Monique
She entered in the house as the portal linking the house to the hospital closed. She stomped around in frustration, stomping from one room to the next, tossing her stuff all around. The urge to destroy everything nearby crept up on her, but she took a few deep breaths and reminded herself this wasn’t her home. This wasn’t her place. Even though he was being an asshole, she couldn’t fathom laying waste to his home. She then spotted from the corner of her eye, her knap sack which contained the only things she carried: a raggedy dog stuffed animal, a small box of memorabilia, a journal, and a pen. She grabbed the small box of memorabilia and ran out the door. The sun was setting, Jesus, how long was everyone in my consciousness for? She found a lake nearby the house. How lucky for him to literally own a fucking lake house and have the gull to yell at me. At this point, her thoughts were irrational. She threw the box of memorabilia down on the dirt ground and started building a pit fire. As soon as she was done with the fire pit, she kindled herself a flame and started going through the box. Anger built, inch by inch. Recalling memories or even events just boiled her blood. Eventually, all the rage she tried so hard to internalize bursted into literal flames. The fire in the pit roared slightly higher than the trees surrounding it. She kept burning photo after photo of her and Ezekiel, or just photos of Ezekiel.
Monique: Ugh why are men just such fucking jerks I didn’t ask for this and I didn’t ask to have any of this but why am I getting yelled at for just walking down someone’s memory hallway?
Fires started encroaching on her body, as if attaching themselves onto her skin. Slowly it started to burn off threads of the medical robe. Rarely did she own an article of clothing that was flame retardant. Every single thought that popped up in her head made her angrier and angrier. Roars of thunder started rolling above and around the lake. Sounds of rain dropped around the surrounding areas.
Monique: How dare any of them! I just wanted answers! I just wanted to…to…
She started crying in rage.
Monique: Belong…
Flames reached to the skies as the words slipped through her lips. She then started taking note of her surroundings and saw Lee, jaw-dropped in how much energy she had exerted.
Lee
****Moments ago*****
As Monique stormed off and teleported away, Khan turned to Lee with a question on their face.
Khan: Mind explaining to me what the fuck just went on?
Lee: None of your goddamned business.
Khan: It is MY business when a client of mine storms out right before we could go over everything.
Lilith: What happened was, Lee forgot that when he enters in someone’s subconscious using me as a conduit, he shares his memories with that person.
Lee: That didn’t give her any right to look into those memories!
Lilith: That doesn’t matter, Lee. She was lost. She didn’t know what was going on and she was running away from someone who’s done nothing but take and take things away from her. Don’t you think you feel any sympathy for her?
As Lee was about to say something, Lilith held her hand up to him to shut him up.
Lilith: I get that you didn’t want her to see your past, nor did you want her to see the thing that curses your soul but…
Khan: But for fuck’s sakes man, gain one singular brain cell and put yourself in her shoes. She’s alone. She has little to no memories of her past, she doesn’t know how to control her powers and she’s felt betrayed by every single person who claimed to want to help her. Do you really wanna be that asshole because you’re such a coward about your own personal bullshit?
Lee stood there quietly. He realized that it was obvious, he was overreacting. And what’s worse, he exploded on someone he just wanted to help. Lilith proceeded to hand Lee a smartphone and some notes that she had taken from Khan.
Lilith: Here, take this to her and apologize with whatever she likes. Chocolate is a usual way to go. Or food in general.
Lee: Why are you handing her a smartphone? I thought only Corps members were allowed those.
Lilith: Well, we’re going to need a way to communicate with her. Besides, I have a strong feeling she’ll want to join at some point.
Khan: Besides, if we just let you be the middleman in this, who knows what else you’ll say to get her to be pissed off at you and storm off again.
Lee gave Khan a disgruntled look.
Khan: You gotta admit, you really fucked this one up. Hard.
Lee: Yeah, yeah, I get it.
Khan: Plain and simple, make up with her.
Lee: Uh-huh
Khan: Cause if you don’t, your house will end up like this medical room.
