Heaven's Rejects - Episode 4

Episode 4 – “Hello Darkness"

Previously:

Me and Demona found where Team Six set up.  Turns out, they had found a pattern of disappearances and found out there were ghouls around.  Now we're trying to stop them from coming out and eating everyone in Des Moines.  Fun times to be had by all.

Now

Nadia pulled the minivan to a stop in front of the police roadblock.  "Ian, you're with me.  Everyone else, stay here."  She got out of the van and strode towards the police officer.  "You!  I need your supervisor!"

The officer stepped forward to stop the woman.  "You can't be here."

"You're telling me.  Wallach."  Nadia hooked a thumb in Ian's direction.  "Markowitz.  CDC."

"What?"

"Center for Disease Control."

"No one told me you were coming.  I need some ID."

Nadia flashed an exasperated look at Ian.  "No one told you?  I don't believe this.  A major breakout and no one told you we were coming."  She pulled out her leather ID case and handed it to the cop.  "Here.  And get a supervisor here."

The officer clicked his radio.  "Dispatch, this is Four-Zero-Four Adam.  I need an officer in charge at my location."

"Four-Zero-Four Adam, informing officer in charge," a woman's voice said over the tinny radio speaker.  "What is the problem?"

"Is that encrypted?" Nadia asked.  "Not a word unless it's encrypted.  Do you want to start a panic?"

Keeping an eye on Nadia, the officer answered, "Yeah, Dispatch, it's related to the investigation.  The sooner someone can get here, the better.  Four-Zero-Four Adam, out."  He let go of the radio.  "Okay, look, Miss--"

"Wallach."  Nadia nodded at the ID in the cop's hand.  "No disrespect here, but this is well above your pay grade."

The police officer checked the ID under the light of a streetlamp.  "I can't let you in there.  It's an active crime scene."

"No kidding."

"What does the CDC have to do with anything here?"

Nadia took back her ID.  "I wish I could say.  Right now, it's all conjecture.  Wouldn't do to get anyone in a panic.  Just tell me this, when was the last time you got a flu shot?"

"A flu shot?"  The officer's eyes widened.

Ian shook his head.  "It wouldn't matter anyway."

Nadia turned to face her partner.  "It might.  Depends on the strain being inoculated against."

"Are you saying that--"

Nadia cut off the officer.  "I'm not saying anything."

The cop thumbed his radio.  "Dispatch, this is Four-Zero-Four Adam.  What's the ETA for the officer in charge?"

"Four-Zero-Four Adam, ETA is ten minutes," the dispatcher replied.

Ian made a show of looking at his watch.  "Too long."

Nadia wiped her hands on her black jeans.  "This is cutting it close, man.  We don't have enough hazmat suits in the van."

The officer mouthed the words, "Hazmat suits?"  He clicked his radio again.  "Dispatch, Four-Zero-Four Adam.  Can you ask the officer in charge to hurry?  Lights and siren."

"Lights and siren," the dispatcher echoed.

"Four-Zero-Four Adam, out."  The cop turned his attention back to Nadia.  "This isn't dangerous, is it?  I mean, yeah, it's dangerous, but deadly dangerous?"

"Would we be here at midnight if it wasn't?"  Nadia put her hand on the cop's shoulder.  "Look, I know you're just doing your job and, let's face it, it's not like being a police officer is an easy career.  Right now, this is so far above your pay grade that it's not funny."  The sound of a siren grew louder as it approached.  "That must be your supervisor."

A few minutes later, a black and white SUV with police markings screeched to a stop, red and blue lights strobing.  The driver, dressed in plainsclothes, killed the siren before getting out.  She stepped out of her SUV.  "Officer Dalrymple?"

The cop stepped over to the plainsclothed officer.  "Here, ma'am.  These people are from the CDC."

The officer in charge walked over to Nadia.  "What the hell is the CDC doing here?"

"Preventing an epidemic," Nadia said.  She held out her hand.  "Nadia Wallach.  My partner's Ian Markowitz."

The newcomer shook Nadia's hand.  "Sergeant Sheila von Belloq."

"Sergeant, I need to get my team in there, now."

"I need paperwork for that.  That's an active crime scene, Ms Wallach."

