They used our powers part 3

Chapter 3: Full-fledged agent

Till turned his phone to silent, checking the last message he got from Mia. A month had gone by from the time of her recruitment and she was able to complete missions on her own, only meeting up with him from time to time. Gerald had been extremely satisfied with her progress and so was Till himself, noticing how she acted more like the girl he once knew and her confusion gradually faded. The male paced through the dimply lit hallway of the Park hotel, the location Gerald had chosen for this year’s annual agent meeting. They were the worst two days of the year for Till, as he hated coming face to face with the remaining forty two agents. The government and agency union had set maximum numbers for each leader and even picked leaders every few years, when required. Till never bothered to collect more information and had no desire of getting involved with the government and the union.

The male felt another vibration and he pursed his lips in annoyance, taking out his phone and stopping before entering one of the rooms they used as a conference room. He glanced up to notice another agent walk in, one who worked near his area. When he unlocked his phone he saw another message from Mia, claiming that she was already in the room. Till scoffed and placed the phone back into his jean’s pocket, before entering the huge conference room. Approximately fifty chairs were placed in the center, all facing the front, where an office and chair had been positioned. The room gave college vibes with the projector showing the screensaver of the connected laptop. He scanned the room with his eyes, locating a few agents he had already met and some he had worked with in the past. Till liked to keep all relations with his coworkers typical and simply nodded and waved to the ones he happened to like the most, before finally locating Mia. The female had been hovering over her phone, her loose obsidian hair hiding her face.

‘’Hey…’’, Till spoke up as he took the seat beside her, noticing how her face lit up immediately with a bright smile.

‘’Till!’’, she exclaimed and gave him a playful hit on his shoulder. ‘’I really hope this isn’t as boring as I think it is.’’, the girl added with a pout and crossed her legs.

As moments went by, the room completely filled up and soon enough Gerald appeared amongst the agents. He stepped to the front with his usual proud stance, that always made Till wonder about his actual age. He definitely acted like one of those elder European demons he had heard about. It took nearly three hours, but the leader of the agency made sure to mention all the issues at hand. Every year the agencies had to come to terms with the world gradually shifting and still be able to do the job they were meant to do.

After the first three hour briefing, a shorter, one hour one would take place. Gerald was going to discuss with groups of ten people, responsible for specific areas in the city. Since Mia and Till lived really close to one another, they were both in the last group, the one before the ever pointless party. Until their time arrived though, the female demon suggested they have lunch in a Japanese restaurant nearby and Till was more than happy to oblige. Mia picked a corner table in the half occupied establishment, secluding them from other customers.

‘’I do have a lot of questions, to be honest with you…’’, she spoke with a lowered voice, as soon as the waitress left the table. Till lifted his brows and leaned a bit closer to her, giving her the encouragement to carry on talking.

‘’I can’t help but wonder what happens if a war breaks loose? Or if the demons had taken part in a war before…’’, she asked, her frowning eyebrows expressing her actual concern for the situation. Till admired her desire for the truth, as he himself had once strived to uncover the history of the demon race.

‘’Demons have decided to cooperate with the government and their only term was abstaining from war. They made a contract of their own.’’, the male explained and the woman tilted her head to the side, showing further confusion.

‘’Why would they make a contract even? They are so powerful… They have been around as long as regular humans…’’

‘’The demons of old decided to create the contract in order to control and train the hidden demons.’’

‘’Hidden demons?’’

‘’Like you and me. You see, as decades went by and humans became preoccupied with science and turned to atheism and monotheistic religions, the demons being born into the world had no connection with their true identity, creating generations upon generations of hidden demons. The elders decided to take control of the situation.’’, Till explained and let the female dwell in silence for a few minutes, as her eyes searched the table surface.

‘’Why wouldn’t Gerald give us lessons about all this? Why do you happen to know about it?’’, she suddenly asked, narrowing her eyes at him. Till chuckled.

‘’Because most demons don’t care. Because I asked, just like how you did right now…’’, he explained once more and leaned his face a bit lower to catch her gaze. He couldn’t help but smile when she looked up at him with a small pout, her grey eyes freezing onto his. Suddenly she straightened up, slightly embarrassed as the waitress brought their food.

The hours remaining until the small group meeting went by fast and as soon as the male demon entered the room with the remaining eight agents, he felt awkwardness surge through him. Yet he managed to hide it away like he always had.

‘’Please be seated.’’, Gerald announced from the middle of the oval large table and his agents, one after another, positioned themselves around him, all of them with a fake indifferent expression.

