Chapter 2

After I was done and with Lucille, I made my way out of the sewer systems, and got myself above ground again.  The air didn’t taste right and I realized there was still one unresolved issue, and that was of the child.  So I had placed an anonymous call to New York’s finest, and let them deal with it.  It was not my place, and I had no right to deliver his last rights.  I’m not a priest.  

So I returned to the warehouse district of New York city, and went up to the warehouse door.  I put my hand to the door, and spoke a simple word, “Enter”.  The door glowed with raw white power, and opened, and I walked in.  I stepped onto the platform that had been set up, and entered my own personal security code, and the platform began to lower itself down.  A mechanical set of floating eyeballs that were cybernetic appeared in front of me, hovering and took a retinal scan.  A sound beeped, and then a female’s voice echoed in the platform’s seemingly endless hall.  “Welcome back Inquisitor Deialaan.”  It’s tone was drone like, but pleasant.  A robotic computer system that ran throughout the entire compound.  I personally held no belief in such things as this technology, but it was a lot easier than going around with a crystal and a map.  And it was definitely a lot easier than walking around with a crossbow or a sword or axe strapped to your thigh like some kind of freak.  Sadly, those fashion statements went out of style a long time ago, when the world became civilized.  

“Thank you Maggie.  Any messages waiting for me?”  I asked the voice pleasantly as I could.  It never hurt to be polite.

“Yes there are Inquisitor.  You have two new messages waiting for you.  Shall I play them,” Maggie asked me.

“Yes, that would be very helpful.”  I said, and rolled my eyes.  I wasn’t annoyed with Maggie.  She was but a simple robot with pre-programmed algorithms and patterns that were designed to fit each member of the Inquisition of Man, and Maggie was mine.  She was more of a problem than a hassle, but then again, I was so used to the Old World, than it didn’t really matter, and the higher ups get the final say, so I simply had to adapt to it.  

But I don’t have to like it.  

Maggie’s beautiful robotic voice confirmed that the first message was about to play.  I shook my head, and waited, and then heard the message.  “Hello Mister Vargas!”  

Yes one of my aliases is Mister Jonathan Vargas.  So what?  Want to knit pick everything?

“Mister Vargas, we have you subscribed to the Goo-Goo Bunnies pay-per-view skinematic website, where your bondage fetishes can come alive right before your eyes!”  The voice shouted, and my eyes widened and I saw the people staring at me as the platform lowered.  I glowered at them all.

“Maggie delete message now!”  I barked at the computer with brutal tone.  The computer complied, and the message was deleted.  I shook my head.  The damned things you get these days.  And by the way, just for your own information…

I did not sign up for a bondage website.  

No, I really didn’t.  It’s spam.  You’ve never seen spam email before?

Anyway, I put my hands into my pocket, and removed a small earpiece and put into my ear, there was a built in microphone to it, and I shook my head as I walked.  The second message played in my ear, and my eyes widened when I heard the voice.  “Hey Lucas.  It’s me, Serenity.  I figured I’d…check up on you, you know, the usual.  An Inquisitor’s life is tough, and I don’t know if you’ve had any…problems lately…”  Her voice, it sounded strange, panicked almost.  People were looking at me as I walked, and I moved faster, to avoid any question.  I went to my private office, as the message played, my heart racing a little bit.

“So yeah, I just figured I’d give you a call.  Maggie was ever so helpful as usual.  God if she were a human, I’d be able to go shopping with her!”  She laughed, but continued, “Anyway, I’ve got to get going, got some stuff I have to do.  See ya’ around sometime handsome.”  She added, and that was our little joke, but…this time, it was a nervous thing, as if she was afraid, and then I heard the phone being slammed down hard.  The message cut off, and I sat down in my office as I reached the door, and opened it.  I closed it behind me, and sat at my desk.  Maggie’s voice played out.

“Would you like me to save the message Inquisitor Deialaan?”  

