by Michael Todd
“We were preparing the place.” Katie waved a hand around. “We just weren’t fast enough.”
“And that isn’t an excuse,” he answered softly. “Anyway, I need to get some work done.”
“And I need some sleep,” Stephanie said.
Katie waited until Korbin and Calvin had said goodnight and disappeared back into the building before she turned to Stephanie.
“Are you really determined to fight?” Katie asked, one eyebrow raised.
She pursed her lips, nodded her head, and walked off without another word.
The next morning, Katie woke up ready to get her day started. She couldn’t seem to get Mamacita off her mind—and the reaction that Korbin was having toward her.
She got dressed and headed down to Korbin’s office, determined to make him talk about it; to find out why he was pushing Mamacita—or rather, Stephanie—away so hard.
When she got to the main area, Eric and Derek were sitting in the living room thinking about the service they wanted to have for Jeremy. They asked for her input, but she had none.
Katie felt strange about it. Obviously she was sad, but she was also numb—as if there wasn’t a reason for her to grieve. She thought that if she started, she would be grieving the losses of her friends forever.
At the same time, she knew that eventually it would come up in her mind. She just assumed she wasn’t ready for it.
“Hey.” Katie knocked on the doorframe when she reached Korbin’s office.
“Hey,” he said.
“Can I come in?”
“Sure,” he replied, leaning back in his chair. “What’s up?”
“Are you going to let Mamaci—I’m sorry, Stephanie—join our team?” Katie asked.
“Close the door, please,” he said, nodding at it.
She shut the door as she entered and sat down in front of him. He stayed quiet for several moments, mulling Katie’s question. Katie could tell he wanted to say something, but wasn’t sure he should.
After the silence became too much, Katie spoke up.
“You can tell me the truth. Like, the real truth. I’m old enough, Dad.”
He chuckled. “I know. I’m worried that my feelings for her are messing up my decision-making process.”
“Ahh, I see.” Katie smiled. “So because of that, you’re going to be a dick and choose something for her that goes against what she actually wants. Right. Got it.”
“No, not necessarily,” he admitted. “I’m conflicted.”
“It’s not like she didn’t prove herself,” Katie pointed out. “She’s already made her choice, but you are blocking her from joining the fight. I just don’t get it! We need strong, capable people on the team, and she wants this.”
“She’s not even Damned,” Korbin retorted. “And this would be her whole life.”
“So? It’s her decision,” Katie replied. “What are you going to do, wipe her memories?”
“You can still do that, right?” Korbin asked, eyeing her nervously.
“Really?” She sighed, rolling her eyes. “Yes, I can do that. But please, Korbin, don’t make me.”
While Katie and Korbin talked in the office, the rest of the house was quiet. Some were mourning, others planning their next steps, but the sounds of happiness and joy were gone.
The last thing Katie wanted to do was remove someone’s memories, especially someone she cared about. Several minutes later she came out of Korbin’s office and closed the door behind her. As she made her way to the elevator, Pandora finally popped her head out.
So, I think today should be a soaps-and-game-show day, she said. We both kicked ass, and it’s time to relax.
That actually sounds really nice, Katie replied. But unfortunately, we don’t have time to do that right now. We have been given a job.
Ugh, Pandora grumped. We are always doing something. Why can’t we just chill out and be done with it?
Katie chuckled. Soon. How about this: I’ll get you some donuts.
Fucking deal, Pandora agreed. Wait, how many is “some?”
I don’t know, like two?
Make it three, and it’s a deal, Pandora told her.
You got it. She laughed.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Katie pushed the button for the headlights, but instead the windshield wipers came on. She turned the knob frantically to try to stop them while still paying attention to the road.
It was late morning so she didn’t need the lights, but it was an old habit her mom instilled in her when she was first starting to drive. Finally she got the wipers off, and decided that was enough playing around for one car ride.
She put both hands on the steering wheel and focused on the drive to Mamacita’s house in Las Vegas.
She had a mission to carry out, and she needed to concentrate on that. However, every time she glanced at the seat next to her, all she could think about was her Ferrari.
Goddamn this fucking SUV, Katie bitched. I want my car back. I paid a lot for it and I really loved it, and your fucking brother took it back to hell with him. He doesn’t deserve a vehicle that sophisticated and fine. And God, I paid for it in CASH. It’s not like I had insurance on the sonofabitch. All I wanted was something nice of my own, and I was fucking robbed.
Okay, and what may I ask would you have put down on the form when it asked you for the reason for the claim? “Drove car to hell can’t get it back?”
Maybe, Katie said with irritation. Or that it was stolen, even. I could have reported it stolen.
And had the cops come take a statement at the base, where the walls are falling down and there is demon ash everywhere? Pandora asked. Besides, I overheard the payouts for these different demons. Seriously, another big one and we can move on up to that Aston Martin Vanquish Volante, like in a sweet sparkly black and shit.
So I can get it smashed to hell? Katie scoffed. No thanks.
