And Business Is Good

by Michael Todd

  “Absolutely.” The sergeant nodded, twirling a finger in the air. “People, round up!”

  When they were securely in the choppers, Damian pulled out his phone and looked down at the screen. Every minute they weren’t in the air was one more minute Calvin and Katie were fighting alone. He scrolled down to Korbin’s number.

  “Are you there?” Korbin asked.

  “Almost.” Damian gave the sergeant the thumbs-up from the back.

  “We are getting the red carpet treatment from the Feds,” he yelled. “They are airlifting us over. You might want to keep that jet close by.”

  “Right,” Korbin said. “I’ll have it come back and get it prepped and ready in case the rest of the team is needed. Thank you, Damian, and please look after them. We need our team back in one piece, especially with the changes in the air.”

  “Absolutely, boss,” Damian assured him.

  “And Damian?” Korbin replied. “Take care of yourself as well.”

  “Absolutely, sir,” he agreed, hanging up the phone.

  He looked out the window as the chopper rose high into the air and sped off toward the north. He wasn’t sure what they would find when they got there, but he knew that if the Feds were picking them up it couldn’t be good in the least.

  He had to admit, he hadn’t been fond of the idea of letting the Feds in on their secret, but in that moment it was definitely to their advantage. That chopper could get them there in a quarter of the time it would take the SUV in the shitty LA traffic, no matter how hard they pushed it.

  He just hoped getting there sooner would be the key to winning.

  The demon snarled and growled as he kicked over headstones and ripped trees from the ground, throwing them at spectators. He was growing tired of the games; growing tired of being targeted by the demon hunters and the human police. They had shot round after round at him, but still could not get it through their heads that the bullets didn’t even pierce his skin.

  What they did accomplish, however, was annoying the hell out of him.

  He walked forward and kicked at one of the cops but missed, which made him stumble. As soon as his head tilted downward, the cops unleashed another round of bullets at him. He closed his eyes to protect them, since that was the only thing they could actually damage.

  He snarled as he caught his balance, opening his eyes and looking angrily down at the ground. Slowly he raised his head, mouth dripping drool down his chin to his chest. He smirked as he leaned down and pulled a large tomb’s sculpture from the ground. He gripped it tightly in his claws and pulled back in preparation for throwing, almost as if he were a pitcher on a baseball team.

  Everyone froze in place for just a moment as they watched the mammoth beast lunge forward and release the stone carving.

  It flew toward the crowd, striking two cops before it hit the ground. Dirt and blood blew into the air as the stone skidded across the ground like a rock on a pond. Several other cops dove out of the way before the statue crashed into the cop car.

  “Whoo….whooo…who…w…” The cop car’s siren whooped a few seconds longer before falling silent, the car lying smashed and broken on its side.

  The creature laughed deeply, shaking the trees around it. The cops stood and dusted themselves off, dropping their arms to their sides in defeat.

  The monster had won that round, and the cops were beside themselves. They had unloaded an enormous amount of ammo on the demon, but all it had done was make it even angrier.

  This looked and felt like a hopeless situation.

  One by one the cops turned to look at Katie and Calvin, unsure what to do next. They were too close to a residential area to use heavier artillery, but they couldn’t let the creature leave the grounds.

  “You fools!” The demon laughed loudly. “You think your guns can stop me? The Reckoning is upon you, and the only thing you can do is surrender and hope for mercy from our leader.”

  “Fat chance,” one of the cops yelled, spitting on the ground.

  “Fine,” the demon snarled. “Have it your way. Let’s see how many children I can peel out of their beds.”

  The beast stretched its shoulders, its black flesh cracking and writhing on its shoulders.

  Katie scrunched her face. “We can’t let him leave, Calvin.”

  “Agreed,” he replied, trying to figure out an angle—hell, any angle—to keep him around. “Ideas?”

  She looked around for a moment, running her hands over her vest. Her palm stopped on her knife and she took a deep breath, pulled out the blade, and sprinted forward.

