by Michael Todd
The sergeant walked to a dusty old box and ran his finger over the imprint of a scroll that had been lifted from its tomb of encrusted dust and cobwebs. Whatever was there had been taken by the demon, but he had no idea what it might have been. No one went to that old castle. It was privately owned, and not a normal tourist destination. The castle had had dark beginnings and was said to have been home to death cults and dark magicians. They had also apparently used it to stockpile important historical documents.
The sergeant shook his head. “I don’t know what that bastard was looking for, but he might very well have found it.”
The soldier rifled through a couple of documents in the same area, but there seemed to be no rhyme or reason to their placement. “What would you like us to do, sir?”
The sergeant rubbed his chin. “We can’t just leave all this here.”
The soldier whistled to the others. “Listen up, men. We are going to start bagging and tagging all of this.”
The sergeant turned. “No, no. Wait. We’re going to need a group of specialists in here to do that. Some of this has been around since before the Greeks spoke Greek. We need well-trained personnel in here, or we’ll end up buggering the whole find. I’ll save your asses—and my own—and call this one in.”
One of the other soldiers walked into the room. “Sergeant, can you come look at this?”
The sergeant handed the other soldier his phone. “Get the general on the phone. Tell him what we found, and have him send some specialists out here to start collecting things. Tell him we’ll maintain protection on the building until they arrive.”
The sergeant followed the other soldier across the castle yard to the first building. He pointed at the floor and shone his light on black burn marks. “Between the markings on the floor and the increase in temperature, I believe this was where the portal opened.”
The sergeant stared at the black streaks. “Good job. I guess there’s nothing we can really do about that, but at least we pinpointed it.”
The soldier moved his flashlight. “To solidify your theory of one demon, there’s only one set of footprints going in and out of this spot. I’m assuming it was one demon looking for something in particular. I have to think this was the entrance point, and most likely, you’ll find similar burn marks on the floor in the third building.”
The sergeant turned without a word and rushed back into the third building and to where the scroll was missing. Sure enough, on the floor were several singe marks. He put his hand against the shelf against the wall, feeling how hot the wood was to the touch. “You’re right. It looks like he took the scroll and opened a portal right here. It couldn’t have been that long ago because everything’s still very warm. Damn it, we need those specialists here right away. In the meantime, you guys write down the temperature of every building in the castle. I want to make sure we have that information.”
Everyone went to work, carefully carrying out their orders. No one wanted to be the idiot who destroyed a key piece of evidence. The sergeant stared at the outline of the missing scroll. There was something to that. He just didn’t know what it was.
Chapter Nine
Katie flapped her wings hard and put her feet forward, landing on her balcony. She tucked her wings behind her and took a moment to wave at her fans below. They yelled and cheered for her. She remained on the balcony, letting them take a couple of pictures.
Pandora was loving it. That’s right, vogue for your adoring fans, my dear. Strike a pose. There’s nothing to it.
Katie lifted an eyebrow. Since when did you become a Madonna fan?
Pandora scoffed. Please, who do you think gave her the cone tit idea? I didn’t like her much, so I thought maybe it would bring her some ridicule.
Katie laughed. Little did you know.
Pandora pouted. How was I supposed to know women would love the idea of using their tits to flag traffic? I thought it was ridiculous. Humans are ridiculous, though. There’s nothing I can do to fix that.
Still smiling, Katie opened her bedroom door. Hey, just think of it this way. You helped influence some of the worst pop culture fashion in history. You should be famous.
Pandora laughed. Oh, darling, I am famous.
Katie took off her belt and laid her guns in a drawer in the dresser. It was early, and she wasn’t sure if anyone else was awake yet. Katie was in a good mood after finding more information about Juntto, and getting some much-needed sleep on the plane ride back hadn’t hurt, either. Even Pandora was in a good mood, which was rare and made Katie laugh to herself.