"It's going to become an active hot zone if we don't go in."  Nadia put her arm around the sergeant's shoulders to lead her away from Officer Dalrymple.  "How many people have you lost in there since the investigation started?"

Sergeant von Belloq blinked.  "How did--?"

"Just disappeared, right?"  Nadia shook her head, her ponytail bobbing with the movement.  "I need your people out of there.  Pull them out to the outer roadblocks.  Because what's in there?  It doesn't care who it gets."

"You're not really with the CDC."

"No, but it means things can be kept quiet.  The civilians won't know what's going on and make your job impossible.  I've got more people coming, but right now?  We're it.  We're the ones who can do the most good."

Sergeant von Belloq turned to face Nadia.  "And how can I trust you?  You have no paperwork, fake ID, how do I know your name is really Nadia Wallach?"

"That's it, right?  I can't give you assurances.  I can't tell you that it's going to be safe.  The last thing you need is me and my team arriving on your watch, yet, here we are.  This might be above your pay grade, like I was telling your guy there, but you got rank."

"My parents told me to go into something else, something less stressful."  The sergeant let out a long breath.  "Go.  Go do what you need to do.  I don't need to trust you.  The only way out is through a roadblock and I'll have my people keep an eye out for you leaving."

Nadia smiled.  "That's all I need.  Sergeant, you may have saved thousands of lives just now."  She turned on her heel.  "Ian, time to go!"

Sergeant von Belloq pulled out her radio.  "All units in the warehouse distract, this is Supervisor Five-One-Six.  Pull out of the crime scene to the roadblocks and wait for further orders."  She lowered the handset.  "Dalrymple!  Move your car and let them through."

Dalrymple ran to his car.  Getting inside, he drove it far enough to let the minivan through.  He remained inside as Ian and Nadia returned to the van.  As she maneuvered the vehicle through the gap, Nadia waved at the police officers.  "We're in.  Weapons check when we get to ground zero.  There's no turning back now."

With Nadia keeping the van at the speed limit, the drive to centre of the explosion took another ten minutes.  Nadia parked the van and ushered everyone out.  Ian ran to the back to open the rear doors.  He opened his gym bag, revealing a selection of weapons from swords to firearms.  "Demona," he called.

Demona walked over to join Ian.  She stared at the collection of weapons.  "Wow."

"I'll make it easy for you."  Ian picked up a holstered semi-automatic pistol.  "Here.  Use both hands when you shoot.  Don't get fancy.  Safety's here, leave it on until you're ready to shoot.  And for the love of whatever you find holy, make sure you have a clear shot before you pull the trigger.  If you start shooting a ghoul, don't stop until it goes down or you're out of ammunition.  Got it?"

"Safety on, no trick shots, and don't shoot you or Nadia."  Demona looked up at Ian.  "I think I've got it.  What if I run out of bullets?"

Ian grabbed several spare magazines.  "I'll worry about that.  Nadia, your usual?"

Nadia walked around the camera crew to get to the back of the van.  "Yeah."  She brought her Star of David out from under her shirt.  Ian passed her a small revolver and two prepared speed-loaders.  "Ready?"

"Just about."  Ian strapped his Spanish smallsword around his waist, then picked up a machine pistol.  "Usual approach?  Me first, you covering, everyone else in back?"

"Hasn't failed us yet," Nadia said.  She turned to Demona and the camera crew.  "Stay behind me and Ian.  Do exactly what we say and you might survive this.  Whatever you do, don't run off.  Not even to come back here.  Understood."

Demona nodded.  "Understood."

Nadia attached her holster to her belt, adjusting it so that her revolver was both out of the way and easy to reach.  "Let's go."  She took the lead to the blast site.  Ian shone a flash light over the rubble.  After a few minutes, she found what she was looking for.  "Over there."  Nadia pointed at a shallow hole begun by the crime scene investigators.

Ian picked up a nearby shovel, using it to tap at the dirt at the bottom of the hole.  On the fourth tap, a thunk came from below the debris.  He cleared the dirt with the shovel, revealing the remains of a wooden trap door.  Ian grabbed the edge and pulled the door open.  Long gouges could be seen on the under side.  He shone his flashlight down, revealing broken steps.  "We'll need rope."