  Pandora helped, increasing her speed and pushing her body. She spun between the beast’s legs, slashing with her blade before running back to the side of the car.

  The demon roared and grabbed at the gashes in his calves and ankles. Slowly he turned around, his eyes glowing red and anger oozing from every orifice.

  It clasped its mighty claws together and roared again, blowing Katie’s hair wildly around her face.

  She smiled up at the beast and stood her ground.

  “Stand and fight,” she screamed, raising the knife in the air.

  The demon laughed, throwing his head back and grabbing his stomach. When the laughter ceased he looked straight at her, Damned and demon brightening the night around them.

  Slowly he lifted his hand and gave her the middle finger, turning to walk away once more.

  I got this, Pandora told Katie, then, “Convertam te, et vocavi te pugnare cadere,” Pandora hissed in Katie’s voice.

  The demon spun around with a look of recognition on its face.

  What did you just say? Katie asked.

  I called him a coward and told him to fight, Pandora replied in a shaky voice.

  “T'Chezz habet in capite pretium canis,” the demon roared. “Quia videtur tam parvam caput est, ne hoc modo.”

  “I really need to brush up on my Latin,” Katie whispered out loud. What was that?

  He just said that T’Chezz has put a price on my head, and since it is such a small head he doesn’t see why taking it is such a big deal, Pandora replied.

  Katie sighed. Oh. Sorry I asked.

  You are the one who wanted to practice like it was my brother, Pandora reminded her. What better time than the present, right?

  Ehhhh, Katie groaned, sizing him up. This was not what I had pictured.

  Not enough flowers and pink puffy things? Pandora asked.

  If I could stab you without hurting myself I would do it right now, Katie told her dryly. I just didn’t realize the bastard would be so damn big. He came back bigger and fierier than before.

  They have a tendency to do that when you piss them off, Pandora replied. I told ya, you should have never pulled those knives out.

  I got it the first time! Katie huffed.

  Over to the side Calvin leaned against the SUV, catching his breath and reloading his weapons. The guns weren’t doing anything at that point, but he knew that if they weakened him enough they would work. He had barely survived the heaving of stones, but his demon had woken up a bit and pulled him out of the way of two different trees. He didn’t feel it was the right time to start a conversation with the thing, but at least he was taking notice of what was going on outside of his body.

  Calvin finished loading his guns and put them back in his side holsters. He pulled his short sword from the sheath on his back and stared at the glimmering steel in front of him. He hadn’t had a chance to use one of Katie’s new weapons yet, but having the blade was definitely helping to get him pumped up and ready to take on the beast again.

  He wanted to feel the power everyone else had felt when they were slicing and dicing their way through demon scum.

  He found himself slightly disappointed that there were no smaller demons to take care of at that moment. He would rather have practiced before using the sword.

  He shrugged and slid it back into its sheath.

  As Calvin adjusted his vest’s straps and readied himself to get ba
ck out there the wind started to blow harder across the lawn, and it brought the sounds of the whirling of helicopter blades not too far away. He looked behind them, squinting his eyes as the dirt began to whiz around him. From below the hill an chopper rose, its guns pointed right at the beast and Eric and Damian looking down at Calvin. He chuckled and saluted the men.

  Damian slowly lifted a small device with a red button at the top into the air. Calvin squinted, realizing that it was attached to the gun turret on the front of the helicopter. He nodded and quickly turned to his teammate.

  “Katie!” he yelled. “Get down!”

  Katie turned her head and saw the chopper, and she dove to the ground, covering her head. Immediately Damian pressed the button, unleashing round after round of high-velocity bullets into the demon. The shells fell to the ground below them as smoke billowed from the guns.

  “Hot damn.” Calvin laughed and clapped his hands.

  The demon doubled over and put one hand on the ground, blood dripping from its chest onto the grass. It gurgled and growled as everyone remained still, waiting to see what would happen next. Katie slowly pulled her arms from over her head and turned over to stare up at the beast. She looked at the long claw embedded in the dirt beside her, and had just tilted her head to the side to get a better look at its face when its eyes shot open, glowing orange. He smiled and grabbed the tombstone under his palm, pushing himself to his feet and launching it hard and fast into the air.