Khan pointed out the damages done from when Monique was being tested. Lee scanned the room, wondering how much power she had.
Khan: I don’t know what y’all were doing in there but whatever it was, it caused a lot of pain and agony. And whatever she is, a lot of her magic is connected to her emotions.
Lilith: She…she nearly burned down the office?
Khan: She also almost froze the entire place and caused an earthquake. Like I said, you might wanna make sure your house isn’t on fire at this point.
Those words would echo in Lee’s head as he raced home. She had already beaten him there with her teleportation abilities and all. He even knew at top Mach speed, the best he could do was about 30 minutes. Fuck! Why’d I pick a secluded location in the fucking woods!?!? He’d viciously think to himself as he got closer and closer to home. Fires started encroaching towards the dark grey skies; it felt as if they were surrounding the home.
Lee: SHIT!!! SHE WOULDN’T!!
The thought of her burning down the house nearly made sense. Nearly. He parked his bike in the front yard and sighed in relief as everything was intact. Nothing broken nothing burnt to ash. As he walked into the home, the slight sense of relief quickly turned sour as the living room had seemed in disarray. The knapsack that was tucked away quietly in the corner was now emptied out with its contents all over the floor. He wandered all around the house, noting how her room looked as if a hurricane came and went. He wondered where Monique had gone to or if she had ran away after getting what she needed. But why would she leave her stuff here? He thought to himself as he stumbled around. I honestly wouldn’t blame her for leaving. He thought to himself. He then left out the back door and proceeded to the lake nearby the backyard of the house. That’s the only place left I haven’t checked.
As he reached the lake, he saw what was absolutely not possible. An unbelievable event. They’ve sung songs about it, but no one’s ever seen a girl literally on fire. He stood there in shock as he saw her eyes glowed monstrously yellow as if he were staring at a fiery sentient.
Monique
As she heard Lee call out her name, she stared at him as he stared back. His face held so many emotions she couldn’t tell if he was staring at her: Longingly, with acknowledgement of the current situation, or if he thought she wanted to actually murder him. She only now begun to realize the damages that could potentially occur if she were to continue being a flame miscreant. She had absolutely zero control as she really didn’t know how to extinguish the flames in a more graceful way. This was probably the only time she’d ever admit that Ezekiel was right. What’s worse was the clothes she had on were completely singed thus, she only had one option: she jumped into the lake, quickly dosing out her flames as she sought protection in the shadier side of the lake. She rose up to the surface, only keeping her head above the water to hide her nude body as Lee approached her.
Lee: Hey are you alright?
Monique: Y-yeah…I-I’m fine.
She avoided eye contact while trying to cover herself up.
Lee: You sure? You don’t seem alright.
Monique: Oh, so you wanna tell me how I feel??
Lee: No! I…I-I just – I – I mean I –
He sighed.
Lee: I’m sorry. Please just tell me what I can do for you. I know…I know I fucked up and I’m really sorry.
She continued to avoid his gaze. Deep down, she knew he was being sincere, but at this point she was panicking. On the one hand, she didn’t want to continue the current conversation. On the other hand, she knew they needed to have one. Things happened. Things that neither of them were okay with. But her being naked in at the side of the lake while he was trying to walk towards her was at the top of “This isn’t going to be an Okay Moment” list.
Lee: Please…talk to me?
Monique: I-I don’t know why you had to yell at me. A-and I didn’t really quite appreciate it a-and w-well now this is just awkward.
Lee tilted his head to the side in confusion. His footsteps were getting closer and closer, his eyes almost peering at her nude body. Monique splashed water at his face.
Monique: DON’T COME ANY CLOSER.
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Lee: OH! I’LL BE RIGHT BACK!!!
Did that just click in? Or were the boys I grew up with just that dense? She pondered. Minutes later, Lee plopped down a towel and some of his old clothes (consisting of a black shirt, a hoodie, and sweatpants). Lee then quickly turned around.
Lee: Whenever you’re ready to talk I’ll be up in the kitchen.
He then left.
