ashes at sea…?
"I need your help to help you. Can you do that?"
She gave me an unsure look.
"I need you to help me find the demon's vessel. Do you know where it is?"
She closed her eyes. What seemed like an eternity later she shook her head.
My heart broke. She had been our last hope. I rubbed my face and wiped the tears from my eyes. When I looked up, Vic was gone, but there was something written into the frost of my mirror…
It was a cross.
"It's in a church," I said, knowing it to be absolutely true. "I guess demons don't have trouble going to church either."
I was going to need some help finding it.
∞ ∞ ∞
"This is what, the third Catholic church?" I looked up at Cosmo in the driver's seat. It was a damn good thing I was almost immortal. His driving scared the shit out of me and I wouldn't be surprised if we ended the day in a fiery car wreck.
"Yes. Are you sure it's in a church?"
"Yep."
"In the city?"
"Might be in the burbs somewhere. I know she needs to keep the vessel close to her, but I don't know how close. She's shown up in the city, Arlington, and Palatine."
"My gut is ruling out the Southside then."
I nodded. That made sense. Something on the North or West sides…
"What about a synagogue? Christianity wasn't around the last time that demon walked the earth…"
"But Vic drew a cross. If it had been a synagogue, she would have put a Star of David. Besides, Christians and Jews still believe in God, Christians just focused their attention on the Christ aspect as the Son of God."
"For a pagan, you're surprisingly well versed in religions."
"Internet."
"Me, I have more of an atheistic view on life…"
"And yet, you work for the church."
"They pay well."
"Probably in gold. If they offer you twenty pieces of silver, turn the job down."
"Touché."
"I think we can skip this one. Too far east."
"What's next, Ms. Navi Gator?"
It was the third time he said that joke. I still didn't think it was funny. "St. Hedwig. Huh. I guess he wasn't just an owl."
"That would be a her."
"The owl or the Saint?"
"Both, actually. Sheesh. I take back what I said before, noob."
This time I did laugh. He was crazy, but he had his moments.
We pulled into the parking lot in front of the gothic looking cathedral and I let out an earnest, "Wow."
The church was gorgeous.
A minute later and the inside of the church absolutely floored me. An aisle of hardwood floor glistened under the chandelier nestled in the painted round ceiling above the altar. Saints looked down where the congregation would sit and arched stained glass windows filtered the ambient light from outside. I gasped at its beauty. If I were Catholic, it would be the church I went to every Sunday.
And then I felt it…
An evil permeated the church like an unseen miasma floating everywhere. I could barely breathe. I looked over and Cosmo seemed unaffected by it. I felt like something was crushing my chest.
Cosmo glanced over, saw me, and blurted out, "Are you okay?"
I shook my head. "It's here," I managed to croak.
"Are you sure?"
I just gave him a look.
He nodded. "Wait here," he whispered and began to look around. I kept an eye on him and clutched my chest with a hand. It felt as if he were going in the right direction, toward the altar. He looked at me and I gave him a nod.
"Can I help you?" The priest's voice echoed through the church. I hadn't even heard him c
ome in behind me. "Son, I need you to get away from the altar. That isn't a place you should be playing!"
Cosmo stopped, stepped back down, and came back over to us. He cast a worried glance at me as he reached out to shake the hand of the aged priest. "Hello, Father Rourke."
"Cosmo?"
"It's been a while," he said and put down his hand when the priest didn't shake it.
"What are you doing here?"
"You have an evil relic here, Father."
"If you're referring to me, you dingbat, I'll shank you."
I laughed though the pain.
"And what are you doing in my church, vampire?"
I looked up at him and nodded to Cosmo, using him as an explanation.
"You'd probably feel better if you got off holy ground."
He didn't sound angry. Almost sad.
"I can do churches. It's the vessel somewhere by the altar that's giving me trouble."
He put his hand on my head and the pain vanished. I gasped in a lungful of air and stood up a little straighter. "Thank you. That helps. What did you do?"
"Prayed for your soul."
"Um. Thanks?"
He nodded and released my head. The pain returned as quickly as it left. Whatever Father Rourke was, it was enough to shield me from the pain.
"Father, would you mind holding my hand?" It took everything I had to ask, but whatever worked.
"You're not going to bite me, are you?" he asked half-jokingly.
"Not unless you want me to," I teased. He could hear the pain in my voice. He reached out and took my hand in his. I felt instantly better again. "That helps. Thank you, Father."
"You might be a lost sheep, but Christ still loves you."
"Thanks," I said, not knowing what else to say. "Would you mind walking us to the altar?"
He nodded and led the way. We walked up the dais and back behind it, facing the pews. I couldn't feel anything. "Stay close," I whispered to my new friend, took a deep breath, and let go of his hand.
The miasma rushed back and nearly swallowed me whole. I could feel it breathing all around us, swelling and receding and tainting all it touched. I closed my eyes and held out my hand. The altar wasn't the source. I turned around and faced the wall behind us. The feeling faded. I lifted my hand up and felt no change. I brought my hand to the floor and I could feel it burning my skin. I looked, and whatever I felt was only in my imagination. My skin looked fine.