by Michael Todd
“You see this, Pandora?” she snapped aloud. “These are our people. They might be down on their luck, or they might not have all their arrows in their quivers. They might even be brave to a fault, but no one fucks with us. We’ll fight back, even if it means losing our lives. These demons, the ones like you, they think this will be simple—that we will just lie down and die—but they’ve got another think coming. Fuck with us at your peril, because we fucking bite back.”
The two of them tried to keep the beast occupied, taking a few minutes to play “dodge the headstones’’ with the fiery abomination as he kept pulling them up and tossing the missiles at them. Others joined, so Katie and Calvin pulled back to their SUV to regroup for just a moment.
There were several civilians out there keeping the beast distracted, despite Katie and Calvin’s warnings.
They grabbed their water bottles and stood at the back of the truck, breathing heavily and trying to figure out their next course of action. The cops were pulling up in rows, parking behind the black SUV and stepping out of their cars with wide eyes and shocked expressions. It took a couple of moments, but eventually they got their bearings and started to assist with getting the innocent bystanders out of harm’s way.
Katie looked at Calvin and shook her head.
“This thing is huge,” Katie commented. “It smashes everything it touches.”
“I know,” Calvin replied, “but we can’t just stand by and let it destroy everything. We don’t have enough time to wait for Eric and Damian—it’s just not possible. We have to act soon; we can’t wait much longer.”
“All right,” Katie said in resignation. “Then we are going to need a plan.”
“Right.” Calvin seemed slightly distracted.
“Calvin,” Katie said. “You okay? I don’t need you shorting out right now. I need you here with me.”
“I’m here, Katie,” he said, shaking his head. “I promise.”
Pandora snickered. Apparently everyone knows that.
Katie turned and looked out at the sea of cops behind them. The ones next to them had their doors open, the radios blaring loudly. She could hear a familiar voice—one from the gun shop.
The radio crackled, then, “Be advised that there are two friendlies on the scene, a white woman in her twenties and her partner, a black male in his thirties. These two are vital to the survival of you and the people at that scene. They are special agents, so you are to leave them alone and let them do their job. Do not fuck with these two, especially the woman. Do not piss the woman off.”
I wanted you to have appeal, but not the kind where men think you will eat them for supper. Pandora laughed.
This is your fault, Katie growled. You have to be so showy about every damn thing you do.
No, your job’s just that dark, that’s all. Pandora scoffed. You can’t have it both ways, Katie. You can’t be a demon hunter, and have it be pretty roses and flowers.
You don’t think I don’t know that? Katie snapped. Now, if you would be so kind, please light a fire under Calvin’s demon so that we can kick this beast’s fucking ass and go the hell home.
Pandora sighed, but said no more. She could tell that Katie had reached her breaking point, whether she wanted to admit it or not. There were a lot of things that could bring her to that point, but Pandora had never imagined it would be how other people thought of her.
At the same time, though, Katie had been surrounded by people like her—Damned—since she had made the change. It wasn’t easy for humans when they felt disconnected; shunned, even.
She had never felt that way—and she wouldn’t have given a rat’s ass if she had—but she could feel what Katie was feeling. That was enough for her.
Katie walked over to Calvin and stared him straight in the eyes while putting her hand to his chest. He knew what she was about to do, so he just closed his eyes and nodded. Pandora took Katie’s body for just a moment, pulling back her hand and slamming it hard against Calvin’s chest. Calvin gasped, tightening his fists as his demon woke.
“Shake a leg and help your human,” Pandora growled, Katie’s voice intertwined with hers. “Or so help me I will make your life here on this plane a living hell.”
Chapter Twenty
“They need you,” Korbin had told the guys before they left the compound.
Damian and Eric knew that what they were walking into was more than just a little incursion. It was the new wave of demon happenings, and they were in for a show—that was for damn sure. Korbin had seemed nervous, something he never was before a battle started, and it worried Damian. He was used to the calm and collected Korbin, even in times of strife and battle. He was used to the man who stood strong and laughed in the face of death, throwing himself in front of every bullet he could find. He was not, however, used to the Korbin who looked as if he were saying his last goodbyes. This new demonic wave had really pushed them all to their limits.
Eric drove the SUV to the airport, but the ride was silent. Damian wiped down his cross as Eric stared forward, driving quickly through the streets to the private jet entrance of the airport.
They took off, landing an hour or so later at LAX and slipping into the private jet area. When the stairs dropped Damian looked outside, unsure of what they were about to face. The plane had parked where it normally did, but instead of their sleek black SUV, there were at least half a dozen unmarked vehicles standing by.
“What is this?” Eric asked, undoing his seatbelt.
“I’m not sure, but let me talk.” Damian stepped out of the plane.
“You must be Father Damian.” A tall middle-aged man dressed in tactical gear was walking toward him with his hand out.
“It’s better if I don’t shake your hand,” Damian warned him, eyes flashing. “We need to get going.”
“We know,” the man said. “I’m Sergeant Avery, and I will be airlifting you to the scene. We will brief you on the way.”
“All right,” Damian said, nodding back to Eric. “Can your men help us grab our gear?”
