Chapter 33: stolen memories

Jane ducked again but didn't feel any heat from the flames. She was expecting to be burnt since there wasn't much space left for her to manuever.

Joe joe saw his flames vanish the moment it left his hands, he couldn't comprehend what happened. The Intel he got from leo stated that she had no powers and was as weak as every other human female. He decided to try again this time with more power. He created a larger ball of fire and threw it at Jane, she saw the size if the flames and knew she was doomed. But the flames fizzled out again as soon as they left joe Joe's palms.

Zagreel kept himself concealed using his invisibility technique, he decided to toy with joe joe for a while to frustrate him before knocking him out. Joe joe was beginning to get frustrated and started to heat up the surrounding air, the wool carpet underneath his feat began to burn up and soon there were two burn holes where his feet usually was. He propelled himself towards Jane and tried grasping her face. Then he heard an etheral voice.

"Demonic nullification"

His body immediately became stiff and he lost the ability to move or generate more of his flames

"Fredrick gave me more power just to get this job done, and yet it's proving to be more difficult than any other mission I have been given. Just a single powerless woman." Joe joe thought becoming increasingly frustrated with his situation.

He struggled with the force pinning him down and eventually managed to pull out a gun, and proceeded pull the trigger, Jane was scared stiff and she couldn't move in time when joe joe drew out the gun and aimed at her. He shut he eyes waiting for death, but had to open it after a while since she didn't hear any sound neither did she feel pain.

The silhouette of another man soon appeared in her room, he seemed to materialize from no where. Jane immediately fainted since her brain was overloaded and couldn't process what she just saw.

Joe joe looked closely at the silhouette of the man that just appeared and tried to make out his features, but no matter how much he tried all he could see was zagreel's long white hair.

"Who the f**k are you" joe joe spat

"I am the cause of your frustrations tonight, whatever effort or plans you have been making, I am aware of it and I would thwart each and every one of them. Zagreel replied mockingly

"We're you the one who stopped leo the time he tried to assassinate her" joe joe asked

"Oh! The wuss I never knew his name was leo. I just released a tiny fraction of my aura and he almost died" zagreel said

"What business do you have with Jane, are you her guardian angel" joe joe sked again

'No one has ever called me that, and your questions are beginning to get boring, allow me to rid you of your misery" zagreel said and joe joe was sent flying through the balcony by an invincible force.

Joe joe soon found himself free falling to his death, he saw thatthe restraint on his powers were gone, so he quickly manouvered his body and used his powers to stabilize his fall. He knew he was a dead man, Fredrick was considerate enough to give him a second chance and he still managed to fail.

"Who was that, no one had heard of him neither does he have any affiliations with any group." He mused as he walked down street.

Inside Jane's room zagreel saf on a coach and flipped through a book while he waited for Jane to regain her consciousness.

"Boss why do you help these people" a creature hidden in the darkness asked.

"Because this concerns us all, the council is filled with fools who still live in the past. I have decided to bet on these ones, regardless of the outcome"

Jane soon gained consciousness and saw a man sitting on the couch in her bedroom, she tried to scream but the couldn't make a sound. Zagreel walked towards her and rapped lightly on her head.

"For your safety I would be taking whatever memories you have of tonight away. When wake uo, you won't remember any of the events that transpired here" zagreel said and vanished

Joe joe stood in front of the bar and exhaled loudly, he was scared Frederick would be at his office in the bar waiting for him and he had to prepare his mind for the outcome of their meeting. He stepped into the bar and was saluted by the burly man who seemed to be a regular worker there.

"Any message from Fredrick" Joe joe asked the burly man

"Fredrick asked that you meet him at his Mansion" the burly man replied.

Joe joe walked out as soon as he got the message and flagged down a taxi which took him to his destination, he climbed down and paid off the taxi driver who speed off immediately he got his money.

Joe joe summoned a bit of courage and headed for the mansion door, and it was opened by the butler before he could make contact with it. He strode into the waiting hall and was told by the butler to wait for a few minutes.

"Joe joe, sorry to keep you waiting. I was a bit occupied with something" Fredrick said as he walked towards joe joe.

Joe joe cringed while listening to Fredrick since he knew what keep him occupied was most probably something vile and evil. He kept his head low and didn't reply to Fredrick's statement

"I heard you still failed after I gave more power to you, you of all people should know how much I hate wasting resources" Frederick said with a smile

"There were unforseen circumstances that made it difficult for me to complete the mission" joe joe said trying to explain

"Tsk... Tsk... Tsk... Joe joe I want results not excuses, I don't want to hear about why you couldn't complete a imole mission" Fredrick said

Joe joe began to feel intense pain all around is abdomen, he knew Fredrick was going to torture him but he still didn't know his end game.

"We are just getting started" Frederick announced with an evil smile

Jane woke up the next day with a banging headache, she couldn't remember anything that happened the previous night. She saw scorch marks all around her room but couldn't figure out how they came to be. She also felt like she was forgetting something important. She swept everything behind her as she had to get prepared for work but she made sure to remember to investigate the burn marks in her room after work.