Lee
His face flushed red. Of course, she burned her clothes in the process. Nothing she wore was remotely flame retardant. He proceeded to head towards the kitchen in hopes to make amends over a warm meal. But, as soon as he opened the fridge, he found absolutely nothing that was edible. It was bare bones empty. He slammed his head on the fridge and sighed heavily. What do I do now?
Monique
She walked into the house with no signs of being drenched.
Lee: Wow, you clean up pretty fast.
Monique: The many perks of manipulating the elements. B-by the way, thanks for the clothes. I’ll make sure to not burn these ones to ash.
Lee: We might need to get you flame retardant ones.
They both laughed.
Lee: Look I-I’m sorry for the way I acted towards you earlier. A-and I-I do appreciate that you didn’t burn the house down.
Monique: How little do you think of me?
Lee: I just thought you’d be so mad at me; you’d burn down the house.
Monique: One! I’d be homeless! And two, I’m not that heartless. B-besides, its kinda my fault for entering without permission.
Lee: No…It’s not. It’s completely mine. You were just trying to get to safety. I-I just –
She reached out to him. He hadn’t realized she was slowly walking towards him.
Monique: It’s alright. You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to. Besides, I don’t know how to feel right now.
Lee: Uhm…then can I ask you something? If you don’t mind?
Monique nodded.
Lee: D-did you see…that? That thing with horns?
Monique: K-Kinda?
Lee: What do you mean kinda? It’s a yes or no question!
Monique: Don’t yell at me.
Lee: Sorry…
Monique: Look, I distinctly remember someone looking like you with horns.
Lee: What??
He looked at her in confusion.
Monique: What? I mean if you’re talking about that being I saw you turn into in your conscious hallways, then I mean I’m not exactly terrified by it.
Lee: You’re not bothered by that thing?
Monique: No. Why? Should I be?
He looked as if he was trying to process what she just said yet he was stopped by a rumbling stomach. She laughed till hers did the same and blushed.
Lee: There’s a nearby ramen shop ran by some minotaurs and fairies. It’ll be my treat.
She nodded.
Lee
She had a million questions about literally everything going on in this world. Each answer she got made her smile more and more. She emitted such a beautiful radiance that Lee completely forgot the events that occurred earlier that day.
Monique: So, how come I haven’t seen most of these mythical creatures.
Lee: I mean, you saw fairies at the gate…right?
Monique: Yeah, but that’s all I saw…you’re telling me dwarves, dragons, sirens, centaurs, minotaurs, and the likes exist???
Lee: Well, yeah, some of them just don’t like the big city.
Monique: Understandable. But why do they live here anyway?
Lee: Well, this is their home. Their native land.
Monique: Are humans also native here too?
Lee: Yeah. Just more magical folk here.
Monique: Why is that?
He shrugged.
Lee: Who knows. Each world has their own sets of weird laws of who’s allowed to live in there and who isn’t. None of us really know how it works.
As the conversation reached its end, they found themselves in a small town, overpopulated with magical beings. Clanking sounds of dwarves hammering on hard metal echoed throughout the scene. Elves wandered from one boutique to the next. Fairies scurried all about. Centaurs roamed from one job to the next. Some humans were seen wandering around. Yet, Monique just stood there in awe as she saw the hustle and bustle of the small town.
Lee: Welcome to Barkamsted.
Monique: Fascinating.
Lee: Had I known you were this fascinated with these things, I would have taken you to the ocean. Place is filled with sirens, a leviathan, hydras and the likes. Though, some aren’t too friendly.
Monique: I’d imagine as much.
As they stepped inside a seemingly small little ramen shop, they were immediately seated at a table with a view of the busy street. Monique paid more attention to the ongoings of the lives of these fairy tale creatures than she did to the menu that was given to her. She had no intentions of trying to read something she had never once seen in her life.
Lee: You sure you don’t want to have a look at it?
Monique: Look, if I know anything, it’s that I can absolutely 100% trust in your ability to find something delicious. I mean it has to run in the family right? Cause I’ve never known this kind of life.
