~Identity Theft (Part 1)~

Lez stayed at home the whole day after she came back from the mansion. She worried too much for her parents after knowing they would be the main target of the demon to obtain the key from her. She wanted to be with them at all times to protect them in case the demon decided to attack.

In the meantime, she is waiting for Drake’s call for better news.

Ring! Her phone rang with Drake written as the name of the caller.

“Drake?” she answered her phone.

“Hello, your highness! How’s everything there?” Drake greeted her girlfriend.

“We’re fine. Everything’s okay here.” Lez answered as she had a peek at their living room window to check the guards outside. “How about you? Is there any good news?” Lez asked.

“I’m fine here, and I’m still at the mansion at this moment, attending to some matters. Listen, I’m sorry to inform you that we failed to close the gate, and we need to obtain all seven demon sigils to be able to lock it down.” Drake sadly informed Lez.

“So you mean we need to defeat the other six demons to come?” Lez anxiety started to appear for the safety of her parents.

“Sadly but yes in able to obtain their sigils,” Drake confirmed.

“Is there any way to close the gate without obtaining the other sigils?” Lez is desperate to know some answers so she can keep herself calm.

“For the meantime, none. There is no other way yet to close the gate, and one more thing, this is very important for you to know.” Drake said calmly, not to make her girlfriend more worried.

“What is it?” Lez got a bad vibe on what Drake is about to say.

“Another demon got released from the portal yesterday; that’s why I want you to be prepared and be on your guard at all times. I will be there with you as soon as I’m done here in the mansion.” Drake revealed terrible news to her girlfriend that built her anxiety more.

“What? What are we going to do now?” Lez became agitated as soon as she heard the news.

“Please, do not panic. Even though we had to face another demon, this time we knew exactly its weakness, and we were more prepared than before. Now, we are currently building something that might help us from the fight.” Drake came out with good news that made Lez calm a little.

“Thank God! And what would its weakness be?” Lez curiously asked her boyfriend so she could prepare anything she needed in case the demon arrived.

“It is weak against electricity. I already ordered our men to deploy some normal stun guns for protection. They are already on their way to you now.” Drake informed her.

“Okay, but how soon will you get here?” she asked.

Drake looked at the time on his phone, and it was already 4:15 pm.

“I will be there around six to seven pm. I try to be there as fast as I can. See you then, your highness. Bye.” Drake replied and waited for her reply before he ended the call.

“Okay, I will wait for you then. Keep safe. Bye.” Lez replied, and the call ended at the same time a car suddenly stopped in front of their house.

It was Ethan, together with Nicole and Jef handing some stun gun to the patrolling guards around the house as soon as they came out from the car.

Lez went out to have a check on them.

“Good afternoon ma’am, we are here as per Sir Drake’s command for the backup.” Nicole greeted.

“Thank you and much appreciated,” Lez replied with a smile. “Are those the stun gun Drake has mentioned?” Lez asked.

“Yes, ma’am, we are deploying these stun guns for extra protection against the demon,” Nicole replied.

“Do you still have some?” Lez asked and wanted stun guns for her parents.

“Sure! We have plenty inside the car. How many do you need?” Nicole asked and opened the trunk.

“In that case, I’ll take three,” Lez answered.

Nicole handed three stun guns to Lez. Lez thanked Nicole before she went back inside the house to give those stun guns to her parents.

“Mom, dad? Do you know how to stun guns?” Lez asked her parents.

“Yeah, I do, sweetheart. But I don’t think your mom does, but I can teach her.” Mr. Anderson replied.

“That’s good. Here take this with you, and it will help us out when the demon comes.” Lez said as she handed the stun guns to them.

“Are these going to work against those demons?” Mrs. Anderson asked.

“Probably at the demon we’re going to face. Drake said it is weak against electricity so that it could do much better work than nothing at all.” Lez implied.

