The creature looked up, through the holes of the sewer cover. He could hear the noise from above. The vibrant chatters and the car honks. Deep within him, his humanity yearned to be a part of his race. Yes he had done a lot of things in his past, questionable things, things one could say, would not be done on a normal day basis. But at that moment, he didn't care. Heck he'd do anything, even if he spent it in a prison cell.

Now, he had to spend the rest of his life in a body like this. Sharing with a monster. In a company of monsters. He turned around looking at the dark corridor of the sewer. The yellow eyes of the daemon glowing in the dark was both frightening and at the same time it was compelling to him.

The slim daemon, the one it had talked to the last time, came and stood in front of him.

[This is all.]

[All?]

[Duh. What did you want? Phantoms?]

[No.]

[Besides, I am not really into the idea of a half being in charge, so I'm in charge]

[Noted. Besides, we all want one thing, isn't that right?]

The human in him tried to speak, but then, as hard as he tried to, he just couldn't. He screamed and screamed, but it was just all to no avail. He curled up into a ball, with nothing to do. Nothing to try.

Just wait till the monster took everything.

The creature moved away from the other daemon, standing alone.

[Still hesitant]

"Hesitant?" the human within said, "If I had full control of this body I swear I will slaughter every last one of these daemon. Even if it kills me."

[And do you think that after that you'll get a pat on the back from the humans? Because you killed a mere number of daemon]

"At least I would have taken a few of them before I myself am killed."

[You are a fool]

"Oh you got that right."

[We share the same mind. I can read your past memories. They wanted you dead before they even used you.]

"Don't. You. Dare!"

[It seems like you killed your own kind. For money? Such vain and useless goals. No wonder you always die.]

"SHUT UP!!"

[Just take a back seat, Jahn. Take a seat, and watch as I kill your kind. Just like you used to]

"So it wasn't just my imagination, then." Latifa said.

"Nope." Kyler replied. "It's something we've all wanted to ignore for the longest of time. But daemon activity has of late been spiking in Boston. And the world."

"Do you think...?"

"Uh-uh. I know what you are going to say. I didn't say that." Kyler cut Martha short before she could finish her statement. "All we need to do is to call for more backup."

"Backup?" Latifa laughed. "From where? New York? New Jersey? Russia? Ghana? South Africa? They are all stretched thin. Inquisitors have been going of radar one by one. Tell me where Rebecca and Sakura are?"

"Don't even start Latifa." Kyler said. "Those two women are the best and have no reason to quit. And it was because of Sakura that Barry is still with us."

"Chillax, man. I must have struck a nerve."

"Yeah."

"But then what about the Shield?" Martha asked, "But couldn't we ask for their help?"

"We could." Kyler said. "But beside Captain Reynolds, I honestly do not see anyone else who has better experience-and personality-to do their job. Those guys are only looking for attention. The government is slowly losing the people's trust so they sent them."

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"Not helping."

"It is...to an extent. But not enough. But then thanks to the recent daemon incident, the people also have a hop in them as well."

"While losing their trust in us."

"Latifa," Kyler said, "We kill daemon because it's our duty. Not for something as undefined as trust. Trust isn't going to guarantee your protection."

"Yeah, but sometimes a little trust is kind assuring."

"Now isn't the time, guys," Martha said. "What we need to do is to discuss how we are going to deal with this oncoming threat. Where is Aaron?"

"Took the recruits out." Kyler said, "Jake and Pop too have gone out as well."

"Shino?"

"He's meeting up with another inquisitor. The guy's from HQ."

"Good. Inquisitors shouldn't be alone now. Those days are long gone."

Martha turned, looking out the window of Prime Diego's office. "Just pray it doesn't get any worse than this."

"Catch." Aaron said, tossing the uniform to Blake. Blake caught it, shaking it out to examine it.

"A hoodie?"

"Yeah. You don't like it?"

"I do actually. Thanks. But I thought than it'd be as standard as the others."

"Every inquisitor has his own taste, kid. They wear what they wear based on the fighting style, or sense of fashion. I mean, look at Brandon."

Brandon wore a small jacket over a black long sleeves, with black shorts to match. In his hand was a pair of nun chucks, and he had a cap over his head.

"Interesting." Blake said, putting on the hoodie. Rachel and Sarah joined them shortly.

