Heart Pangs

Chapter 70 - 'Exhale'

Lux locks his office door behind him with a sigh of relief. Finally a moment alone, away from the prying eyes of every Facility worker.

Wearily, he crosses the room and falls into his desk chair, tightening his abdominals, making sure his prey isn't jostled too much. He leans back and closes his eyes. One of his hands goes idly to the curve of his belly.

For one glorious moment, all Lux can concentrate on is how wonderfully full he feels. This is it. This is what he craves. This singular fleeting second where he is no longer plagued by hunger. There's only one small detail that makes the sensation less than perfect, and it seems his prey is already starting to notice.

He feels her shifting restlessly within him, clearly exhausted from her earlier struggles, yet now her panic turns to confusion. Lux doesn't blame her. Even with a belly full of prey, the discomfort from his earlier neutralizers still lingers. By now, Melissa Koontz has surely noticed their effect and is wondering why she's not feeling the harsh sting of Lux's stomach acids.

Lux opens his eyes and sits up straight. Unfortunately, she's going to have to remain confused for a bit longer. He needs to keep up appearances and that means giving the impression that he's taking time to digest before heading home for the night.

Reluctantly, his eyes fall on his desk and he spots the reports Cecil mentioned earlier. If he's going to be in here for a bit, he may as well get some work done. He picks up the reports and begins sifting through them.

Fortunately, there doesn't seem to be much of note. The new workers are all progressing well and demonstrating the professional traits that Lux had hoped they would. By the time he's done reading through all the reports, Lux has almost forgotten about the weight in his belly. She has since gone still, the only indication of life being the slow and steady rising and falling of her torso.

Finally, Lux decides it's been enough time.

He rolls his chair over and pulls open the top drawer on the side of his desk. Feeling relieved he deposits the reports inside and closes it again. That's one thing off his mental checklist. Next, he digs into his pocket and produces a small key. With some difficulty, he bends down and unlocks the very bottom drawer.

Among other things, a bottle of neutralizers rolls about as he opens the drawer. Lux looks down at it with a frown. Surprisingly, being the Supervisor of the Facility does not give him ample time to disappear and down a handful of neutralizers at will. The only moment he'd found that day to take some had been a good two hours before the disposal. He estimates that, by now, he has about another hour before they begin to wear off.

He stares at the bottle a good moment longer before shaking his head. An hour should be enough. No need to waste perfectly good neutralizers tonight.

Instead, he pushes the bottle out of the way and pulls out a perfectly crisp manilla folder. He turns it over in his hand, gauging its weight and thickness. He smiles to himself. Lenora had really outdone herself this time. Yes, he had contributed a fair amount to this folder, but it had been her who had compiled everything for him. For that, he would be eternally grateful.

He grabs the briefcase that leans against the side of his desk, pops it open, and carefully slips the folder inside. It's time to go now.

As soon as he rises from his seat, briefcase in hand, Lux's prey comes to life once more. He does his best to balance holding her still and not crushing her entirely, then heads out of his office.

His journey to the exit consists of fellow workers each giving him a nod of respect as he passes, sometimes a muttered, "sir." Almost all of them ease back, giving him as wide as berth as possible. All of them except for one.