Ghost Driver

He started yelling as I noticed that several of the vampires and other creatures had noticed the women. Some of them were watching curiously, while others were running away in abject terror.

And then SHE entered the fray. SHE being the woman who'd told me that I didn't need to fear her. She covered the space between where she was and the three women so quickly I had difficulty believing it.

She slammed into the big woman knocking her back several feet. The sound of their bodies impacting sounded almost like flesh being struck by wood. The big woman, as I said moved backwards, but she managed to hold onto her mace.

She felt the impact even through her heavy green leathers. The clash had knocked her hood back and revealed short but very stylish red hair and milky skin. Despite her freakish size, the woman was pretty in a giant white Halle Berry style.

She gritted her teeth and swung the mace with all of her might against the vampire. The vamp's unnatural speed and reach allowed her to catch the descending weapon and stop it in place. She smiled, just as the woman with the sword launched her attack. The vamp half turned while still holding the mace and caught the sword in her other hand.

"Shit, you little bitch. You cut me," she hissed. She snatched the sword from the smaller woman's hand and smashed it against the ground. The sword's handle shattered, and the blade bent. The vamp flung the sword as if it was an afterthought. The remains of the weapon flew away so quickly and so far that I couldn't track it.

A crossbow bolt hissed towards the she vamp, but she twisted her body and avoided them.

She was still locked to the big woman who was using all of her strength and both hands to hold onto her weapon. The vamp turned to her and brought her other hand to bear.

The big woman in green was amazing. As the vamp's barely superior strength began to dominate and threatened to take her weapon away from her, she suddenly let go of it. The vampire continuing to pull on the mace, slammed the weapon into her own face, much harder than her opponent could have managed.

She took off running after the big woman who appeared to be retreating. But as the vampire fully engaged her speed and started to gain on the bigger woman, she pivoted, dropped to her knee, and threw a handful of razor-sharp throwing stars directly into the vampire's face.

The vamp screamed in agony, and her face started smoking. Obviously the throwing stars, like the crossbow bolts were treated or blessed. The vamp's skin melted off of her face, and she appeared to have lost one of her eyes as well.

But the fight was not without its merits for the vampire. The other vamps and off creatures had seen that the three women, although faster and stronger than normal, were only human. They began to close in, with Agravon acting as a facilitator and urging them on.

"Get those bitches," he yelled. "There are at least eight of you. Francesca took them all on alone and nearly beat them."

The three women converged and started backing towards the exit. They realized that they couldn't take on all the creatures aligned against them. There were also lots of humans working with Agravon for whatever reasons or whatever promises he'd made them.

The big woman in the green leather picked up her mace from where Francesca had dropped it. She tapped the weapon against her boot with her left hand as if cleaning it, but it was a distraction. Her right hand shot out, and she threw a single throwing star so fast it was almost invisible.

The heavy metal missile embedded itself in the forehead of another vampire. This one was far younger and far weaker than Francesca. The star penetrated his skull, and the blessed metal lodged itself in his brain. His head exploded, and his body dropped to the ground. He was dead before he fell.

"Sister Penance, where did you get those from," asked the sword woman who now held only her small shield and a dagger she'd pulled from one of her boots."

"Jason gave me a bunch of them while we were in Chicago," said the big woman. "He makes them on something called a CNC machine and has them blessed by a priest that he knows."

There were still seven vampires and who knows what else inching towards the women. Agravon laughed with glee and for some reason, I could hear his laughter over the sound of the music. Another astonishing thing was that although a lot of the kids had begun to pay attention to the mayhem happening around them, it was a relatively small number, and most of them were in the immediate area of the struggle. The over whelming majority of them simply kept dancing to the ridiculously loud music.

As I looked around, the creatures managed to cut off the women's escape route. They ended up with their backs against a solid wall.

"Bring it," grumbled the big one. Her smile told me everything. She wanted to fight. She obviously loved combat. And even if she lost. Even if she paid the ultimate price on this night her opponents would never be the same. She would take many of them with her. Even the ones who survived would remember her forever. The damage she had done to Francesca was evidence of that.

