by Michael Todd
“No military casualties,” the colonel confirmed. “However, there were civilians in there when the incursion began. Some were turned and are unsavable. Others were demon lunch. There were fifty-two civilian casualties in the back quarters of the building.”
The general nodded, angry at what he had just heard. The driver opened the door for him and the general climbed in, rubbing his hands together.
When the driver shut the door, he stared out the window at the soldiers carrying stretchers and body bags inside the building. He pulled out his phone and called Colonel Jehovivich.
“General,” she answered. “How did the incursion go?”
“We got them all, and there were no military casualties,” he told her. “But the civilian casualties were very high.”
“I’m sorry to hear that sir,” she replied. “At least you were able to neutralize the threat.”
“Yes,” he mumbled. “Still, I don’t want casualties. It just feeds them.”
“Understood, sir,” Jehovivich responded quietly.
“We need more information on those mercenary blades. I’m afraid the time for niceties has passed. We are losing people right and left, and if our soldiers aren’t as well equipped physically to handle the demons, then we need something to help us lower these casualties.”
“I will look into it right away,” she told him.
“Good. I will call you from the base when I get back.”
“Yes sir,” she replied, hanging up.
He put his phone in his lap and nodded to the driver, who slowly pulled away from the building and off the property. The general watched the Texas scenery from his window, thinking about the incursion in Texas and the one in Utah.
He wondered how many fatalities they would sustain, and he wondered if they weren’t possibly going about everything all wrong. What he needed was time with Katie, the demon hunter who’d had something to do with the incursion at Korbin’s base.
He knew there was more to her than what he was being told, but what it could be he didn’t know.
Sometime later they pulled into the base and parked, and the driver helped the general out of the car. He was exhausted, but he wouldn’t sleep until he got news of the Utah event.
There were lives at stake in that game, and the demons were taking everything they could. It was no longer good enough to kill a demon. They had to start thinking about long-term survival.
He needed better weapons, and he needed them yesterday. He wasn’t sure if the mercs’ blades were the key to stopping this surge of demons; he needed to find out more.
These battles had reached the point of survival of the fittest, and he did not like where his side sat on that scale.
10
Stephanie, Katie, Charlotte, and Ella had been at the retreat for three days. They went to the classes, taking turns watching for any sign of the demons.
Katie was in pure hell, never having bought into the tranquility bullshit.
There was constant “calming music” in the background, even in their rooms, and barely anyone spoke outside their quarters.
Katie told Stephanie that she needed to be the one talking with Korbin unless something very operation-specific came up. Stephanie wasn’t sure why, but didn’t question it.
That evening after dinner and their meditation, Stephanie grabbed her phone.
“Awwww, you aren’t supposed to have that phone,” Ella teased. “One of the yogis might just sentence you to a yoga lesson and meditation session if you aren’t careful.”
“Yeah, I have to work.” Stephanie rolled her eyes. “Korbin needs an update; it’s been three days. I’m going to go wander through the enchanted gardens, puke on one of the fairy statues, and call Korbin.”
“For fuck’s sake, tell him to send donuts,” Katie grumbled. “Pandora might mistake my kidney for one if I don’t do something soon.”
“Uh, that’s gross,” Stephanie exclaimed. “Get it together.”
Stephanie left the bedroom and made her way through the building, nodding at the various people walking down the hall. Unlike Katie, she was kind of enjoying the peace and quiet—but definitely not the food. The cuisine was three out of the four complaints she kept hearing over and over.
She went through the back doors into the flower garden, turning on her phone and pressing a speed-dial key.
“This is Korbin,” he answered.
“I think we might all just become yogis and say fuck this demon-slaying bullshit,” Stephanie told him, looking around to make sure no one would see her and report her to the prison guards. “I mean, really…it’s so quiet here.”
“You’d be back in one day.” Korbin chuckled. “You crave the loud and busy.”
“You may be right, but I think a place like this might be good for you. Loosen you up a little bit.” Stephanie giggled.
“I think I am loose enough,” Korbin replied. “So, nothing so far?”
“If you don’t count the issue with Katie, it’s been serene and peaceful here,” Stephanie told him. “Which is enough to make you hand yourself over to the demons anyway.”
“What’s wrong with Katie?”
“I guess it’s more Pandora than Katie,” Stephanie explained. “Pandora is on a donut-rager, and I am pretty sure she is about to bust out of this namaste prison and go eat some actual food that doesn’t have any type of grass in it.”
“Food is that bad, huh?” Korbin laughed.
“It’s not bad, per se. It’s just fucking incredibly healthy for you.” Stephanie scoffed. “If we ate like this all the time, we would be the most in-shape group of demon-slayers on the planet. But we don’t, so the rest of us are left with stealing a car and breaking out, heading over to McDonald’s, or start eating the reporter.”
“Poor Charlotte,” Korbin chuckled. “How about Ella? Is she behaving?”
“She is pretty much the only one enjoying the food. They love her. She can’t get enough of the bean sprout-and-dirt sandwiches.”
