by D. C. Gomez
Chapter 21
My head was hurting by the time I got to Reapers. The main area on the first floor was empty, so I rushed upstairs. I hoped Eugene had good news for us because I didn’t. I walked into the loft, and Eugene and Constantine was talking at the dining table. Constantine was sitting on the table while Eugene leaned on a chair. Eugene looked worried, and he was holding some papers with him. Constantine did not look too happy either.
“What did I miss?” No need pretending now. I might as well get right to the point.
“We got a problem,” Eugene answered.
“If that’s all we got, we’re doing good. Let me hear it.” I walked over and took a seat. I was not in the mood to get lousy news standing up.
“I’ve been monitoring your date,” Eugene stated.
“Can we call him William? I’m not dating that man. That situation was just a horrible mistake.” I glared at him to make sure he got the point. Constantine tried to hide the smirk on his face.
“Fine. I’ve been monitoring William. At the rate this thing is progressing, in about five days it’s going to start devouring his internal organs.” Eugene looked back at his charts to confirm.
“Hold on, what? What do you mean, devouring?” I was hoping his meaning of devouring was not the same as mine.
“It’s going to start killing him from the inside. I don’t know how she did it, but she mutated it to create maximum damage. She was right; she’d make one hell of an intern. She’s good.” Eugene sounded like a teenager with a crush.
“Enough praising over there. Focus. Can you stop it? Make an antidote or something?” This was way outside of my realm. We were in the soul business, not the mutations and killing business.
“You want me to do what? Isis, we don’t cure things. We unleash plagues into the world. I can’t be making cures.”
Eugene was offended. I was speechless
“We’re on the brink of a zombie apocalypse due to your boss’s horrible hiring practices, and you are telling me it’s not in your job description to stop it? Have you lost your mind?” It was a blessing I was sitting across the table from Eugene, because I wanted to slap him silly.
“Isis, these are our company’s practices. I can’t go against them.”
I was going to hurt Eugene.
“Eugene, we don’t have time for this.” Constantine was glaring at him. His claws on his right paw were out, and I was pretty sure he had grown at least twice his size. Eugene was smart enough to back away. There was an awkward silence in the room. “So according to your policies, you cannot develop cures or antidotes.” Constantine gave Eugene a moment to ponder. “But can you kill a current strand gone rogue?”
Wow, Constantine was a genius. Eugene thought about it for a minute.
“Um. We’re talking about an unauthorized specimen. Seek and destroy is part of my job description.” Eugene was smiling broadly. Now that his moral dilemma had been resolved, he looked a lot calmer. Pestilence had her interns trained to follow instructions.
“Another problem, though,” Eugene said, a little softer. “The moment the virus enters the human body it starts mutating. I need a sample to be able to know what I’m looking for.”
I leaned my head back. These issues never ended.
“Do we know how she is delivering it? Have you found the drugs she’s using? I need to know what I’m looking for to find it.”
“I’m waiting for the results from the lab. We dropped off the samples yesterday when we went out to look for supplies. Bob dropped off the ones from your friends this morning.”
Eugene didn’t seem very worried about the wait.
“How long does it take to get a drug test back?” I had done urine analysis for the military, but I had no idea how long it took for the results to get back.
“You do know this is not TV. It’s going to take hours to get the results back. Fifth is taking that task personally.” By the sound of Eugene’s voice, that was a big deal.
“Can wonder boy get the results faster?” Constantine took the words right out of my mouth.
“Unfortunately, no. Not even Fifth can speed up science. As soon as he has it, he’ll let us know.” Eugene at least sounded hopeful.
“How are Ana and her boyfriend?” Neither one of them had mentioned them. Eugene looked at his paper very intently. Constantine lowered his head on his paws, looking back to normal.
“Isis, it’s not good. He has it, and he’s starting to convert. She’s also infected, but at an early stage.” Eugene couldn’t meet my eyes.
“How is that possible? I know they’re clean. I can vouch for Ana. I see her all the time.” I dropped my head back again. This was horrible. How was I supposed to tell her she was going to die if we didn’t find the cause of this?
“If I’m not mistaking, the virus can be transmitted through bodily fluids. If they were intimate recently, he probably passed it to her.” I knew Eugene was trying to make me feel better, but I wasn’t buying Joe doing drugs again.
“Great, now we have an upgraded AIDS virus.” I rolled my eyes at the insanity of it all.
“I wish. At least with that one, I know what I’m looking for.” Eugene was staring at his notes when he spoke. I wondered if Pestilence peeps were responsible for that one as well.
“Good to know. Back to bodily fluids. Does that mean if one of those zombies licks me, I’m going to convert?” If that was the case, I wanted to stay far away from them.
“Eew, that’s gross. Unless they lick an open wound, licks are safe. If they bite you and break the skin, that could be bad. How much of the virus they have in their system will determine how likely they can pass it to others.” Eugene looked happy to be able to clarify that.
“Can you tell how far along each person is in their mutation?” I was hoping Ana and Joe had more time. I didn’t want to think Ana was going to die in the next five days.
“Not yet, but I got a few more tests to run.” Eugene was persistent, thank the Lord.
