Chapter Twenty: Detain

Night turned to day creating a warm colored sky with the sun rising above the city. Unbeknownst to the population, there was a warmer and more pleasant atmosphere within a single room. In this single room a woman and a man lay together in each other's embrace after a productive evening. The man's mouth was agape and drops of droll escaped. On the other hand, the woman cradled next to him wore a soft smile on her lips. The sun's rays escaped the mahogany curtains and softly touched the man's eyelids. Soon his eyes fluttered greeting the incoming light and scanned around the room in confusion. Seconds passed in confusion, until flashes of the last night's activities revealed in his mind. In order to confirm his suspicions, he looked to the unknown pressure wrapped around his waist and chest. Garfield smiled to himself when he found a sleeping half-demon named Raven cuddled in his arms.

Garfield sighed in pure bliss. To his surprise, after his soft sigh the woman tightened her arms around him. Her eyes slowly opened welcoming her to a new morning. Sensing that she was awake, Garfield smiled and turned his head down.

"Good morning beautiful." He greeted to her in a soft whisper. She merely closed her eyes and held him closer.

"Morning." She replied nudging her head on his bare chest. For moments, they lay in silence taking in the pleasure of their warm embrace. Raven followed the melody of his heartbeat and rising of his chest every time he took a breath. Garfield could feel her soft cold body wrapped up against him. He could feel her breast rise every time she inhaled and exhaled. In this blissful state, he never wanted to let go from this tender embrace. However, his bladder would have to disagree. He slightly shifted his body, but the woman tightened her embrace and nuzzled her head even further in his chest.

"Stop moving." She mumbled in his chest.

He responded by holding her close and released his grasp. "I don't want to let you go either, but right now I really need to use your bathroom." He spoke.

She sighed heavily and rolled off of the man. Raven lay on her stomach supporting herself with her elbows. The woman looked at him and gave the man a signature 'pout' face. Garfield smiled at the pouting woman and softly kissed her on the lips. He stared in her amethyst eyes and pecked a kiss on her forehead. "I'll be back in one minute beautiful." He responded to her facial expression. Grabbing his pants, Garfield quickly ran the private bathroom to relieve himself.

Once he returned from the bathroom, the man found his lover standing in front of the mirror brushing her violet hair. She wore her black-laced bra and thong staring in the mirror above her bureau. With the sunlight beaming on her, Garfield saw a radiant angel in front of his eyes. Her curves were accented in the light and her pale skin was luminous. With the soft sun kissing her features, it made her skin glisten in the room. The man silently confessed to himself that he was completely, utterly in love and enamored with this woman. Raven gave the impression that beckoned for him to come closer without motion or words. Silently, he walked over the beautiful woman.

When he reached the woman, he pressed against her backside and wrapped his arms around her upper stomach sending shivers up her spine. Raven stopped brushing her hair and set the utensil down. In response to him, she laid her left hand on his hands and extended her right hand to the back of his head. Garfield could smell her signature scent of lavender and jasmine in the crook of her neck. For minutes they stood there together in the warmth of the sun escaping the window. The woman was faintly blushing and she smiled bearing her white teeth. Raven turned around to face the man behind and wrapped her pale arms around his neck. Garfield responded by snaking his arms around her lower back. She gazed in his hazel eyes and he peered into her amethyst.

"I love you Raven." Garfield said with love in his voice. She smiled in response and a soft blush filled her cheeks.

"I love you too." She replied, "And there's something I need to ask of you."

"Sure. What is it?" he asked.

"I was wondering if we could keep this a secret from the team. I love you with all my heart, it's just I am not ready to share with the team that I am in a relationship with one of collogues just yet. I am not certain if they will approve of me mixing business with pleasure. But Garfield, I want you to know that when I am ready, I will share it to them. I do not want to keep this from them for long" Raven requested.

Garfield nodded and held her chin gently. "Anything for you. Only if you are ready. Does that mean I we can't go out though?"

"I would love to go out with you and I will. We just need to be discrete about things. Okay?"

"Yes beautiful." He gave her a kiss on her forehead.

"Also, I want to ask another thing too." Raven said looking into his eyes. He nodded and gave her a questionable expression. "There's an empty suite a floor below me and I know you only have one semester left in college and you are doing and internship at the zoo. I figured since it was closer to the zoo, would you like to move into that room. I want you to be close to me." She looked down at her bare feet.

Again, he gently cupped her chin and lifted her head. "Yes of course. Anything for you." Garfield ensnared the woman in a deep embrace not wanting this moment to cease.

Less than a week later, Garfield moved in the level below into the vacant apartment suite. Since most of them lived in the headquarters, it appeared it was inevitable he would move in. However, one of the main reasons he moved in was to be closer to his significant other. Raven and Garfield were skillful enough to keep their relationship a secret from the other Messors. The couple went on a few dinner dates when the team didn't have a mission. Not to mention occasional 'sleep-overs' in Raven's apartment. Everything with the team appeared normal and performed the same without Raven and Garfield revealing feelings for each other to the team.