  Katie turned and screamed, reaching her hand futilely toward the helicopter to signal them to watch out. She could see the gleam of Damian’s cross dangling around his neck. The headstone soared through the air directly at the helicopter, almost in slow motion. Katie dropped to her knees and covered her mouth.

  “Nooooo!” she screamed.

  Damian and Eric stared forward out the chopper window as it approached the cemetery. They could now see the demon, and were shocked at how huge the damn thing was. As they rose up above the hill Damian spied Calvin standing by the SUV looking up, and Katie standing directly in front of the beast, her knives in her hands, screaming something at it.

  “Why am I not surprised?” Damian called.

  “You ready?” the sergeant asked, handing Damian the remote control for the guns.

  Damian laughed. “Oh, yeah.”

  He looked down at Calvin and held the device in the air, making a gun of his fingers and watching until understanding hit him. He put up his thumb and nodded, turning toward Katie. He couldn’t hear him, but he knew Calvin was screaming at her.

  She turned and looked up at Damian, a smile moving over her face. He watched in slow motion as she dove to the ground and covered her head.

  He pressed the button, spraying bullets into the demon’s chest, but he stopped when the beast doubled over in pain and fell to one knee. For a moment, time stood still.

  Katie rolled over and looked up at the demon, tilting her head to the side. Suddenly her face changed, and the demon slowly stood up, his eyes glistening in the very early morning sky.

  The demon threw something that at first looked like just dirt, but as it spiraled toward them he realized it was a tombstone from the graves below them.

  “Fuck,” the sergeant yelled, turning the chopper to the left.

  He wasn’t fast enough and the stone struck the tail of the helicopter, knocking it completely off. The pilot grabbed the cyclic with both hands and grunted, trying to keep the bird upright. Damian grabbed onto the seat beneath him, closing his eyes and saying a quick prayer.

  “Hold on, folks. This is gonna be a sucky landing!”

  As the pilot struggled the helicopter tipped back and forth, backing away from the scene toward the road. The blades dipped sharply to the side, just barely missing the ground under them. Slowly the pilot took the chopper down. It spun in a circle before landing roughly on a clear plot of grass at the front of the cemetery, then tipped over. The blade dug deeply into the ground, which made the cockpit jump. Once the damned thing stopped moving, Damian blew out a deep breath and released his grasp on his cross.

  They had made it through that. Now they had to just keep going.

  21

  Katie saw the stone hit the tail of the helicopter, taking it clean off. She put her hand over her mouth and gasped, staring as it wobbled back and forth, then spun in a circle. Calvin nodded to indicate that he would keep track of the demon, so she could take a moment to watch the crash.

  As it dipped below the hill she stood up and ran forward, watching the helicopter blades dip dangerously close to the ground. However, right before impact, the pilot pulled the chopper up and landed hard in a grassy patch at the front of the cemetery before it tipped over. She was able to finally stop holding her breath when it looked like her teammates were safe.

  Katie let out a deep breath and dropped her arms, feeling the anger starting to swell inside of her.

  That was some good flyin’, Pandora drawled in her best southern accent.

  Katie slowly turned back toward the demon, who growled at the chopper. She took off running toward it, stopping just short as it bent down and grabbed another stone, this one bigger than the last. She pulled her swords up as the demon reared back, ready to launch another attack on the chopper. She couldn’t let him do it; those were her teammates struggling to get out of the helicopter, defenseless against the stone.

  She screamed and took a step forward, but before she could go any farther shots hit the demon in the eye. Katie turned to Calvin and smiled as he walked forward, firing round after round into the demon’s face.

  “You know, I am liking this target practice on something so fucking huge.” Calvin laughed, no fear in his face. “Though I must admit, if my target was his dick I would definitely miss. It’s just so damn small. I mean seriously, I thought a beast like him would have a massive schlong, but nope! It’s itty-bitty.”