"Ok rookies!" Aaron said, "We're going out in the open. No messing around, and no jumpiness. You know your training, and you know how far you can go before you drop. Don't screw up!"

The five walked through the streets of Boston, checking through alleyways and abandoned buildings. Brandon yawned a couple of times, and Sarah whined about how they had walked for hours. But they still pressed on. The midday sun scorching them through their black attires.

"Can we rest sir?" Brandon asked, "We are tired. I feel like I could make a whole lake with my sweat alone."

"Yeah, me too." Sarah said, "And I'm starting to tan."

"Is that bad?" Aaron asked. "A little sun bathing won't hurt. Besides, those to seem okay."

"I'm not okay." Rachel said, "I'm just keeping it in, that's all. What about you, Blake?"

Blake's attention, however was not on them. Rather it was on the Shield vehicle that had parked a few meters away from where they stood. The agents had all alighted, excluding the driver and one of them was starting to approach them.

"Um..." Blake began, "they are coming towards us. Is it bad or..."

"No it's not bad. It's annoying." Aaron said. The man halted in front of them, a grin on his face. He took the cigarette out of his mouth throwing it into a nearby bin. The piece missed the bin, but Ross did not care.

"Well, well, well." He said with a laugh. "If it isn't Aaron?"

"Ross."

"What brings you here?"

"Its field training. Not breaching any territories, am I?"

"As a matter of fact, this area was just designated as ours today."

"Bull..."

"I see that you brought your recruits." Ross said, looking at Blake and the others, "They seem young, why have you forgotten the rules?"

"They're all above 18."

"We are all 18." Rachel corrected. Aaron smiled.

"Funny," Ross said, "We brought ours too."

"I can see that." Aaron said, looking over at the Shield vehicle. Two guys and two girls. A third guy stepped out of the vehicle, much to the shock of Aaron, Brandon and Rachel.

"Lukas?!" Brandon and Rachel exclaimed. Sarah turned as well, shocked.

"Why the surprise, kids. The Shield is better after all. And besides, it's not like some Shield agents have not defected to the Inquisitors before, am I right, Aaron."

Aaron didn't utter a word, only stared at Lukas. He sighed, realizing that it was the guy's choice. And besides, even if he did reveal important data on the inquisitors, it wouldn't matter. The shield recruits began to approach them.

"So." One of the Shield girls said, as she stopped in front of Rachel, "Seem less intimidating than I expected.

"What were you expecting, a muscle head?" Rachel retorted.

"Ah, well, I guess I shouldn't have expected much in the first place."

"Enough," The bigger guy said, pulling the shield girl back. "Sorry, she's not really like that."

"Whatever," Rachel said, walking away. The bigger guy turned to Aaron and saluted.

"Sir," he said, "The name's Shawn Hands. Private under the command of Captain Reynolds."

"Ok. I don't do salutes anymore."

Brandon walked towards Lukas, the latter who grinned at him.

"Seems like you've been doing well." Lukas said, "I should be proud. But then again, I faired a lot better on this side."

"So you just left because you wanted to join the Shield?"

"Yeah. Shield has the upper hand, Pratt. Unlike you guys who are just going around like ants. Heck you aren't even recognized sometimes by the UN."

"Well I joined to protect my family, not for recognition."

"Well so did I, Pratt. But then I wanted to do it the legal way. And you?" Lukas said, turning to Blake. "Are you going to let them corrupt you?"

"I'm not one to be easily moved, Lukas," Blake said, "I do what I want to do. And what I wanted to was to join the inquisitors."

"Really," Lukas said, "For what? Revenge? To protect your family?"

"No. Because I felt like it."

Lukas looked at him, shocked by his answer. Confused even, one might say "Huh?"

"Yeah," Brandon said, "Got me too."

"What are you crazy?" Lukas said, "Joining for the hell of it."

"Actually, that's kind of cool."

The three guys turned to see who it was. It was one of the shield recruits. He wasn't wearing the shield uniform, but a white sleeveless top.

"Sup." The guy said, extending an arm to shake Blake, "The name's Spen Nikoli." Blake shook the hand, not sure who it was. But he could tell that this guy was too dangerous. He had an aura about him, but there was something dark mixed with it. Something that made his dagger rattle.

"Blake Summers."

Spen smiled, "Let's do well to work together."