No, I want you to delete it, and pretend I never got a call from a friend, was what I wanted to reply.  I, however, was better than that, and smiled softly, and politely.  “Maggie, save the message directly to my headset.”  The headset buzzed and beeped with information and I nodded, and set it down.  I turned on my computer, and waited for it to load.  This was my problem with computers.

They took too damned long to load.  I swear, at least back in the old world, you could write something down.  Granted, computers took less time for delivery, but at least you got to see the reaction of the people you were talking too.  That and I despise the internet because of how often there is a virus going around.  You’d think the computers were having sex with each!  

After about five minutes, the computer loaded and was ready to run.  I moved the mouse over to the login name, entered my password, and let the computer load.  I stared intently at the screen as I accessed the file that I desired, and put in the correct data.  The information before me changed from blank responses to the new information that was acquired.  It read like this:

Target’s Name:  Lucille Balla WhiteCroft.

Age:  65

Height:  5’7

Weight:  130 lbs

Location:  Mookey’s Mess Hall

Report:  [a log begins to play, scanned from my memory from the eyes that had seen me when I first entered the Inquisition’s headquarters.]

What played before my eyes on the screen were the events that had transpired about an hour ago.  I waited for it to finish, and then proceeded to type in a few commands to the computer.  The computer acknowledged this, and it was over.  I then went over to the program that was used to look at civilian criminal files, but also, rookie Inquisitor’s files.  These files had more information regarding their background than any other file that could be found.  It traced the person all the way back to their ties to their blood.  The first Smith ever to come here, things of that nature.

Yes, I admit that we’re a bit…thorough.  But can you blame us?  We have an important job.

Plus, we’re more effective than the CIA.  

And we don’t have just three letters to our name.

But, I typed in the name of the profile I was looking for furiously.  It was important because I had a bad feeling at the pit of my stomach.  So I watched as names and faces on profiles breezed by furiously while for some reason my mind slowed down the input it took in, it absorbing the face some random person, and I filed it in the back of my mind.  

After some time and pointless buzzing as if a hamster wheel was in motion, the names stopped upon the profile I was looking for.  The girl had short blonde hair that was slicked back, almost man like.  The eyes were so beautiful, so powerful and the power came from the sheer blue of it.  Her lips were soft, pink things that made me want to kiss her.  This was by my own lust for her.  I looked at the profile and my brow furrowed in confusion.  

The girl’s name was Serenity Valence.  She was twenty three years old, and she had been born as a concubine to a man named Tyrell.  Well, a concubine is what we the Old World called it.  She was actually a prostitute, or as my mother had called them, whores.    No, she really was born into the life of a whore.  Her mother was one before her, and her grandmother before that.  She was brought up in the ways of whoring in some brothel in New Orleans before the tragic events of Hurricane Katrina.

And just for the record, I hunted down the demon that had summoned that massive storm, so please; give me a break when I say that’s all I could have done.

Serenity was sent on a trip by her mother to Europe, where she would be staying with a relative and takes a few jobs there to pay her way for a couple of weeks.  When she was settled in, she immediately began turning tricks, as they say.  I was in Europe when I had first seen her.  And to be specific, since, again…knit picking must be done, we were in Italy, right near Vatican City.  Her relative worked the clergy.  It was rather interesting experience.  

I was in Vatican City because a virus had spread in the Vatican and it had taken twelve of their number and had melted their organs and the melted organs managed to expel from every orifice.  Needless to say, and pardon the expression, but ‘Evil was afoot’, and heresy was being spread.  So the Inquisition of Man was called into action, and naturally they sent me in because I had experience with such illnesses.  It’s a long story that I don’t care to get into now.

When I arrived that day, I waited until nightfall.  Not because I’m a vampire.  It’s because it’s easier to get around at night, and the less people know about the Inquisition, the better.  So I was walking towards the Vatican itself when I saw Serenity with that priest, and I heard the moans coming from his mouth, and I was damn near tempted to start paying for it myself.  But I thought better and just continued with my work.  

