by Michael Todd
Angie took in a deep breath and wrote that exact sentence down, just to make sure she had a record when the bill came in. It was going to be a wild ride for those boys, and Angie was stoked to be the one to get to plan it.
Calvin brought Sofia’s hand to his lips, staring up at the television in the living area. Timothy was lounging in the overstuffed armchair, his feet hanging over the side, kicking back and forth. On the television were their soaps, a woman with angel wings on the screen staring at a large demon portal in the center of Central Park.
“Man, I love this storyline, but it feels weird.”
“What does?” Sofia asked.
“Watching it without Katie and Pandora. When they first came here, before we knew Pandora at all, she became obsessed with three things, donuts, game shows, and soap operas. At first, it was just Katie in here watching them, but slowly she managed to get everyone involved. Even Damian, the priest we had, the one I came onto the team with; and he was not the kind of guy to like soaps. He was more of a local pub going, book reading, whiskey drinking intellectual.”
“I thought he was a priest.”
“He is, an infected one.”
“Are all those people gone now?”
“Yeah.” Calvin sighed. “Not all dead though. Korbin and Stephanie live in happy bliss, having been exorcised by Katie. Damian is off with his church helping other churches deal with their demon problems, and I think almost everyone else is... well you know.”
“It sucks they couldn’t be here to see the world as it is now.” Sofia smiled, rubbing his shoulder.
“Yeah, it is. But we had a hell of a time while we were here. Katie would make this sugared popcorn and make it all kinds of crazy colors. It was like food coloring and melted sugar poured over popped corn. It was amazing. Everyone would gather around and watch the soaps, with plenty of commentary of course.”
Sofia laughed. “I didn’t know anyone could get that into these shows.”
Calvin shrugged easily. “I don’t think it was the show as much as it was the time together. We were always like a big family. I mean, if you think about it, we only had each other. We weren’t allowed to contact anyone from the past, so our families thought we were dead and we couldn’t really have a normal relationship. We had each other, and it was nice to do things together. Things that didn’t involve demon slaying or going to funerals.”
Timothy laughed. “I like that bar you guys took me to. The one with the duct-taped furniture.”
Sofia raised an eyebrow, and Calvin laughed. “We had this bar we went to all the time, and there were always fights so they would just kind of patch the furniture back together and wait until another person landed on it. It was a fun place. We met up with the other local teams there, celebrated those we had lost, and just enjoyed the only people we had in our lives.”
“Why don’t you still do that?” Sofia asked.
“Most of the merc teams have broken up. Here it’s just me, Timothy, Katie, and the people out at the armory, but they aren’t fighters. When the rules were lifted a lot of the teams went their own ways. Some gave up the life for a normal one, others headed off on their own. In fact, I haven’t talked to any other team in a long time.”
Sofia’s nose crinkled prettily. “It’s a good thing though, right? You get to have a life now.”
“Yeah, but we’re still infected.” Timothy sighed. “It’s hard for the red-eyed to have any kind of actual life.”
Sofia shook her head. “It cannot be so bad, surely?”
Calvin made a face. “I would have to agree to a certain extent. You are different, the demon in me doesn’t bother you. Most people are freaked out, and it’s understandable. People see the infected on the news, they don’t see the people who have the demons but fight them back. Except for Katie, she’s become somewhat of a legend, helped people to see that the Damned aren’t all bad. We live in a world where demons have become a commonplace thing, and there are too many battles for the everyday person to take in.”
Timothy stood up. “Yeah, well, humans have a tendency to ignore what it is that scares them,” he replied. “I may not have been infected my whole life, but I tell you what, people were more worried about catching the gay than they are of my demon.”
Calvin burst out laughing and held a hand to his chest. “You mean it’s contagious?”
Timothy waved him off. “Yep, I cough and before you know it you got dicks coming at you from all angles. It’s crazy, and there’s no cure for it.”
They all laughed as Timothy walked across the room. “I’m gonna go attempt to make some of this deliciousness that Katie makes. I mean, if I can highlight hair, do a manicure, and a wax all at the same time, I think I can manage some sugar-coated popcorn.”
“I won’t stop you,” Calvin shouted.
Timothy walked out of the living area and into the kitchen. He pulled a bottle of riesling from the fridge and uncorked it. He went to get a glass but shrugged, figuring he was the only one who drank the stuff anyway.
“Why the hell not? You earned it, princess,” he told himself, tipping back the bottle.
Timothy went through the cabinets to find the popcorn maker, a bag of kernels, and the oil he remembered Katie using. He looked at the popcorn maker and raised an eyebrow, not exactly sure how to operate it. He poured the oil into the little area marked oil and then opened the kernels, spilling some onto the counter and floor. He put the rest in the hole in the center and plugged in the machine.
“Well, here’s hoping!”
When the corn started to pop, he clapped his hands. He pulled out a saucepan and grabbed the food coloring and sugar from the cabinet. He knew the ingredients, he just wasn’t exactly sure how to make it. He started out with a half a stick of butter, several sloppily poured cups of sugar, and then took the blue food coloring and squeezed it in there.
