by Michael Todd
He dialed Powell, who answered on the first ring. “LT, did you find them? Are you taking care of the Leviathan?”
The lieutenant looked out the window again at the affected men, who were getting closer. “We have a situation. We have found the team, but they seem to be possessed in some way. Bright purple eyes, and acting like motherfucking zombies. They don’t have any weapons or packs, and we can’t get their attention.”
Powell let out a long, deep breath and stayed quiet for several seconds. “Dammit. I shouldn’t have sent them in there like that. They were supposed to make it out. Look, we’ve got to clean house. We are dealing with a threat level that is off the charts here.”
The lieutenant’s mouth fell open. “Sir, are you suggesting—”
“Trust me, it pains me to say this, but you need to terminate them. Try to make it humane, but we can’t take any chances. This war is brutal, LT, but I need to know I can count on you to execute orders from the heads of state,” Powell said, standing and pacing in his office.
The lieutenant frowned and nodded. “Yes, you can trust me. We’ve got this. I’ll report back in thirty minutes with an update on the Leviathan.”
They hung up and the lieutenant reached over, switching the blade toggle so the helicopter would turn off, then got out and called for his men. The other team was steadily approaching, so he needed to make them understand. “Listen, I have orders that I know are brutal. It’s a very good way for us to judge how you handle the really serious shit. The team is gone. They are already gone, and they pose a significant threat to all of mankind, so…we are to take them down. If there is anyone who cannot perform this task, I understand, and you will not be penalized.”
All of the guys looked at each other and took position with their guns. The lieutenant couldn’t have been prouder of them than at that moment. He needed to be brave too, so he turned around and rolled his neck, staring at the lieutenant of the other team—someone he had played cards with six months or so before.
He pulled his gun around and up to his shoulder, sighted it, and cringed as the x moved over their faces. When everyone was ready, he cleared his throat. “Open fire!”
Not a single bullet was fired. Every single one of them sat there, their fingers on the triggers, but their minds unable to wrap around what was happening. The lieutenant looked up, realizing that the other team was coming toward them fast. “If you’re going to do it, now is the time.”
The troops looked at each other and put their guns down in unison. They stood and rolled up their sleeves, ready to take the men by force. They just couldn’t kill their brothers. Unfortunately, the others didn’t have that thought, or any thoughts at all. They had wasted so much time that the Legion was upon them. As they attempted to grab the soldiers, they looked into their sparkling eyes. They all slowed, and the first team began pulling the second to the ground and pinning them down.
The chopper pilot stared fearfully out the window, watching the entire team be taken down. Suddenly his eyes bulged, and he pushed the buttons and started the chopper again. The first team moved to the sides, parting as a purple mist flowed between them. Shuffling from the back was the mummy. He moved from soldier to soldier, whispering to each and watching as their bodies stopped struggling and their eyes shimmered to the new color. As they assimilated, they rose to their feet, the life force drained from their sparkling purple eyes.
The Legion had grown.
Katie and Pandora stepped through the portal, which closed quickly behind them. Of late, they had usually just walked straight through, not even noticing the different worlds, but on that one, there was no way they couldn’t at least take a quick glance around. It was a peaceful world, quiet and beautiful. There were no huge cities jutting from the landscape or loud planes flying overhead. All around them, things shimmered and sparkled in their star’s light.
There were diamond trees, crystal rivers, and flower buds that looked like they had been created from flawless rubies, emeralds, and sapphires.
“Wow,” Katie whispered. “This is like a woman’s dream come true. One of those flowers would make you rich for life.”
Pandora crossed her arms, pouting. Katie frowned. “What? Why are you upset?’
Pandora shrugged, twisting her top half around. “Because it makes me think about my favorite dimension. The city was perfect, the sky was perfect, there was no smog or trash, and everyone there was butt-ass naked and fine as hell.”
Katie rolled her eyes. “Yeah, I remember. But why are you upset? I thought you could get there anytime you want.”
