Highlander Hellcat PG-13 Version Page 16

  Chapter 11: Unicorn’s Breath

  The following morning, Sasha’s internal clock woke her at seven o’clock in the morning. Her eyes snapped open and she sat up on her futon. She rubbed her eyes as she looked around her laboratory, and caught sight of Charming plugged into the wall and ‘charging’ while in ‘sleep mode’. A fond smile curled her lips as she looked at her perfect boyfriend.

  That’s when Sasha remembered about the special gumballs she and Charming had been up all night making. A wave of excitement crashed through her and her smile widened. “Oh, that’s right. The special gumballs. They’re finished! I can’t wait to show them to Garth!” Sasha leapt out of bed and ran over to her worktable where there was one large glass bowl filled with hundreds of red gumballs, and another large bowl filled with hundreds of blue gumballs.

  The mad scientist grabbed two black plastic bags, and filled one with the red gumballs and the other with the blue gumballs. She tied the bags off and then stuffed the two bags into a large backpack.

  Right after that, Sasha left the laboratory, took the elevator to the first floor where her clinic was, exited her clinic, and hailed a cab. She told the cabbie to take her to Helltastic Confectionary and off she went.

  If Sasha had known how to drive she could have taken her red convertible, but…she didn’t know how to drive. And yes, this was odd for a twenty-five-year-old woman. But Sasha had bad depth perception, was accident prone, and tended to be a spacey daydreamer and so her father had forbidden her from driving out of worry for her safety and the safety of everyone else on the road.

  The cabbie glanced at Sasha in his rearview mirror and his eyebrows rose at her appearance. Was that gum in her hair? He wondered. The cabbie opened his mouth to say something, but then snapped it shut deciding not to comment. It was usually wiser to keep one’s distance from those ‘crazy types’.

  The cabbie pulled up right in front of Helltastic Confectionary. Sasha paid the cabbie and exited the car with her backpack. She turned to thank the cabbie and blinked when she saw the car driving away from her at an incredible pace. “Uh…thank you.” She said anyways as she waved at the departing car.

  Sasha approached the front door and saw that it was ajar. A feeling of dread swept over her. “Garth.” She opened the door further and it was like déjà vu. Garth was lying in the center of the floor, facedown, and surrounded by a pool of blood that seemed to be bigger than the last time she’d discovered him like this. Also, this time Garth was buck naked. Sasha frowned at the sight, quickly went to his side, and crouched down beside him. She began to inspect his injuries. “Bullet wounds.”

  Sasha looked at the blood-covered floor and noticed the bullets, which had been pushed out of Garth’s body. The scientist reached out, picked up one of the bullets and inspected it. She clucked her tongue. “Tsk. Tsk. Tsk. Did he participate in another underground fight while trying to find the Red Priest? Just look at the state he’s in. His people must be very important to him. I wish I could remember about the Battle Priests.”

  Sasha pictured the set of large double doors in her mind, which blocked her memories of the past. She trembled in fear as she thought about opening it. No! She mentally snatched her hand back. She wasn’t ready to open that door yet.

  Sasha glanced at the open door, stood up, walked over to the door, and closed and locked it. The last thing Garth needed was for any of his customers to see him like this!

  The scientist set her backpack down and made her way to the bathroom. When she opened the door the kittens and Dusty all flew out. She greeted and pet the cats, and gave them food and water.

  After the cats had been taken care of, Sasha fetched the first-aid kit and set about cleaning and disinfecting Garth’s wounds. As she wiped the blood off his muscular naked body with a towel she watched in amazement as his wounds began to close - right before her very eyes. “He really is…amazing. This demon male.”

  Sasha flipped Garth over onto his back and began to clean the blood off his battle-scarred chest. Garth began to stir awake. He groaned and then his eyes snapped open. He blinked up and saw Sasha’s face in his line of sight. “Sasha…?” He said sleepily as he sat up, scratched his head, and took in Sasha’s appearance. His eyes flared in shock.

  Sasha’s frizzy hair looked like she’d stuck her finger into an electrical socket, and she was covered in rainbow-colored gook from head to toe. She was wearing a white dress with pink flowers on it that might have been pretty at some point, but was now covered in splotches of sticky looking, rainbow-colored gook.

  The veterinarian looked like a rainbow had thrown up on her, and she’d been electrocuted or hit by lightning. Garth reached out, and cupped Sasha’s cheek in concern with his huge calloused hand. “What happened to you, lass?”

  Sasha blinked and gave Garth a spacey smile. “Me? I should be saying the same to you. You were shot full of holes. Were you in another street fight? Did you find out where the Red Priest is? Did you win? Why are you naked?”

  Garth chuckled at the barrage of questions. “That’s a lot of questions so early in the morning. I haven’t even had my coffee yet. Yes, I participated in another underground fight. This time it was more of a Death Game. I didn’t find out where the Red Priest is. I won. And I’m naked because I shifted into my Hellcat form at one point and my clothes were ripped off my body.”

  “Oh, good. I was worried something perverted had happened to you. I’m almost getting used to seeing you naked all the time. It’s strange that I’m not afraid of you because you’re real…” Sasha trailed off with a kooky look on her face.

  “Real?”

  “A real man.”

  “Demon, actually. So tell me what happened to you. Why do you look like a rainbow threw up on you?” Garth asked as he tried to pull a piece of something sticky out of her hair and then thought the better of it.

  There was a twinkle in Sasha’s normally dull blue eyes. “Oh, that’s because I’m a genius! I came up with a special candy product that you can sell for the holidays! You’re going to love it!”

