Chapter 18 A girl's prerogative
"Well, I guess tonight is the night," Katie said as she looked around the apartment for what could be her last time. She felt an uneasiness sweep over her and was beginning to feel sick to her stomach.
It had been three months since Katie and Angel talked on the beach. Katie continued to report to Marcus on details about cases that Angel Investigations was taking care of. What the Wolfram & Hart lawyers didn't know was all of her reconnaissance information was only correct enough to keep their trust. After about two months of reconnaissance work which was considered Phase I, Mr. Manners and Marcus informed her that they were making preparations for Phase II. She was intimately involved with the plan's details and even miraculously passed an examination conducted by the firm's mind-readers. Using this information, the Angel team was able to create a counter attack. Both Phase II and the counter attack were going down tonight.
"You'll do fine. Everything will be fine," Angel smiled at her with love in his eyes. He knew she was scared. Frankly, so was he, though the vampire would never let that on. If anything even hinted that Katie had double crossed them, the full wrath of Wolfram & Hart would fall upon the both of them. Angel finally managed to convince Cordelia and Wesley to hide away for the night. Having them both there would hinder their plan and would also put the rest of his beloved family in danger. "You know what they say on stage. 'Break a leg.'"
"No," Katie giggled nervously and turned towards the building's entrance. "Get staked or lose a head."
"It's getting close to dawn, Katie. We're never going to find those demons from Cordy's vision before sun-up," Angel said, getting uneasy at the pinkness that was creeping into the sky. They were in a back alley with no near sewer entrances.
"But we're so close," the younger vampire whined in her preteen way. "I don't know why. I can just feel we're so close!"
"Katie, we need to get going, now!"
"Shh…" She looked around, senses on high alert. "They're here," she whispered. "They're all round us."
"Where?" Angel asked looking around.
"Good bye, big brother, I'm leaving you to fend for yourself." She started to run for the end of the alley.
"Huh? Wait! What are you talking about?" Angel called as he took off after her. What is she doing? Where the hell was she going?! This was not part of their plan.
"Now it's your turn to be abandoned!" she yelled over her shoulder. She stopped and faced her brother. "I hate you!" She screamed. "It's time you got what you deserve. I HATE YOU, ANGELUS!"
Angel just stood in shock in front of his sister. She had played him, Cordy, and Wesley all along. Wes was right all along… he started to think, but suddenly found himself surrounded by demon warriors armed to the teeth. "Katie!"
She stood there for a moment with an evil smirk crossing her face. She was the one in control. For the first time in her entire existence, she could walk away from him, and walk away she did. She spun on her heel and turned the corner. She went to move around a large dumpster, but soon realized the sun had come up quicker than expected. She had no choice but to go back into the alley. No! It's not supposed to be like this! a voice screamed inside her head. She took a deep breath and entered the alley again half expecting to see her brother dead. She certainly wasn't expecting to run face first into Marcus Cole.
"Ugh! Oh!" she yelped in surprise.
"There you are, Miss Katie. You're missing the fun! Or, are you trying to sneak away?" His grin faded and he narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "You weren't going to play us, were you, Katie?" He knew she had told Angel their secret plan. The mind readers saw it, but they could still use Katie to kill Angel.
"Of course not!" Katie replied, shocked. She then felt her vampire features rise. She flashed a devilish-fanged grin. "I've already played you all like a fiddle!" She lunged at Marcus, who was surprising quick. After several dodges, she finally managed to tackle him and pin him to the ground.
"You said you weren't totally vampire. Let's see if a stake through the heart will dust you or just kill you!" She grabbed the stake in her coat pocket and drove it home. Suddenly she was sitting on the street with a small dust pile under her. "Oh good. It's less messy that way!"
She rushed off to the other end of the alley where vamped out Angel was holding his own surprisingly well against the onslaught of demons that Wolfram & Hart had acquired. Katie picked up a broadsword they had hid behind a trashcan a few days earlier. She also picked up the cell phone and called up Wesley. "Now would be a good time guys!"
"We're already getting them from above!" a British voice cracked on the other end.
Katie looked to the rooftops of the abandoned buildings and saw two figures with crossbows letting arrows fly at the demon army. She rushed into the fray flinging demons as she went. Soon, Katie found herself in the middle of the pack back-to-back with Angel.
"I thought you were leaving me to fend for myself," he gasped in between demon blows.
"Eh, it's a girl's prerogative to change her mind, right? Now come on, enough talk. Let's slay some demons!" She shouted as she handed him the broadsword, stole one from the nearest demon, thrust it through said demon's abdomen, and then sent its head rolling down the alley.
