"Hey, lady, you can't have a cat in here." The waiter waved his towel in their general direction, emphasising who his comment was for, even though only one woman was sitting with a cat.
She didn't look up from the papers she was reading.
The cat looked at the waiter.
“Lady, if he sits in the booth with you any longer, I'm charging you for a cover. I'll even pour him a coffee. Does he want milk or cream?”
Taking a moment to be polite, Hannah smiled at him, apologised and said they'd be going in a few minutes.
“Charlie, I've got this case, this afternoon. It's all on me and I don't want to let my client down.”
Charlie sighed. Why did she bother with the human stuff? It was so dull. They should be training, sparring, studying interdimensional beings. Not “getting ready for a case.”
Hannah put her papers down on the table and looked Charlie straight in the eye. “It’s started to blur into one, continuous battle. In the first couple of years, the monsters came at me one at a time. After you showed up, the Ivza started coming two at a time. They've been doubling in number, ever since.”
She wasn’t going to cry, was she? No, don’t do that. Don’t cry.
“The only time I don’t feel fatigued is when I’m doing my real job. I’m just tired Charlie…”
He got it. He really did. She had battle fatigue. She needed a break. She was part-human, after all.
“Lady... If you and your cat don't get gone, I'm not going to serve you lunch anymore.”
Charlie looked at her. “Is lunch here that good?”
“It's between the office and the courthouse. Yeah, it's also good.”
They both looked over, as the jukebox stopped playing.
The waiter hadn't heard the music stop. He hadn't seen his cash register go off either. What he did see was that the Gaggia was no longer heating water. “Damn, this old thing's really getting on my nerves.”
Ignoring him, Hannah and Charlie stepped through the front door. Quickly, they found an empty alley and prepared for what was coming.
They didn't have long to wait.
Anyone passing by might have assumed Hannah was doing Tai Chi. She found the practice comforting, allowing her to focus her mind and her power. Charlie was used to her dancing and found himself checking his claws, waiting for something to kill.
He was first in, despatching the pathfinder, the unfortunate Ivza that arrived moments too early for the others to save. It was easier to take that one, than the vanguard of two or three that followed.
“Hey. C'mon Kid. I'm doing all the work here.” A couple of the later arrivals slipped past him. The Ivza were learning, timing their arrival, so they could get the numbers they needed to overwhelm the Beacon.
He heard her scream.
He'd never heard her scream before. It was horrific. Biting and slashing his way through another entity, he turned to see Hannah focusing, opening her hands, and waiting for energy to be released, but it never came.
Two Ivza bore down on her. Backing off, she gave herself space to try again. Still nothing. She was desperate. She screamed again as the demons touched her. It would kill them. She knew it. So did they. But each of them tore energy from her as they evaporated and were replaced by their brethren.
More came for her and Charlie couldn’t bear it. He bored his way through the remaining Ivza, rending their skin, ripping them apart, feeding on their chaos; making sure no other hostile made it through to her.
The sun broke through the clouds, high and behind looming skyscrapers.
Hannah fell to her knees, shocked, and racked with pain.
“What happened, Kid?”
She shook her head. “No idea.”
Charlie sat before her, observing her, waiting for something to become obvious.
“Are you in love with someone?”
She almost laughed. “No. In love? Don't even go there.”
“Hmm... Pregnant?”
“What?”
“I...just...wondered. I mean, you don't have to be in love...”
“I'm not a cat, Charlie.”
The rebuke was enough for him to consider that not to be worth pushing.
After a few minutes of them both in silent contemplation, he wondered what was really going on.
“Something's happened, Kid. I won't know, unless you tell me.”
“It's nothing.”
“Oh, I beg to differ, Your Honour.”
“No. Really. It's nothing. It's part of being human.”
Puzzled, he took a few steps closer to her, leaning his furry bulk against her side.
“What is it, Hannah? It's definitely affecting you and we need to make sure nothing gets in the way of your power.”
Her head dropped. He knew that meant tears were next. As she sobbed, she said something. He tried hard to hear. When he didn't ask her anything, she repeated what she'd said. “If I'd been there, she wouldn't be dead. I know she wouldn't.”
“Who? Who wouldn't be dead?”
“My sister.”
That was an unexpected revelation for Charlie. He could see she felt responsible, yet he couldn't imagine her being so.
“What happened?”
“Hit and run.”
He knew what that meant. Of all things that were human, cats understood 'hit and run' as well as any animal might. “When?”
“It's been a week. I can't believe she's gone. I feel empty. I know she would be okay if I'd been there. I was supposed to go. We should have been together, shopping. I was too busy, fighting the damned Ivza. That changed everything. I'm always fighting these hideous things. I loathe them. I want to kill them all, and now... I can't even do that.”
He knew she was right, in a way. It wasn't just a human perspective, even though humans always looked for ways to make themselves feel guilty. They caused ripples in each other's lives. They changed the course of a day, simply by making a phone call to someone. It didn't make them responsible though, it simply made them part of each other’s lives.
“Kid, you could have told me. I know I don’t pry, but you could have told me this.”