  “Special candy product?” Garth had a bad feeling about this…

  “Here. Let me show you.” Sasha went to fetch her backpack and then made her way back over to Garth. She sat down cross-legged with her backpack in her lap. She unzipped her backpack and pulled out the two bags of candy. Sasha opened one of the bags and saw that it was the one filled with the red gumballs.

  “Gumballs?” Garth asked as he saw the small red balls inside of the bag.

  “Not just any gumballs. These are special. Watch this.” Sasha plopped a gumball into her mouth and began to chew. A tingly sensation filled her mouth, and heat began to rise inside of her mouth next. When Sasha breathed out a blast of fire emerged from her mouth and lasted for five seconds.

  Garth’s eyes bulged at the sight of Sasha breathing fire like a demon. “Holy crap! Did you just breathe fire? How did you do that?”

  A sly smile curled the mad scientist’s lips. “Well, I made fire demon-based gum. I used a DNA sample from a fire demon, replicated the DNA using a PCR, altered the DNA so it would self-destruct in five seconds, and created a formula where the DNA and gum could be combined and result in enabling a person to breathe fire for five seconds.” Sasha explained excitedly.

  Garth scratched his head confusedly and an impressed look settled on his face. “Yeah, you lost me at DNA. You really are a genius, Sasha. Maybe you should try to come up with the cure for cancer while you’re at it.” He joked.

  Sasha blinked owlishly. “Oh, the cure for cancer has already been discovered.”

  When she didn’t say more Garth had to ask. “Which is?”

  “Prayer.” She said with a serene smile.

  Garth raised an eyebrow at Sasha. “Prayer? I didn’t know you were religious. Most scientists tend to be atheists or agnostics.”

  “Ah, yes, the Big Bang Theory that billions of years ago the universe originated from the cataclysmic explos
ion of a small volume of matter at an extremely high density and temperature. The theory that all of this appeared randomly out of nothingness.” Sasha began to giggle uncontrollably as if the thought were absurd.

  Garth raised an eyebrow at her. “You don’t believe it?”

  “Picture a Rolex watch in your mind. Then picture whacking that Rolex into pieces with a hammer, putting all those pieces into a shoebox, and closing the lid. Now, imagine shaking the box. When you open the lid - what will you find, Garth?” Sasha gave the shifter an expectant look.

  “Uh…a broken watch?” Garth ventured.

  “Exactly.” Sasha nodded with a proud smile. “The watch can’t just randomly put itself back together again. Someone made that watch. Designed it. Carefully fit the gears together so that it would run properly. God is the greatest artist, designer and inventor there is.”

  “The evidence of His existence is clear for all to see, but most humans turn a blind eye to it. Humans tend to doubt God’s existence because they cannot see Him with their own eyes.” Garth shook his head despairingly. “Especially the humans of today that are living in such sophisticated urban societies. Their lives have become so convenient they feel they no longer need God. They’ve become completely immersed in the material world, and have distanced themselves from the spiritual world. And then when they can no longer hear His voice they decide to say He doesn’t exist.”

  Sasha nodded in agreement. “It’s sad really. Whenever I start to doubt my faith in God I just look into the eyes of one of his creations, one of my pets. I love animals. And it’s in them that I can see God. They’re all so beautiful, special and unique.”

  “Even your monster pets?” The shifter teased.

  “Yes, even them. God loves all of his creations equally - just the way they are. That goes for humans too. God likes diversity. That’s why he made everyone different. People should embrace their differences instead of judging each other for them.” The scientist clucked her tongue.

  “You think God loves…demons too?” Garth questioned softly.

  “What?”

  “Ah, never mind.”

  “Anyways, we’re getting sidetracked.” Sasha opened the other bag of gumballs to reveal the blue ones. “Watch this.” Sasha spit out the other gum, and plopped a blue gumball into her mouth and chewed. A tingly feeling filled her mouth and cold began to build. She opened her mouth and breathed out. A blue-white frosty cloud of breath left Sasha’s mouth.

  Garth’s eyes widened at the sight of Sasha’s icy breath. “Impressive. I’m guessing you used ice demon DNA to make those?”

  Sasha nodded. “Exactly. So…what do you think, Garth? Do you think these gumballs will sell?” She held her breath as she waited for his answer, and tapped the tips of her fingers together nervously.

  “Oh hell yeah they’ll sell.” Garth reached out and ruffled Sasha’s already messy hair. “They’re frickin awesome! People are going to freak!”

  “Really?” Sasha gave Garth a hopeful look.

  Garth nodded. “Definitely. And you tested them for side effects?”

  “Well, I tested them on myself and I’m okay, so yeah…” Sasha admitted carelessly.

  Garth was silent for a moment as Sasha’s words sunk in and his stomach felt like it was turning itself into knots. “You tested them on yourself? Sasha…that was incredibly irresponsible. You could have been hurt.” He chided her. He wanted to shake her, yell at her. He held himself back.

  “I wanted to help you.” Sasha pouted.

  “And I appreciate that, but…don’t ever put yourself at risk like that for my sake again, okay?” Garth cupped her cheek affectionately. This woman…risked herself for my sake. Bloody hell. She’s amazing.

  Sasha blushed as she read Garth’s mind. Eeee! He called me amazing. “I understand, Garth.”

  Garth stood up, and his golden eyes were sparkling with excitement. “I can’t wait to sell this candy. I guess I’ll open up shop now.” The shifter began to make his way over to the front door.