“Uh, what?” Korbin replied. “Ella was the last person I thought would actually enjoy anything they had to eat there! She has the biggest mouth, too. I figured they might have kicked her out by now.”
“Nope, well behaved and enjoying the stay,” Stephanie explained. “Of course, it helps that her demon has found her reward center, and he’s all about healthy eating. She says it’s literally like she has a mini-orgasm every time she puts healthy food into her mouth. I’ve never seen someone her age eat so much broccoli.”
“Well, that is definitely interesting,” Korbin replied, slightly embarrassed.
“I am jealous. That’s like the best diet idea ever,” Stephanie commented. “To orgasm over vegetables and protein shakes? I’d rule the women in California with an iron fist and long stalks of celery.”
Korbin skipped a response and worked on changing the subject. “What about everything else?”
“Oh, you mean the mission we are supposed to be on?” Stephanie looked around. “Yeah, that one. Not so much. Not a single demon has even set foot in this place. Not even a random demon wandering in by accident. We are starting to go stir-crazy.”
Korbin was quiet for a moment, and Stephanie let him consider their options. “Do you think you should come back?”
“No, not yet,” she replied. “I feel it. It’s coming, so I just think we need to wait it out. I might not be able to keep Katie and Pandora sane for that long, but it will be easy to break out to get food and come back if it happens.”
“All right.” Korbin sighed. “Go ahead and wait it out, but call me again if anything changes.”
“Will do, boss.” Stephanie pressed End.
She stood there in the garden for a second. With the music pumping from the speakers, she felt like she was in a scene for a really hokey romance novel. She shivered, shoved her phone in her pocket, and jogged back to the building.
She could deal with the grass for dinner, the classes, and everything else, but she couldn’t deal with feeling like they w
ere getting fleeced—and that was exactly how she felt.
When she got back to the room, Katie was upside-down on her bed, Ella was slurping asparagus down while moaning, and Charlotte was in the corner reading.
They needed to stay there to save these women, and hopefully they could keep it together long enough to make it through the fight. Stephanie sighed and sat on the edge of the bed next to Katie. She looked miserable; injured, even.
“I can’t believe she is eating more of that shit,” Katie grumped.
“If it gave you an orgasm with every bite, would you at least try it?” Stephanie laughed.
“Yeah, maybe you’re right.” Katie sighed. “I need to make a donut run, though. Otherwise this bitch is either going to get really loud or silent, and it’s bad news either way.”
Moloch stared at the woman behind the counter as she rang things up. He tore the tag from the sweatshirt he was already wearing and handed it to her, and she ran it over a piece of glass on the counter. It made a beeping noise and Moloch looked around, confused. He hadn’t been in a shop for decades, and definitely not one with so much human technology. The girl looked up at him and smiled.
“That will be one hundred and forty-three dollars and sixteen cents,” she told him.
“You will give them to me for free,” Moloch ordered, flashing his eyes to put the human girl into a trance.
“Here you are, sir. Thank you for your time here at Bogarts. Come again,” she droned like she was reading a script.
Moloch smiled and walked out of the store carrying his bag of clothes. He stared down at the sweatshirt he had on. There was a very large H on the back, and on the front, there was a cartoon version of Lucifer. The sweatshirt read, I never get lost, because everyone tells me where to go. He loved his new clothes, and the boots he had gotten were a lot more comfortable than the dress shoes the human had been wearing when he took his body.
He turned the corner and headed through the town to the residential area. As he walked through the neighborhoods, he kept his eyes forward and his hands in the hoodie’s pockets. When he reached his destination, he was pleased to see the head of the group standing on the steps smiling widely. These guys had been protecting Moloch’s ass for years, and this time he was actually going to spend some time with them. These survivalists worshipped a form of him. They had never seen him until today, and he was in a human suit, so they were just seeing another version of him.
“Your Grace,” the head guy greeted him, bowing his head. “Please come in. We have been awaiting your arrival.”
Moloch nodded and walked into the house. It was very simple on the inside, white and black and full of candles. There were three other people sitting around, who immediately stood when he walked in the door. He smiled at them and followed the leader into another room.
“We have been preparing for your return,” the man continued. “We procured a sacrifice, and carefully preserved her blood.”
He pointed to a carafe on the table next to an overstuffed armchair. Moloch sat down comfortably in the chair and the leader poured him a glass of blood. He sipped it and smiled, looking up at the kid.
“Tastes like a perfect 1986 aged vintage,” he said in a snobby tone. “It will do, sir; it will do.”
The others walked into the room and took seats on the floor in front of him, crossing their legs and staring up in awe.
Moloch liked a crowd, but this one was a bit creepy—even for him.
One by one his followers lit black candles and held them tightly in their hands. They were silent, but the mood in the house was reminiscent of the days when he had walked the Earth in his demon form and droves of followers had cast themselves at his feet to pledge their allegiance.
They had all died then, but this time it would be different. He would not let them fall.
He cleared his throat and straightened up.