Pandora sighed. “I can, but I’ll never go back. I went there and met an amazing man. He wanted to take me home and pleasure me, and then it all went to hell. He said the most egregious thing I have ever heard.”
Katie looked at her with concern. “What? Oh, my God. Did he say it to you?”
Pandora wiped a tear from her eye and leaned in to whisper, “He didn’t know what a donut was.”
Katie just blinked at Pandora as she threw her arm up to her forehead and cried. “I can’t bear to ever go back there. It hurts too much. Just too much. But I figure maybe the old adage is true. If you love something, let it go.”
Katie wanted to pick on her and tell her how dramatic she was being, but oddly, she actually looked terribly upset, so Katie decided to leave her alone. “You remember that dimension we went to that was like, just white? Everything was white, and there were no discernable shapes? That one was absolutely terrible. I don’t ever want to go back there. But the one where everything was chocolate? That one was pretty sweet, pun totally intended.”
Pandora put her arm down and sniffled. “I didn’t like the white one either. That was fucking freaky. And the chocolate one was amazing. Personally, there was one that had, like, nothing but hot firefighters in it. That’s the vacation I would like to take. Whoop, sexy men!”
Katie pointed at Pandora. “Oh, man. Remember when we walked into Juntto’s dimension? All the massive frost giants. It was wild.”
Pandora shivered. “I never want to go back to that one. We would get squashed or eaten in a heartbeat.”
Katie wrinkled her nose. “Yeah, that wouldn’t have turned out well. But there is a good side to it. We are learning how to choose which dimensions we travel to, at least when we concentrate and are on the same wavelength.”
Pandora waved her hand, opening another portal. “Just don’t think about the naked freaks.”
They stepped through the second portal into New York. Pandora was still grumpy. They were about a block away from the condo building, so they picked the pace up to a jog. When they got there, Detective Schultz and Detective Travers were standing out front with lost looks on their faces.
Katie poked Schultz in the shoulder. “Uh, Earth to Schultz. You in there?”
He shook his head and looked at Katie, elbowing Travers. “Sorry. We are here. We just got entranced by the scene out there. I don’t know what to do.”
Katie wasn’t really sure what they were talking about. “What is it?”
Travers pointed behind her. Slowly she turned around to find a completely different scene than she was used to. There were no protestors present that day, but even odder, everyone was out in the streets. Not the normal New York City foot traffic, but they were out there, scared and wandering around. The cars were stopped, and everyone just kind of stayed there comforting each other. Some of them would periodically point up at the condos, but Katie looked up and didn’t see a thing.
Katie turned right and left, looked up and down. “What are they looking at, and why are they wandering around in the street?”
Travers shrugged. “The only explanation I have is that the city has gone mad. Just absolutely insane.”
Schultz nodded. “Yep. We are being controlled by witches or something.”
Pandora rolled her eyes. “Come on, witches aren’t real. Do you believe everything you see on television?”
Schultz and Travers l
ooked at her. “You do realize that you are an angel or ex-demon or whatever, right?”
Pandora snickered. “Oh, yeah.”
Katie put her hands on her hips. “The condo is under attack, but by what, I have no idea.”
Pandora pointed as the last sliver of the sun dipped behind the buildings. “And there’s no better time to figure that shit out than in the fucking dark.”
8
Katie and Pandora both took deep breaths and reached up, clapping their hands. A flash of light blew down from the sky and outward, radiating through the streets. Their armor snapped into place, Pandora grunting, “I think I gained some weight.”
Katie chuckled. “Come on, Porky Pig, let’s take care of this and then run you with a donut dangling in front of your nose.”
Pandora looked at her sword. “Now, that is a way to get a girl running, for sure.”
Katie gripped her sword as she crept toward the door and opened it. She slid to the side, and Pandora went in first. She charged forward, her sword up, yelling her Pandora battle cry: “Slllluuuut Girlll!”
When she got to the center of the lobby, she stopped, turning with her sword still raised. Katie lifted an eyebrow as she sauntered in behind her, glancing around in case Pandora missed anything in her hasty entrance. “That was anti-climactic.”
