by Michael Todd
“It’s nice, isn’t it?” Calvin smiled. “I’ll be back.”
Katie leaned back in her chair and put her feet up on the small table in front of her. The waves washed in and out on the shore, and she watched as surfers tried to catch a wave or two. They weren’t the kind of waves you saw in movies, but the surfers were having a good time. Katie couldn’t help but think about how nice it would be to spend more time near the water.
Las Vegas was her home and she loved it there, but it was a desert. Even the grass had to be imported. They had created an oasis in the middle of nowhere, and sometimes it felt a bit claustrophobic.
She took in a deep breath of the salty sea air and waved at a jogger running by. There were no houses next to them, but there were plenty of people walking up and down the beach, playing games, and just enjoying the sunshine. The sun was so warm that Katie closed her eyes. Before she knew it, she woke to the sound of Korbin barking orders at everyone else. She smiled and stretched her arms, looking into the house at the team set up.
“Hey there, sleepy head.” Korbin chuckled. “Come on in and get some food, and we can talk.”
“Sounds good to me.” She smiled, getting up out of her chair and heading inside to help.
They had picked up a stack of pizzas and a couple of six-packs of soda on the way over, figuring no one would feel like cooking at that point. Everyone grabbed their food and headed to the porch while Korbin, Calvin, Damian, and Katie sat at the table inside. Korbin wanted to know what the hell had happened.
Pandora bitched that there were no Chicken McNuggets.
“He came out of nowhere,” Calvin began in a low voice. “Someone brought that demon into this world, left it there with food, and walked out the door. Honestly, if it hadn’t been for Katie I’d probably be dead. He was almost too much for one person to handle, then here comes fucking Katie from the goddamn sky. She landed on the thing and jammed both her knives into its skull.”
Korbin looked to her for confirmation. “You flew from the sky?”
Katie chuckled and raised an eyebrow. “I wouldn’t say I flew.”
“Yeah, she jumped from the adjacent building,” Calvin revealed. “It was badass.”
“It wasn’t that badass,” Katie protested when Korbin raised his eyebrows at her. “I had gone to the roof after the demon, but when he jumped off the building I headed inside and took the stairs down aways first. When it was clear and I was good to go I jumped, and I got lucky where I landed. I mean, you didn’t think I jumped from six floors up, right?”
Korbin laughed. “No, that would be nuts.”
Everyone laughed, but Katie could tell that Korbin wasn’t buying her story. She shrugged and took a big bite of her pizza.
She’d done what she had to do.
11
“Wakey wakey,” Damian sang, sitting on the edge of Katie’s bed.
“Huh?” she mumbled, then groaned and peeled an eye open to glare at him. “But it’s so early.”
“Early bird catches the demons.” Damian’s tone was serious. “Come on, I’m taking you out.”
“Okay, just give me a minute,” she bitched, rolling out of the bed.
“I’ll be in the living room waiting for you.” Damian smiled as he left the room.
That priest fucking needs to learn about personal space, Pandora drawled.
That is rich, coming from you, Katie snarked.
Katie grabbed some clothes from the closet and pulled them on hurriedly, then she headed out to the living room to meet up with Damian. He smiled and handed her a travel mug of coffee, and the two went out and jumped in one of the SUVs.
She sat quietly in the passenger seat watching the ocean waves from the window as they drove along. Damian headed away from the marina and back into the city. They pulled into the parking area of a large old church constructed of beautiful blocks of hand-carved stone. It was simple, but related so much by its age and the way that it had been preserved. He smiled and nodded as he climbed out of the car and led her inside. There was no service going on, it was just quiet. Serene like the chapel at the base in Las Vegas, only much bigger.
Katie smiled and looked around, stopping to study the intricate carvings fixed into the archways throughout the church. There were cherubs, demons, crosses, and doves in every corner of the place.
Sunlight pouring through the stained glass in the windows cascaded over the interior, washing a shifting rainbow of colors over the entire church. It was quiet there, but not awkwardly quiet—just a comfortable peace inside.
Pandora broke the spell. Comfortable peace unless you are an altar boy. She snickered. I bet those doves mean something different to you when you are one of those kids. Everyone wants to give demons such a bad name, but they can’t even control their own churches. I swear, humans are hypocrites of the worst kind.
They can be, Katie agreed softly, but humans can be beautiful creatures of light and love as well, and way more often. I haven’t seen that side of any of your kind yet.
Probably because we are dark souls. Pandora sniffed. Light hurts my eyes.
You mean my eyes. Katie laughed.
Wait, do you smell that? Pandora interrupted. It’s weed! Somebody is up in this church; rolling a blunt. Maybe we should move to California, if weed is part of the religious ceremonies. Hell, I’d go to church for that.
You would be hissing in the corner, Katie teased. Can you imagine us going to church every day?
NO! It would be miserable, but with weed…well, it could be way more interesting, Pandora insisted. We could count our Hail Marys on cheese balls instead of on rosaries.
Katie snickered and walked to the front of the church, where Damian was sitting. He was quiet and seemed contemplative, just staring at the candles and the brightly-colored shadows. Katie sat down next to him and let out a deep breath.
