ENCAGE agents

I sat down with Agent Alû. The younger of the two guys that interrogated us two months ago. He's one of the few agents who talk to me. Mostly because they all speak french and I don't. Hey Gabriella, that reminds me, one of these days you're gonna have to teach me french.

I don't mean french kissing this time, I promise. Pretty sure I've mastered those lessons.

So I asked agent Alû about his code name. Where it came from, why he got that one, etc.

It was lunch time so he was eating a cheese sandwich. “Ah, an Alû is a Mesopotamian demon. All of our code names are based on some mythology or folklore. Most of the time our code names are chosen based on the Fear we first came into contact with.”

I grabbed an apple out of the fruit bowl. “So then what was your first Fear?”

“Mine? The Nightlanders. Back when I was in high school me and some friends sneaked into an abandoned factory. There were rumors the place was haunted. Turned out they weren't wrong. Except it wasn't ghosts. Two of my friends died when they fell through the floor. The basement was full of those shadow creatures.. They were both ripped apart. Me and the other two were saved by ENCAGE.”

I took a bite out of the apple. “Yikes, that's terrible. The Nightlanders come after you?”

He shook his head. “Haven't seen them since. It's been ten years. If they had I'd be a runner not an ENCAGE agent now. Can't be both, runners are too great a risk.”

I then decided to ask about his partner. “So what about Gévaudan? What's his story? I assume he's named after that french werewolf?”

He nodded and looked over to the old guy sitting a few tables away. “Obviously he didn't see a werewolf. But I'm sure you can guess what Fear it might have been.”

“Black dog?” I guessed.

“Yeah, killed his entire family thirty or so years ago. He was the only survivor. He told me he made an oath to himself to never let that happen to anyone ever again.”

No wonder he's always so grumpy. There's no way he could ever keep that oath. I didn't say that out loud though. Would be too insensitive. Instead I switched subjects. “What about your boss?”

“Agent Lilith?” He looked surprised.

“Yeah, you know her story?”

“Not the full story no.” He scratched his head. “I did hear bits and pieces though.”

“Think it'd be okay to share?”

“Probably. I believe her grandfather was a high ranking Timberwolf. He died when she was very young, that's when she found out. She was horrified. Decided she would do everything she could to stop men like her grandfather.”

“And her name?”

“Not sure but probably Biblical.”

“Because Archangel.”

He nodded.

I asked about a few other agents I had come into contact with. They don't matter So I won't bother you with them.

Wait, hold on.

Edit: There's a mob of villagers shouting at the gates. Seems like they've grown tired of being stuck in a cage. I should probably go check it out.