“On my mark,” Nicole whispered, “One, two, three.” Nicole pulled the door all of the way open and strode into the room, swinging her Glock from side to side, searching for the red balls of light that would guide her bullets’ paths. When she didn’t see any, she lowered her gun a little, paused, and took in her surroundings.
Boxes were stacked haphazardly in the gloom, some large enough to hold major appliances and some the size of a microwave. Nicole froze and licked her lips.
Dammit, they’re in here somewhere and we’ve got to pin them down fast…
Nicole glanced behind her and saw everyone spread into the horizontal line, Dan pulling the door noiselessly shut behind him. Nicole motioned for the group to move forward.
They did as followed, searching gun barrels peering around every corner of every box. They found nothing.
The mission wasn’t going according to plan. Doubt flashed through Nicole’s mind—maybe the cats had already left, or maybe she had led them into the wrong warehouse…
She gripped her Glock tighter. Ms. Jamison had given them the tools to succeed, and Nicole would not allow the mission to fail by fretting over doubt. Munchati was somewhere in the warehouse, which meant he was in the dark, somewhere they hadn’t searched yet. She could almost feel hidden, watchful eyes.
As if on cue, overhead lights flicked on. The squad members swiveled their muzzles frantically, looking for a target. Darkness disappeared in the newfound light, exposing the warehouse and a catwalk that ran across the middle of the room, at least thirty feet above their heads. Standing out in the open on its hind legs, just above them on that catwalk was a tabby cat with brown and black dotted fur. Through their special glasses, everyone could see the baseball-sized red spot exactly where the heart should be.
“Demon!” Regina yelled. All guns trained on the tabby cat. Before any triggers could be pulled, however, the cat raised its paws in the air and began to speak.
“Please,” it said. “I implore you to not fire your weapons.”
Nicole gaped.
Chase shuddered.
Bryant muttered, “What the hell…?”
None of them, even Nicole and Dusty, the two most experienced members of the team, had ever seen a possessed cat talk. Demons weren’t supposed to be that powerful, especially the recently crossed over. They could control a cat’s body within that body’s means; running, meowing, and using the litter box were all valid options. But speaking? That was unreal. Cats didn’t have the ability to order take-out before being possessed.
And yet, standing above the team was proof of the contrary.
“Well, I do seem to have your attention, anyway,” the cat said.
“What do we do, Nicole?” Dusty’s voice sounded tight.
“Yeah, what are your orders, chief?” Dan said.
Jared scowled. “Shut up and give her a chance to think!”
Nicole licked her lips and didn’t blink. She held the gaze of the cat as it looked at her. Its eyes glinted with amusement, mischief, and knowledge. The latter intrigued Nicole.
“Hold your fire and let him talk. But don’t drop your aim for a second.”
The cat grinned. “Excellent choice. You’ve probably already guessed that I am Munchati, in the flesh, or in this case, the fur.”
“We got that part. Now give us one good reason why we shouldn’t send your tail-flicking ass back to Hell…” Bryant said.
“Because I have information, of course.” Munchati lifted a paw and stroked his whiskers with his nails.
“What information?” Nicole questioned.
“Why, about your team. It seems that things aren’t as peachy as you all have been led to believe by the enigmatic Ms. Jamison.”
“He’s messing with our heads,” Dusty said. “This is pointless…permission to fire?”
“Denied.” Nicole said coldly. “We’ve never seen a demon talk through a cat before.”
“I don’t like this one damned bit,” Regina muttered through clenched teeth.
Sweat dripped off Jared’s mustache. The man’s face was slick with moisture. He blinked his eyes and wiped his forehead with a shaky hand. Chase flinched as rogue sweat droplets found purchase on his cheek.
“A superb choice on your part, Nicole,” Munchati said. “A wise leader never lets information pass them by. No wonder Ms. Jamison chose you.”
Nicole’s eyes narrowed. “How do you know my name?”
Munchati’s lips spread in a grin, displaying white incisors. Chase had never seen a cat smile before, and he never wanted to again because it suddenly made him feel like crapping his pants.
