Midnight Squad: The Grim (9 page)

           
Katy hopped back and playfully exclaimed, “I’m a witch!”
As she said this tiny little explosions of fireworks burst all around her. I
have to say, she certainly knows how to make an impression. The fireworks died
down. I turned to Janine, “Ghost.” Okay, so I’d just boned a ghost. On the
creepy scale of one to ten with one being not creepy at all and ten being naked
hot oil wrestling with a very hungry and sexually aroused
zombified
Michael Jackson…this was definitely a solid eight and a half.

           
“Well ladies, I’m real sorry to cut this short, but I
need to find Ms. Mann. I need to make my apologies, and of course take my
lumps. If I still have a job tomorrow then we’ll chat then. DD, can you take me
to her. It’s time for me to eat some crow.” DD smiled at me and I followed her
to the elevator. Janine just seemed to vaporize. Katy and
Danika
got into the elevator with us. Katy pressed level six, and
Danika
hit level five. When we stopped at level five
Danika
turned to me. “I really hope you don’t get fired.” The elevator doors closed. I
definitely shared her hopes. At level six, Katy stepped out and was halfway
down the hallway when she turned and waved to me. “See you tomorrow.” Well she
seemed sure. I wish I had her confidence. DD then punched level nine.

           
“
Grimmy
, you might want to also
apologize to Doctor
Nowitski
.” I thought it over
before shaking my head. “Oh hell no, She stuck a finger up my butt! That makes
us at least even.” DD laughed. Her chubby body jiggled. I guess she wasn’t
angry about how I’d treated
Danika
anymore. DD is
just great. “Listen
Grimmy
, I’m going back up.
Alhambra’s place is too creepy, she is on our side, but that doesn’t mean I
have to like her. We just tolerated her before, but we all pretty much hated
her once we read what she did to you and your men, and now that we we’ve met
 
you. Is there something beyond hatred?” I
smiled. She certainly has a way of making me feel better. “Really, you all hate
her that much?”

           
DD smiled, “Penny was particularly angry. I think she
likes you, but it is kind of hard to tell with her sometimes. Vampires
apparently have a very fine line between friends and food, and the more a
vampire likes you the more they want to eat you. So be careful with her before
you get in over your head, but yeah…Penny threatened to tear her throat out.
Face it
Grimmy
, you certainly made an impression…did
you really sleep with Janine?” I nodded, “I thought I was dreaming.” I felt a
little guilty considering how much DD was flirting with me. She must have
realized it. She patted me on the shoulder, “So what was it like?” I looked at
her expecting to see some sign of irritation, but instead she just stood there
smiling. There was no jealousy at all. She’s was just friendly, and naturally
flirtatious. In a word, she was awesome. “A gentleman never tells.”

           
She snorted, “And you’re a gentleman?”

           
“Hell no…but if I tell you now then what am I going to
talk about when you get me drunk. I
gotta
have at
least one good story, and you’ve already read my file so right now Janine’s all
I have.” The elevator door had been standing open for a while now. As I stepped
out of the elevator, DD slapped my ass, “Go get her
Grimmy
.”
I waved by and started to make my way down the hall to look for Elizabeth. The
elevator closed and started moving up. That’s when I heard DD yell, “Her and
her sweet, sweet ass!” Her laughter slowly faded away. I’m never living that
down…damn.

 
Elizabeth was leaning against the wall outside
a locked security door, and Alhambra must
be
 
behind
that door. I was tempted to run
around looking for a blowtorch to seal her in, but I’d pushed my luck as far as
I cared to. So I swallowed hard and said, “Ms. Mann. I want to apologize.” Her
heels clicked against the floor. “You embarrassed me in front of these women.
You treated me like a piece of meat. I have never been so insulted in all my
life.” Yep she was pissed.

           
She came to a stop in front of me. “I have never, ever,
felt so degraded, or so…turned on.” What! Before I could say anything, she
kissed me. Her lips were soft but aggressive. I felt her tongue slip past my
lips. Okay, I froze. She kept kissing me. Her nails dug into my chest. She was
making happy little moans into my mouth, and I…well I was still so confused
that I’d barely registered what was going on beyond the soft tongue probing my
mouth. When she finished I stood there with my mouth hanging open. She traced
my jaw with her fingers before closing my mouth for me.

