She's a Monster

3

"Oh my god are you alright?" Doctor Grace asked hurriedly while looking at me from head to toe. She sighed with visible relief on her face. Doctor Grace could make an accurate diagnosis in a split second. Her power allowed her to quickly inspect anyone's body for any abnormality. She pushed up her secretary glasses and scrunched her nose a little.

"You should really lay off on all of the coffee and sweets," she said with distaste. I laughed a little. Dr. Grace was always obsessing over the tiniest things.

As we approached the end of the hall that opened up after the gigantic Veracium door, we came to yet another Veracium door. The guards broke away and rejoined a team of 16 officers who vigilantly remained standing, poised in the hallway and ready to attack. The warden, who had been following us silently from behind, stepped in front of us and began to unlock the door, which had a dial identical to that of the previous door. He turned the dial left and right with the same unbelievable speed that he had used before. As the door opened, me and Dr. Grace stepped quickly outside and entered an elevator, where another warden, in charge of the upper levels- as we were in the basement- stood waiting.

"Glad to see you're alive," beamed the warden congenially. Her smile dropped in a second. "Wait I didn't mean it like that. I just meant-"

"It's fine," I interjected, "I know exactly what you mean." The elevator whirred softly in the background as we went several levels up. Ashlyn was kept far below the surface, encased in rooms layered with Veracium. Why so much security? Wouldn't the Veracium chains be enough?

While I was wrapped up in my internal monologue, the elevator stopped ascending and the doors slid open. Amidst the prisoners in the background, the warden put an arm around my shoulders. I peeked at her shyly. She winked, making me blush slightly.

"I really am glad you're back though," she sighed. "I'm Warden Emery by the way. But you can call me Maxine. Come this way." She slid off of me and directed me and Dr. Grace to a discreet door. Once we were all inside, she shut the door. Inside the room, there was a rectangular table with six seats distributed evenly around it. There was a small white fridge and a neat countertop adjacent to it on one wall. The countertop had a coffee machine with various sugars and creamers strewn about on it. We were in a conference room.

We all took our seats next to one another and got right down to business. I briefly summarized what happened in the prison cell and left both of my companions stunned.

"She actually talked to you?" asked Maxine, who was incredulous. Doctor Grace snapped out of her stupor and crossed her arms contentedly while leaning back in her chair.

"See? I told you Alice was best qualified for this job. I knew she could do it all along." Doctor Grace smiled warmly at me, making me feel genuinely happy. She always knew how to fuel me with confidence and self-esteem. She's been doing it ever since we met in college. I smiled back at her.

"Thanks. I wouldn't boost my ego too much though. After all, it was only our first session today," I added. I hesitated for a bit after that. I realized that I would probably have to see her again soon. "Speaking of which, when is my next appointment with Ashlyn?"

"We'd like you to meet daily with her for hour-long sessions if that's possible. Of course, if that's too much to ask, we can compromise-"

"No. That's perfect," I said with a smile. I smiled even though I felt a hard knot in the pit of my stomach. I bit my lip softly. I could feel the fear of being in her presence coursing through my veins like a poison.

- TIME SKIP -

- THE NEXT DAY -

"Good morning!" I beamed, despite my contrary internal feelings of fear and anxiety. "How are you today?" Surprisingly, Ashlyn was looking straight up at me this time. Her face was emotionless, not giving away anything.

"Fine."

"T-That's good," I said stupidly. "So anyways, let's continue our talk from yesterday today. I'll open with a slightly different question. Why do you find it so easy to kill others?" My heart thumped loudly in my chest as I waited for a response. She scoffed softly.

"They don't matter to me." I searched her eyes for a glint of a lie, but the longer I searched the more hopeless I got. She was telling the truth. That was really how she felt about others. I felt my heart drop just a little bit.

"But why not? You've never had someone you cared about?" I asked.

"Nope." She answered pretty quickly, which scared all hell out of me. My palms were getting slightly sweaty, so I wiped them secretly on my skirt. She smirked again.

"What?" I asked, slightly irritated.

"Are you afraid of me?"

I shook my head furiously. Ashlyn chuckled in response.

"For someone who can catch a lie so easily, you sure are bad at lying." My face turned beet red at this comment, and although I wanted to talk back, I had a limited amount of time with Ashlyn. I had to continue my session with my patient.

"Anyways, Ashlyn-"

"Call me Ash."

"Er. Okay, Ash," I said nervously, "I'm going to ask you another question. How many powers do you have?" It's quite uncommon for people to have more than one type of power, since that power can usually be used in many different ways. For example, my power to share emotions and memories can extend to other uses. I can impart my feelings or memories to someone else or I can read and receive them from that other person and vice versa. I can also alter someone's feelings and memories for a short period of time if I come into physical contact with them. 

Anyways, back to the point. Some exceptionally powerful people have been known to have up to three powers. Since Ashlyn is known for her menacing capabilities, I wouldn't be surprised if she had multiple abilities.

"Three. You?" My jaw nearly dropped so far down that I swear it would've hit the table's surface. I didn't expect her to answer so nonchalantly and quickly. Her rotten smirk got wider. "Someone looks like she was caught off guard." My face flushed again. She's been teasing me more lately. Why?

"I-I only have one power," I choked out.

"Lame," she scoffed, "It's probably that emotion thing that you do too. That's a shame. How do you expect to defend yourself? You're a pretty weak one aren't you?" I clenched my jaw and slammed a fist against the table.

"Y-You! Stop making fun of me!" Ashlyn began to laugh quietly at my little outburst. I huffed and crossed my arms. "I'll have you know that I can do more than share just emotions." Ashlyn stopped laughing and raised a delicate eyebrow.

"Oh?" she inquired, "and what might that be?" I stuck my tongue out playfully.

"I won't tell you until you answer some more questions."

"Ask away," she replied confidently. This wasn't going so bad, I thought.