Chapter 37
Cats Cradle, that night
The Crew and family gathered in Superion’s office. Surrounding the still projection of Hanna’s video. Where the faces of the two Christens, the true mortal and the Demon faced the camera. The video itself has already been played a few times before sun fall. Camila and Serita copied the video to Camila’s work pad and begun working on the video’s audio.
“Shame we can’t here them” Michelle comment. She leaned back against her chair by Superion’s side. She turned to her left, to the nuns working huddled around the pad, against the wall. “How you two techies going?”
“almost there” Camila answered.
Jillian absently twirled her pen between her fingers. Lying against her chair crossed arm starring at the screen. A scribble of notes on scrap paper held firm against the desk. She turned to her girlfriends and asked “any idea who that particular Demon is?”
“The records do not describe a Demon with that unique ability” Superion answered. “Perhaps in the archives, but Hanna and her friends were right to describe this Demon to be a higher ranking kind”
“She’s new” Michelle observed.
“New?” Jillian questioned confused.
“How can a Demon be new?” Lilith questioned.
Michelle shrugged as she answered “Not all Demons are ancient, unlike Angelic beings they can breed”. She looked to the group and continued “But I do know a man who can help, last we chat he married a Lord of Hell. If anyone knows about Demon kind and their drama, it’s him. I’ll be back in a few days”
“Hard to find?” Ava asked.
“No, he just talks a lot” Michelle answered with a tight grin. “Couldn’t shut the bastard up”
The Crew chuckled at the comment.
“What I don’t get is why he’s back, after everything? Ava questioned confused. “Or with a Demon like that?”
“Never seen a Demon like her” Bea comment.
“Looks like their power is restricted to the eyes” Mary observed.
“Dead giveaway in crowds, if you know what to look for” Serita remarked.
Ava hummed, stroking her chin. She turned to her mother and asked “Is it possible a Demon could be a follower of Reya?”
The group frowned suspiciously at the name, looking over to Michelle for answers.
Michelle focused on her daughter and shook her head. “No, I understand your thinking, but Reya will never allow herself to join forces with someone who isn’t fully Angelic….not anymore”
“So the Demon is here for their own accord”
“But what, is most concerning”
“Why would this Demon work with Christen? There relationship here doesn’t seem he’s the master in this situation, so to speak” Jillian asked.
“It’s amazing how easy a soul could be obtained from the right person” Michelle answered.
Bea nodded “The way this Demon speaks to him, she’s luring him in” she turned to Jillian and asked “Does Christen have a favourite spot? Somewhere he used to frequent or mention during his time in the Lab?”
Jillian shrugged “A few, but those were before Adriel”
“It’s a start, we’ll divide and conquer the locations, take the observations in shifts” Bea advised.
Ava nodded, turning to her wife briefly before focusing on the group as a whole. “Mary, Lilith, you two go to the beach, follow the trail from there. Camila, Serita, track down the security cameras from the night of Demon attack. See if you can follow where the Demon went. Then set up surveillance”
“On it” Mary agreed.
“We’ll get to it boss” Serita advised.
“Mum, you hit up that friend of yours, Superion and Jillian, look into the archives. Meantime Bea and I will check on his old spots and do some investigating on what he's been up to after all these years”
The ladies nodded.
“Well then, let’s get to it”
Back at the Silva’s household
Hanna laid on her bed, one hand under her head and the other playing with her butterfly knife. Her leg sat up pressed against the mattress with other leg crossed over the kneecap. Bathed in the light of scattered fairy lights. Music hummed from nearby speaker. She tapped her foot to the beat while she tossed the knife around.
For the second time that day, her angel feathers perked up and swiftly followed, was a light tapping on glass. She turned to the bedroom window and smiled at Persephone’s face peering in. Her best friend’s mischievous smile and her fist lightly tapping on the glass.
Hanna threw herself out of bed racing for the window. She pushed the window up, then dropped down onto the window frame. Arms crossed across the window frame. “This is new, shouldn’t we be swapping positions”
“Normally, but after today and this weekend, thought I sneak over and keep you company”
“I’m grounded”
“Are your parents home?”
“Well no-“
“Then they don’t have to know” Persephone leaned in with a mischievous grin. She grabbed Hanna’s hand and reassured. “I promise they won’t know I’m here. I mean look how I got up here, think I got this ninja business sorted”
Hanna raised a suspicious eyebrow at her.
Persephone caved under the look, admitting “okay fine, the girls helped me climb up, but the rest of it I got pretty much down”
“Okay Romeo, you can come in” Hanna laughed.
