by Gini Koch
The resurrection was fading. The bodies moved back to their graves. I had only seconds. “We’ll do everything we can to protect the people close to you -- I promise.”
There was a collective sigh, and then the bodies went back to very clearly dead. Black Angel Two worked fast, and soon there were seven neatly filled graves in front of us. Martin said some prayers over the graves, then we were done.
“What now?” Jack asked quietly.
I looked to Martin, Edgar and H.P. “It’s exactly what I think it is, right?” They all nodded.
Jack coughed. “What do you, and apparently everyone else but me, Freddy and Cindy, think it is?”
“Well, on the good side, it’s probably not the Prince.”
“Oh, good. So, what’s the bad side?” Jack asked.
“I’m pretty sure that Abaddon is already here, since they did the incantation a while ago. So this would be Apollyon.”
“Those are the same name for the Devil,” Freddy said. “Book of Revelations.”
“Scribes can get confused,” Miriam said. “They’re actually two different beings, and have nothing to do with the Devil. Yahweh is not their master.”
“No, the Prince is.” I heaved a sigh. “I think it’s time to go back to the alleyway and take another look at the portal from Hell.”
Chapter 26
There was a little discussion about who was traveling how. I stood firm and insisted Jack and I had to remain with the car, so we got to drive over. Sadly, Ralph insisted on coming with us. Happily, the moment he so insisted, Hansel and Gretel also insisted. So we had the three of them in the backseat. Ralph and Hansel were panting and Gretel was grooming. I felt like we’d either joined Animal Control or were running our own mobile pet grooming business.
“I’m sure Freddy and Cindy are asking the same thing,” Jack said as we drove out of the cemetery. “What’s with the number eighteen and what’s also with the idea of three different schemes?”
“The number is only significant because it’s a common number we’re placing again and again at the scene of the crime.”
“Yes,” Gretel chimed in. “It could be seven, it could be thirty-three, hundreds, one. It’s the fact that we can easily slot to that number that indicates the problem.”
“But we got to eighteen because there were five trails that led off from the alley,” Jack said. “Maybe we’re just reaching.”
“But we’re not,” Hansel said. “If we were reaching, we couldn’t have matched that number so well and so often.”
“Eighteen minus five is thirteen,” Ralph added. “Easy to match to the Prince’s favorite ‘bad’ number, too.”
“So, no matter what, we have a big problem and a lot of people involved in it, right?” Jack asked. There was unanimous agreement from the rest of us. “So, what’s up with Abaddon and Apollyon? Who are they?”
“Angels who went to the Prince. Any turned undead is powerful, but angels, by their nature, are worse.”
Jack nodded. “I can see that. I don’t want to be around Black Angel Two right now. I don’t want to try to imagine what they’d be like completely evil.”
“They’d be like Abaddon and Apollyon,” Gretel said, softly.
“God deliver me,” Jack said only half-jokingly.
“Gods help. When they can.” I thought about what Miriam had said to me. “But, when it comes down to it, it’s you and your soul against the Prince.”
We drove the rest of the way in silence. Well, other than the panting and other animal-related noises our backseat passengers were indulging in. I chose not to look.
I spent the time instead running through the three options we’d identified. They all led back to the idea that we had, if not the Prince, then some of his strongest minions running around free on the human plane.
We didn’t have enough data yet to be certain of what the play might be, though. And there was always the possibility that we didn’t have three plans, we had one big, nasty one. Eighteen doppelgängers was still a strong possibility -- once the pattern was imprinted, you could make as many as you wanted to, within reason, that reason being there had to be the right number of corresponding souls to connect with.
Eighteen fake Tomios wandering around was a bad enough idea. The essence of evil put into eighteen separate beings, myself and Jack included, was also not anybody’s idea of good. Eighteen souls connected to the infected souls -- also badness. But if what Jerry had insinuated was accurate, it wasn’t Tomio who’d been in the alley last night.
