by Michael Todd
Okay, okay! Katie put up her hands. Just asking. I mean, I don’t mind. Women pay thousands of dollars for treatments to stop hair growth. I got mine for the small price of sharing my body with a demon.
See? Pandora retorted. Always look on the bright side of life.
Katie laughed and finished up, stepping out and drying herself off.
She pulled on some sweatpants and a tank top and brushed her wet hair before throwing it into a messy bun. She wandered out to the kitchen and made her special sugary popcorn, this time in orange, then grabbed a bottle of water and headed to the family room. Eric, Derek, Stephanie, and Calvin were already there, waiting to turn on the new hundred and ten-inch flat screen television Korbin had surprised the group with. Derek had taken the time to hook up some badass speakers and wired them around the room to create almost a movie theatre setting, only with a comfortable couch and big comfy armchairs.
“All right, crew, are we ready?” Derek asked, clicking on the television and looking at everyone.
Calvin pointed to the screen. “Make it so, Number One,” he intoned.
They all sat back as the soaps began, humming along to the intro. As they watched they cracked jokes, their laughter a familiar and warm sound in the space.
Katie was starting to think she liked the time with her team more than she liked the soaps themselves. Of course, Pandora would argue that any day of the week. Just as the second scene came on her phone buzzed in her pocket. Katie pulled it out and smiled at Ella’s name on the screen.
Dude, are you watching the soap? Ella texted.
Yeah, we are all here watching, Katie replied.
Holy shit, did you see what Eddie did to Veronika?
Stop! Stop right there, Katie texted. NO SPOILERS! We are just now watching it!
Okay, okay, Ella texted. I’m rewinding so I can watch with you.
She stared at the screen as Eddie, one of the main characters, turned to Veronika and smiled, holding a knife behind his back. Everyone slid to the edges of their seats as they waited to see what would happen. As Eddie brushed his hand across Veronika’s sweet pink cheek, he jabbed the knife into her stomach. Tears fell from Veronika’s eyes as she looked longingly at Eddie.
“I…just…wanted…to love you,” Veronika sputtered.
HOLY SHIT! Katie texted to Ella. He stabbed the bitch!
I KNOW!! Ella texted back. Like, holy shit is right. That bitch was crazy though, all “oh but I love you, Eddie.” Please! I would have kicked his ass.
Slow down, Katie texted back, laughing. But you’re right, he deserves an ass-kicking. And he is fucking crying! Why is he crying?
Right?! If you wanted to keep her, you shouldn’t have stabbed her, Ella replied with an angry-face emoji.
Boys are dumb, Katie wrote back.
That they are, Ella responded.
The story continued, and everyone waited with bated breath as Veronika was carried, almost dead, into the void. The show ended there, but they had several more episodes to go. Derek shook his head and put his hands in the air.
“Ten bucks says she comes back to life as some wild and crazy bitch and slaughters everyone,” Derek offered.
“No way.” Stephanie snorted. “That bitch is going to be stupid and fix Eddie’s problems and come back to him like, ‘Oh, I understand that the aliens wanted you to kill me. It’s okay, I forgive you.’ Bitch, please! He stabbed your ass.”
“Fucking white people,” Calvin replied shaking his head. “The Queen Bitch would have whupped his ass and sent him back to the aliens with his balls around his damn neck. Then she would have taken his Mercedes and lived a nice comfortable life in the hills.”
Katie laughed as the next episode started. Stephanie shushed everyone, and Eric plopped down on one side of the couch, then moved in for a closer view. He snatched some orange popcorn from the bowl and smiled at Katie.
“Be careful with that.” Stephanie chuckled. “That demon is likely to snatch your hand right off your arm.”
Damned right, Pandora grumbled.
A flash of light sparked, sending energy surging across the small Arizona town. Moloch growled as he swung open the cast iron gate to hell and stepped out into the moonlight.
He looked down at the dusty town below, grimacing at the thought of being there any longer than he had to. Humans were ignorant. They loved the dusty hot wasteland of the West, but hated the idea of the dusty wastelands of hell. At least in hell he could torture whoever he wanted. Here he had to keep a low profile until it was time.
Moloch was there to talk to the survivalist group, to continue his plan to help T’Chezz take over Earth. He had gone through its members, picking out six men who would fit the bill for his team. The rest would be servants, making sure things went as planned and sacrificing themselves to the bigger picture if necessary.
The men he chose were all strong, stout humans, already physically capable and open to allowing their demon to take control.
All they were waiting on were the actual demons.
Moloch had taken care to choose demons who would create maximum havoc, provide the highest possibility of success, and didn’t take shit from anyone. They had volunteered—under strenuous pressure from Moloch—and had traveled inside him to Earth.
They would meet their new capsules very soon, and when they did training would commence. Moloch opened the door to the house where the cult lived, watching as everyone stood at attention. The six men nodded and followed Moloch back to the spell room. Lit candles surrounded the space, casting flickering ominous shadows against the walls.
“I have brought you your demons,” Moloch growled.