“It seems we’ve jumped to my favorite part of this conversation already. I know your name for the same reason I knew you were coming tonight. There is a leak in your team, and I’ll bet you are all now wondering who that leak could be?”
Bryant’s back stiffened. Dusty swallowed. Nicole inhaled sharply. Chase’s aim on Munchati’s belly faltered because his arms were straining with adrenaline and fear.
“Who? Who’s the mole?” Bryant hollered.
“Don’t bother, Bryant,” Dusty said. “This bastard is lying to distract us.”
“Why, the one with the most information to offer, Bryant.” Munchati said. “The big dog—the voodoo witch herself! Your mole is Ms. Jamison.” He dropped to all fours and stuck his head under the railing, peering at them all, one by one. His eyes stopped on Nicole, pinning her as his words sunk in.
Garage doors on three sides of the room creaked as they rattled up their tracks. Regina screamed the warning.
“Cats!”
Chase swiveled in a semi-circle and saw dozens of balls of red lights bobbing in the darkness just outside the warehouse. “Demons…” he whispered.
“It’s a goddamned ambush!” Bryant said. He pointed his shotgun at the catwalk to kill Munchati, but the demon had already fled. The first wave of cats stepped into the warehouse, some orange, some black, some white and one with just a single eye and a face full of scars—the cats converged from three sides and they were all sporting big-toothed grins. The team members backed away slowly, keeping their guns trained on the cats but not firing. Yet.
And then all hell broke loose.
The cats began to shimmer, their forms becoming murky blurs. Limbs extended, flesh ripped and slime and blood splashed over the concrete. Four-legged creatures with scorpion’s tails emerged from each cat, soft fur replaced with coarse red skin and rippling muscle. Wide grins revealed four rows of sharp, crooked teeth and flicking, forked tongues. Bright yellow eyes glimmered and a pair of spiraled horns jutted from every forehead. Talons clacked along the floor and by the end of the transformation, each creature was about the size of a well-fed St. Bernard.
Chase’s bottom lip quivered as he got his first live look at not just one demon, but what had to be a hundred of them.
The team was frozen in awe and horror. Nicole shook her head, snapped out of her daze and opened her mouth to order everyone to fire, but the words never came. Instead she gave only a grunt as a tail punched through her lower back and came out through her stomach.
She coughed blood and weakly raised her Glock at the demons ahead of her, but before she could squeeze the trigger, the demon holding her flicked its tail and sent her flying out into the open air. She landed with a crunch and demons fell upon her.
Every team member aimed at the nearest demon and let their trigger-happy survival instincts take over. The muzzles of shotguns, rifles, and revolvers all flashed and demons were obliterated. Bullet holes riddled their hides, oozing a black, oily liquid. Dusty shattered the horn of one demon with his Magnums. One daring demon jumped forward at Bryant and had its head blown off by the shotgun-toting muscleman. Chase shot out the legs of two demons that were eyeing him. They crumpled to the floor and wailed like hyenas before being stomped on by advancing comrades.
Holding on to some of their training by not panicking in a hellacious situation, the team retreated backward
s as they continued to pound lead into the demons. They did so at a steady but slow pace. The horned creatures pressed them but were unable to get within ten yards because of the gunfire.
We’re getting out of here, Chase thought, the rifle rumbling in his hands. We’re going to make it. We’re going to make it!
On the far left side of the retreating line, Dan spared a look down at his shotgun to reload. He fumbled the shells and they bounced out of his hands.
Four demons sprinted forward with wicked speed, talons scraping the floor as they flanked and encircled Dan with their looming bodies. Dan dropped his shotgun and reached for his holstered Glock, but it was too late. One demon stood on its hind legs and wrapped Dan in a bear hug. Another demon stood up and approached Dan’s face.
Dan’s eyes bulged. “Help me! Oh God oh Jesus help…”
Dan’s pleas turned into a muffled squeal as the demon stuck a clawed hand in his mouth, wrapped it around Dan’s tongue, and pulled back hard. The demon laughed and held the fleshy organ above its head before stuffing it in its own mouth.