And then, Pandora continued, ignoring her negative comment, when we take out my fucktard of a brother, we can go for the 918 Spyder Hybrid and still have enough money left over to do whatever you want. He is worth some real cash, woman. I was surprised, since he is the same level as me. I am fucking pricey.
At least his ass will be worth something in my lifetime, Katie grumped. He can pay me back for the car with his fucking life.
That’s morbid, Pandora responded, waiting a moment before adding, “I like it.”
Katie pulled up to the gate at the house and rolled down the window. She reached out and pressed the call button, waiting for someone to answer.
She looked down at her nails and sighed, figuring there was no point in a manicure if she was constantly punching demons in the face.
“Hello?” the girl on the other end answered.
“Hey, it’s Katie,” she said.
“Come on up,” the girl said cheerfully.
The gates slowly opened, and Katie pulled through and around the circle to the front of the house. She sat there for a second, still stewing over her car. She just couldn’t stop being so bitter about it.
You sure have gotten comfortable with this place, Pandora told her. Am I finally getting you comfortable with your sexuality?
No, Katie said flatly. But we kicked ass together, and I won’t disrespect them by thinking of them as anything less than equals.
You sure? Pandora picked at her. Not even the slightest bit? You never think about big dic—
Stop, please God, Katie groaned, getting out of the car.
Well, I’m not the Big Guy, but if you want to pray to me… No? I thought I would try it. It’s the least I can do.
When Katie got to the front door one of the girls, Alice, was already opening the front door.
She smiled and gave Katie a big hug. Katie wasn’t really a hugger, but she knew the girls had been through a lot. She wasn’t going to be that person who acted like an ass about a hug.
Katie walked inside and looked around, noticing that the place was very empty.
“Where is everyone?” Katie asked.
“Oh, most of the girls are at the hospital visiting the two who got hurt,” she said sadly. “And Mamacita will be back in a few minutes. She went out to do something.”
“How are the girls?” Katie asked.
“They are both doing okay,” she said. “Battered, bruised, and stitched up, but nothing any of us haven’t been through before with our own personal brand of demons.”
Katie smiled sadly. “I’m sorry. I wish you guys had been protected.”
“We chose to fight,” the girl shot back. “We wanted to stand up and be strong.”
“Well, you did. Now, you said she won’t be home for a couple of minutes?”
“Yeah,” Alice replied.
“Okay, that’s perfect. It will allow us to find what we need.”
About ten minutes later, Katie heard Mamacita coming in the front door. She popped her head out and smiled, watching her carrying a couple of shopping bags into the house. She was wearing new clothes, ones that fit her a lot better than before.
She was dressed in wide-legged black dress pants, black and white Chuck Taylors, a sleeveless black shirt, and a pair of rimmed sunglasses with large lenses. Her tats were visible, too. She didn’t seem to have anything left of the old her at all.
She smiled as Katie walked around the corner. “Hey, Katie! What are you doing here?”
“I came at Korbin’s request, and I need to speak with you privately, if you don’t mind,” Katie answered.
“Sure, come on back to my old office,” she said, nodding toward the back.
Everything looked different; even the sitting area was sleeker and less Victorian. Katie felt a lot more comfortable with it like this.
She sat down across from Stephanie, who had chosen to sit on her couch and put her hands in her lap.
“So, I came to talk to you about what being Damned means,” Katie said. “I know that it looks all glamorous and stuff, but it’s tough.”
Stephanie snorted.
“Ok, maybe not ‘glamorous.’ You have to give up your whole life, you train your ass off every day, you have to go when called, you may or may not have a responsive demon in you, and there is always a chance that your demon could take control, which means you would have to be killed.”
“Okay,” she said with a small laugh. “So sunshiny and bright you always are, my dear Katie.”
“Beyond the fact that you have to give up your life and everyone in it, there is a rule,” Katie said. “When you become infected, you are given one of three choices: death, research, or exorcism—or of course the team. I guess that’s four choices, really.”
Stephanie pondered her words for a moment.
“Research?”
“You are the research, so it really isn’t much of an option. That puts us back to three… Kinda one, if I think about it. Who is going to choose death?”
Stephanie thought about it a moment before responding, “You know what I really hate? I hate the fact that Korbin is having any damn say in this at all. It should be completely my choice, whether I am Damned or not. Seriously, it should be mine. I guess I can’t do anything about that, so if it’s going to be a man making my choices, I suppose it’s not too bad that Korbin is that man.”
Katie smiled. “I suppose not. If you choose to do this, what will happen to the house and the girls?”
Stephanie looked around. “Oh, I’m not in the prostitution business anymore. I closed that down as soon as I got back,” she admitted. “In reality, we have been tapering down ever since you started that company and we helped out over there. I signed a contract this morning for an organization to turn this place into a halfway house. I put a clause in the contract that gives the house to the organization if I should randomly die, so whether I change or not, that is going to happen.”
