The Hole Of Sickness

The beginning

October 11th, 1844
Present day
"It's time for the interrogation," she smiled.
A cold wave of air moved through the room as Alethia murmured a few specific words.
The four men on the chairs changed immediately; their eyeballs turned white, and in a second, they knew that they were now exposed.
"Say your secrets, gentlemen," Alethia demanded.
"I'm a reflection," the four men replied in unison.
"I knew it," Alethia thought, and before any of the men in front of her could move a muscle, guards entered the room in a rush.
The room was now filled with guards surrounding the mahogany table as Alethia watched the men in a way that indicated she had a lot of questions to ask.
"Don't bother running; all the guards in the entire building are alarmed about your existence," she said. Then, one after the other, she interrogated the men until...
"Now it's your turn, Edward," Alethia said, talking to the silver man who was in shock; he surely didn't think he would get caught nor that there were other reflections like himself that had reached the stage of becoming a member of the flame holder's organization.
"I have nothing to say to you, woman," Edward said.
"Woman? Should I take this as an offense? Even reflections think that men are better than women; unbelievable," Alethia said as she came behind Edward, touching his shoulders from behind, using her gentle touch to get what she wanted.
"Well, my sources say you have plenty of secrets to reveal, Edward; for instance, why would you become a member of our organization if you know that we hunt reflections?"
"I did it for myself," Edward answered.
"For yourself? Interesting; you refer to yourself as 'I,' like you're a real person."
"I am real!" Edward screamed, interrupting Alethia.
The guards held their iron bars in patience, waiting for the order to attack.
"It's okay, let him speak," Alethia comforted the guards, who were scared out of their wits; you don't get to meet a mythical creature like a reflection every day. How about four of them sitting in a room with you, taking the forms of men all at the same time?
"I'm real! I have thoughts, I can talk, I have feelings, the same as all of you people. What gives you the right to hunt us?" Edward said, slamming the table in rage.
"Well, you haven't been born, have you?" Alethia said, then carried on.
"You're an idea in the mind of an infected person that has slowly developed itself until it took shape, or in your case, feelings."
"An idea?"
"Yes, the only thing that gave you life is the infection from the Diamond of Hope; in other words, you're not real. None of you gentlemen ever existed, and the sooner you realize this truth, the faster you will turn into what you really are, which is..."
"Nothing," Alethia smiled, saying the last word.
"That's not true! I refuse to believe that I'm nothing. I might have come into this world in a different way than you, but if I die, I shall die as a man, not as an idea," Edward said, then added,
"Elisabeth Bartfill."
Everyone in the room opened their mouths at the mention of this name; Edward had just said something well-known.
"Elisabeth Bartfill, the reflection of Queen Victoria? What about her?" Alethia asked.
"What about her? You all know the story, don't you? At first, she was a reflection, but one day after finding the Diamond of Hope, she turned into a real person," Edward stated.
"And you think that you can do just like her?" Alethia asked while Edward turned to face the woman and replied,
"Yes."
Alethia took a few moments to understand what Edward was after before she raised a hand and Edward fell asleep in an instant.
The other three men looked terrified as they saw Alethia's abilities to control a reflection.
Aside from being a truth extractor, Alethia could control reflections around her, making them sleep or do whatever she wanted them to do-abilities she gained after encountering her own reflection and killing it.
She turned to the other three men and whispered, "Vanish."
The three men started shaking as a black vapor escaped from them, and soon, they all turned to nothing in the sight of the guards who were watching closely.
"They are of no use to me now; I got what I wanted from them," Alethia said, then ordered the guards to take the sleeping Edward to a cell until she decided what to do with him.
"You want to turn real too, huh, Edward? Interesting," Alethia said, petting her Honeybird.