Ye of Little Faith (8)

The first thing Eevie saw after she stepped into the room was the stranger sitting on the sofa. Noticing the strange state she was in, she turned to look at Mona hotly and remarked with a trace of disappointment, "Mona, you should stop using your powers so carelessly on human beings, what if there's side effects after you're done?"

The black cat pulled on his whiskers and explained with a cavalier attitude, "So what if there is. Human beings are nothing but walking bags of sins for us to harvest after all."

Eevie tutted in retort, "Be that as it may, we're operating in a human world. What if there's legal implication or something of that sort. You might escape prosecution on the account that you're technically a cat but I doubt I will be so lucky."

Mona lowered his head and mumbled, "Fine, I will be more careful in the future. I only wanted to help you retain a customer… What is so wrong with that?"

Eevie sighed and walked towards her table. She added, "And I really appreciate it. I'm sorry."

The cat perked up instantly, "And I forgive you. Now if you want to make it up to me, show me some essence. What reward did you get this time?"

"Unfortunately, I didn't come back with much. The problem was solved before the Nightmare has the opportunity to fester and take root. The client is too young that I do not have the heart to drain any Essence of Life from her, it might affect her growth in the future," Eevie explained.

Mona shook her head with apparent disappointment and remarked, "Benevolence, thy name is woman."

"Now, now. This doesn't mean that I came back empty-handed. Perhaps Sloth will be able to provide due compensation," Eevie said with a smile.

"Wait, does this mean that you have found the last bit of Essence you need to advance the level?" Mona turned his head up and enquired with interest.

A blue card appeared out of Eevie's sleeves with a flourish.

Mona raced towards the cupboard and jumped on top of it with unbridled glee like a child on Christmas morning. As if on command, the cupboard drawer flew open and a ream of papers floated out of it.

It fluttered gingerly in the air like a curious butterfly before landing without accident on Eevie' table. Upon closer inspection, the stack of lined papers appeared to be completely blank, none of the pages had been written upon. They looked perfectly normal and was bound together by a blue ring-binder at the top left hand corner of the pages.

Eevie placed the blue card on top of it and the card disintegrated. Eventually, a short paragraph appeared on top of the papers, "Level Two Decryption: Completion 100 Percent."

After that the stack of papers floated up off the table and returned back to its home. The drawer slammed close with a thud.

Soon after that, a giant shadow appeared on the floor, covering the full space of the office like something big was falling down right at them.