“By the way, sweetie, I kind of run out of medicine for my high blood pressure. We planned to buy some early this morning together with our groceries, but this happened.” Mrs. Anderson means the sudden tight security in their house.

“Maybe I could have a quick run into the grocery and pharmacy and buy what we need.” Mrs. Anderson added.

“I could ask the guards to buy it for us, mom. Do you have a list of anything that you might need in addition?” Lez is not taking any risk that could lead to any disaster.

“Yes, I do. Here.” Mrs. Anderson gave her the list and the money to buy their needs.

“I’ll take this to them, mom. In the meantime, is there anything you want to eat or drink or something?” Lez asked before proceeding to the guards.

“Your mother and I would love to have some Starbucks coffee, sweetheart; maybe our guests would love it too. Maybe add some snacks for all of us.” Mr. Anderson replied.

“Okay, I’ll ask and bring this list to them, dad,” Lez said as she left the two inside their room.

“Ethan?” Lez called while Ethan was on his laptop doing something in the living room as he was posted inside as the team leader of the group tasked by Drake.

“Yes, ma’am?” Ethan replied.

“Could you ask someone to buy these things on the list for me?” Lez requested.

“Sure,” Ethan replied as Lez handed him the list and had a quick peek at it.

“Groceries, meds, some coffees and donuts and muffins for everyone. Is this all, ma’am?” Ethan asked.

“That would be all, Ethan,” Lez confirmed.

“I’ll ask for Nicole with Anton for this, ma’am. We’ll take care of this.” Ethan replied with a smile.

“Thank you, Ethan,” Lez said and went inside her room.

Ethan radioed Nicole to get inside the house to give her the list.

“What is it, Ethan?” Nicole asked.

“Miss Lez had a request, and I want you and Anton to do this task. Oh, I forgot the list on the dining table; you can go grab it and leave with Anton immediately.” Ethan instructed.

“Sure. We’ll be on it, boss.” Nicole replied.

Nicole proceeded to the dining room and saw the list on the table. She quickly grabbed it and was about to go back in the front door but suddenly,

“Philip?” Nicole said before she lost her consciousness as Philip banged her head with something hard.

Later on, Nicole went out and called for Anton to do their task, jumped on a car, and drove off.

Nicole and Anton had a wonderful conversation while doing their task. They talked about many things such as their previous jobs, childhood, status, experiences, and many more. They now knew each other as Nicole is a 36-year-old former FBI agent highly trained with hand-to-hand combat and gun skills and a parent to her child. On the other hand, Antonio is a 42-year-old former martial art and gun instructor of the country's top 2 elite security agencies.

An hour later, they are done buying groceries and medicine and purchasing the snacks and coffees. They parked in the corner most area of the parking lot covered by a van. They went inside the store and started to order.

“So, what’s in the list?” Antonio asked Nicole as she read the list.

“It says here, Brewed for Mr. Anderson, Americano for Mr. Anderson, and Latte for Lezlie. Ethan put his request in here, and it says Brewed too. He also includes our choice and for the others. So what’s yours?” Nicole said as she looked up to see the menu.

“I like the coffee brewed,” Anton replied.

“Okay, donuts or muffin?” Nicole asked.

“I’d like to have some donuts, but I don’t know about the others,” Anton replied.

“Then maybe we will have both, for it says on the list donuts and muffins.” Nicole implied.

“Fine with me. That would be better.” Anton agreed to Nicole as they made their order and had a seat in the corner while waiting.

“So, tell me, why did you quit your former job?” Nicole asked.

“Haven’t you seen the offered opening salary in this job? I mean, who would not want those? I’ve never seen such a salary for security that high before. My previous salary wasn’t even a quarter of my salary now.” Anton with an energetic reaction.