“You bastards!” Regina screamed. She felled two of Dan’s tormentors by punching bullets into their chests, but four more took their place. The demon chewing on Dan’s tongue raked a talon across the man’s belly and watched in fascination as intestines spilled into the open air. Several demons forced mandibles into Dan’s gut to feed.
Any patience or resolve retained by the team was eradicated by Dan’s barbaric murder. The surviving members turned on their heels and sprinted for the door. The demons, hooting with pleasure at the sight of human blood and the scent of fear, scrabbled after their prey.
Jared reached the door first, wrenched it open and stumbled into the alley. Regina made it next, followed by Chase, Dusty, and Bryant. Before Bryant exited the building, he turned around and fired his shotgun at the nearest demon and the thing’s head exploded like a smashed pumpkin. Bryant ducked into the alley just as the headless demon’s stinger buried itself into the door. He thought he was clear when another stinger slashed Bryant’s thighs, tearing his pants and drawing blood. He screamed and tottered into the alley…
“Back to the van!” Jared screamed and the group sped down the alley the way they had come. Yellow-eyed fiends poured out of the warehouse on their heels.
Chase’s legs got tangled up and he would have fallen if Dusty hadn’t been right behind him to pick him up beneath the armpits and keep him running. “Stay focused, kid! Just like you’re on the football field again. This game ain’t over!” Dusty glanced behind him and noticed Bryant hobbling and falling behind. The big guy had dropped his shotgun and winced as he struggled with every step.
“Oh shit. Bryant! Move your ass, come on!”
Bryant spat. “Bastard stuck me! Just keep moving, I’m right behind you.”
Dusty wanted to fall back and help his comrade, but he knew it meant certain death. There were too many demons moving far too fast.
He looked ahead and saw that they were nearly at the corner of the first warehouse—beyond that turn sat the van and all they had to cover was a fifty-yard stretch. Dusty jerked his head around to tell Bryant how close they were when he saw the second ambush of the night—a pack of demons stampeded from a side alley into the space between Dusty and Bryant.
Dusty never slowed, he just turned away from his friend as Bryant’s terrible screams ripped through the night. He’d been a demon hunter for a long time and had lost friends before: good people with whom Dusty had shared many a drink. It was part of the job.
But It never got any easier, and this time he knew a line had been crossed.
Regina screamed from ahead “Where’s Bryant?!”
“Gone!” Dusty cried out hoarsely.
“Shit!” Regina said.
Chase also let out a guttural cry but kept moving.
Jared reached the van first, grabbed the driver’s door handle and moved to jump in. He looked at the others, his moustache twitching above a grim smile, “Let’s get the hell away from here!”
The engine roared to life. That’s when the tail emerged from under the van.
Like the other demons, the tail was red with a sharp stinger on the end. It impaled Jared’s ankle and pulled tight. Jared’s arms flailed as he was jerked out of the vehicle and landed belly first, smashing his chin against the asphalt. The tail, its owner hunched beneath the van, withdrew back to the shadows beneath the vehicle, pulling Jared with it.
“Oh God no!” Jared shrieked. He stretched his fingers out but there was nothing to grab onto, nails grinding into the black surface. “Oh God…”
Regina was closest, but still a good thirty yards away. She pumped her arms and sprinted towards the van as Jared disappeared into the shadows, only to meet the red mist that spewed out from the dark place. Droplets of Jared’s blood stuck to Regina’s forehead and teeth.
She wiped the blood off her brow in reflex and horror and backed away from the van.
Dusty’s eyes darted across the lot. The demons that had ambushed Bryant still hadn’t rounded the corner and he saw only one way for them to escape.
“The wall! Over the wall!”
Regina sprinted away from the van and led Dusty and Chase to the wall. It was nine feet high and built of sturdy wood.
Dusty didn’t hesitate. “Regina! I’ll boost you over and then the kid!”
He went down on one knee and held his palms out. Regina didn’t hesitate as she stepped onto his hands and reached for the top. She straddled it in a flash and reached down to help Chase.
“Alright kid, you’re up.”