We poured out of the car and met the others at the end of the alleyway, at the dead-end. Examination of the physical revealed nothing new.
I knew what was on the right -- a small grocer who closed before dusk every night. There was a bridal shop on the left, also closed at night. Even the Prosaic City poor liked to look nice when they got married, after all. “What’s in the building that makes up the back side here?” I asked our newest recruits.
Freddy and Sexy Cindy both shrugged. “Didn’t get to that side much,” Freddy said.
I gave Sexy Cindy a look that said I wasn’t going to buy that from her. “We’re talking the fate of the known planes of existence here. What’s on the other side?”
“I’ll go look,” Ralph offered eagerly.
“Sit, stay, good boy. I asked Cindy a question and I want an answer.”
She made a face. “I didn’t go there, not my kind of place.”
Jack nudged me. “The Pleasure Palace, it’s a skin club.”
I chose not to ask how he knew. “You’re telling me you didn’t cruise outside a skin club, looking for business? Seriously, we’re on the same side now, and just how naïve do you think any of us are?”
She shrugged and looked down. “Didn’t like the clientele, okay?”
The base of my tail did its thing. Sexy Cindy had known instinctively that the incantation Tomio handed out was evil. “What about them made you uncomfortable?” I used my “questioning a frightened witness voice”. It was normally considered soothing.
Her head shot up and she glared at me. “I ain’t a baby.”
I gave up. “No. You’re an undead, a succubus, to be exact. One of exactly two who were swallowed by Slimy, Creature from the Hell Lagoon, who survived relatively unscathed.”
“We died,” Freddy said dryly.
“Cry me a river. You’re standing there, unliving. You just talked to seven of your brethren who aren’t going to open eyes or mouths again until the Prince can arrange his Final Solution Attack and then they’ll be raised up for cannon fodder for the side of evil.”
“You can’t know that,” Freddy argued.
H.P. cleared his throat. “Actually, we can. There’s ample proof, in a variety of tomes. When we have a spare minute, Frederick, I’ll be happy to show you. Until then, you’ll have to trust that Victoria does know of what she speaks. The dead who do not ascend, who do not join the unliving, and who do not automatically go to the Prince’s Hell remain interred in the earth, in blackness, until such time as they are called to fight. Those who died more on the side of the Prince than on the side of goodness will fight as part of the Army of the Damned.”
Sexy Cindy processed this. “That’s going to be most of them, isn’t it?”
I couldn’t help it, I had to ask. “What did you do, before your ex forced you into hooking?” She mumbled something. “What? Didn’t catch that.” She mumbled again. “Really, speak up. Time’s wasting here.”
“I was studying to be a preschool teacher.” Sexy Cindy had the combo of defiance and embarrassment down perfectly.
“Oh, I think you should aim for higher education,” H.P. said, with complete sincerity. I couldn’t blame him. The streets were burning off of Sexy Cindy and Freddy at the speed of Zeus’ lightning bolts. “We always need good instructors.”
“Recruit for the University later,” Monty said. “We need to plan our next moves.”
“No, actually, we need Cindy to tell us exact
ly why she didn’t like the clientele at The Pleasure Palace.”
“I agree,” Edgar said. “Because I believe there’s a good chance the monster originated on the other side of the wall.”
Chapter 27
We all stared at Sexy Cindy. She glared back.
I gave it another shot. “Look, we’re not asking because we think you’re stupid or not good enough or whatever inferiority thing you’ve got going is telling you. We’re asking because you’re spotting evil naturally, and you’re repelled by it. Ergo, if you were repelled by The Pleasure Palace’s clientele, we really want to know why, in that cop way of ours.”
She deflated. “Okay, fine. They all seemed…wrong to me. I don’t know any girl who ever picked a john up from there, either. Well, except one. But she’s dead now.”
Jack and I exchanged the cop “oh really?” look. “What did she die from?” he asked.
“Got real sick, sort of wasted away.”
“How soon after she picked up that john from The Pleasure Palace?”
