by Michael Todd
“You will give them to me for free,” Moloch ordered, flashing his eyes to put the human girl into a trance.
“Here you are, sir. Thank you for your time here at Bogarts. Come again,” she droned like she was reading a script.
Moloch smiled and walked out of the store carrying his bag of clothes. He stared down at the sweatshirt he had on. There was a very large H on the back, and on the front, there was a cartoon version of Lucifer. The sweatshirt read, I never get lost, because everyone tells me where to go. He loved his new clothes, and the boots he had gotten were a lot more comfortable then the dress shoes the human had been wearing when he took his body.
He turned the corner and headed through the town to the residential area. As he walked through the neighborhoods, he kept his eyes forward and his hands in the hoodie’s pockets. When he reached his destination, he was pleased to see the head of the group standing on the steps smiling widely. These guys had been protecting Moloch’s ass for years, and this time he was actually going to spend some time with them. These survivalists worshipped a form of him. They had never seen him until today, and he was in a human suit, so they were just seeing another version of him.
“Your Grace,” the head guy greeted him, bowing his head. “Please come in. We have been awaiting your arrival.”
Moloch nodded and walked into the house. It was very simple on the inside, white and black and full of candles. There were three other people sitting around, who immediately stood when he walked in the door. He smiled at them and followed the leader into another room.
“We have been preparing for your return,” the man continued. “We procured a sacrifice, and carefully preserved her blood.”
He pointed to a carafe on the table next to an overstuffed armchair. Moloch sat down comfortably in the chair and the leader poured him a glass of blood. He sipped it and smiled, looking up at the kid.
“Tastes like a perfect 1986 aged vintage,” he said in a snobby tone. “It will do, sir; it will do.”
The others walked into the room and took seats on the floor in front of him, crossing their legs and staring up in awe.
Moloch liked a crowd, but this one was a bit creepy—even for him.
One by one his followers lit black candles and held them tightly in their hands. They were silent, but the mood in the house was reminiscent of the days when he had walked the Earth in his demon form and droves of followers had cast themselves at his feet to pledge their allegiance.
They had all died then, but this time it would be different. He would not let them fall.
He cleared his throat and straightened up.
“As much as I enjoy all of this, we are in a time crunch,” Moloch began. “I want to start out with this: I know that when you go day after day, month after month, year after year without having your belief system verified, it can be very difficult. I am here to tell you, though, that you are not preparing for something that will never come. The time is here, and the time is now. You can have an apocalyptic future sooner rather than later.”
“How?” the leader asked.
“By trusting me,” Moloch said. “There is a group of humans on Earth who are trained warriors. They were born from our gifts, but now turn their backs on their inner demons. They are standing in the way of our complete control of that planet. I need you to give them a kick.”
“How will we do that, Master?” one of the girls asked.
“You will be proactive, not waiting for the future to be handed to you,” he said. “You will become my version of the Damned. You’ll train and fight for liberation and freedom. We are not accepted up here, you know this, so instead of waiting for everyone else to come around, we need to take our futures into our own hands!”
“We will be more than happy to serve you,” the leader declared.
“And for your service and your allegiance, when every last one of the Damned are dead and buried, you will be rewarded.” Moloch smiled, a deep rumbling laugh coming from his chest.
His plan was perfect, and it was working out the way he wanted.
The Damned wouldn’t see this coming. They would be completely blindsided.
The days of demons being overrun, killed, and sent back to hell were over.
It was time for them to rise; for T’Chezz to lead the charge in taking Earth and all the humans on it. They would fall to their knees and grovel at his feet, thanking him and T’Chezz for being merciful and sparing their lives.
Moloch would gain his place at the left hand of Lucifer, and the humans would never cause a problem for the demons again.
The humans’ time on Earth was drawing to a close. Now it was time for the Reign of the Demons.
Korbin stood in his office, looking down into the training area as Eric and Derek sparred.
He paced in his office as he had done so many times. There was a path in the carpet on the floor. where over the years he had worn away the fabric. Pacing, worrying, wondering if he was making the right decision.
He had a bad feeling in his stomach; something he had been trying to shake since he’d talked to Stephanie, but it wouldn’t go away.
At first he thought that their restlessness was causing him to be restless too, but through the night his body and his instincts told him something different. There was evil in the air; more evil than normal, and even his demon—who was usually quiet—was tossing and turning inside him, warning him of something on the horizon.
He went to the workout room window and tapped on the glass, gesturing to Eric and Derek to come to his office. They nodded and grabbed their towels, drying their sweat off before disappearing out of view.
Korbin took a deep breath, not wanting to look nervous, and sat down behind his computer. He fidgeted for a moment, clasping his hands together and shifting in his seat, but finally sat still when the guys entered the office.
“What’s up, boss?” Eric asked, looking alarmed. “Is there a call?”
“Not yet,” Korbin replied. “As you know, Stephanie, Ella, Katie, and Charlotte are in Arizona at a retreat. Intel we received has led us to believe there is going to be an attack on the facility. The women there are all innocents. The goal of this attack is not to kill, but instead infect a large number of people. We aren’t sure why, but we assume it can only be for something like an army of sorts.”
