Chapter Three: Unexpected

Garfield dreaded going home to the apartment. He slowly walked up the stairs to the apartment him and Marshall shared. Every step he took, he was reminded of his friend. His friend was brutality murdered right in front of him, and Garfield did nothing. The man thought to himself that he could have done something to save his friend over and over again. He could have called the police, but they might have thought he was crazy, unless they saw the gory sight of corpses. Garfield wondered what those creatures were, and mainly, who those people were in the trench coats? Especially, who was that woman with the violet eyes? These questions floated into his mind until he reached the apartment door. He sighed and unlocked it.

The man entered the apartment and immediately smelled cigarette smoke. Quickly, he ignored it since the neighbors smoked outside on their balcony. After closing the door, he turned on the lights to the apartment. He walked over to the pantry and ate a few crackers. When he turned towards the television, he saw a cloud of smoke near the couch. Cautiously, he walked toward the couch. Garfield grabbed an umbrella and approached closer. He slowly peered over the couch and gasped.

Lying on the couch was the woman with the trench coat. She had a cigarette in her mouth and was reading out of a notebook in her hands. She ignored him as he looked over from the couch. Once his whole head appeared over the couch, she made eye contact with him. Quickly, Garfield gasped and backed away from the couch. He held the umbrella in front of him defensively, and stood in a guarding position. His legs were beginning to shake.

She placed the notebook on the ground and exhaled smoke. The woman lightly laughed. "Do you really think you can hurt me with that? Please. I am offended."

"What the hell are you doing here? What do you want?" he asked. The umbrella was shaking in his hands.

"What do you think I'm doing here? I'm laying on your couch reading my book and smoking, genius." she replied as she sat up.

"I didn't mean that! And you can't smoke in here." He held the umbrella higher.

"My apologies." she said and extinguished the cigarette by using her long tongue. Surprisingly, Garfield was aroused by her action. "Anyway, you can put the umbrella down. My gun and knives are over there." She pointed towards the top of the television. Sure enough, a gun and a few knives lay on the television set. Hesitantly, Garfield lowered the umbrella although that didn't bring him complete assurance.

"Thank you. Now we can talk." she said and stood up. "I know what you saw tonight and I am sorry you had to witness it. The world isn't quite familiar with these anomalies of the world."

"What were those things that attacked my friend?" he asked.

"Demons." she replied blankly.

"Why were they after Marshall? And how do you know him?" he asked raising his voice and the woman disappeared from the couch. He stared left and right looking for the woman who vanished right in front of him.

"Damn. Question after question. Has anyone ever told you how annoying you are?" she said behind him. Startled, Garfield turned around and backed up. The woman raised her eyebrows in vexation. "Let me explain."

"How the hell did you just do that?" Garfield asked as he began to resume his shaking.

"Let me explain. Mr. Logan." she stated.

"How do you know my name?" Garfield asked in a panic but she flicked his nose like a dog.

"Shut up for the first time in your life and let me explain" she commanded. She walked to the table and sat down. Garfield leaned against the couch rubbing his nose. "Now Mr. Logan. First off, it is standard procedure to say that what you saw was real and you are not dreaming. Your friend was killed by demons, and my special operations team killed those demons. Do you follow me so far?" Garfield nodded.

"Wonderful. Now your friend Marshall was a part of our team. He was one of an undercover team members," she explained. "However, he didn't follow my orders yesterday, and unfortunately was murdered by other demons he snitched out months ago. He was an easy target and that is how he died."

"What about his body?" Garfield asked.

She sighed. "There was barely anything left to recover. It was so bad we could barely identify the corpse. Do not worry, the police will not be after you. No worries about getting a roommate. We will take care of rent until Marshall's lease is over. We have been working with Marshall for about a year and we know about you through him. We know, your name, birth date, and everything else personal about you."

"What about my innermost thoughts?"

"Yes we do." Garfield gasped and she smirked. "I wish we could, but no we can't."

Garfield was relieved. He had an explanation now. There was just one concern. "Since I know all this information, are you going to kill me?"

"Nope. We've got better things in store for you." she said with a devious smile.

"I don't like that look." Garfield said.

She stood up from the table. "We need you to replace Marshall. Without an undercover, we cannot fulfill our jobs as Messors."

"And what the heck is a Messor, and what is that job."

"Messor is Latin for reaper. If you are a Messor, you kill demons."

"Whoa. Hold on there. I'm not going to do that. Did you not see what happened to my friend?"

"Well no shit Sherlock. I was there. The only reason Marshall died because he didn't follow my orders. Those orders were to identify a demon at the club. Instead, he had sex with the demon, which was his end. If you follow my orders, you will live. If not, you might as well send my regards to Marshall. So, what do you think?" she asked.

Garfield stood in place staring at the ceiling. It might have been five minutes later, but the woman started to become impatient by tapped her fingers on her arms and tapping her foot. "If I choose not to, I'm guessing you will kill me."

"Yes and this time I am not joking. This is a serious business and you need to survive."

"Then I agree." Garfield renounced.

"Great." she held out her hand for him to shake it. He grabbed her hand and instantly felt how cold her hands were. Surprisingly her hands were incredibly soft. They withdrew their hands. "We have a deal. Now, we will be at headquarters tomorrow to brief you on your training. I will pick you up here around noon. So get some sleep."

She began to walk towards the balcony doors. She exited the apartment, and before she closed the door his hand held the door.

"What is your name by the way?" he asked.

"Raven." she replied, placed a cigarette in her mouth and lit it.

"You know that's bad for you." Garfield pointed out concerned.

"And don't you think I know that?" she winked and stepped on the edge of the balcony. The woman jumped off the building. Garfield ran to the ledge and looked down. She disappeared.

Damn, she just vanished. She's like a ninja. A very sexy ninja.He thought to himself and proceeded to his room. Somehow, Garfield believed he was signing a death sentence.