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Chapter Two

July, 2010

Jessica crept down the alleyway, stalking her prey while he was doing the same in silence. Her muscles were loose and ready for anything the demon could throw at her. She heard paper rustling as it blew in the cool summer breeze, Then, from the corner of her eye, she caught a ball of light and ducked just in time to dodge a sphere of ice that smashed against the wall behind her into a million pieces. She lunged at him then, tackling him and they both went to the ground.
They rolled on the hard floor, she trying to keep him from landing any solid blows that would most likely kill. She managed to reach to her gauntlet on her left arm, pressing a button that ejected from the device a needle with a sleep concoction she had made herself. She quickly jammed it into his thigh but knew it would take a while to work and kicked him off her. He didn’t go far but it didn’t matter.
He tried to stand to rush her but his legs gave out under him and yet he tried to pull himself across the floor to get her. He pulled himself far actually and she had to applaud him for his persistence before the serum took effect completely and he fell into a drug induced sleep, laying flat on his stomach. She sauntered up to him and sat on his back because she was tired. She’d been chasing him all day.
Logicorp wanted him and she would get a raise in her salary, not that she would need it. She was living comfortably now in a condo away from the hustle and bustle of Manhattan. She worked for Logicorp to catch demons but she didn’t like them. They did things in there she had only heard about and was disgusted.
Sure they looked good on the outside, she thought to herself, slapping handcuffs on the demon and dragging him to her car. Finding cures, and solving life’s problems was what they were good at but the side normal folk never saw was the experiments to find those cures. And no inspection agent would dare step into any of the establishment around the world for fear of becoming an experiment themselves. They had their connections in the government to the highest power. The President was backed and bribed by the company as well as the Congressmen and women. There was no one who could stop them.
She locked him in the backseat and got in the front. “Work,” she said softly and the car’s engine turned over, revved up and they were on the freeway in no time. She sat back and relaxed, fiddling with her gauntlet. It was her helpful assistant doing every thing from GPS tracking, holding her infra-red and night-vision contacts to even keeping the time.
The car got them smoothly to Logicorp, having easily navigated late afternoon traffic. It pulled into the parking lot and linked its computer to the docking port on the side of the car. She pressed a silver button on the console in front of her giving her a direct link into the company’s security. “Dave, I got another one.” She said in a sing song voice.
“Jesus, Jess. Go take a god damn break and stop making us look bad.” He said, jokingly. “Alright, who is it this time?”
“It’s baby Kats.” She answered.
“Do I hear a raise in your future?” He was the head of security for Logicorp and her best friend during college. He looked wrong for the job of head of the security because he was so skinny and so tall. He looked like he could be taken down easy but obviously being the big chief; he had proved first looks wrong. “I am bringing you down.”
The platform, on which the car was parked, was sinking slowly into the ground and she hated this part. Why could they just have stupid ramps like everyone else or at least spring for lights instead on the elevator? As soon as the car’s top fell past the pavement, a patch identical to it slid over them cutting the light. She could turn on the lights in but she hadn’t because she had wanted to face her fear. She was afraid of pitch darkness. That why she always carried those tech contacts. So if a demon cut the lights she wouldn’t be caught quivering in the corner.
So far it had been working though she still jumped when she heard something clank or screech which the underground elevator always did. Finally the four tight walls opened up into a miniature military base with troops running around the place, fixing something or another or playing something with their buddies. They had tanks, helicopters, and a few fighter planes down here that had been supplied to them by the Department of Defense. She never questioned why they needed a task force like this down here and always kept her mouth shut about it above ground.
When she reached the ground, Dave greeted her warmly. Several men and women came around to her car and opened it, pulling out baby Kats and taking him to a demon detention cell proofed against their escape.
“How you been, Dave? It’s actually been a while since I saw you.”
“Not long enough. You need to take a vacation, Jess. You got bags under your eyes and guess what that means? You haven’t been listening to me as usual. Get some sleep. And I don’t mean that one hour, thirty minutes crap.”
“Well, you sure know how to talk to a woman.” She said a little offended.
“I swear if you don’t take a vacation soon, I am going to have you fired for insubordination.” He said seriously. He was worried for her physical heath as well as her sleeping habits.
“Ok, well, since you said it so nicely, I have wanted to go to France. What do you think?”
“As long as you go somewhere. Oh and I have a present for you. It’s a little too early for your birthday but…” He snapped his fingers and she heard a motor rev up. A corridor blast door opened and a Mercedes V20 came purring out of it like a cream filled cat.
She hugged him again nearly knocking him over. “Thank you so much, Dave, I love you so much.”
“Yeah, yeah. Now go!” He ordered in a stern voice. The car parked in front of her like it was programmed to do. She ran her hand along its sleek lines and fine design. She bet if it had wings it would take off easily. “We’ll take care of it while you’re gone.” He had a bashful smile when she blew him a kiss, reddening under the collar.
She was reluctant to get back in her old car. The elevator luckily goes up faster than it goes down and she was out of that place in no time at all. It detached it self from the docking hub and waited for her command. “Home,” She told it. Dave was right. She did need this. She could barely wait. She’d catch the next plane out or fly herself if she had to.