           
“Yep…still got it.”
Elizabeth
turned and walked back to the elevator. I watched her hips swing seductively.
She rounded the corner before I gained my senses. I hurried back to the
elevator. The doors closed on us. Elizabeth and I were alone. “Okay, I’m
confused.” I waited for a response.

           
She pulled me to her, “Do you want me?” Elizabeth
breathed into my ear. My pants were straining. The zipper was painfully biting
into my erection. I nodded. “Too bad because that was as close to my sweet ass
as you’ll ever be again.” She shoved me back against the elevator. “Touch me
again and you’re fired! That is after I schedule several hours of one-on-one
training with the Jinn. You’ll be lucky if they’re able to scrape what’s left
of you off the walls when she’s done. Keep that in mind.” Elizabeth moved back
across the elevator. She leaned against the wall, and pulled out a compact to
check her makeup. “So…I’m not fired?” She looked up at me in minor annoyance.
“No, you’re not fired yet, but we are a day behind. I will have DD drop off
some folders that give all the pertinent details for your new squad. I suggest
you familiarize yourself with those folders.” I nodded; thankfully, blood was
starting to make its way back up to my brain. I still have a job, but that was
a hell of a kiss.

“Yes
Ms. Mann. I’ll make sure to be well versed in their folders. Is there anything
else ma’am?” Luckily, I was starting to get a grip on myself and return to a
professional demeanor. She smiled seductively, “Yes, if I ever choose to kiss
you…again…I expect to be kissed back.” At that, the elevator doors opened and
she walked off to her room. She didn’t even wait to hear my response. I stood
there dumbfounded. The elevator closed, and I was still standing inside
whispering, “What a complete mind fuck.” Janine faded into view. I glanced over
at her, and then at the elevator doors. I think I’m in way in over my head.

           
I left Janine in the elevator, or I guess it’s more
accurate to say I think I left her in the elevator. Who really knows since the
little spook can turn invisible. She and I were going to have a little chat
about boundaries before my next shower. If she can pop in and out, or it would
be more accurate to say appear and disappear. Then all my expectations of
privacy flushed down the toilet. She could watch me use the restroom. Would she
watch me? Well she had snuck into my bedroom and fooled me into thinking I was
having a full-blown sex fantasy. On second thought, it might not be so bad. No,
we definitely need to establish a few ground rules.

           
“Janine?” I questioned the empty hallway. “Janine?” I was
about to give up when she appeared in front of me. “Yes…is there something I
can do to…for you?” I nodded and motioned her to follow me. We both entered my
bedroom. I plopped down into a chair. My body protested. I was battered and
bruised. Nothing too bad, but I’d be stiff and sore for a few days.

           
“Listen, I don’t want you to think I didn’t enjoy your
version of a hello, but what the hell was that all about?” I tried not to sound
like a total tool, but I couldn’t completely cover up my confusion.” Janine’s
lips drew tight. “I didn’t mean to upset you. It’s been a long time since I was
alive. I forget sometimes that there are things that are perfectly acceptable
with ghosts, but are very upsetting to the living. If I’ve done something
wrong, or if I do something wrong please tell me.” She seemed genuinely sorry,
and frankly, I wasn’t mad, very confused, but certainly not mad. After all,
right up until the moment she burst into flames it was definitely an experience
that usually gets preceded by the words
Dear Penthouse, I never thought this
could happen to me.

           
“You didn’t upset me, but I would have appreciated a
warning. That bursting into flames thing is…well it’s surprising to say the
least. You can understand that right?” Janine nodded; she flickered in and out
of existence a couple of times. “Janine, don’t think I didn’t appreciate it. It
was…hot, no pun intended.” Those beautiful transparent lips lifted into a
flickering smile. “So how about explaining things to me a bit? That way I don’t
end up doing something stupid like…oh say….grabbing my boss’s ass.” Janine’s
laugh was practically musical.