Nadia ran back to the van, returning moments later with a coil of yellow nylon rope.  She threw it down into the darkness below.

Demona took a few tries to find her voice.  "How are we getting down there?  I thought you were going to tie it to something up here."

"That's for later," Nadia said.  "There's no way I'm leaving a way for those little pischers to get out.  They can find their own way."  She peered into the darkness.  "How far down do you think, Ian?"

"It's not the distance," the mountain of a man replied.  "It's what's at the bottom.  I don't want to bet on the staircase being flat at the end of the drop."

"Point."

"Demona, take the flashlight."  Ian passed off the light source to the former librarian.  "Hold it up so I can see where I'm going.  Nadia, cover me."  He waited long enough to let both women get into place before he swung his legs into the hole.  The wooden skeleton of the staircase creaked under his mass, but Ian reached the bottom without incident.  He pulled out his machine pistol.  "Nadia."

Nadia put away her pistol.  She followed the same path her partner had, this time without stressing the wood.  She let herself drop the final two feet, landing in a crouch.  For a moment, she held her breath, trying to hear any movement around.  "We're clear.  Ian, help them down.  I'll keep watch."

Demona came down next.  At Ian's insistence, she jumped down, trusting him to catch her.  The camera crew took more effort.  The video camera was lowered first, one of the crew on his belly to get the gear as far down as possible before releasing it to fall into Demona's arms.  The crew scrambled down after, getting set up as Nadia stepped over what was left of a door jamb.

The hallway beyond stretched in two direction.  The flashlight couldn't reveal either end, only holding the darkness back several yards.  Nadia stiffened.  "Do you feel that?"

"Feel what?" Demona asked.  She winced at the loudness of her voice.

"I've got nothing," Ian said.

Nadia closed her eyes and turned in a slow circle.  "There's some sort of magic here."  She stopped turning.  Opening her eyes,she found herself facing the wall at an angle.  She pointed down the hall.  "This way."

"What sort of magic?" Demona asked.

"Not sure.  Not one I've run into before."

Ian drew his smallsword before taking the lead.  Nadia fell in two strides behind him.  Demona gave them even more space before following.  The walls were cracked and, in some places, falling down.  At the end of the hall, though, Ian's flashlight was reflected by a piece of glass.  With caution, the group approached the reflection.  The light caught part of a wooden frame, and as the group grew closer, they saw a portrait of a man in uniform, his face thin with a patchy beard.

Nadia turned to Demona.  "Recognize him?"

Demona ran a finger against the glass protecting the portrait.  "Not at all.  I think that's a Confederate uniform, though."  She looked at her finger.  "No dust."

Ian ran the light over the portrait.  "No cracks in the glass.  The explosion should have destroyed it.  How old is this?"

"I can't tell in this light," Demona said.  "You might have to send it to an art expert to be sure."

Nadia held her hand up in front of the potrait.  "Some of the magic is here."  She slammed her hand on the glass.  Nothing happened to the potrait beneath.  "Protection magic of a sort."

"Okay.  Does that me we have to destroy the painting?"

"No.  I doubt we could with what we have."  Nadia pulled on the painting.  It remained on the wall.  "This isn't the source."

A groan caught everyone's attention.  Ian moved to put himself further around the corner.  He transfered his smallsword to his left hand.  His right drew out his machine pistol.  Nadia grabbed Demona's arm and pulled her away, throwing her back out of sight.

"Two ghouls," Ian said.  He fired a quick burst.  "One ghoul."  Ian held down the trigger for two seconds.  "They're down."

Nadia drew a long knife from her boot.  "Finish them."  She ran over to one of the ghouls lying on the ground and plunged the blade into the back of its neck.  The ghoul twitched for an instant, then lay still.

Ian ran over to the other fallen ghoul.  WIth a quick slash of his smallsword, he removed the ghoul's head from its shoulders.  For good measure, he punted the head away.  "We're clear?"

Twisting her knife one last time, Nadia pulled the blade out of the ghoul's neck.  "It's down."  She wiped the blade clean of blood using the ghoul's wool jacket.  "Let's go, people!"