With Hanna’s help, Persephone crawled through the windowsill. One leg at a time and promptly tripped. Sending both women to the ground.
“shit sorry” Persephone laughed.
“It’s okay”
Persephone looked up at Hanna and smiled curiously. She dropped her hand to Hanna’s face, gently brushing those curly ringlets back. Persephone couldn’t help, but be mesmerized by the way Hanna glowed in the gentle fairy lights, the way her eyes twinkled with joy and love. “How did I get so lucky to have you?” she whispered with awe.
“I wonder that about you a lot”
“Well I will gladly declare to the world I am the luckiest girl to have met you” Persephone praised, trailing her hand down to cup Hanna’s face.
Lost in the music and the closeness of them. The two girls started leaning into each other, drawing closer to each other’s lips.
Just as their breaths were felt against each other’s skin. The door kicked open with Kit yelling “COME ON HURRY UP!”. The girls jumped, turning to the doorway. She stormed into the room, just shy of the doorway yelling “PIZZA IS GETTING COLD AND I CAN’T TAKE ANOTHER SECOND OF THAT DANCE OFF LOADING SCREEN!”. When she finally looked down, her eyes widen and her mouth fell to an o shape. “I see, well hurry up will ya dudes” she stated before quickly vacating the room.
Persephone and Hanna turned to each other and burst into laughter.
“What was that?” Hanna laughed.
“Hell if I know, she’s your cousin not mine” Persephone bellowed.
Hanna rolled to her feet, then helped Persephone up. “Well we better get going before she eats all of the pizza” she stated, leading Persephone out the door without another word.
Kit ran down stairs straight for her girlfriend in the lounge room, hissing “holy shit, holy shit, holy shit!” before throwing herself up and over the couch. Landing cross legged on the couch facing her girlfriend. “holy shit you will not believe what I just saw!”
Addams looked up at her startled girlfriend and questioned confused “what happened?”
“Addams, love of my life, darling woman of my dreams, please forgive me, think I just stopped Persephone and Hanna sharing their first kiss”
Addams eyes widen for a moment, before she rolled them back with a deep groan. Flopping back onto the couch. “Great, that will be another month of pinning we will have to suffer”
“they could still try again, besides how was I supposed to know them two wanted to make out. They didn’t hang a sign or a tie at all”
Addams was about to respond when the sounds of footsteps echoing down the stairs distracted them. “we’ll talk about it later” she advised in a hush whisper. The couple turned down the hallway, watching the rest of the gang walk over to them. Addams gave them a knowing smirk as she greeted “Hey girls, how you doing tonight?”
Persephone glared suspiciously at Addams while Hanna grinned merrily “Quite good thanks”
“How about Pizza, Pizza sounds good!” the punk quickly stated, leaping from the couch.
“Awesome I’m starving!” Hanna comment, following after the punk.
Meanwhile In the lab of Arch-tech
Jillian strolled through the halls of her company. Her footsteps echoing down the empty hallways. The building was nearly abandoned for the evening. The night guards gave her a quick nod as she passed them. In no time she reached her office, barging through the door and striding straight for her desk.
She just opened up her laptop when gunfire echoed down the halls. She jumped out of her seat cursing “bloody hell!” then fell to her knees crouching behind the desk. More gunfire rang out down the halls. The louder it echoed, the closer it became. She reached into her phone and immediately dialed Suzanne’s number.
“Come on pick up”
A bloody curdling scream echoed somewhere close. Swiftly followed by increased of wild gunshots and terrified screams.
“fuck sakes pickup” she cursed again.
Muffled shouts started echoing from the other side of her door, along with more rapid gunshots. War was breaking out on the other side of her office and she hid waiting behind the desk. The voicemail of Suzanne’s voice ringed out and she cursed. “oh come on!”
Jillian was about to dial again when rapid fists started banging on her door. Followed by a man’s voice yelling “OPEN UP, WE KNOW YOU ARE IN THERE!”
“Fuck this!” she cursed. She crawled out from her desk and dragged her chair across the room. Jamming the head of the chair under the door. She stepped away, then sprinted for her hidden door.
“OPEN THE FUCKING DOOR!” The man’s shouted again.
She pulled open the door and gunshots burst from the blocked door, firing straight into the room. Jillian ran inside the secret passage, closing the door behind her. Inside the passage she could still here the gunshots ring out in her office. So, she dove across the room to an empty cupboard. Dragging the wooden furniture across the room, then lifting it on its side and jamming it across the doorway entrance. She stumbled away from the doorway, turned and took off running down the passage. Still trying to ring Suzanne.
