I Hear Voices

by Gail Koger

  A great crack of thunder shook the earth.

  “You’re about to meet something that goes bump in the night.”

  Uttering a terrifying war cry the Apache warrior broke his restraints and hurled the paramedics into the canyon wall. They crumpled to the ground and lay unmoving.

  Immediately, Derek and his team piled on the warrior and fought to hold him down.

  Leaping back, I tried to find a way around the rolling ball of kicking, punching men. I had to get to my stun gun.

  Eerie green lightning lanced across the roiling clouds and great cracks of thunder shook the canyon.

  In frustrated rage, I yelled. “If I had my stun gun I could zap the shit out of the demon and short circuit it’s power before it takes possession.”

  The bald guy went flying and smacked face first into a boulder.

  “But, oh no, your brain dead boss wouldn’t let me have it and it’s gonna get us killed.”

  Without warning a sparking, crackling bolt of putrid green energy spewed from the warrior’s chest.

  I flinched as dark magic crawled over me and held the cross out. “Go back to hell you bloody demon.”

  The sickly green energy flared brightly and then vanished abruptly.

  When my vision cleared, I noticed the men were scattered about like broken toys. “They better not be dead, you slimy piece of shit!”

  My gaze locked on the Apache warrior. He stood poised like a snake, silent, still and watchful.

  It might be his body but the Thunder God had definitely taken possession. Could this day get any worse?

  His glowing green eyes surveyed me with seething hostility. “I will cut your still-beating heart from your chest and eat it.”

  I sighed. Yeah, it could. “You’ve been watching way too many horror movies, puke breath.”

  A startled yelp broke from me when a lightning bolt struck a dead tree several feet away.

  The monster laughed.

  “Yuck it up but I’m still sending you back to hell.”

  “Your puny cross will not save you.” He sniffed the air. “I haven’t had a virgin’s heart in over a hundred years.”

  I glared at him. Great. Just what I needed another blabbermouth.

  He licked his lips. “After I’ve drained your virgin’s blood, I will feed your entrails…”

  “Yeah. Yeah, I know. To the buzzards,” I inserted.

  Lightning crackled like fiery snakes and the sky darkened to night. The wind swirled around me, whispering that death was ever near.

  My breath left my lungs in an involuntary gasp.

  God, I hated demons’ little games.

  The Thunder God grinned, displaying needle sharp teeth with pieces of flesh wedged between them.

  “Oh, ick.”

  “Your skull I will use to piss in.”

  Gods pissed? To my horror, I heard myself say, “Bring it on, asshole.”

  A jewel encrusted knife appeared in the God’s hand and he glided towards me.

  Holy Jesus, did I have a big mouth or what? I grabbed a bag of salt from my backpack. “Granny, I could use a little help here.”

  Granny, the best demon slayer in the universe, appeared next to me. “Repeat after me. Tempore.

  Cuidamn. Monstrata. Desopsuit de cruce!”

  “Tempore. Cuidamn. Monstrata. Desopsuit de cruce!”

  The Thunder God roared in fury and raised his knife.

  I threw the salt in his face and yelled, “Tempore. Cuidamn. Monstrata. Desopsuit de cruce! Go back to hell, you freak!”

  Incandescent red bolts arced and pulsed around him. With an unearthly howl, the Thunder God vanished.

  The chaotic mass of black clouds dissipated and a blistering sun hung in the turquoise sky.

  I did a happy dance. “I did it. I really did it.”

  “He’ll be back,” Granny warned as she faded away.

  “Fuck.” I grabbed my backpack.

  “Going somewhere, Angel?”

  I turned and all the men were upright, pale, battered and a bit shell-shocked.

  “Still don’t believe in ghosts and ghoulies and things that go bump in the night?”

  Derek prowled towards me. The grim set of his face was that of a roused predator. “Did you kill it?”

  “No. It’ll be back.”

  The bald guy shook his head in disbelief. “What are you?”

  “I’m psychic. You can also think of me as your local demon and ghost buster.”

  The Tomb Raider grabbed my backpack and started pulling out bags of salt. “How long do we have?”

