Poison Nightshade [Monsters Inc.]

2 - Doors

The directions were simple, yet I still managed to get lost. This factory was gargantuan in proportion, compared to me, that is. All I wanted was to find the locker rooms, or even a bathroom would suffice. But I found myself wondering down an executive-looking hallway instead. The hands of the clock on the wall pointed to eight o'clock. Panic surged inside of me, I'm late for work! I dug through the file that Celia gave me hoping to find that it was all a mistake and I'd just used the wrong map. No such luck. I put my fingers to my temples and shut my eyes, taking a deep breath.

"That clock's fast, by the way." A silky voice corrected my panic, resonating from in front of me, causing my eyes to snap open in shock, "by half an hour at the least."

The lights in the hall were blinding, piercing globes of sunlight banishing any darkness. But I had to wipe my eyes again, just to make sure that I wasn't hallucinating. My insides became ignited for what felt like the thirteenth time today, but this time it was a tamer warmth than the fury I had felt with those pitiful interns. Standing in the blinding light of the hallway, my best friend stood with his arms open wide. A grin sprouted on my lips. I walked into his embrace, hugging my old friend tightly in my arms.

"I can't believe it's you," I said into the crook of his neck, "I haven't seen you in years, Randy." He ended our embrace, the feeling of warmth slowly seeping out of my body.

"I go by Randal now, actually." He corrected again. Now that he had stepped back a little bit, I could properly survey him.

"Look at you," I said, in a tone betraying either disbelief or awe, "all grown up."

Randal was lean and lanky in University, and he wasn't very tall for that matter either. But now, he had grown so tall that when they embraced he could rest his chin on my head, and I'm average size. His muscles had come in too, and his purple scales were flawless and smooth. He no longer wore his glasses, making his eyes slitted. He had a very devil-may-care air about him, something that I found very attractive. I bit the inside of my cheek in thought. Randal laughed, a very hypnotic sound, and looked over her in the same manner she did him.

"Look's like the Queen of Creepy finally got her crown." He stated slickly, the same smirk fixed on his face, 'You never were good at directions, were you?"

"I majored in Scaring, not Goregraphy." I admitted, "but yet I always managed to find my way into a mess of trouble. So, I suppose my directional skills aren't that bad."

He chuckled, "Come on, then. I'll take you to the locker rooms."

***
The fourth floor women's locker rooms were spacious, with high ceilings. Each wall supported a length of mirror, giving the female monsters all they needed to see every inch of their bodies on the reflective surface. Nightshade was alone when she paced through the door, leaving Randal to go to the scare floor and meet up with his assistant. There weren't many female scarers that worked here, she guessed by the vacant look of the flawless room.
Now that she remembered, there weren't many female scarers period. No, that's not a joke - so stop laughing.

The big-leagues scarers hardly were women these days, which probably accounted for how famous she was to create an entire new technique. But because of this, monsters didn't give the same respect to women as they did men. Men were supposed to be stronger, faster, smarter. Women were supposed to be feminine, dainty, emotional. I knew that my being here would oppose that ideology, which meant that there would be countless people who would stop at nothing to stand in my way. Sort of like me with that brainless oaf Sullivan.

Just at the thought itself I felt my agitation flare up ; the blue monster brought back memories that aren't to be brought up. The contents to a secret file that I kept buried deep inside myself. His actions were inexcusable, no monster - no girl should ever be exposed to the kind of torture that idiot displayed to me. On an ironic way, I suppose that's me returning the favour.