Lee: So, you would be okay with a vegetarian diet?
Monique: I’m not a heathen. Meat dishes, please.
As the order was sent, dark ominous setting loomed. He knew he had to talk about it. Talk about what happened. Talk about that things that went on. The events that took place. That thing that being had been haunting him ever since he could remember. Yet how should he bring it up? How do conversations occur? He couldn’t even remember bringing it up with his so-called friends so how could he bring it up with a girl whom he barely just met? Although, to his credit, he wasn’t aware of how intuitive she was.
Monique: If you’d rather not talk about it, you don’t have to.
Lee: N-no. I’d rather talk about the elephant in the room.
Monique: Only if you want to.
Lee: You mentioned it wasn’t a terrifying beast. What do you mean by that? Most people who see it run for the hills or at the very least…treat me differently. How are you so okay with it?
Monique: I dunno. It’s just not as terrifying as you’d think.
Lee: Bullshit. You know, you don’t have to act so brave.
Monique: I’m not.
Her eyes met his with intensity.
Monique: Look, I’ve seen monsters. Grew up with them. People who’ve not only masqueraded as human but were willing to shed their skin just for a second of gross acceptance…I’ve seen them bathe in the screams and cries of children. Experiments gone wrong. And honestly? What I saw back there just seemed like a reaction from being pushed too far or a sort of protection.
Lee: A protection? From what?
Monique: Maybe not getting hurt too bad? Or from the immense rage felt from ongoing battle?
Lee: And you honestly think that its protecting me?
She shrugged.
Monique: But I can confidently tell you that I’m not afraid of it.
Lee: Why?
Monique: Why should I fear something that looked like it was in so much pain?
Lee: Pain from what?
Monique: I’m not super sure. But, as crazy as this sounds…when…when I made eye contact with it…it just looked…so miserable.
Lee buried his face in his hands and bellowed out a sigh.
Monique: What?
Lee You’re just so strange.
Monique: Haa?
Lee: You’ve literally seen what people describe as the physical incarnation of the devil and you sit there with a straight face telling me it doesn’t scare you. I’m honestly curious as to what does make you frightened.
Monique
As he stared right back at her with tiredness in his eyes, she so badly wanted to tell him her torturous life. How cruel a small community of people who had the gull to call her their sister was. Why she ran away so much. Why, on that day, she begged for her life to be spared. Yet, words would soon crumble away as the power went out. In the years that would follow, she would come to understand that a space filled with such odd entities had always had trouble adapting to the modern world. How certain creatures needed to be a source of light as to use off the excess magic they had gained during the daytime and how it took them minutes to an hour for them to shine as brightly as they do. This of course, had nothing to do with them being environmentally conscious or any weird fact like that but had more to do with how often fairies and spirits had “accidentally” shattered circuits which led to a town that was naturally energized and lit by the creatures that inhabited the place. However, the time it took for that to occur was time too much spent in the dark. A place that caused her agonizing pain. She felt her skin crawling all over as her vision worsen rapidly. Every cell in the inside of her body screamed leave. She had reminded herself, over and over again that she wasn’t at that place. That she was in a faraway land where they couldn’t reach her, yet the time spent in there was so horrid, so soul sucking, that her body and mind slowly couldn’t recognize the difference. She whispered, “Stop it” and “I’m sorry” to herself. Lee found himself confused yet worried when he had that the entirety of her eyes blackened.
Lee: Hey, you okay?
Voices began scratching on the inside of her cranial walls, convincing her that she was still there. That she could never escape from there. Moments came by and she had eventually lost it. She broke the window she once looked out so fondly.
Lee: Hey! Wait up!!
His voice echoed, trying desperately to reach her but to no avail. A crowd of beings started to form near the shop, yet she managed to teleport herself far, far away from the entire situation. So many vicious thoughts ate at her to the extent that no other voice could reach her. Her sight was now blinded. Her senses peeled away. Physically, she moved ways away from the town yet mentally she was trapped by the very thing she tried so hard to run away from.
Home.