by Michael Todd
Charlotte nodded and looked at the yogi, who was lost in meditation. Carefully she stood up and tiptoed through the pillows and out the door. Stephanie could see her start to run when she reached the hallway, and she let out a sigh of relief.
She would be safe until they could get her back out again.
There weren’t enough closets in the whole place to hide the rest of these women. They needed to get them to safety without causing a mass panic, though. Stephanie had never been good at doing things without causing panic.
She really wished that Katie would get back, because she was at a loss for what to do next.
She looked at Ella and gestured to indicate that she too was leaving to get her weapons. Slowly the two girls stood and tiptoed through the group, making it out to the hallway and closing the doors behind them. They walked quickly toward their room, their bare feet slapping the marble floors.
“Katie’s calling Korbin,” Stephanie explained. “The demons are here, and they plan on possessing every one of those women out there.”
“Why?”
“Survival, numbers, security,” Stephanie listed. “Katie will be back inside in a minute, but right now the two of us need to prepare. We need our weapons, and we need a game strategy. I’m not sure if we will have help; it might just be the three of us.”
“What about Charlotte?” Ella asked. “Is she a fighter?”
“No.” Stephanie chuckled. “She is an underground reporter-turned-spy for our side. She has never trained a day in her life, and she is not infected. I would like to keep it that way; give that girl the chance you didn’t have, Katie didn’t have, and most everyone on the teams wasn’t given.”
“All right,” Ella agreed. “We will keep her safe. Not a problem.”
“As for the rest, I don’t really know. We are going to have to play it by ear.”
“Okay,” Ella replied. “Keep Charlotte safe and kick major fucking demon ass. I think I can handle both of those things.”
“Good.” Stephanie smiled. “Because we are gonna have one hell of a fight on our hands.”
“What’s good?” Korbin answered.
“At the moment? Nothing,” Katie replied.
“What’s going on?” he demanded, immediately dropping the playful tone.
“The demons are here. It’s going down. Warn the locals; that is very important in case one of these motherfuckers escape. And by one, I am saying there are a lot of them. There isn’t any chance that there are redshirts in the area are there?”
“I’ll go you one better,” Korbin told her. “I sent Derek and Eric to stay close by in case this very thing happened. I’ll dispatch them to you.”
“Perfect.” Katie sighed. “You are always on top of things.”
“I had a hunch,” he explained. “Be careful, and call me when it’s over. Oh, and please protect Charlotte.”
“Already on it.” Katie headed back toward the house.
Chapter Twelve
Stephanie laid her weapons out on the bed as Ella dropped her shawl and pulled her vest over her shoulders, zipping it up in the front. She grabbed her swords and slid them into the back sheaths, then glanced at Charlotte. The woman looked terrified, so she sighed and rubbed Charlotte’s back.
“You are going to be just fine, and if all else fails, kick them in the balls,” Ella explained.
“That is my new motto,” Stephanie replied. “If all else fails, kick ‘em in the balls.”
Just then the door flew open and all three girls jumped back. Stephanie grabbed her chest and breathed heavily as she stared at Katie.
“Do you always have to be so dramatic?” Stephanie asked. “The door was unlocked; a simple twist of the handle would have sufficed.”
“Yeah but then I couldn’t laugh at your terrified little faces.” Katie stuck out her tongue. “All right, we gotta get moving. We gotta get these women into their rooms.”
“Okay, Charlotte.” Ella nodded. “Get in the closet, and don’t come out until I come back to get you. You are going to be fine. What’s the rule?”
“If all else fails, kick ‘em in the balls,” she whimpered.
“Hmmm.” Katie rubbed her chin. “I fucking love that rule.”
“I know, right?” Stephanie smiled. “Too bad I already claimed it.”
“Meh, you can’t stop these lips from spilling those words.” Katie smiled and hip-checked her. “All right, ladies, you ready? Oh, and fear not…Eric and Derek will be joining us soon.”
“Oh, swoon.” Stephanie looked at her. “I think we got this.”
“Maybe,” Katie replied.
The three girls sprinted out the door, Ella taking a moment to shut and lock the door behind them. They sped down the marble hallways, still barefoot, their feet slapping against the cold stone. They swung open the dining room doors, causing the patrons to gasp and cry out. Stephanie jumped onto the table as Katie and Ella walked toward the back, scanning everyone, to make sure there were no red eyes in the crowd.
“There is an emergency,” Stephanie yelled as she raised her arms in the air. “I need everyone including staff to stand up and calmly go to your rooms. Once there, lock the doors and don’t open for anyone unless you hear us over the loudspeaker first. This is not a drill, this is the real deal. Your lives are in danger.”
Stephanie dropped her arms and watched the women gab nervously to each other. For a moment she thought maybe she had spoken the wrong language, but then she realized these women were rich bitches who weren’t used to anything being an emergency except their much-needed dye jobs.
Stephanie looked at Katie and shrugged, not knowing what to do.
“Hey!” Ella yelled. “Did you guys hear her?”
