by Michael Todd
Katie strolled down the block, heading for a busy street to hail a cab. She caught a glimpse of the clouds passing overhead, illuminated by the soft moon-glow. She hadn’t ever just been in LA before. All her other trips here had been filled with explosions, giant demons in cemeteries, and rescuing her teammates. Things like that definitely had a way of taking the magic out of a vacation, that was for sure.
Katie tugged on her dress, frustrated that she had been forced to take to the streets to chase down a demon wearing the four-hundred-dollar dress and her even more expensive shoes. They were tainted at that point though, forever the drugged-out barfly outfit.
They had played her, and that in itself pissed her off. She should have been able to just flirt with a guy without him getting all needle-happy with her neck.
It was obvious that the two guys had been sent there by Moloch—and whoever the demon was that shut Pandora up in a heartbeat. She could have been wearing a clown costume and they still would have drugged her and put her in the back of a van.
Katie hadn’t known she could be incapacitated by something like that. She had a tendency to think of her body as indestructible and invulnerable, but tonight was a good reminder that she was still human, even with Pandora able to take over. Her body was just as fragile as it had always been.
Sirens behind her let her know that the Los Angeles Paranormal Defense Force had arrived to collect the body. She was looking forward to getting back to the hotel and taking a shower—if her ankles hung on long enough to let her get back there. She hadn’t brought any extra clothes to the bar and she couldn’t get out of that dress soon enough. She wanted to be comfortable, especially if Moloch sent more goons after her.
She couldn’t really kick a demon’s ass in a tight black mini, not without showing everyone the goods.
True, Pandora purred. But they are very good goods.
4
Katie took her heels off to walk the last block to the hotel, hooking her fingers through the straps and let them dangle loosely from her hand as she stepped carefully along the sidewalk.
The cool breeze washed over her, calming her nerves. She had only been kidnapped one other time, and that had turned her life completely upside down. She could still remember how helpless she’d felt strapped to that pole in the abandoned parking garage when the cult had summoned Pandora.
Everything after that had been a whirlwind of training, building her relationship with her literal demon, learning to love her team, and then losing so many of them. She had gone past acceptance. She liked her life, and she couldn’t really imagine going back into the “real world.” Then again, if she did somehow find herself back on the other side of this she wouldn’t remember anything that had happened to her anyway.
She snickered at the thought of trying to explain her much-improved cleavage to herself.
She slowed down as she approached the hotel and a small attached boutique with its lights still on came into view. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw the yoga pants and tank tops hanging on the racks inside and she headed over, thankful to get out of that dress.
The doorman opened the door for her, politely not noticing her bare feet and messed-up hair. She went into the boutique and grabbed a pair of pants, a tank top, and some flip-flops and headed to the dressing room.
The attendant was sweet but a little skittish, which made Katie kind of feel like Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman trying to buy clothes on Rodeo Drive.
When Katie caught sight of her reflection in the changing-room mirror she understood why the attendant was so nervous. Her heavy eyeliner had smeared under her eyes and her hair was matted to one side, adding to the distressed panda look—which she was so not rocking.
She rummaged in her bag for a tissue to wipe as much of the makeup off as she could and tied her hair back in a knot at the base of her neck. She took the tags off the clothes and changed into them quickly, rolling up her ruined heels inside her dress when she was done.
She left the changing room and headed over to the register, and the attendant smiled when Katie passed her the tags. She ran them through the computer and took Katie’s cash. Thankfully she hadn’t lost the tiny pouch she had shoved into her bra with cash and her ID during her kidnapping.
Katie put the balled-up dress and shoes on the counter. “Do you think you could maybe...I don’t know…burn these for me?”
The woman chuckled, unperturbed by Katie’s request. “Of course. Long night?”
“It’s a rough crowd out there,” Katie replied awkwardly.
She took the receipt and left for the hotel, searching for her room key as she walked. Maybe she’d forgotten to take it. She sighed and went up to the check-in counter to wait for the receptionist.
Two young women dressed in head-to-toe black came in behind her, whispering excitedly to each other.
One of the girls giggled. “You ask her!”
“No, you ask her. You’re the one who heard the story. I mean, I have a hard time believing it, but I’ve heard stories about hotels being haunted before, so I guess it’s possible.”
“I think it’s true. All the ghost hunter sites say the fourteenth floor is haunted. I read reports of stuff moving around by itself and loud unexplainable noises. There was even a man who said he’d felt a presence.”
“How can I help you?” The receptionist grabbed Katie’s attention.
Katie slid her ID across the counter. “Hi, I lost my room key.”
The woman tapped at her computer for a few seconds. “Top floor luxury suite, right?”
“Yep.” Katie smiled, thinking about the tub in her suite and how good those jets were going to feel on her tired muscles.
“Not a problem. Let me just make you a new one.” The woman typed again, then reached under the counter and pulled out another keycard. “Are you enjoying your stay in LA?”
Katie chuckled. “Yeah, real wild ride out here. Roads are a little bumpy, but nothing too bad.”
“Yeah, we need some of these roads redone, but tell that to the ones with the money.” She laughed.
