Chapter Six: Weapons

After the ordeal, the man with the prosthetic arm was escorting Garfield. At first glance, he appeared intimating, but Garfield knew not the judge by appearances. The man was leading him down several hallways in the building. The walls were gray and bland with the exception of doors that appeared on each side. They were unlabeled and a few had pad locks on them. There was even one that had a chain-link lock on it. Garfield had no idea where the man was leading him. He was very vague when he told Garfield to follow him and that he had something to give him since he was now a certified Messor.

However, Garfield was not paying attention the man leading him to the unknown location, but rather on the strange occurrence that happened between him and the demon. That had never transpired before, and he was frightened that he had no control of his body. It was as if when he lost control, he was sitting on the sidelines watching himself mutilate the demon. Particularly, confused of the fact that the other Messors appeared to be oblivious of the situation. He had lost control and it was fine? How was that normal? Maybe most of them paid no mind to it, but Raven and the man appeared curious. Garfield was uncertain of the situation and felt uneasy. Still, lost in his thoughts, the man stopped in front of him and Garfield bumped into him, instantly knocking him out of his mind.

"That was quite a show you put that there Mr. Logan." the man said and began to walk again.

"Uh, yeah." Garfield stuttered. "What's your name by the way?"

The man turned his head to the side to look at him from behind. "Cleaver." the man simply stated.

Garfield nodded. "Nice name. May I ask if that's your real name? Are you a chef?"

Cleaver turned around but continued to walk towards end of the hallway, but backwards. The man dug into the inside of his ebony trench coat and held out a large kitchen cleaver and smiled devilishly. "Well, my weapon of choice Mr. Logan. Some use fists, while others use swords, and guns. I prefer this. I find it satisfying slashing through demons with this heavy blade." Garfield shivered a little when the man smiled at the blade and then back at him. "Do not worry Mr. Logan. You will find your preferred weapon of choice in due time."

"Glad to know that." Garfield smiled sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck. "By the way, where are we going?"

"The armory closet. We must have you prepared." Cleaver said stopping in front of an iron door. He entered in a six-digit code on the keypad and held out his hand on a small scanner. Once the scanner finished examining, a little green light flashed instantly unlocking the iron door. Cleaver opened the door and gestured the rookie to enter first. Garfield walked through the door and entered the armory room.

The room was lit with florescent white lights and the room had clean white walls. There were dozens of the selves filled with guns, swords, and other small heavy artillery. There were several tables that held heavier artillery. Cleaver walked to the other side of the room and opened a closet. Garfield proceeded behind him and watched as he pulled an ebony trench coat from the closet. He examined it and looked at Garfield. He held it in front of the man and squinted. He opened his eyes and threw the coats towards Garfield. The man caught it and inspected it.

"Since you are now a Messor, you are now part of our Messor squad. Our uniform is simply of ebony trench coat that distinguishes us from other Messor squads. You will wear that when you are on missions or whenever we instruct it." Cleaver explained. "There are pockets to hide your weapons, which reminds me." He trailed off and walked over to one of the shelves. Cleaver fingered through many weapons and finally pulled out a handgun and a dagger. He walked over to Garfield and placed it in his hands.

"Give me the dagger and gun Miss Raven gave you." Cleaver commanded holding out his arm. Garfield took the gun and dagger from his back pockets and gave it to the Messor. "Your previous gun is only a beginner Messor gun. I have given you a certified Messor gun. This one holds more bullets and has a sharper aim. The dagger you were given earlier was dull, so I gave you a sharpened one."

"Thanks Cleaver." Garfield acknowledged.

"It's part of my job." Cleaver said and began to walk out of the armory room. "It's getting late. Let's find Raven to see if she has further instructions for you." Garfield nodded and followed Cleaver. After Garfield exited the room, he entered in a security code and locked the armory.

"Where is she anyway?" Garfield asked.

"Either she is in her office or in her apartment suite. At this time usually, she is in her office. We shall precede their first." Cleaver answered and traveled toward the elevator. Once they advanced to the 13th floor, they exited the elevator.

Cleaver walked down the dark hallway. Clearly, Garfield walked behind the man. The hallways were dark gray and had pictures of disturbing images of demons. However, Garfield expected to the pictures to have images of fallen demons. To his surprise, there were images of demons standing tall and proud. He found it quite unsettling but said nothing of it. They reached the end of the hallway and stood in front of a red door. There was a light that escaped the bottom of the door indicating that a light was on. That did not necessarily mean there was someone beyond the door. Cleaver hesitatingly knocked on the door.

