A Demon on the Payroll

The humming grew louder, the knife singing of its thirst, and the demon matched its noise with a bellow of anger and pain. Its odor permeated my senses. It smelled of old sweat and hot iron.

Siobhan was on her feet again and had managed to grab a scarf from somewhere. As the creature lifted Jennifer off the ground, Siobhan snuck up, slipped the scarf over its head, and used it to pull the creature off balance. Jennifer pulled herself out of its grasp and I kicked the demon in its ribs as hard as I could.

Off-balance, it slipped to the floor. As I kicked again, Siobhan wrapped another loop around its neck and began pulling. The creature slid backwards and when it reached up to grab her arm or the scarf, I launched another kick, this time into its jaw. I was about to launch myself onto its body, stabbing it as quickly as possible, when it suddenly rolled to its right, grabbed Siobhan's wrist and yanked her towards me.

Quickly pulling my hands back, I made sure that she wasn't cut as the demon scrambled to his feet, ran towards the bay window in the front of the house and leaped through the glass.

I quickly went to the window, ready to follow, when I heard Jennifer moan. Cursing, I went back to check on my friend. She was all right. Bewildered and dealing with the aftermath of a flood of adrenaline, but not seriously harmed. Siobhan was a different story. As we had planned, I got them out the rear door, past the backyard neighbors, to the street opposite where we were, across that street, to the side and past another house, and into another street where a van was waiting for us.

Siobhan grabbed my arm fiercely and leaned forward. "Call Finn. Tell him we lost all of the equipment except for the drones."

She leaned back and rested prone against the side of the van as we drove. Everyone was silent until we got onto the highway. Eventually, she spoke again.

"So, who's going to explain what the hell just happened?"

Jokes weren't my strong suit. I wasn't sure if her use of the word hell was intentional. I barely knew Jim, the man employed by Jennifer and Finn, but he was driving. Should I be honest while he was within hearing? I didn't care. The worst that would happen would be he thought I was a crazy Chinese lady telling silly stories.

"It was a demon. You have heard stories of such things?"

Clutching her side, she looked at me with skepticism. "I've heard stories. That's all they are. Stories."

I didn't know what to say. If she preferred to not accept the truth, that was her right. Still, she had asked the question. "You felt what it could do when it told you not to use weapons. It's power... Is that the right word? Strength? Ability? With commanding you was not very strong. You were able to utilize other things except obvious and clear weapons. If it had more power, that would not have been possible.

"You saw it take a bullet. You felt that strength. I think you somehow felt it wasn't right. Whether you like it or not, Siobhan, it was a demon. You have seen other things that were harder to believe. You helped my brother against arms smugglers after he had died and come back. You and Jim. Is this so hard to believe?"

She reached down to the bag between her feet, pulled out a small plastic container, and chewed up some pills. "Naproxen sodium. Don't worry. I'm not taking anything stronger until I see a doctor. That's complete bull, by the way. Demon? Ridiculous. I don't know what it was, but demons don't exist. Whatever it was, how did it affect me, but the two of you were fine?"

I shrugged, wondering how much I should tell her. "My father... He wasn't normal. We all inherited something from him. Me, Robert, Alistair, Kallista, all of us. What the demon did to you, it can't be done to us."

She shifted and took a deep breath. "Great. Things just get weirder. Okay, let's ignore the big question of who and what your father was." She turned to her sister-in-law. "How did you ignore it, Jen?"

Jennifer had been sitting there quietly, her fingertips running over the runes on the outside of the old pistol. "It's part of, you know, the part of me that everyone gets worried about. I guess it's a bit of what happened to me in Australia. Why I have to keep counting things, my problems with obsessions, my single-mindedness. It's all part of the same thing. It doesn't matter how persuasive someone is, if I don't want to do it, they can't force me."

Siobhan barked a short, sad laugh, and I just stared at her. She finally took a deep breath and met my eyes. "I've tracked down a legendary assassin and killed him in front of a giant statue of Moloch. I killed my way to the top of a ring of criminals who were using slaves for pornography. I rescued one of my students from a kidnapper who was holding her in a Las Vegas casino just before its demolition. I've had my share of weird. Seriously, you helped me rescue a little girl caught between Chinese triads and the Russian mob. Shouldn't that be enough? Now I've got to deal with a demon? And Jen, what the hell were you doing poking yourself in the chest?

