Devil Inside

A Father's Love.

“She's coming out of it Marcus, it won't be long now.” The woman's voice was low and silken smooth.

“What can I expect?” Marcus sounded weary and worried.

“It's hard to say, she must be very strong to have controlled herself as long as she did and she does seem to be responding well to treatment.” The woman left the statement hanging without giving a definite answer.

Elsa was awake, she had been awake for a long time. She felt her father's hand touch hers, it was warm and comforting.

“She's so cold,” he said quietly.

“That's normal.” the woman's voice answered.

Elsa opened her eyes, “Dad?” she whispered.

Marcus had been looking down at her hand, stroking it gently. Now he looked at his daughter, his eyes full of pain. Why she thought what's wrong with me? “Hi sweetheart,” was all her father seemed able to say.

Suddenly she remembered. The violence, the blood, what had she done? She pulled her hand away from her father's and sat up in bed abruptly, her eyes wide. Marcus jumped back as if afraid and Elsa suddenly noticed the woman she had heard speaking. She was at Elsa's side, an icy cold hand on her arm, her voice soothing.

“It's okay Elsa,” she said, “You're safe, we won't let you hurt anyone.”

Won't let me hurt anyone? She knows...

“Elsa, this is Hesper, she is a colleague and friend of mine, a doctor here. She has been taking care of you.” Marcus stayed one pace away from her bed.

Elsa looked to the woman at her side. Despite the million and one questions racing through her mind she could not help but be distracted from her confusion by Hesper. She was breathtakingly beautiful and young, far too young to be a doctor. Her features and her skin were perfect in every way, her long, straight, white blonde hair was as smooth as silk and her ice blue eyes glittered behind impossibly long, dark eyelashes. Unsettled, Elsa, turned her gaze back to her father, taking in the unfamiliar, clinical surroundings at the same time. The room she was in was large and mainly white, with minimal furniture. It did not escape Elsa's notice that the room was by no means pristine, there were large chunks of plaster missing from the walls and her bedclothes were torn. Her eyes drifted to the side of the bed which thick metal manacles lay bent and broken.

“Where am I?” Her father avoided her eyes and looked as if he was trying to decide how best to answer. Elsa was impatient for answers and tried a different question.

“How long have I been here?” she asked. She remembered nothing but had a sense that time had passed.

“Two weeks.” Marcus sounded tired and broken.

Two weeks? She had no awareness of anything since... her stomach churned at the memory and not in an entirely bad way. “Did I.. did I kill him?”

Marcus shook his head, “Don't worry about him now Elsa, we got him to a hospital, he's alive”

Elsa breathed a sigh of relief and was glad that relief was what she felt, that despite her violent urges, she was thankful she hadn't killed him. “He was a very bad person,” she wasn't trying to defend her actions but she had seen that man's darkest thoughts and she didn't want him to be able to direct those intentions at anyone else in the future, anyone that couldn't defend themselves.

“The police are aware of his current situation, they will deal with him once he has – recovered,” Hesper spoke, choosing her words carefully. “No-one will believe his story of how he received his – injuries,” the careful phrasing was evident once more.