  Sasha looked at his naked butt. “Ah! Garth, aren’t you forgetting something?”

  Garth glanced over his shoulder at Sasha and raised an eyebrow at her. “Such as?”

  Sasha giggled. “You’re buck naked. Unless this is a new PR strategy of yours?”

  Garth looked down at himself and flushed. “So I am. I’ll just go…change into some clothes then.”

  “Probably a good idea. And I’m supposed to be the spacey one, remember?” Sasha teased.

  “Aye.” Garth headed for the back of the store.

  Sasha called out to him: “Oh Garth, I’m going to get going, okay? I have a clinic and pet shop to run, you know.”

  A flicker of surprise crossed his gaze and he glanced over his shoulder at her. “Oh, aye, right, of course. Thanks again, lass. You’re a real lifesaver.”

  “Well, it’s the week before Christmas so it’s now or never to make the money you need. Good luck, Garth.” Sasha gave him a thumbs-up. She’d picked that up from Becca.

  “Thanks, lass.” Garth’s expression softened as he looked at her.

  Sasha tried to hide her surprise at that tender look Garth was giving her and left the shop.

  Garth pouted as he watched Sasha leave his shop. For a moment he thought Sasha was going to stay and sell the gumballs with him, but…she had her own responsibilities with her clinic and pet shop after all.

  Garth headed towards the back of his shop, went up the stairs to the second floor, and headed to his bedroom. He opened the door, stepped inside, and flicked on a light switch. The walls of Garth’s bedroom were covered in football, and martial arts movie posters featuring: Bruce Lee, Jet Li, Tony Jaa, and Jackie Chan.

  There was a storage bin on the floor filled with sports equipment: a football, a soccer ball, a baseball, and a baseball glove. Garth reached out, grabbed the football, and tossed it up into the air a few times. He missed playing football with his friends, but with everything that had been going on with trying to find the Red Priest and his business going down the tubes he hadn’t had time for leisurely activities.

  Garth had converted the third floor into a training room and gym, but hadn’t had the time to work out lately either. Although all the fighting he was doing at the fight clubs seemed to be doing a good job of keeping him in good shape. Garth tossed the football back into the storage bin. He really need to remember to toss out all of the busted up punching bags that were lying on the floor of his training room upstairs.

  Garth entered his bathroom, took a quick shower, brushed his teeth, and dressed in a random funny T-shirt Mal had bought him that had the cartoon cat Garfield on it, a pair of jeans, and sneakers.

  He made his way back down into his store, unlocked the front door, and flipped the open closed sign to open. He picked up the two bags of gumballs that had been sitting on the floor, and carried them over to his main display case. He set the bags on top of the counter, fetched two enormous glass bowls, and poured the gumballs into the bowls.

  He decided to price the gumballs at twenty dollars a pound. After all they were very special. Garth looked at the enormous bowl filled with hundreds of red gumballs, and the bowl filled with blue gumballs. Just sitting there like that they looked a little plain, he decided.

  And the gumballs needed a name. He stroked his chin in thought. “A name…” He looked at the red gumballs thoughtfully. “Dragon’s Breath Gumballs…” He looked at the blue gumballs next. “And…Unicorn’s Breath Gumballs. Aye, that sounds pretty cool.” Garth grabbed a white note card and wrote the name ‘Dragon’s Breath’ on the card, and drew the picture of a dragon on it. He taped this card to the outside of the bowl.

  Then he grabbed another card and wrote the name ‘Unicorn’s Breath’ on it, and drew a picture of a unicorn. He taped this card to the outside of the bowl containing the blue gumballs. Now his display looked much more professional. Alright. Now he had to just wait for his customers to
arrive so he could show them his new product.

  “Oh yeah, I almost forgot.” Garth grabbed the headband with the fuzzy cat ears on it and placed it on his head. Alright! Now he was ready.

  A few hours passed, when the bell above the door jingled and three young women stepped inside. They were all bundled up because of how cold it was outside. The girls looked over at Garth, smiled, and greeted him in a friendly manner. “Hey, Garth.” “Hey Boss Man.” “Hello.”

  “Hello lassies. It’s sure cold out today. Doing your last minute Christmas shopping?” Garth asked in what he hoped was a casual and friendly manner.

  “Yeah, I still need to get my boyfriend something.” A girl with curly blonde hair said as she twirled a strand of her hair around her finger thoughtfully. When she let go of her strand of hair it bounced back into place like a slinky.

  “Way to rub it in, Melanie.” A plain girl with long brown hair and brown eyes chided. “I have to buy presents for my family.”

  “And I have to get presents for my friends.” A redhead added.

  “Do you have any recommendations, Garth?” Melanie questioned.

  “As a matter of fact, I do, lassies.” A roguish smile curled Garth’s lips. “I have a new very special product. And one of them will even be able to warm you up.” Garth waved his hand at the gigantic bowl of red gumballs. “These are called Dragon’s Breath Gumballs.” Garth waved his hand at the blue gumballs next. “And these are called Unicorn’s Breath Gumballs.”

  The three young women approached the display counter and looked at the gumballs curiously.

  Melanie raised her eyebrow at the two bowls of gumballs. “What’s so special about them? They look perfectly normal to me. Do they have a unique flavor or something?”

  Garth picked up a gumball and handed it to Melanie. “Here. Why don’t you try it? Chew it and then try breathing out. Oh and don’t breathe out in the direction of your friends. Unless you don’t like them very much.” He joked.