  I shrugged. “Depends on how bad I hurt it.”

  Granny Annabel materialized next to me. “If we’re lucky, it will take an hour or more for the Thunder God to regain his power.”

  All the men gaped at her in open-mouthed astonishment.

  “Guys, this is my grandmother, Annabel Dragos.”

  Almost in union the men responded, “Ma’am.”

  Derek held out his hand. “Let me have the cross.”

  I gave it to him. “You’re going after the skulls?

  Why?”

  “Evidence and I’m hoping your grandmother will accompany me.” He turned to her and gave her an ingratiating smile. “I could really use your help, ma’am.”

  “Of course, you are la famiglia.”

  A smile tugged at Derek’s mouth. “Family, huh?”

  Crap! The last thing I needed was Granny babbling on about us being soul mates. “Best hurry and don’t forget to take the stun gun with you.”

  The Tomb Raider grabbed the backpack and his rather dusty Fedora. “Ed, get the chopper back pronto and Hank—she ripped her IV out when she was fighting that demon.”

  I glanced down at my bloody arm. Huh. I hadn’t even felt it.

  Derek made a courtly gesture with his hat.

  “After you, beautiful lady.”

  Granny tittered giddily and floated down the canyon.

  Omigod. I was in so much trouble. Granny was such a blabber mouth.

  Hank drops his bag next to me. “Let’s have a look at your arm.” He cleaned the blood off and asked, “You’re really a ghost buster?”

  “Kinda, I’m still in training, but Granny Annabel’s the real deal.”

  He probed the cut gently. “You’ll need stitches.”

  “Can’t you just put one of those butterfly bandages on it?”

  “For now but you’ll need to get it stitched up at the ER.”

  Thunder rumbled in the distance.

  I opened my psychic eye and grunted in pain as a whirl of images and sensations hammered at my mind. A tendril of fear crawled along my gut. The Thunder God was on his way back and he was beyond pissed. I looked over at the bald guy. “Ed, right?”

  “Yes ma’am.”

  “You need to tell that chopper pilot to step on it.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” He pulled a radio off his belt and called. “Whiskey Tango Niner Niner Charlie what’s your eta?”

  “Fifteen minutes out,” a female voice answered.

  Go figure. Derek actually had a woman on his team. Bet my last dollar, she was a skinny little blonde with a big rack.

  I pulled out my satellite phone and called Derek.

  “What?” His voice sounded a little strained.

  “Those illusions are a bitch, aren’t they? Seeing things that aren’t there? Not knowing what’s real or what isn’t. Have you pissed your pants yet?

  Screamed like a girly man?”

  Derek snarled, “You’re a real riot. I have it under control.”

  “Good. Got the skulls?”

  “Yes,” he gritted.

  “Then get your ass back here. The big, bad Thunder God rebooted his power supply and he’s coming for blood.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” He disconnected.

  Chapter Five

  Thunder resounded across the blackened skies.

  The jagged crown of the Superstition Mountains cast a menacing silhouette over the
hovering Black Hawk helicopter.

  His mouth a grim line, Derek dumped his backpack next to mine in the rescue basket.

  I flinched as the trapped souls began to wail.

  Their anguish was almost more than I could bear. I touched the backpack. “It’s okay. I promise I’ll find a way to free you.”

  Sloan’s callused hand cupped my face. “I’m sorry I didn’t believe you. That place is…”

  “Haunted and scary as hell,” I finished.

  He gave a jerky nod and motioned to the Crew Chief.

  Up I went. Shit! Maybe I should have mentioned that I have a thing about heights.

  The wind rose and the basket swayed wildly. I squeezed my eyes shut and hung on for dear life.

  “Omigod! Omigod!”

  A gloved hand patted my arm. “You can let go now, ma’am.”

  Huh? I opened my eyes. I was inside the helicopter. Scrambling out of the basket, I threw my arms around the Crew Chief and gave him a big

  hug. “Thank you. Thank you so much. I think I love you.”

  Grinning, he patted me on the back. “Have a problem with heights?”

  “Just a bit.”

  He pointed to a seat. “Get belted in.”