"Is that it? Did we get them all?" Katie asked a while later. She surveyed the carnage that lay all around them. Katie then took stock of her wounds. "Ow, I think I'm wounded," she mumbled to herself. She got a sword through the shoulder, a shallow slice across her stomach, and too many other cuts and bruises on her limbs to count. She was in pain, but she could already feel her wounds healing.
"I believe so," Angel replied wearily while holding his sword in one hand and clutching his stomach with the other, "for now anyway." His shirt was torn to shreds. Katie could see blood oozing out of numerous lacerations and soaking into the black fabric. He had been run through the side with a broadsword and was limping horribly on his right leg. They were battered and beaten, yet they had miraculously overcome the odds and were the ones left standing.
Angel looked up toward the rooftops and waved for Wesley and Cordelia to come down. A few moments later, they entered the alleyway and joined the bloody vampires. Suddenly, a strange wind started to blow. Katie could feel the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. In a flash, the alley was clear of all bodies and gore. It was as if nothing had happened there at all.
"Uh oh," Cordelia said, raising her crossbow.
"That's never a good sign," Angel muttered.
"Guys, we have company!" Wesley yelled as three more demon warriors joined the foursome. A little over six feet tall, they were clad in medieval-looking leather and chainmail suits. The only part not covered was their green faces. What was most striking about them was the glittering red jewel located between their silver eyes. Angel turned around and his face was filled with dread as he recognized the three approaching creatures.
"Oh, God no," he whispered. There's no way we can defeat them, not after all that.
"What's wrong? There are only three of them," Katie said defiantly. She was trying to put on a brave face, but could sense Angel's fear. To know that her brother, the great Champion, was fearful greatly unnerved her.
"They're Mohra demons, very powerful assassins for the Soldiers of Darkness," he replied as they came within close proximity. He vamped, drew his sword, and attacked. The others quickly followed suit.
Angel had fought one of these demons in the past and it nearly killed him. Even with his vampire powers, they were a dangerous opponent. If they were killed, they would just come back bigger and stronger later. The only weakness of these powerful demon warriors was the jewel. The only way to permanently defeat them was to "bring darkness to a thousand eyes". In other words, smash the jewel. Angel relayed this important information as he smashed the jewel of his demon that disappeared in blinding flash of white light. He was about to warn Katie of a second important danger of these creatures when Cordelia's scream diverted his attention.
Wesley had been tossed and knocked out against a brick wall and Cordelia was threshing valiantly at the demon warrior. She managed to get a blow to the demon's head with the side of her crossbow; however, a backhanded blow sent her flying headfirst into the wall near Wesley. She, too, was unconscious.
"That's wasn't very nice!" Angel yelled as he drove his broadsword into the demon's back, careful to avoid any of the green blood. He pulled it out just as the demon spun around to face him. "Didn't your mother ever tell you not to hit girls?"
Katie was holding her own against the demon warrior. She had hoped that she didn't have to take on one by herself, but Angel took one and Cordelia and Wesley took another. It was only fair, though. They were mortals.
"Ow!" Katie turned her attention back to her opponent. She had been distracted by Cordy's scream and the Mohra demon took the opportunity to stab her in the right wrist with a dagger. She glanced down at the red stream and then moved just in time to avoid another blow. This thing shifted around so much it was hard for her to keep track of it. She was used to demons that basically stayed in one spot and weren't very coordinated.
"Jerk!" she yelled, fury shining in her yellow eyes. She whirled her sword in a wave of fury. The result was a pissed off, one-handed demon warrior. It swung the dagger in its left hand, which Katie was able to duck around, then threw a punch with its right arm stump. Katie blocked it with her right wrist and they froze in place for a brief moment. She leapt up and shoved the heel of her boot into the demon's forehead as hard as she could. Katie thought she heard a faint crack, and used her momentum to flip around the demon's arm to the ground. The Mohra demon began to scream and glow with a white light, and then it too disappeared like the first.
Katie's human features reappeared on her face as she watched it disappear. She then looked at her wrist which was bleeding profusely, but stared as some of the Mohra demon's glowing florescent green blood dripped its way down her hand and into the wound. There was a swirling of red and green blood as it mixed and instantly healed the laceration. Katie started to panic as a strange numbness came over her. She started glowing bright white and took a gasping breath. Katie then fell to her knees as the world started spinning wildly out of control.
"Help me!" she croaked just before everything went black.