“Absolutely.” The sergeant nodded, twirling a finger in the air. “People, round up!”
When they were securely in the choppers, Damian pulled out his phone and looked down at the screen. Every minute they weren’t in the air was one more minute Calvin and Katie were fighting alone. He scrolled down to Korbin’s number.
“Are you there?” Korbin asked.
“Almost.” Damian gave the sergeant the thumbs-up from the back.
“We are getting the red carpet treatment from the Feds,” he yelled. “They are airlifting us over. You might want to keep that jet close by.”
“Right,” Korbin said. “I’ll have it come back and get it prepped and ready in case the rest of the team is needed. Thank you, Damian, and please look after them. We need our team back in one piece, especially with the changes in the air.”
“Absolutely, boss,” Damian assured him.
“And Damian?” Korbin replied. “Take care of yourself as well.”
“Absolutely, sir,” he agreed, hanging up the phone.
He looked out the window as the chopper rose high into the air and sped off toward the north. He wasn’t sure what they would find when they got there, but he knew that if the Feds were picking them up it couldn’t be good in the least.
He had to admit, he hadn’t been fond of the idea of letting the Feds in on their secret, but in that moment it was definitely to their advantage. That chopper could get them there in a quarter of the time it would take the SUV in the shitty LA traffic, no matter how hard they pushed it.
He just hoped getting there sooner would be the key to winning.
The demon snarled and growled as he kicked over headstones and ripped trees from the ground, throwing them at spectators. He was growing tired of the games; growing tired of being targeted by the demon hunters and the human police. They had shot round after round at him, but still could not get it through their heads that the bullets didn’t even pierce his
skin.
What they did accomplish, however, was annoying the hell out of him.
He walked forward and kicked at one of the cops but missed, which made him stumble. As soon as his head tilted downward, the cops unleashed another round of bullets at him. He closed his eyes to protect them, since that was the only thing they could actually damage.
He snarled as he caught his balance, opening his eyes and looking angrily down at the ground. Slowly he raised his head, mouth dripping drool down his chin to his chest. He smirked as he leaned down and pulled a large tomb’s sculpture from the ground. He gripped it tightly in his claws and pulled back in preparation for throwing, almost as if he were a pitcher on a baseball team.
Everyone froze in place for just a moment as they watched the mammoth beast lunge forward and release the stone carving.
It flew toward the crowd, striking two cops before it hit the ground. Dirt and blood blew into the air as the stone skidded across the ground like a rock on a pond. Several other cops dove out of the way before the statue crashed into the cop car.
“Whoo….whooo…who…w…” The cop car’s siren whooped a few seconds longer before falling silent, the car lying smashed and broken on its side.
The creature laughed deeply, shaking the trees around it. The cops stood and dusted themselves off, dropping their arms to their sides in defeat.
The monster had won that round, and the cops were beside themselves. They had unloaded an enormous amount of ammo on the demon, but all it had done was make it even angrier.
This looked and felt like a hopeless situation.
One by one the cops turned to look at Katie and Calvin, unsure what to do next. They were too close to a residential area to use heavier artillery, but they couldn’t let the creature leave the grounds.
“You fools!” The demon laughed loudly. “You think your guns can stop me? The Reckoning is upon you, and the only thing you can do is surrender and hope for mercy from our leader.”
“Fat chance,” one of the cops yelled, spitting on the ground.
“Fine,” the demon snarled. “Have it your way. Let’s see how many children I can peel out of their beds.”
The beast stretched its shoulders, its black flesh cracking and writhing on its shoulders.
Katie scrunched her face. “We can’t let him leave, Calvin.”
“Agreed,” he replied, trying to figure out an angle—hell, any angle—to keep him around. “Ideas?”
She looked around for a moment, running her hands over her vest. Her palm stopped on her knife and she took a deep breath, pulled out the blade, and sprinted forward.
Pandora helped, increasing her speed and pushing her body. She spun between the beast’s legs, slashing with her blade before running back to the side of the car.
The demon roared and grabbed at the gashes in his calves and ankles. Slowly he turned around, his eyes glowing red and anger oozing from every orifice.
It clasped its mighty claws together and roared again, blowing Katie’s hair wildly around her face.
She smiled up at the beast and stood her ground.
“Stand and fight,” she screamed, raising the knife in the air.
The demon laughed, throwing his head back and grabbing his stomach. When the laughter ceased he looked straight at her, Damned and demon brightening the night around them.
Slowly he lifted his hand and gave her the middle finger, turning to walk away once more.
I got this, Pandora told Katie, then, “Convertam te, et vocavi te pugnare cadere,” Pandora hissed in Katie’s voice.
The demon spun around with a look of recognition on its face.
What did you just say? Katie asked.
I called him a coward and told him to fight, Pandora replied in a shaky voice.
“T'Chezz habet in capite pretium canis,” the demon roared. “Quia videtur tam parvam caput est, ne hoc modo.”
“I really need to brush up on my Latin,” Katie whispered out loud. What was that?
He just said that T’Chezz has put a price on my head, and since it is such a small head he doesn’t see why taking it is such a big deal, Pandora replied.