Pandora looked over her shoulder. “I know, right? Sheesh, throw me a bone here, whatever you are causing this chaos.”
She dropped her sword to her side and tilted her head straight back, staring at the giant chandelier. “Well, the lights are working.”
Katie walked over to the elevator and pressed the button. It dinged, and doors slid open. “The elevators are working.”
Pandora walked back over to the front desk and went behind it. “None of the security alarms are going off. What in almighty hell is going on here?”
Katie shrugged. “Maybe whatever it was ducked out.”
Just then something rattled. Katie raised her sword and Pandora crouched, narrowing her eyes at the janitors’ closet to Katie’s right. There was more rattling. Pandora hurried over next to her, and they held their swords at eye level as Pandora slowly reached for the door handle. As the tips of her fingers touched the metal, the door flew open. Pandora screamed, raising her sword and jumping back. Katie screamed as well, raising her sword to the left over her shoulder. And the inhabitant of the closet screamed, holding a dustpan in front of his face and crouching.
“You sick sonofabitch, why are you doing this to our condo!” Pandora yelled, stepping forward to strike.
Katie lowered her sword and put her hand out. “Whoa, whoa, whoa, Zorro. Calm down. I don’t think Harry the Bellhop is the reason we have some strange shit going on.”
Pandora, breathing heavily, focused, pushing the dustpan to the side. Sure enough, it was Harry, his glasses halfway down his nose and fear on his face. Pandora let out a deep breath and sheathed her sword. She grabbed Harry by the back of the neck and pulled him toward the door. “Didn’t you know that there is something going on in here? Wait the fuck outside.”
She tossed him out and closed the door, locking it behind her. Katie stood there pressing her lips together, trying not to laugh. Pandora pointed behind her. “Did you see that? Harry almost got his ass angel-murdered.”
Katie laughed, her eyes shifting to the glass behind Pandora. In the reflection, she could see a silvery object jerkily floating up. Pandora looked over her shoulder and narrowed her eyes. “Do you see that, or am I just on an adrenaline high right now?”
Katie shook her head and whirled around, seeing another rise up from the floor and gingerly make its way upward and through the floor. “What is that?”
Pandora’s lip twitched, and she slapped her shield on her back. “That is a ghost.”
Katie turned to her. “A ghost?”
Pandora sniffed and nodded as another floated up and disappeared into the ceiling. “Yeah. I wonder where they are going.”
Katie and Pandora turned and pushed through into the emergency stairwell, making their way up one flight. When they exited onto the first floor, they stopped in their tracks. “Holy shit, that’s a lot of dead souls.”
Pandora was baffled by it. “That’s really wild. They are, like, congregating, and then…”
Katie lifted her chin, looking up at the ceiling. “Continuing up, up, up. Man, I mean, I knew there were ghosts, I saw them with Damian forever ago during an exorcism, but this is wild. I’ve never seen so many in one place before.”
Pandora jumped slightly as one floated past her before vanishing into the ceiling. Katie blinked at her and Pandora put her hands up, flat palms facing the ceiling. “What? Being the queen of the damned means I can’t be freaked out by anything? They are tortured and sometimes very dangerous, and they usually look like they did when they died. So, girl who died in her sleep? Sad and pretty. Woman who is forty and died in a vicious car wreck is what nightmares are made of.”
Katie puckered her lips, walking forward and then turning back around and putting her arms out. “I guess they really want to see the penthouse.”
Pandora snorted. “Or your place.”
They chuckled and then stopped, staring at each other in silence. Katie abruptly turned and took off for the elevator. “Oh, shit.”
Sure enough, by the time they got to Katie’s condo and went in, the place was full of ghosts. Katie and Pandora walked around with wide eyes, staring at all of them. There were leisurely ghosts hanging out in the kitchen, drinking ghost coffee and smoking ghost cigarettes. There were some lounging in the living room and pawing with their dead hands through Katie’s books. And then the special one—the one sitting on the toilet with the door open, twiddling his thumbs and glancing around.