Jennifer looked embarrassed. "Nothing. I saw someone do something once and I... never mind."

Siobhan called out to Jim. "Did you reach my brother?"

"Yeah. He said all the equipment was clean, and you wore gloves. Shouldn't be a problem. The drones have been collected."

I was concerned with how Siobhan kept leaning to her right as we sat in the back of the van. "Would you like us to stop at a hospital?"

She shook her head. "No. I think I fractured a rib. It's not that bad. I'll tape it up when we get home. Breathing hurts, but there's no punctured lung. I've had worse."

I wasn't sure what the word was. I thought it might be aghast. Jennifer looked aghast as Siobhan spoke casually of a fractured rib. Siobhan wasn't a normal woman. She was courageous to the point of insanity. The woman had just fought a demon with a scarf. I knew what she was made of because we were much the same. If she said she would be fine, she will be fine. We settled in for the drive back to Montauk and it was a half-hour before I said anything again.

"Finn said he knew where this man that sent the demon works. I'm going there tomorrow to end this."

There was silence for a few seconds before Siobhan replied. "We're going. Not you. Us."

Jennifer jumped in. "You won't be alone."

Jim spoke as he drove. "You're going there tomorrow? Are you people crazy? I get it, it would take a hydrogen bomb to slow Yekong down, but I've never seen Jennifer be so quiet. I'm wondering if she's slipping into shock. And Siobhan thinks that she is fine because it is not a collapsed lung. What's wrong with waiting a week or at least a few days? So, one of them escaped. Got it. The rest are dead. You think they're just going to re-up and make another run tomorrow? You've got time. At the very least, they have to figure out where the families have been moved to."

I waited for the others to respond. When they didn't, I spoke up. It was clear that he either didn't hear us or didn't think we were serious about the demon. "We learned things that we can't let go of. Things that need to be taken care of right away. You are right, though. I shall go and handle this. Siobhan and Jennifer can recuperate."

As soon as I finished speaking, they both declared that they would be going. Hearing this, Jim laughed.

"If the three of you say you're going, you're going. You're the most stubborn threesome I've ever seen. You can do your Charlie's Angels impression, but I'm not staying out this time."

My eyes immediately shifted to the back of his head as I watched him merge into traffic. What did he know about me and my genetics and who told him? None of my siblings were stupid. We all knew what would happen if the wrong people found out about us. I would again be captured, but this time it wouldn't be as a fighter, instead I would be a lab rat.

And I could see how he thought Jennifer might also be descended from an angel. There was certainly something... different about her. But Jennifer was the product of training, will, and repressed rage. And who was Charlie?

I decided to keep an eye on him, but accepted that he would be there to help. Jim was competent in hand-to-hand fighting and exceptionally talented with a rifle.

Siobhan was calling her brother and convincing Finn to get architectural designs for the building we would be visiting. While she did that, I used the phone that Finn had given me to call Kallista. I needed someone that I trusted to keep Jennifer safe while Siobhan and I did what we had to. Alistair was in Europe trying to find the man he used to be, and Robert had disappeared after what happened in Denver.

Kallista answered after the second ring. "Are you all right?"

"Yes. I am fine physically. Something odd has happened here. Would you be able to fly to New York?"

"Are Janelle and Tony all right?"

"Yes. We are all fine."

Her voice sounded less panicked as she replied. "When do you need me? I have to be in Connecticut the week after next. I could take the ferry across the sound and spend a day or two in Montauk."

"Tonight. We were attacked by a demon. We shall be hunting it down tomorrow."

"Wait, what? A demon? A literal demon? And who is we?"

I explained everything that I could, speaking softly in the hopes that Jim would not hear. He obviously already knew more than I could've ever anticipated. She promised that when she hung up, she would have her pilot and ground people get her jet ready and they would leave as soon as possible. When I was done, I put the phone back in my pocket, stretched out, and closed my eyes. Jennifer snorted. When I popped one eye opened I saw her staring at me, shaking her head.

"What?"

"You can just go to sleep?"