“Yeah, me too. My salary before was not even half of it. I’ve been in the FBI for more than ten years, and when I knew I qualified for this job, I quickly sent my resignation and moved on. Imagine that an email invitation suddenly appeared on my phone saying I am highly qualified for a bodyguard job in the title. The first thought I had in mind was my phone might be hacked, but who would do that to an FBI agent, which would be crazy. I opened that mail and found out it was from the Scotts, and there and then I quickly called the phone number attached to it. Then wow! I got in.” Nicole told Anton her story as she was laughing for her good fortune.

“Wow! Same as mine. I hurriedly grabbed the opportunity for it said immediate hiring and the job would start there and then as we got in.” Anton laughed together with Nicole.

“Yeah, such power and title that only rich people can have.” Nicole inserted in the middle of their joyful laugh.

“Yeah, I agree with that. That’s why I quickly grabbed this job, for this might be my opportunity to have much money in life.” Anton replied.

“What if you will be given a chance to become anyone of the rich boss we had. Who would you want to be and why?” Nicole suddenly asked out of nowhere.

“Seriously? What kind of question is that?” Anton laughed at Nicole’s question.

“Just nothing. I just wanted to know if ever a bountiful genie would come.” Nicole wanted to know Anton’s answer.

“Okay. Sir Drake, maybe. Look at his looks. Amazing and handsome guy and a son of a billionaire. Wow! Every woman would want me to have in their life. A pretty woman like ma’am Lez would have me, and that would be glorious. I could spend millions and millions to buy anything that I want and have lots and lots of babes from here to there. I couldn’t imagine my life if I could be him.” Anton replied as Nicole gave her a big smile.

“Oh, our order is done; let’s go grab it and get back to the car,” Nicole informed.

“Sure, ma’am.” Anton happily replied as they both stood up and grabbed the food and drinks.

They continued their conversation while laughing as they walked towards their car. They placed and secured all they bought at the backseat of the vehicle as Nicole quickly positioned herself at the driver's seat. Anton wondered about Nicole’s action and approached to ask her, for he was the one who drove the car before.

“So you’re going to drive now? Anton asked, smiling as he crouched to level his head to Nicole.

“Yap! And thank you for the meal.” Nicole said as she smiled back at Anton.

Anton wondered what Nicole said, then suddenly, Nicole’s tongue came out like a worm, stretching and wrapped around his neck, then split into three as it plunges inside Anton’s eyes and mouth. Same as the demon Asmodea’s victims before, Anton’s body slowly withered and dried as Nicole went and left the body besides the van.

Nicole arrived at Anderson’s house minutes later and asked help from the guards posted outside, in front of the house. She went in carrying coffees in both her hands as Lez met her at the dining room.

“Nicole? Have you seen Ethan?” Lez asked as Nicole and the others were putting the things on top of the table.

“Nope! Not really. I was with Anton for the groceries and snacks that you requested, ma’am. Why? Is he not here yet?” Nicole replied.

“No. I’ve been looking all over for him but can’t seem to find him. Did you say yet? Did he go someplace else?” Lez asked.

“Yeah, he said he’d be out for a while doing a task that sir Drake told him to do,” Nicole replied.

“Okay, if he comes back, kindly tell him to come and see me. I have something important to talk about with him.” Lez said and grabbed some coffee and snack for her parents.

“Sure, ma’am. Oh, let me help you with that.” Nicole said as he grabbed the paper bag with two cups of coffee for Lez’s parents with donuts and muffins inside.

“Thank you. Just give it to my parents in their room and give this medicine too, please. And please tell Ethan I’ll be in my room.” Lez said as she grabbed her coffee and a muffin.

“Sure, ma’am. I’ll be on it.” Nicole replied and went to Lez’s parent’s room to give the things she had brought.

Nicole slowly closed the door as she went out of the room and suddenly, a knock on the front door was heard as the door slowly opened.

“Ethan, I’ve got everything you told me at the car except for one thing. I couldn’t find the night vision goggles in your list that you said in your remarks were inside your equipment box. I tried to call you, but you didn’t answer my call.” Jef said as he went inside the house.