Katie winced and shut the bathroom door. Pandora looked around, nodding. “Okay. Okay, I see. So, I guess we’re going to need a bigger place.”
Soft whimpering caught Katie’s attention, and she walked back to her bedroom to find a sweet and beautiful blonde sitting on the edge of her bed, looking out the window. Every few moments she shed a tear, and then caught herself. Katie stood in front of her, watching.
The girl slowly looked up and floated back in fear. Katie shook her head. “No, no, please. I’m not going to hurt you.”
The girl tilted her head and floated closer, gazing at her curiously. Katie smiled. “Why are you here?”
The ghost sniffled and floated over to the glass wall. “I was looking for a safe place. I tried to live in my old apartment downtown, but I just scared everyone. I didn’t mean to. I am not trying to haunt people, I swear. But of course, since I scared them, they then scared me, and it was a vicious cycle. So I came here. We’ve all heard of the angels of Central Park.”
Katie smirked, now knowing what the ghosts of the world referred to Katie and Pandora as. Another ghost floated in, wearing clothes that looked to be from the early 1800s. He grabbed his hat and lifted it, nodding to the girl ghost. She curtsied and looked at Katie. She glanced around and then made a quick bow. “How about you? Why are you here?”
The gentleman stopped, one hand in the pocket on his vest. “My home was knocked down, so I had to find a safe place to come. Preferably quiet and not too crazy, so of course I came to the angels of Central Park.”
Katie nodded and walked into the living room. She looked to her right as she entered, finding the ghost of a woman holding a ghost baby. Katie knelt and gave her a kind smile. “And why are you here?”
As the woman looked down and back up, Katie noticed the bloody scar across her ghost throat. She glanced down at the baby, finding the same. “My husband did this to us, and we ran. I had been staying at the shelter, but I was asked to leave by a priest and I had nowhere to go, so we came to the angels of Central Park. We were told that this was a safe place.”
Ghost after ghost, everyone had the same answer. They were wayward, cast out, or scared in some way, and had been told by someone that this home was a safe place for
them. And while Katie fully welcomed them, she knew she couldn’t live with hundreds of ghosts coming in and out through the floor.
Pandora walked up next to her and rolled her shoulders. “At least it’s for a good reason, although it really upset the balance for the human beings. This is why they were all off-kilter: so much energy flowing to one place.”
Katie rubbed her arms. “We need to help them.”
Pandora smiled. “Then let’s get our angel power on.”
Pandora offered her arm, and Katie wrapped hers around it. They both closed their eyes, breathing in through the nose and out through the mouth in harmony. The energy began to build inside of them, and they could hear the whispers of all the lost souls fluttering through the air. When the energy had built, they kept their arms up and relaxed before releasing it, focusing hard on what they wanted to accomplish. The light flew wildly through the apartment, twisting and turning the corners. Katie’s and Pandora’s bodies shook slightly, and then the light dissipated.
When they opened their eyes, they were stunned. All of the ghosts were gone, even the one taking a dump. Everything was quiet and peaceful, and the massive amount of energy they had detected when they came into the condo had dissipated. Someone began to clap behind them.
Pandora and Katie jumped and clung to each other. Slowly they turned around, and Pandora gritted her teeth as her eyes fell on Gabriel in his beautiful robes. “You are such an ass!”
Gabriel ignored the comment. “I wanted to come down and commend you on helping the ghosts. Also, just a friendly reminder—a repeat of advice. A friend of your friend can be an enemy.”
Pandora threw her hand up, grumpily. “Fuck you, okay? Fuck you.”
Gabriel tilted his head to the side with a smirk. “Your strength is your weakness.”
“What the fuck does that even mean? We are back into riddle mode because you are bored and want something to do?” She lunged forward to grab him, but he moved too quickly for her, something she had never noticed about him. “You got super-speed now? Trying to show off for the ladies?”
