Demonic

To the untrained eye, Demicno was a rundown office building in the heart of downtown Mesa, Arizona. The stucco was as sepia as the sand that blew into the doorway on the day the woman in the suede miniskirt walked through that door. The building was modest, an office area with a single desk next to a large table piled with cases and information she took on when not on assignment. Anna Faulkner now walked into the center of the room, stood over the desk, and raised a slim black eyebrow to the scene in front of her. Before Anna, Aidan Faulkner poured over their most recent assignment with relish, a splitting smile covering his boyish face. Aidan had turned five-hundred years old only the month before, but The Society deemed him fit to grow into his crown, mostly because he could blend so easily with humans. Aidan was extremely good looking, with long honey hair that hung past his shoulders. He was polite, mild mannered, and charismatic, with a dimple in his left cheek. Their mother used to joke that if Aidan did not make a living as a demon slayer, he would make a killing as a waiter. Above his slim, straight nose laid the most prominent pair of chocolate eyes most women had ever set eyes on, and his eyes had nearly earned him this promotion himself, for they earned a human's trust almost unfailingly. He was also uncharacteristically tall, standing at well over 6'2", but then again, most of the Faulkner family was.

Anna bought his hand to her mouth and coughed softly, which was not necessary, as Aidan had sensed her even before she stepped out of her car.

"So, are we excited to finally be doing some real work?" Anna asked.

"Quite, and this assignment is looking most agreeable."

Anna's footsteps made no sound as she crossed the room to view the dossier. Surprise and confusion muddled her features as she saw the nature of the case.

"Aidan, this is an assassin order."

"I'm quite aware," he said smiling, "do you really think that that will be a problem?"

Anna simply shrugged. She knew her brother had laid many a life to rest, but Aidan also was not a cold-blooded killer. He probably remembered the name of every man he had killed. In addition, it was unusual, as this was her younger brother's first assignment, and although she would rather die than admit it to Aidan, she was jealous.

"It's just unusual; I mean you've only just reached Ancient status."

Aidan arched a brow at her. Was she jealous? He fought to keep his smug look to himself. He knew damn well Anna was not used to being denied anything, especially when it came to The Society. Anna, standing at 5'10" with waist-long raven hair, had not only befriended most of the men in The Society, but had also pleasured them. With her trim, toned, and long legs, no man wanted to resist her. Startling blue, oceanic eyes and full, cherry lips certainly did not hurt when pleading for what she wanted. However, this was Aidan's case, and being her brother, he had never fallen prey to her pouts of unfairness.

"It'll be relatively short; it's a human, not to mention a woman." He slid the rest of the file to his sister.

Anna was relieved to see that Aidan was correct; this would be child's-play. The woman was said to be 5'8", 125 lbs, with chestnut shoulder length hair. No picture would be provided; this was simply on Aidan's shoulders, a test of his perception. The woman was an anthropologist, brought to Mesa in hopes of finding Neanderthal remains, and presumably fame. She had dug too deep however, and found what appeared to be the stinger of a Jinn, a demon who was in animal form when it expired. Aidan's mission was simple, find the girl, figure out how much she knew, and dispose of her, along with anyone in close contact with her. The Society of course demanded that the corpses be taken care of afterward, needing no involvement from the human population.

"Well, looks like you're right Aidan, they couldn't of found a better job for a squirt," Anna smiled darkly.

Aidan laughed, "Or perhaps they found the perfect killer for the job." And with that, he eyes faded to the raven black color of his sister's hair.

Evelyn Carter stood over the table on which the latest found remains laid. Although none of the idiotic university students realized it, Eve knew that it was not human. She took off the glasses and messaged her green eyes, and then she picked up the phone.

"Ian Whittler speaking."

"Hi Ian, it's Evelyn. I was wondering if you had those DNA results back from the lab yet." Evelyn knew it was a long shot; after all, she had just called the lab yesterday. She did however, graduate top of her class at Brigham Young University under Ian, so favors were usually rushed.