Katie sighed. Oh. Sorry I asked.
You are the one who wanted to practice like it was my brother, Pandora reminded her. What better time than the present, right?
Ehhhh, Katie groaned, sizing him up. This was not what I had pictured.
Not enough flowers and pink puffy things? Pandora asked.
If I could stab you without hurting myself I would do it right now, Katie told her dryly. I just didn’t realize the bastard would be so damn big. He came back bigger and fierier than before.
They have a tendency to do that when you piss them off, Pandora replied. I told ya, you should have never pulled those knives out.
I got it the first time! Katie huffed.
Over to the side Calvin leaned against the SUV, catching his breath and reloading his weapons. The guns weren’t doing anything at that point, but he knew that if they weakened him enough they would work. He had barely survived the heaving of stones, but his demon had woken up a bit and pulled him out of the way of two different trees. He didn’t feel it was the right time to start a conversation with the thing, but at least he was taking notice of what was going on outside of his body.
Calvin finished loading his guns and put them back in his side holsters. He pulled his short sword from the sheath on his back and stared at the glimmering steel in front of him. He hadn’t had a chance to use one of Katie’s new weapons yet, but having the blade was definitely helping to get him pumped up and ready to take on the beast again.
He wanted to feel the power everyone else had felt when they were slicing and dicing their way through demon scum.
He found himself slightly disappointed that there were no smaller demons to take care of at that moment. He would rather have practiced before using the sword.
He shrugged and slid it back into its sheath.
As Calvin adjusted his vest’s straps and readied himself to get back out there the wind started to blow harder across the lawn, and it brought the sounds of the whirling of helicopter blades not too far away. He looked behind them, squinting his eyes as the dirt began to whiz around him. From below the hill a chopper rose, its guns pointed right at the beast and Eric and Damian looking down at Calvin. He chuckled and saluted the men.
Damian slowly lifted a small device with a red button at the top into the air. Calvin squinted, realizing that it was attached to the gun turret on the front of the helicopter. He nodded and quickly turned to his teammate.
“Katie!” he yelled. “Get down!”
Katie turned her head and saw the chopper, and she dove to the ground, covering her head. Immediately Damian pressed the button, unleashing round after round of high-velocity bullets into the demon. The shells fell to the ground below them as smoke billowed from the guns.
“Hot damn.” Calvin laughed and clapped his hands.
The demon doubled over and put one hand on the ground, blood dripping from its chest onto the grass. It gurgled and growled as everyone remained still, waiting to see what would happen next. Katie slowly pulled her arms from over her head and turned over to stare up at the beast. She looked at the long claw embedded in the dirt beside her, and had just tilted her head to the side to get a better look at its face when its eyes shot open, glowing orange. He smiled and grabbed the tombstone under his palm, pushing himself to his feet and launching it hard and fast into the air.
Katie turned and screamed, reaching her hand futilely toward the helicopter to signal them to watch out. She could see the gleam of Damian’s cross dangling around his neck. The headstone soared through the air directly at the helicopter, almost in slow motion. Katie dropped to her knees and covered her mouth.
“Nooooo!” she screamed.
Damian and Eric stared forward out the chopper window as it approached the cemetery. They could now see the demon, and were shocked at how huge the damn thing was. As
they rose up above the hill Damian spied Calvin standing by the SUV looking up, and Katie standing directly in front of the beast, her knives in her hands, screaming something at it.
“Why am I not surprised?” Damian called.
“You ready?” the sergeant asked, handing Damian the remote control for the guns.
Damian laughed. “Oh, yeah.”
He looked down at Calvin and held the device in the air, making a gun of his fingers and watching until understanding hit him. He put up his thumb and nodded, turning toward Katie. He couldn’t hear him, but he knew Calvin was screaming at her.
She turned and looked up at Damian, a smile moving over her face. He watched in slow motion as she dove to the ground and covered her head.
He pressed the button, spraying bullets into the demon’s chest, but he stopped when the beast doubled over in pain and fell to one knee. For a moment, time stood still.
Katie rolled over and looked up at the demon, tilting her head to the side. Suddenly her face changed, and the demon slowly stood up, his eyes glistening in the very early morning sky.
The demon threw something that at first looked like just dirt, but as it spiraled toward them he realized it was a tombstone from the graves below them.
“Fuck,” the sergeant yelled, turning the chopper to the left.
He wasn’t fast enough and the stone struck the tail of the helicopter, knocking it completely off. The pilot grabbed the cyclic with both hands and grunted, trying to keep the bird upright. Damian grabbed onto the seat beneath him, closing his eyes and saying a quick prayer.
“Hold on, folks. This is gonna be a sucky landing!”
As the pilot struggled the helicopter tipped back and forth, backing away from the scene toward the road. The blades dipped sharply to the side, just barely missing the ground under them. Slowly the pilot took the chopper down. It spun in a circle before landing roughly on a clear plot of grass at the front of the cemetery, then tipped over. The blade dug deeply into the ground, which made the cockpit jump. Once the damned thing stopped moving, Damian blew out a deep breath and released his grasp on his cross.