Esther Benson
“YOU feel that shift in the air?” Schmitty said as we stood at the edge of the cul-de-sac.
Everything about this grouping of five homes said go away. Across the street blinds open in every other direction were closed to us. Schmitty was a Closer, he knew how to feel the signs and prepared us for battle. The past few days had the steadfast soldier harried.
My hand slid into Vincent’s. The touch was enough to keep me positive for the future. More Frozen were arriving. They had parked around the neighborhood as to not draw attention to this one cursed place. The home with the roof the princess had destroyed now sat with a tarp over the top to keep out the wetness even though the inside had nothing to save at this point. Circling the homes, Closers from around the world were all on heightened alert.
“It’s going to get ugly, isn’t it?” Vince asked.
“We’ve upset a member of the royal family, more than likely,” I said. “Did Kiriana make it home safe?”
“Yes,” Kiyoshi replied.
The ground trembled beneath us and we all stopped.
“They couldn’t all…” I began.
“It’s never happened, but…” another female Frozen continued my thought process.
“What couldn’t?” Vince asked.
“Normally the run is from several holes and people don’t notice. It’s when the demons escape from Hell,” Kiyoshi said as the asphalt in the center of the cul-de-sac bubbled up. “That’s not good.”
As the road rose, veins of liquid ran down the hump until the black asphalt cracked and burst forth in a way that made me fear the rapture. The ground looked as if it were an orange peel. Steam erupted from the opening as a claw-like hand emerged on one of the shards. Vince’s arm came in front of me, moving me behind him.
“You don’t know what’s going to come out of there,” I advised even though I kept my hands on his hips.
“Neither do you.”
“Yes…I do…this is what the bantlings are trying to change into.”
The first demon to fully emerge howled into the air while crackling sounded from the cold air hitting the warm. A scorching heat rushed over the air and we all turned away as it burned against our skin. When a swoosh sent a second wave I knew the princess had arrived. After the last time I never wanted to see her again, but Kiriana had insisted she not be harmed. To me it seemed reckless. The past week of untimed demon emergences proved me right.
With wings flapping she floated ten feet above the opening. Arrows and bullets from members of the Frozen were rendered useless with the wave of her hands. The weapons fell to the side as she stared down the members from our compound.
“Soldier Boy,” she called. “I see we’ve healed fully from the last encounter.”
“What can I say, old Gabe wanted me back in action.”
“Your ranks have grown? Where is my dear sweet cousin?”
Hands continued to pull up creatures in the hole, but they weren’t fully emerging. So much about this Closing would not be the way I’d been trained.
“She asks me to teach her how to permanently close a Hell’s Mouth and she doesn’t even show up for the grand finale…how rude.”
“This is a bit different,” Schmitty yelled.
A figure moved inside the home and I tapped Vince’s shoulder.
“In the house. If you want to save the women that’s your only hope.”
“Should I just knock on the door? Show my badge?” he grumbled.
“In a moment we’ll all be fighting. Make your way there.”
“What about you?”
I looked over at Schmitty and Kiyoshi still stalling the princess until Kiriana could bring Damarion. We had seven of the new arrivals setting up a perimeter around the cul-de-sac. No matter which way the bantlings ran they could be cut down.
“I’ve fought these creatures for the last forty years.”
“What am I going to find in there?”
“You should go with him,” Dilana advised. “We know the male who’s supposed to be the leader is in there. Who knows how many of the Deumos are in there too. He doesn’t know how to battle them and I’m sure he doesn’t have the weaponry.”
“Now he does.” Lars handed Vincent a gun that to the untrained eye seemed like a simple nine millimeter.
“You said bullets just slow them down?”
“These bullets tend to cut things in half.” Lars beamed with pride over his Other’s enhanced weapons.
“Right, so just shoot first and ask questions later?”
“Is there another option?” Dilana asked. I doubted she expected an answer.
“Hurry, they may still be alive,” I said as I unsheathed my claustranima.
Vince cupped my cheek and pulled me in for a kiss. The touch was warm and safe. He made me warm and safe. The world on the brink of a demon incursion melted away even as the winds picked up and howls filled the cold November air. In that moment only he and I existed and for that moment I knew love.
