by Michael Todd
What seemed like only moments later but was around two thirty in the morning, Pandora woke in a panic. She shouted loudly, not knowing how to wake Katie from her sleep. She stirred slightly, but didn’t wake up. Pandora started to play with her senses to rouse her, and Katie sat straight up in bed, gasping for air.
Sorry, Pandora began, but shit is about to go down. Get up, put on some clothes, wake up Sir Long Schlong, and get ready to face that sonofabitch again.
He’s back?
I think so, Pandora admitted.
Katie grabbed her phone from the nightstand, and punched Calvin’s speed dial.
“What’s wrong?” he answered in a sleepy voice.
“There is a demon close by,” she answered. “It might be the same one we faced in San Diego, so suit up good.”
“All right,” he replied. “Give me five minutes. I’ll be over when I am ready.”
Katie hit the End button and dropped her phone on the bed.
She got up and crossed the room to open her suitcase and pull out some clothes. She dressed quickly, grabbing socks and her boots and sitting down on the edge of the bed. As she laced her boots, she could sense Pandora trying to figure out where the demon was. It wasn’t like her to be so helpful as to try and find the demon for her. She always stood back until the right time—the time Katie needed Pandora to be more powerful.
Why are you helping us? Katie asked.
Don’t get your fetish panties in a twist. This bag full of dicks might know about my brother, Pandora replied. I want to know as much as I can about his plans. I don’t think you get it—he is a badass, even more so than me because he only sees death and destruction. He will cut your head clear off your shoulders and not think twice about it. He has no human emotions, nor will he be in a human body. When he comes, there will be more at stake than just your life. He’ll take out, conservatively, everyone on the planet.
Well, then let’s kick this one’s motherfucking ass and get some information out of him. Katie snickered. I’m tired of being nice and trying to help everyone. I’m tired of being looked at like I’m a freak, so I figure, if they are going to look at me funny no matter what I do, I might as well go all-out. There is nothing more refreshing than just being my damn self.
Preach it, girl. Preach it! her demon responded.
Calvin sat down on the bed and swallowed hard, thinking about the last time he faced this beast. It had taken something from him; something that he had yet to get back.
He felt like he had been turned into another person almost. His fear of death had been blown away in that moment, when he stood in front of the beast. In its place came the absolute certainty that he was about to die, and he was going to do it in a dirty San Diego alley.
Even after he no longer had to face that conviction because Katie had jumped down and plunged her knives into the demon’s skull, his fear of death had never returned.
This was an uneasy feeling for Calvin, since he had stared several men in the eye throughout his life who had no longer feared death.
None of those men, however, had lived very long after that point. There was something sacred about that fear of dying; something that kept you wary of your actions, made you think about it very carefully before running into the fire.
It was something he feared he might not get back. He finished lacing up his boots and sat back for a second, gathering his composure.
He took his phone from his pocket and pulled up Korbin’s number. He didn’t look forward to waking him up, but they would need backup—or another team to come in when they were dead.
He didn’t know what powers Katie possessed, but he knew exactly what their current problem child had, and her powers couldn’t be enough to take care of that kind of demon.
“Hello?” Korbin answered, wide awake.
“And here I thought I was going to find you asleep.” Calvin chuckled.
“There will be plenty of time to sleep when we are dead, Calvin,” Korbin answered, stirring something in Calvin’s chest. “So what’s going on?”
“We are dressing to go out and check on a tip that shit might be going down,” Calvin answered. “If true, a demon has arrived. It’s large and angry—possibly the same one we met in San Diego.”
“Lord.” Korbin grunted. “All right, I am going to send Eric and Damian to Los Angeles immediately. They can be there in two hours, but I wish it were sooner. Try to stay out of battle until they get there, if possible. If the demon is in an unpopulated area, try to corral it until you have backup. I don’t want them to find either of your dead bodies when they arrive.”
“Will do, boss,” Calvin agreed. “I can’t promise anything, though. You know Katie.”
Korbin chuckled. “Well, corral her too if necessary.”
“Have them contact me when they land,” Calvin requested. “I will let them know where we are, since at this point I have no fucking clue where we will find this thing.”
“What’s the source?” Korbin asked.
“I’m not sure,” Calvin told him after a moment of silence. “Katie just woke me up. You can ask her when she is able to talk.”
“Right.” Korbin sighed. “Good luck.”
Calvin nodded his head as if Korbin could see, pressed End. He shoved it back in his pocket and took a deep breath, looking at himself in the mirror. He pulled on his vest and shoved his knives into their slots, pumping himself up for battle.
There was a rap on his door. He walked over and opened it to find Katie waiting for him. “Here.” She handed him a short sword. “It’s made of our secret metal, and you’re going to need it in this fight.”
“Right.” He accepted the sword. “Thank you.”
She eyed him. “Are you ready?”
“I am,” he answered. “Eric and Damian will be here in two hours to help.”
“Let’s hope we are still alive,” she said, wiggling her eyebrows.