           
Janine moved to the center of the floor. Taking a moment
to collect her thoughts, “I was born royalty, but as royalty goes my family
just barely qualified. We had the titles that gave us privilege, but we were
still so poor we couldn’t afford any of the normal rumors and scandals that
follow. I was the third and youngest of my father’s children. I had a brother,
and an older sister. My brother
Raol
, died when I was
very young. I was too young to know what happened, but when I asked father he
would only tell me that
Raol
got sick and died. My
sister Kara was five years older than I was. When Father married her off it was
just mother, father, and I. Kara died in childbirth early in her marriage. It
was hard on all of us, but especially Mother. She soon got sick. Father spent
what little we had on doctors and remedies, but nothing worked. Mother died a
week after my nineteenth birthday. We were poor, and father was desperate to
keep me safe. Therefore, he sent me to a convent. I didn’t want to go, but I
agreed so that it would ease Father’s burden. Two weeks after I entered the
nunnery Father’s suffering ended…by his own hand.” Her head fell. Glowing tears
fell to the floor, and immediately disappeared as if they’d never been there. I
stood up; I never could just sit somewhere and watch a woman cry. At least on
my feet, I could move around and while it wasn’t much, it did keep me from
taking her up in my arms and promising to make everything better. Whatever
happened, it was so long ago, and nothing I could do would make it better.
Therefore, I paced the room and listened.

           
Janine stared up at me with sad eyes, “My days
were…unpleasant. The nuns were very severe with me. They punished me for my appearance,
as though I had somehow chosen to look this way. They treated me as though I
was intentionally tempting men. I tried to wear heavy, baggy clothes to cover
my features. I even hid myself from men. It was then that the other nuns
started accusing me of sneaking off to seduce men. The only peace I found was
with God and prayer, and the other nuns did their best to take that away. They
interrupted my prayer time with accusations, and insults. They constantly
searched for invented lovers. When they weren’t looking for these men, they
declared their suspicions of imagined sins. They went to such lengths that I
began to believe they were gathering to fantasize about what other accusations
they could make. With each rumor, I received a new punishment, and when the
rumors continued to get worse, they finally called in a priest to investigate.
His name was Diego. He seemed kind at first, but it was all a lie.”

           
Her eyes were angry, the energy around her swirled as she
faded in and out of sight. Her shoulders stiffened and her jaw set itself with
firm resignation. “Diego, he promised to be fair. He investigated all the
rumors. I was with him the entire time. I answered every question truthfully.
His efforts didn’t take long. It quickly became apparent to him that I was a
victim of a conspiracy. My sister nuns had fallen into one of the worst habits,
a habit that has pulled down many women over the years. They had gathered to
gossip, and spread lies. The worst part is after
awhile
they’d actually begun to believe their own lies. Diego called me into his room
to advise me of his investigation. I remember crying, actually blubbering with
joy when I heard I would finally have vindication. That’s when the wicked man
tried to spring his trap. He told me that if I allowed him the comfort of my
favors that he’d release his decision tonight, but if not then he would say his
investigation was inconclusive. Inconclusive was just as bad as guilty in my
day.”

           
The room actually started flickering, and changing.
Within a few moments, I was standing in the priest’s room. I could see it all.
The old priest practically drooling over the young nun. Janine stood next to me
as I watched her illusion continue. They both moved as Janine narrated, her
voice raw with anger, “I was tempted. The other sisters had tormented me for so
long that I hesitated, and Diego…he took it as me accepting the offer.”

           
The old man reached around and took hold of Janine’s
image. His hands moving to the very places he should have left untouched. His
old, wrinkled lips buried themselves against the young girl’s neck. Janine’s
image stared out in shock. It wasn’t until he started pulling her to the bed
that she snapped out of it. They fought. The bastard slapped her. I saw Janine
flinch as if remembering the blow. The image faded away just as the old priest
began forcing the poor girl’s legs apart. I was so thankful Janine spared me
the rest. I was just glad to be standing back in my room. It was only then that
I realized the whole illusion had smelled of smoke.