“The girls have been kicking ass lately.” Derek chuckled. “Katie has become a force to be reckoned with.”
“She has, but she isn’t invincible,” Korbin replied, rubbing his chin. “I’ve had a bad feeling all night. I can’t shake it, and I know I should listen to it.”
“What do you need us to do?” Derek asked.
“I want you to go to Phoenix and find a place close to where they are staying,” Korbin ordered. “I want you to be near them, but don’t go in without a support request. If you go in and there is nothing going on, we may completely scare off the demons—and get the girls kicked out since it is an all-women’s retreat.”
“I like the sound of that.” Eric chuckled.
“Keep it in your pants.” Derek smirked. “They are damsels in distress.”
“Or they are a bunch of Katies.” Eric grinned. “Ready to kick your ass out the window.”
“She can be fragile,” Derek argued.
“All right, you two.” Korbin waved them off. “Go. Be safe, and I’ll be in contact. Let’s just hope my feeling is wrong.”
Chapter Eleven
Katie knelt in front of the tables, her knees digging into the vibrantly-colored pillows beneath her. She pressed her palms together and bowed her head, peeking at the women around the tables. They were all New Age hippies and mostly her age, practicing peace while making sure not to spill anything on their designer white linen pants.
She didn’t understand why they would come to a place like this if they weren’t going to live the lifestyle.
In the room around them were long draping tapestries with the tree of life and several different mandalas had b
een embroidered on the bright purple and yellow fabrics with gold thread.
The tables were low to the ground, and there were bunches of fresh flowers all the way down the row, so a floral scent mixed with the constantly-burning incense.
Katie waited as the plates were passed around the table. The water goblets were in the center. The water pitcher had fresh fruit swirling around the bottom, which made Katie think of wine and summer. She thanked the girl next to her with a fake smile and set her plate down in front of herself.
Her stomach rumbled as she stared down at the pile of kale, scoop of quinoa, and mound of root vegetables. She was starving, but the food in front of her still didn’t look appetizing. She glanced at Stephanie, who shrugged, picked up her fork, and pushed the food around.
Ella was already digging in, trying desperately not to roll her eyes or moan every time she took a bite. Katie knew that the food was good for her, but she had the luxury of being equipped with an anti-diet system.
Pandora would expel any of the fats and bad stuff from her body. She could literally eat anything she wanted. It was both a blessing and a curse, since Pandora was obsessed with making her tits bigger and her ass rounder—which was better than everything becoming bigger and rounder.
This is not what I signed up for. Pandora sighed. I am not the least bit interested in eating something called a “root vegetable.” Roots are in the ground. Let’s leave them there.
I have to admit I agree with you on this one, but I can’t just slip out, Katie told her. What if they catch me?
Lady, you slay demons for a living. They practice something called downward-facing dog, I think you can survive a little roughing up by them. Pandora chuckled.
Katie looked at Charlotte, who was staring at her plate with one eyebrow raised. She didn’t seem to be any more enthusiastic about the food then Pandora was.
Katie wanted a juicy burger, some fries, a bunch of ketchup, a Coke, and a box of donuts for Pandora’s pleasure.
She couldn’t even pretend with the food she was given, especially since she couldn’t think of a sweet food in the world that included a root vegetable. She sighed and leaned toward Stephanie.
“Psst!”
“I’m right here, Katie,” she replied. “What is it?”
“I can’t eat this grass.” Katie pointed to her plate. “I don’t think cows would even eat this stuff.”
“What would you like me to do about that?” Stephanie asked, eyebrow raised.
“Nothing. I’m just letting you know I’m on Pandora’s side on this one,” Katie whispered, stopping and smiling at one of the yogis as he walked by. “I’m busting out of here. The only threat here is suicide due to excess strange vegetables…and slicing my wrists because they took away my TV.”
“The only things here to slice your wrists with are the zucchini rounds,” Stephanie whispered. “That might take you a bit of time.”
“See? Death by fucking vegetables,” Katie replied, eyeing the zucchini. “Maybe if we have to do this again I’ll bring a large rabbit and hide him under my shirt. I’ll feed him my food during dinner and sneak snacks in my luggage.”
“Ugh, I hope we never do this again,” Stephanie agreed. “I like the quiet, but shit I miss the guys and the ass-kickings.”
“Ditto,” Katie replied. “Okay, I’m serious…I’m busting the hell out of here.”
Stephanie’s eyes flicked around the room before she looked back to Katie. “Is this Pandora talking?”
“Not this time.” Katie stood up and bowed to the girls. “See you in about five boxes of donuts.”
“Hey! Bring me one,” Charlotte whispered. “Help a girl the fuck out.”
“You got it, sister.” Katie fist-bumped with her.
Katie slipped out of the dining room, down the hall, and into her room. She sighed when she closed the door, slipping off the shawl she had been given to wear and sliding on her maroon hoodie. She grabbed her phone and a credit card and tiptoed to the bedroom door, peeking out but quickly closing it when she noticed a big group of the staff talking in the hallway.