‘’During the general briefing I didn’t mention specific issues of each location.’’, he kept on and leaned over the table. ‘’You are well aware of the organ traffickers’ rise in the world. Your area happens to be the number one location they like to use as an exchange spot in Montreal.’’ He added and Till felt excitement rise within him. His hands felt itchy to beat all of them up.

‘’Naturally I will be assigning my best guys for this, seeing how it must be dealt with simultaneously across North America. Europe and Asia have already acted on it and the rest will follow, hopefully.’’, Gerald shrugged and finally handed files to five out of ten people, one of them being Till. He held the file in his hands, finally realizing that he had been recognized as one of Gerald’s best guys. When he turned to the side, a pair of shining grey eyes, glared at him worryingly.

‘’The rest of you will have to pick up the pace during this week of operations in order to cover up the agents who will be working on the case.’’, the leader kept on.

‘’Also, a reminder to the females of the group…’’, he began and Till suddenly shivered, recollecting the same words Gerald spoke to the female demons of the agency, words the younger male had hoped he didn’t truly believe.

‘’I will need your signature on whether you agree to join the mating program or not.’’

‘’Mating program?’’, Mia’s voice was heard and the other two females of the group stirred in their positions. Till knew that these specific women had always declined the program, but he did remember one from two years ago who had accepted. He had never seen her again.

‘’Ah, my apologies miss Conti, I nearly forgot you are our newest recruit.’’, Gerald gave her a charming smile. ‘’The demon populace is so sparse and demons rarely decide to mate with one another. The union decided long ago to give females the option of gifting their bodies for reproduction purposes. You will of course be treated like a queen. The details will be in the files I will be handing out by the end of the meeting.’’, he added and Mia’s shock was visible on her face. Disgusted and speechless, she lowered her eyes on her hands, leaving them there for the rest of the meeting.

After the meeting was over, Till and the remaining agents of the group, joined everyone else in a large reception room on the second floor. There was a buffet of regular human food in the corner, as well as a dj who played relaxing music. The agents paced around, forming small groups with each other and discussing in all types of manners. Alcoholic drinks and plates with food came and went and suddenly Till remembered why he hated being around that many people.

‘’Miss Conti, right?’’, he suddenly heard from behind him and turned around as indifferently as humanly possible to see Mia being approached by a demon who worked in his area and one of the four agents he would have to cooperate with for the upcoming mission. Manny, a forty year old demon who had turned in the age of ten, stood only two steps away from a very surprised Mia, who shook his hand nervously. Her eyes widened and she glanced at Till mortified, when the elder male leaned in to kiss her hand.

‘’It’s Mia…’’, she stammered and removed her hand quickly, placing both of them behind her back and forcing a kind smile. Till approached the buffet table, taking two glasses of wine into his hands, whilst keeping his attention on the conversation. He knew Manny well. The brunet male with the well-trimmed beard and stained green eyes, had a very particular fame in the agency.

‘’My name is Manny. What a pleasure to meet you. Welcome to our agency.’’, the brown haired demon replied and took another step near her, his hand rising up to pat her shoulder. Mia narrowed her eyes, as if she was going to perform a grapple on him. ‘’Should you need anything, do not hesitate to ask for my contact information from Gerald. I have many years in the game and…’’

‘’Mia.’’, Till interrupted the elder male as he stepped beside the female. She looked relieved to see him there. Manny’s emerald eyes gleamed with rage as they met with Till’s brown ones. ‘’Let’s go.’’, he added, keeping an indifferent expression as the woman politely excused herself and took the glass of wine in her hand, immediately proceeding to walk beside her old friend.

‘’I was about to drop kick the guy, but I have no idea how strong he is…’’, the female murmured near Till’s ear, making him chuckle at her words.

‘’You are not obliged to get to know anyone in here. Just be yourself.’’, the male told her and noticed her face soften.

For the following hours, Mia got to know a few demons and interacted with them, yet always returned to her friend after each conversation was over. She had always been a very sociable person, despite choosing a small number of people to keep close to her. Before the party even ended, both of them decided to head to the rooms they had been provided for that specific night. Till slept anxiously, not feeling safe in a building full of other agents, despite them being his allies.

When the next day came the male demon did not land upon his old friend. The only thing left for them was personalized physical exams. Doctors assigned by the government had taken up special rooms and examined each agent separately. By the end of the event, Till’s hands were itchy to hunt again.