It was four months later when I found out that in New Orleans, a cult leader was planning on opening the gates to the Pits and had corrupted and tainted a bus full of teenagers.  I was in New Orleans for business when I had heard about a certain brothel where said cult leader was in, and I made my way over there, only to find that it was a set up, and that there was no cult leader.  It turned out I was here to recruit and save.  I found Serenity being beaten by the man Tyrell and I proceeded to stop him from beating her, and instead I broke four of his ribs, shattered his kneecap and I broke his left arm in four places.  I do not like women being harmed needlessly.  But I did manage to see what she’d done to the girls that had tried to help ol’ Tyrell out.  They were all unconscious and I looked at Serenity and took her back to my hotel room, fed her, got her cleaned up, and managed to heal some of her wounds while she was asleep, and told her she’d been knocked out when Tyrell had first hurt her.  But while I watched Serenity sleep I had managed to put one and one together, and realized that someone upstairs who’d been watching me for sometime now had put a line to this girl and me.  And so I had recruited her, sending her off to the Inquisition of Man to be judged.

Oh she’s human.  One hundred percent human, but only to the extent that most humans are in fact human.  I mean that she cannot transform to a stronger state.  She doesn’t feed off of emotions and gain eternal youth, or blood, or raw flesh.  She does however have an affinity for magic that few humans do.  I understand that there are sorcerers and sorceresses and wizards and the like, but she can absorb the magic of most cultures into her, due to the fact that she’s got a photographic memory, and can memorize spells.   Most humans don’t even have the ability to use magic, or even control it.  There are some, modern day witches and small practitioners that can use magic, but only to a degree.  But Serenity can summon vast amounts of power and she can control it.  She never needed control, and it has always bothered to the Inquisition and forced them to ask why.  I understand what she goes through.  

So she began her training and now she’s still a rookie Inquisitor.  She will reach full title of Inquisitor when she passes her final test, which inevitably is something more dangerous than our actual work is.  My final test was to stand before an angel in its true form, and accept kind and understanding words about Divine Law, as well as hug the creature.  Yes, I said hug, and I said accept kind words and understanding from an angel.  However, most people and demons don’t realize that before Adam and Eve, God set up boundaries for this planet and this realm and universe.  If you think that strong is a demon being able to bench press a car and then throw it is something to be amazed at, then you have no idea what strength is.  When the universe was created, God put restrictions on his creation.  He put up a single barrier.  That barrier would act as a screen and filter power out to an extent.  Oh Gods can enter our world as they please.  God could even do it, but God cannot defy his own law, or, as the rumor goes, it’d unmake creation.  Anyway, with this barrier in place, a wizard for instance, even the most powerful of his or her kind, can only call on so much power.  It’s why Angels can only punch a car and send it about a hundred feet.  If the barriers were not in place, the angel’s punch would force the car to explode from the sheer strength.

Serenity, the rumor was, got to sit and talk with the Dolly lama, and he gave her such a conversation to test her virtues, and humanity and innocence, that she almost passed out from the conversation.  Supposedly, the conversation went on for three days, with minimal stopping time.  

That’s cute really.

Serenity got to sit and talk for three days while I got to nearly be reduced to a pile of ashes from the glowing form of an angel which, by the way, landed me in a hospital for two months.  Something’s in life just aren’t fair.

Serenity and I had gotten to work on a few cases, and she knew me like the back of her hand, and I her.  But we haven’t seen each other in over a year since she got transferred to the California Sect of the Inquisition of Man, and we hadn’t really kept in contact much, due to how busy we usually were.  But now this message had me worried, and usually when my gut told me something was wrong, it was wrong.  I stared at her picture a little bit longer, pressing a few keys on the keyboard and her last known location showed up on my screen, accompanied by Maggie’s voice.