“As much as I enjoy all of this, we are in a time crunch,” Moloch began. “I want to start out with this: I know that when you go day after day, month after month, year after year without having your belief system verified, it can be very difficult. I am here to tell you, though, that you are not preparing for something that will never come. The time is here, and the time is now. You can have an apocalyptic future sooner rather than later.”
“How?” the leader asked.
“By trusting me,” Moloch said. “There is a group of humans on Earth who are trained warriors. They were born from our gifts, but now turn their backs on their inner demons. They are standing in the way of our complete control of that planet. I need you to give them a kick.”
“How will we do that, Master?” one of the girls asked.
“You will be proactive, not waiting for the future to be handed to you,” he said. “You will become my version of the Damned. You’ll train and fight for liberation and freedom. We are not accepted up here, you know this, so instead of waiting for everyone else to come around, we need to take our futures into our own hands!”
“We will be more than happy to serve you,” the leader declared.
“And for your service and your allegiance, when every last one of the Damned are dead and buried, you will be rewarded.” Moloch smiled, a deep rumbling laugh coming from his chest.
His plan was perfect, and it was working out the way he wanted.
The Damned wouldn’t see this coming. They would be completely blindsided.
The days of demons being overrun, killed, and sent back to hell were over.
It was time for them to rise; for T’Chezz to lead the charge in taking Earth and all the humans on it. They would fall to their knees and grovel at his feet, thanking him and T’Chezz for being merciful and sparing their lives.
Moloch would gain his place at the left hand of Lucifer, and the humans would never cause a problem for the demons again.
The humans’ time on Earth was drawing to a close. Now it was time for the Reign of the Demons.
Korbin stood in his office, looking down into the training area as Eric and Derek sparred.
He paced in his office as he had done so many times. There was a path in the carpet on the floor. where over the years he had worn away the fabric. Pacing, worrying, wondering if he was making the right decision.
He had a bad feeling in his stomach; something he had been trying to shake since he’d talked to Stephanie, but it wouldn’t go away.
At first he thought that their restlessness was causing him to be restless too, but through the night his body and his instincts told him something different. There was evil in the air; more evil than normal, and even his demon—who was usually quiet—was tossing and turning inside him, warning him of something on the horizon.
He went to the workout room window and tapped on the glass, gesturing to Eric and Derek to come to his office. They nodded and grabbed their towels, drying their sweat off before disappearing out of view.
Korbin took a deep breath, not wanting to look nervous, and sat down behind his computer. He fidgeted for a moment, clasping his hands together and shifting in his seat, but finally sat still when the guys entered the office.
“What’s up, boss?” Eric asked, looking alarmed. “Is there a call?”
“Not yet,” Korbin replied. “As you know, Stephanie, Ella, Katie, and Charlotte are in Arizona at a retreat. Intel we received has led us to believe there is going to be an attack on the facility. The women there are all innocents. The goal of this attack is not to kill, but instead infect a large number of people. We aren’t sure why, but we assume it can only be for something like an army of sorts.”
“The girls have been kicking ass lately.” Derek chuckled. “Katie has become a force to be reckoned with.”
“She has, but she isn’t invincible,” Korbin replied, rubbing his chin. “I’ve had a bad feeling all night. I can’t shake it, and I know I should listen to it.”
“What do you need us to do?” Derek asked.
“I want you to go to Phoenix and find a place close to wher
e they are staying,” Korbin ordered. “I want you to be near them, but don’t go in without a support request. If you go in and there is nothing going on, we may completely scare off the demons—and get the girls kicked out since it is an all-women’s retreat.”
“I like the sound of that.” Eric chuckled.
“Keep it in your pants.” Derek smirked. “They are damsels in distress.”
“Or they are a bunch of Katies.” Eric grinned. “Ready to kick your ass out the window.”
“She can be fragile,” Derek argued.
“All right, you two.” Korbin waved them off. “Go. Be safe, and I’ll be in contact. Let’s just hope my feeling is wrong.”
11
Katie knelt in front of the tables, her knees digging into the vibrantly-colored pillows beneath her. She pressed her palms together and bowed her head, peeking at the women around the tables. They were all New Age hippies and mostly her age, practicing peace while making sure not to spill anything on their designer white linen pants.
She didn’t understand why they would come to a place like this if they weren’t going to live the lifestyle.
In the room around them were long draping tapestries with the tree of life and several different mandalas had been embroidered on the bright purple and yellow fabrics with gold thread.
The tables were low to the ground, and there were bunches of fresh flowers all the way down the row, so a floral scent mixed with the constantly-burning incense.
Katie waited as the plates were passed around the table. The water goblets were in the center. The water pitcher had fresh fruit swirling around the bottom, which made Katie think of wine and summer. She thanked the girl next to her with a fake smile and set her plate down in front of herself.
Her stomach rumbled as she stared down at the pile of kale, scoop of quinoa, and mound of root vegetables. She was starving, but the food in front of her still didn’t look appetizing. She glanced at Stephanie, who shrugged, picked up her fork, and pushed the food around.