“Please do, and let me know as soon as you find out the carrier she’s using. We need to narrow this down. I don’t want to chase every drug dealer in the four states area.” As exciting as those visits were becoming, we were running out of time.
“In that case, I better get back to work.” Without a glance back at us, he hurried out the door.
“I like him. He should come and visit us more often.” Constantine was watching the door after Eugene.
“Is that before or after you pluck out his eyes?” I eyed Constantine from my side and waited for a reply.
“He just needed some motivation, that’s all. As you can see, it worked.”
I couldn’t help myself. I had to laugh. If that was Constantine’s brand of motivation, he should avoid public speaking.
“Changing the subject on you. What is Father Francis going to do with all the zombies?” I did not like the idea of my sweet priest hanging out with crazy zombies.
“Obviously we needed a place to keep them safe. Reapers does not have enough room to convert everything out. So I made a few calls and activated all the churches. As soon as one fills up, the others will start taking them. The Staff and volunteers from the Church Under the Bridge agreed to help.”
That explained all the calls Constantine had been making lately. I was impressed how quickly he got everything organized.
“Nice job. That’s amazing.” Constantine was full of surprises.
“Don’t be that impressed. Texarkana, fortunately for us, has strong community values. The citizens still believe in taking care of their own. It just took a little coordinating, and they’re onboard.”
The way he described it, it sounded simple enough.
“Changing the topics again, what are we going to do if we fail?” My biggest question was, how was I going to explain to Ana that she might die due to a killer
zombie plague? I wasn’t sure if I wanted to cry or punch something.
“Failure is not an option here. So focus on the task at hand. Don’t try to figure out how to boil the ocean, just work on getting in it first.”
I wish I had the confidence Constantine had. Granted, he was also five thousand years old, so he had plenty of practice facing horrible obstacles.
“What’s the next step?” I needed to focus on the present and not the potential what if.
“First things first. You need to get dressed to meet our local dark wizard.”
Oh yeah, I had that guy. “What do you wear for such a meeting?” I had never met a dark wizard. Even his title sounded menacing.
“I’d recommend combat gear. Your black, anti-spell fatigues would be perfect. You never know when those tricky wizards will attack.” Constantine sounded like he had personal experience with crazy wizards.
“I can do that. What time am I leaving?” Constantine was either nervous or slipping. Typically he would have given me all the details in one breath. Now I was asking tons of questions.
“You leave in ten. Bob is ready, waiting in his quarters.”
“He is that bad that you are sending Bob with me?” I wasn’t too upset, just a lot more aware of the potential threat.
“Let’s just say, if he’s involved I’m not taking any chances. I want you back in one piece.” “Aww, I didn’t know you cared. Thank you.” I was debating scratching his ear but decided against it.
“Don’t get emotional. I just don’t want to have to train another intern so soon.”
Now that sounded more like Constantine. I stuck out my tongue at him. He glared back, and I laughed. He did care.
“Anything else I need to know?” I started getting up from my chair.
“Yes, one more thing. You’re taking Bumblebee out. Make sure no more bullet holes appear on him.” Constantine gave me his evil glare, like he was holding me personally responsible.
“Yes, sir.” I was not going to argue with an angry cat about his car. I gave him one quick salute and took off to my room to change.
Chapter 22
A couple of small cities surrounded Texarkana. I had recently learned if you were too close to any city in Texas, people automatically assumed your city was annexed to it. I was pretty sure the residents of those cities did not appreciate it. We were heading to Red Lick, which was on the north side of I-30. We did a quick left turn at the Roadrunner and drove down the long, winding road. It didn’t matter how long I lived in Texas, my mind was always blown away when we passed horses and cows in pastures next to houses. I felt like I had traveled back in time to a more peaceful world.
Bob pulled off the road and parked half a block from our destination. I was a little confused. According to Constantine, the dark wizard lived on FM 2148, next to the Red Lick Middle School and across the street from the elementary school. There had to be some mistake. The house we were looking at was a lovely brick home with great landscaping. I felt a little out of place in my black combat gear with a machete strapped to my leg and an M16. I was sure somebody would call the cops on us any minute.
“You know we can’t go out like this. If a teacher sees us, we’re doomed,” I told Bob as I glanced around for the tenth time.
“Oh good. I was wondering if I was the only one feeling a little out of place here. I vote we leave the rifles and stick with handguns.”
“Sounds like a plan. Dark wizard or not, we could still be drawing that much attention in the middle of the day.”
We switched weapons. Bartholomew had given me a smaller paint gun to fit in my cargo pockets in case I needed it. That one was coming with me.
Bob and I dismounted from Bumblebee as casually as possible, trying to avoid any extra attention. We made our way to the side door of the nice house. I didn’t see any cameras or security devices. I pulled out my Smith & Wesson special, and Bob took out his pistol. No matter how hard I tried, Bob’s weapons always looked more intimidating than mine. He gave me a nod and kicked in the door. I rushed in with my gun in hand, followed quickly by Bob.