As she went to pull off her shirt, there was a knock on her bedroom door. She cursed and yanked it back down. Katie found Angie standing at the door in her robe and slippers. Katie smiled and grabbed Angie’s hands, pulling her into the room. “I have good news.”
Angie just looked at her. Katie cleared her throat, not really noticing her shocked expression. “We couldn’t find anything at first. We searched through museum archives, church archives, everything. Then Pandora had the brilliant idea to go to the Vatican. The Pope welcomed us with open arms. We searched their secret archives for hours, and then one of the priests had a thought. He said it just might be the energy of emotion that was keeping Juntto under. He was feeling emotions he’d never felt before, and that basically shut his system down. Now all we have to do is figure out what emotion he needs.”
Angie swallowed, her facial expression not changing. “Katie.”
Katie pulled her hair back in a ponytail. “I know it’s not definitive, but it’s more than we had.”
Angie clasped her hands in front of her. “Katie, you left your phone here.”
“Yeah, I just wanted to be able to focus.”
Angie’s face looked sad and worried. Katie stopped what she was doing and walked her to the bed. “What’s going on?”
Angie took a deep breath. “Everyone was trying to get hold of you yesterday morning. The general, Korbin—they all needed to find you. Apparently, a demon came and scouted the base, then left.”
Katie stood up angrily. “What? Then I have to get there. There could be an incursion at any minute.”
Angie reached out and grabbed Katie’s wrist. “Call Korbin. There already was an incursion. Some of the troops were killed, and some were seriously injured. Korbin, Stephanie, Joshua, and Calvin sustained pretty hard-core injuries too.”
Katie’s face fell, and she tapped her pockets looking for her phone. Angie reached into her robe and handed it to her. “Just try to stay calm.”
Katie nodded as Angie left the room to give her some privacy. She dialed Korbin’s number and waited until he picked up. “Korbin! Is everyone okay? Are you okay?”
Korbin cleared his throat. “Good morning to you, too, Katie. I’m okay. We have scratches, gashes, and bruises but Stephanie, Calvin, Joshua, and I will all live. There were a couple of troop casualties, and one of Joshua’s girls was injured. Some of the soldiers were flown out because of their injuries. The base wasn’t damaged that badly, but we’ll need to repair the defenses quickly.”
Katie shook her head. She felt guilty for not being there. “I’m so sorry, Korbin.”
Korbin chuckled. “Don’t ever apologize. You can’t be everywhere at once. But Katie? This was a surprise attack. Not because we didn’t know it was coming, but because they literally opened a portal above us and dropped demons like rain. Somebody out there is changing the rules, which is not very polite of them.”
Korbin walked out of the room and quietly shut the door behind him, letting Stephanie get some sleep. Her shoulders were killing her, and her lip was swollen. Her demon was working on healing her, but she needed to sleep. Korbin put the phone back to his ear as he limped down the corridor to the kitchen.
Katie was obviously feeling guilty, but Korbin didn’t want her to feel that way. “Look, Katie, you had something to take care of. That’s okay. We all have things going on, and you put us here because you can’t be everywhere at once.”
Katie sighed. “I know, I just… You’re my team, my family. I should have had my phone on me.”
Korbin flipped on the kitchen lights and grabbed the coffee pot. “Let me guess—you weren’t in this country. I’m telling you, even if you’d answered when we identified the first portal, you wouldn’t have made it back here in time. The incursion lasted maybe forty minutes and then it was over. We had some help from the general. They shot several RPGs into the portal to close it. After that they swept the field, killing everything else on the ground. I have to say, I’ve never seen anything like it. It was like the sky ripped open and all you could see was black.”
Katie was pissed. “Someone thinks they can fuck with us. Someone thinks they can change the rules.”
Korbin poured the water into the back of the coffeemaker and replaced the glass pot. “You have to understand something, though. We’ve been fighting demons for centuries. There have never been, and will never be, rules of engagement in this war. They do what they can to strike us down. They will kill you running away, and they will kill you from overhead; they will do whatever it takes.”
