Mr. Renfield's office overlooked the Colorado Springs area from the corporate suite level of the newly constructed high-rise office buildings in the new economic sector the mayor had designated. Some thirty floors above ground, the floor to ceiling glass walls offered an unchallenged view of both the surrounding city and nature growing in around it. This was not the occupant's favorite quality however... That fell to the unchallenged privacy the room offered.

One way glass prevented corporate spies or bored civilians from peeking it. Expensive floor paneling, crisscrossed sound dampening lined in several layers underneath the elevated posh carpet, meant not even a scream here would reach even the floor below. The office might as well be the dark side of the moon for all it would do to call for help within it. A fact both of its occupants well knew.

The man known as Mr. Black knelt several feet in front of the office's massive oak desk. The CEO of Redemption Road was seated on the other side, feet propped up and a small knife in his hands. Black had knelt silently for five minutes so far, yet he dared not move. Valuable as he may have made himself, the executive head of the company could still kill him for disrespect. President Renfeild answered to few this side of hell's gates. None of which would care about an aide's life.

Six hundred and sixty six seconds after entering, Black spoke in a clear and respectful tone. "My lord, the incident report you requested is as follows: Three employees terminated as part of clean up procedure. The rescue team acquired two hikers who observed the incident without being seen by the police. They have been fed to Gregor. Another pair of hikers with minor injuries have been treated and rushed to the local hospital."

All of this could have been an email, of course, but that wasn't how company senior leadership operated. "The police?" Asked the dangerous man across the table in a slow voice.

Black had been dreading that question, but he answered anyway. "An investigation has been opened up." He waited a heartbeat for any interruptions, then continued. "A detective arrived on the scene before cleanup could be completed. She is looking into the murders as we speak."

That Black had allowed the police on site before he had arrived to do away with incriminating evidence could end up being a potentially fatal mistake. Whether he could have arrived despite being on an assignment elsewhere would not have mattered in the slightest. Failure was never tolerated. Luckily, he had an ace in the hole he quickly deployed before his fate was taken from him. "The captain of her precinct is on our payroll. Within a week the investigation will be crushed."

The hot air on the other side of the table that had been gathering cooled slightly at that. Black could've sighed in relief, but that would've been a sign of weakness. Instead, he blinked down at the floor slowly. His eyes had started to dry as the room's temperature had risen. He waited for the next question.

"The media?" Asked the implacable voice after the temperature in the room returned to just above normal. A drawer opened and Black’s enhanced hearing told him that the knife was being returned to its place. Welcome news for his continued existence.

“The incident is being framed as a gang dispute that spilled over to our worksite because of an undocumented immigrant. A Spring Tribunal reporter has been provided a tip that hard drugs were found on the body and the sordid details are being dismissed as hearsay by our editors. I’ve sent a team to gather the evidence from the police as well, our captain should be pivotal there. By the end of next week, the public’s gaze will be averted from us and possibly even sympathetic.” Black recited the highlights of his written report from memory. He knew that if a word of what he said diverted from the paper copy he’d placed on the desk, he could be called back to clarify. Executive reports tended to be quite thorough...

A finger tapped the intercom button on the desk. "Bring in the next one." Said the president's rigid voice, in an almost bored tone. "You may leave." He added, dismissively. Black followed the exit protocols as quickly as he could, then left as the secretary dragged another man over to the office. The secretary, Brutus, was a staggeringly tall man chiseled like a statue. He was holding a pleading man of at least 200 lbs in one hand like a doll.

Black collected himself and stepped aside politely for Brutus as the hulking giant passed. Not a second after the office door closed on the unfortunate sap, blood sprayed across the glass wall. Brutus returned to the desk and called for cleaners to ready themselves. Black was already at the elevator when the call finished. He did not spare the office even a glance. His mind was already far away, scheming.

Black's driver was waiting for him in front of the building. Black ignored the man and slid in quickly. Once comfortably inside he poured himself a glass from the car's refrigerated stores. His nerves slipped away as the alcohol went down. Satisfied, he reached for one of the many phones inside a pouch behind the driver's seat. The first call he placed to the captain of Detective Saint's precinct. It was answered on the second ring.

Ten minutes later and Captain Rodney had his marching orders. All it cost was a reminder of their deal and a few thousand dollars added to his normal payment. Simple. Black had found a pittance paid for the price of a cop if offered the right way. To the right one, anyway. Some were disgustingly righteous.