So even with overwhelming numbers the creatures were hesitant to attack. Agravon continued to urge them on. He had reverted to use the powers of influence and persuasion that he used on humans to get them to riot and to ignore what was going on around them.

His powers were slowly influencing the creatures. He boosted their confidence and promised them untold rewards. The attack was coming, and I had the feeling that it would be epic. I was too rapt on the events playing themselves out even to try to run away, which was my instinct at the moment.

I was fascinated by the nuns, especially the big one they called Penance. I wanted a name like hers and leather like hers. Shit, I wanted to be her.

And then it all went to hell. There was a sound like the growl of some unspoken hell beast rending the air. A car drove up against the chain-link fence that enclosed the compound. We could all see it from where we were. The car drove on tires of blue flame. It was surrounded by the same blue flames. And suddenly, the driver got out of the car.

He looked across the area at Agravon. "Time for you to go home," he said in a voice that was as cold as the grave, but hot as hell at the same time.

The voice reminded me of rustling leaves. Its tone spoke of the certainty of the outcome. I heard Agravon's voice telling me to come to him and quickly. I knew what Agravon could do with his voice, but this was the first time I had ever had it directed towards me. And the way he used it with me was different. I realized that he had no power over me. So where with most, he could compel them to his way of thinking, he had to convince me.

I also realized that Agravon had powers he had yet to reveal. At that moment he was carrying on two mental campaigns at the same time. He was trying to convince me to come to him for reasons I still didn't understand. Was it that he sensed my growing fear of both him and his plans or did he need me for something.

"Come to me Callie, quickly," his voice was so clear in my head that it was as if he was yelling to me. "And bring Francesca."

At the same time, he was compelling the remaining vamps and other assorted weirdos as well as any of the assembled masses of humanity in the area to forget about the nuns and attack the flaming man.

One of the braver ... Stupider vamps bared his fangs and leaped at the flaming race car driver or whatever he was. It was like a suicide attempt. The driver grabbed him by the throat and lifted him in the air. He brought the hissing, flailing vampire face to face ... Okay face to helmet with him and stared into his eyes.

The vampire stopped moving as if he had fallen into a trance. He started crying like a baby and then burst into flames. The driver dropped him on the ground forming a puddle of flesh awash in blue fire.

Agravon's voice in my mind made me see reason.

"Callie, the driver is the devil's messenger boy. He wants to take me back to hell. If they're pissed that I got out of the pit, what will they do to the person who got me out?" I ran towards the stage grabbing a still moaning Francesca and dragging her with me.

Behind me, the driver was ripping through vampires like a fat kid goes through chicken wings.

"Callie, get us out of here," snarled Agravon.

"How," I asked.

"Open a portal," he said.

"Spells like that take weeks of preparation," I whined.

"Not with your power," he snarled. "And here I can give you as much energy as you need. Take my hand and take everything I have. Just get us the fuck out of here."

I closed my eyes and forgot about spells and preparation. I forgot about ingredients and brews and rituals. I squeezed Agravon's hand and Francesca's too. I opened my mind and winked us out of there.

* * * * * *

Praise

I don't know how I felt. On one hand, I helped to take out a vampire. Although it's true, it was a younger, less powerful one. But I helped. Patience, Penance, and I worked effectively as a team. That was all on the bright side.

One the other hand, when facing the older vamp, none of us was particularly effective. Of the three of us, only Penance was able even hold her own. Patience's bolts hadn't been able to hit the vamp, although a few more shots might have found their mark.

I, on the other hand, had gotten my sword broken and my ass kicked. I was scared shitless and all kinds of questions were going through my mind.

One thing that refused to leave had been the fight between Sister Prudence's husband Jason and Penance. Penance hated men, but she really seemed to like Jason. And the throwing stars he had given her had been extremely effective. So was the mace that he'd given Penance.