She’d arrived home and made all the appropriate calls to the airport, to the hotel she had chosen, and to her utility companies to shut off everything tomorrow afternoon. She was wholly tired and walked bare foot on the wooden surface to her bedroom and into the attached bathroom. The whole east wall was facing the city and the entire wall was glass but she was too far way for anyone to see. She had given the command for a bath and the tub plugged itself and filled with warm water to her preset temperature. She slid in the body length tub and relaxed her muscles in the liquid heat. Her eyes had started to slide close and she enjoyed a leisurely bath she very much needed.
When she had gotten out she had felt completely rejuvenated and slipped on a plush terry cloth bath robe. When she caught a glimpse of the clock on the wall in the bathroom, she started thinking about her regular schedule. At this time she would be prowling the streets like a cat looking for the rats in the city’s gutter. After that she would come home and work out and maybe she’d get in two, three hours tops of sleep before she’d be up and out again.
But this time she was just got dressed in pajamas and slept the best sleep she ever had.

Seems she hadn’t had to go to drastic measures as to flying her own plane, she contemplated. She sat in a plush and smooth chair, drinking wine and enjoying a nice meal fixed by the first-class chef. She brought a napkin to her lips to wipe off some cocktail sauce she had acquired while dining on shrimp. When she looked up she saw across from her, a man staring avidly at her actions. Usually she would have definitely gave him the finger with a little going away present consisting of a swift kick to the gluts, but she was feeling generous so she signaled him over with her eyes and her hands.
He didn’t need a second invitation. He hurriedly crossed the aisle to her. He was almost clumsy in his movements and nearly tripped getting to Jessica. He sat down in the seat next to her and held out his hand. “Hi.” His voice was a little high for her tastes and his girth a bit too large but she would amuse herself for now. She laid her hand in his palm and he lifted it to his lips. They felt slimy and she fought the urge to snatch her hand away. “So how’s the flight been treating you, angel?” He asked lecherously. He had somehow reminded her of Ted in a way. How old was he anyway? And his hand adorned a simple gold band. He was married and he was in the process of hitting on her. This was going to be…interesting.
“I have fared well so far but there is still two hours left. I would appreciate your company if you don’t mind.” She fluttered her eyes coquettishly while using the southern accent she had accidentally acquired in Louisiana while in college.
“Oh, of course. Would you come with me, please?” he inquired regally as a rat in a New York alley. He held out his arm and she wrapped hers around it, letting him lead her to where ever. She couldn’t be in any harm from an ordinary old buzzard. It’s not like he was a demon. And that stayed in her mind as he led her upstairs where first class bedrooms were. She was being too paranoid. Why would a demon follow her on a plane just to her?
He got out his card key with shaking hands and swiped it. The green light on the device flashed twice and then locks clicked open. She went ahead of him, swinging her hips back and forth for the old geezer’s old eyes. She kept her back turned as she talked. “So what’s your name?”
“Oh, baby you remember me don’t you?” The voice changed half way through the sentence to a sound she had ingrained in the back of her head. She spun around and there, standing tall at about 6’9” was Van. “What are you doing here?” She asked a little panic. Of all the ones to follow her on the plane, it had to be him.
“Thanks. I am flattered and, my Jessica, I have missed you so much. I had hungered to see you again. It’s been ten years and still you look beautiful.” He whispered, though it could have been right in her ear. His smooth smoky voice brought back images of the house burning, of her and him in the bedroom, in the car.
“Well, Van you had better find a slut to slake your lust. I am not at your service.” She spat angrily. The nerve of him to even think that he could come right around all of a sudden and shake up her world. “Why are you here anyway?”
He replied haughtily. “I heard you were talking a vacation and I thought I could use one as well. And besides, I think a vacation is best for our needs.”
“Oh, really,” she said lamely.
He laughed. “Maybe my needs right now but I believe that by the end of our time off from our ‘work’ our, us and we will be used quite often between us. Like we will make our bodies tremble to celebrate us. And speaking of work, are you carting off my kind to time out because you’re mad at me? Because if you are, you had better stop. Demons know you and they will be looking for you. You are creating enemies.” He was serious and tense.
“Are you saying you care?” She asked, sarcastically.
“Indeed.” She hadn’t expected the answer and was thrown off guard. “Now should we start this now,” he asked gesturing to the bed, “or should we wait until we get off the plane as to prevent the aircraft from going through turbulence? Either way, I promise, you will enjoy it.”
She had to stay cool under his burning glare. “Well, of course, Van, I would love to but I have this policy that strictly forbids me from dating bastards, more or less sleep with them.”