Prologue: After

218 27 13
                                    

Dr. Elizabeth Bennett had only been given the prisoner’s file yesterday. Of course, she had heard the rumors. The secret side of the Republic of Eliska was abuzz with the whispers of this special prisoner. This traitor. This monster.

If it were in the cards, Dr. Bennett would have done anything to stay out of the building where the prisoner was kept. But, she was a small fish in a big pond. No one wanted the job of talking to the prisoner. It kept falling on the person below the rank of the previous. Until it landed in Dr. Bennett’s lap. She had no one to order around, no one to pass the task off to.

She stood outside the interrogation room. Fear crept through her stomach, digging its claws into her nerves. When she chose to pursue a career in special operations, Dr. Bennett knew that the people all around her would be spies. Torturers. Assassins. Her coworkers were responsible for the fall of alliances and the deaths of kings.

There was no other option, unless she wanted to be ungracefully discharged from her post. Dr. Bennett closed her eyes and held her breath as she entered the room.

“Hello, how are you, Dr. Bennett?”

The cheerfulness in the prisoner’s voice startled Dr. Bennett. Her eyes flung open.


Prior to sixteen hours ago, Dr. Bennett only knew of rumors. Normally, she and the prisoner would never cross paths. Before her act of treachery, the prisoner was an agent who worked in the utmost secrecy, her identity only known to a select few.

“I’m fine, Minerva,” Dr. Bennett smiled back. Her voice trembled. Something about the prisoner’s aura unnerved her to her core. Dr. Bennett had always believed that everyone has at least a little bit of good of them. Until now, she thought that no one was truly evil. Until now.

The prisoner looked up. Even though she wore a blindfold, Dr. Bennett could imagine her eyes. They would match her grin, chock full of malice. “This will be fun,” the prisoner grinned.

Dr. Bennett ignored her taunt. “Do you know why you’re talking to me?”

“It was either this or go to the Northern Mines. So, how would you like to die once I get the hell out of this place?”

This entity may look human, Dr. Bennett reminded herself, and her DNA may say she is, but her mind is anything but.

“I can tell you’re scared,” the prisoner laughed. “They all are. Terrified. They don’t know what to do with me. Fear is a funny thing, is it not? It is our most irrational instinct. It will cloud your judgement and end your chance of survival. It is the most powerful tool one can use to control your prisoner. And yet,” she leaned over the table, “yet I control it.”

Don’t engage, Dr. Bennett thought. That’s what she wants. Again, Dr. Bennett ignored the prisoner’s words. “Why don’t you tell me a little about yourself?”

“Cut the crap, I know you have my file,” the prisoner snapped. Dr. Bennett could imagine that the prisoner was rolling her eyes.

“I want to hear it from you, Minerva. Or should I call you Min? Your uncle said that’s what you go by.”

“We’re not friends, nor are we coworkers anymore,” the prisoner snapped. “My last name is fine.”

“Yael?”

“No, not Yale. It’s Serenese. Yah-ELL. Emphasis on the last syllable,” the prisoner corrected.

“Okay, Yael,” Dr. Bennett went along with it. “Why don’t you tell me a little about yourself?”

“My name is Minerva Cai Yael. I am seventeen years old. And I did not kill Devlin.”

Dr. Bennett inhaled deeply. The prisoner had refused to admit her guilt. She did pass a polygraph, but this prisoner had learned to complete every single lie detector test without a sweat. The polygraph was the only thing that didn’t incriminate Yael…

Not Yael, I can’t humanize her, Dr. Bennett corrected her internal monologue.


“Do you have any hobbies?” Dr. Bennett pressed on. Why couldn’t the interrogators do this? Even Commander Ray admitted his niece’s guilt, but he insisted that the prisoner be treated humanely. It was ironic to Dr. Bennett that the prisoner got the treatment that was denied by her victims.

“Yeah, killing. Anymore icebreakers you want to do? Like picking an adjective that starts with the same character as my name? Or do you want to play a game of duck, duck goose?”

“Fine,” Dr. Bennett said. “We can start now. Where do you want to start?”

“The beginning of my life is too mundane, I imagine,” she smiled. “Where did they tell you to start?”

Even in these brief moments with the prisoner, Bennett realized how smart the girl was. The prisoner was brimming with wit and the psychologist imagined how her eyes might twinkle with a new idea.

“Let’s start with your career in the ESF,” Bennett said.

“Alright, sounds fine to me,” the prisoner said. She leaned back.“There is one thing I want you to know before I begin. I know you think I’m the monster. I know you think I’m in the wrong. Keep an open mind, Liz. And you can decide who the monster is.”

You've reached the end of published parts.

⏰ Last updated: Dec 13, 2014 ⏰

Add this story to your Library to get notified about new parts!

Crow SongWhere stories live. Discover now