Chapter Two
Isabella stepped through the door of PAK, short for Paranormal Ass Kickers, at exactly one in the morning. The place was alive with activity, including the administration office which was usually quiet around at this time in the morning. The secretary, Geena, an overzealous blonde had one phone to her ear and was watching something with interest on her computer monitor. The other two clerks were also on their telephones. Isabella heard other lines on the multi-line telephone system buzzing probably about the earthquake.
At that moment her Britain born boss, Joshua Petre, stepped inside the administration section. He waved to her. “Glad you’re here, Bella. We need you out back.”
Isabella walked past the administration desks, waved at the clerks and followed Joshua out back. There she found his sister, and her other boss, Collena, looking upward at the sky with a huge telescope.
Collena waved her over. “There’s something you need to see.”
Isabella walked over to the telescope as Collena stepped aside.
Even a novice like her knew something was definitely wrong. What she saw confirmed her suspicions.
“Shit,” Isabella gasped. “We’re screwed. Both Joshua and Collena shook their heads rapidly in agreement.
* * * *
“You have to calm down,” Collena said to Joshua. He paced the floor of the conservatory where the meeting had moved to.
Isabella agreed. He was making her nervous and she had a lot more to worry about than he did.
At the same moment the New Orleans unit had assembled, and were about to learn the very bad news first-hand.
“I am calm,” Joshua replied. “Pacing helps me think.”
Sissy boy he was, but Joshua had one of the finest analytical minds she’d ever seen. He also made one hell of a chocolate quiche.
Collena finally got control of the meeting and the room grew silent. All eyes focused upward as she opened the top of the conservatory.
“What’s going on?” Marc an electrical engineer asked. “What’s with the Earth trembling?”
“The stars have shifted and aligned right outside the Milky Way,” Collena explained, pointing up at the sky.
“And it means?” Marc asked.
“The world is pretty much f*cked,” Isabella answered for Collena.
Of course, this drew all the attention her way since normally she hardly ever talked during their meetings.
“What?” she asked like it was a big shock for her to be so unladylike. “Don’t any of you know what this means?”
She was met with blank stares. “The Earth should have ended at midnight. Since it didn’t happen we’re about to take on a serious problem.”
Otto, one of the company’s physics raised his hand. “What can be worse than the world ending?” he asked. “Why wasn’t I informed of any of this beforehand.” He slapped his hand against his forehead. “My abilities must be non-functioning.”
Isabella frowned. “I’m surprised at you, Otto. I thought you were up on your mythology. How come I’m the only who knew the significance of December 21, 2012?”
Otto didn’t even seem a bit remorseful. “Sometimes I do have a life. I’ve spent the last couple of days partying with some friends who came to town for the holidays.”
Great, she thought. Their best physic was drunk on his ass while she had been alone preparing for the world to end. She turned to her partner Ernie who was also a physic. “What about you?”
Where Otto was an enormously built white man with a flamboyant personality, Ernie Malloy could only be compared to a modern day Isaac Hayes with his tall frame, spectacular build and deliciously dark chocolate skin.
“No, I wasn’t drunk…I was preoccupied,” Ernie replied. His voice was so deep it made her knees tremble. Too bad he was married and she was good friends with his wife.
“Not even a headache?”
Ernie shook his head. “Nothing.”
Otto and Ernie were the best psychics in their organization.For some reason neither of them had received a sign the world was changing, which led Isabella to believe whoever was controlling this little situation must be a very powerful deity, or perhaps a god.
“So, what are we looking at here? Ernie asked, pushing his dark sunglasses up the bridge of his nose.
“An opening of the realm between the mortal world and the Underworld,” Collena explained.
“Small potatoes,” Ernie replied. “We’ve had that happen before and the shades have been keeping it pretty well under control.”
“It’s a little more complicated than that,” Collena replied. “What happened back then was only a small portal between us and the Otherworld. The Otherworld’s creatures aren’t half as dangerous as the demons found in the Underworld. “It’s like comparing kittens to cobras.”
Isabella smirked even though the situation was far from funny. Alesandro would not appreciate being compared to a kitten. From a personal standpoint the man definitely had cobra written all over him.
“Can you explain all of this in layman terms?” Marc asked.
Marc was a technical genius but didn’t have any preternatural abilities like most of the other investigators. He was great when it came to creating covert necessities for them but useless when it came to fighting.
“Simply put, if anything escapes the Underworld and comes here, we’re screwed.”
Isabella smirked again. Prim and proper Collena never used such slang unless she was terribly nervous about something. From the looks of her Isabella guessed Collena knew, in order to save the world they’d have to call in some special forces.
“I’m still not getting it,” Marc replied. “Tell us exactly what we’re facing.”
Collena sighed. “I wish I could tell you. The Mayan calendar predicted the world would end on December 21, 2012. At the same time the stars would align and the world would be wiped out by natural disasters. Since today is December 22, 2012, it’s safe to say the Mayans were wrong or miscalculated. The other part of this is at the same time a portal would open and the demons from hell will come to our world and take it over, which contradicts itself. The only thing I can figure out is, the natural disasters must be the demons and not a hurricane or a meteor storm. For all I know if that portal opens as predicted, we can even be face to face with the antichrist.”
“Satan?” Marc asked.
Collena nodded. “Or worse.”
“What can be worse than Satan?” Marc asked skeptically.
“Let’s hope we don’t find out,” Isabella replied. She sighed. It would have been so much easier if the world would have ended earlier. Now she had to prepare to kick some demon ass to save humanity.