Demon's Doorway (41 page)

"Calm down," Victoria said. "I know Jack's…gruff. But you can trust him."

Alex finally had a frightened, worried look. "What do we do? I'm sorry, Victoria, but I'm not staying here if Cindy and Alicia are in trouble."

"Alex, please…."

Kevin shoved his fear and concern aside as best he could, trying to think calmly and logically. "I'll go, and be back as soon as I can. Victoria, let me borrow your camera."

She handed it over, and he took a picture of the wall before shoving the camera in his coat. He pulled out the picture of Victoria's basement and his newest potion.

"I'll go with you," Alex said. "I want to see what's going on."

"No," Victoria said, grabbing his arm. "Alex, just…trust Jack. And you know you can trust Kevin."

Alex mulled it over before approaching the witch.

"Find out what's going on, and take care of them."

"I will."

Kevin quickly drew a portal on the wall, his hand shaking the entire time. He drew another portal on the picture, and pressed it to the wall. A quick flash, and Victoria's basement was only several feet away.

"Be careful," he said, from the other side of the portal.

"You, too," Victoria said.

He closed the portal behind him.

Victoria looked at Alex, who stood motionless with his mouth slightly open.

"Are you alright?" she asked.

"If Cindy and Leese are hurt—"

"Stop," she said. "You have to focus on right here, right now."

"I didn't sense anything. I love Cindy and Alicia more than anything. I sense when they're in trouble."

"Could it be because we're so far away?"

"I don't know. Oh, God—"

She grabbed both his shoulders. "Alex, we can't do this right now. Keep it together, and let's go. I don't know what's going on, but believe me, Jack wouldn't let them get hurt."

Alex was quiet a moment. "Bradley is dead. He's the one that guided me here."

"I know," Victoria said, her expression not changing. "Vampires have a hard time existing as ghosts. It's the balance, I guess. We've spent enough time alive. No need to take up more time being dead."

"You knew? Were you ever gonna say anything?"

"No."

"That's real nice. Good way to think as a team—"

"Hey. You've seen Kevin, how afraid he is. Would you have been able to get back to normal knowing that Bradley died on your wedding night? Get over it, and let's move on, shall we? We've got work to do, me and you. You can get mad at me later."

He took a deep breath, and managed to nod. They looked at Myers, who was more fascinated with the wall Kevin stepped through. Myers ran his hand along the surface, mesmerized.

"How did he—?" he said, not able to finish the question.

Victoria let out a small smile, and was ready to move, when voices erupted behind them.

"We're almost to the cafeteria. We'll need some backup."

They turned to see two prison guards rounding the corner. Victoria wasn't sure if they were oblivious to the world around them, or simply didn't care about the people standing in the hall. They trotted right past them, heading down the hall.

"Oh, shit. Not this again. Jones! Dougherty!" Myers called. "Listen to me! There is no prison break. You've got to stop doing this."

The two guards disappeared through the double doors. The doors didn't move. The two ghosts simply moved through them.

Myers looked at Victoria and Alex with sadness. "Welcome to Hell. I almost got through to Jones once. I don't know what else to do."

The warden ran ahead. Victoria and Alex glanced at each other before following. Myers disappeared through the doors, and Victoria couldn't believe her eyes when Alex and she shoved the doors open.

The cafeteria was brightly lit, like it was still operational. Inmates and guards fought everywhere. Myers disappeared into the crowd, trying to get through to the other ghosts. There were gunshots, homemade knives, blood spraying everywhere. Alex gasped as he saw two guards hanging from the ceiling. Someone's intestines were spread out on a table. An eyeball flew across the room.

"Are you seeing this?" he asked.

Victoria nodded grimly. "Yes."

A man jumped on a table in the middle of the cafeteria. At first, Victoria thought he was another inmate, but immediately noticed how he stood out. Nicely pressed pants with a white dress shirt. His scent finally touched her nose.

"Isn't this amazing?" he shouted. "This is the chaos humans create. Only humanity can be so violent as to actually rip a pinhole in the spirit and demon realms. This really is incredible."

She narrowed her gaze. "Anatol."

He bowed. "This is a little distracting, though, don't you think?"

Anatol pulled a vial from his pocket, something Victoria had seen Kevin do many times. He shattered it at his feet, and the ghostly massacre around them slowly faded, along with the lights. The cafeteria once again looked as it should, dark and deserted. The only light came from a bubbling cauldron in the middle of the room. It was a strange sight, a cauldron sitting on a wood fire, and Victoria wondered what Kevin would think of it.

"Wow," Anatol said, staring at Alex. "I don't know what to say. You were on the east coast not long ago, and I thought you were dead. As old as I am, I've never seen a creature like you. How did you get here?"

Victoria grabbed Alex's shoulder, to make sure he said nothing. Was it possible that in everything going on, Anatol knew nothing of Kevin?

"We know what you're doing," she said.

"Of course you do. I'm sure you're here to stop me. The heroes have come to save the day."

"So, a portal for demons," Victoria said. She circled around the cafeteria, away from the doors. Anatol's explanation didn't matter to her. She only wanted to stall for time, examine the layout of the cafeteria. "Are you one of those crazy types who want to rule the world?"

He laughed, and dipped his hand into the boiling cauldron. Alex cringed next to her.

"Rule the world? I'll pass. You both can have the job, if you want. The young man there would be excellent. I just want change. Honestly, you don't think humans have had their time? I'm trying to do right for
all
of us. Vampires, witches, werewolves, the entire supernatural world. No more hunting parties. No more looking over our shoulders at the human mobs with torches and automatic weapons. The demons will destroy anything human, and the world will belong to us."