“I know. I’m really sorry. I shouldn’t have snapped at you. I love that you’re with me. I know you’re not a pet. You’re my friend...”
“It’s okay, Kid. I understand. And, as hard as it is, there's no way you could have changed what happened. It just happened. A microsecond longer, waiting for a red light on a Tuesday, makes you late by a minute for a train on Saturday. It's life. It's not something you could control.”
Hannah wiped her eyes and tried to pull herself together, “Speaking of something I can control, I have to go. This case won't prosecute itself.”
Seriously? They’d just slain a squadron of Ivza and she was still insisting she go to her stupid job? Humans. Unbelievable.
Chapter Three
Another week had passed. The air around them crackled with anticipation. The Ivza were massing. Waiting. Planning.
Hannah, on the other hand, was spiralling, folding herself around her grief and doubt.
Charlie couldn’t allow that to happen. “I could do with a stroll in the park or something. I'll even be good and let you put a leash on me, just so the keeper doesn't think I'm going after his cock...things... What are those screeching birds?
“Peacocks.”
“Yeah, those. I swear I was just looking at them. I don't even eat duck.”
Reluctantly, she agreed. “I'll take the lead and collar in case the keeper and the ‘ducks’ are there. Okay?”
Charlie felt a sense of achievement, even if it was only getting Hannah to leave the house. He could already smell the cut grass of the common as they walked down Main Street and waited to cross the road.
There's a really distinct sound, as metal hits metal. The two of them looked on, as a pickup truck passionately embraced a minivan.
“Oh, God,” said Hannah.
“What it is?” asked Charlie.
Her e
yes were locked on the crumpled metal. Colour drained from her skin. “The lights,” she said. “The lights are out.”
The Ivza manifested, high above.
“We need to get the car. If we can lure them out of town, we might be able to keep people safe.” She unclipped his leash and took off running.
The pair of them pelted through the streets, dodging past cars at intersections, until they reached Hannah’s battered Volkswagen.
The demons gave chase, hissing and spitting, battering the arched roof and scraping their claws on the windows.
Hannah had never driven away from the Ivza. She'd only ever stood her ground. She'd seen the chaos they brought, like a bow wave on an ocean liner. She kept her foot on the pedal, forcing the car beyond its limits, dodging and weaving and careening around corners.
She lost them—who knows how, luck of the draw—but that wasn’t going to last long. She was the Beacon. They’d always find her.
The engine coughed and died, but she had enough momentum to pull into the thick cover of the trees.
She leaped from the car, slammed the door behind her, and began to sprint.
“Where do you think you're going?”
She turned to see Charlie's face at the car window. He seemed a little put out by the fact she'd forgotten he couldn't phase through objects like the demons could.
“Sorry. I just thought we should get into the forest.”
“We was a good idea, but that does involve both of us.”
Hannah kept moving, deeper into the forest.
The Ivza had to materialise completely, before they could attack her, which gave Charlie the split-second advantage he needed to kill them. Each slash of his claws, each bite he made, he did physical damage to them. That wasn't all though. As a Hellcat, he was created to absorb them. Charlie fed from them, in the same way Hannah refreshed her strength. 'Chaos' wasn't just some nickname for the cats, it was their energy, their power, their food. Of course, with each one he destroyed, he expended almost as much of his precious life force. He was holding steady, but they kept coming: a blur of claws and neon, splattering against the greens and browns of the fauna, until—without fanfare or warning—the battle was finally over.
The Ivza stopped their assault.
But why?
And when would they be back?
“Hannah? Where are you?” Charlie flew above the canopy, searching for signs of her. Some bushes rustled. She'd pulled them over herself, hiding as best she could.
She hadn’t fought, but they'd both survived. It was enough.
She collapsed to her knees, sobbing.
Descending, he landed before her, sitting to look at her. She was unharmed. After a moment, she managed to take her hands from her tear-stained cheeks and spread her arms wide.
He felt himself purr, as he leaned into her side. She had to know he wouldn’t just fight, he’d die for her. If she never lifted a finger against the Ivza ever again, it wouldn’t matter. He was her champion, her warrior, her Hellcat.
Resting her head against Charlie's, Hannah closed her eyes. He knew she had when her breathing changed. The moment between them was loving, yet brief.
Charlie was ripped from Hannah’s arms and slammed against a tree.
Hannah’s eyes flew open.
The largest Ivza she had ever seen towered over her. She had no time to feel or think, as its powerful talons expanded around her. She’d failed: her sister, Charlie, herself.
Charlie twitched, lifted a paw, tried to crawl towards her, but couldn’t make it another step.
They’d broken him. Her friend.
But not her. She was still the Beacon.
The light within roared to a towering inferno.
She rose to her feet and, in her rage, opened her heart and howled her anger at the skies. She struck her hands together. The sound cracked across the heavens like thunder. A ball of pure lightning formed between her hands, building and growing in size and energy until it was almost too bright for the human eye to bear.
The demon’s claw paused, talons retracting, and it backed away, ready to turn tail and run, but it was far too late.
Hannah had it dead to rights.