Penance had held her own against the vamp and had done damage, but Jason had clearly bested her. Exactly how good was he with a sword? I'd heard about him going after an even more powerful vamp than the one we fought to save Prudence. Unlike us, he didn't have the gift of Grace. He had only his skills and training. True he had beaten the vamp by pinning it to a wall with a car and then beheading it, but he had still taken out an aged and powerful vamp single handedly. I wondered how I would do against him. I wondered why the hell our superiors wouldn't ask Prudence to come back.

"Wake up, Sister," Patience said to me. "We have no idea what is going on here."

"As usual, I have to do all the heavy lifting and all the brain work too," grumbled Penance. "Let me explain it to you. The guy covered in blue fire is the demon we're here to take out. I'm gonna take him out, and then we can go home. On our way back home, we need to stop off in Chicago, so I can kick Jason's ass."

While we had the conversation, the driver was taking out the vampires one after another. I think I was the first to notice it. The sky was getting lighter. It would be morning soon. Perhaps the rest of the vamps would disappear.

"Penance, are you high," asked Patience. "I don't think the driver is our target. He wasn't even here when the vamps started attacking. The demon we're after sows chaos. I think he was the guy in the shiny suit that vanished with the fat girl and the female vampire."

"That female Vamp was just scared that I was going to finish kicking her ass," grumbled Penance. "She took the fat girl as a snack. I don't know why the guy who looked like Ryan Seacrest left. And the blue guy is clearly a demon. He's covered in flames, Patience. What more proof do you need?"

"Why do you want to fight Jason?" I asked. Penance glared at me. She was giving me that newbies don't get to talk look.

"The Damned throwing stars he gave me are clearly cheap. You can only use them once," she grumbled. "I think he's like a drug dealer. I've used them all and now I'll have to go back to him for more of them."

"Well if you don't like them, why would you want any more of them?" I asked.

"Shut up Praise," she grumbled. "I saved your ass, didn't I?"

"Sister Penance, you need to ..." Began Patience.

"Well I did," whined Penance. "That vamp took her sword from her, broke it, and threw it into the next county. I'll bet that sword is still flying and ..."

Penance stopped talking in mid sentence as she noticed Patience heading for the Driver. He chased away the remaining vampires. Then he was literally roasting all the people near us. Strangely enough none of the people touched by his flames seemed to be injured. They looked as if they were lying down to sleep.

"The soul fire will only hurt those who are truly evil," he said. "It will remove Agravon's taint from the rest."

"Why are you after Agravon," asked Patience.

"My job is to return him to hell," said the Driver. "I have no idea where Pythius is or who the girl with Agravon was. I will track him again this evening when the sun goes down, and he won't get away this time."

"What about the girl," asked Patience. "What about the Vampire?"

"My assignment is only Pythius and Agravon," said the driver. "If the vampire gets in the way, her life will end. I sensed no true evil from the girl. She seems more like a confused soul than an evil one. I would hate to take her below."

"Can we talk about ..." began Patience. I think we all noticed the flickering and dimming of the flames surrounding the man as the sun filled the sky. The helmet suddenly vanished and as Patience, and I gasped in surprise the helmet and flaming suit disappeared revealing a normal man.

Before either of us could say a word, Penance clubbed him over the head with her mace. He was out like a light a thin line of blood oozed from the head wound. She threw him over her shoulder and started heading for the SUV we had rented.

"Penance, you hit him too hard. You may have killed him," exclaimed Patience. Even as upset as she was, Patience's voice was calm and in control.

The two women, long-time teammates, and friends were as different as could be. Their names fit them. Patience was exactly that. She was patient and saw the big picture or the long game in everything. Penance, on the other hand, was punishment personified. She was intuitive and mercurial.

"Since when is killing a demon a bad thing," asked Penance.

"One, because I think he was on our side as unlikely as it seems," said Patience.

"What gave you that idea? I think you're cracked," said Penance. "Besides I don't need any men on my side."

"Penance, he saved us," said Patience. "And you have worked with men. You've worked with men a lot."

"When," asked Penance?

"Mason," said Patience.

"Doesn't count he was a God Damned Vampire," said Penance. "Besides he was under a spell. And Vampires aren't human, so he can't be considered a man."