He reached over and grabbed a spoon with one hand, taking a swig of the wine with the other and turned up the heat, watching the butter quickly melt into the bottom of the pan. He stirred it, looking over to see popcorn spilling out of the popper onto the counter.
“Shit.” He dropped the spoon in the pot and ran over, grabbed a big bowl and put it under the spout. “Use your brain, sweetheart, use your brain.”
When he walked back over to the pot, he lifted an eyebrow. He grabbed the spoon. The entirety of the butter and sugar mixture was clumped together and rock solid, the color of a Smurf. He tried to bang it off back into the pan, but it was stuck on the spoon. He grimaced and walked over to the trashcan, just throwing the whole spoon away.
“If at first you don’t succeed...?”
He went through the motions again, this time using equal parts butter to sugar and using the yellow food coloring. He stirred and stirred the mixture, pulling out the spoon and splattering a line of melted sugar across the top of his hand. He jumped, dropping the spoon in the pot and racing over to the sink to run cold water over his hand.
This is funnier to watch than anything I’ve seen in ages, his demon cackled.
Just shut it.
I think your sugar is burning.
” Huh? Oh shit!”
He ran over and pulled the pot off the stove, looking in at the burnt mixture in the bottom of the pan. He set the pan in the sink and filled it with water, pulling out a new one. He shook his head and turned the heat down from high and set the pot on the burner.
“Okay, last try. If I don’t get it, it wasn’t meant to be.”
On the third try he made sure to focus, kept his digits away from the molten sugar mixture, and just kind of threw some colors in there. When it was done, he had found that he had succeeded. He lifted the spoon and watched the mixture run back down into the pot.
“Perfecto. Top Chef all the way.”
He mixed it all in with the corn and stood back, tilting his head to the side. He grabbed a piece and tried it, closing his eyes and smiling. The only issue was the color. He picked up the bottle of food coloring he’d used last,
the label read ‘black.’
“Whatever.” He grabbed the bowl. “Beggars can’t be choosers.”
Angie sat at the dining room table, liking the view better from there than the office in the spare bedroom. She had several sheets of paper spread out in front of her, trying to get the details for the weekend all sewn up. She had figured out the plane situation after making a couple of calls and finding out that France really didn’t want to tell Katie no on anything. In fact, they made sure to accommodate her in every way. Angie could tell it was all out of fear, but she didn’t care, she was just glad that part was done and done.
Angie had called the jet staffing service and hired a few extra flight attendants for the flight. She figured that if there weren’t strippers, there might as well be beautiful women serving their drinks.
On the phone with the company, she had hesitated to ask, having a hard time finding the courage to speak so plainly. About fifteen minutes of waffling, she finally bit the bullet and asked the company to staff attractive young girls. The guy just laughed, telling her that was a normal request in their line of work. After that, she booked a caterer to travel with them and moved on to the nearby accommodations. There were a ton of hotels in the general vicinity, but after looking at them all her head was starting to swim and they were all fading together into one. She took a break and walked over to the floor to ceiling windows, looking out over Central Park. It was a beautiful day, but she didn’t have time to go out there and play around. Katie expected this visit for Brock and the others to be absolutely perfect.
She walked over to the phone and called down to the front.
“I was wondering, we have some guests coming in and I am trying to find the best hotel near us to house them all in individual rooms. What would be your suggestion?”
“How many are there?” the concierge asked.
“Five, and they are servicemen coming back from France. We want to make sure they are more than comfortable.”
“Actually, I do have a suggestion. If you go to our site and click on the amenities section, you will see a place at the bottom referring to rentals. Click that, and it will give you prices and layouts of the condos that we have. They are pre-furnished and available for short-term stays.”
Angie could have hugged the person on the other end of the line. “Oh, that sounds great, just perfect! Thank you, I’ll look that up right away.”
The concierge chuckled. “Of course, and if you choose to go with that option, you can call me back and I will put it all together for you.”
“Thank you.”
She got off the phone and went back to the computer to look up the condos. They were really nice, just like their condo but smaller. They were furnished to the hilt and even included a stocked bar and fridge at no extra cost. She skimmed down to the prices, and her eyes got big. They were more expensive than anything she had ever bought. Then again, Katie was the one who said there was no budget and only the best.
She flipped through the pictures again and realized they were only a few hundred more a night than the next nicest hotel room near them, and it would put them just a few floors above them. Katie wouldn’t even have to take a cab to get to them. On top of that, they might just be able to feel at home for once, instead of feeling like they were in a hotel room. The beds were of the best quality, the linens far superior to those in the hotel, and there were huge-ass 4k flat screen televisions in two of the rooms of each condo.
Angie grinned and reached for the phone to call the concierge back. “These guys are going to live like kings while they are here.”
She looked around her remembering just how far she had come since Katie rescued her. She smiled and let go of the price realizing that she too lived in the lap of luxury, but she didn’t even have to go out there and fight demons to protect her and the rest of the country. These boys really did deserve everything she could come up with.