I figured a dark wizard would live in some dark cave with cauldrons boiling, bats hanging from the ceiling and maybe tarantulas crawling around. The reality was different. The house was just as beautiful on the inside as the outside. Cream-colored walls, with soft silk curtains—and they even had ceramic roosters on top of the cabinets. The side door led right into a foyer facing the kitchen. If the house was an immaculate surprise, the man staring at us was a total contradiction.
“Are you David, the dark wizard?”
A tall man with dark hair and gorgeous blue eyes, was standing in front of us with an apron and a bowl. He didn’t look surprised to see us, but he did roll his eyes at me in disgust.
“Yes, and you are?” He kept mixing whatever he had in his bowl, and I was ready for all hell to break loose.
“Isis.” I was a little confused how to respond. He raised an eyebrow, a little confused himself.
“Is this a new recruiting campaign? I’m impressed. Unconventional, but I’m not interested.”
Bob was staring at him as David spoke. It was my turn to roll my eyes.
“Not the terrorist group.” I despise that group for stealing my name. Why couldn’t they call themselves Carol or Joe? I was still fuming when David spoke again.
“Well, that was going to be a great conversation topic at the country club. Isis who?” David went to a country club? We had to be at the wrong house.
“Isis Black.”
His facial expressions did not change. “Is the name supposed to ring a bell?”
I was shocked. I had finally met someone in the supernatural community who didn’t know who I was. I looked at Bob, and he just shrugged. I had no idea how to proceed. This was so rare; rule number one came into effect here.
“Can you give me a minute?” I told David. “Bob, keep an eye on him.”
Bob turned back to face our deadly wizard, according to Constantine.
We weren’t wearing earpieces this time. Constantine was afraid our dark wizard would pick up the signal somehow. I was looking around the house that would have made Martha Stewart proud and wondered what secret powers this boy had. I pulled my cell phone and found out I had perfect reception. I hit the speed dial to Reapers and prayed Constantine was near the phone.
“What happened now? You just got there.” Constantine did not sound amused at all.
“He has no idea who I am,” I whispered over the phone to Constantine.
“What’s your point?” Constantine sounded a bit irritated.
“What do I do now?” I was lost. How was I supposed to introduce myself if I wasn’t supposed to tell people I worked for Death?
“Girl, are you seriously calling me about that? You work for Reapers. Ask him the questions. By the way, where are you calling me from?”
I shook my head at my stupidity. I was making this too hard, and Constantine was right.
“In his kitchen,” I answered, very embarrassed. I could feel the flush creeping up my cheeks.
“Isis, get off the phone and stop looking crazy. Get to work.”
Typical of Constantine to hang up before I could reply.
I walked over to the guys who were busy discussing the bowl. Somehow Bob had put his gun away and was leaning against the wall, just chit-chatting. I didn’t put my gun up, but I wasn’t pointing it at anybody now. I cleared my throat, and both men looked at me.
“Did you check in with Mom? Are we ready now?” David was dripping with sarcasm. I was not amused.
“Yeah, sorry about that. So I am Isis, and this is Bob. We’re from Reapers Inc. We want to ask you a few questions.” I stared blankly at him. I was not going to squirm.
“Do you normally bust people’s doors down to ask questions? Not much of an incentive to help, is it?�
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“Were you going to let us in if we knocked?” I was not backing down.
“Guess we’ll never know now.”
Mr. Dark Wizard David was not intimidated by two people with guns. I was starting to see Constantine’s point. I considered opening my third eye to check him out, but if he was as scary as Constantine said, that vision would terrify me forever, or I’d go insane.
“Guess not. But you didn’t seem that surprised when we busted in.” That was bothering me. It was like he was expecting us.
“Child, you set off all my magic wards twenty feet from the house. Considering you were not carrying any spells or magic weapons, I figured you were safe. You weren’t planning on shooting me, were you?”
Of course, he would have wards. We had them all around Reapers. I needed to get more info from Constantine before another crazy mission.
“No, we weren’t. We just have a few questions. Are you planning to blow us up with your spell?” That bowl was making me nervous.
“Only if you’re allergic to chocolate chip cookies.” He tilted the bowl so we could see its content. He was right; it was chocolate chip cookie dough.
“That dough looks great.” I had no idea what Bob was talking about, but the house did smell delicious now that I was paying attention to it. “Do I smell chocolate cake?”
“Yes. I just finished a German chocolate cake. I’ve been baking all morning,” David replied, proud of himself.
“You did a whole cake just this morning? I’m impressed,” Bob said, and I knew I had lost all control of the situation.
“Hey, I made two. Do you want a piece? It’s to die for.” David offered Bob a slice, and I was sure he was going to fly away from the excitement.
“Darn, we quit gluten. Horrible timing.” Bob looked devastated.
“Well, that explains why she’s so thin.” David and Bob both looked at me.
“Nah, she doesn’t eat meat.” I wasn’t sure if that was Bob’s idea of defense.
“That is extreme.” I was not amused by the pity look David was giving me.
“OK foodies, can we get back to the business at home. You can discuss the Food Channel line-up at a later day.” That brought them back to reality. I ignored the skinny comment. I was getting tired of always having to defend myself. I might look thin, but I was solid muscle.
