At The End Of Their Tunnel Vision

Chapter XV

The sound of keyboard tapping was the only noise that could be heard within the lit room that illuminated from the large screen beside of him, showing multiple cubes of feedback; monitored by one of his puppets. Why do you need other people doing the job if he could make his own minions?

Elliot was busy typing the strings of codes on the main control panel doing his roundly checks, moderating the flow of information going through the main server. His hands didn't stop from typing or turned his head away from the screen, when obvious steps disrupted the quietness of the room. Even the voices were less aggravated upon the arrival of one of Victor's minions. He already knew the strange visitor that occasionally entered his gloomy office. Only the lights from the screen were the source of illumination inside the room.

The corruption definitely mellowed the f**k out when Narelle fed on him, which was the most pleasant and serene he felt for a long time. Still, he had no idea why the corruption responded to the succubus that way, however he would gladly take the aftermath as a temporary relief in his agony.

"Got a spare?" Ash asked in a laid back manner.

Without missing a beat he shoved his right hands inside the pocket of his slacks, grabbing the packet of cigarettes and raised his hands up just in time for the cursed one to pluck the box in his hold. "Keep it." So far he tolerated the i***t's occasional intrusion in his territory whenever the intruder seemed to only seek him out for the cigarette. Sometimes when he wasn't leaking out so much murderous intent, Ash even stayed a bit, occupying one of the extra chair in the room and smoke.

"How kind of you." Ash sniggered, pulling the fabric covering half of his face placing the cigarette between his exposed teeth.

Elliot scoffed, ignoring the remark as he focused more on his work. If he knew better none of them were kind. None of them ever experienced kindness in this world anymore. He knew their story, all the pain and the things they lost or snatched from them, before Victor gathered them like a flock of lost birds; dangerous birds in his opinion. Bunch of vultures. Somehow that made him sympathized with them, except for Chase. He hated that asshole's guts.

Just like last time Ash occupied the office chair Brenda used. "Someone appears to be in a good mood."

"How do you know?" he asked. Interested how Ash managed to discern his rare relaxed state.

Ash shrugged his shoulders acting like the thought just came over him, lackadaisically blowing out strings of smokes. "Just a hunch, bud." A frown meld in his expression from the useless answer he got. He only sighed. It didn't matter, the i***t cursed one could keep his secret. "You're not usually compliant whenever I ask for a cigarette. And your shoulders are slacked, like the rest of your body. One of you foot was even stretched forward, not a stance I usually saw whenever I came in here."

"Ah, such an insightful deduction, might as well admit since you explicitly recited. Yes, I am quite stable right now."

"Stable, huh?" Ash grumbled with apprehension.

His statement might have caught Ash's attention if the cursed one didn't speak anything else around the topic afterwards. Not that he was complaining, besides Ash was also an enigma in his book. Since the cursed one was the only person in Victor's subordinates who kept visiting his office that didn't have any work related appearances. It was either he was being bold on taking his chances or plainly stupid for ignoring his signs of aggressions.

"Spill it out. Instead of glaring at me like you wanted to split my head open," he said, taking a pause at his work and placed his forearm on top of the chair's backrest facing the corpse-like creature.

Ash's glossy eyes shone under the hood of his jacket with a merit of amusement in his impeccable senses. Even though the person in front of him didn't have a lips, Ash managed to make himself look like grinning with how the skin on his cheeks crinkled from being pulled up. "Well, it got into my attention, why Victor introduced you recently when you've been hole up in here for five years, without any of us detecting your existence. I find it quite strange."

Elliot stood up, walking towards the opposite side of the room where his desk was located. The piece of furniture that he rarely used if he had some paperworks to file, desolated with any significant purposes he converted the drawer of the desk as the storage of his vice. Pulling out one full packet he wedged one of the nicotine sticks between his lips. "You are barking at the wrong tree. Not because I am relaxed I will answer you willy nilly."

"Come on. Not even a clue?" Ash's tone was playful, yet with a hint of condescending.

He shook his lighter checking if his zippo went out again. Maybe it was about time he invested into one of those electric lighter he saw before. An object thrown towards him and he effortlessly caught the item, uttering a simple thanks, he then proceeded upon lighting his cigarette.

"For the treatment," he answered curtly. A snippet of information would be enough. Well he was curious how this moron would perceive him.

"You're really a strange one, aren't you bud?"

Elliot chuckled surrounded by the grey smoke he just blew out. "I will take that as a compliment." He handed out the borrowed lighter before he returned towards his seat. "Now that your curiosity was satiated, time to get the f**k out of my office." He gained a loud chortle from the cursed one which caused him to roll his eyes.

"Sure, grandma," Ash suddenly retorted and swiftly disappeared on the chair when he twisted behind him, only to see the twirling abandoned chair. All he could do was blink at the sight before he sensed the current mood of the voices that remained calm from the entirety of his interactions. Huh, this never happened before?