  “Er, alright. I’ll try it.” Melanie plopped the red gumball into her mouth and began to chew. She felt a tingly sensation, and then the inside of her mouth felt very hot. Her eyes bulged. It felt like she’d just bitten into a red-hot chili pepper! She opened her mouth and breathed out a blast of flames for five seconds.

  The three girls all looked at each other stunned, and wide-eyed. “Did I just see Melanie breath out a fireball?” The brunette asked.

  “Holy crap! I saw it too!” The redhead exclaimed excitedly. “It really happened! It’s like something out of a cartoon or something.”

  “I just…breathed fire.” Melanie said softly. “That’s…totally awesome!”

  “What do the blue ones do, Garth?” The brunette asked intently.

  “Why don’t you try it and find out.” Garth handed the brunette a gumball.

  The brunette plopped the gumball into her mouth and started to chew. She felt a tingly sensation inside of her mouth and then the inside of her mouth began to feel very cold as if she were sucking on an ice cube. She opened her mouth and let out an icy breath.

  “Ooo.” The redhead clapped her hands together. “That looked awesome just now, Emily.”

  “These are…amazing.” Melanie was saying as she looked at the bowl of gumballs. “Would you mind if we take some pictures and videos of us chewing the gum to put up on our social media sites? It’ll be good promotion for you too.”

  Garth scratched his head and shrugged. He didn’t know too much about social media. “Sure. Why not?”

  For the next hour, the three young women began to take pictures and film videos of themselves chewing the special gumballs and breathing fire and ice. The girls quickly put their pics and videos up on facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.

  “How much are you selling these gumballs for?” Melanie asked curiously.

  “Twenty dollars a pound.” Garth informed her.

  The three girls burst out laughing uproariously as if they’d just heard something extremely funny. Melanie wiped a tear from her eye when she was able to finally stop laughing. “Garth, that’s way too cheap.” She chided him. “Let me see…how many gumballs are in a pound?”

  “Fifty-three.” Garth said.

  “You should charge at least two dollars per gumball…so one hundred and six dollars a pound. Maybe more, but I’ve never seen a product quite like this before. It’s…incredible. One of a kind.” Melanie insisted.

  Garth’s jaw dropped. “That much? Do you really think people will be willing to pay that for a gumball?”

  Melanie nodded vigorously causing her blonde curls to bounce. “Definitely. People will pay outrageous sums of money for things as long as the product they’re buying is high quality.”

  “And unique.” Emily added.

  “Alright. I’ll take your advice. But I’ll charge you lassies my original intended price since you gave me such good advice.” Garth winked at them.

  “Eeee!” The three young women squealed in excitement. “Thanks Garth!” “You’re the best!” “We love you!”

  Garth flushed at their friendly comments. He still wasn’t used to girls being nice to him, and not screaming in his face and running away. The shifter pinched his arm just to make sure he wasn’t dreaming. He was surprised to find that he was wide-awake.

  The three young women bought a pound of gumballs each and left the shop. Less than half an hour later, another group of young women entered the store and asked about the special gumballs. Garth demonstrated what the gumballs could do, told them the price, and the girls all went wild.

  Word of mouth through social media was a very scary thing. In just a few hours Garth had a steady stream of customers who wanted to buy Dragon’s Breath and Unicorn’s Breath gumballs. And they were really selling at two dollars each. That was one hundred and six dollars a pound! Garth couldn’t believe it.

  He’d be able to make the money he owed his landlady Mrs. Claire Barks in no time. A lot of the girls asked Garth for permission to take pictures and videos, and he readily allowed it.

  When Garth tried to close up shop at seven o’clock PM - it was impossible due to the long line of customers outside of his shop. Garth ended up working until midnight, when he told his rabid customers they’d have to come back tomorrow because he needed to get some sleep.

  “Awww!” The customers outside the shop had complained loudly. A lot of the customers were incredibly stubborn, and decided to camp outside. Unreal. With people camping outside his store like that he wouldn’t be able to participate in any fight club activities. Oh well, it’s just for this week before Christmas. Beating people into a pulp isn’t being very Christmassy anyways.

  Garth went up to his room, collapsed on his bed, and fell into a dreamless sleep. He awoke early the next morning, showered, brushed his teeth, and dressed. He went down to the first floor and began to flip on the lights. He looked out the front store window and his eyes bulged at the sight that met him.

  The line of people waiting to get inside of Helltastic Confectionary was now five blocks long. Holy crap! He had to call Sasha and tell her about this startling development. Garth whipped out his cell phone, and realized he didn’t have Sasha’s telephone number.

  I have to get it from her later. Garth put his phone away, approached the front door, and unlocked it. If he hadn’t weighed two hundred plus pounds and been six-eight, he would have been mowed over by his enthusiastic customers in their mad rush to get inside.

  As it was, Garth just smiled and chuckled at the overzealous humans. “Don’t worry, I have enough gumballs for everyone!” Thanks to Sasha.

  Day two selling gumballs at Helltastic Confectionary was similar to the first with Garth selling the gumballs all day and demonstrating what the gumballs could do to new customers. His customers also ended up purchasing some of his handmade animal-shaped lollipops and other candy products he offered in the store.

  During the workday, Garth wondered if Sasha was
going to stop by…but she never did. He realized she must have been busy with last minute Christmas sales at her pet shop. Even Garth’s friends appeared to be too busy with their respective businesses to stop by and see how he was doing. His friends were never going to believe this. Garth’s candy shop had become the most popular candy shop in San Francisco practically overnight.