"What spell?" asked Patience.

"Piety," hissed Penance. "It had to be some kind of spell. Vampires can't be in love."

"Jason," said Patience.

"Doesn't count," snapped Penance.

"Why not," asked Patience, with an eyebrow raised.

"Prudence is still our sister, right," asked Penance.

"Always," said Patience solemnly.

"She married Jason," said Penance. "That makes them one in the eyes of the lord. Therefore, Jason is like our brother. He's family so he can't be considered a man."

"Hold it right there," said a serious female voice behind us. "Put your hands up and drop the weapons."

The three women looked at each other and complied. "Look officer," said Patience. "This can all be straightened out very easily. The three of us are on a mission for the church. We have diplomatic immunity. Could you please call your precinct and have your superiors call the arch bishop of the area?"

"Diplomatic immunity doesn't cover murder," spat Grayson.

"He's not dead," spat Penance. "I had to knock him out. He was getting a little too big for his britches."

"Exactly," said Patience. "This man is a member of the local church. His priest called in to say that he was possessed. We were dispatched to evaluate and handle the possible possession."

"Okay, let's say that I believed you," said Grayson. "I don't, but let's say that I did. Let's say that some church sent three leather wearing, weapon toting uhm ... Nuns to investigate a possible possession that was almost biblical in its scope. One of you ... Any one of you ... Give me the first piece of information they told you about him."

"They gave us so much information that it would be hard to figure out what you want," said Patience.

"Nope, it's really easy," said Grayson. "You see; I know the guy you killed. And I know that he isn't the church type. So one of you ladies, and I use the term loosely, tell me what his name is."

Patience looked at Penance who nodded. The two women knew each other so well that the looks they exchanged and the nod were almost imperceptible. "That's too easy his name is ..." began Patience.

Penance, watched the detective. The woman was good she made sure that both, she and the gun she held were more than an arm's length away from the three of them so none of them could reach her with a quick strike. Their weapons were on the ground, so there would be no grabbing her mace for a quick blow.

But as good as the police woman was she knew nothing about how strong Penance was or how persuasive and reasonable Patience could seem to be.

As Patience began speaking in a tone like the one priests use to calm agitated parishioners, Grayson lured by the honeyed tone of Patience's voice flicked her eyes towards her for a fraction of a second.

"His name is ..." said Patience. As she was speaking, Penance swung the man over her shoulder like he was a weapon.

"Foot," growled Penance as the feet and legs of the body connected with the side of Grayson's head, dazing her and causing her to drop her gun.

Grayson was better than the women had expected though. She was down but not out. As her gun skittered across the ground she dove for it, but came up short. Praise stepped onto her hand preventing her from grabbing the weapon.

Penance, who had dropped Terry by then, grabbed Grayson. And pinned her arms to her side. Penance smiled at her. Strangely enough Praise walked over to the imprisoned detective and put her gun back in her holster.

"Detective, you probably don't believe this," said Patience. "But we really are telling you the truth. When you start to look into what happened here tonight ... Well technically last night since it's morning ... You're going to find a lot of weirdness. A lot of people here did terrible things to other people for no apparent reason. I believe you've had similar cases like this including one at a shopping center earlier this week. You probably won't believe that they were demonically possessed or influenced. You'll most likely come to the conclusion that it was some sort of mass hysteria or even the drugs that you'll find ample evidence of.

Your friend there didn't cause any of it. In fact, he tried to help us stop it, but he kind of passed out, and we need his help. There are a lot of passed out and even dead kids on this field so one more won't make any difference to your investigation. I'm leaving you my card in case you decide to try to contact us. Detective, we've done nothing wrong. So please keep an open mind while you look into this."

Praise came over and using the thick but flexible ties that they used to secure her cloak to her shoulders; she tied Grayson's hands to the fence they'd been standing next to.

"It won't take you very long to get out of this," said Praise. "We left you your little gun, in case there's something strange in the neighborhood. Hang on to this cloak tie for me. They get really pissed when we lose part of our uniforms okay?"