Slumped on his seat he stared at the ceiling watching the smoke on the end of his cigarette drifted, floating up, as he mused over his recent discovery. So, helping his little demon had mutual benefits for both of them. Now the succubus was more valuable to him than he anticipated. But he couldn't be quite confident in the result yet. He didn't even know if Narelle would need his help again.

A vibration towards his other pocket pulled him out of his thoughts and immediately grabbed his cellphone. He sighed, unfortunately he had other problems to think about. It was the second month of his little demon's employment and he was aware of what might be the outcome in tonight's shift.

Elliot would never get why Jasper treated every woman he encountered like a doll he was entitled to play with. If only the dark elf was not good with his job, he already fired the perverted elf the moment he made his first offence.

The strings connected from the puppet sent n erratic ripples, alerting him of something he should check. Staring at one of the feedbacks the puppet was pointing stirred familiar emotion erupted in his chest; anger.

And like a revived banshee, the voices awaken with a purpose of annihilating the dark elf cornering their beloved little demon at the wall. The intense bloodlust almost knocked him out from control when the intent surged over him all at once. His right hand instantly grabbed the edge of his wounds at the side of head and braced himself for the pain when he made a hard tug on his wounds.

Elliot choked from holding his own scream. He hastily grabbed the small tube container, popping one of the disgusting medicines. The excruciating pain grounded him, pulling his consciousness back. f**k! The corruption never fought over him in a way that it almost killed him. Slowly he pulled himself up and without considering what he might look like, he teleported.

When he manifested inside the ground floor security room Narelle was glaring with defiance at the elf, holding a teaser closed to her. While Jasper was holding at his side which he assessed, the place Narelle stuck the teaser.

"You simply never learn your lesson, Jasper. You insolent cretin," he snapped. Three pairs of eyes instantly turned towards his direction.

The two men held fear in their eyes upon seeing him. While Narelle looked at him with concern.

"Eh, boss. We're just welcoming her, right Theodore?" Jasper asked, clearly scared from the terrifying visage he wasn't aware of. When Theodore didn't answer, Jasper began to panic.

"Still going for the same f*****g overused excuse whenever I caught you," he was f*****g pissed.

"But look, just look at her boss, the b***h was a succubus. She'll definitely ask for it anyway." Jasper said in an absolute conviction.

The utter ridiculousness of Jasper's declaration snapped the remaining patient he was holding. "Ask for it? You sure are full of yourself to be this pathetic." Jasper took a rigid step back and went petrified. "This served as your last warning, Jasper. Because the next time a complaint report or I caught you in the act again. Let us say I know how to dispose body in a way you will never be found." The dark elf visibly cowered on his spot taking panicked steps behind him when he walked towards them. He wasn't even looking at Jasper but the dark elf faltered from fear. If the uncoordinated steps and a startled gasp with erratic heartbeat indicated the distress from the saturated terror.

Elliot's focus now solely directed toward his trembling little demon. Narelle looked utterly scared and defensive from how she clutched the teaser like a torch in the middle of the dark wicked dungeon. His concern only flared up when the shine of her amber eyes went dull. He hated that when she looked so terrified.

"Narelle, get your things and wait for me from the hallway." He instructed with a restrained voice. Cautious that he might trigger the delicate little demon.

The succubus released a shaky breath before she hurriedly ran out of the room. Damn it! If it wasn't for the stupid training procedure Brenda implemented before, Narelle didn't had to scheduled in the nightshifts, it would definitely prevent Brenda's boy-toy messing with his little succubus.

"Why are you defending that b***h? She even tricked us for being a human, hiding her scent and horns." Jasper said.

The elf's stupidity knew no bounds, why did Brenda like this brainless offending cur so much. Rubbing the still aching spot beside his head, closing his eyes as he tried gaining his composure when the voices continued chanting angrily from both sides of his head. Of course the obsessive entity would be in maniac rage once the centre of their mania was in danger. Elliot could still feel the pain tugging in his now aggravated wound.

"Bold of you to question my actions, when your work ethics were enough merit upon disposing peons like you. Heck I only remembered your name because of the numerous complaints I got from most of the female workers here that accidentally ran up into you." He scoffed as he continued deriding the dark elf like a battered hyena. "And to inform you the succubus is taking a suppressant which subdues her pheromones production. With how you reacted just earlier, only proved why she had to hide her specification. Now your actions only proved a lot for you." he sneered.

When none of the monsters inside the room answered him, he exited the room and saw Narelle standing at the hallway just like what he instructed.

The flinched reaction under his simple hold on her shoulder added a strain in his restrain murderous intent towards the perpetrator. "You are safe now. I am gonna get you home, ok." Slowly he pulled her into an embrace not too tight, worried that the succubus might react badly from the sudden physical contact. Just like what happened in her first panic attack. "Are you ready?" he asked. She only answered with a nod and he ported both of them inside their apartment; to be precise in the living room. When they appeared safely inside the living room, Narelle clutched in front of his shirt, and he knew what would happen next. Sniffles of muffled sobs and shaking limbs, he tugged Narelle's small figure closer to him, sheltering his little demon's crumbling spirit.