“Yeah.” Calvin chuckled and grabbed the car keys.
Bring the donuts! Pandora screamed as Katie left the room.
Calvin and Katie took the back stairwell, knowing their outfits and weapons would surely be noticed in the fancy lobby of the hotel. They ran out the back and around, entering the parking garage and heading to the SUV. They hopped inside and looked at each other for a moment.
“Where are we going?” Calvin asked.
“I… I don’t know,” Katie admitted, turning inward. Pandora, where are we going?
Just drive, was the instruction. Get on the 405 and drive south through the city. You will sense him.
“Just drive,” Katie repeated to Calvin. “Take the 405 south through the city. I will tell you when we are close to him.”
“Can you trust her?”
“Yes,” Katie said after a pause. “She doesn’t want to go back to hell—not yet.”
“All right.” Calvin nodded. “If you trust her, I will too.”
So, help me Pandora, if you are fucking tricking me I will make sure that another donut never crosses your lips, no matter how many centuries you live, Katie said.
I am not tricking you, the demon said calmly. Just go.
They headed out into the night, moving through the now-quiet streets and onto the highway. Katie rolled her window down and took in a deep breath, smelling the smoke from the fires on the hills. The wildfires were fully engaged, but these had been started by a person, not by an act of nature.
She sat back in her seat and let the rain mist her face as the wind blew through the car. In the distance the sky lit up, bolts of lightning crisscrossing through it. It was an uncomfortable feeling, like nothing she had seen before, yet something inside her felt at home.
Katie didn’t realize what it was about the scene that was familiar until Pandora spoke.
It’s like hell is already here, Pandora told her as the fires raged in the distance. Not even a fixer-upper at the moment. Those fires were started by humans. Angry ones—I can feel it. They weren’t even Damned, just bad
humans.
A lot of good people live here too, Katie said. A lot of people just working, going through life, raising families, caring for each other. However, it is a heavily populated city, and whenever you get enough people in one place, there are bound to be a few bad apples.
You think that I don’t know that? Pandora chuckled. Never mind, there is no reason to explain. Just know that there was a reason we were released before, Katie.
She didn’t say anything else, not even a peep. There was an air of finality in her voice that cut to Katie’s core and made her skin crawl.
She wasn’t positive what her demon was trying to tell her, but it sounded like they had been released before to take care of the “bad apples” Pandora had just mentioned.
But who would release them?
From everything she knew, they could only be released by God himself. Why would God release such terror on people he claimed to love so dearly? She had seen the darkness in her soul before, but that night, under the striking lightning, she felt the darkness take another piece of her with it into the night.
Chapter Nineteen
Katie rolled up the window as the rain began to beat harder and sighed, looking around at the scene. It really was ominous, but she couldn’t give in to the fear. There was a reason it was like that; a reason the night was now full of horrors. There was an awakening happening, an awakening that no human on Earth would survive if it weren’t for people like her and Calvin.
They had to stand strong. To be there. To fight until they couldn’t fight any longer, and with their last breaths, to continue to swing their swords until death found them.
The thoughts flew through Katie’s head, but inside the car there was only silence. She could no longer feel that fear Calvin usually experienced before they walked into battle.
It was gone, as if it had never been. She didn’t know if her senses had dulled or Calvin had reached a point in existence where he no longer feared death, but whatever had happened, the silence was deafening.
“Anything?” Calvin asked.
“Nothing yet.” Katie sighed. “We just have to keep going.”
“Right.” Calvin nodded.
Calvin glanced out the window at the fires up on the mountain as he drove. They blazed wildly, lighting up the night sky and casting a red and yellow haze across the horizon.
He wondered if there were people there. People fighting those blazes, trying to save their homes, their city. He wondered what it was like for those people when they went home after a long shift to their family, beaten and bruised but nonetheless loved.
Something in him yearned for that, but he knew he would never have it. As they approached the large Randy’s Donuts sign again, Katie looked up.
“Now! Here!” she called frantically, pointing to the side. “Take this exit. I can feel the demon!”
Calvin swerved off the 405, down the exit ramp and to the stop sign. He rolled his window down and listened for a moment. There were screams coming from the Inglewood Park Cemetery. Calvin turned to Katie, who looked that way with worry.
That’s it, Pandora said. Ahead in the cemetery.
“She said he’s ahead in the cemetery,” Katie said.
“Man.” Calvin shook his head. “Why do they always gotta be in the scariest fucking places imaginable? Like, pick a flower garden or something, for fuck’s sake.”
“But then where would we get our horror movie ideas?” Katie laughed. His comment had lightened the mood.
Calvin nodded. “All right, here goes nothing.”
Calvin pressed the gas pedal and slowly sent the SUV toward the cemetery entrance. The massive bronzed gates were wide open, and one hung off its hinges. Katie leaned forward and stared out the front window as they got closer, frowning. There were so many damn people in the cemetery, and they were all running around screaming. Some were healthy, but others looked the worse for wear. Katie looked at Calvin.