Demona walked around the corner.  She stopped on seeing the bodies.  "Are they . . .?"

"You've never seen a dead body before?" Nadia asked.

"Excuse me for living in a safe neighbourhood."  Demona kept her distance as she walked past the bodies of the ghouls, never taking her eyes off them.  Noticing the clothes, she said, "Can you turn one of them over?"

"We don't have the time.  If you want to look, you turn it over."

"I just need to see the insignia."

Ian rolled the headless body over.  "Demona, here."  He ignored the glower coming to him from Nadia.

Demona crouched near the body.  "Definitely Confederate."

"What does that have to do with anything?" Nadia asked.

"Iowa didn't have any major battles.  The state was divided, but it supplied food to the Union."  Demona looked down at the ghoul's body.  "Can you tell me why he's wearing a Confederate uniform?  Because I can't.  I don't know anything about ghouls and their fashion sense."

"You said the guy in the painting also had a Confederate uniform?"

"I did."

"Nadia, guns aren't quiet," Ian said.  "We better get moving."

"Yeah."  Nadia closed her eyes for a moment.  "This way."  She strode deeper into the darkness, stepping outside the beam coming from the video camera.

Ian followed in her footsteps.  "I don't suppose you can tell how many ghouls are waiting for us."

"No, but if we could've gotten into the computer you found at Team Six's house, we might."

Demona sighed.  "I'm not a hacker.  I tried the obvious passwords and they didn't work."

"Nadia, we go in with what we have," Ian said.  "We never have perfect information.  Isn't that what you always tell me?"

"Oh, shut up, Ian."  Nadia picked up her pace.

The group continued deeper into the underground structure.  The further away they got from ground zero of the explosion, the more intact the walls and floors were.  The sounds of movement - heavy, slow footsteps - grew louder, but no ghouls appeared.  Nadia drew her revolver, gripping it tight.  Demona put her hand on the butt of her holstered pistol.  Ahead, light leaked through the cracks around a door.  Ian crept up to the door on the balls of his feet, stopping to the side.  He looked back at Nadia.  The woman held up her left hand, pointing the palm at the door.  She pushed out, calling, "Brekhn efenen!"  The door buckled, then snapped in half, both pieces flying into the room beyond.

Ian stepped into the doorway, machine pistol out.  "Clear!"  He stepped aside to let Nadia and Demona enter.

The room's source of light was a pair of lamps on a table.  Between them, a heavy book sat open to a page half filled with handwriting, each letter deliberately formed.  Demona darted into the room and over to the book.  Nadia reached out to stop her.  "Hey, careful!  We don't know what's been written."

"I'm not going to summon anything," Demona said.  She skimmed the last paragraph on the page.  "It's a diary."

"That doesn't make it any better."

Demona flipped back a page, taking care to not damage the aged paper.  "The last entry is from late July, 1863.  The writing rambles.  Really good penmanship.  I've never seen madness be so neat."

Nadia joined Demona at the table.  "What do you mean, 'madness'?"

"Whoever wrote this is either insane, or he's found a way to magically sustain a small army.  Which is insane, too, but in a different way.  But look, here."  Demona pointed at a sentence.  "'They will all pay for their insolence,' isn't what I'd call a stable frame of mind.  At least he only used three exclamation marks there."

"I'm sure this is a news flash for you, but people who dabble with foul magic tend to unhinged already.  Keep reading.  Fast.  I need to know what's in there."

Ian checked the room's remaining door, opposite the table.  "We'll need to bar this way if we're going to be here long."

"We're not going to be long."  Nadia took a quick look back the way they came.  "We might get out of this alive."

As Demona read, Nadia paced around the room.  Ian took up a position at the closed door, tensed for anything that may come through.  The minutes dragged, the only sound in the room was Demona turning pages.  She closed the book.  "As someone who knows about the supernatural, I just want to say that that was the craziest thing I've ever read."

Nadia rolled her hand in the air, trying to hurry the former librarian.  "Get to the point, already."