“I’m going to need your help. The moment you can break free, come find me.”
“I will,” I promised even though I feared my words were empty.
For the first time since I took my life I didn’t want to fight. I wanted to run. Run with Vince by my side. This was not good. His safety became a distraction as I watched him walk behind the other members of the Frozen still trying to determine their next action. Normally we’d be spread out around the town in groups of three or four trying to catch the run from multiple holes. Now we had all of Hell brought to one spot instead. Above us the clouds swirled and I wondered if we would be getting Heavenly help, but that was a pipedream.
When I looked back to see Vince’s progress he was gone. Panic set in right as the princess exploded with anger. Her wings expanded, sending feathers flying through the air. Unlike soft downy feathers of a bird, the feathers on her demonically mutated angel wings were sharp blades with actual trajectory. Only our compound truly understood their deadly capabilities and our reaction kept us from joining the first round of casualties.
“Is she coming?” Dilana yelled as we all lay spread out on the ground.
“As fast as they can,” Schmitty called back, and we scattered to the side of houses.
The creatures pulled themselves from the ground. Gray with horns and the faces of gargoyles standing over six feet tall they lumbered onto the plane. The regular members of the Frozen were to attack like they normally did. Going after those emerging while we stayed in case we saw the next coven that was to replace the one here.
My blade itched against my palm as I fought my natural instinct to run after the beasts. They were not my target, but as I saw members of the Frozen being swarmed I tried to take off, only to have Lars wrap his massive Viking hand around my arm.
“No, we have a goal that is bigger than this fight.”
“They are killing them.”
“It is a draw right now.”
A woman with a samurai blade jumped and spun nearby, slicing through the air and the torso of a bantling who was about to swipe at a man. He seemed nervous and unsure of himself. The run of hundreds of bantlings was unsettling to all involved. Including me.
The smell of sulfur permeated the air, burning my lungs. I covered my face with the front of my shirt and the cold went away as I saw the first Deumos appear. She stepped out of the hole as if she were entering a grand ballroom. Her hair was held back by a small binding right on her neck. Her trim body was covered by a red leather cat suit and a layer of armor. By her side was a blade I’d never seen a Deumos use on this plane. When she touched down on the ground she dropped to one knee and bowed her head to the princess. She stilled as she took in the woman. Her arms extended the same as her wings while her feet pointed down to the Earth. Lowering herself she tucked her black wings behind her and touched the head of the Deumos.
The Deumos’ head shot back as one of Dilana’s arrows pierced her neck. Lolling to the side her mouth stretched wide before her body dropped to the ground. Hell was breaking loose behind her, but the princess walked barefoot toward us. Each step could mean our death. I tried to keep my focus on the mouth, but we’d overstepped our contract. Killing a Deumos genuflecting to her future queen was probably not in the backroom deal Kiriana had constructed.
“Now,” the princess called, raising her hands, and demons flew from the hole like the trigger of a shotgun had been pulled.
There were hundreds of every shape and size. Still I tried to see the next Deumos. The one Dilana shot could only move her eyes and knew her death was eminent. What none of us knew was what would happen when the princess dropped her arms.
From the sky beings fell. Their bodies twisting just as soon as if they had been pushed from an airplane. Some figured out their situation fast enough to unfurl their own wings and save themselves the impact of a fall from Heaven.
Arms grabbed me from behind, pulling me out of the way as one who hadn’t been fast enough to process smashed into the frozen ground. I broke from the hold and ran to the angel’s side. He was beautiful with a face reserved for renaissance paintings. Deep purple blood dripped from his lip as he coughed.
“You will be okay,” I consoled him as I stroked his auburn hair, only to feel blood when I touched the back of his head. “Gabriel will heal you or one of the others.”
“Is this where he created light?” he gasped.
“Yes, you’ve fallen to Earth, but fear not, angel.”
His eyes fluttered and I stood to call for one of the angels in flight, only to see none stayed. They’d all returned and the princess trained her eyes on me.
“He’s spoken of you,” she said. “The Sunday school teacher.”
Throwing my arms back, I shrugged my jacket off and it fell to the ground. I tore my shirt off and stood in only my corset with my guns drawn.