Jillian finally reached the end of the hallway before the building was plunged into a blackout. She inwardly cursed the darkness, but thanked her electricians once the red emergency lights turned on. Trespassing in near darkness. Guided by faint red lights. She moved into the lower Lab floor, heading towards the emergency exist door.
There were rapid footsteps ahead. She couldn’t tell where they were going, whether they were coming after her, but they thundered through the silent hallway. Setting her heart on the edge.
Unwillingly following the noise. She crept to the bay window where she once stored her Portal, peering around the corner. To find Christen and dozen armed men searching the room. Tearing the lab apart.
She frowned confused, trying to work out what exactly was so important about that room. Other then what it once held.
Her phone started to ring, she quickly answered it while she sprinted across the room and throwing herself into a nearby empty room. She raised the phone to her ear and answered in a low whisper “hello?”
“Doctor, what’s wrong?” Suzanne’s voice answered.
“Shh keep it down!” Jillian hissed. The Doctor pressed her back against the door frame, peering out into the hallway. “I’m under attack, Christen is here and he brought a fuck tone of company”
“are you okay?”
“fine, looks like they are searching for something. I’m keeping an eye on them”
“stay hidden, we’re on our way”
“just hurry”
A shadow darted past the door frame, causing the Doctor to jump back and turn the phone off. She held her breath, hoping whoever cast the shadow didn’t see her.
After a short while, she peered into the hallway and looked left and right. However, there was no one there. She couldn’t hear anyone in the next rooms beside her and no one knew stepped into the lab. The red light started to flicker. She turned down the hallway and her eyes widen at the mass shadow looming down the hall towards her. She closed the door and locked it tight. She raced for the nearest chair and carried it across the room. Forcing it under the door handle.
Jillian took a couple steps back, then started searching around the room for a weapon.
The door rattled to life after she picked up a scalpel. She jumped, quickly forcing her hand over her mouth to muffle out the shout.
“Jillian it’s me, open up” Suzanne’s voice called from the other side.
“Oh thank god” Jillian sighed, moving towards the door. She just about to open the door, when her hand stopped and she turned to the door itself with a quizzical gaze. “Suzanne?”
“Yes, it’s me” Suzanne’s voice calmly spoke. “Open the door Jillian, I’m here to help”
“How do I know that’s really you?”
The silence that followed frighten the Doctor. She stumbled back, with scalpel held tight in her hand.
“Open the door Jillian” the voice urged.
The door suddenly shook twice, scaring the Doctor out of her wits.
“Open the Door!”
“You’re not Suzanne!” Jillian yelled. “Who are you!” she demanded.
The red emergency light began to flicker. A wicked laugh echoed from the doorway as darkness melted through the door. Spilling down the surface to the ground.
The light went out and the office was plunged into darkness.
When the light came on, Jillian was standing face to face with the Demon version of herself. She gasped at the glowing yellow and red eyes starring at her, and the way the Demon grinned wearing her face.
“I’m you” The Demon spoke. The Demon’s smile dropped and she spoke sweetly “Sleep” whilst reaching out her hand.
Jillian tried to dive out of the way, but one touch of the Demon’s hand made Jillian’s eyes roll back into her head. Her head dipped back and her body collapsed.
The Demon Jillian caught the real Jillian before she could fall. Hoisting the unconscious woman in her arms. She turned around and marched for the door. The Chair suddenly shattered to pieces and the door fell open. The Demon Jillian carried the human threw, then down the hallway.
The power came on by the time the two arrived at the medic bay.
The Abyss lowered Jillian on the bed, then pulled off her jacket and draped it over the sleeping woman. She brushed the hair from Jillian’s ear, leaned down and whispered “rest, while you can” she pulled away, leaving the mortal sleep.
The Abyss walked into the lab and stopped a few feet from the doorway. “Gentlemen, you won’t find anything by creating a mess!” the Demon declared. The men looked up at her guilty. She rolled her eyes as she stated “Clean up your mess, then finish the job in orderly and clean fashion!”
At once the men started cleaning up the room.
Demon Jillian surveyed the group, then crossed the space to Christen. “Have you found it?”
“I have” he answered excitedly. He pulled from his suit pocket an old tablet, he offered the device to the Abyss while stating “It has everything we need, the plans, the supplies required and the equipment, all we need is to combine it and make our plan a reality”
“Interesting, well I say you and your men have five minutes to hall ass before her girlfriends show up”
“The truck is already half loaded”
“Then keep going” the Abyss insisted. She snatched the pad off Christen and began walking away. Playing with the device.