"The guy in the painting is General Martin Green.  He was at the Siege of Vicksburg, defending it against the North.  While there, one of his officers, Lieutenant Luther Harrison, and this is his diary, had an idea to try to break the Union's siege.  He didn't tell Green everything.  Harrison's plan was to use magic, and he spells it with a K at the end, to destroy key supplies, like food.  No food, no siege, makes sense right?"  Demona shook her head.  "Except the spell didn't work right.  Instead of a plague of pests, he plagued his own soldiers.  The siege ends, Green gets shot, and Harrison loses the last thread of his sanity.  He rounds up his ghouls and heads north.  He chooses Iowa because the state's feeding the Union Army."

"That explains why the ghouls are acting odd," Ian said.

"There's something else," Demona said.  "There's something he calls a 'madstone' around here.  It's sustaining the curse, which is supposed to end when the South wins its freedom."

"Of course it is," Nadia muttered.

"Something went wrong and he doesn't know what, so he got tied into the madstone, which is supposed to sustain his creations."  Demona picked up the book.  "And that's about when he becomes a madman.  That's all there is."

"How do we destroy the madstone?" Ian asked.

"I didn't see anything in the book."

"There's a way," Nadia said.  "If it's man-made, it can be man-broken.  Ian, take lead."

Ian opened the door enough to see what lay beyond.  "Too dark on the other side.  I didn't hear anything, though."

"Good enough."

Ian opened the door wide.  The light from the video camera illunimated the hallway beyond, revealing a number of rifles and muskets mounted on the walls.  As he walked down the hall, Ian picked up a rifle.  "Nadia, if these work, there's a small fortune here.  Hell, even if they don't work, I'm sure a collector would pay for these."

"We can get souvenirs on our way back."

With a wistful sigh, Ian placed the rifle back on its mount.  "Just saying, Nadia."

"I get it, man, but we've got other priorities."

The hallway ended with another door.  Groans and shuffling could be heard from the other side.  A bang came from the door.  Nadia and Ian stood together, weapons out and aimed.  A talon poked through the door, ripping a gash through the wood.  A claw burst through the door, grabbed a chuck of wood and pulled.  As the ghoul fought to widen the opening, Nadia took aim.  Her revolver erupted with sound and fury.  The ghoul fell back.  A second one took its place, continuing the first's removal of the door.

The door collapsed.  Two ghouls tried to get through the doorway at once.  Ian flicked the safety of his machine pistol off, then pulled the trigger.  The bursts were deafening, but effective.  One ghoul fell, then the other.  Another moved in to take their place.  Ian shot off another burst.  The ghoul spun backwards but didn't fall.  Without hesitation, Ian fired again, hitting the ghoul in the chest.

Nadia dashed forward.  She shot the first two fallen ghouls in the head, then darted back as a newcomer raked out at her.  Ian leapt in between his partner and her attacker, chopping at the ghoul's arm with his sword.  "There's too many," he said.

"We have a choice?"  Nadia pushed out with her left arm, yelling, "Groys vint!"  A gust of wind blew through the open doorway, pushing the ghouls away and slamming them against the wall.  "Get 'em!"

Ian charged through to the next room, swinging his sword.  Several ghouls were cut down before they could recover from Nadia's spell.  One tried to grab Ian only to lose both of its arms.  He kicked that ghoul away to get enough space to raise his machine pistol.  One burst went into the disarmed ghoul.  A second burst stopped another ghoul in its tracks.  Ian dropped his now empty machine pistol.  With a turn that flared his long coat, he extended his sword, the blade biting deep into a wounded ghoul.

With Ian the only being still standing in the room, he lowered his sword.  Two of the ghouls tried to get up.  Ian plunged his sword through one, pinning it to the floor.  Nadia shot the other in the head, ending its struggles.  She dumped the expended ammunition out of the revolver, then reloaded.  Ian retrieved his dropped firearm.  "We need a faster way to kill these things," he said.

"Destroy the madstone,"  Demona entered the chamber, her eyes wide.  "It was set up to sustain them, according to the diary."

"We're going to need more than just us."  Ian swapped out his machine pistol's empty magazine for a new one.  "We're going to run into larger numbers.  At some point, they'll just overwhelm us."

Nadia leaned against the wall.  "We have to do something, Ian."

"There's something, and then there's getting eaten because we kept going."

