Streams of Consciousness

Elucidation

        "You! Come to tell me more stories? Come to warp my mind? More than it already is?" I spat at her.

        "Shut up. Take a seat. If you are hungry, order some food. Guards, leave us," she said calmly. Her arm waved to a secluded table. I considered walking out, but her stance told me otherwise. She stood with confidence, with power. She held authority in her voice. She spoke as if she saw the horrors of the world and brushed it off. She was a cat, relaxed yet dangerous, observant yet indifferent. This Janice was much different than the one I met previously.

        The one back at the complex was cowardly. She spoke quietly, nervously. She spoke as if she were to be yelled at, as if any word she uttered could be the wrong word. Her body was tense, ready to run at any moment. She was like a doe in the forest, listening, waiting. The simple crunch of leaves could set her off. She stood in the shadows, her face was always covered. I never noticed the signs before, but as Janice stood before me now, I could tell that something had changed her.

        This Janice was dressed much like the people in the restaurant. More like the males than the females. Not in an insulting way, more like a controlling way. She wore a suit that fit snugly around her, not too tight, but not loose at all. Her outfit wasn't the most important part about her. It was her face that threw me off.

        I had thought she was the one I dreamt about. The maiden in the lighted room, the kiss in the rain, the cartoons. She was not her. Her face was beautiful, but in a curious way. If you were to pass her on the street, you would glaze over her. If you were her friend you would think nothing of her beauty. But if you were to take a moment longer to look at her face, your heart would stop. Your skin would freeze. That was the beauty she held.

        "Start explaining," I said, taking a seat.

        "Aren't you hungry?" she asked, sitting across from me.

        "I lost my appetite," I responded.

        "The girl still on your mind?"

        "Her name was Paige. Your people killed her."

        "Hahaha oh the guilt really hangs hard upon your frame, huh?"

         "Excuse me?"

        "You blame him? He warned you. You were arrogant enough to speak out once again. He did as he was told."

        "He was supposed to aim at me."

        "Was he now?"

        "Damn you! Stop being a devil's advocate!"

        "Trying to shift the blame from you to me. Some may call that... gaslighting."

        "I swear to GOD if you don't start explaining RIGHT NOW, I'm going to leave."

        "Hahahahaha! Oh you are truly funny. You think you can actually leave? I'm here to offer you redemption. I'm here to explain it all."

        "Then start talking."

        "You possess the body of Hudson Graves Jr."

        "I know that already."

        "Let me finish. You possess the body of Hudson Graves Jr. Your mind however, that's a different story. We are not sure how you lost your memory. You left with Hudson Graves to a baseball game some time ago. Then you both disappeared. Search parties, all that stuff. Then your body was found, and brought to Hudson Hospital. Dead. No vitals of any sort. No sign of Hudson himself. I don't know much else. Father never told me the rest. All I know is that one day you were alive. That's when the real experiments began. First on me."