“Initiate Inquisitor Serenity Valence current location is Hollywood, California, United States of America.”  I nodded and made sure to remember that.  I was about to switch the computer off when the door opened, and a young man by the name of Jackson Connel faced me.  He had short white hair, average skin, and was dressed in black fatigues.  He looked at me.  “Inquisitor Deialaan, you’re requested in the—“  His words were cut off as the power to the entire compound’s power systems shut down.  I watched my computer screen fade to black, and I looked at Jackson, and nodded to him.  He had already donned his night vision goggles.  He brought the M-16 assault rifle that was always around his shoulder forward, and prepared himself.  I followed suit, and spoke lowly, keeping myself calm as I noticed other Inquisitors getting their weapons ready, preparing to kill.  I didn’t need night vision to see what they were doing either.  I spoke lowly, keeping my voice quiet so that only Jackson could hear me.  “Maggie, give me an infrared scan of the compound.  Identify any different energy signatures.”  Her voice confirmed an affirmative, and I nodded, and reached to grab my pistols, and looked at Jackson, who was already crouched by my door, prepared for anything.  I took the pistols in hand, and waited for Maggie.

I didn’t wait long, which, I guess is the only real use that computers have, being they are faster than the Old World Messengers.  Her voice brightly replied in my ear.  “There are three unknown energy signatures Inquisitor.”  I nodded.  I figured as much.  They were moving slow, and no real action had begun then.  I then looked at Jackson.  “Are you in the mood to play cowboy?”  I asked him.  Even through the darkness that was almost blinding, I knew he was grinning when he replied.

“Inquisitor Deialaan, it would be an honor and a privilege to brand them.”  That was the thing about people.  No matter what time you were born in, man still had that primal sense of slaughter and bloodlust.  

I won’t lie, I have it too.  I destroyed Lucille WhiteCroft’s face with two magically enchanted guns.  I won’t deny it didn’t bring me a sense of satisfaction.  I’m sure everyone’s had dreams of slaughtering someone they hated.

Don’t lie.

Jackson waited for my signal, and that was when I heard the rounds explode in the main compound.  Flashes exploded in my view and I saw the three figures move with such a deadly grace and speed and I knew that they weren’t human, couldn’t be human.  What surprised me was Jackson’s reaction.  And what smell came from him.

And no, he didn’t make a dookie in his pants.  

It was fear that was coming off of him, and that was when I realized that Jackson, even though he was trained to be the best of the best, to act as our own personal military, he’d never gone up against anything that wasn’t human.  I was pretty confident that he had only encountered human enemies, and that didn’t really surprise me.  The Inquisitors were the ones ordered to dealt with things that were beyond human understanding.  Oh, we dealt with humans, plenty, but Jackson here was carrying a standard military issued weapon.  Not something that could put down a werewolf or a vampire.  But the point was, this man had every right to be scared.  Hell, I’ll admit it.  When someone knew where to attack an Inquisition headquarters, that meant that we either had a rat, or someone had been followed.  And if this was my fault, then I’d fix the mistake I’d made.  I looked at Jackson.  “Calm yourself and aim true Jack.  We go…now.”  The sounds of guns and steel exploded in my ears as the two of us move, Jackson covering my back.  I probably shouldn’t have done that, but then again, I’ve been known to do stupider things in my time.  I moved to a desk quickly, ducking for cover.  The sounds of curses of the old world filled my ears and I couldn’t have felt better.  I’d thankfully removed my coat, since it might have given away my presence.  I lifted my head up, and nodded at Jackson, who proceeded to open fire immediately as I rushed from behind the desk and charged.

My guns were in hand, and with him covering the distraction part of my plan unknowingly, it gave me a clear advantage over my targets.  I saw an Inquisitor bring a katana upwards and slice but when the firing stopped and the brief moment of blackness was gone, I heard him grunt and curse in a foreign language and I heard him fall.  I moved quickly, and the sounds of battle came out again.  I brought my guns up, and jumped, sadly using the shoulder of a fellow Inquisitor as an added boost, and flipped, my guns firing viciously and I saw that my rounds made a collision with one of the intruder’s weapon of choice, which was actually a whip.  That was different.  I saw his hand explode in blood and bone, and fired towards another, my enchanted rounds being absorbed by the heavy armor that the figure wore.  That wasn’t good.  He knew about an Inquisitor’s weapon.  Wonderful, my day was getting better and better.  I shook my head, and reloaded my clips as I landed in a crouch.  I spoke softly, words of power coming out of my mouth, and my guns began to glow a gray aura that would have given away my location.  I heard more grunts as Inquisitors went down.  These guys were fast, and they were strong.  The Inquisitors that were stationed here with me were strong and experienced and just as fast as these intruders and were capable of composing themselves in the most difficult of situations, however, we were under siege and our enemies had taken away our advantage.  It was time for me to give the advantage back.  