  The rest of the week passed by in a similar manner. Garth was too busy selling Dragon’s Breath and Unicorn’s Breath gumballs to participate in fight clubs, and still didn’t have Sasha’s telephone number. Even Garth’s guardian angel Gabriel was strangely absent.

  He shrugged. Oh well. It’s not like he needed a guardian angel anyways. He got this. I’ve got this.

  The day before Christmas arrived, and a lot of people considered this day to be the last shopping day. Garth unlocked the front door of his shop, feeling excited about how things would go that day. However-

  Before Garth could let in his waiting customers several police cars with their sirens blaring loudly pulled up in front of his shop and parked. Quite a few cops exited their cars, and one who appeared to be in charge approached Garth with an authoritative air.

  The hair on the back of Garth’s neck prickled in warning. He had a bad feeling about this.

  The police captain approached Garth and stood in front of him. “Garth Mackenzie? Owner of Helltastic Confectionary?”

  “Aye. That’s me. What’s this about?” Garth asked as he crossed his brawny arms over his chest.

  “Garth Mackenzie, I hereby place you under arrest for the selling of weapons without the proper permits and licenses.” The police captain announced loudly.

  The gathered customers who’d been waiting to get inside the shop all groaned in response and many began to leave.

  “Weapons?” Garth raised a skeptical eyebrow at the police captain. “I’m selling candy. And I have the proper permits for that.” He huffed.

  “Candy…that can set a person’s home on fire is not normal candy. We haven’t even decided how many laws you’ve broken with this stunt. But for now you’re coming down to the station with us.” The police captain took out a pair of handcuffs.

  Garth was pissed. He could feel the anger welling up inside of him. Bloody hell. He was going to shift at this rate. This was so not good.

  “Wait!” A loud female voice objected.

  All eyes turned to see that a pink-haired woman had climbed up on top of one of the cop cars and was standing on its hood. “You can’t arrest that man! He had nothing to do with this. I made that candy! My name is Dr. Sasha Robinovitch. And if you’re going to be arresting anyone it’s going to be me. That man is innocent. I told him to sell the candy I made for me!”

  The police captain gave Garth a questioning look. “Is this true? She made the candy?”

  “Aye, but…I sold it. And I asked her to help me come up with a new product, so this is all my fault.” Garth argued.

  The police captain lowered his hand with the cuffs, and turned to face the men at his command. “Arrest that girl and get her down from there this instant!” He barked out the order.

  “Roger!” The cops yelled out and began to surround Sasha.

  Garth saw red. “Don’t you dare touch her.” He glared at the cops who all froze in fear at Garth’s murderous stare. He growled low in his throat. Garth started forward, however-

  Two men abruptly grabbed Garth’s arms, and held him back. What the hell? Garth turned to glare murderously at whoever was stupid enough to try and hold him back in that moment, and saw that Malakye and his guardian angel Gabriel were the ones. Gabriel was currently dressed like a human in a T-shirt, pair of leather pants, and combat boots. His wings, sword and armor were absent.

  “You guys! Let me go! I have to save Sasha! I won’t let them touch a single hair on her head!” Garth let out a growling roar as he surged forward, and Gabriel and Malakye had to use all of their considerable strength to hold him back.

  “Garth, calm yourself at once! As happy as I am to see you worried about Sasha…if you really want to help her then you must calm yourself. What good would it do to transform in front of all these people, and land yourself in jail or worse - a zoo?” Gabriel waved his hand angrily through the air. “They’d probably decide to put you down for public safety. And how will you help her then? You’d be dead or locked away again.”

  Somehow Gabriel’s sensible advice managed to get through the red haze of Garth’s anger. “You’ll help me get her out of there, right, Gabriel? We can’t abandon her.”

  “Of course we won’t abandon her.” Gabriel readily assured.

  “And if there’s no other way I can teleport into the police station and teleport back out with Sasha.” Malakye offered.

  Gabriel shot Malakye a quelling look. “But first we have to try and handle this situation like normal law-abiding human citizens, got it? You boys need to try doing things normally for once.”

  Garth watched as Sasha was helped down from the hood of the car and then handcuffed. He couldn’t stop his body from surging forward at the sight. “Grrrr!”

  “Quick! Help me get him inside, Mal!” Gabriel said as he began to drag Garth inside of the candy shop.

  “You got it.” Malakye assisted Gabriel to get Garth inside the shop.

  “I’ll kill those scumbags if they hurt her.” Garth rumbled as he watched them put Sasha into a cop car.

  “They won’t hurt her, Garth. Try and be reasonable for once in your life, and calm down.” Gabriel scolded.

  Malakye quickly shut and locked the door so that Garth couldn’t see Sasha leaving in the cop car.

  “Calm down? Calm down! They just arrested Sasha for helping me.” Garth put a hand to his chest. “She made this candy in order to help me. And I was too stupid to see the dangers it posed. I’m such a frickin idiot! Sasha is going to be locked up inside a prison cell because of me! Argh!” Garth punched a wall out of anger and left an enormous hole there.

  Malakye flinched at the sight. That poor wall…

  “I’m partly to blame for this situation as well.” Gabriel admitted in a self-deprecating manner. “I wanted to give the two of you some space. I had no idea Sasha would…do something like this. She’s definitely a genius, but she can be very naïve at times. I should have been here for you both to stop this foolishness.”

  “ARGH!” Garth slammed his hands down on one of his display cases causing it to shatter.

  Malakye cautiously walked over to Garth and put his hand on his friend’s arm. “Hey, personally, I thought the gum was an awesome idea. It’s just…America is a land of laws. You should have gotten a patent first. And then tried to get the gum approved by the Food and Drug Administration. After that, you’d have to get the right permits and licenses. Since the fire is actually real the product really may be considered a weapon.”