Still nothing. They were completely unable to understand that they needed to get the hell up and hide before bloodsucking demons came and took their souls.
Remember…if they get infected, they will probably eat more grass and you won’t have to.
Don’t tempt me, Pandora.
That is kind of my middle name. You breathe, I tempt.
Katie put her hands on her hips, double-checking that she really needed to help these women.
She remembered her responsibilities and sighed.
“Hey,” a voice came from behind Stephanie. “Get your asses up!”
A smiling Charlotte, wearing a vest and carrying a knife, stepped around Stephanie.
“I can’t be scared forever, right?” she asked.
“Whoop!” Ella raised a fist. “Charlotte’s here to kick some ass.”
All the women started to get to their feet, but none were leaving the room. Katie rolled her eyes and looked around for a fire alarm or something.
Instead, her eyes fell on a beautiful ice sculpture of a woman surrounded by grasses and flowers. She grabbed her pistol from its holster and pointed it at the ice.
She pulled the trigger and blew the thing to pieces. Ice went flying everywhere and all of the women screamed, ducking and staring at her.
“THIS IS NOT A DRILL! Now that I have your attention,” she waved her pistol toward the exits, “I need everyone to hurry. Run to your rooms and lock the doors.”
She put her gun in the air and raised her eyebrows. The women took off down the hallways to lock themselves in their rooms. Katie holstered her gun, brushing her hands together.
Stephanie watched them leave. “And that is how you get the damn thing done, Mama.”
“These women are fucking impossible.” Katie shook her head. “Charlotte, are you sure you want to do this? You don’t have any experience.”
“I’m sure,” she replied emphatically.
“All right, take my gun.” Katie handed her one of her two pistols. “Just point it at the demon’s head and BLAM!”
Ella nodded her head. “Works every time.”
Just then they heard a noise from outside.
The demons had arrived.
Ella went over to the window and peered into the small
canyon at the edge of the property. It was dark, but red eyes reflected at her.
“That is a whole lot of fucking red eyes,” Ella commented from beside her, a touch of concern in her voice.
“Let me see,” Stephanie exclaimed, excitedly running across the tables and jumping down to look out the window. “Wow, they really brought the show today. They are here for the fucking win.”
“No matter how many of them there are, we have something they don’t,” Katie stated.
“Wheatgrass?” Ella asked.
“No,” Katie ground out. “Souls.”
“Come on, let’s show them what Korbin’s Killers are made of.” Stephanie checked her weapons. “Then we’ll get some fucking donuts.”
I like that girl more every day, Pandora declared.
Stephanie led the group as they headed outside. She was giddy; excited to show those bastards a good time.
A very good time. Well, at least for her.
“Oh, shit. That’s a lot.” She stopped to reassess as the numbers caught up, then shrugged. She was there to kick ass and not take names, and that was exactly what she was going to do.
The four girls lined up and looked down at the possessed, who were surprised to see defenders.
Stephanie twirled her knife in her hand.
She looked at Katie and flashed her a huge smile.
If she is feeling fear, she hides it well, Pandora commented. She could do with a little fear. Fear helps the body sense threats.
Katie nodded as Stephanie let out a battle cry that echoed across the grounds.
With that she sprinted into the group, slashing her knife from side to side. The feeling of warm blood on her hands did something to her, and her eyes flashed bright red.
“Come here, demon babies. I got your soul right here,” Stephanie called, jumping onto a demon’s shoulders and twisting his head to snap his neck.
“That’s going to leave a mark!” Ella called.
Stephanie jumped down before his body even collapsed and moved on to the next.
The demons snarled and growled, backing up as Katie, Ella, and Charlotte entered the fray on both sides of Stephanie.
Stephanie had sprays of blood on her face and she laughed as she ran forward, her short sword high in the air. She swiped low, taking two demons out at the knees and jabbing her sword into their chests.
She pulled the sword out with a grunt and wiped the black blood from her face, slightly disgusted by the taste of blood on her lips.
She raised her fingers to her nose and breathed deeply as she felt the adrenaline rolling through her. She was angry—very angry—and she wasn’t going to let those bastards win, no matter how many of them there were.
She rolled across the ground and sprang to her feet, turning away just as a demon swiped across her arm. She gasped and clenched her teeth totally pissed at what had just happened.
“You cut my fifty-dollar motherfucking hippy shirt, you bitch,” she growled at the female human standing there. Stephanie smiled, tossing her knife in the air. “Time to go night-night, little girl.”
She lunged forward to cold-cock the girl and she went down like a fucking sack of potatoes. Stephanie laughed and stepped over the girl, determined not to kill any humans but definitely not letting them get away with that shit. She looked around and sighed; more demons were coming at them from the sides.
“There are a lot of these fuckers!” she yelled. “Workout time!!!”
Katie laughed as Stephanie went pure postal on demons and humans alike, then ran up behind her teammate and grabbed a demon by the ear, dragging him away. She flipped him around by pulling on his ear and shook her finger in his face.
“Sneaking up on a girl is not very nice,” Katie told him. She pulled her knife out of its sheath and tossed it in the air. “And what do we do with not-nice demons?”