She hurled the ball of light with deadly accuracy and was knocked off her feet by the resulting explosion.
When the lightning vanished, so did the Ivza. Nothing remained, no speck of blood, no remnants of skin and bone. There was not a trace of it to be found. Hannah crawled across the forest floor and scooped Charlie into her arms, stroking him softly.
He blinked up at her. “What happened?”
“There was a really big one. We hadn't seen it, or it came a bit later than the others.”
“A big one?”
“Yeah. It hit you. Smacked you up against this tree.”
“Oh, that's what it was? I bumped my head and then I was out for the count.”
Charlie licked her hand, sending sparks that danced around the pair like lightning bugs.
He searched the clearing. There was no residue to be seen, nothing to suggest a bigger one of anything had been anywhere in the trees. “How big was this bigger one?”
“Oh, huge. It had massive claws. It was the biggest Ivza I've ever seen.
Charlie shook his head. “That wasn’t an Ivza. That was a Knazh.”
“Knazh?”
“Sounds like it. Big claws, foetid breath, bristly, ill-fitting skin that looked like it borrowed it from something way bigger?”
“Yeah, that was it.”
He stood and shook himself, stepping neatly from her lap. “Okay. Well, that’s both bad news and good news. If they're getting through, we're not far from the point where they’ll be fully engaged in this dimension and my queen can fight them on her... Wait... Did you kill it?”
“Are we dead yet?”
“So...you killed it?”
Hannah nodded and smiled, brushed the leaves from her legs and stood. “Better than that. I vaporised it, Charlie. I wish you’d seen it.”
“Kid, that's such good news.”
“Where next?” said Hannah.
“Fight prep,” said Charlie.
Hannah was back and Charlie’s heart soared.
Chapter Four
Hannah called in sick which meant she got it. Really got it. Understood, down to her marrow, that they were in deep, deep trouble. They’d found a cabin in the woods and were hunkered down, strategising.
Charlie would have been glad if it hadn’t been for the fact that the Knazh were assembling in large numbers, poised to attack. “I haven’t seen these creatures for one thousand, seven hundred and fifty-seven years, nine months, and six days, give or take a day.”
Hannah knew he wasn't joking, even if it sounded like he was. “Give or take...a day?”
“Yes. I think it means we've got a really big problem.”
“Okay. Why?”
“Knazh are apex predators, not like the Ivza who are basically drones who just follow orders. The Knazh aren’t discerning. They'll kill anything and everything.”
“Okay.”
“They will kill animals, birds, and even insects. They will especially kill humans.”
“Is that why you said we should move to a cabin in the woods?”
“Pretty much. Yes.”
“Charlie, are we going to get through this, or did you decide that dying in the wilderness was more romantic than dying in a car park or a shopping mall?”
He couldn't answer that without worrying her more. He also couldn't tell her they'd be okay. He changed the subject, as best he could. “How many solar lights did we actually buy? The delivery guy spent half the morning unloading boxes of them.”
Hannah shrugged. “There are a lot of them. That's all that matters. If the lights go out, we’ll know they’re coming. We have an advanced warning system.”
Charlie took a moment to think. They were on the back foot. Waiting. But why? When he was sitting next to the Beacon? “They’re drawn to you.”
“Why don’t you go and do some of your dancing? Maybe throw a bit of energy around, make them come to us. We have to distract them, kill as many as we can, and weaken their hold in their dimension. And the sooner we do that, the sooner my queen and the others will be able to break free.”
“I like it. We’re beating the drum, not them. Taking the fight to them.”
“Yeah,” said the Hellcat, wondering if he’d just had a really dumb idea.
When night fell, the lights illuminated the glade that had now become their neighbourhood. On the second night, Charlie had seen one of the outlying bulbs flickering, then one next to it. Another, then another, and it looked like the power was going out. But it was just a raccoon gingerly tiptoeing through the light field, on its way to the garbage can by the back door.
“No wonder they're called 'trash pandas,'” he thought to himself.
Neither the Ivza nor the Knazh made an appearance. Not that night. Or the next. Or the night after that.
By the end of the week, Charlie was mesmerised by all the moths and night-time flies, still trying to work out where the day had gone.
Had the scouts the Knazh sent out been confused by some other source of power? Or were they skulking around the inner city, desperately seeking a fix from anything they could find?
Hannah stumbled out of the cabin, a blanket around her shoulders to keep off the night chill.
“Something disturb you, Kid?”
She didn't have to answer. He knew it had, simply by the fact that she closed her eyes and tilted her head. He'd seen her do this often, listening, feeling for the enemy’s arrival. She'd become quite skilled at it, taking every opportunity to hone her sensitivity. She could tell how far away they were, how quickly they were moving, and when they would arrive. She was pushing her consciousness beyond ordinary human capacity.
“We've only a minute or two.”
“We've only ever got a minute or two, Kid.”
Hannah remained still, taking it all in.
Charlie marvelled at her, the only Beacon ever to be able to do what she could. He knew she was amazing, even without her ability to sense them. He smiled to himself. It was really good that she knew when they were coming, but knowing where would have been useful, too.
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