The Bonus Book

El & An - Pt. 1

The first time Elise saw him, she didn't bat an eye. He'd expected this, of course—the trip into her mind hadn't been a very happy one, and he knew she possessed a soul that was troubled and jaded far beyond anything he'd seen in a while. One particular friend of his might have rivaled it. Might have.

"Elise Schröder," he said, not quite sure if he had caught her attention. She was sprawled out on the floor of her cell, eyes trained carefully on the spectre. When he spoke, she sat up, raised an eyebrow from behind the bars and smiled.

"How do you do? I see I've finally started talking to myself. Exciting."

"I am not a hallucination, thank you very much. I am here to help."

"Jolly! But, uh...well, sorry, I don't think there's much you can do. 20 years, they said. High security. No busting out of here anytime soon. I haven't tried in a while."

"I wasn't referring to 'busting out' of your prison...Elder."

Elise perked up even more, if you could believe it. Angus knew he'd done something right. He kept talking.

"I can see into the deepest corners of your mind, the farthest reaches, the places where you've buried all your plans and wishes and desires. I know you wish to escape. I know you desire all what you had before. And I know what you plan to do in order to get it back."

Before she could respond, either to shut him down or ask him to go on, he blinked once and completely changed his form. His silhouette reconfigured itself until he was a shadowy replica of Elise's favorite little toy soldier; one she called Masquerade.

"This is how you best remember him, correct?" Angus drew the teenager's voice from her mind, stretching the sound out and coiling it back together as if he were scraping used gum off the bottom of a chair. "Small, fragile, loyal...so desperate for praise. So trusting of his real family."

"How are you doing that?" Instead of fear, Elise's question sounded more like one of curiosity and fascination. Angus frowned.

"Do I not have the voice right? Hold on, can you even see me?"

"Oh, I see you very clearly. That's my little Masquerade, alright. What are you trying to do?" She snickered while twirling a lock of hair with one finger. "Toy with me? Manipulate me?"

That was the idea, yes, he found himself thinking. He cleared his throat to regain his original voice.

"Come, now. As if I would do such a thing. Here..."

He held out a hand. His real one—claws, tendrils and all.

"The name's Angus. Angus Grimville."

Elise's eyebrows knit together in thought, and her smile faded by a fraction. "How about you come inside, and then we talk?"

"Shut up, Schröder," a gruff voice said from behind him. One of the prison guards was looking Elise dead in the eyes as she said that, and did not seem amused. Elise crossed her legs and rested her head in one hand before flashing a sympathetic grin.

"Oh, no, not you, sweetie! Keep up the good work," she called as the guard walked away, grumbling to themselves and throwing a warning look her way. Elise sighed. "Poor souls. Sometimes I wonder if they know just how much I see them," she said like an overly-concerned mother. Angus considered diving into her mind once more, just to see if there was anything he had missed, but ultimately decided against it. He knew Elise like the back of his hand at this point; there was nothing she could do now to throw him off, or deceive him...right?