Katie rolled her neck, opened her mouth, and yelled with her and Pandora’s combined voice.
“We fucking kill them!”
She caught the knife by the handle and plunged it deep into the demon’s chest. The demon screamed in horror before bursting into ash. Katie smiled, still holding her knife.
Behind you.
Turning quickly, Katie kicked another demon in the chest.
He flew backward, knocking down several others like dominoes. Katie shook her head at the stupidity and ran straight for the group, diving into them and wrestling one to the ground. She sliced her knife across his chest and he screamed as she plunged it into his heart. He crumbled to ash beneath her and she stood up, brushing off the dust.
She was getting a workout. Dodge one demon, kick at another. Evade the counter and stab a third. Every time a demon ran toward her she had to block or evade, and occasionally stab at their weak points. With Pandora she was beating ass, but it was tough. They were being overrun.
Help would hopefully get there fast.
Ella was overwhelmed by the sheer number of demons who had shown up for the party.
Normally she would fight two or three demons, but this was an all-out war. They just kept coming. She took a deep breath and ran screaming into a new group, her swords slashing.
She mowed through a group of demons like she was cutting through vines in the jungle. Their screams echoed around her, but she liked it. She wanted it, and she could taste the bloodthirst on her lips.
Use martial arts, Melneck urged. I’ll help.
Ella, out of breath, nodded and sheathed her swords. Immediately she started a kata, flowing from one move to another.
With every punch and kick, Melneck increased her power tenfold. Her fist hit the side of a demon’s head and knocked it clean off his shoulders. As she followed the blow through a demon’s claw caught her on the collarbone and ripped the skin open. She snarled at him and he smirked at her.
“You motherfucker, that was where my next tattoo was going!” She punched him in the nose and watched the surprise on his face as the blood shot out. “Now I gotta pick a new spot, because nobody wants a tattoo over a fresh wound.”
“I. Don’t!” She punched him.
“Think.” She punched him again.
“That shit is funny!” She punched him over and over, following him as he stumbled backward. He held his nose as blood rolled down his face.
When she’d had enough, she punched him as hard as she could, knocking him to the ground, and he came to a stop at Stephanie’s feet. Stephanie smiled and swung her sword, slicing his face in half.
Ella shrugged and turned back to the fight. “I always liked Two-Face in the comic books.”
There were so many.
“I couldn’t have picked some other night to face my fears?” Charlotte groaned as she looked at all the demons.
The other girls were putting a dent in the enemy, but they continued to arrive from somewhere.
A female demon, her teeth sharp and her red eyes wild, ran straight at Charlotte. There were scars across her face as if she had been slashed.
“Dammit!” She raised her pistol. “Time to learn how to shoot.”
She aimed at the woman, closing one eye and squinting the other. She let out a deep breath and pulled the trigger, and a hole formed between the demon’s eyes as brain matter and blood sprayed out the back of her head. Her body, dead before it hit the ground, flew backward to land on some decorative rocks.
Charlotte shook as she glanced around. They looked like humans, but she knew deep inside that whatever was human was already gone.
“I didn’t kill a human, it was a demon. I didn’t kill a human…” She kept the mantra going.
The humans had left their shell for the demon to use.
Charlotte aimed away from the other girls and just started spraying bullets into the crowd of demons. She managed to shoot three, including the one who had come at her. She liked fighting the bastards; tonight had completely changed everything.
She had wanted to see the demons get their justice.
Now she didn’t give a shi
t anymore. It might have been the adrenaline or it could have been frustration from years of seeing the results, but tonight, at least, she was making a dent.
She was part of the battle for humanity, and that was good enough for her.
The girls cleared the area and stepped back against the fence, wiping the blood from their faces as they gazed around.
They breathed deeply, exhausted.
Slowly they all looked up; nine more demons, snarling and growling down at them, lined the roof edge just one floor above the dining room window.
Katie pulled out a sword and crouched, and the other girls followed her actions. “Don’t suppose they would choke on that fucking lemongrass?”
“Dammit, I’m out of bullets here, folks,” Charlotte complained. “Not to sound like a whiner, but can I get another clip or magazine or doohickey full of bullets to shove up the ass of this pistol?”
Ella snickered as Katie handed her a magazine. “It’s the handle.”
“Ass, butt, handle…take this enema, you metallic sonofabitch,” Charlotte griped. “My hands sting already.”
Before they could move, though, shots rang out and the demons fell over the edge to land in the bushes under the window.
There were a few screams from inside the building.
“You girls didn’t leave anything for us,” Eric griped, joining them and looking at the demons.
“You were slow.” Stephanie shrugged as she pointed to the piles of ash. “Early bird catches the worm.”
The guys helped them tend their wounds.
Katie’s were basically healed, and Stephanie’s weren’t really bad. Eric put some stitches in Ella as she winced. Charlotte watched Eric work.
“You did good.” Eric opened his case and grabbed a bandage before turning back to Ella. “I saw you fighting.”