It's a trap! The voice in David's head even sounded like Admiral Ackbar from "Star Wars".

Was this a revenge plan Lauren had come up with? Had she put the prison personnel up to this? Getting him in a closed and locked room with a convicted murderer, without any means to defend himself, while that criminal wasn't even chained up? Or was this Simon's doing, manipulating the guards with whom he seemed to be on very friendly terms? And if they went so far as to leave him unchained in here, maybe they had also given him some sort of weapon. David squinched his eyes, looked at Simon, his body language, to see what kind of threat he was posing to him.

And of course Simon could see the surprise on David's face that quickly turned into alertness, the tension of his body, his readyness to fight for his life... The prisoner raised both his hands to show that he was no threat. "Don't worry, Seargeant! I'm not going to do anything."

David wasn't fully convinced. But he calmed down a bit. "You asked for me to come here."

"And I am very glad that you did." With one hand Simon pointed at the chair at the other end of the table, the one facing him. David followed the invitation and sat down - after he checked the chair for any hidden traps. An amused smile flashed in Simon's face, but he didn't say anything about it.

"You know, I should call the guards right now so that they can tie you down," David stated grimly.

Simon didn't seem the least bit phased by this. "Nobody's keeping you from it, Seargeant Miller. But I must say: If your wife trusted me enough to talk to me like this, maybe you will find it in you to trust me, too."

"My wife believes in the good in people she deals with," David gave back, his eyes fixating the prisoner. "I don't."

A gaze that was returned by Simon without him even blinking. "And yet you are here."

He had a point there. But David was just too proud to admit it in this situation. He kept staring at Simon, daring him to turn his eyes away first, and noticed that Simon was doing the same. They kept staring each other down, waiting for the other one to blink or turn away. David wouldn't do it. He wouldn't show any weakness to this man. After all, he was the cop, and Simon was a criminal. This was how it had to be happening. But he also felt, when he stared into Simon's eyes, that the other one didn't go for power... just that he indulged him in this childish play, being very well aware of how childish it was.

And Simon finally gave in. With another smile. "As I said, I am glad that you are. Here!" He pushed over the photos that David had given him earlier. They slid over the blank table, and David caught them with a flat hand before they could fall down. David looked down. The photos were the same as when he had left them. All while Simon kept talking, and David hadn't even listened.

"What has she told you so far?" Simon asked all of a sudden. "I mean, she said that she told you nothing, and that you puzzled this together yourself. Quite impressive! But I need to know whether you heard the rest of the story, or whether I have to tell this all over again."

"I guess you have to do that," David mumbled. "She didn't tell me anything, that's right. Although, she showed some strange interest in demons lately." He suddenly remembered that he was still carrying this book around, so he put it on the table and slid it over to Simon the same way that Simon had given the photos back. "Enough for me to get this."

Simon caught the book, looked down on it. A brief moment of silence as he studied the title, then a tiny acknowledging nod came from him. "This will do then," he said, more to himself. Then he turned his attention towards David. "At least you seem to be open enough for all of this. We shouldn't waste any more time then. Those murders you are investigating... have something to do with demons."

He said that with the utmost confidence, leaving no doubt in his voice whether or not this was actually true. David felt relieved that someone else actually believed in this crazy theory... even though this man was the origin of said theory. "What makes you think that?" he then asked, trying to at least give the impression of a cop doing his job.

"Those symbols." He pointed at the pictures. "I had seen one of those symbols before, just once, briefly, and I couldn't make heads or tails of it. And no, it was not the exact same symbol, but I guess it fulfilled the same purpose."

As David listened to him patiently, Simon began explaining. As further as he went on, David began to understand what had troubled Lauren so much on this one evening, and what had driven her to roam the kitchen like a madman. What Simon told him was... completely wacko at best, but the more David thought about it, and the more Simon explained, it started to make sense in a strange way. It seemed... logical. And it answered some questions about humanity that David had been bothered about for some time now.

Simon told everything. How demons used their influence inside the human body and whisper suggestions or raise desires, how a lot of religions on this planet - not only Christianity, but also Islam, Jewism, Buddhism, Hinduism and every other belief that gave its believers a strong moral basis - were used to keep those demons in check, leading the humans away from evil and temptation. How the influence of these religions had faded over the centuries almost into obscurity, and that modern communication and media was a way for those demons to gain back control over their human hosts.

He found it really hard to believe. Every man, woman and child was supposed to have a demon inside. Every living human on this being. He couldn't imagine Lauren to be possessed by a demon. Let alone Angela... that sweet and innocent girl was a pure soul, she couldn't have any touch of evil in her. No way! But this wasn't about him and his belief. After a while he began to understand. This was in no way about any of them.