My guns glowed, the gray aura surrounded them, and I smirked.  I charged forward, and then I opened fire, the bullets that expelled from the barrels sped with preternatural speed and that same gray glow.  They smashed into the figure with the heavy combat armor and sent him flying hard.  I helped the Inquisitor up, and he nodded, and drew his sword from the floor.  I charged forward and opened fire on the bastard’ and I saw blood explode from his chest, and that was when I heard the sound of two Inquisitor’s going down, and going down hard.  I turned, and opened fire, two rounds exploding from the barrel and crashing into the figure with the hold in his hand.  Now, his knee was missing, and his hand was completely gone.  I looked around.  “Now…where’s intruder number three…”  I heard the rat-a-tat-tat of the M-16 go off, and I turned, and I saw the intruder moving quite fast, faster than the other two heading straight for Jackson.  Inquisitors were jumping in the way, but he moved disabled them without even slowing down.  I grunted.  I knew this would happen, so I checked the remaining rounds, and nodded, and spoke, more words of power, and the runes on the gun glowed brighter.  I ejected the clips, and the bullets were burning with power and it was dangerous.  A good kind of dangerous.  I tossed the guns in the air and threw the clips hard watching as the magic that was surrounding it glowed and heated, and then as the man approached Jackson, the clips exploded with violent force, the intruder’s eyes widened as he turned to feel the tremendous force.  His face, at least half of it was torn off and his body was sent sprawling a good thirty or forty feet across the compound.  I caught my guns and inserted new clips, and holstered them.  I looked around, and the power came back on, the other Inquisitors grabbing hold of the two intruders that were masked.  I approached the third, and put my foot to his throat and applied pressured, and the man’s eye, which could clearly be seen was actually widened in terror.  Jackson came up by my side, and put the M-16 to the bastard’s face and was ready to pull the trigger when I heard the loudest explosion of a voice that one could hear.

“ENOUGH!”  The voice echoed, and the chaos and clean up immediately stopped.  Covered in an entirely black robe with a long great beard was the one we answered to in this particular sect.  The Grand High Inquisitor himself, Boris Marak.  Boris was a man that stood at seven feet tall and perfectly straight.  His hair was long and grey, but clean and not falling out.  He had a high grasp of magic, and when he was born, and keep in mind, this was actually over seven hundred years ago, he was born with more than average intelligence.  His mind was developed and he was able to use fifty percent of his brain, and he thought faster than most, as well as his ability to use telekinesis and telepathy was uncanny.  There are fewer on this planet with his strength that are born as mortals.  However, he also has a very vast array of magic as his disposal and is older than some of the more experienced Inquisitors.  He carries himself with the authority and respect he deserves, and has orange eyes that burn with tenacity and ferocity that could scare even the bubonic plague back to the original germ that caused it.  He always wore a different black robe, and all of his robes had special protection spells stitched in them, and the protection was serious.  One would think that he had divine intervention on call twenty-four/seven.  Underneath, he always wore coveralls.  A red and black checkered shirt, blue jeans with straps.  He was an old timer, and he knew it, and flaunted it, but not in the way most old people drive of this modern time.  He motioned at me, but I didn’t move, and I made the wrong choice.  What I thought was the wrong choice.  I kept my foot on his throat, and spoke with a slight edge in my voice to show I wasn’t completely unreasonable.

“Jack, I don’t like his face.  I don’t like it one bit.”  I said, and Jackson, Gods bless his soul, smirked and almost pulled the trigger when I the tension in the air.  I felt that strain and pull as magic was worked, and I watched in awe as the M-16’s barrel twirled into a knot, and then the gun itself was discarded.  Jackson looked on in pure shock and horror.  I growled a bit, but didn’t turn as I felt that great and powerful presence approach me.  I could feel the eyes of judgement incarnate upon me, but I only applied my pressure.  