“My first experience with the church was something like this. Just sitting alone in a quiet church, reflecting,” he told her. “I loved it. It was beautiful.”
“That’s nice.” Katie smiled. “I used to go to church with my grandma, but it never really caught on for me.”
“Everyone has their own spiritual journey, whether through a deity, the universe, or time spent in introspection,” he said. “It’s the conviction that matters in the end, or at least, that’s what I think.”
Katie wasn’t so sure. “I hope you’re right.”
Damian gave her a sympathetic half-smile. “So, you want to talk about that fight yesterday? Seeing as we are in the sanctity of the church and all.”
She peered at him but his eyes didn’t waver, nor did the all-knowing-smile on his face. She raised her hands in the air. “You got me,” she confessed. “I did jump from the top of the building. I mean, I was concerned for Calvin, and didn’t realize just how high I was. Thankfully the demon was squishy.”
Damian narrowed his eyes, but said nothing. He could tell she wasn’t ready to tell the whole truth, and that was okay. It was up to her when she decided she was ready.
When they left, Katie noticed a marijuana store close to the church.
I don’t think the smoke you smelled earlier was in the church, Katie told Pandora, glancing at the storefront.
Damn it! Pandora sighed. Dreams…crushed.
“You want to get some breakfast?” Damian offered as he climbed into the truck.
“Sure,” Katie agreed. “Wherever you want to go.”
Damian grinned. “I know just the place.”
Come on, please let it be fucking donuts, Pandora begged. Please, please, please, I’ll be a good girl.
I don’t think it works the same way when you pray. Katie smirked.
It would if you weren’t such a bitch, Pandora growled.
Damian took Katie—and Pandora—to a diner along the boulevard in Coronado, which was on their way back to Imperial Beach. The place was cute, like a real old-time diner, only it was crazy busy.
They waited nearly an hour to get a tabl
e, but Damian assured her that there weren’t any other places for her to get food that they could get in and out of. It wasn’t like Las Vegas. So, they stayed, and in the end Katie was glad they had.
They just had a normal conversation while eating eggs, bacon, and toast and watching the tourists come in and out, talking about the next steps when they got back to Las Vegas. It almost felt like they were on vacation, and it would have been the first vacation Katie had ever been on.
Pandora was happy with the breakfast once Katie started eating it, so she kept quiet and let them have a decent conversation. Katie needed it, especially with everything going on.
As they were driving back from breakfast, Katie spied an occult shop on the righthand side of the street. It wasn’t bright or touristy, so she could tell that it was for serious followers and researchers. She felt weird asking the priest to stop, but there were things she needed to find out about.
“Hey, is there any way you could drop me off here?” Katie asked. “There was a shop back there that I would really love to check out.”
“Sure,” Damian said. “You want me to come?”
“No, it’s okay,” she told the priest as he pulled over. “I’ll just call an Uber when I am done.”
Concern crossed Damian’s features. “You’re sure?”
She gave him a warm smile. “I’m sure. Thanks for breakfast, and confession.”
“No problem,” he replied. “I’ll see you back at the house later today.”
“I’ll be there,” Katie told him, shutting the SUV’s door.
“Katie,” Damian called before she left, doing something in his lap. “Here. You need the address for the house.”
“Duh!” she exclaimed, shaking her head and reaching through the window to take the slip of paper he’d hastily scribbled the address on. “Thank you. I’d be wandering around for the next week trying to find the house.”
As he rolled up the window she stepped onto the curb and waited there for a moment, smiling and waving as he drove away. Once he was out of sight, she pulled down her sunglasses and walked quickly across the street and up to the shop’s door.
Once inside, she removed her glasses so she could check out the layout. The space was cramped, overfull, and very dark. They had low lighting, with candles lit all over the room. The girl behind the counter smiled as she walked in. She was pretty, with long black hair, very short bangs, bright red lipstick, and a nose piercing. Katie pulled her bag around in front of her and wandered through the shop, taking everything in.
In one back corner was a rare book section with a comfortable chair and some bottled water. She pulled down a couple of books, and sat there reading about different things having to do with the occult.
In essence, the books described the occult as knowledge of the hidden, knowledge of the immeasurable, and knowledge of the paranormal. However, the farther she read, the more she began to understand that there were both light and dark in the occult.
Her heart fell as she realized that her life was completely submerged in the dark side of things.
You have to understand that humans have done terrible things through the ages, Pandora told her. People of the occult, demons, spirits—we are harshly judged by humans, but you are the reason that we can’t openly practice, why we can’t coexist. Hell, you are even the reason the planet is so fucked up and the climate is spinning out of control. Sometimes it is hard to really pinpoint who’s worse in this scenario.
Are you done doing PR for your side?
Pandora sniffed. Only telling the truth.
Totally objective truth, too.
See? Pandora’s voice brightened. You get it!
I get that you are a totally biased source, like most of our news channels today. Katie told her. She noticed a noise, and turned to see someone stepping around the corner.
“Are you finding everything okay?” the girl from the front asked.