  “Yes sir.” I grabbed the backpacks, stuck them in a corner and quickly fastened the harness. We were gonna be in for a bumpy ride.

  The Crew Chief lowered the cable.

  Granny Annabel, wearing combat gear, popped in next to me. “You need to tell them to hurry.

  There’s a devil’s wind coming.”

  Crap! A devil’s wind was like a tornado only with wraiths. If Derek thought the canyon was bad, wait until he met the wraiths. He’d piss his pants and start screaming bloody blue murder. I released my harness and tapped the Crew Chief on the shoulder. “There’s a tornado coming.”

  The Crew Chief looked at me like I was crazy.

  “A tornado?”

  Hank and his partner swung into helicopter and released their tether lines.

  I grabbed Hank’s arm. “We have a demonic tornado coming. We need to get the rest of the men up now.”

  The wind began to howl.

  Hank tapped his earpiece and said something into his mike.

  The Crew Chief quickly dropped two lines out the open bay door.

  The Black Hawk suddenly shuddered and shook.

  I looked out the window and saw Derek dangling just below the helicopter. The breath froze in my lungs as the wind spun him around and around.

  His lips drawn back in a fierce snarl, Sloan fought his way into the Black Hawk.

  A cannon-like blast of thunder split the air and a driving curtain of rain hit with stunning force.

  I tumbled backward as the helicopter bucked wildly and got a bird’s eye view of the canyon before someone snagged my shirt and yanked me back from oblivion.

  A savage rage etched into his face, Derek roughly dumped me on a seat and fastened my harness. “Don’t you fucking move.”

  I gulped. “Not moving.”

  Lightning crackled around the helicopter like hundreds of hungry snakes.

  Derek and the Crew Chief hauled Ed and the Marine into the helicopter. Hank quickly closed the bay doors, shutting out the lashing rain.

  The chopper spun and I caught a glimpse of the blood red whirlwind. Think. Think. There had to be a way to stop it.

  “He wants the skulls back,” Granny Annabel said.

  I smacked myself in the forehead. Geezus! I was such an idiot. “We free their souls and he loses all that power.”

  “Si.”

  The Black Hawk vibrated so badly, my teeth rattled. I unfastened my harness and smacked into the deck as the helicopter dropped violently.

  Derek roared. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”

  “Saving our butts,” I roared back as I crawled over to the backpacks.

  The Tomb Raider dropped down beside me.

  “How?”

  “We need to pour all the salt we have left on the skulls. Once we free the souls, his power source is gone.” I rooted around in my backpack. Crap, there was only one bag left. I turned a wrathful gaze on Derek. “Please tell me you didn’t use ten bags of salt?”

  He shrugged. “It was the only thing that seemed to work.”

  “One bag ain’t gonna cut it,” I hissed.

  “Hank, do you still have that box of salt tablets?”

  “Yes sir.” He dug it out of his medical kit and tossed the box to Derek.

  He caught it and ripped it opened. “How much do we need?”

  “All of it.” I emptied the bag of salt into Derek’s backpack and grimaced. It reeked of death.

  Sloan crushed a dozen salt tablets over the blood stained skulls.

  The rain stopped and the wind dropped.

  All the men crowded in around us and hurriedly crushed more tablets.

  I chanted, “Ostium, fluminis, sont. Fluminis zap.”

  An eerie wailing filled the cockpit.

  A mind blast of rage hit me and I doubled over in agony. “Shit.”

  Derek wrapped a massive arm around me, pulled me onto his lap and stroked my face. “You okay, Angel?”

  I sucked in a shuddering breath. “Yeah, the Thunder God’s a bit pissed.” Wrapping a hand around my cross dangling from Sloan’s neck, I snarled, “Ostium. Fluminis. Sont.”

  Dozens of glowing lights erupted from the backpack, whizzed around us gleefully and vanished.

  An unearthly howl rattled the Black Hawk.

  As the devil’s whirlwind dissipated, a big Saguaro cactus flew out of the funnel cloud, slammed against the cockpit window and rolled over the top of the chopper.

  Those damned wraiths! If they couldn’t bring us down one way, they’d find another.