“Enough Lucas,” Grand High Inquisitor Boris Marak said to me, his tone soft, but firm.

“With all due respect Grand High Inquisitor, he is the leader of the three of them that broke into our compound, and assaulted our Inquisitors.  That is an act of heresy punishable by death to those who know the laws of the Inquisition of Man.  And this fool clearly does, otherwise he wouldn’t have been prepared.”  The man’s eyes were beginning to drop closed, after all, I was cutting off the air.  I added more pressure and I knew I could crush his windpipe.

“I said enough Lucas Deialaan.”  And I felt him trying to invade my mind with his thoughts to gently force me to stop.  At that I snarled finally, breaking off the politeness, and I summoned my own mental blocks, and the Grand High Inquisitor backed off.  I don’t like it when people try to invade my mind.  I don’t do it to others, I respect the same courtesy, even from the Grand High Inquisitor.  He did back off however, and spoke softly, his words carrying only to my ears saying, “He’s with us.  It’s our new mission.”  I arched a brow, and between my anger slowly rising, and the guy underneath my foot dying, I stared at him for a few moments that seemed like an eternity, ignoring the fact that the man’s face was losing color rapidly.  

After what felt like an eternity and with the hushed silence I asked, “Who are they that they knew our defenses and why should I not kill him right here and now.”  A soft nod, I could feel, was being accepted.  The Grand High Inquisitor had known me for years.  

And I do mean years.

I lifted my foot slowly, and the Grand High Inquisitor motioned for the man to get up, coughing and taking in sweet air as he got up.  He removed the mask covering up his face, and the I watched as he spoke a few words in old English, the burnt half of his face returning to fully healed flesh.  The other two approached, the one with a missing hand had a new one, and his mask was off as well, as well as the third one.  The Grand High Inquisitor motioned for everyone to clean up, and to calm down, and led the three of them back to his office, and I just stood there, glowering at the three of them, for a brief instant, I smelt fear, and it wasn’t coming from Jackson Connel.  It was coming from the man I had almost killed.  

And for once, a polite tone didn’t escape my lips, or a polite expression didn’t cross my face.  I glared daggers at him, and for the life of my, I couldn’t figure out why.



About ten minutes later after my adrenaline was done pumping and I had finished cleaning up, I went to the Grand High Inquisitor’s office.  I knocked on the door, and I was allowed entrance, and I looked around to see the three others standing there, their faces streaked with sudden fear as they backed up a bit.  I paid them no mind and just looked at the High Inquisitor’s office.  It was set like some sort of hunting lodge.  There were deer heads, moose heads, fish, different wild cats.  It was comfortable.  The only difference was the carpeting.  It was an old shag rug that I knew he had had for at least twenty years, and it still looked brand new.  I don’t ask questions.  Sometimes the answers are worse.  The Grand High Inquisitor looked at me, and motioned for me to sit down, I did so.  He then handed me a folder, and my eyes widened when I saw it.  The name written across it was Serenity Valence.

My Serenity Valence.  

My eyes focused intently upon it as I opened it up, but Boris spoke softly, his eyes never leaving my worried expression.  “Inquisitor Valence is nowhere to be found in her city.  But that isn’t the problem.  The problem is that the Inquisitors that were with her had been killed in their mission.  We’re under the assumption that she is alright, and in safe hiding, which is smart.  However, the Inquisition Sect in California has asked the Grand Elder Inquisitor to send in reinforcements as it were, and he chose our Sect.”  I looked at him, curiously, my eyes scanning his.

“And what was her mission that seven Inquisitors were killed?”  I had read the file, curious about it.  