“I am, thank you,” Katie assured her, then stood up to call her back. “Actually, I have a question.”
“Sure.” The shop girl smiled. “My name is Alice, and I own the store.”
“Oh, nice.” Katie returned Alice’s smile and held out a hand. “I’m Katie, nice to meet you. I was wondering if there was any way that I could get any copies of old grimoires or history books?” She indicated the selection of books she’d been flicking through.
“I am looking for anything real or even sort of real—I have a very good nose for sniffing out good versus garbage. I just want to get enough information to fully understand some of the things in my life that have to do with the occult and some practices.”
Alice nodded and smiled. “Sure. Do you live here?”
“I mostly live in Las Vegas, but I come here for business,” Katie replied.
“That’s not a problem. I can always mail them to you,” Alice assured her. “Why don’t you write your number down for me?” She fished a notepad and pen out of her pocket and passed them to Katie. “I’ll do some research and call you with what I find.”
“That sounds fantastic.” Katie smiled. “Thank you so much. And I love your store. It’s really well laid out. I could sit here all day.”
Alice nodded. “That was the point of it. I wanted anyone and everyone to feel comfortable coming into my store and staying a while.”
“Well, I think you accomplished that.”
She ordered herself an Uber, then bought a couple of small things from the store to support the girl’s business while she waited for pickup. Her mind turned over everything that she had read, and when her Uber got there she didn’t even think about who was driving the thing.
She gave the driver her address and sat back, thinking about all the things she had learned that day.
That was a good day, she told Pandora. I got a lot of questions answered.
Pandora had other considerations. I think you should stop thinking about books and look at the man driving you the hell around today in your Uber. He is so fucking hot. Like “do him right here in this car” hot.
Katie looked at the driver for a moment and had to hold back a laugh.
What? Pandora snickered. You can see him, right? Or has all that reading affected your eyesight?
Katie giggled, drawing an odd look from the driver. I don’t think he would be interested in either of us if the gay pride flags all over the front of his car are anything to go by.
Wait…what? Noooooooooooo! Pandora’s excitement melted. This is total bullshit!
Katie laughed, inwardly this time. I don’t think he would feel that way.
No! Pandora’s indignant reply rang out in Katie’s head. He’s too hot to not be mine! Fuck this, I can be a guy! No, really! I can buy a strap-on, and he won’t even notice the difference.
I’m pretty sure he would, Katie told her.
Katie listened to Pandora concoct ways to make the driver straight again all the way back to the house. The demon was relentless; she obviously did not understand what it meant to be gay. She could not successfully pose as a man.
Seriously, I could get that boy’s head back on straight, at least for a night….or ten, she finally declared.
Katie was so mortified about the whole thing that even though the driver couldn’t hear it, she tipped him double the fare, unable to meet his eyes. Pandora carried on listing the things she’d like to do to the Uber driver.
Sometimes life with a demon inside was enough to test the patience of a saint.
And if not a saint, well, then certainly Katie.
12
The next day was back to business for everyone. Katie had to admit it was hard to think about working when you were in a place like San Diego, California.
It was freaking beautiful every day, the weather was amazing, and everyone had fallen in love with Katy’s Coffee, the intimate coffee shop they’d discovered on Imperial Beach. The owner was usually to be found serving everyone from behind the counter, and there was constantly sand on the floor from the beach beh
ind them, which added to the relaxed vibe of the establishment.
But all good things come to end, and that ending started over morning coffee with Korbin, Calvin, Damian, and herself.
Korbin hadn’t been at the event and hadn’t seen the demon, so he didn’t know what to do with the teams—which made him grouchy.
They were trying to decide if everyone should stay in San Diego or if he should split them up. Katie was glad Korbin was too preoccupied to notice that her mind was lost in so many other things.
Damian had noticed Korbin’s mood too, and he was pushing to have the team stay.
Calvin played Devil’s advocate. “I don’t know,” he said, considering. “I mean, we can’t get that lucky twice with a demon like that, so it would be good to have the team here in case he comes back with a vengeance. But at the same time, the likelihood of it happening again is pretty slim. You guys have a lot to get done, and other areas to protect out there.”
I just want to point out that the demon you fought was just three levels below one of the Seventy-Two, Pandora cut in. He was extremely powerful, and that doesn’t even count the fact that there are three levels above his.
“Right,” Katie said, ignoring Pandora for the moment. “But we won’t be here that much longer, right?”
“Enough time to get some intel on what is going on,” Korbin prompted. “Enough time to make things work and make sure it is safe out here for the people.”
“Okay,” Katie said, sitting back in her chair.
“I just don’t know if I feel comfortable leaving the two of them to fend for themselves if this beast or another one comes back,” Damian said.
I’ll tell you this much, Katie, Pandora chimed in. If you are not going to divulge what I can do and how we work together, you better have at least two more as backup. You can’t keep jumping off five- or six-story buildings and expect it to go unnoticed. The priest already knows you are full of shit, Derek has seen your badassery, Korbin suspects, and Calvin… She snorted. Well, Calvin is oblivious. He probably wouldn’t notice if you sprouted batwings and horns.
