Psychopathy

Chapter 15- New Blood

Isabel sighed and slumped back into her throne. The demon in front of her was babbling on about something, but she honestly couldn't care less what he had to say. She was bored out of her mind, as she had been for a long time. How long that was, she wasn't sure. Time had passed by her in a blur since she gave in, and slowly, she had felt herself slip away. Slip away from reality. Slip away from herself. Slip away from everything she knew and loved.

She sighed again and wished he'd come back so he could take care of whatever the demon was complaining about. She knew, as the queen, that she should care about what was going on in her new realm, but the truth was, she couldn't bring herself to do so. It's not like he let her take care of anything, anyway. He'd come back, and have the demon repeat everything he had said to her so that he could take care of it himself.

Maybe if he'd let her do something, she wouldn't be so bored. But as it was, she was for his personal entertainment only. And even that didn't keep her from boredom. When he came for her, she'd slip into her own mind, away from whatever he was doing to her. That was the only way she survived.

Well, okay, not the only way. She also survived by imagining what she'd do if her team ever came for her. What she'd say to them. What she'd do when she got out. But those were just passing fancies. Illusions. She knew she'd never have the real thing. This was her life now, for all of eternity.

But yet... The longer she remained in this domain, the more it started to answer to her. At first, the answers had been so small that she hadn't even realized they were there. The shackles on her ankles had been attached to her throne, giving her limited ability to roam. The first time she had been sitting on her throne, wishing the chain was just a little longer. The next time she had walked out to the edge of the circle, she had found that she could take just a few more steps than normal. And she knew exactly how many steps she could take- she had counted them more times than she could keep track of.

But then the answers started getting louder. She was able to take as many steps as she wanted. When she grew too tired of the heat and the screams, she could will herself into a bubble of cool and quiet. And when she wanted someone to talk to, she could conjure up visions of her old friends. She knew they were only visions and she'd probably never have the real thing again, but she was going to take what she could get.

But no matter how much control she gained, there was still something to remind her that she wasn't the true master of the domain. No, that title went to him, as it always had and always would. God, she needed to escape. She needed to run before she completely lost her mind. So she would just keep her slow realization of power to herself. She would just keep it to herself until she could completely seize control and break out for good.

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Reid walked side-by-side with Akilah, listening as she regaled him with the details of her latest tea escapades. Over the weekend, she had gone to a local farmer's market and found some new, natural tea ingredients, some of which she had tried, some of which she was excited to try. Reid smiled softly as Akilah energetically waved her hand about, nearly smacking him in the face. She put her hand on his shoulder, giving him an apologetic look, and he laughed quietly, telling her it was okay.

"Well, one of the stalls had this honey that was... oh, Allah, what's the word... hasad. Hasad, in English. Help me out here?"

"I have no clue, Akilah."

"Okay, Reid, really, it is just about time that you learned Arabic. You're a genius and a polyglot, what's one more language?"