  The Black Hawk spun violently and warning alarms sounded in the cockpit. Stressed metal shrieked and groaned.

  Derek clamped an arm around me and grabbed hold of the harness. Around and around we went until I thought I would hurl.

  With a sudden, stunning stop, the helicopter smashed into the ground. Something slammed into my head and everything went black.

  “Zelda? Zelda wake up,” Derek commanded, patting my face.

  Little tiny hammers were banging at my temples. With a groan, I opened my eyes. “What happened?”

  “The helicopter crashed.”

  “Oh yeah. Now I remember.” I wiped at something tickling down my forehead. Huh. Blood.

  Smoke billowed overhead. Frowning, I turned my head and saw that the helicopter was on fire. I bolted upright in horror and gasped as the world spun dizzily around me.

  Derek grabbed me and carefully lowered me back to the hot, rocky ground. “I have a couple of Med Evac choppers coming in and I need to know if the Thunder God’s going to be a problem.”

  “Granny?”

  “I’m here, bella.”

  I wiggled as a bunch of oven hot rocks dug into my backside. “Flip me over I’m done.”

  Derek scowled and pulled me across his lap.

  “The Thunder God?”

  My grandmother had over-extended herself and I could barely hear her as a gentle arctic breeze blew over us. “Tell your man that he has two hours to get his people off the mountain.”

  “Granny says we have two hours.” I swiped at the blood running into my right eye. “Everyone get out okay?”

  “Yeah, my pilot’s pretty banged up and Sam’s got a busted arm but we were damned lucky.”

  Sam must be the Marine. “Where’s my backpack?”

  “It’s still in the helicopter.”

  “What!” I shot up and cracked my head against Derek’s chin. “Ouch! Goddamnit that hurts!”

  “Tell me about it,” Derek grumbled, rubbing his jaw.

  I clutched my throbbing skull. Geezus, it felt like it was going to split in half. “Gotta get the stone,” I moaned, struggling to get my feet under me.

  The Tomb Raider clamped me against his sweaty chest. “You’re not g
etting anywhere near that helicopter. It could blow any second now.”

  “Listen to your man, bella.”

  “But the treasure,” I wailed.

  “You’re a smart girl, I’m sure you’ll figure something out,” Derek responded a bit too calmly.

  What had Granny been telling him?

  With a thunderous cracking boom the Black Hawk blew.

  Sloan shielded me with his big body as pieces of burning debris rained down on us.

  A thick column of black smoke rose high into the sky and dozens of brush fires erupted.

  “I think we’d better call the Forest Service before we’re all a bit crispy fried.”

  “They’re on their way.” Derek effortlessly picked me up. Okay, I was more than impressed.

  Bet he could bench press five hundred pounds, too.

  Not like I weighed anywhere close to that but wow!

  He carried me over to a rocky overhang where Hank and his partner worked frantically on the injured pilot.

  A little banged up? Blood soaked her platinum blonde hair and she made this awful rasping sound as she fought for breath. Derek sat me next to the Marine who cradled his broken arm. “Stay put.”

  “Yes’um boss.”

  Derek fixed an intimidating stare on me. “I mean it.”

  One look at the heat waves quivered across the burning terrain like restless spirits and I sighed.

  “Not going anywhere, boss.”

  A convoy of helicopters appeared on the horizon.

  I pointed. “The cavalry’s coming.”

  “About fucking time.” Sloan jogged off to meet them.

  My gaze fastened on the poor pilot as she moaned and thrashed around. I turned to Sam, “Where’s Ed?”

  “He’s trying to clear a fire break,” the Marine answered, his face taut with pain.

  A thrumming roar filled the air.

  I looked up as a low flying Forest Service aerial tanker dropped its load. When the cascading waterfall stopped, the fires were out and Derek was sprawled face down on the ground.

  A giggle escaped me as Sloan pushed himself upright. He was coated head to toe in thick, gooey, red mud.

  Two Med-Evac choppers landed and teams of paramedics ran towards us with their rescue baskets.

  A black Maricopa County Sheriff’s helicopter landed directly behind them. Wiping the mud off his face, Sloan went to meet the Deputies.