Katie leaned against her dresser. “Then we’ll do the same. Period. We’ll play dirty too. I’m going to get some breakfast and repack a bag, then I’ll be on a plane out there.”
Korbin shook his head, filling the filter with ground coffee. “No, you stay put. You have a lot going on in New York right now. I’ve got this under control here. If we detect any more signs of an incursion, I’ll call you right away. Just make sure you have your phone on you.”
Katie sighed. “If you need anything, and I mean anything, please don’t hesitate to call me immediately.”
Korbin chuckled. “I promise. Go eat some breakfast before Pandora takes you down.”
They both laughed and hung up. Korbin crossed his arms and waited for the coffee to brew. He was thinking about the battle the day before. It had been brutal, but they had been lucky. If Katie flew all the way to Nevada, she wouldn’t really get anything accomplished. The worst of it was over.
Calvin leaned against the kitchen counter, surprising Korbin. “Good morning. You know, Katie never did listen to me.”
Korbin smiled and winked. “You aren’t me.”
Calvin chuckled and handed Korbin a coffee mug. “Figured we would start getting anti-aircraft weapons in place, so this shit doesn’t happen again.”
Korbin poured them both a cup. “Sounds perfect. Just aim and shoot right into the portal as it opens. Not sure if it’ll work completely, but we’ll definitely have a better chance of stopping the bastards before things get out of hand.”
Calvin took a sip of his coffee. “That was crazy yesterday. Made me miss living in the tunnels like a sewer rat. Being underground definitely has its advantages.”
Korbin nodded. “It does, and that’s why I ordered the men to start digging deeper. My goal is to eventually move the whole base into the ground below this building. That way we’re protected by the building and by the earth. There’ll be an entire system below. It’ll take time, but we need to do something, especially with hell raining down from above.”
Calvin tipped his mug. “Literally.”
All I’m saying is, maybe you could throw me a bone. Literally.
Timothy rolled his eyes, tired of his demon’s constant bitching. It had gotten even worse lately. He just wouldn’t shut up about getting some. I told you, I’m not interested in girls in the slightest. You could put me in a room with a gaggle of naked coeds and my dick would stay as calm as a spring breeze. Not gonna do it.
His demon growled. So you’re just going to stay chaste for the rest of time?
Timothy picked up his tablet and left the IT room. We could do things my way. Go over to the Iron Horse Lounge to see what we can see.
Not happening.
Then we can both enjoy chastity for all eternity.
Timothy’s demon angrily yelled, You are impossible!
Calm down, now. You’re going to give me a stroke or something. Timothy made his way outside to where Korbin and Calvin were working. Stephanie was sitting in a chair. She tried to stand when she saw Timothy, but Korbin growled at her.
“You’re weak. Rest.”
Stephanie smiled at Timothy. “Morning, boo-boo.”
Timothy put his hands in the air. “Morning, my beautiful babies. Aw, momma, you look like you’ve been run over.”
Stephanie chuckled. “I feel like I’ve been run over.”
Timothy bent down next to her and kissed her cheek. “Well, I watched you on the screen while you were fighting, and let me just tell you, you were slayin’ it. Just absolutely fucking slayin’. Badass queen is what you are.”
“Thank you, my darling. What are you doing this morning?”
Timothy pulled a lawn chair next to her and fanned himself with his tablet. “Girl, let me just tell you, this demon shit is for the birds. My demon will not shut the fuck up about getting laid. I told him it’s not going to happen. He would have to add a dick to the menu for me to go to that restaurant, and still, it would be weird. Titties flying around, her bringing more drama than me. We might end up having a catfight mid-fuck.”
Stephanie giggled. “That would be interesting to see.”
Calvin chuckled and looked at Timothy as he moved one of the guns to point higher in the air. “Or you could just give in and let him have his way. Not all the time, just every, oh, I don’t know—two years or so. It’ll be his reward for being a good demon.”