“You know the saying about sparing the rod?” I shot until both my clips were empty. Not at the princess. No reason to waste the bullets.
Demons fell all around her and members of the Frozen dove to finish the job. Stabbing the fallen stuck in limbo off into the world of ash.
“The next rounds are for you.”
Pulling two more clips from my back pockets I reloaded as Lars covered me. It was then I noticed Vince behind me.
“What are you doing here?”
“I know you’re alive.”
“But they could be on the verge of death,” I said.
“And bringing them out here would save them? I can’t really call for the local ambulance.”
He had a point.
“Let me help you here, then we can try to save the women.”
“Hours later,” I pointed out, then looked around the havoc. “This will spread throughout the town. When it does we’ll get the women.”
“Spread? You can’t keep it contained?”
“This isn’t a house party.”
A bantling lunged at me and we somersaulted into the middle of the regular road. Only one of my guns was loaded, but I jabbed it in the demon’s side since I couldn’t reach my blade. His arm pressed against my neck as I choked, looking for breath. Pulling the trigger I discovered I’d loaded the other one. The one I couldn’t reach. Lack of oxygen caused the world to spin and blacken around the edges. I would be one of the fallen this time. Fallen among the angels…maybe…
The creature above me opened his jaw and all I saw was sharp teeth headed for my neck. Acid burned my face as it inched closer. A prayer came to me quickly, but it wasn’t for my salvation or the members of the Frozen still fighting to save us. Only one prayer came to me and it was for Vincent’s salvation. That he will live to see the light of another day as the sun set on this one. My cheek sizzled as acid hit my skin and I screamed out in pain with the last breath left in my lungs.
* * * *
Pivane
“This may be your only chance,” I said as I crawled into the storage space under the stairs in the basement.
Eliza stared blankly at me. Cowering in the corner, she didn’t respond.
“Eliza…” I placed my hands on her shoulders careful to not shake her. “Eliza, darling…” Terms of endearment worked on normals or so I’d been told. “Dr. Pound.”
Her gaze shifted to me and she registered my presence. She couldn’t be in shock. I hadn’t allowed her to be damaged.
“Your face.” Her breath caught as she lightly stroked my cheek.
“It’s nothing,” I assured her, removed her hands, and kissed them. “It’s already healing. Eliza, I need to get you out while she’s distracted.”
“Why?”
“So you can live. That’s why I kept you down here.”
“She’s going to kill me. Or you are. Who will it be?” Her voice reminded me of how a child would absently ask how clouds floated in the sky. “I think I’d rather have you. You’ll make it quick, right?”
“Eliza, I won’t let you be hurt.”
“Will I be gone from you?”
“Gone from me? You can go back to your life. Say you fell down the stairs or something, but you can return.”
“No.” This time her voice was firm and our eyes locked. “You think I can just go back to doing well-baby checks in a clinic after this?”
Was she wanting me to kill her? She stood and walked from the storage area to where the two other women were tied up. I expected her to demand their release or go to their aid. Instead she stopped in her tracks.
“What did you do with them?” she demanded.
“Not much.”
“What does that mean?” She mewed. “Not much.”
“They’re alive, aren’t they?” I snapped back. “I didn’t kill the precious women.”
Eliza shoved me hard and I fell back more from the shock than her actual strength. I tumbled against the reporter and ended up sitting on her.
“Don’t touch her.” Eliza pulled at my shirt, but didn’t have the strength.
Standing up, I backed her into the wall.
“They’re alive which means I didn’t fuck them yet.”
“Is that how you’re going to kill me? Fuck me to death?”
“If that’s what you want then I won’t let you live.” Pinning her arms above her head with my right hand, I used my knee to knock her knees apart. “I’ll pleasure you until I bring the pain. The pain I cause to weak human bodies. Your bones will crack as I thrust myself so deep inside your cunt you’ll taste my cum.”
“Don’t tease me. You could set me back three years. Already I might as well be dead if I can’t have you.” She stared me down. “Because no man will do.”