“Heresy was in the works, as always.  However, the ones they were after are trying to resurrect an Old Soul.  Capital O, Captial S.”  I arched a brow curiously.  I’d never heard the term before.  He nodded, seeing my confusion.  “This soul you know Lucas.  The first Murderer.”  My eyes widened.  I didn’t believe the things said in the Bible, but, sometimes, you had to believe it, like right then.  I was being told that they were trying to revive the first Murderer.

“…What would be the purpose of that?  His soul is trapped in Hell supposedly.”  I replied still skeptical.

“You’re right as always Lucas, but, the problem is that they are trying to revive him.  And for once we don’t know who it is.  If Cain were to be reborn, there would be drastic problems.  Since Cain was the first one to ever commit a sin and commit a heretic act against Man by killing his brother, pure murder would be unleashed.  The ritual calls for the sacrifice of innocence in all it’s glory, however, it has to be a blood relative, directly.  And Cain would be the Demon Ruler of Murder.  If Cain were to be revived the End of Days would be upon us,” Boris finished, and I sighed heavily, and shook my head.  I knew I had no choice in wanting to take the mission or not.  I was being asked directly, mainly because I was the one who had recruited Serenity, I was the perfect choice to go and find her.  I sighed though, nothing was ever easy.

“And what about these people?”  I finally had mentioned the intruders.  Boris nodded at me and stood, motioning for the rest of us to stand.

“Their intrusion was a test.  Not for us Lucas, but for themselves.  You see, they were trained in the Inquisition in Italy, and showed potential beyond belief.  Like you when you were a boy.  If they could get past our defenses, and manage to make it to my office without getting stopped along the way, they passed.”  My eyes widened in rage.

“Are you out of your mind?”  I shouted and slammed my hands on the desks.  This infuriated me because they had assaulted fellow Inquisitors.  And so I brought that point up.  “They didn’t make it to the door Boris!  They didn’t even come close!  All they did was attack-“  My words were cut off as Boris shook his head and held up a red scarf.  My eyes widened.  They did make it and I knew it.  I growled, literally growled a very feral growl.  

“They passed.  And I understand that they attacked fellow Inquisitors, but as you clearly saw, I had no doubt in my mind that you and the others dealt with it just fine.”  He said confidently.  I sighed and looked at them.  

“Well who are they?”  I said, trying to get past the introductions first.  Boris motioned for the first one to step forward.  “This is Alexander Grendali.”  Alexander stood at about five foot eight, and weighed about a hundred and eighty pounds of muscle.  He had eyes that annoyed me, plain blue, but I knew there was more intelligence there.  He was dressed in a black pair of pants, and a black shirt, and at his side was a sword.  That was interesting.  He bowed his head respectfully towards me.

The next one stepped forward, and he was introduced as Joseph Cardona.  He was taller than Alexander, and bigger by many standards.  Actually, the guy was a house with legs.  He stood roughly at seven foot even, and must have weighed three hundred pounds.   And the guy was solid muscle.  He too was clothed the same as Alexander.  Then, the third and final one stepped forward, and I recognized those purple eyes.

This was their leader and I knew that right away by looking at him.  He had blonde hair that was spiked up, and those purple eyes seemed so pitifully afraid of me at the moment.  He had tanned skin, just like the rest of them.  He was clothed much the same way, however he stood at a good five foot six, and he must have been average weight though, some of it didn’t look like muscle, but regular fat.  But I could tell he could take someone in a fair fist fight.  He looked at me, and finally bowed his head in respect, and I just nodded, and stepped back, wishing inwardly I would have been able to kill them.  I’d never felt that way about Inquisitors before.  My first reaction was never anger towards my own fellow Inquisitors.  His name was Giovanni Varedezi.  

“The three of them are very efficient Lucas, and they will be taking orders from you.  Also, I want Victor to assist you.”  I nodded my head, a smile spreading on my lips.  Victor and I had become what you could call close friends, but at the same time we weren’t.  It was hard to explain.  We got along very well, that’s really all that mattered and we were very friendly to each other.  We just didn’t go drinking together.  We didn’t go out together on our time off.  