"Enter." a voice answered from the other side of the door. Cleaver opened the door revealing what was inside. Garfield entered the room peering inside. The room was large dark with the exception of a few dim lights on the walls and one light from a desk. The walls were burgundy and there were several bookshelves in the room. There was a desk in the back of the room and Raven was sitting in it. It appeared that she had a stack of paperwork she was working on. Even though the two men were in the room, she did not glance from her paperwork. Cleaver stepped a few feet in front of the desk and bowed. Raven looked up from her paperwork.

"You have given Garfield his coat and weapons of course Cleaver?" she asked putting down her pen and reclined back in her chair. She laced her fingers together in front of her mouth and stared at Cleaver.

"Correct." Cleaver addressed. "I am sorry that I disturbed you during your paperwork, but it is quite late and Garfield should be heading home. Is there anything else you wish for him to do before his departure?"

She turned her gazed to Garfield. Her eyes were striking even in this type of light. She raised one side of her lip. "It's been a long day Mister Logan, you should go home. However before you leave, I need you to study the characteristics and features of a demon. We need you immediately tomorrow for your first assignment." She stood up from her chair and walked towards one of the shelves. The light perfectly accented her curves while she looked through the shelf. She fingered through the books and took out one book. It was an inch wide book with a black binding. Raven walked to Garfield and handed the man the thick book. "I require that you to read this tonight. You must know the basic characteristics of demons. If you don't read it, I'll have to kill you."

"Are you serious? I can't read this whole book in one night!" Garfield objected.

"Then you have to. Your life depends on it. Literally and metaphorically I can make sure I will make your life a living hell if you don't read this book. You chose being a Messor to live and that is what I am doing. If you want to live, read the damn book until your eyes bleed and continue to read. Do you understand my commands?" she demanded with venom in her tone.

"Y-yes. I'll r-read it t-to-tonight." Garfield stumbled fearfully.

"Did I just hear a stutter?" she glared at him with fire in her eyes. She raised part of her lips to reveal one sharp canine.

"Yes ma'am. I'll read it tonight." Garfield replied with no speech impediment.

"Great!" she shouted with delight. She walked over to her desk and sat down. "You may go now. Cleaver will take you home. Your assignment is tomorrow night. We will pick you up at three. Now, leave me to my paperwork."

Cleaver bowed and Garfield stood frozen. Cleaver grabbed him by his neck and pulled him down to bow to Raven. After they bowed, they exited the room. Garfield was silent as they proceeded down the elevator to the ground floor. Cleaver walked out of the building and towards garage next to the building. He opened the garage door and entered it with Garfield behind him. The two men walked in the garage until Cleaver stopped in front of a black Hummer. He unlocked it and entered through the driver's side. Garfield entered the passenger side. After buckling, Cleaver drove off. The car ride was silent for a few blocks until Garfield spoke.

"Is she always like that?" Garfield asked.

"Certainly. When you are in this business you can't be weak." Cleaver answered. "She is actually one of the top Messors in the world. Particularly she is the strongest squad commander we've ever had. Raven has been our leader for four years. Most barley make it six months. She's a leader, so she must be strong. Never antagonize her. Raven thinks about others more than herself. If it appears she doesn't care about your well-being, she does care I assure you."

"I see." Garfield spoke. He processed the information in his head. It all seemed logical and convincing. There was no more he could say, but there was one impulsive thought he had. "How old is she anyway?"

"You never ask a woman her age." Cleaver said.

"Please. I'm just curious that's all." Garfield said defensively.

Soon, they reached Garfield's apartment and sighed. "Fine. She's twenty-two."

Garfield nodded. "Thanks and thank you for the ride."

"You're welcome and remember what I told you. Keep that in mind, and for God's sake read the damn book." Cleaver said and smiled.

Garfield nodded and closed the door. He watched the Hummer drive away and he went upstairs to his apartment. He entered the apartment and lay on the couch. The man sighed and lay there for a few moments. His stomach growled and he stood up from the couch. Garfield walked to the kitchen and made himself something to eat.

After he finished, Garfield saw a flashing light on his answering machine. He pressed it exposing one new message. He pressed the code to hear it.

"Hey man it's Vic. Did you hear? Marshall got kick out of the university. I heard they took all of his stuff out and kicked him to the curb. Somethin' over tuition that was unpaid. Anyway, just wanted to know if you heard the news. Of course you must have, he was your roommate. So, anyway, call me man!"the message said and ended. Garfield frowned and took a shower.

He walked out of the shower and got dressed for bed. Before he lay down, he saw the black book Raven gave him earlier. He stared at it for moments debating whether or not he should read it now or in the morning. Finally after much thought, he reached a final decision. Garfield grabbed the book and lay on his bed. He held the light over the book and began to read it.

Here we go Garfield. An overnight cram sessionhe thought to himself and continued to read the book.