“That’s okay; I think it was in my bag that I carried earlier. Sorry about that, and Thank you. That equipment would surely help us a lot on our job.” Ethan replied as he slowly walked away from Lez’s parent’s room and moved towards Jef.

“By the way, have someone outside to help you distribute some snacks and coffee at the dining table,” Ethan added as Jef nodded and went back outside to call for someone.

Ethan turned around and moved towards Lez’s room while having a sinister smile. He knocked on the door three times and waited for Lez’s response.

Lez was lying in her bed while browsing her phone as she heard the knock on her door. She asked who the person behind the door was but got no response. She moved slowly to open her door and found a man standing there that made her happy.

“Drake!” Lez quickly hugged her boyfriend as he put his arms around her waist.

“Did you miss me?” Drake said to her as he went inside and shut the door close.

“Hmmm… Kind of!” Lez teasingly answered.

“Kind of? What does that mean?” Drake replied as he gave her a peck on her lips while Lez was laughing.

“Okay. Yeah, I missed you so much.” Lez replied as Drake gave her a prolonged kiss which she liked more.

“Hey, I thought you said you’ll be arriving between 6 to 7 pm. Why are you so early?” Lez asked as Drake continuously kissed her cheek, lips, and neck.

“Drake?” Lez called his attention as he stopped kissing her for a moment, but his arms still wrapped around her waist.

“Yeah, I got early coz I missed you so much,” Drake replied as he slowly laid themselves in her bed and continued to kiss her lips, cheek, and neck back and forth.

………………………………………………………………………………..

Meanwhile, happening at the same time back at the mansion, Drake is at the Tech Room with Clem and some of their mechanics to facilitate creating a weapon against the demon Leviathan. They already had planned to make a more effective stun gun that could discharge more electricity as an output. All they need to do now is to create a prototype of a smaller gun before they undergo the bigger gun.

Drake is so excited to see and use the finished product of the weapon itself. But for now, he has to wait until tomorrow for the prototype.

Ring! Drake’s phone rang while he was inside the tech room.

“Wazzup, bro?” Drake answered his phone.

“Dude, whatzup? Where you at now?” Jay asked.

“I’m here at the mansion right now, guys, doing some important matters,” Drake answered.

“Oh! Sorry for interrupting bro. Anyway, I called just to let you know that we won our game earlier; barely, that is. Just won with a point lead.” Jay said.

“Wow! That’s great. I know you guys could do it. Anyways, about the promise I gave you, I’ll just drop by at school tomorrow.” Drake replied.

“So you still can’t come back to school? Coach, by the way, wants to ask you when you will be coming back. He really wants you back bro. The team needs you and Mike.” Jay said.

“Sorry bro, can’t, yet. We’ve got another demon problem to solve. Just tell coach I’m still recovering from my injuries.” Drake asked Jay to cover for him.

“Okay, bro. I’ll tell our coach about what you said, and good luck on your demon hunting.” Jay replied.

“Okay, bro, thanks. I’ll call you tomorrow. Bye.” Drake said before he put down his phone.

“Clem, I’m going to Lez right now. Could you please help Nate facilitate and inform me of the progress of the prototype when it’s done? And Nate, I want to see its result for myself by tomorrow and maybe use it for temporary measures.” Drake said to Clem and Nathan Grahambell, the mansion’s Tech supervisor and monitoring head, before he went out of the room and proceeded to the garage to take his bike as he decided to check for Lez.

“Absolutely, and take care, sir,” Clem replied.

“You can count on me, sir!” Nate replied at the same time, together with Clem.

Drake was about to use his bike, but it wouldn’t start the first time he tried. He felt it weird for his motorcycle to act like that, for it had never been like that before. He tried for the second time but still nothing. He checked his bike for a problem and noticed some wires were cleanly cut. He started to wonder why someone would sabotage his motorcycle. He tried to ignore it and took a car key from the hanging board instead, but the result was the same. The car wouldn’t start either. He checked the wiring, and it was cleanly cut again. He doubted this as an accidental cut and checked for the other cars, but all the remaining cars’ wires were cut. He rushingly went back to the Tech room to see the security camera record.