  “A weapon.” Garth echoed and shook his head. “Crap.”

  “The reason you two got away with selling the candy for so long is that most people thought the videos of people breathing fire and ice was an online hoax. They thought it was special effects. No one believed you’d created a product to make people actually breath fire and ice! That was really amazing.” Malakye’s emerald green eyes were sparkling with obvious awe. “Sasha is a genius.”

  “Amazing…but dangerous. Dang it!” Garth picked up the bowl of Dragon’s Breath Gumballs and flung it across the room. It hit the wall and shattered. “I didn’t see the danger. I don’t think I’ll ever really fit in…in this world among the humans. I’m just doing more harm than good here. Maybe I should just return to Hell-”

  “No!” Malakye burst out, a horrified look on his face. “You can’t give up now. Not when you’re so close!”

  Garth eyed Malakye suspiciously. “Close to what exactly?”

  Malakye shared a conspiratorial look with Gabriel.

  Gabriel let out a defeated sigh. “To redemption, Garth. Sasha…is your destined Judge
.”

  Garth staggered backwards a few steps at this startling revelation, his eyes wide. He was floored. “Sasha…is a Judge? But…I don’t love Sasha. I don’t see her as a woman. I just see her as a good friend.”

  “Friendship is the basis for any real lasting relationship, Garth.” Gabriel lectured sternly. “There’s no need for you two to rush things.”

  “Whatever.” Garth shrugged not really wanting to talk about this nonsense. Love or romance was the last thing on his mind right now. “What’s your plan for getting Sasha out of jail, you bothersome angel.”

  “We’ll post bail.” Gabriel said simply.

  “What the hell does that mean?” Garth asked, his brow furrowed.

  “Bail is the amount of money required to keep Sasha out of jail while she’s waiting for her trial. If we post her bail she’ll be released from jail.” Gabriel explained.

  Garth raised an eyebrow at this. “We just have to pay something to get her out of there? I’ll pay whatever it takes.”

  “But Garth…the money you made is supposed to be for the rent you owe Mrs. Barks.” Malakye reminded him. “If you don’t pay your debt you’ll lose your shop.”

  “I don’t care about keeping this darn shop.” Garth waved his hand around the shop. “I only care about keeping Sasha safe. She’s my friend, and she’s in jail because of me. I’m getting her the hell out of there!”

  “I see…okay, then.” A lopsided smiled formed on the alien’s face. “You sure you’re not in love with her, bro?”

  “Shut it.” Garth snapped.

  “It’s just the things you say are so romantic.” Malakye teased.

  “Shut it Mal, or I’ll shut it for you.” Garth cracked his knuckles menacingly.

  “Shutting up now.” Malakye squeaked and zipped his mouth with his hand.

  ***

  When the police captain opened the temporary holding cell at the San Francisco Police Station, Sasha froze as she looked at the other people inside. Apparently, she wasn’t going to be alone inside of a cell, but inside of a cell with a bunch of dangerous criminals.

  The police captain gave Sasha a little push and she squeaked as she stumbled inside of the cell. “Eek! Hey, wait!” Sasha spun around and watched as the police captain coldly locked the cell door and began to walk away.

  She swallowed nervously and turned back around to look at the people inside the cell with her. There were several muscular, thuggish looking men dressed in leather and with spiky haircuts. The women inside of the cell were all scantily clad, wore four to five inch heels that Sasha was surprised they could walk in, and were wearing a ton of makeup.

  “Hey, fresh meat.” One of the scantily clad girls stood up and sashayed towards Sasha. She walked around Sasha as if sizing her up. “What is up with that outfit of yours? You look like a mad scientist? Oh, are you role-playing? Are you a prostitute too?”

  Prostitute? “Uh…hello, my name is Dr. Sasha Robinovitch. And I come in peace.” Sasha stuck her hand out towards the woman nervously. The woman in front of her was wearing a long, blonde wig, a silver tube dress, and five-inch high silver shoes.

  The prostitute slapped Sasha’s hand away hard. “A doctor? What are you in for? Malpractice or something?”

  Sasha let out a defeated sigh. “I invented this bubblegum called Dragon’s Breath and Unicorn’s Breath.”

  At the mention of the gum, everyone’s fierce demeanor changed abruptly, and they stopped glaring at Sasha menacingly. Their threatening expressions changed to awe, respect and even admiration.

  “Get outta town!” The prostitute shoved Sasha’s shoulder playfully. “You invented Dragon’s Breath?”

  Sasha nodded, absolutely terrified by this loud, punky prostitute.

  “That’s…frickin awesome, girl!” The prostitute exclaimed excitedly. “I’m actually in here because one of my clients got a little injured when I thought we could incorporate the gumballs into our kinky fun time. Let’s just say…certain parts of him got a little singed by accident.” She cackled merrily.

  Sasha’s eyes widened like saucers as she listened to what the prostitute was saying. She’d used the Dragon’s Breath gum to…what exactly? Sasha really didn’t want to know.

  “I tried to use your gum to rob a bank!” A thuggish looking man piped up, smiling at Sasha in a friendly manner now. “The bank teller was so terrified when I breathed fire in his face that he actually pissed in his pants.” He chuckled.

  “Well, I’m in here because I accidentally set fire to my cubicle at work. But it was totally worth it.” A serious, clean-cut looking man in a suit added. “My boss is a total jerk.”