Clutching tight to her jaw with my left hand I took possession of her mouth. Her lips tasted of salt and salvation. I’d taken full claim of this woman. Eliza Pound was mine to do with as I pleased and if I didn’t fear killing her I’d let all of Hell reign down around us as long as she was climaxing around my cock. Instead I had to accept only exploring her mouth and feeling the velvet touch of her tongue against mine. Angry passion enveloped both of us as I released her hands to grasp her breast. With the freedom she tore at my pants.
Released from the confines of my pants, I could no longer be expected to control myself. My hands pulled at her scrub bottoms and snapped off her panties. Her legs wrapped around my waist while her hands found their hold around my neck. Pushing off the wall we tumbled to the ground and in one fluid motion her knee locked around my arm and I was inside her. The first delicious thrust surrounded me in tight warmth. She called for all who could hear as I pulled back and thrust harder. This time pressing to my hilt. Crying out she begged for more.
I couldn’t as much as my balls ached. A few more thrusts and she would be another victim lying beneath me and that I couldn’t accept. Not my blonde doctor with her gray eyes hooded in the passion and pleasure of the moment. I pulled back again only to have her legs stop me from the retreat. Her hips circled as her legs kept me in place. A sweet savory place where my toxins would be released. No longer having control this woman was in charge of me. The moment of release found the pain draining from the top of my head down my spine and into Eliza.
She shuddered below me and I came back to my senses. Cradling her face in my hands I prayed she’d open her eyes once more for me.
“Please,” I prayed as I gently kissed her swollen lips and her legs unhooked from behind me. “Please, wake, my darling.”
Tears stung my eyes as a light gasp escaped her and her eyes fluttered.
“You have ruined me,” she said, still not opening her eyes.
“You’re alive.” I pulled her into my arms as I sat back. “Eliza…you can’t do that to me. It’s too dangerous.”
“Danger’s my middle name.” She sighed and rested her head on my shoulder. “This toxin…what does it do to humans?”
* * * *
Detective Vincent DeTello
The whole attack was surreal. Growling demons with fangs fighting with what seemed like regular humans being tossed around and tossing them around. Ash covered the sky so thick being able to see five feet in front of me was almost impossible. Who knew how many were killed and how many still walked among us. The demons emerging from the hole had switched from gargoyle to almost male-like creatures and the females…they emerged like supermodels ready to walk the runway.
Esther’s scream brought me back to reality. Bullets slow them down. Reaching for my gun I placed it directly on the creature’s temple. There was no way in hell I would take a chance of hitting Esther. My heart pounded in my head as the memory of Jamal Watkins rushed through me. This wasn’t a human I could reason with. It didn’t fear its death or my weapon. Years of police training telling me to try to subdue fought with my need to save Esther at any cost. Not human, not human, not…human.
I squeezed and a hole the size of my fist exploded from the far side of the demon. My heart stopped as the world slowed. A hole in its head was enough of a distraction that its arm flew back and Esther’s blade stabbed through the demon’s chest. More black ash covered the street as a great wind tore through the area and I finally saw Esther again. She was coughing and rolled to the side.
“Esther.”
I covered her with my body and pulled my jacket over my head. In the small cave I created little light shone and all I could see was her silhouette, but it was enough to calm my nerves. My gut tightened to the point bile rose in my throat, souring my tongue. She moved which meant she was alive and that was all I needed to know at the moment. The few minutes of fighting showed me Frozen did not mean immortal, but she still had a heartbeat.
“Esther, can you talk to me?”
“He answered it.” She sighed. “My prayers. You’re with me. Are you alive?”
“Yes, last I checked. Hey,” I said as she slowly opened her eyes. Flickering from gunfire lit them up from under the edges of my cave. “So, how’s your day going?”
“Hell’s Mouth opened up early…you know, typical Tuesday.”
“How many episodes of that cop drama did you watch?”
“Just one.”
Her hand reached for my face and she must have enjoyed the feel of what had to be a pretty good case of five o’clock shadow. When was the last time I shaved? What day was it really? It seemed as if a month had passed.
“Now what, beautiful?”
“We should try to rescue the women.” Esther pushed up and I brought my coat around her shoulders. “No thanks, not during battle.”
“It’s one degree out here and you’re in a corset.”