I shrugged. "I have slept after and before worse. Nothing is going to happen to us in the van. There is no reason not to rest."

When we returned to Montauk, Finn had the doctor that ran the clinic he funded with Jennifer come over to his home and check on Siobhan. While that was happening, Siobhan treated it as a nuisance and spent the time being prodded and taped-up, speaking to her brother and formulating plans.

They needed a reason for us to be on the grounds of the building. If we just showed up at their doorstep loaded with weapons, they would lock the building down and call the authorities.

Finn still had one of the men with him that had worked on the facial recognition software. The computer specialist worked his magic and found who the criminals used for catering. Every day, they would bring in lunch for everyone in the building. He somehow managed to get into their security feed and watched three days of video from the loading bay between ten-thirty in the morning and one in the afternoon. The van with the food arrived always at eleven-thirty, did what they had to do, unloaded and distributed the food, and were back and on the road by twelve-fifteen.

Pete, Alistair's childhood friend, owned a number of auto repair shops. Finn called him, spoke about vans and something called detailing and said we would have our own copy of that van ready to go. At that point, it was well after midnight. Yesterday had the demon behind us, today the demon and the mobster were ahead of us.

With the life I had led, falling asleep anywhere, and at any time was a valuable skill. Putting my feet up on the couch, I quickly fell asleep to the background noise of their chattering.

I felt someone touch my cheek. Springing out of sleep, I pinned that hand to my cheekbone, twisted my head, and the arm went with it. The elbow was now facing the ceiling. I sat up and put my other forearm on that elbow, pressing down.

"Stop! It's me!" As I stood and moved in a circular motion so that the arm continued to be under my control, Kallista was ground down into the couch. Recognizing her, I let go, took a deep breath, and stepped back.

"Please do not touch me while I sleep."

She looked at me, eyes wide, and rubbed her shoulder. "Never again. Where is Tony? Alistair and Robert are still out on their own?"

I nodded. "Tony is at the house with Janelle."

"Okay, he can go with us, but she obviously can't."

"No, he cannot. One of us needs to stay here to watch over Cynthia and William and their cousins."

I hoped that she would understand what I was saying. By one of us, I meant one of my siblings. I was sure that Finn's security knew how to do their job, but there was a demon involved. I could reasonably expect them to stop thieves, assassins, or kidnappers. Demons? That was too much to ask.

Tony may have been the most powerful of us. It was impossible to gauge, since his ability was linked to luck. It was a slippery quality to quantify, but I had seen it at play, and it was impressive. We convinced him to stay and watch over the children. It was the same concern as the previous night. If the criminal behind this had done as much research into us as we had done into him, I did not want the children vulnerable. If I couldn't stay behind to protect them, I wanted my brother there.

"How was your flight?"

She rolled her eyes as if it was odd for me to ask such a mundane question. "It was fine, Yekong. I need to know everything about what's being planned. I brought you new body armor. It's over by the door."

"Thank you. I have decided to learn how to drive. Jim seems to be a good driver. I think I shall ask him to teach me. And..." I lowered my voice and leaned in close. "I think he knows too much about us. When I was with Jennifer and Siobhan, he called us Charlie's Angels. I do not know who Charles is, but someone told Jim about our lineage."

My sister just stared at me open mouth when I finished. "Are you serious?"

"Yes. I don't believe he's a threat. Someone spoke too much, and that is not his fault. We should learn more about Charles, though."

Kallista shook her head. "Charlie's Angels" was a television show years and years ago. They turned it into a movie. It was about three women who solved crimes. He wasn't talking about our grandfather. He was just referencing a silly old show."

I felt foolish. "Oh."

My sister was a queen amongst women. Even without using her ability, she easily had people doing her bidding and being grateful for the opportunity. The only one she couldn't sway was Jennifer. Which, once again, was very odd.

The building was four stories high. We went over the blueprints in detail. Was that what they called the designs for a building? Blueprints? Maybe it was schematics. It didn't matter. Before we left, Tony and my other sister joined us at Finn's house. We had done all the studying that we could; we looked at the layouts; we watched videos, and we were as familiar with the location we were going to be.