Demona coughed.  "What happens when you get bit by a ghoul?"

"You lose a chunk of flesh," Nadia answered.  "It's not getting bit once.  It's getting dragged down and being eaten alive that's the problem."

"Besides that, there's nothing else.  No one gets turned into a ghoul who then starts attacking their former friends or anything like that?"

"Nothing like that," Ian said.  "Why?"

Demona ignored the question.  "How fast do they run?"

"Fast enough.  Demona, you're not--"

"Someone has to distract them.  You two know what you're doing.  I don't.  This wasn't even a five minute aside by a rambling professor.  But I can run.  All I need to do is stay out of reach, right?  That should buy you both enough time to do what you need to do."

"Works for me," Nadia said.

Ian turned to face both women.  "No, wait, we can't let Demona do this."

"Got a better idea?  Ian, she'll take the heat off us."

"No, nothing."

"It's settled.  Tell the Chief what we're doing.  If this goes wrong, the next team needs to know what it's up against."

Ian took out his smartphone.  He grimaced.  "Half a bar."  He tapped out a message.  After a few long moments, he said, "Sent."

Nadia resumed walking.  "Good.  One problem solved.  Let's get the rest done."  She closed her eyes.  "We're not far."

Resuming their trek, the group continued deeper into the Confederate hideout.  The rifles mounted on the walls gave way to paintings of farms.  Ahead, green light pulsed.  Shadows passed over the sickly light, never completely hiding it.  A double door stood between the light source and the group.  Demona set down the diary along the wall then walked up to the door.  She took out her borrowed pistol.  "Wish me luck?"

"Good luck."  Nadia patted the former librarian on the shoulder.  "And try not to trip."

"Thanks."

Nadia stepped away from the door.  Ian matched her on the other side of the hall.  After a count of three, Nadia cast her wind gust spell to blow open the double doors.  Demona stepped into the doorway.  "Hey, ugly!  And your brother!  All of you!"  With the pistol held in both hands, the young woman started shooting, not stopping even when the gun clicked empty.  "Think you can catch me?  Let's see you try!"  Demona took a few steps backwards, making sure the ghouls in the room were following, then turned and ran back down the hall.  Ian counted eight ghouls chasing the young woman.  He drew his smallsword and charged into the room.  Three ghouls remained, protecting the source of the green light, a piece of agate the size of Nadia's fist.

Without a word, Ian moved in, sword swinging.  Blue-white light flickered along the blade, shining brighter than the agate.  The first of the ghouls swiped at Ian, its talon catching hold of his long coat.  The mountain of a man shrugged his left arm out, giving him space to step away from the ghoul.  He countered, slashing low.  The blade cut through the ghoul's hamstring.  The monster fell.  The other two ghouls lurched towards Ian, splitting up to get him in between them.  Ian thrust his blade at one, then the other, keeping them from getting too close.

Nadia crept up beside one.  She raised her revolver to its head.  "Hey."  When the ghoul turned to look at her, she shot.  The monster fell back with half its head gone.  "Ian, when you're done playing?"

"Working on it."  Ian plunged his smallsword into the remaining ghoul's chest.  It twitched as electricity coursed through its body.  The smell of burning meat filled the room.  Ian pulled his sword out.  The ghoul collapsed.  "There."

"Thanks."  Nadia stepped over to the agate.  Without touching it, she examined the stone.  The green light came from within, oozing through the layers.  Nadia closed her eyes, opening herself to the flow of magic coming from the agate.  She felt the eddies, the discontinuities within the captured magic.  With a few whispered words, she adjusted the flow, trying to fold it back on itself.

A hammering from the room's other door broke her concentration.  From the other side, Demona called, "Open the door!  Open the door!"  Ian pulled the door open.  Demona ran through.  "Close it!  Close it!"

One he slammed the door shut, Ian shoved a chair under the doorknob.  "What happened?"

"I went in a circle."

"So much for the distraction," Nadia muttered.

"I had a choice, go in a circle or take the way up and out.  I didn't want those things following me out."

Something slammed against the door on the other side.  The bangs grew in loudness and frequency.  Ian looked over to Nadia.  "We'll hold them off.  You worry about the stone."