Chase dropped his rifle on the pavement and stepped onto Dusty’s hands. He grabbed for Regina’s hand and the fence top with the other, but Dusty was still pushing. The momentum was too much and Chase tumbled over, pulling Regina with him.
His feet stamped into grass, and vibrations from the impact rolled up his legs, but he was otherwise fine. Regina stood next to him with her Glock drawn.
“Damn, just give me a second Dusty,” she murmured and motioned for Chase to help her back up.
A metallic groan followed by glass breaking came from the lot.
“Oh shit! The van!” Chase said.
He lifted Regina up high enough for her to get an arm over.
“Bastard’s still hungry. He’s coming over for a sniff.” Chase could barely hear Dusty through the wall, but he was pretty sure the old lumberjack sounded nervous.
A clacking of talons grew louder and Regina aimed the Glock and fired.
“Come and get your medicine!” Two shots from Dusty’s Magnums also rang out. Then he screamed.
Dusty’s screams grew louder as he flew over the wall, knocking Regina back with him. For a brief, maniacal second Chase thought Dusty had somehow jumped, but the grim reality set in and Chase realized the demon had thrown Dusty.
The lumberjack landed on his legs in the grass ten yards beyond Chase and Regina. There was a snapping like kindling being broken for a fire and Dusty howled as he collapsed.
“Aw shit, aw shit, aw shit,” Dusty said, breathing sharply. His eyes darted from side to side, then settled on something in the distance. He grimaced, raised a Magnum he had somehow held onto without shooting himself, and fired.
Shocked with ears ringing and mouth slack, Chase jerked around to see the demon crouched on top of the wall. In one hand it held a mangled head that could only be Jared’s, and its mouth was smeared with gore. A blossom of black blood began to form in its chest. It looked down and frowned, then looked back up and then down again, not able to comprehend what had just happened. It dropped Jared’s head and pitched forward onto the grass. Dusty had hit his mark.
The demon’s legs bucked. It moaned and half-heartedly pawed at the wall. Regina strode forward, pulled out her Bowie knife, and buried the blade into the demon’s throat. The demon’s back arched and shivered before it lay still for good. Regina withdrew her knife, its blade now a midnight black, and wiped it across a pant leg befor
e looking back at Chase and Dusty.
“How bad is it?” she croaked.
Dusty slammed his head against the grass and clenched his teeth in pain. Chase spoke for him, “Broken. Both legs. No way he can walk.”
Dusty grimaced and forced the words out. “That pack’s either done with Bryant or close to it. You need to get out of here.”
Regina nodded.
Dusty looked at Regina a moment longer, then, satisfied that she would do as she indicated, he turned to Chase. His lips tried to tug up at the corners, but the searing pain forced him to scowl. “Stay in the game, you hear me?”
Hot, shameless tears slid down Chase’s cheeks. “Yeah,” he muttered.
“Swear it!”
“I will. I swear.”
Dusty groaned and rested his head back.
Chase stood up. Regina bent down and kissed Dusty on the forehead. Then she straightened up and looked at Chase. “Follow me.”
Chase did. He took one last look at Dusty and saw him slowly pulling the hatchet out of its holster.
Minutes later, after they broke into a Ford for Regina to hot-wire, Chase heard Dusty screaming. The engine suddenly roared to life and Regina slammed the car into gear.
Derek Anderson is pursuing a degree in Technical Communication and Professional Writing at Metropolitan State University. He writes movie reviews for TuesdayMovieMen.com and is also a staff writer for the Metropolitan. Derek enjoys visiting the “K” section of the Northtown Public Library, because many great horror authors can be found there. He lives in Coon Rapids, MN.
Cautionary Tales
Jennifer L. Barnes
“Look, I take the whole chink thing back, okay?”
Shiro Wakahisa’s eyes narrowed at the insult, staring at the wide, glowing red eyes looking back at him. Even in the wan light, Shiro could make out fangs that were still wet with blood. Brown hair fell over fine, pale features and only the claws, eyes, and fangs marred looks that belonged on a fashion billboard. The moment triggered the memory of another, deadlier beauty…
Use Enough Gun (Legends of the Monster Hunter Book 3) Page 2
