Demons of Slavery

Chapter Three

Chapter Three
Meeting The Team.

The Team of Seven was not at all what I had expected. The headquarters of the team was quite posh. It seemed as if the entire building was made of glass.

There was a number of bulldogs patrolling under the lead of uniformed guards. The walk from the parking lot to the entrance was quite a distance, and I noticed that Luke took great care to not cross paths with any of the patrolling dogs, only resorting to nodding to the uniformed guards instead of advancing and shaking hands with them. I found it adorable. Especially coupled with the fact that one of the dogs had a crush on him, and seemed to want to get up and personal with him. Of course the clueless idiot thought the dog was just looking for lunch. Poor dog.

The entrance was certainly not a downer to the splendor of the place. Luke had to display his palm on a panel for fingerprint checking, then stand still the next few seconds while a light directed at his eye and examined his iris. The interior did not disappoint.

The double doors opened to a huge expanse of space. Lots and lots of shiny floors and floor length glass that was a housewife’s dream greeted us. Everything, and I mean everything, looked polished.

Seemingly waiting for us, standing straight and with that quiet quality only a soldier can have was a tall dark skinned, broad shouldered, muscular man, wearing a casual attire of shorts and a t-shirt, along with some pretty fly sneakers and a trendy haircut. He was so out of place in the setting, though his posture more than made up for it. He seemed very confident and self assured too. He nodded to Luke and gave me a smile and a formal nod, then he turned and led the way.

We were led through almost a maze of passageways, until we finally got to a simple door. He opened it and we entered. There were six people who looked about as formal as children in a park. I was so envious. One of the three ladies who were there was actually in sweatpants. Sweatpants! And I was sweltering in these damned tight slacks and formal overcoat. No wonder Luke had looked so damned amused when I had walked out feeling like a boss. Okay, I  didn’t feel like a boss, but I looked like it. Same difference.

Our tour guide, because the place was so huge, made himself comfortable in a chair to the far right of the semi circle. Luke directed me to a seat between two women then he squeezed my shoulder in silent support and made his way to a seat that faced and obviously presided over everyone. He smiled when he took his seat.

“Hello everyone, I understand some of you were shocked at being called again, especially after we had concluded that this case is a no winner. I am glad you still came. George, could you please share your findings?” He said and a man who seemed straight from a college, what with how small he was, almost wimpy with a bald head, spectacles and a brief case on his side to match, stood up. The wrinkles on his skin however made him appear to be an elderly nerd, and if you looked closely through his lenses, you’d see the wisdom in his eyes. He was someone who had seen enough of this world, probably more than some people ever got to figure out in their entire lifetimes.

He carried himself very surely, easy grace in his movements. He stood in the space between Luke’s chair and the rest of the group in the semi circle.

“Yesterday night, a child went missing, whilst the entire family was sleeping. The parents have argued that they were tired because of marital activities earlier that night, and when they woke up, their child was gone. The neighbors have attested that the child went down without a fight. They heard nothing, and it was very silent the whole night. One of the house mates who allegedly comes in very late at night says that he saw nothing out of the ordinary. So just like the previous fifty cases, we have reached a deadlock we can’t seem to breach. Nothing points towards drugging, there was no violence, so unless there was magic used, this doesn’t make sense.” He said with maintained composure throughout and a calmness that was unrivaled.