Nadia turned back to the agate.  She closed her eyes again.  After a couple of deep breaths, she was back in the flow of magic.  The feel of it wasn't familiar, but it wasn't old, not one from deep.  The source wasn't far.  Working against the flow, Nadia travelled to the source.  A man in a Confederate officer's uniform stared at her.  "You schmuck."

"Who is there?" the man called.  "Identify yourself!"

"I'm the one who's here to get you to knock all your shit and just go."

The man peered.  "A woman?  Do you have any idea who you're talking to?"

"Lieutenant Shmendrick or something like that.  You're done here, okay?  Time to just let things go."

"That's Lieutenant Harrison, of the 20th Arkansas Infantry Regiment.  Has the Confederacy won?"  Harrison drew himself to his full height.

"What do you call a win?"

Harrison adjusted his uniform.  "An independant South, free from the carpetbagger Yankees."

Nadia shook her head.  "I'm not even going to start getting into that mess.  Right now?  What you want isn't even possible.  Just let it go already.  Move on."

"The South will rise again."

"You're getting bupkes here.  I don't know how you managed to work the magic here, but I can tell you that I will break it.  You can fight me, make one last grand stand that no one will ever hear about because I will make sure that no one ever hears of your futile gesture, or you can just go.  Leave.  The war is over.  Long over.  Everyone involved on both sides is dead.  Why keep fighting for a dead cause?"

"You have no concept of honour, ma'am."

"Maybe, but do you know what I do have a concept of?"  Nadia gave the officer a grim smile.  "I know what it's like to fight.  Honour is great between two people.  In a war?  That's the first thing tossed out the window.  Soldiers fight to survive.  And that's what I am, a soldier.  The only reason why I'm giving you this chance is for your sake, not mine."  Faint gunfire rang.  "Hear that?  That's my partner.  He has in his hand right now more firepower than your entire regiment could dream of.  Want this to stop?  Want to help your troops?  Walk away."

Harrison marched up to Nadia.  "And if I say no?"

Nadia put her hands on Harrison's shoulders.  "This."  She gripped hard, focusing the flow of magic into the Confederate officer.  White light flowed from her into him.  Harrison tried to step back, but Nadia's grip was too strong.  "You had a chance.  You just didn't take it."  The light grew brighter.  Nadia never took her gaze away from Harrison's.  Bit by bit, Harrison turned into a shaft of light, then faded.  "Rest in peace."

When Nadia opened her eyes, the only light came from the camera.  She looked around.  At the door, ghouls were in a pile, not moving.  The agate only reflected the light from the video camera.  "Anyone injured?"

"I need a new coat."  Ian poked a finger through a rent in his long coat.  "You cut that close, Nadia."

"Some people can be so stubborn."  Nadia turned to Demona.  "What about you, kid?"

Demona leaned against the wall, trying to catch her breath.  "I'm okay.  I think.  What happened?  The stone stopped shining and the ghouls just, just dropped."

"I cut off the magic sustaining them.  You said there was a way out?"

"Yeah."

"Get what you want from here, then we leave.  Ian, let the Chief know once we're out."  Nadia put her hands on the table on either side of the agate.  "And let him know there's an artifact that needs to be picked up."

-**-

This is why people should leave magic well enough alone.  One mistake and the intent is perverted.  Not that it helped that Lieutenant Dumbass wanted to screw around with others.  That's why the Agency exists.  That's why they have people like me and Ian.  We clean up the messes.

And the kid, she's not so bad.  For a half-demon.  She did something really brave.  Stupid, but brave.  Give her time and she'll make a decent agent, even if she's better in research.  What?  What do you mean she's only a year younger than me?

That was the most excitement I've had in a long time.  Dark hideaway, ghouls chasing me, just wait until I can tell people what happened.  And Nadia and Ian do this for a living.  I don't think I'll be able to keep up with them.

Clean up duty is never fun.  I'm going to miss Team Six.  At least we found out why they went with explosions.  Too bad it had to happen.  Never mess with magic, kids.  Bad things happen.

Next Week:

Yes!  Finally, a real city!

It's been a while since I've been there.

I can't go to Las Vegas!