Damien looked out from the rooftop of the police station and steadied his nerves. This recent battle had been a tough one, and many of his allies had fallen. Nancy, the leader of the Hoosier Defence Force, stood beside him, studying the patchwork of dead demons and human corpses littering the courtyard below.
“They know we’re here,” said Nancy. “They won’t stop coming.”
Damien nodded. The woman was right. He didn’t know who she had been in her previous life, but she was hardened by war and smart as a tack. “This last force was bigger than the others. The demons are reorganising, refocusing. Humanity isn’t scattered throughout the planet anymore—it’s groups like ours—and the way to wipe us out finally is to come at us in force.”
Nancy placed down her AR-15 against the wall and leant over the safety pole, almost like she was in two minds about throwing herself over onto the tarmac. All at once she looked tired. “We can’t survive many more attacks like this one. Every fight makes us weaker.”
“Then we need to get stronger.”
“How? Damien, you still haven’t told me how exactly you came through a rip in reality two months ago. The men think you’re a demon, one of them.”
He huffed. “You know I’m not.”
She sighed and seemed to think about it, which upset him. His hurt-pride was apparently obvious because she moved up against him, putting her warm body against his. “I’ve seen you kill enough demons to know you’re on our side, but I also know you’re not like the rest of us.” She kissed his lips. “Not that that’s a bad thing.”
He kissed her back. Nancy was a good fifteen years older than he was, but she was attractive, and made slender by the constant battles. As he pulled away, he sighed. “I wish I knew what I am, but my powers never came with an instruction manual. The only thing I do know is that I’m stronger when Harry and Steph are with me, which is why I asked them to meet me up here.”
She stepped back. “You’re planning something.”
He stared down at the dead men and women who had been alive just hours earlier. “I am.”
Harry and Hannah arrived a short while later on the roof. Damien spent the wait cuddling Nancy, and enjoying the peace of being human and doing human things. The moments between attacks seemed to grow shorter and shorter.
The Hoosiers had already been holding their own when Damien, Harry, and Hannah had arrived, but they had gathered more survivors and more supplies before settling at this police station. Up until a few weeks ago, it had seemed like they would make it. But the first demon attack on the police station had lead to several more.
“Damien, you wanted us here?” said Harry, smiling as he walked across the flat roof. The man had been holding up well during the weeks of constant fighting. He was a soldier by trade and past, and thus had found himself thrust into command where he was comfortable. Along with a US Marine Captain that was also part of their group, Harry was a leader amongst the fighting men.
Hannah was with him, and visibly hurt, bleeding from a bandage around her wrist. “One of them bit me,” she explained. “Good thing they’re not zombies, huh.”
Damien moved towards her. “You’re sure you’re okay?”
“She’s fine,” said Nancy testily. “A flesh wound. We’ve all had worse.”
Damien grunted at Nancy, wondering if it was jealousy he detected. Nothing had ever happened between him and Hannah. “I need to tell you both something.”
Harry folded his arms. “Okay, what?”
“The three of us are special. We can… do things.”
Hannah chuckled. “You can do things. We just tag along for the ride.”
Damien shook his head. “No, I’m just aware of what I can do. You both have power as well. The three of us are totems.”
Harry gave a lopsided grin, which he knew was the man struggling not to take the piss. “What’s a totem when it’s at home?”
“I’m not entirely sure, but a stranger visited me and told me what I was right before I opened the gate and got us out of that bad situation. He told me that there are other worlds, and they are under attack too. The worlds are all woven together in a kind of tapestry. People like us can move around the different strands.”
Harry and Hannah were both looking at each other like they were wondering whether or not to restrain Damien and take him to whatever counted as the loony bin nowadays. Surprisingly, the only one who seemed accepting of what he was saying was Nancy.
Damien was frustrated by his friend’s incredulity, so he continued trying to convince them. “You’ve both seen enough to forget what you think is true, and accept that there’s more. I’m telling you that we’re—”
“Magicians,” said Hannah with a chuckle. “Okay, you’re right, Damien. I have seen enough to suspend my disbelief. So… what does it mean? What difference does it make?”
“That’s what I want to find out. I think… I think we should join hands.”
“I don’t like where this is going,” said Harry. “Are we going to sing?”
Hannah elbowed him. “Nothing wrong with a bit of peace and love. Don’t you ever get sick of killing demons?”
“I never get sick of killing demons.”
“Do you need me to stay?” Nancy asked, looking uncomfortable and moving away from the wall.
Damien immediately told her to stay. “You’re the leader of the Hoosiers. The people here fight for you. Whatever happens, I want you to be involved.”
Nancy reddened in the cheeks. She nodded and then settled back on the wall. She had spoken little of herself to Damien, and he only knew from other that she had been married twice before. Once to a Coast Guard captain, and once to a man who had died when the demons arrived. She also had two children, lost forever in England. Her pain was often obvious.
Damien stepped forwards into the centre of