“I can’t feel it. My adrenaline or something keeps me warm.” She scanned the battle that seemed to of turned in their favor.
Unlike before, the princess seemed nervous and screeched for her aids. They surrounded her even though she wasn’t the target. Frozen were running after demons who had taken off into the city. Those few I met earlier stayed close to the hole, killing any female that emerged.
The rumbling began again and all but one of the female demons guarding the princess headed back toward the hole.
“Traitors,” she called after them.
“It is our time, we cannot stay…you cannot stay.” One with short black hair replied. “You’ve failed and Damarion shall fall again.”
“No…he can’t. They killed them all. Give me my Damarion.” Panic stricken, she paced as the ground sealed, taking with it a handful of demons.
“We need to go round up the stragglers before a riot breaks out,” Schmitty commanded.
“This is the time,” Esther said. “Now or never. The man killing them is either dead or back in Hell.”
Taking off to the house I kicked the door open. Guns drawn, she helped me clear the first floor. Droplets of blood trailed to the basement and we followed. The stairs creaked with every step. The room flooded with light as Esther flipped the switch, causing me to jump.
“I said the killer wouldn’t be in the house,” she said as she walked without fear. Muffled cries came from the large open room. Meegan and Maddie were tied to support posts. Meegan struggled against her restraints when she saw us. Esther rushed to Maddie while I removed the gag from Meegan’s mouth.
“I knew you’d save me, Vince,” Meegan choked out. Her face was stained with tears and smudged makeup. “I told him you’d come for us and you’d kill him. Was that the noise we heard?”
Meegan continued in her AK-47 gunfire style of questions, not even giving me time to respond. You’d think she’d rescued me, not the other way around. A thud sounded upstairs and Esther stiffened.
“Shut her up,” she spat and I placed my index finger over my lips as I got the last of Meegan’s bindings undone.
Footsteps sounded above us as angry voices raged. Luckily this was a relatively new home which meant egress windows. I pulled Meegan to an empty room that in a normal home would have been an office or bedroom.
Cracking the window we were able to climb out. In the backyard, I saw mounds that couldn’t be from random snow piling. An excavation would need to be done at some point for no other reason than putting the women in a final resting place.
“We need a car,” I said.
“Mine’s parked in front of the house,” Meegan offered.
“We need another car.”
I tried examining Maddie, but Meegan wouldn’t let go of me. Compared to Maddie, Meegan had a paper cut. She had a few scrapes and bruises, but Esther could barely keep Maddie upright. She looked drugged.
“Meegan, please,” I said as I unhooked her arms from my neck, only to have them hook around my waist just as Maddie fell into my arms. Esther took off to the front of the home and I trudged after with one woman clinging to my waist and another in my arms. The experience strained my arms and pointed out every missed day at the gym, which since moving to the butt-fuck Egypt that is Southeast Iowa had been quite a few.
Just when I thought my back and biceps were going to give out, squealing tires brought my salvation in the form of a large SUV. Nye stopped right at my side and the doors to the black Ford Excursion flew open. Esther popped out and helped me place Maddie across the back bench seat. Meegan finally unlatched from me, climbed in the vehicle, and took in her surroundings. It would have been too much to ask for her to be to in shock to notice the remnants of demons still fighting with Frozen or for her to assume there was a big fire causing the thick ash. For the first time there was an uneasy silence as Yappy sat with words hanging from her tongue, but unable to escape.
Soon we were off and rushing them to the emergency room…at least that was where I hoped we were going. What could we possibly say happened? The paperwork alone stabbed my brain with a headache and I now understood Esther’s imperviousness to cold when in the moment. My shoulder reminded me it was injured. Burning pain seared the joint and spread like a wildfire doused with gasoline.
Biting back the pain I gripped the armrest with my good arm and prayed the pain could stay on one side of my body. Nye took a corner going eighty…or twenty-five with icy conditions. Either way I smashed against the other armrest and a howl echoed in the cavernous vehicle.
“Vincent.” Esther’s worried eyes caught mine and I waved her off while tamping down the agony-induced vomit scorching my throat. It wasn’t until the vehicle spun out that I became really worried, especially since it was still driving straight.