The men lined up and stood straight with their hands clasped in front of them. Moloch approached each, breathing the soul of the chosen demon into the human body. The newly infected’s head would tilt back and drop forward as the demon situated itself inside. Once all had received their demon, the six men looked at Moloch. Their eyes glowed bright red as their muscles twitched and strengthened. The demons were already modifying their humans, making them as strong as they could for the moment.
Demons thought of the human body as armor. The longer it took to get through that armor, the longer the demon stayed on Earth.
“You are now holding the keys to all of our futures,” Moloch told them. “Your sacrifices will not go unnoticed, and when the task is done you will be rewarded for your valor.”
Even as Moloch spoke of rewards, he knew that he would dispose of these humans when he was done with them, keeping their souls for the fireplace in his office.
They were nothing to him, but he knew how the human mind worked. To get them to cooperate, he had to stroke their egos.
He was capable of controlling men better than women, since females were more grounded in their own thoughts. That was why he used the women as watchers, but turned these six strong men into demon beings.
Moloch paced in front of the men. “These so-called Damned have been exterminating our kind for far too long. They have grown stronger and smarter, and have learned to manipulate demons for personal gain. This is not only defiant, but disrespectful to our Master. We will no longer stand by and allow our brothers and sisters to be sacrificed for man’s greed. If they refuse to share we will take it all, and we will leave no man standing!”
The six men let out a battle cry and shook their heads, but the others cowered in the back, wondering if they had made a mistake. Moloch seemed stronger and more powerful than before; his stature dwarfed the newly possessed.
Moloch sneered at the humans cowering in the corner.
“Look at them,” Moloch demanded, pointing at a girl who had sunken down and was crying. “They are weak! They are letting their fear rule them, but we embrace our fear and allow it to give us even more power. It is time these Damned know what it is to fight those who freely accept the gift of the Enlightened.”
Moloch clapped his large hands together loudly. “Demons! Come forth.”
&nbs
p; The human bodies moved and shifted and the demons’ apparitions flickered and shimmered in the faces of the six men. They hissed and growled to show reverence to their leader. They were ready—just as ready as the humans they had overtaken—to set forth on and accomplish their missions. They wanted a place in Moloch’s favor just as Moloch wanted one with Lucifer, and they were ready to do whatever they could to make that happen.
“Demons,” Moloch growled, “enhance your hosts. Make them as strong as they can handle, but allow the humans to fight for themselves. You are training them and boosting their powers; boosting their strengths, but do not completely take over their bodies. We need them to be like the Killers, walking unnoticed among the humans until trouble arises. But this time, we are the trouble. I expect you to be strong; there is no room for leniency here. If you are not, I promise you I will remember your lack of diligence and you too will become pretty fixtures on my walls, bound to hell for an eternity of torture.”
The demons all nodded and retreated back into their human bodies. The humans raised their heads once again, their eyes shining brighter than before. Their bodies were tense, and they looked ready for a fight. Moloch smiled and ran his eyes over the group.
His chuckles reverberated off the walls. “Be calm, my Enlightened, I will provide you with an opportunity to demonstrate your prowess soon.”
Korbin poked his head into the training center, but no one was in there. He hadn’t anticipated a crowd that late in the evening, but he hadn’t seen anyone in hours. When he went outside he noticed Katie’s car, which was covered in sand, parked in the garage, but everything else was just as it had been the last time he saw it.
“Dammit.” He scratched his head in frustration. His team was there somewhere; he just had to find the fools.
Then it hit him: the hundred and ten-inch television had been delivered and Derek had hooked it up earlier that day. They were all in the family room.
He made his way through the tunnels to the family room and smiled when he stepped inside, seeing everyone gathered on the couches and chairs. As he looked at the screen though, his nose crinkled; he was pretty sure the team was watching a soap opera. He hadn’t expected Rambo, but this was more than a surprise.
Slowly he crept forward and perched on the arm of the large L-shaped couch that had been delivered, but nobody really noticed he was there. He tilted his head to watch as a young woman with blood on her dress cried and talked to very badly-portrayed aliens.
“Do you go visit aliens with diamonds on your wrist?” Korbin asked.
“Shhh!” the group hissed in unison.
Stephanie scooted down the couch and tapped the seat next to her, then motioned with her head for him to sit when he didn’t move. He contemplated making a run for it, but he had made a tactical error by coming farther into the room than he should have.
“Sit,” she whispered. “I’ll help you with your inner female and let you know what you missed in the story, because—let’s face it—you have far too much testosterone.”
“Yeahhhh, boy.” Eric laughed as he glanced at Korbin. “The boss is getting involved in this one. His man-card is waving in the wind.”
Derek shrugged. “I’d buckle if a pretty girl asked me to sit next to her.”
Stephanie smiled and mouthed, “Thank you.” Korbin sighed and plopped down in the seat, raising his middle fingers in the air as everyone cheered and whistled.
He figured that if this was what the team did together, he might as well get in on the action—though it seemed Damian had been smart and stayed as far away as possible.
Sitting next to Stephanie wasn’t too bad of a deal either. He could feel the attraction between them when their thighs touched.