Katie stared at her for a moment with her mouth open before her mind caught up and she closed it. “Wow, that’s really…wow…generous of you,” Katie said. “What about the girls? Where will they go?”
“Well, Joshua has offered everyone a job,” she replied. “Most are actually taking him up on it, and the ones that aren’t, they are moving back with their families. I checked if those girls had good home lives and they do, so I am satisfied with all of that. That means if I change I still get to see most of my girls, which was the majority of my life anyway.”
“So, is that your choice?” Katie asked. “Do you want to be infected?”
“Well, when you put it that way…” She smiled, her eyes a bit distant before she focused on Katie. “Yes, I do.”
Katie nodded, cocking her head to the right. “Did you know that there are a couple of succubi living in this house?” she asked scooting up in her chair to get closer to Stephanie.
“No. What do they do?” she asked, her eyes narrowing.
“Well, they use whatever sexual energy they need, and then they send all sorts of energy back into the house to keep everyone aroused,” Katie explained.
Stephanie laughed. “No wonder I had such a good business here.”
“I caught the strongest one, and figured it was time to put her to some real work,” Katie said.
Katie leaned forward, opened her mouth, and blew in Stephanie’s direction. The succubus came out, screaming in fear at having spent the last twenty minutes with Pandora.
Katie shook her head and laughed.
That succubus is a serious PRUDE, Pandora bitched. Hell, I was teaching her shit!
Pandora let go of her and the succubus sped forward, slamming into Mamacita. She gasped and looked at Katie, who was smiling widely. Mamacita tilted her head from side to side in confusion.
“Welcome to the Damned,” Katie said as her new teammate fell over on the couch, out cold. “As Damian would say, ‘It gets them every time.’”
Yeah, it does, Pandora chuckled. It’s cute. Really, it is.
Okay, I need you to give me some extra strength, Katie said. I’m kind of sore, and I need to carry her out to the car.
You got it, Mama, Pandora said.
And please don’t make me a giant again. It worked for that situation, but it’s overkill for this one, Katie requested.
Okay, she griped.
Katie took a moment to let Alice know she was taking Mamacita with her before returning to the office.
She leaned down and picked Stephanie up off the couch and sighed. She didn’t remember passing out when she’d gotten Pandora, but then again, she had been chained in an old parking garage.
It hadn’t really been a good situation in which to fall unconscious.
She remembered Garrett’s face as he’d wheeled her out to the SUV and taken her back to the base. It had been the beginning of some really good things, and now Katie was getting to do that for Stephanie.
She opened the side door of the SUV and put her in the seat, buckling her in for safety. She pulled the straps tight and leaned her head back.
“Welcome to Korbin’s Killers, Stephanie,” she whispered, closing the door, walking around the front of the vehicle, and hopping in the driver’s seat.
The crowd was rowdy at the bar Torn Asunder, laughing, talking, and reconnecting since the last special night they’d had. Katie was going to start off the night again by talking about Jeremy and reading what they had now dubbed as “the Damned Creed.”
She didn’t know how she had become the spokesperson, but she didn’t mind doing it. It let her pay tribute to her friends and family when they didn’t make it through.
Katie looked down at her watch and winked at Damian as she stood up and made her way to the stage. She tapped the mic to get everyone’s attention, and smiled as several people cheered for her.
“Thanks for joining us, as always,” Katie began, pulling that old wrinkled piece of paper out of her pocket and unfolding it.
“Before I read the Creed, I want to start off by paying tribute to our fallen brother, Jeremy Croft. He was an FBI agent in his human life, or so I like to c
all it. In his Damned life he was a hell of a fighter, a friend, and a member of our family. We will miss him, and we hope that wherever he is now, he is having one hell of a time.”
Katie raised her glass in the air.
“To Jeremy,” she toasted, and everyone repeated his name. “And because I am a person of few words, I will just end this with the Damned Creed.
We are the chosen.
The infected,
battling our demons night and day.
Protecting the uninformed from reality.
We fight where the stupid meet the clueless to
perform the asinine for our
teammates every day.
We are cops, military, special forces, and SWAT,
medical techs, priests, and clergy.
We are the dimensional derelicts,
the legion, the host, the forgotten.
The feared.
The sheep can sleep at night because we don’t.
We fight for humanity—yours—and for our own.
We are the Damned, and death is our enemy,
our escape,
and our tribute.”
Everyone clapped and cheered, raising their glasses as Katie stepped down off the stage and made her way to the table to join the rest of her team. Stephanie nodded at her and smiled, and the others patted her on the shoulder. Derek handed her a shot.
She held it up in the air.
“To Jeremy,” Eric offered.
“To Jeremy,” the group replied.
After that they switched up the mood, and had some fun, laughter, and good conversation.
About an hour into it, though, they heard a commotion behind them and Stephanie turned around to check it out. Everyone at the table picked up their food, but Stephanie was too busy watching the fight, commenting on their lack of proper balance as she critiqued their form.
