Shudders

Chapter 20 - The Cameras

    Both of (Y/N)'s eyes shot open. She stared at the demon who cheekily smiled innocently. She sat up and yawned, not knowing how to answer. "Why do you want to know?"

    Akai could tell Ki was glaring at him from his peripheral vision. He winked at him then focused back on (Y/N). "You mentioned it awhile ago. I am just curious about what it actually is. Sounds like a terrible place!"

    She could hear his sarcastic tone with that last sentence. She rubbed the sleep away from her eyes and stretched out her stiff arms, her lab coat that she used as a blanket falling off her shoulders. Taking a nap at the desk was a bad idea. When she settled back into her chair, she felt eyes on her. She turned to both demons and noticed they were... observing her? Ki turned away as soon as he met eyes with her while Akai didn't flinch away. He allowed his eyes to roam over her body one last time before he went back to his question.

    Luckily for him, she didn't notice him as she did with Ki. He stood up and leaned on her desk while she reached for her tablet. "Um... the Hold is where demons are taken to if they break severe rules like injuring their Keeper or acting out too aggressively. They get punished. But if a demon killed their Keeper or other staff, then they get eradicated. It's somewhere I don't want you two to be."

"How are they killed?" Ki spoke up. The way he asked seemed serious and it caught (Y/N) off guard. She looked at him strangely but shrugged. She wasn't allowed to know just like them. "My guess is as good as yours. Maybe they use weapons on them or some other way. I'm just a Keeper so I'm not aware."

"And they just get rid of them?" Akai could tell something was weird. Ki stated that after those guards killed the demon, the Scientists dumped it into a container with some kind of liquid. If they wanted to dispose of the body, shouldn't they have burned it to ashes? Demon corpses take years to fully decompose, burning the body will speed up the process greatly. It didn't make sense to put it in liquid unless they wanted to preserve the body. 'Why kill a demon and keep the corpse?'

    (Y/N) watched the two closely. They never asked about anything involving the labs this much. She hasn't mentioned the Hold for a few months so why bring it up now. She scooted her chair away to get a better view of both demons at her desk, a look of suspicion clear on her face. "You guys are asking a lot about the Hold. Why?"

    The blond demon snapped away from thinking and winked at the woman with a smirk. "Just curious is all~."

"Sure..." She noticed how today he went back to messing with her rather than glaring and being mean. Maybe Akai was just moody. 

    Either way, she dropped her gaze from the two and went to turn on her tablet for any messages from her superiors or work she still has to do. "You won't get any information from me anyways. They don't tell me much either."

    A sudden sliding noise sounded near the door to the cell. All three turned in the direction and saw three Scientists followed by a couple of engineers and two guards enter the cell. (Y/N) immediately stood and approached the newcomers while the demons stayed where they were. Akai looked towards Ki with a questioning look while Ki shrugged his shoulders. They watched their Keeper speak to the Scientists while the engineers went around to each corner of the cell and started doing something to the walls. They pulled out ladders from the carts they had with them and began setting up rectangular-shaped devices high up on the walls. Akai moved closer to Ki and talked low. "What are they doing?"

    The Scientists had (Y/N) follow them to each corner as they explained something to her in a hushed voice so the demons couldn't hear. Ki observed the devices in the engineers' hands closely, they seemed familiar. One engineer got finished and left one of the devices in the wall with the rectangular part facing down.

    One of the Scientists gestured towards them while explaining something to (Y/N). She followed where he pointed and nodded, she looked unsure at first but agreed nevertheless. After being dismissed, she made her way back over to the demons and sat back down in her chair to watch the engineers. Ki bent down to whisper to her and Akai made sure to listen closely. "What's happening now?"

"They're putting in cameras."

    Both Ki and Akai darted back to see two more cameras being finished with installation. One of the engineers used a remote to test a camera, making it lift up and look left to right then in circles before it faced the floor again. That's why Ki found the devices familiar, he used to stumble across damaged cameras like those whenever he traveled to the city. This means they are being watched from now...

    (Y/N) saw how nervous they got and wondered why. It's just cameras. "Don't worry. They only want to monitor you guys closely."

"But why?" Akai wasn't liking the fact that his every move will be seen by the Scientists now. Those white suited idiots already came off as weird to him but now they just became creepy. "What's so interesting bout' us?"

    (Y/N) wanted to know that too. She asked one of the Scientists but they simply said it was confidential. To just ignore the cameras and pretend like they weren't there. It seemed strange but she guessed the cameras were involved with getting more information before the next experimentation in five days. She reassuringly smiled at both demons and reached up to pat their arms to settle their nerves. "I wouldn't worry too much about it. Just don't do anything stupid for them to see." She turned back to her tablet and started reading the new message that popped up involving the new cameras.

    Ki looked to Akai and slowly shook his head. They must've done something for the Scientists feeling the need to watch them more closely. They weren't careful at all. Akai made small flames appear at his fingertip and subtly pointed towards one of the cameras while mouthing out 'Should I?'

'No!' Ki mouthed back. That'll just make things worse!

    After some more minutes, the engineers were finished with all the cameras and packing up their equipment. They proceeded to head towards the exit with two of the Scientists and one of the guards while the last Scientist stayed behind to talk with (Y/N). The Scientist still kept a hushed tone as they strayed (Y/N) and themselves away from the demons and it seemed like the Scientist was giving (Y/N) a hard time. Their body language was pretty strict and almost aggressive to the point where the Keeper would flinch from their wild hand movements. The Scientist even raised their hand like they were gonna hit her but pulled it back after she moved away on reflex. She didn't understand why this person was suddenly acting so different, especially when they were behaving so professionally not that long ago. She took a couple of steps back as she listened to the Scientist and it was obvious to Ki and Akai that she was tense.

    Ki wanted to teleport the person away after they raised their arm like that. He didn't enjoy seeing them pick on his Keeper and neither did Akai. The blond feeling the need to rip that arm clean off.

    The Scientist finished speaking with (Y/N) (to her relief) and turned to head to the exit. They looked towards Ki and took note of the deadly glare they were receiving but also one from the other which surprised the Scientist. They left finally and both demons eased up.

    (Y/N) rubbed her neck, still a bit confused about that whole personality switch but also worried if she did something to anger her superior. She was attentive during their talks so what could she have done to earn that attitude? Those suits they wore and that whole aura they had were already intimidating enough. She walked back to her demons, missing the death glares they were sending to the Scientist and took peaks at the new cameras in each corner. The closest one was right above the cell door and the farthest was in Ki's corner. "I don't think I'll like the idea of being watched..." She muttered, mostly to herself.

    Akai rolled his eyes and pinched her arm. "You're not the one being watched here, obviously."

    She slapped his hand away with a glare. "I'm still in the cameras during the day! They'll be looking at me too."

    At once, all the cameras made a whirring sound as they all lifted up and moved around before settling their sights on the demons. In total, there were five cameras and they all were focusing intensely on the two. Ki turned away so his face wasn't being seen. He hated this already. Akai on the other hand grew out two more arms and used all four of his hands to flip the cameras off.

    Somewhere deeper in the building, a person behind the cameras returned the gesture.