"And who do we drink from, then?" Victoria asked.

"Our human pets, of course. There's no harm in keeping a few around."

"He's insane," Alex said.

Anatol addressed him. "I wouldn't expect you to understand. You're married to a human, been raised with them. And…speaking of your lovely wife, please, don't take this personally, but several of my associates are on their way to her and your sister now. I don't want to kill your loved ones, but if you don't leave, that's exactly what will happen."

She glanced at Alex and saw the fear in his eyes. Anatol was using Cindy and Leese against him, and she could only hope his focus was where it needed to be.

"We have to kill him," she said, grabbing his shoulder. "Are you up for this?"

His wings popped from his back as his features changed. "Yes."

Anatol rolled his eyes. He reached for another vial and poured its contents on his hands. He flicked liquid around him, and Victoria gasped as flames erupted all over the cafeteria. Heat licked at her arm, and she jumped to the side in one of the few safe spots. They could barely see Anatol through the dancing flame. Sweat quickly beaded on her forehead.

"Is the fire real?" she asked.

Alex reached out to grab a handful of fire, and watched as it moved about in his palm. He let it move up his arm before absorbing it into his flesh.

"Yeah, it's real."

Victoria silently cursed. One of her few weaknesses was fire, which wasn't a difficult feat for a witch.

"We have to end this," she said. "Quickly."

She looked up to see Anatol holding yet another vial over his head. She jumped over the flames and landed on top of a nearby table, trying to get in a position to attack. The liquid in the vial was red, and she knew it was Alex's blood.

"Farewell to the era of humanity."

Her fangs popped as she bent her knees. She lunged at Anatol, sailing over the flames. He was already shoving the vial in the cauldron, and the explosion threw Victoria and Alex across the room. She landed in a pocket of fire and screamed as it burned her. She swatted at her clothes as the fire scorched her chest and neck.

Alex rushed to her side, his head bleeding from smacking the wall. Victoria had put out the flames on her jeans, but struggled with her torso. Her skin began to bubble and blister as Alex grabbed her shoulders. The fire jumped from her skin into his own. She fell to one knee as the pain passed, Alex kneeling with her.

They said nothing to each other. Victoria simply squeezed his shoulder, a quick, quiet show of gratitude. They turned their attention to Anatol, who still stood near the cauldron.

Floating above him was a yellow sphere, identical to the one when they first encountered Anatol.

The shadows grew in the room, despite the dancing fire. Low, horrible moans leaked from the darkness. A deformed limb reached from a shadow on the floor, like it was a pool of water. The first demon reared its head, a sick smile on its face.

"They'll keep coming," Anatol said. "They'll come until the world is ours."

Victoria lost count as the demons pulled themselves into the living world. The smell burned her nose.

Anatol smiled and waved his arm. "Go. Go have fun."

The demons snarled, and only took a step when Alex spread his wings.

"Don't move!"

Victoria was surprised when they listened to him. The various demons stopped and turned to face her friend. Many of them even reduced their profiles and lowered their heads, the ones that actually had heads.

"Master."

"Yes," Alex said, fighting discomfort. He controlled how the demons entered the living world, and for the first time, there was something working against him. Anatol's magic was trying to summon more demons, and he fought to keep them where they belonged. "There will be no killing, no play time today. Go back. If you're lucky, I'll drop off a snack later."

"We…cannot…."

"I said go away!"

"Master. We cannot…leave…."

Anatol clapped, enjoying the show. He reached out to pet one of the demons nearby.

"Wow. A creature that controls demons. I'd give anything to know you better. But…I'm sorry. They're
mine
, now. Your blood is what makes the potion so special. And if I'm gonna finish what I started, you have to die."

The demonic voice boomed around them.

"We will…not hurt…Master…."

"That's fine," Anatol said. "But the lovely redhead there, bring me her heart."

One of the demons immediately launched itself at Victoria. She ducked easily, and lashed out at another. Eying the door, she snarled when she saw it was no longer a door, but a wall, no doubt another of Anatol's magic tricks.

The demons slowly approached the two of them, their attention on Victoria. Anatol drank a potion behind them, and disappeared from sight. Invisibility. She could still smell him. His plan was simple. The demons would kill her, while Anatol killed Alex.

"Alex," she said as they backed up. "Any ideas?"

"Just one."

He wrapped his arms around her waist and flew straight up, narrowly missing a charging demon. He flew as close to the ceiling as he could. A demon jumped and grabbed her foot, pulling them down a few feet. Alex beat his wings harder, and was surprised when the demon lifted into the air. Victoria kicked at it and sent it back to the ground.

They landed on the other side of the cafeteria. The demons slowly stalked toward them.

"We have to run, regroup," she said.

"We can't," Alex said. "I have to stay close to that sphere, or more demons will come. I'm the only thing holding them back."

She sighed as the demons approached, snarling and drooling. They walked through the fire separating them, not bothered at all.

"Well then, we fight."

The demons swarmed them, pushing Alex aside. He tried to rush forward to help, but Anatol appeared in front of him.

"Believe me, I'm sorry I have to do this."

Anatol's fangs grew as he swiped a claw at Alex, catching him across the face. Alex backed up and put a hand to his cheek. He pulled away a bloody palm.

Alex couldn't help Victoria.

They had to fight, not only for their own lives, but for billions more.

*****