Just about the killer. And his beliefs.

"So you think that this killer... is murdering those people because he thinks that they are possessed by demons," he concluded from Simon's speech.

"Not any random demons." Simon pointed again at the pictures. "I... Well, I have my sources, and those sources gave me new insights on that matter. I guess the demons don't want the humans to find it out. Because it is their greatest weakness. You see, every demon has a name. That name is only known to demons. And their greatest fear would be a human able to speak their name. It would give this human power over the demon - not enough to control it, but enough to strike fear and terror into it. Their own name is the most effective weapon against them."

"But... what..." It was almost too much for David. "But... what has this to do with...?" And then he saw it. The pieces of the puzzle came into place, forming a picture. He saw the symbols on the murder weapons, carefully carved into them way before the actual murder took place. How those weapons were discarted after they had fulfilled their purpose.  Theviscious and brutal way those murders were carried out, as if killing thevictims had not been enough.

The victims had not had any connection to each other. Except that they were human beings, living in this town. Human beings... each with their own personal demon inside them.

"Those symbols... are names." The name of each demon... their greatest weakness.

These murders had never been about the humans themselves...

He looked up, saw Simon's face. And as he saw it, he knew that Simon saw him understand it all. "Yes, Seargeant Miller," the prisoner said grimly. "Someone is out there, hunting demons. And killing them."

In a downtown office block in Malthorn City, a pretty shabby looking old office block from the outside, but at least with a decent interior, Lauren Miller was sitting at her desk and taking care of paperwork.

The Simon case hadn't come to a decent conclusion yet, which began to frustrate her a little. All that she had wanted was to give this man a second chance, a new life... But with every meeting between the two, she grew more impatient with him and wondered if he wouldn't be better off in the state asylum. And now, all of a sudden, after she had thought that her own husband had shot her career to bits and pieces, this very husband had become a more important person to her patient than she was.

Could someone explain to me what is wrong with this world right now?, she thought angrily, stuffing papers into files and those files into a cabinet at the side of her office. Then she looked at the clock that was hanging over the door, an unremarkable white circle with black hands. It didn't even show numbers. But now it was showing that her day of work was almost done. After all this she couldn't wait to get home.

It was afternoon when she drove home. Angela would spend some time with her friends, as she always did on days like this. But she knew that her mother would be home at this hour. As for David... his work schedule was a bit unreliable, and she could consider herself lucky if he made it in time for dinner.

When she arrived at their house, she found Angela sitting on the front porch, waving at her. Joyfully she waved back. Angela didn't have her own key for the front door - something that David and Lauren had to remedy soon, it was about time to trust Angela with that kind of responsibility. So she had to wait until her mother let her in. But since Lauren had also shopped some groceries on her way home, it was good that her daughter could give her a hand in carrying them inside.

Just as the groceries were unpacked and placed in the cupboards and the supply closet, and just as Angela was finished with telling Lauren about her exciting day in school, a car pulled up in the driveway. Lauren looked through the kitchen window and realized that it was David's car. She looked at the kitchen clock. He was astonishingly early. Also he got out of the car and walked quickly towards the front door. Someone else was still sitting in the car, on the back seat - which seemed a bit odd to Lauren.

The door opened. "Honey?" David called her out. "Are you still mad at me?"

"If I were, I would probably have to pay your hotel bill," Lauren shot back and repressed a grin. "So come in, you big grunt!"

She looked around the corner and saw David still standing in the doorway, like he was scared to come in fully. He looked at her with a sheepish look, and she knew he was up to something. "Well... I was asking that, because I have another question for you, and I understand if you were still mad at me that you'd say No. So... if there's enough to eat for dinner, I would like to invite someone to it. My new partner, actually."

The person still sitting in the car... "Sure. We have always welcomed your partners in this house. And there's plenty of food. No problem!"

David let out a sigh of relief, then he turned around and walked back to the car. Lauren went back into the kitchen, a bit baffled about David's behavior. There was some history of police officers joining them for a meal, so that she could get to know the people David worked with. And she had always welcomed them with open arms. They were one of the reasons her husband came home after every shift. So why should this be any different? And why had David put this new partner on the back seat of his car? He had to let him out since it was used as an unmarked police car, so the back doors of the car wouldn't open from the inside...

Lauren stopped. Her heart skipped a beat. No!, she thought. He wouldn't...

The front door opened again. Steps came over the porch into their living room. Lauren turned around on her heel, made two large steps towards them... and immediately faced her husband's new partner.

Only that she couldn't believe her eyes.

"Hello, Doctor Miller!" Simon extended a hand to greet her. "So nice to meet you again."