“So, this is Veronika,” Stephanie explained. “The aliens kidnapped her boyfriend’s son and told him that to get him back he had to kill Veronika, so he stabbed her. Well, Tubu, one of the good aliens showed up just in time and took her through the wormhole and saved her life. Because she is a shmuck she is trying to get the little boy back so she can go back to Eddie and be a family again.”
“He stabbed her?” Korbin asked, confused.
“Bitches be cray cray!” Calvin shook his head.
Chapter 16
General Brushwood stood in his office bathroom with his jacket and shirt hung on the back of the door.
His white tee was as perfectly pressed as the rest of his uniform, and he had a white towel draped around his neck.
His face was covered in shaving cream and he slowly pulled a razor over his skin, trimming his five o’ clock shadow. He had been so busy that shaving had taken a back seat, and as an officer in command he needed to look his best at all times—even if he was in the trenches battling it out with the rest of them.
When he had accepted the position with the organization he knew it would be a challenge, but he hadn’t thought it would be so hands-on. So much for staying in and not retiring.
This assignment won’t be so bad. I’ll rest here and make a difference. He swished his razor in the water and took off another couple of rows of whiskers. What a cockup.
Tchaikovsky was playing on the radio and he hummed along, trying to take himself to a calmer, more relaxed place. Shaving was one of those things that helped him relax; “me time,” as his late wife used to call it. Just as he was really getting into it, a voice spoke his name from inside the office.
“General Brushwood?” Colonel Jehovivich called when she didn’t see him.
The general sighed and put down his razor, poking his head out of the open bathroom door with shaving cream still on his face. “This better be good, Colonel.”
“There you are, sir. Your secretary was at lunch and I heard the music, so I assumed you were in here and I didn’t need to sound the alarm.”
“I’m pretty sure that I am more than secure in here, Colonel.” The general ducked back into the bathroom to finish shaving. “What is so important that you have to come all the way down from your office to tell me? I have very little alone-time anymore—which is something I would like to eventually remedy—so this better be of the utmost importance. If it isn’t, come back later.”
“I do apologize for interrupting your private time,” she told him. “We got a call I thought you would like to take.”
“Is it the President?” he asked.
“No, sir.” She smiled.
“Is it God?”
“No, not God, sir.” She chuckled.
“Then I don’t see the relevance,” he replied, leaning out and staring at her.
“Well, you had told me that if either of the mercs from the Virginia operation ever called to make sure that you were notified,” she told him.
The general took the towel from around his neck and wiped the remaining shaving cream from his neck and earlobes. He rinsed his face with warm water, toweled it dry, and grabbed his shirt from the door. As he pulled it over his shoulders he stepped into the office.
“Well, what did they say?” he asked.
“They…well, she…is on line six, sir,” the colonel replied. “She insisted that she speak to you and only you. She said it would be a top-secret conversation.”
“Really,” he grumbled, eyeing the colonel.
He walked over to his desk and looked down at the phone, where line six was flashing. He finished buttoning his shirt and put his tie on before sitting down and getting comfortable. He looked at the colonel and motioned for her to shut the door. She scampered across and closed it, slowly making her way back and sitting down in front of him.
He punched the button and put the phone on speaker. “This is General Brushwood.”
“General, I don’t know if you remember me, but this is Katie from the Las Vegas mercenary team Korbin’s Killers,” she began. “My colleague and I helped out with the Virginia operations.”
“Yes, Katie, how are you?” he asked in a pleasant enough voice, or at least he thought it was.
“I’m well,” she replie
d. “I don’t want to take a ton of your time. I know you are a busy man, but I have a new product that I want to share with you. I think you will really find it useful.”
“All right,” he responded. “Where would you like to meet?”
“Well, it needs to be tested. I’d like you to be there for the testing, but I need an operation with demons. Do you have anything going on?”
“I’ve always got ops with demons.” He chuckled. “Right now Louisiana seems to be the hot spot. We’ve had several incursions in a very short amount of time; a couple of days. I haven’t been out there yet, since I just got back from Texas where there was a high-casualty event.”
“I heard about that,” Katie replied. “I’m sorry for the losses.”
“Thank you. As far as the test, let’s make it Louisiana.”
“Good,” Katie agreed sternly. “I’ll meet you in New Orleans.”
Before he could say a word, she hung up. He looked at the phone and lifted his eyebrows, punching the button to turn off the speaker. He shook his head and sighed as he looked at the colonel.
“I guess we are headed to New Orleans,” he told her. “I really need to have a talk with Korbin on polite phone manners. These mercs are like street urchins.”
“They do have demons in them, sir,” the colonel pointed out.
“Yes,” he agreed, rubbing his chin. “They do. Which means we always have to be on guard.”
Katie waited in the chapel’s doorway as Damian finished up his evening prayers. The place looked amazing, even with his neon cross. He had festooned the walls with deep red draperies, set up tables with candles all over, and had the old pews redone by some of Stephanie’s girls. There was even a section at the front where pillows had been placed on the floor for lounging and relaxing.
It looked like a trendy coffee shop rather than a chapel, but it fit Damian’s personality perfectly. He didn’t play by the rules. He was his own person and believed that his God loved him for that.