"Ah yes, it just so happens that I do," the old professor said with a smile in his voice, "I found something most peculiar—"

Suddenly there a metallic screech so loud Evelyn dropped the phone, "Ouch!" she cried.

"Professor? Professor what's happened?"

However, there was only the sound of the operator telling Evelyn to hang up the phone, and try her call again.

Aidan took out the small bottle he carried with him at all times, pouring it over the old sap that never saw him coming. Ian's body fizzled as, within seconds, his skin and muscle tissue melted away, leaving only a neat pile of bones, which Aidan promptly scooped into his arms. Walking out into the desert, Aidan tapped into his power and let his inner demon come to the front. His skin was harder than nails, each tooth as sharp as a butcher knife, his eyes as black as raven. He had charged the old professor while gritting his claws along his thighs, creating a screech so painful the professor had doubled over, leaving him vulnerable to attack. Aidan now crushed the bones between his powerful hands, and when the dust fell to the desert floor, the bone could not be differentiated from it.

He backtracked into the lab and looked for anything useful to him. It was a small facility, obviously, his target had known this Ian Whittler well, and it must have been a favor. Laboratory equipment, a fridge, a computer, and a large mahogany desk were all that was in the trailer-sized lab. Aidan sighed and shifted back to his human form, he had failed a particular section in training when handling a delicate object in demon form, crushing it and losing vital information. He rubbed the back of his neck as he viewed what Ian had right before he died.

"No match on record. Three DNA types found prove subject may have been subjected to contamination."

Well, Aidan thought to himself, at least this information had not reached his target. He had felt remorse in killing the professor over this little tidbit. If The Society found out he had not euthanized Ian however, there would have been hell to pay.

Next, the photographs on the fridge captured Aidan's attention. The first was clearly of the late professor and his wife, smiling broadly at the Grand Canyon, the wind sweeping their white hair around their faces. Aidan looked away, feeling ashamed that he had taken what might have been her only relative from the woman. And that was when he saw her.

In the photograph, the girl could not have been more than twenty years old. She had shoulder length chestnut curls that tumbled around her heart shaped face delicately. Her eyes were a clear moss green, accented by long, black lashes. She was smiling, showing perfect white teeth behind smooth, light pink lips. Her face was flushed, the windblown pink of her cheeks reaching to her straight nose. She was not extraordinary, but she had a simple beauty that fully captured Aidan's rapt attention. In her right hand, she held a human skull, moving the jaw in a way that suggested he was smiling with her. Had she been the professor's daughter? With a groan, he moved the snowman magnet from the photo and flipped it over. Evelyn Carter discovers "Diego" 2009. No, Aidan thought, could it be? He pulled the physical description from within his jacket pocket out, and realized that he was indeed looking at the woman he needed to find and kill, within one month's time.

By the next afternoon, Evelyn had called everyone with a remote connection to Ian's lab, including his wife. Lisa Whittler had actually traveled to the lab, found the door locked, with the lights off, but she found no signs of Ian. Eve threaded her long, slender fingers together. Something was not right. She had remains that most certainly were not human on her observatory table, and the only man who might have had a clue as to what exactly those remains were, could not be found. She donned her spectacles, and sat down in front of the table.

"What are you?" she whispered.

Suddenly, the tent flap was quickly unzipped, and Evelyn jumped out of her chair. Cursing herself for being such a coward, she turned to see her assistant, Bruce Keyes.

"Dr., I hope this isn't a bad time, but we just had a man volunteer to fill in for McGregor."

She nodded her head as she listened to him. McGregor had been a right pain in her ass since the day he signed up for the course, which was to grant four credits to the university students, and should not have been taken lightly, but the long hours of toiling under the hot sun made it more like torture than a simple dig for easy credit. If her small, mouse like assistant had found someone to fill in, it was nothing less than a miracle.

"Can he start tomorrow morning?"

"Actually," a deep baritone voice said, "I can start right now." And with that, Aidan Fulkner came face to face with the woman he was meant to kill.