  Katie turned back and watched as the beast swatted away the bullets like flies, growling loudly in Calvin’s direction. She could see the frustration building on the demon’s face, but she wasn’t sure where to go at that point. Calvin just kept coming, blasting away, reloading, and blasting again. He knew the bullets wouldn’t kill the creature, but he was trying his best to get the demon’s attention off the helicopter long enough for them to evacuate.

  “Move your asses, Damian,” Calvin shouted over his shoulder. “I can’t hold this thing off forever.”

  The demon looked at the chopper as the men pulled themselves free and ran in different directions. He snarled, lip quivering and saliva dripping from his sharp teeth. Katie could see the muscles in his black-scaled arm twitching as he shifted his body toward Calvin. Calvin knew it was coming, but he wasn’t about to back off. Instead, he pulled his shotgun out and cocked it.

  “Fuck you, motherfucker,” he screamed, letting the shots fly. They struck the demon in the chest, but barely left a mark.

  Calvin’s eyes opened wider. “Well, shit.”

  The demon reared back and flung his arm forward, releasing the stone in his hand. It missed Calvin and ricocheted off the tree in front of him. Calvin laughed loudly for a moment, but the stone had broken into large pieces when it impacted the tree and a rebound hit him squarely in the chest, knocking him backward onto the ground. Katie could hear the bones in his chest crunch as the stone made contact.

  “NO,” she screamed, running across the lawn toward Calvin.

  She slid in next to him like she had made a home run and groaned, lifting the stone from his chest and throwing it to the side. For a moment he was still, not a sound coming from his motionless body. Katie grabbed his shoulders tightly and pulled him into her lap, tears beginning to flow down her cheeks.

  “Come on, you stupid motherfucker,” she whispered. “Don’t leave me now. This is not the fucking time for this shit. I haven’t shown Pandora the websites yet. You are supposed to be there to make fun of us, dammit! WAKE. THE. FUCK. UP!”

  Katie pounded hard on his shoulders, whic
h caused a deep wheeze to emerge from Calvin’s chest. She gasped and lifted his torso. He opened his eyes and looked up at her, cracking a smile. He coughed and blood spewed from his mouth, covering his teeth. Katie shook her head and checked him over really fast. He was hurt, but the demon could help. She knew it could.

  Maybe, Pandora said doubtfully. He’s not like me, Katie.

  Shut up, Katie growled. Just talk to him.

  Put your hand on Calvin’s chest, Pandora instructed.

  Katie nodded at Calvin and put her hand gently on his chest. He winced slightly and she closed her eyes, unable to take the pain he was showing. Pandora took a deep breath and growled.

  I told you to get to work, she snarled. Now heal him the best you can, then get back out there. I promise you that if you don’t pick up your slack, I’ll make your death more painful than you could ever imagine. T’Chezz will have nothing on the torture I’ll bring you.

  Katie gasped slightly when she felt the demon’s power flow as he started healing Calvin as fast and well as he could. Pandora was right—he was not nearly as strong as she was, but that didn’t stop him from pushing the bones back into place and mending them pretty well.

  Katie sat there breathing heavily as Calvin twitched and groaned, imagining the pain and agony he was feeling with every movement of a bone.

  She gritted her teeth and balled her fists, helping him through it and wishing that Korbin were there, or Garrett, or anyone who could help him right now.

  In the background she could hear shots being fired, the demon growling, and general destruction, but she didn’t care. Her focus was on Calvin.

  When the demon stopped Katie sat up, staring at Calvin and waiting for a sign. Slowly he opened his eyes and glanced at Katie, his face blank. He looked up at the sky.

  “Fuuuck,” he moaned. “That fucking suuuucked. But tell Pandora that she is one badass bitch for scaring the shit out of my demon. Never felt him move that fast or that panicked ever.”

  “I’ll let her know.” Katie chuckled.

  Calvin reached up, and Katie stood up and helped him to his feet. He groaned and leaned backward.