Chapter 1: Demon Hunter: Alex Bentley

Lieutenant General Alex Bentley spent twelve years with the Marine Corps before joining a secret division within the US Government known as DI - the Demon Initiative.

His job description - Unofficial Demon Hunter. He had been tasked with the never-ending responsibility to hunt down and capture all demons that posed a threat to humanity and the Government. Alex had an A-Team within that DI Unit that consisted of five members:

Alex - Who possessed a six sense.

Ballz - Bitten by a demon and acquired superhuman strength plus courage.

Bishop - Ordained by the Holy Spirit and empowered with the voice of exorcism.

Gunner - The Sharp Shooter who could hit a demon from a hundred yards away with holy water.

Dr. Ravynne Bloodstone - The Demonologist and expert on all things that go bump in the night.

"Listen up guys," Alex motioned for his crew to take their seats. "DI gave us a new assignment today," he took out a stack of files. "This one is going to be harder than any mission we've taken on before."

"What's our new assignment?" Ballz asked. He'd been with DI for four years now. His specialty, catching and holding down demons. Alex had recruited him "Benjamin Nikolai Thomas," right out of training all the way from Thief River Falls, Minnesota. The land of ice and snow. They made them strong in the North, and he was strong. Stronger than your average Man thanks to a Demon by the name of Achak. Achak had lived inside of Ballz since he was a kid, posing as an imaginary friend. It wasn't until Ballz reached adulthood that he realized Achak was not real. He never spoke of Achak to any of his team members only Alex knew.

Alex passed the stack of files out to each one of his team members. Before he could even start Ballz let out a shrill like a banshee, "Nooo way!" He fist pumped Gunner. "The Widow Maker!" It had been weeks since their last assignment. He grew tired of catching the Class 5 Demons.

"Don't get too excited yet Ballz. The Widow Maker is a class ten Demon. You guys have only dealt with class five," Dr. Bloodstone reminded him. Besides his strength and blind courage she often wondered why Alex didn't recruit someone with more intellect. Dr. Bloodstone, on the other hand, graduated from a prestige University with a doctorate in Theology and Parapsychology. The only surviving heir to a line of old money.

Ballz had a confused look on his face, "I thought there were only five classes of demons. With five being the toughest?"

"Exactly," Dr. Bloodstone gave him a condescending stare. "That's how powerful the Widow Maker is. She's in a class of her own."

"How do we know it's a woman?" Ballz questioned Dr. Bloodstone. "For all, we know it's a Man posing as a woman, who is posing as a man, who poses as a woman," Ballz gasped. "That's why we think he is a she!" Ballz nodded to himself as though he had just cracked The Da Vinci Code.

"No Ballz. That doesn't even make any sense. It's a Woman. Hence the name Widow Maker and Karina Cattaneo," she gave Ballz another your an idiot look.

"What's the integration level?" Bishop changed the conversation. He'd been recruited long before Alex joined the DI. After he left the Church most of his time before DI, he spent freelancing. That's the best way to describe it. Exorcizing demons for cash had brought him all over the world, but his roots were always in Magnolia Springs, Alabama.

"Would you all turn to page five," Alex told them. "Fully integrated. You know what that means," Alex looked over at Bishop. Full integration was a death sentence to a demon's host. It was the worst kind of possession to be. "The next few pages go over integration. If anyone needs a quick refresher," Alex flipped through the pages.

Three levels of integration:

1. The host has 100% control but suffers minor memory lapses when the demon takes over. 100% successful extraction.

2. The host and demon have 50% control of thoughts, emotions, and body — 75-85 % chance of a successful extraction.

3. Full Integration. No control of thought, body, or emotions. Demon runs the show — 0 % chance of extraction. The only way to extract the demon is to kill the host.

"Whose, the host?" Dr. Bloodstone asked.

"Karina Cattaneo. Italian/Chinese descent born January 8th, 1941," Alex read off. A few pictures of Karina as a child then late teen were attached to the files including a list of her family members - all deceased.

"That should be an easy hunt. How much trouble can an eighty-year-old demonic woman give us," Ballz kicked his feet up and plotted them on the table? "It's probably got a bad back or arthritis by now," him and Gunner laughed.

"A lot," Alex answered. "There's sixty-eight-year-olds in great shape and sharp as a razor still," he gave Ballz a stop discriminating look. "Besides we don't know what kind of demon possessed her. The only thing we know for sure is that it's powerful; it loves to kill, and evades capture."

"What are we going to do with it? Since it's fully integrated?" Bishop asked. Exorcizing a fully integrated Demon from a host had been some of the worst things he'd witness. Especially with the children. It would let a child out to plea for its life, to beg, and cry then snap the child's neck in a twist when it felt threatened. When a Demon's host died, it'd latch on to someone new. They never really go away; he knew this unless exorcized.

"Not sure yet. Our orders right now are to capture it and bring it in alive," Alex told them. "What DI does with it afterward. Is not our problem," everyone clear on that? Alex knew what DI did with fully integrated hosts. They always extract the demon even at the cost of the host's life. What they did with the cursed bodies Alex would rather not know.

"Yes," they all answered except for Gunner.

She hardly spoke, and when she did, it was usually something vital to her or the situation. Fatema Abioye Sanchez the girl with the golden eyes they called her. Top of her class throughout High School, into College, and then the Academy. Alex recruited her also right out of the Academy. She could hit a target from over 3 1/2 miles away, and composure so calmed that even the most menacing of Demons could not warrant a flinch out of her except for Ballz jokes. It made her a vital asset to his team. "What's the plan boss?" Gunner finally spoke.

"Another detail I'm not sure about either. All I know is that we're going to need all the resources and ideas we can get to figure this out," Alex turned to Dr. Bloodstone. "Get me all the intel on Karina Cattaneo and the toughest Class 5's we or DI's caught. "Gunner, you and Ballz check on the latest weapons and tech we've got. We'll need restraints that can withstand 5000 lbs of force. He turned towards Bishop, "I'll need you to check your spell books for the strongest incantations you have," Alex smiled at him and stood up.

"There called bibles," Bishop shook his head at Alex.

"Yes, check your bibles," he gave Bishop another smile. "Everyone let's meet back here at," Alex looked at his watch. "1300 hours." He hurried out of the meeting and headed straight for the elevator. He pressed the buttons four then one, for the 41st floor. A screen appeared from the side and slid opened. Alex placed his hand into a compartment as a beam of light scanned his entire hand followed by a tiny needle that ejected out and pricked his forefinger. Alex flinched, it felt more like a slight pressure than prick due to the size of the needle, but he still hated them. The screen where he had placed his hand flashed green: Access Granted, and the elevator moved down. There was a Demon on the 41st-floor one that had been around since the beginning of Man. Alex knew he could get answers from him.

The elevator came to a stop on the 41st floor, and the first set of alloyed titanium doors opened up behind Alex. He stepped forward, and the doors immediately closed behind him. Alex proceeded through a heat and sensor detector that scanned his body for any unusual energy signatures. The second set of alloyed titanium doors opened for Alex to step forward again. This time it was a detector that recorded Alex's voice. Please speak the following sentence an automated voice stated. "In the name of the Father and of the Son and Holy Spirit I renounced thee, I renounced you Satan," Alex spoke the words into a recorder and then stepped into a mist of holy water. Another energy sensor popped out to scan for elevated signs of EMF one last time, and the final set of alloyed titanium doors opened.

"Alex, what are you doing down here?"