Sexy Cindy’s brow crinkled in thought. “Maybe a week, maybe a little more.”
“How long ago was this?” The base of my tail mentioned that it knew exactly what Sexy Cindy was going to say.
“Right about the time when Tomio had everybody read those evil words.” Her expression said she had a direct line to my tail. “Oh, crap, it killed her, didn’t it?”
“No. Well, yes, but not in the way you probably think. And,” I added to the glare that was starting to radiate out of her eyes, “not because I think you’re stupid. Because you’ve been undead about a day and I just doubt Indoctrination taught you about what possession by a major evil minion does to a human.”
Ken put his hand against the wall and concentrated. “It’s not giving off any evil resonance.”
“And yet, it should,” Edgar said. “A manifestation of the size you dealt with should leave resonance for days. Which means it’s got a spell on it.”
“So, what do you figure?” Ralph asked me.
“The incantation provided Abaddon with a portal. He came through into The Pleasure Palace. For whatever reason, he didn’t take a possession there. Isn’t that odd?”
Edgar shook his head. “It makes sense. The clientele are the Prince’s servants. They want a strong army. Better to take an innocent, ensure one less for our side.”
“Okay, so he picks up the poor girl unlucky enough to score a john from our little den of iniquity. He drains her life source and drops her back on her street corner.” A thought occurred. “Cindy, did you know her well enough to know who her pimp was?”
“Yeah. Same pimp as the other two girls we just, ah, talked to. She worked that side of the block, though, so I didn’t see her much.”
“How well connected to Tomio is this pimp?” Jack asked.
Sexy Cindy shrugged. “I dunno. Tomio knew everyone.”
“Which was why he was the perfect choice for infiltration,” Martin said. Black Angel Two nodded. Not that I felt we needed angelic confirmation because it seemed obvious Tomio had been hand-selected for evil quality.
“I go back to the question of what our plan is,” Monty said. “Figuring things out is nice. Doing something about it is better.”
“Thank you, oh fount of wisdom and experience.” I considered our options. Splitting up seemed like it was going to be in order. We clearly needed to investigate The Pleasure Palace, we needed to track down all the potential relatives of the dead, keeping an eye on the folks in the hospital was going to be a given, and finding out what was up with Tomio had to be a good idea.
It dawned on me that it was probably past time to check on Amanda and Maurice. I dialed up Amanda on my wrist-com. No answer. Okay, no reason to panic. Called Maurice. No answer. Called the Count. “Have you heard from Amanda or Maurice? Recently, I mean?”
There must have been something in my tone of voice that told the Count that now wasn’t the time to chide or complain. “No. I’ll try now.” It was quiet for a few long seconds. “No answer from either one. Black Angel One just came back on duty, sending them to intercept.”
“Good. Please tell them to be careful and fast.”
“Just out of curiosity, what do you think has befallen them?”
“I think they’re fighting Abaddon and Apollyon.” Or they were dead. I decided not to mention that possibility, because it was all too possible and I didn’t want to think about it.
“I see. Black Angel One advised. May I suggest that Black Angel Two be ready to assist?”
My conversation with the Count had everyone’s attention. Well, it would save time. “You may.” Miriam and Magdalena both nodded, but made no move to leave. “However, until Black Angel One either doesn’t respond or calls for backup, Black Angel Two plans to stay with our teams.”
“Teams?” the Count asked politely.
I brought him up to speed quickly. “So we’re going to have to split up into several teams to tackle everything.” I refrained from adding “unless we have to go save Amanda and Maurice” because that would mean Black Angels One and Two were in need of assistance, and that was never a sign of good times ahead.
“I see.” The Count was quiet for a few moments. “Carry on.”
Somehow, I’d expected something more from him than that. “Uh, okay. Will do.” My wrist-com went dead.
Ralph was the first one to speak. Well, first he did the canine throat-clear, but right after that, he spoke. “Did that seem…odd to anyone else?”