I tried the new armor that Kallista had bought me. It fit well. Some of my siblings were rich. Others were not. We had in common a belief that money wasn't important. Robert sold things that he took from ancient graves, pyramids and ziggurats. He had a tremendous amount of property in Kentucky. Kallista owned a company that did things for computers. I didn't really understand much about it, but she said it was improved data compression, and I assumed that was important. She had her own jet and could buy whatever she wanted. I was poor. Janelle had little money, and Alistair had some money that he made as a psychiatrist. I wasn't sure about Tony, but his luck meant he only needed to go to a casino to walk away with whatever money he needed.

Since I couldn't afford it myself, I was surprised and happy with the armor. I was able to move well when wearing it and it didn't slow me down. I carried two pistols and the knives I had borrowed from Robert.

Before I got in the van, I saw Cynthia's dog, Buttercup, watching from the porch. She was an odd dog, but I was glad for her presence. She would kill to protect the girl. I'd seen it before.

As we drove away, I addressed Jim. "This is Montauk Highway, yes?" He nodded without looking back at me. "I would like you to teach me how to drive. And I enjoyed your joke yesterday about Charlie's Angels. It was very funny because there were three of us and three of them."

He looked at me in the mirror and was slow to respond. "Um, sure."

It was a long drive. We were at the absolute eastern point of Long Island and the building was near the border of where New York City started. After we had been driving for an hour, I turned to Jennifer.

"I do not understand how you do the things you do. Please explain this."

She looked at me, her eyes shifted as she looked at Kallista, Jim, and Siobhan. "No."

I was surprised. "No?"

"No. I'm different. Let's leave it at that."

"All right. And please explain Buttercup. How is she the way that she is?"

Jennifer looked confused. "I have no idea what you're talking about. How is she different?"

"I do not know, but she is. Smarter, maybe? More... Capable? I do not have the right words to explain this. She is just different."

Jennifer shrugged. "Beats me. All that I know is that Buttercup and Dink were the best of dogs. Buttercup still is."

That was frustrating. We eventually got to the building and backed up to a door near the loading bay. Instead of holding sandwiches and platters, we had our weapons ready and jumped out as soon as the van doors were opened by Jim.

A man stood just inside the building, near the workers' entrance. He was dressed in a nice suit and had a gun in his left hand that was pointed at the floor. His face was blank as he stared straight ahead head. An odd moaning came from the man as he took two lurching steps forward. Suddenly the gun was fired, the bullet striking the ground at his side.

He began screaming and his immaculate white shirt, under his blue jacket, suddenly turned scarlet.

We heard a high-pitched chittering sound as his stomach and the shirt bulged obscenely. Buttons popped explosively, and we saw a red head the size of a softball pop out, blood dripping from its fangs, having chewed its way through the man's stomach.

It had pointed ears, catlike eyes and, as it crawled further and further out of the man's belly, I saw the wings growing from its back. Behind the man, in the shadows of the large storage room, I saw at least two other creatures leaping and gliding in the twilight.

The creature used its clawed hands in anger and tore the shirt that was imprisoning it. It stared at us and was about to leap in our direction, but Jim kicked it in the head, forcing the creature and the man backwards. He pulled out a gun and shot it three times. Running inside, he tracked another of the creatures as it was gliding towards us.

"Close the door! Lock down the area."

As Jennifer slammed the door behind us, Jim shot the second creature out of the air.

Siobhan looked from the dead thing, still partially embedded in the man's torso, to the creature flopping on the floor.

"What the fuck is going on?"

Jim quickly kneeled, pulled his bag from over his shoulder, and withdrew a rifle. We made our way to another door that led into the center of the building.

On the fourth floor, leaning over the railing, was a tall man that looked vaguely like my brothers. His black hair was slicked black with gel, his angular features were twisted in rage, and I instantly hated him. He did, however, have a very nice suit. He was yelling as he gripped the railing tightly. Although he switched back and forth between two languages, I could understand him.

"Not each other! Kill the intruders. Protect the top floor."

That's what my mind told me he was trying to convey. The language didn't translate well. I had never learned it, but in that moment, I realized that I could both speak it and write it. The knowledge was in my bones. The man was switching back and forth between English and Enochian, the language of angels.