The receptionist slid the keycard into a white box. The woman waited until the light turned from yellow to green, then pulled it back out and handed it to Katie with a smile.
“Is there anything else we can do for you tonight?”
“No, thank you. Have a good night.”
Katie almost bumped into the two young women as she turned to leave. She wove around them, hiding her amusement as she listened in on them asking the receptionist about the fourteenth floor.
The woman leaned forward like she was telling the girls a secret and whispered, “This hotel was built on the site of another. Legend has it that a man was murdered on the fourteenth floor during construction. Nothing was ever confirmed, although guests have reported hearing strange noises up there. I personally have never heard a thing, but I don’t spend a lot of time up there.”
“Can we go check it out?”
“Not tonight, ladies. We have a full house tonight, and we can’t have you disturbing our guests. It’s almost three in the morning. You are welcome to go up during business hours if you don’t bother the guests.”
The young women looked disappointed, but they shrugged and left. The woman looked at Katie and smiled, shaking her head. It was obvious it wasn’t the first time she had been asked about the fourteenth floor. Katie smiled back and pressed the elevator button, watching as the numbers above the doors counted down. When the elevator reached the lobby, the doors slid open and Katie stepped to the side to let a couple pass.
They staggered drunkenly into the lobby and Katie wrinkled her nose as she reached toward the button for the top floor, still able to smell their whiskey breath in the air. She wanted so badly to ignore what she had just heard and get into her big soft bed after a nice hot bath, but she wouldn’t be the hunter she was if she did that. She sighed and lowered her hand, hitting the button for the fourteenth floor instead.
Her eyes rose to the cei
ling. “So much for my vacation.”
Calvin propped his feet up on the ottoman in the living area. “With Korbin gone, we are now the two longest-running hunters on the team. Of course, you have been the team’s priest for ages.”
Damian smiled and straightened his bowtie. “True, but you came in right after me and it wasn’t long after that Korbin chose you as his second. Now you are Katie’s second, which I thought was a wise decision on both your parts. I was a bit surprised when you passed up the opportunity to lead, though.”
“Ah.” Calvin waved the idea off. “When we exorcised Korbin and Stephanie—and by we, I mean Katie—it felt like the end of an era. I thought about everything I do as the number two, and everything that’s required of a number one, and I just couldn’t see myself dealing with the politics of it all. Katie had already done that, getting us allied with General Brushwood and everything, so I figured, why not stay where I am? I like it. It’s not like I can give out business cards or anything, and the pay is the same. Number one is less fighting and more talking.”
“Maybe.” Damian chuckled. “But I don’t see Katie sitting back on just about every call we get, even when we get the team back to seven people. Hell, she says she’s on vacation, but I bet you a thousand bucks she comes back with stories of the fights she got herself into.”
“I don’t doubt it.” Calvin shrugged. “That’s our Katie—she’s a wild one. But she has carried this team for a while now, and I don’t know what we would do without her.”
Damian leaned back on the couch and looked at the ceiling as he recalled when he first met Katie. “I tell you, when I first was able to truly feel the power of the demon inside her, I was pretty sure she wouldn’t make it long before the demon fully took over. I guess I was both right and wrong. She exceeded my expectations and Korbin’s by leaps and bounds. And Pandora… Well, what can you even say about her? We have a demon as a part of our family. Coming out like Katie did, telling us the truth, went a lot smoother than I thought it would.”
Calvin laughed and rubbed a hand over his face. “I still remember that scared little college kid who told me about how volleyball should be considered as a skill on her resume. Then when we tested her on the weapons I thought maybe she had lied about her background. Woman was a natural, and it’s been golden from there on out. Sometimes I wonder if she wasn’t chosen to take on Pandora for reasons we don’t know. She’s not like any other Damned I’ve ever met.”
Damian sighed. “I worry about her sometimes. She eats, breathes, and lives this lifestyle, with very few breaks.”
“Kind of like Korbin.” Calvin smiled. “I miss him, you know? He became an older brother to me over the years.”
“I miss him too, but hell, he is living the dream out there, enjoying his marriage to Stephanie with no memory of this life or the heartache and loss that comes with it. Just the two of them being normal people.” Damian’s eyes lost their focus. “It’s hard not to be envious.”
“It sure is,” Calvin agreed, taking a deep breath. “So, you want to grab some food and watch some television?”
“I wish I could, but I actually have to get going. I have to go into Vegas for Communion and a meeting with the Church. I haven’t had any big meetings with them since that church was ransacked by demons. I know they have some words for me.”
“You need backup this time? I kill demons for a living, so a few men of God don’t scare me.”
Damian smiled and stood up, pulling on his trench coat. “I’m better than I was before, and the church knows who has my back. They won’t do anything stupid.”
“All right,” Calvin replied. “You know how to get hold of me if you need any help. I’ll jet right out there and kick some church butt.”
Damian laughed. “I’m pretty sure your mother would die if she heard you say that.”
“She would beat me first and then die, and then come back to make me feel guilty about how I made her die.”
Damian grinned. “Sounds like a good woman.”
“Be safe out there,” Calvin waved to him.
“Will do.” Damian patted his jacket pocket. “Taking my demon-killing cross with me. You know, just in case.”