  A large man with a beer gut approached Sasha. Sasha backed away from him until her back hit the cell bars. Eek!

  The man ripped the front of his shirt open, and Sasha nearly fainted until he handed her a Sharpie and said: “Can I please get your autograph? Right here?” He pointed to his beer gut.

  “Uh…sure.” Sasha signed her name with a flourish on the man’s stomach, and tried to stop her hand from trembling out of fear.

  “Sweet! Thanks, babe.” The thug smiled jollily.

  “Uh…no problem.” Sasha said nervously.

  “Ooo me next.” The prostitute said to Sasha. “Sign my arm.” She held her arm out to Sasha.

  “O-kay.” Sasha signed her name on the girl’s arm next.

  After that, all of Sasha’s cellmates either wanted her autograph or wanted to ask her questions about how she’d come up with the dangerous bubblegum. Sasha’s spirits fell as she listened to the things they were saying. I had no idea the gum could be used as a weapon. Or that it could end up hurting people. I invented a weapon. I didn’t even see the danger it posed to the public. I was so caught up in helping Garth that I was blinded to everything else. Sometimes I can be a real idiot even though I have an IQ of one hundred and sixty according to the Whechsler scale.

  One hour later, a police officer approached Sasha’s cell. “Dr. Sasha Robinovitch, you’re free to go.” The police officer began to unlock the cell door.

  “Huh? How? Why?” Sasha asked confusedly.

  “You posted bail.” The police officer explained in a droll tone.

  “I…did? Who paid…?” Sasha was in a daze as she exited the cell and began to follow the police officer through the station. Behind her Sasha heard her cellmates yelling their enthusiastic goodbyes and well wishes.

  There standing in front of the reception desk was that last person Sasha expected to see. “Father?”

  Dr. Lazar Robinovitch looked the same as the last time Sasha had seen her father, which had been two months ago during the Zombie Apocalypse scare in San Francisco. Dr. Lazar Robinovitch was a middle-aged man with messy, gray hair. His skin was a pasty white color from lack of going outside. A smart pair of round tortoise shell glasses was on his face, and he was wearing a white lab coat, black rubber gloves, and black boots.

  “Sasha! My darling daughter!” Dr. Lazar Robinovitch rushed over to Sasha and pulled her into a hug. “Are you alright? Were you in there long?”

  “Father…I can’t breathe.” Sasha gasped out.

  “Oh, sorry, Sasha.” Dr. Robinovitch let Sasha go and stroked her pink hair.

  “And I’m fine Dad. Did you post my bail?” Sasha asked curiously.

  Dr. Lazar Robinovitch raised an eyebrow at his daughter and laughed. “Do you know what your bail was set at?”

  “No.” Sasha said dryly.

  “One million dollars.” Dr. Lazar Robinovitch revealed. “That’s how dangerous that bubblegum you invented is considered, apparently.”

  Sasha’s eyes widened like saucers. “One million dollars! What are they, crazy? Where did you get that kind of money?” She gave her father a suspicious look.

  “Oh, I didn’t pay it, Sasha.” Lazar waved his hand dismissively through the air.

  “Then who did?” Sasha frowned.

  “I did.” A low
voice like gravel announced.

  Sasha turned to see a tall man with a commanding presence. He was dressed in a slick black suit with a black trench coat, and shiny dress shoes. The man had dark hair with a receding hairline, and had a pair of dark sunglasses on his face. Sasha recognized him as an associate of her father’s. “Ah, Agent Darkhart. Long time no see.”

  Agent Jay Darkhart was the leader of the ADTF - the Anti-Demonic Terrorism Force. The ADTF was a top-secret government organization charged with protecting America from demonic threats.

  Sasha’s father, Dr. Lazar Robinovitch, currently worked for the ADTF, and was in charge of producing genetically-enhanced super soldiers by combining the soldiers’ DNA with demon DNA. This resulted in soldiers that were strong and powerful enough to fight on par with a demon in hand-to-hand combat. So far the super soldiers ended up with supernatural strength, but also had the misfortunate to end up with horns, tails or wings in some cases. Also, unlike demons the soldiers were unable to will their demonic characteristics away.

  “Hello, Sasha. It’s good to see you again. Though it would have been preferable under different circumstances.” Agent Darkhart drawled as he ran his hand over his receding hairline.

  “You posted my bail…why?” Sasha gave the agent a suspicious look.

  “I want to buy the formula for the gum you invented.” Agent Darkhart revealed as he adjusted the sunglasses on his face.

  Sasha’s eyes narrowed at Darkhart. “You want to use my gum as a weapon to fight demons, don’t you?”

  “Precisely, my dear.” Agent Darkhart nodded. “You catch on quick.”

  Sasha frowned. “That gum…wasn’t supposed to be dangerous. It wasn’t supposed to be a weapon. It was supposed to be whimsical, magical…” Tears began to fill Sasha’s blue eyes.

  “You were being naïve, Sasha.” Agent Darkhart chided her.

  “I didn’t want my invention to hurt anyone.” Sasha wrapped her arms around torso. “I hate fighting. I hate violence. So why can’t I escape it? I just want to live my life in peace…” Tears began to stream down Sasha’s face.

  “Who the hell made Sasha cry?” A low growling voice demanded as Garth appeared next to Sasha and wrapped a protective arm around her shoulders.

  Sasha gasped and looked up at Garth in surprise. “Garth, what are you doing here?”

  Garth looked down at Sasha and his expression softened. “I’m here to pay your bail.”