Chapter Six
Brock and the guys walked to the entrance of the base after being released to begin their leave. Sitting out front was a stretch Hummer limo, all lit up, the driver holding the door open for them. The guys gawked at the ride. They’d been expecting to have to take a cab to the airport.
Brock’s buddy patted him on the shoulder and walked past, laughing.
“This is definitely not a military-grade Humvee.” The guy kept laughing as he climbed inside.
Brock smiled and shrugged, looking back at the Eiffel tower before climbing in with the others. They threw their bags into a pile and sat back, looking around at the fancy interior of the limo. There were neon lights all along the ceiling, leather seats, plush carpet on the floor, and small televisions playing American football.
The driver rolled the tinted window down and grinned at them through the rearview mirror. “The bar is fully stocked for you.”
He rolled the window back up, hearing the cheers from the guys. As they drove to the airport, the guys enjoyed some cold beers. Brock passed on the alcohol and watched out the window as they drove through the city. When they arrived at the airport, he expected to be dropped off at the front. He hadn’t been told the airline they were booked on, but he knew Katie and figured the driver would let them know. However, as they approached the driver took a turn down a service road and entered the airfield. They pulled up to a large hangar and stopped to wait for the doors to slide open.
He parked the limo and got out to open the door for the guys. They all climbed out with their gear on their backs and stared, wide-eyed at the private jet in front of them. The door opened, and three ground staff secured the stairs for them. None of them took a step, still not believing that the beautiful plane was for them. A stunning brunette woman in a short skirt, heels and button-up white blouse walked out. She gave the guys a red-lipsticked smile and waved for them to go up.
Before they could move a muscle, a long-haired redhead walked up behind the brunette and put her hands on her hips. “Well, come on boys, we have a long flight home.”
All of the guys laughed and hurried toward the stairs, not believing their luck. Brock chuckled, seeing what Katie meant by a good time, and followed along behind them. The women took their bags and had them stowed below before showing them around the plane.
“This is the service bar,” one of the flight attendants explained, indicating the large oval bar at the front. “We have beer, wine, alcohol, soda, coffee, and water. When we get in the air, a catered buffet will be served up here as well. Ms. Maddison had us make sure to have everything you might want to eat, so feel free to take whatever you like. Straight to the back of the cabin is the bathroom and to the right is the bedroom. If anyone wants to take a nap, you are more than welcome to. There are over fifteen hundred movies on our onboard movie system, and we have Wi-Fi connected to the laptops in the back of each seat. We ask that you stay buckled in until the pilot tells us its safe and then let us know what we can do to make your flight memorable.”
The guys all stared at her and then looked at Brock. “Is this like a part of your entourage?”
“No.” Brock laughed. “I have to admit, I’ve never ridden in anything this nice before. This is all Katie.”
“Man.” His teammate chuckled. “Being a merc has definitely got its perks.”
All the guys took seats relatively close to one another, not used to having so much room to spread out. They buckled in and sat back to wait for the plane to take off. The ladies hurried around the plane, taking care of everything they needed to be prepared for takeoff and then took their seats in the back.
Brock heard them giggling to each other.
“Maybe joining the service was the wrong choice,” one of the guys joked. “If I had known mercenaries live like this, well shit, I’d give up three hots and a cot any day.”
“Three hots? Try maybe some warm coffee and an MRE from three decades ago to last you two days.”
All the guys laughed, but they knew that when they were out there in a battle that wasn’t too far from
the truth. You never had time to really eat chow, even when the military cordoned off an area in the safe zone to serve it. Brock’s team were special forces, and they were the ones responsible for stopping the battle, especially if the mercs weren’t there. That meant they saw the most action, killed the most demons, and got the least sleep or food out of everyone. Sure, the pay was more, but not that much more.
In reality, though, none of the guys on that plane did it for the recognition or the money, they did it because that was what they knew they had to do. They were called to fight for their country, and now for their planet. To protect the land and the people from this unbelievable threat that if left unchecked would easily swallow them all whole. At the end of the day, even sitting in that jet, none of them thought they would actually ever be able to walk away from the lives they lived, it was too rewarding for them.
Brock looked out the window and watched the ground fall away beneath them as the plane took to the sky, reaching the end and soaring effortlessly into the sky. He was shocked when he couldn’t even feel the landing gear retract, not like the military planes they had to take. He was lucky on one of those to have even a seatbelt, much less a smooth ride to wherever they were going. Brock, like the others, loved the jet, but mostly they were all just happy to be heading to New York and getting out from under the shadow of the events in France. They had just buried their teammate there.
They’d all wanted more for him than that.
France was more than happy to oblige, and the guys had left from the funeral to get on the plane. It had been a trying day, full of anger, grief, and stress, and Katie had gone above and beyond to ensure the guys were taken care of and worry-free, at least while their vacation lasted. He wasn’t sure why she was doing it for them, whether it was personal toward him like he hoped, or just because she knew they needed it, but either way he was more than thankful to see his teammates smiling for the first time in a very long time.