Author's Note: All of these characters and ideas are mine. I just needed a place to store this information while I'm working on this. Review would be very much appreciated. :)

The Murder by Mika Casey
Chapter One: Questions

When Agent Sophia Rhett signed up for FBI training, she never expected to land a job in the Bureau of Paranormal Defense. In fact, she hadn't even known it existed.

But she had. And it did.

The soles of her feet clicked against the ground as she walked down the hallway , and her cell phone was beeping crazily with incoming messages. They were from her boss, who was telling her that Brylee was waiting in the interrogation room.

She came to a solid oak door with an engraved metal placard that identified it as the room she was seeking. Sophia twisted the handle, drew in a deep breath, and used her shoulder to shove open the door. Striding inside, she saw two figures in the room.

One was chained heavily to a chair built into the ground, and it snapped its head up to glare at her with pale blue eyes. They rippled like small lakes, full of a primitive combination of fear and resentment. From the first impression, Sophia deduced that it was male. His skin was an ashy gray color, and sweat was dripping down from his hairline and streaking across his cheeks like tears. Night-black hair stuck to the moistness on his forehead. He bared his unusually long, sharp teeth and snarled silently at her.

The thing in the interrogation chair was not a human. In fact, he was a genetically altered species; an advanced human. It was what the FBI had deemed a "demon", the byproduct of an underground genetics experiment gone wrong that had taken place over thirty years ago. Scientists from around the world had gotten together to create the perfect human. But things got out of control, and the demons became dangerous and started killing their creators. The project was terminated, and the Armed Forces were called in to destroy of all the creatures. Everyone had believed that the demons no longer existed, until five years ago when a small group of them showed up on the FBI's doorstep, begging for sanctuary. There were six in total; four adults and two children. The other demons were currently building up their forces underground somewhere in the arctic circle and plotting to eliminate the human race.

Standing above the male demon that was sitting in the interrogation room, a female with the same ashy skin was leaning over him, with one hand on the table. She was one of the refugee demons who had joined forces with the FBI, because she did not like the violent nature of the others of her kind. Looking up at Sophia, she smiled in greeting, and her sharp eyeteeth showed against her bottom lip. Her name was Brylee, and she was thirty-three years old. Her eyes were the color of rubies, and currently glowed like candles. There was fire dancing on her fingertips, because her genetic code made her a pyrokinetic, and she was the reason for the male demon's perspiration.

Brylee had long hair the same color as the other demon's, and it curled as it fell past her shoulder blades. Some of the hair hung in her face like a curtain, shrouding part of her face. She was slender and curvy, and stood at five foot two inches. "He's an ice-type, Agent Rhett." Brylee informed Sophia, which meant this demon could lower the temperatures of objects he touched. Brylee was increasing the temperature so he wouldn't freeze the metal and break free.

Sophia sat down in the chair across from the captive, eyeing the open manilla folder that was lying on the table. The edges of the paper were charred, probably from Brylee quickly activating the flames in her fingertips, but none of the writing was damaged. Sophia read from the paper, glancing up at the male demon. "So, your name is Pierrel? Are you part of the Murder?" She reffered to the name of the group of underground demons.

The demon spit and didn't speak, believing his anonymity would keep him safe from either side.

Leaning across the table and staring into his unhuman eyes with her own ocean blue irises. "Look, Pierrel." She let a slight snarl escape her lips. "I could tell my friend here to turn on the heat and melt the skin right off your bones. And I'm sure a few other friends of mine could give you worse fates. I could call them in, if you wanted..." And with that Brylee increased the flame shooting out of her fingertips.

Frantically shaking his head, the demon spoke. The heat was coming off of him in waves. His voice was deep and accented, but he spoke perfect English. Demons were fluent in every known language in the world. "No, no. I'm not a part of the Murder. I just stayed with them for protection." He shook his head again, and Sophia motioned for Brylee to turn down the heat a little. "I'm no longer associated with them." He spoke more certainly. "I went off on my own, which was why I was found."

From the file, Sophia had seen that he was captured in northern Canada. "How many are in the Murder?"

Pierrel thought for a moment. "Maybe one hundred. Patton and Lilybeth are going to start the attack when there are at least two hundred." He offered this information himself, which gave Sophia a feeling that he didn't like the Murder any more than the FBI did.

Nodding, Sophia smiled, though her heart was sinking. Two hundred was a lot more than their previous estimate. Brylee stopped letting the fire out of her fingers, and as far as Sophia could tell Pierrel wasn't making any attempt to escape. "Since you've been overall cooperative," Sophia began, "we'll imprison you instead of terminate you. Perhaps you will be trained, and we'll work together in the future."

Blinking, Pierrel nodded. Sophia saw fear and exhaustion behind his pale blue gaze.

Sophia motioned to Brylee, and she stood while grabbing the folder. She quickly exited the room, with the she-demon close behind her. The two women walked brisquely down the hall. Brylee's movements were fluid and feline, and her gray skin was flawless, and perfectly formed muscles moved beneath it. A perfect woman, as she was created to be.

"Do you have anything else to do, Soph?" Brylee inquired, tone more casual because they had stepped out of the interrogation room. Looking down at her watch, Sophia saw that she got off of work in two minutes.

Sophia shook her head. "I just have to file this paper. They I'll be headed to our quarters." The six demons, along with the three human agents of the Bureau of Paranormal Defense, all housed together at the headquarters. The agents were chosen because they had excellent skills in their fields, and also because they had no close family or friends. No strings attached, as Supervising Agent Finn would put it.

Pulling her blackberry out of her pocket, Sophia saw that she had a text message from Agent Diego Tito, the third human on the team, saying that he had picked up Chinese takeout for her and Brylee. The others had already eaten.

"Diego got Chinese food for us." Sophia informed her friend, and the demon grinned.

"What a gentleman." Brylee purred as the two women walked in the direction of Sophia's office.