He ran after her, following just behind the Demon as they walked out of the office into the hallway. “My men have reported they are bringing in the Tarask Skeleton as we speak”
“That should be enough” she answered.
“Ava and her friends will learn about this, what is our fail safe plan”
“Fail safe?” the Demon laughed. She paused mid walk and turned to him with a toothy grin. “Oh dear, don’t worry your pretty little head about those mortals. I will deal with them when the time comes. I will hold my end of the deal until you hold yours”
This excitement suddenly dropped, morphing into dread.
“Speaking of which, how’s the status report?” the Demon asked.
He gulped. He tried to answer, but his body fell into a sudden nervous stutter.
The Abyss turned on her heels to face him, the pad device pressed against her side. Her smile dropped to a crude sneer. “Well? Are you failing in holding up our end of the bargain already?”. She took two steps forward and he shuddered. “You do realise the consequences of failing me”
Before he could answer, gunshots and shouts tore down the hallway. The two turned down the hallway to the chaos, then to each other.
“Save by the bell” the Abyss laughed. “Get in the truck right now!” she advised him, then started walking away down the hallway. “Alright Gentlemen it’s time to go, grab what you can and hall ass!” she ordered. She peaked her head into the old lab and nodded impressed with the sudden tidiness of the place. She hummed, impressed with the tidiness of the room. The Abyss turned back to Christen, transforming into his double. She starred smiling at the hunch man, then turned and started following the men down the hallway to the truck.
By the time Superion and Michelle reached the lower level. The intruders were well and truly gone.
Michelle led them down the hallways with sword in hand. Leading the way straight to the Medic Bay. Where Jillian slept peacefully in her bed. The ladies ran to her side.
“Jillian!” the ladies yelled.
“What happened to her?” Superion asked worriedly.
“She’s fine, just sleeping” Michelle assured. The Tarask felt the Doctor’s temple, then turned to Superion. “Whoever attacked her just put her mind to sleep. Simply trick, she should come to any second now”
“And left her in the medic bay” Superion pointed out. “What kind of enemy makes sure their opponent is safe and warm before leaving them” Superion turned to the jacket huddled over Jillian. Lifting the jacket up and running her fingers through the material. “this is her jacket”
“Exact same she’s currently wearing, think I know the enemy”
Jillian stirred awake on cue, stretching her body out in bed. “wha?” she whispered half asleep. “what happened?”
“Evening” Michelle spoke. “It’s alright, you are okay”
“Are you hurt Doctor?” Suzanne asked, turning to Jillian.
“no” the Doctor whispered. She opened her eyes and looked up into the faces of her girlfriends. She smiled up at them. “No” she insisted with a soft shake of her head. “No I’m not hurt”
“That’s good” Suzanne comment. “Can you tell us what happened?”
“I would like to know that myself” Jillian stated. “One moment, I’m hiding from those bastards and next I’m starring face to face with that Abyss and she was wearing my face” Jillian pulled herself up. Her girlfriends each took her side and helped her sit upright in the bed. Jillian looked around the room, then shrugged confused “next thing I’m here with you two”. The Doctor paused with a soft smile, turning back to her girlfriends. “You twos faces are far better view to wake up to”
“I should hope so” Michelle chuckled.
Suzanne smiled, then quickly turned back to the moment at hand. “Did this Demon say anything to you?”
“Nothing, she just wanted me out of the way”
“For what?”
“I don’t know, I don’t get why they are here in the first place”
Michelle pulled back, turning to the door, then back to them. “Perhaps we should find out”
The bloodied warriors helped their Doctor out of bed, leading her into the hallway. Suzanne wrapped her arm around Jillian’s waist while Jillian clutched tightly onto Michelle’s hand. Michelle led her girlfriends out of the room into the hallway, holding her bloodied sword close, ready to strike.
The ladies turned down the hallway and followed the hall around, to the old Portal lab.
Jillian stopped short of the window, peering through in shock. Her girlfriends stopped and turned to her concerned.
“Jillian?” Suzanne questioned concerned.
“What’s wrong love?” Michelle asked.
“she took it” Jillian answered.
“took what?” Suzanne queried.
“Everything. Every last spec of metal used to create the Portal” Jillian pulled her gaze from the glass, focusing on her girlfriends full of dread. “I know what Christen wants. He wants to finish his Masters mission and make a portal back to Hell”