Shudders

Chapter 7 - The Kid

    Warning: Mentions of blood and gore.
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"I would like you to know, C5 can be troublesome."

    (Y/N) was currently walking with Mr. Khan on their way to C5's cell. Today, she started work again and she was assigned to work with the old man keeper, Mr. Khan, who watches over the child-looking demon, C5. Mr. Khan is C5's keeper and has been for almost 25 years, which shocked the lady. The demon looked like a young boy but she knew demons can be deceptive.

    Mr. Khan noticed her shocked expression and decided to give her a small lesson. "Transmutes, like C5, can alter their bodies to become anything they want. In C5's case, he altered his body to appear like a normal human boy to deceive us. He has even changed his personality to be more childlike, carefree, just like any other kid. But after years of research and DNA testing, the scientists have determined that C5 is around 114 years old, maybe older."

"114?!" (Y/N) gasped.

"Mhm. A transmute demon can look like an innocent newborn baby and be well into its 50s. Don't you have a transmute yourself?"

    The lady nodded, remembering all the times Akai shifted his body into something grotesque to scare her. "I've seen A1 shift a few times. I wish I can get the image of an arm sprouting from his mouth out of my head." She shivered.

    The old man chuckled. "You'll get used to it, don't worry. I've seen much worse than that in all my years here. You know, I've heard some things about that A1 of yours. Real brutal but not unusual things."

    The lady looked up at the old man intrigued but confused. "What things? From where?"

"I'm close friends with the Chief of the Capturers, we're drinking buddies. He told me some details about A1's capture one night. It put up a great fight, managed to kill two of the Capturers that day, rest their souls. The anesthesia they used on it seemed to not have as big of an effect on it as they thought, it kept waking up every one or two hours with more hostility each time. The first hour, A1 got a jump on the crew and slashed one of the Capturer's arms open through its cage. Luckily A1 isn't poisonous or the doctors would've had to amputate the arm."

    (Y/N) was silent for a moment as she took in what the older man has said.

    Akai killed two people. Usually, when a demon kills a worker, they're immediately put to death. But she guessed it was different when it came to Capturers, they are risking their lives each time they go above ground to catch demons. 

    Mr. Khan patted her on the shoulder to reassure her. Seeing how worried she got at the new information. "We lose many brave people in this field, unfortunately. Demons are unpredictable, that's why we should never let our guard down around them. You're new to this line of work, so all I have to say is, don't get comfortable around any demon. They may act tame, or calm, or not a danger to you, but you'll never know if that same demon will take your life. My advice may save you one day."

    Now thinking about it, (Y/N) has been getting a bit comfortable around Ki and Akai. A good example is when she braided Ki's hair and offered to do the same with Akai. Her whole plan going into this was to treat them normally and not as monsters to gain their trust. But maybe that was a bad plan, she's starting to treat them like how she treats her friends. Back home, her friends would tease her for being too nice and now she sees why. She doesn't want her demons to use her kindness to their advantage, so taking the elder's advice, she'll have to start being more strict with them while also not being cruel.

    The two arrived at C5's cell. The steel wall was down, covering the view of the inside. (Y/N) watched as the old keeper rummaged through his coat pocket for his keycard and unlocked the door.