After an afternoon of exercising in the gym, Garfield lay on the couch relaxing. Several members of the team were watching television and eating in the same room. The team had no assignments on this particular night so they could do recreational activities. One reason they had no assignments this day was that their infamous leader was out of town for a Messor board meeting. She had been gone for several days, but was scheduled to return that night. Garfield was joyful that she was returning tonight. They had not been in a relationship for long, but he felt a part missing from him when she left for her meeting. He missed her kiss, touch, and the way she used to laugh at his quirkiness. Another reason he was excited to have her return was he was eagerly tapping on a necklace box stuffed in his jacket. Garfield bought it earlier this afternoon celebrating her return from her meeting and to give her something she would enjoy. It was a silver necklace embedded with small cubic zirconium diamonds and several pieces of amethyst jewels embedded. When he first laid eyes on it, he knew had to give that to her.

Everyone was relaxing and leisurely doing their own thing when suddenly the power went off. Garfield sat up immediately and everyone stopped what they was doing.

"Dammit you guys! We blew a fuse." Cleaver announced. "I'll go downstairs to fix it. Anyone got a flashlight?"

"Here you go Cleaver." Dante replied throwing a small flashlight attached to his keys.

Quickly, Cleaver left the room to head down to the floor below. Everyone in the room was complaining about the power being out, but Garfield had an odd feeling in the pit of his stomach. He couldn't explain the feeling but brushed it off thinking rationally about the situation. Several minutes passed in complete darkness without any word from Cleaver. By this time, everyone would have assumed that the man would return or at the least that the power would return. At this point, Garfield's feeling in the pit of his stomach returned and everyone was becoming uneasy.

Without notice, a low, rumbling growl echoed across the room making Garfield freeze. Suddenly, a loud shriek rebounded throughout the room. Garfield jumped to take action and the other Messors did the same. Suddenly the electricity returned oddly sending fear in the Messors. Surrounding the team were a number of demons standing in the room. One demon in particular was hovering over a team member who was unconscious. All of the demons had glowing red eyes, sharp canines and every physical feature identifying them as a demon. Not to mention, Garfield could smell their horrendous scent. Many of them wore devilish grins on their faces following low growls that escaped their throats.

In a moment's notice, the demons attacked. Following their attack the team turned to defense since their fighting materials were misplaced somewhere else. All they had to depend on was their physical strength. Garfield swerved through some of the demons assaults, but was punched and bitten by one some of the demons. With his martial arts skills, he was able to knock some of the demons unconscious. The other team members were trying their hardest to defend themselves against the other demons, but there were too many. Some of the members were knocked unconscious or held captive by the demons.

Trying to help save his team, Garfield hinged on the dexterities of the beast within him. Honing his skills, he attempted to withdraw the beast within him. Time after time, he tried but the beast within failed to appear. Garfield was confused why the beast wouldn't resurrect, and consumed in his thoughts did not see the demon behind him. Before he could turn his head, the demon struck him behind knocking him to the ground.

Feeling weak, the demon sat on the man while another wrapped the man's hands together. With the effort of several demons, they lifted the man who struggled against him. His struggle was futile since there were so many demons holding him hostage. They escorted him to the direction of arena. There was in thought in his mind the raced back in forth.

Why haven't they killed me yet? He repeated in his mind.

Once they entered the arena, Garfield saw a sight he had never seen before. Demons filled the entire room and his whole group was held by other demons struggling to break free. Walking towards his cohorts, demons taunted, growled, screeched and hissed at the man. Garfield glared at the monsters until he reached the rest of his team. They looked in poor condition with scratches, cuts, broken bones, and bruises all over their bodies. Several members were still unconscious lying carelessly on the concrete floor. Garfield was thrown on the floor with the rest of the team members. Demons surrounded the entire group, but two particular demons stood before them.

Both demons before them appeared to be the frontrunners of the demon swarm. One demon threw his hands above his head in order to signal for the demons to be quiet. The demons complied with the command and silenced their taunting.

"What a contemptible demon hunting group we have before us. Thought we would get much more of a fight out of you because of your leader. But it turns out since your leader isn't here; you Messors are weak and pathetic. You reflect much of the characteristics of a half-demon." The lead demon spoke.

The other demon stepped one foot forward and spoke. "You all are so feeble, even your headquarters was easy to detect and penetrate. It only took us a few tries and to disable your security system."

"Then why haven't you killed us yet?" Cleaver shouted struggling form the demons.

"Let's just say, we need you alive. . . for now." They gave a demonic smile.

Garfield resisted and thrashed about against the demons holding him. He writhed back and forth until he was released from the demons, and ran towards the forerunner demons. Before he made contact with the demons, they struck his stomach and slipped him off his feet, making him collapse to the ground. One of the demons stomped on the man several times and held him to the ground. The demons surrounding him laughed in unison. He could feel pain shooting throughout his body and head throbbing from the fall.

"How pathetic," the demon chortled.

Growling, Garfield shouted, "What the hell do you want?"

"I want my daughter " a loud rumbling voice announced in the darkness. Suddenly four blood-red eyes manifested from the darkness. Appearing from the darkness was an enormous demonic figure nearly half the height of the arena ceiling. The figure's body was masculine with long white hair ending below its knees. The demon's dominant skin color was crimson, and accented with black tribal tattoos that enveloped his arms. Protruding out of his head were elk horns slightly broken. The demon had sharp ebony claws on his fingers and ram hooves for feet. Indeed, the demon looked intimidating from the first sight. He exposed his sharp canines directing his attention to Garfield collapsed on the floor.

Garfield was shaking out of fear under his realization. "Trigon" he whispered under his breath. The demon smirked and gave the entire arena a loud demonic laugh that reverberated throughout the field.