I looked at the three before me, and then at Boris.  “Alright when do I leave?”  Boris Marak smiled that old man’s smile, and you’d never know that he had been destroying heretics against mankind for a couple hundred years by that smile.  He looked at the clock.  “You’ll be going when you’re ready.”  I nodded and left the office, which Boris knew meant I was ready.  I went past the corridor, and went back to the main hall, shaking my head as I did so.



I had gone to my office to uplink Maggie to my headset.  Everyone got their own personal assistant and Maggie was mine, as far as the computers go.  I knew I’d eventually need her sometime along this trip, and sometimes I have to admit, it was good to talk to her.  She wasn’t just a computer.  She had artificial intelligence.

Yes I know she had pre-programmed algorithms and all that non-sense.  However, there are times when they are required to have Artificial Intelligence.  I usually keep Maggie’s off because I don’t like relying on anything other than my own tuition.  You can call it paranoia, or you can call me a narcissist, but the truth is, I just trust myself over most people and things.  But this time, I trusted myself to keep Maggie with me, and I’d turn her AI on when I felt it necessary.  You never know when it’d be necessary.  

As I made my way past my office, I had my coat with me as well as a duffle bag.  I walked past the glass automated doors of the armory and went to the ammo shelves.  I grabbed the amount of ammo I knew I’d need, taking about twenty or thirty clips.  

Don’t look at me like that damn it.  

I ditch the clips after I’m done with them.  What purpose is there to keep them?  It takes too long to reload them, and besides, it only holds seven rounds.  As if no one else would do the same.  Especially with the amount of money that the Inquisition is granted.  

So I took the clips and a few extra items, such as a couple of extra pistols and such.  I had a change of clothes as well The clips I took were specially designed for me, because of the enchanted rounds and inscriptions.  I’d paid a serious amount of money for these weapons.  So I continued to take the various items I’d need.  I grabbed a few grenades, a few tear gas canisters, as well as a few magical artifacts that one might need.  I didn’t take chances when I did serious missions like this.  As I was rummaging about, I heard the glass doors open.

“Lucas, you know Karen’s going to bitch at you about what you’re taking right?”  Victor’s voiced echoed somewhat in the armory.  I chuckled a bit, adding the last of what I’d need, which was in fact a couple sets of throwing knives.

“Oh like she has the right.”  I said, rolling my eyes, joking around, but Victor thought I was serious.

“She does have the right.  You pay her to make those rounds for you especially, and the you destroy the empty clips with those super charged attacks you make.”  He shook his head as I turned around to face him, and the two of us hugged.  We hadn’t really seen each other in some time, even though we did work in the same sect.  He smirked.  “Did you see the new guys?”  

“Yeah, I was the one who tore half of their leader’s face off.”  I replied and he nodded, smiling as he picked up his duffel bag.  

“We better keep an eye on them.  For some reason, I get a creepy feeling around them.  And as an Inquisitor…”  He trailed off, and I grinned.

“We must trust our basic intuition.”  I finished, and the two of us laughed, and we made our way out.  Victor’s last name was Petrovskie.  He was as Russian as they came but he was born here in the United States, having Russian parents that were immigrants.  He was a tall guy that was for sure.  Where I was a good six foot nine, he stood at seven foot three, and he was three hundred and twenty pounds of rock hard muscle.  And he was fast.  Way faster than Joseph Cardona was.  And he was dressed in a long sleeved blue shirt, with black jeans.  I shook my head.  He gave me a level look as we made our way to the platform that would take us out.  Victor was wearing black sneakers, and I knew he was packing some kind of gun on him.  He never left without one.  We were joined by Alexander, Joseph and their leader Giovanni.  Victor bowed his head respectfully to them, and they did the same.  I waved and they waved back, smiling softly, though, for some reason, I didn’t like that smile and it made me want to bash him in the mouth without care.  I watched as the platform raised and I prepared myself upwards.  On the way up, Victor looked at me, and then at Alexander, Joseph, and Giovanni.

“You know, the worst thing about Hollywood boys, is all the eye pollution.”  I shook my head at his horrible porn jokes.  This was going to be one plane ride.