“What the fuck are all of these people doing at a cemetery at three o’clock in the damn morning?” she asked. “Like, who goes for a lovely stroll through the cemetery at this time?”
“I have no damn clue,” he said, shaking his head.
Calvin pulled off to the side and parked the SUV.
They climbed out and went around to the rear, opened the back door, and pulled out their gear for this op. Katie still wasn’t sure what they would be facing, but it was obvious they wouldn’t be alone.
She could hear dozens of sirens in the distance, and they were getting louder by the second.
That was exactly what she didn’t want—a bunch of hot-headed cops swarming the scene, making things that much worse.
When it was only a couple of them they could handle it, but when there were dozens they couldn’t protect all of them while trying to take down whatever demon was causing the issue.
“This isn’t going to stay under the radar,” Katie said, looking at Calvin.
“Not our fucking problem at the moment, missy!” Calvin grunted as he pulled out a heavy satchel. “That large motherfucker ahead of us is our goddamned problem right now.”
Calvin pulled out the short sword that Katie had given him and held it up to the light. Katie stepped out from behind the truck and scanned the cemetery, tilting her head to the side. Standing even taller than last time was a very angry, very fiery demon. His eyes glowed bright red, and his hands and arms were swathed in flames. She took another step and her mouth fell open slightly.
Please tell me I am hallucinating, Katie begged. Please tell me that giant motherfucking demon is not on fire right now.
Appears so, Pandora chimed in. Well, I wasn’t expecting that. Apparently he has an affinity I wasn’t aware of. Hmmm.
Katie gawked. You think?
Well, there go the Molotov cocktails, Pandora joked. No matter. We’ll just drink the booze instead.
Please tell me you didn’t know you would be sending me into a fucking inferno with claws when you woke me up, Katie pleaded.
Uh… no, Pandora replied. Human flesh doesn’t usually hold up too well against fire. I’d really like to keep the skin on your body for right now.
So would I. Katie sighed.
Just then shots were fired and Katie ducked, trying to figure out who was shooting. The cops hadn’t pulled up yet, so it couldn’t be them. It was LA, though, so just about anyone could have a gun. Finally she spotted a guy dressed in jeans and a wife beater with a red bandana around his head standing right in front of the beast, emptying his gun into his gut.
Trust LA to have gangbangers who aren’t going to allow shit on their land without responding. Katie shook her head. Courageous. Stupid, but courageous.
I feel like “courageous” is way more than that idiot deserves, Pandora disagreed. I feel like “stupid as fuck” and “too dumb to know better” are much better descriptions for him.
“What the hell is that stupid motherfucker doing?” Calvin asked as he walked up. “He obviously has zero clue what he is working with here.”
“I feel like I need to do something, but the scene is just so unreal,” Katie remarked.
“Snap out of it, crazy. We need to get in there.” Calvin chuckled and ran toward the demon.
She nodded and sprinted after Calvin, who was traveling straight toward the demon in the middle of the cemetery. There were crushed headstones all over the place, and in at least two different spots Katie couldn’t tell what a random body part was. She took a deep breath and slowed down, following Calvin over to a hedge and bending down next to him.
“Okay, what’s the plan?” Katie asked.
“Well, first we have to get numbnuts out of there before he becomes something sticky on the bottom of the demon’s foot,” Calvin said. “Then we attack, I guess. Try to keep him in the cemetery so he doesn’t hurt anyone else.”
“Any ideas about how to get the dumbass out of there?” Katie said, nodding her head toward the gangbanger.
“I don’t know,” he said. “It�
�s obvious he can’t hear us, but if we can get his attention we might be able to lure…”
Before he could finish his sentence the demon growled out loudly. He leaned over and picked the gangbanger up by the ankles, and dangled him upside down in front of him. Katie grabbed Calvin’s shoulder hard but stayed down. She knew that running in there wasn’t going to help anything. They watched as the beast sniffed him and growled, then repeatedly slammed him to the ground, sprays of blood hitting everything around him. Katie winced every time the body was lifted again. When the demon was done with that he raised the body and ripped the human’s head off, throwing the rest of the body over his shoulder.
Calvin licked his lips “Well, I guess that means we can move on to Step Two now.”
“Not if he gets out of this graveyard,” Katie said, rushing forward. “And watch your step,” she called over her shoulder. “There’s pieces of that gangbanger everywhere.”
Katie ran across the grass, jumping over broken headstones. Calvin yelled to stop her as she ran through the demon’s legs and she froze, realizing that they had reached the edge of the cemetery. She didn’t know what to do so she pulled out her pistols and shot straight up, striking the demon in the underbelly. Calvin let out a round with his gun as well, which struck the beast in the back of the head. They knew it wouldn’t hurt him very much if at all, but they wanted him to walk back into the cemetery.
The demon shook its head and turned around to find where the bullets were coming from. Katie remained underfoot and out of his sight, while Calvin ran and hid so as not to provoke the demon any further. They weren’t sure what their plan of attack would be, but they knew they had to come up with one soon or everyone was going to die.