“Back so soon, sir? Forgot something?” Clem said to Drake.

“Clem, kindly call Mike and Al down here right now,” Drake said.

“Right away, sir,” Clem replied and started to call Al on her phone, which was in her bedroom together with Mike.

“Nate? Could you bring up the security video recording at the garage earlier in the afternoon?” Drake requested.

“Yes, sir!” Nate immediately scanned the computer.

“Who could do this? Who’s the mole in the team?” Drake was wondering who could sabotage all their vehicles.

“Sir, sorry, but some video files have been deleted and left only one video at hand,” Nate said and opened the file playing video footage from the garage.

“Nicole?” Drake murmured to himself.

He could not believe his eyes could see. One of the SBGs could be a potential demon itself.

“What’s up, Drake? We came as fast as we can.” Al said as she opened the door.

“What’s wrong, bro?” Mike added.

“Someone sabotaged all our vehicles in the garage, and look who I found who did it?” Drake showed them the recorded video from the security camera.

“Nicole?” Al and Mike said at the same time.

“But why? Why would Nicole do that?” Al asked.

“I don’t know yet. But one thing I could think of. I think she’s a ‘Possessed’, and that means….” Drake said as he, Clem, Al, and Mike started to move out of the room.

“Lez and her parents are in danger.” All finished his sentence.

“So, where are we going now?” Mike asked as they were waiting at the elevator to come down.

“We’re going to the rooftop to use the chopper. Clem, please call someone who knows how to fly a chopper.” Drake said as the elevator door opened.

“No worries, master Drake, I can handle it,” Clem replied as Drake pressed the 2nd-floor elevator button.

“What do you mean you can handle it? You know how to make it fly?” Drake asked.

“Who do you think flew us from the mansion to your school when you got tangled up with the first demon?” Al replied, confirming Clem’s helicopter flying skills.

“Wow! I didn’t know that. Oh yeah, I have to call and inform Ethan to apprehend Nicole and put her in custody.” Drake said as he dialed Ethan’s number.

……………………………………………………………………………….

On the other hand, back into Lez’s house, Drake is busy having his moment with his girlfriend, kissing her lips, cheek, and neck back and forth as the girl liking it more, then suddenly they hear a phone ringing.

Ring!

Drake just ignored the call and continued what he was doing.

Lez, on the other hand, noticed something different on Drake’s ringtone. He softly pushed Drake upward and looked at his face to ask.

“Drake? Did you change your ringtone?” Lez asked for he loved his ‘She Ain’t Got No Money In The Bank’ (Biker)-ringtone as it makes him feel more like a rider, especially when riding his bike.

“Yeah, I did change my ringtone recently. Just don’t mind it.” Drake replied and started kissing Lez again.

Lez pushed him upward again and asked, “Why?” for she knew he wouldn’t change it coz she tried changing it before, but Drake just changed it back again and again.

“Let’s just forget about that damn ringtone, babe, and let’s get this going,” Drake replied and continued to kiss her again.

Lez’s eyes grew with doubt as she quickly pushed Drake harder, this time that made him fall together with a pillow from the bed and grab the stun on top of her drawer and point at Drake while kneeling on her bed.

“Who are you?” Lez confusedly asked.

Drake kept silent for a moment, looking at her confusedly while picking up the pillow on the floor. His phone rang for the second time.

“Babe? What are you talking about? It’s me, Drake. Your boyfriend?” Drake said, trying to convince and remind her.

“Shut up! You asshole. Drake never called me babe even once. So who really are you, and don’t you dare make a sudden move, or I will shoot this at you.” Lez threatened Drake in front of her.

……………………………………………………………………………….