The list of the missing was growing longer every week. Too many people for anyone to ignore it. In a place like Las Almas, it wasn't unheard of for people to vanish off the streets. If families had crossed the wrong person or gotten on the wrong side of El Sin Nombre.

However, the pattern of the people going missing was irregular, even for the ring of local crime. Police had investigated the disappearances to a religious group that had become prevalent in the outskirts of the city.

Alejandro didn't think much of the gathering of people at first. Religious pilgrims, they had called themselves. Odd but not important enough to warrant the attention of the Mexican special forces. Until the people started to go missing. It was deemed a cult by the local authorities, and Alejandro's team of Los Vaqueros was ordered to hold a raid on the unassuming warehouse that was occupied in the desert.

The outside of the building was still and silent. Alejandro's men were fast and proficient, entering the building like the trained unit they were.

But even with all their experience, what lay before them made them falter.

Alejandro's jaw dropped in a wordless gasp. The warehouse was devoid of people except for in the main room. The entire cult, both the followers and the missing people, was found dead in the room's center. It was horrific, people lifeless on the ground in white clothes or dark robes. The lit candles dimly flickered a faint glow on the sprawling red lines painted on the floor in an intricate circle.

At its center, a dark mass that seemed to eat the light around it. A monster that was so unnatural it made the body freeze like an animal facing its predator.

The monster they summoned lay unconscious on the floor until one of Alejandro's men stepped on one of the trays on the floor. The tall candle that had been set upon the tray toppled with a thud on the ground. The monster shook and started to wake up.

"Don't move, demon!" He pointed his weapon at the creature out of instinct, but even Alejandro knew that this was far beyond his understanding. He was helpless.