  Agent Darkhart cleared his throat loudly. “I’ve already posted her bail, Garth Mackenzie.”

  That voice! Garth whipped his head around to see Agent Darkhart. “Agent Darkhart? What the hell are you doing here?” He glared fiercely at the agent who’d given him and his friends so much trouble in the past.

  “Getting Miss Sasha out of a huge mess apparently.” Agent Darkhart drawled and spread his hands out before him.

  Dr. Lazar Robinovitch pinned Garth with a scrutinizing stare. “He’s Garth Mackenzie? The owner of the candy shop?” He stalked over to Garth, whipped out a taser, and shocked Garth with it. “Get your hands off my daughter!”

  “Hey!” Garth exclaimed as he pushed Sasha away from him so she wouldn’t be shocked as hundreds of volts of electricity were sent coursing painfully into his body. “Sasha could have been hurt! What were you thinking, you crazy old man!”

  “Dad!” Sasha burst out in a chiding tone. “You don’t just taser people! Geez!”

  “Crazy old man, he says.” Lazar echoed darkly.

  “Sasha, who is this quack?” Garth asked in an irritated tone.

  “Ah, that’s my father, Dr. Lazar Robinovitch.” Sasha replied airily.

  Garth’s jaw dropped. “Your father…? Oh crap.” So much for making a good first impression on this guy.

  “And you’re the man who got my daughter into a whole mess of trouble. Where do you get off using my daughter’s genius to make yourself some quick cash, hmm?” Lazar lunged the taser at Garth again. Garth lithely dodged the attack. “How dare you treat my Sasha like your own personal mad scientist!”

  “Dad, it wasn’t like that.” Sasha objected as she watched Garth dodging getting tased. “I wanted to help Garth. He’s my…friend.”

  “That man is your friend?” Lazar took in the scar running across Garth’s face, his murderous gaze, and his towering height. “Impossible. He looks like a criminal. He’s threatening you to make him the gum, isn’t he?”

  Garth’s eyes narrowed at the scientist. “I would never threaten your daughter. She’s my friend. I came to pay her bail.”

  “It was one million dollars, in case you want to pay me back.” Agent Darkhart drawled casually.

  “One million dollars?” Garth staggered back in shock. “That’s frickin insane!”

  “You two didn’t realize the gravity of your actions in selling that gum to the public. You’re lucky there weren’t casualties. You both easily could have been labeled terrorists.” Agent Darkhart scolded them in a condescending manner.

  Garth grit his teeth angrily and forced himself to bite back a scathing reply. That creep loves going around and labeling everyone a terrorist!

  “But I’m offering Sasha a way out of all this mess. I just want the formula for the gum Sasha invented.” Agent Darkhart turned to Sasha. “I’ll make sure that all the charges against you are dropped and that this arrest will be taken off your record, if you comply, Sasha.” He informed her and his thin lips quirked into a sly smile.

  Sasha’s lower lip trembled and she shot Garth a questioning look. “He wants to turn our gum into a weapon, Garth.” There was a slight tremor to her voice.

  “So you’re the one who made her cry earlier, didn’t you?” Garth crackled his knuckles as he glared fiercely at Agent Darkhart. “I should beat you.”

  “You want to get my daughter into more trouble, I see.” Lazar said scathingly.

  Garth tried to rein in his anger. Lazar was right. He was going to screw things up for Sasha again. Crap. He ran a hand back through his spiky orange hair. He sighed, and then shrugged. “Just give him the formula, Sasha.”

  “What?” Sasha was incredulous.

  “I’m sure you can come up with even better inventions than the gum. After all you are a genius.” Garth tapped her forehead. “And this time you can come up with something that’s not so dangerous. Also, it’s not like our gum is that dangerous anyways. They may want to weaponize it, but…the fire breathing only lasts five seconds. At best, it could be used as a scare tactic or deterrent like for self-defense. Your gum would probably end up saving lives. It’s better to back down because you see a man breathing fire and drop your gun instead of getting shot full of holes.”

  Lazar smacked a hand to his forehead in exasperation. “This man is an imbecile.”

  “No, that actually makes sense.” Sasha spoke up, smiling up at Garth. “You’re right, Garth. My gum isn’t that dangerous…and there’s always the option of creating something less dangerous and new.” Sasha nodded to herself, the wheels in her sharp mind already beginning to turn with new ideas. She faced Agent Darkhart. “Alright, Agent Darkhart I will sell you my formula.”

  “Excellent. I knew you would see the light.” Agent Darkhart looked at Garth thoughtfully. “You’ve made a very interesting friend, Sasha.”

  Garth flinched. Agent Darkhart knew he was a demon and wondered if he’d tell Sasha’s father! Crap. Will Agent Darkhart tell Dr. Lazar Robinovitch that I’m a demon? He’ll hate me even more then. What if he forbids me from seeing his daughter?

  “Un-friend him this instant!” Lazar commanded Sasha.

  “Dad, this isn’t facebook. Real life doesn’t work like that.” Sasha corrected in an exasperated tone. She’d heard Garth’s thoughts and quickly sought to reassure him.

  “Well, maybe it should.” Lazar huffed and crossed his arms over his chest.

  “Sorry, father, but I don’t plan to end my friendship with Garth anytime soon.” Sasha smiled brig
htly at Garth.

  Garth’s eyes widened at her kind smile. There was something oddly familiar about it. And her eyes…they were usually dull, but now they were sparkling. Why do I feel like I’ve seen this smiling face directed at me before?

  To be continued in…Candy 12: Candy Cane