Lucas: Origins Of A Demon by N.P. Martin Read Free Book Online Page A

human has no real memory of what happened to them, but pretty soon, having no soul has a bad effect on them. Inevitably they become violent--murderously so--and they take their violent urges out on other innocent humans. Lucas knows of at least three incidents involving such humans who killed a few people when their violent urges got the better of them. The death toll was not that high, but Lucas knows it will only be a matter of time before there is a full blown massacre, and then the human authorities will start to get worried. What is worse for the humans involved in the rituals is that once they die, they go straight to Hell. To say they will be in for a shock after they die would be understating it. Suddenly finding yourself in a terrifying place like Hell is just something you never get over, no matter how long you spend there.
    The ritual being used by the demon gang is a rare one. Some high level demons have the ability to steal souls by their own power alone. Lucas is one of them, a skill he learned in Hell not long before he vacated the premises. If a demon does not have the power to steal the soul themselves, then they must perform the ritual, and to do the ritual, you have to use certain items that are hard, if not nearly impossible to come by on Earth. Quite a few of the items involved--black energy from the Great Adversary, for instance--have to be shipped in straight from Hell. Smuggling such contraband out of Hell is not easy unless you have the authority to bypass the stringent security surrounding the doorways and portals leading to Earth. A demon would have to be very high level to do that, which is why Lucas is thinking that there is a high level demon behind the stealing of all these human souls. Exactly who, he doesn’t know yet.
    The only thing he is really concerned about is the one item he knows is required for the soul stealing ritual to work. The item Lucas wants so badly, the item he has been searching high and low for over the last two hundred years. And yet somehow, a gang of scumbag demons has gone and gotten their infernal hands on it.
    Lucas is perplexed by the whole matter. His first instinct is to hit the demon gang and steal what he wants so badly. But then he thinks that would be a bad idea, especially if the gang is working for someone higher up than them, which is highly likely the case. So he has to come up with another solution, which is to get someone else to do the job for him, someone who would not arouse too much suspicion.
    The best person he could think off for such a job, the only one capable of it, is a Watcher. Ironic that Watchers are the bane in most demons’ lives on Earth. Watchers are Nephilim, half angel, half human. It is the job of the Watchers to police the supernatural world, to ensure the non-humans follow the human laws, which of course, they never do, which usually leads to the death of the non-human. Watchers are like the Judge Dredds of the supernatural underworld--judge, jury and executioner all rolled into one.
    Lucas did some digging around the city and one name kept cropping up more than any other.
    Frank Swanson.
    Frank was well known in the supernatural underworld of the city. Very good at his job, most said. Not to be messed with, all of them said.
    He sounded like the man Lucas needed.
    And now, Frank Swanson is sitting at the bar downstairs in the club.
    Lucas stands by the window in his office, looking down at the surprisingly unassuming guy at the bar. Average height and build, dark hair that needed cutting, clothes that probably needed throwing out years ago. Frank Swanson looks more like a down at heel drunk than a Watcher with a big reputation for being scary and dangerous. In fact, the only thing that seems scary about Frank Swanson is the amount of whiskey he is currently necking, which only backs up what Lucas is now thinking. The man is a burnout. Perhaps not right for the job after all.
    Then Lucas sees Frank turn to the two city finance guys