𝐂𝐎𝐋𝐃 𝐂𝐀𝐒𝐄.

IV: Food and Flowers

"How are you today?" Asante smiles at her new client, pressing her glasses to her face.

"I'm okay, I've just been feeling cold emotionally. I don't have the words to express how I'm feeling, maybe I'm numb," They expressed, looking Asante in her eyes feeling disappointed in their recent actions.

The man sat down with his rough hands running through his scalp. He was tense and Asante could read it on him. He seemed to keep things bottled in.

Asante could feel shivers running through her veins, it was something about him that she couldn't seem to make out. There was a wave of anxiety that Asante had to ride. Even as a doctor, she felt things too.

"How did you come to that conclusion?" She raised an eyebrow, twiddling her pen in between her fingers. She never wanted to immediately diagnose her patients. She knew there was more to dive into. She noticed that her colleagues would prescribe medication with no further research.

The man sitting on her couch moved to the edge of his seat, encouraging Asante to move in to showcase her engagement. "I enjoy misery,"

"Misery? Okay," Asante nodded, knowing it wasn't her place to judge one's approach to life. "Is this your own misery or the misery of others?"

He chuckled immediately. "The misery of others. It's like I get a rise out of people getting their karma. Some people deserve to have bad things happen to them. The world is full of fake happiness. Misery is something that's real and can't be perfected. I like to think that I enjoy these things because it's rare to do so,"

"Some say I'm a bit of a sadist and I'm beginning to agree. I think I'm powerful if I'm in control of the pain. I used to be so weak and afraid of everything but now I enjoy being the one inflicting wounds and destroying those in my grasp, including you,"

Asante tilted her head to the side, raising her left eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me," Their voice grew louder. "I want everyone to hurt, including you."

"I may have to ask you to leave, this is very uncomfortable for me," she spoke firmly, her flight or fight began to kick in. This was all too familiar, she couldn't force herself to endure this again. Her ex fiancé was abusive and only had intentions of fulfilling his needs even if it was at the expense of her happiness. He left marks in places only they could see. No matter how much she loved her job and helping people, tolerating disrespect isn't a part of her occupation.

"I'm not leaving until I get what I want, Asante," The man shifted into a shadow-like figure.

Asante tried her best not to stumble but she raised herself up, finding her way out of her office. "Not too fast,"

The being smiled, showing their pointy white teeth. Asante tried to scream but he placed his long finger against her lips. "You don't scream until I tell you to,"

"You don't have to do this, please," Asante cried out, inching away toward the wall with her hands out.

"It's too late, I know your secret" the dark figure grinned, wrapping it's hand around a butcher knife. "You deserve all that's coming to you Asante,"

The rasp in his voice sent chills down Asante's spine. She was at a loss for words, she knew she was nowhere close to defending herself. She had nothing but faith, it just didn't feel like it was enough to fight this off.

The dark figure ran its finger against her cheek and got in her face. "Oh, you don't have to cry, it's okay,"

The sound of her alarm clock shocked her brain, making her rise from her bed. She was trying her hardest to catch her breath, feeling the ick of sweat against her skin.