“Better safe than sorry, bro.”
Calvin sat back on the couch in silence for a moment after Damian left, thinking back to the old days when Katie was a newb and things were so much simpler than they had become.
The demons had made a move, and though Pandora was involved in it—if only because she was the wife of Lucifer and the sister of the now deceased T’Chezz—he trusted both of them with his life.
If it hadn’t been for Katie and Pandora, Calvin would have been dead long before this. In the cemetery facing that monster of a demon who took down a helicopter and half a dozen gang members in the space of a few minutes.
Calvin grabbed the remote, clicked on the television and scrolled through the DVR list, pausing on several new episodes of their favorite soap. He shrugged and pressed Play, then tossed the remote onto the couch beside him and put his arms up as the opening credits began to roll. He knew Pandora would be pissed, but it wasn’t like she couldn’t watch them later.
He thought about it for a moment and turned the tv off, shaking his head.
“Better safe than sorry, bro.”
Pandora was giving Katie a hard time. You couldn’t resist, could you? You couldn’t just press the button and go back to our room
It’s in my blood now. If I hear anything about ghosts or poltergeists, I can’t just walk away. I blame you for this, Pandora. I used to run in the opposite direction of this shit. Hell, I didn’t even watch semi-scary movies.
Man, sounds like getting possessed was the best thing for you, pussy.
How many times do I have to ask you not to use the P word?
Fine, how about “coward?” Is that better?
Not really, but I’ll take that over the other one.
I’m gonna break you of this one day. I really am.
Great, one day I’ll be a vulgar big-tittied bitch just like you. Just what I always hoped for in my life.
Damn straight!
The elevator slowed and came to a stop on the fourteenth floor. Katie stepped off the elevator and was immediately hit by a blast of cold air that chilled her to the bone. She rubbed her hands on her arms as she walked down the dimly-lit hallway.
The lights are dimmer here.
Pandora sighed. Because you were right in your assumption. There is a spirit here.
Katie quietly moved toward the end of the hall, looking to the right where the ice machine was. There was no one there, and the chill had disappeared.
She let out a deep slightly disappointed huff and turned to leave, but was stopped dead in her tracks by an apparition. Standing just a few inches from her face was a woman dressed in eighties-style clothing. Tears ran down her translucent cheeks.
The temperature dropped again, and the hair stood up on the back of Katie’s neck. She took a step back. “Hi?” Katie scrunched her nose, unsure what to do. “Are you trapped here?”
“Yes,” the woman whispered.
She looks like she’s full of drama.
Or sadness. The poor thing looks tortured.
“Why?” Katie asked the ghost.
“It seems like yesterday, but I know how much time has passed.” The ghost floated over to the window and looked outside. “I came home from a day of shopping early. My husband, he owned a business conglomerate. When I got to our house in Beverly Hills, I found him in my bed with another woman.”
The ghost tightened her jaw and closed her eyes. Katie just listened. This was not the kind of spirit she was used to dealing with. Usually, they had already tried to kill her at least twice by this point.
“I was angry and hurt, so I went over to the dresser and pulled out my husband’s gun. I was just going to scare her, make her leave…but I tripped and the gun went off, hitting my husband in the chest.”
Nice shot, Pandora
quipped.
“The woman just screamed and screamed. She wouldn’t… shut… up. I couldn’t take her noise anymore, so I aimed the gun at her and pulled the trigger twice, killing her too.”
“How did you end up here?” Katie asked in a kind voice.
“I didn’t know where else to go, and I stayed here often. I left the scene and brought the gun with me. I came up here, right to this window and I stared at the city. I knew I was going to get caught, but I couldn’t go to jail. Women like me don’t do well in jail.”
“So you killed yourself,” Katie concluded. “You shot yourself right there at that window?”
The ghost turned around and nodded, the gunshot wound in her translucent flesh now clearly visible. Tears streamed down her face and her cries echoed through the hallway. “I woke up later next to my body, and I have walked the corridors ever since. They never tell my story, since they don’t want people to know I died here. They make something up when someone asks.”
Katie took a deep breath and put her hand over the woman’s. She looked into the ghost’s sad eyes, knowing it was time for her to go.
“Well, now someone knows. Go on to the next life,” Katie commanded. “Stop hanging around here. You can be at peace now.”
The ghost looked at her for a moment, then inclined her head toward Katie and floated into the middle of the hall. A bright light surrounded her and she clasped her hands in front of her, and for just a brief moment Katie saw not a ghost but a real woman. She watched the woman vanish into thin air, and the cold in the air dissipated. Katie extended her senses again, this time feeling nothing.
No ghosts, no demons, nothing.
That was...good. Pandora sounded almost surprised.
What?
Commanding her to leave.
Thought you did that?
Nope. I had no power there. She could have flipped me the bird and there would have been nothing I could have done from in here. I deal with demons, not ghosts or spirits.
Katie called the elevator and rode it back up to her floor. When she got into the room she kicked off her flip-flops and climbed into the bed, letting out a deep groan as she pulled up the covers. The bed was softer even than the one in her room back on base, and it smelled like lavender and roses. She snuggled herself in and yawned loudly.