Satisfied, Black signalled the driver to head back to the work site. Then he reached back into the pouch and made a second call on a new phone. The editor on the other end of the line took even less time than the captain had. All that woman cared about was money and she didn't particularly care why or how. He appreciated that. Kept things simple.

The drive back to the mountain pass took about an hour. The third call Black made took only a minute, so the rest of the drive passed in silence. When he arrived, Tucker was waiting for him. The newly appointed supervisor seemed eager to see him. His report began the second Black stepped out.

"Search ops are done, full report is in your email. We also found footage from one of the site cameras I think you should see. Right this way, sir." Reported the short man. Black nodded once and Tucker led him to a large tent that had been set up as night began to fall. Cables running into the tent powered some computers inside where company techs sat working. As the men entered, one of the technicians pulled up a video on a large swivel screen and - at a nod from Tucker - hit play.

The scene that played was from a camera perched above and to the left of the entrance to the now-destroyed trailer. The technician, who Black didn't recognize but that hardly mattered, had started the video as three gunmen sighted their weapons on the trailer.

"My predecessor and the site medic, Hamilton.” Tucker supplied, with a nod towards where the two bodies had been dumped. “The one in the back is Stephen, we are searching for him now.” The video continued and the men opened fire. The one in the lead began speaking. “Unfortunately sir, this model was never designed to be outdoors and the speakers haven’t worked for some time...” Tucker was hesitant, but Black did not respond. After all, the one responsible for the oversight was already dead.

More words were exchanged and Tucker’s predecessor whipped out a knife, then darted towards the trailer. Blood sprayed widely behind him as a man’s arm seemed to grow from his neck. The man who had just slain Black’s lieutenant stepped into view and, using the lieutenant’s own knife, banished him from this plane before the demon could escape his mortal host. Black’s eyes narrowed and his blood ran cold at what came next. The man was not satisfied with a simple banishment back to Hell it seemed. He stooped over and drew symbols in the fallen demon’s blood, symbols no mortal ought to know without Heaven’s help. Symbols that sent his lieutenant not back to hell, but to Heaven for judgement. That… was not good.

Tucker spoke up first. “That’s the end of the relevant bits. After this, he took off in the truck with another of our employees. Watson. We’d just hired him, so he hadn’t gone through training yet.” A moment of silence stretched between the two men as Tucker awaited his boss’s response. Black’s eyes were unfocused. He was either thinking… or conversing with the demon within. Tucker gestured at the techs and they left without a word.

In the space of a minute, his boss’s form changed dramatically. Wisps of noxious steam began to rise from his skin. His face and skin darkened to a reddish black, with his facial features taking the sunken skin look characteristic of Hell’s soldiers. Black’s muscles bulged and went taut, showing plainly through the fabric of his specially designed suit at the upper arms, shoulders, and thighs. Two red horns protruded through the man’s forehead, emerging from the skull and leaving a trail of blood to wind down the sides of two midnight-black eyes.

“Find him.” Said the demon known as Cauxis who walked this earth in Black’s skin. No trace of the formerly put together man remained behind. His voice was now a low, gravelled thing filled with barely constrained anger and hate. Cauxis raised a hand and fire danced within the spaces between clawed fingers. The pupil-free eyes locked onto Tucker and the man’s soul… quivered. “Find him… that I may drink his life’s blood from a chalice of his own skin and bones…”

As quickly as he appeared, Cauxis was gone. Black stumbled and braced himself from the desk as if he had fallen. The red and black coloring fled beneath his skin and the horns retracted. Black coughed up and spat up grey ash onto the keyboard in front of him. Tucker waited without moving, knowing better than to try and offer aid.

When he had regained himself, Black straightened and pulled a handkerchief from his suit pocket. Then he wiped his mouth and dabbed the blood on his face before putting it away. His eyes, still returning to their normal color, settled on Tucker. “You heard the order... Find and bring him to us. Alive...” Black stressed. “If possible... Now go. And send that video to D.R. I would know who opposes us if possible.”

Tucker voiced his affirmation and left, quickly. His cell phone already at his ear by the time he exited the tent. Black remained inside. Only when Tucker was some distance away did he allow himself to cough up the rest of the ash and blood inside his lungs from when Cauxis took control. After it was all out, he covered what was on the ground with dirt. Then Black reached into his suit and pulled out a phone smaller than the ones in his car. He couldn’t trust Tucker to handle this, so it was time to call in other favors…