Timothy wrinkled his nose. “Mmm, no. I don’t think so. It’s like children. You give them one treat for being good and going potty in the yard, and then all of a sudden they’re jumping on you every five minutes.”
“Timothy,” Calvin ventured. “What kind of kids you been training?”
Korbin tilted his head. “Do you mean children or dogs?”
Timothy waved his hands. “Same thing. Wet noses, fleas, and they shed.”
Everyone laughed as Timothy looked down at his fingernails. He grabbed Stephanie’s hand and looked at hers as well. “We need some loving time. Look at these fingers. Manicures are on the house tonight, girl.”
Stephanie looked at her fingers, the chipped nail polish slightly singed at the edges. “That’s what you get when you’re hit with a heat wave and then forced to stab demons in the throat with daggers. It’s a shame. They should make warrior-proof nail polish.”
Timothy smacked his lips. “That they should. It would be fabulous, that’s for sure. It would have to be like steel polish or something, though.”
Calvin looked at them. “They should make gloves that have the special steel fingertips. That way you could claw your way through like Catwoman.”
Timothy’s eyes lit up. “Oh my God, I’m fainting. I could totally wear the whole getup. The lycra suit, the wig, and those special claws. I would even wear the little furry ears. Holy hell, this bitch would be fabulous.”
Stephanie elbowed him. “You could wear those spike-heeled Prada boots we saw.”
Timothy shook his head, continuing to fan himself. “Girl, I am in love. Where is Joshua? I need that man to put down the grenade launchers and get his ass in gear. Momma needs a brand-new pair of claws.”
He stood up and strutted toward the armory building, Stephanie whistling after him. Everyone smiled as he curtsied and threw open the armory door, yelling Joshua’s name at the top of his lungs. “Joshua! We have fashion to make.”
Beelzebub shook off his scales as he appeared in one of the gorges in hell. It was off the beaten path, so no one would pay any attention to him being there. No demons were out that way, and the only other being was the specialist Beelzebub had summoned. He kicked one of the stones into the river of flowing lava and put his hands on his hips. A large lavafall cascaded over the edge of the cliff above. The goop dripped down the fall and plummeted into the small pool below, making gargling and bubbling sounds.
“This is an interesting place. Don’t know how
I haven’t found it before,” Beelzebub muttered to himself, looking at the lava pool.
The specialist demon walked over with an air of nervousness surrounding him. “This has been here for centuries. It was created when Lucifer banished Hindleroth to the depths of hell. He slammed his body into the rock and created the gorge. The lava just flowed right over. Beautiful sight, really.”
Beelzebub lifted an eyebrow and walked closer to the falls. “Yes, well, it will be even more beautiful if my plan works the way I hope it will. How much lava is flowing per minute here?”
The demon pushed up his invisible glasses. “It would really depend on the viscosity of the lava, where it was flowing, if there was an eruptive force behind it, and so on. In hell, things move differently than on Earth, of course. Lava flows at about half the rate of water.”
Beelzebub sighed. “How about for this?”
The demon looked at the lava pool. “I would guess between two and five cubic meters per second, nearly twenty million gallons of lava every few minutes. Then again, the temperatures in hell are very high. I would wager that if this lavafall were in, say, Hawaii, it would flow much slower because the air is cooler. It would thicken the lava considerably. We would still see around five million gallons of lava every few minutes.”
Beelzebub put his hand on his chin thoughtfully and walked to the edge of the gorge. “Hmm. That is not bad at all. I will have to select an appropriately-sized town. If the city is too large, the lava won’t do nearly enough damage.”
The demon looked at him nervously. Beelzebub waved his hand. “You may go. But remember, not a word about this to anyone. Do you understand?”
The demon nodded fearfully and raced off through the gorge. He jumped onto a wall and scampered out of sight. When he was gone, Beelzebub waved his hand again, and a world map of Earth sprang into view. He studied it closely.