“Shit!” Katie said. “Shit, shit, shit.”
When she again opened the door and peered out, one of the staff noticed her. She shut the door again and cursed, gritting her teeth. She had come this far. There was no way she was going to fail at this point. She was going to get the donuts, and she was going to rub them all over her body.
That is disgusting, Pandora grumbled. Let’s stick with eating them—unless you mean doing that and having a guy lick the sugar off? Yum! That sounds delicious!
I was joking. Katie sighed.
I’m not joking that you better find a way out of here before I start throwing things and bring you a whole lot of attention, Pandora threatened.
I’m going, I’m going. Sheesh, Katie threw her hands in the air.
She looked around her room. She was on the bottom floor, but none of the windows opened very far. They were cranking kind, not ones that slid up and down.
She was about to give up when she remembered the room had a balcony or patio thing. She crept into the other room and opened the patio door, nonchalantly walking out as if she were just taking the air. When she didn’t see anyone around, she shoved her phone and card in her pocket and snuck over the railing into the garden.
She walked along with her hands behind her back, pretending to look at the flowers until the woman in the window doing dishes had gone away.
Quickly she ran over to the tall hedges that lined the property. She pulled the branches apart and sighed, realizing she was going to have to crawl underneath to get through.
She pushed through on her hands and knees, squealing as a branch snapped back and got her in the face. She cussed at it, stopping for a moment to rub her eye.
If I go blind, you are going to have to deal with it, Katie growled.
Oh, stop being so dramatic. Pandora laughed. You looked like a complete moron sliding through the bushes like you are escaping from the mental institution.
Maybe this is a mental institution, Katie mused. Maybe they are just posing as meditation and yoga specialists so there won’t be an uprising by fine citizens like me.
Technically you aren’t a citizen. You’re dead, Pandora pointed out.
Oh, great. While I am crawling through the bushes to make my way off the fucking reservation of fucking idiots to get YOU donuts, you point out my death, like it wasn’t traumatic enough, Katie whined.
It was fake, Pandora replied in a snarky tone. How traumatic can a fake death be?
Not the point. Katie finally crawled out the other side and stood up, pulling the leaves from her hair. Ha! I made it.
Hold on. Pandora sniffed. We have company.
Where? Who? Katie reached for the knife under her shirt but didn’t pull it out quite yet.
About a half a mile away. Some demon, some human, Pandora told her.
Katie moved another hundred yards to hide behind a large tree near the path and waited for the group to come along.
She stood there quietly feeling nervous, but wanting to see if she could hear anything before calling Korbin. Finally the group came close enough, and she heard them talking about fifteen yards away. She could hear everything but see nothing.
“Okay, here is the deal. We need new acolytes, but we aren’t killing these women,” the leader of the operation hissed. “This could be a flagship attack. In order to secure our place in this race we must turn the demons loose, possess these ladies, and change their families. Then in ten years, they will come back and turn the next generation of humans. They will spread the word, and continue to do so all over the country. We will secure the demons’ place among the humans.”
“What if the police come?” a deeper voice asked.
“We will get as many as we can possessed by that point, then bolt,” the first speaker answered. “They will lay the blame on the spa owners, and we will be in the clear. We all have alibis, and none in our party have an
y connection to this place. There is no reason for them to suspect us.”
Katie, freaking out slightly, waited for them to pass her and circled around the tree before pulling out her phone. There was no way that the three of them could hold off all these demons and protect Charlotte at the same time.
“Dammit!” They should have brought back-up, but they hadn’t and now they had to make do.
She dialed Stephanie’s number and tapped her foot as she waited for her to answer.
“What is it?” Stephanie whispered. “It’s nightly silent time.”
“Emergency!” Katie blurted.
“What? They didn’t have the crème-filled?” Stephanie cursed quietly in sympathy.
Bwahahahahahaha! I like how this girl thinks.
“No. I mean, I don’t know, but that’s not what I am calling about,” Katie answered.
Shut up, Pandora!
Katie continued, “The demons are here. They have a crew, and they are planning on possessing all of the women, or as many as possible. It’s some sick way they think they can keep their race here on this plane.”
“How far away?”
“They just walked past me, so it will be any time now,” Katie whispered, looking around her area. “I’m going to call Korbin and give him the skinny; see if there are any redshirts nearby who can help. I’ll be right back in, but Stephanie…keep Charlotte safe. She’s not a fighter, and I don’t want her to get possessed.”
“Got it,” Stephanie answered. “See you in a minute.”
Katie pressed End and stared at the bright full moon overhead.
Doom dropped into the pit of her stomach, and she wondered how she had missed that feeling all night long. She shook the thought from her mind and speed-dialed Korbin.
Stephanie turned to Ella and nodded, letting her know the attack was imminent. Ella looked at all the innocent faces around her and slowly put down her fork. Stephanie glanced at Charlotte, who for the first time looked scared.
“Listen to me,” Stephanie whispered. “Get up slowly, excuse yourself, and hide out in our room. I want you in a closet, a box—whatever you can fit yourself in—out of the line of sight. I promised to keep you safe. Do you understand?”