“Very much,” Monty said. As the being with us who’d known the Count the longest, this held a lot of stressful weight.
I looked around. Everyone was nodding in agreement, even Jack, Freddy and Sexy Cindy. “So, what’re we thinking? The Count’s got a lot on his mind or we’ve got an infiltration and he’s trying to give us a hint?”
“Oh, I’d go with infiltration,” Monty replied. “It’s always a favorite.”
“Who could infiltrate that place?” Jack asked.
I thought about it. Sexy Cindy had made the point that Jack and I could be considered part of the group who were part of Slimy’s attack. And the stronger minions had serious skills. We probably did have eighteen doppelgängers walking about. They just were now unlikely to all be Tomio copies.
“I have a sinking suspicion, Jack, that you and I not only could infiltrate, but did.”
“Great.” At least he didn’t sound freaked out. “How do you fight a doppelgänger?”
“You don’t touch yours, for starters,” Edgar said. “Touching your own duplicate is dangerous at best and normally permanently fatal.”
“Oh. Good.” Jack shook his head. “What kills them?”
“Same things that kill us. That’s the one positive.”
“Yeah, I’m feeling the positive in the situation.” Jack sighed. “So, you and I have to engage the doppelgängers, right?”
“How do you figure that?” Ken asked him.
I answered. “We’re the only ones who can be sure we’re really us.”
“Good point. What’ll the rest of us be doing?” Ken looked ready to fly off and fight something.
“You’ll be dividing up into teams to handle all the other issues we’ve got.”
“You know, they’re doing a very good job of dividing us,” Martin said.
“And potentially conquering, yeah, I know.” The base of my tail wanted a word. “However, what they may be doing is trying to get us away from here, right here. Meaning we want to stay here and continue investigating The Pleasure Palace.”
“Shouldn’t you and Jack be the ones to do that?” Ken asked. “You’re the only two who we could laughingly say have a reason to go in that isn’t related to the undead world.”
As always, Ken had a point. A good point.
H.P., Monty and Edgar were all nodding, as were the angels. “So, Ken’s right, as per usual. So, how do we stop the likely doppelgängers at Enforcement?”
Gretel raised her paw. �
�Send me, Hansel and Ralph. No matter what they look like, the dupes don’t smell right. Close, but not close enough.”
This was true. “Okay, let’s make that happen.” The three of them did an intense scratch and sniff on me and Jack, minimal scratch, maximum sniff. Then they took off.
“Think they’ll be okay?” Jack asked me.
“Probably better than we’ll be.”
“Comforting. Remind me to make sure that, should we have kids, you leave the nurturing parts to me.”
Chapter 28
I left Ken in charge of group divisions. He could do it as well as me, and I wanted to get into The Pleasure Palace and out again as soon as possible. However, Jack and I didn’t go alone. I insisted on taking Freddy and Sexy Cindy with us.
They weren’t thrilled, at least if their grumbling as we walked out of the alley was any indication. “Okay,” I snapped once we were in front of the bridal shop. “Want to tell me why you don’t want this assignment?”
“I told you, I don’t like that place,” Sexy Cindy whined.
“Hell’s no fun, either, but some of us have to venture there on assignment. I’ll wager there’s not a lot of fun being had at Enforcement HQ right now, but you didn’t hear that team whining about it.”
“We’re dead,” Freddy snapped. “And you want to take us in with you to someplace we never went anyway.”
“You’re undead. It’s different and, by now, you both know it. Besides, I don’t care if you never went there before -- you’re going in there now to give me and Jack a believable reason to follow you.”
“How are we going to be believable?” Sexy Cindy asked. “We’re undead.”
“You don’t look it,” Jack said. “I can’t tell the difference between what you looked like alive and now. Your brain’s working better, but if no one in there knows you, Cindy, they won’t notice you’re not acting like a moron all the time. Same with Freddy. You haven’t been undead long enough to have that gray-around-the-edges look H.P. has. You look better than you have in years, but you still look like a bum.”