(Alan POV)
Sofia jumped off the metal table and stretched her body. It look less than an hour for Sofia’s new patches of flesh to begin melding with the rest of her and the stitches could be removed. The difference was almost invisible now and as she stretched it became obvious that it moved just as seamlessly with the rest of her pale muscular body. I had remained as quiet as possible while watching Doctor Marusic work, hoping she wouldn’t return to the previous subject. Luckily for me, she remained silent as well. I don’t know if she found it awkward or if she could even perceive social awkwardness thanks to her sociopathy. Once she was awake and stretching, Sofia looked towards the doctor who sat off to the side cleaning her equipment.
“Thanks for the hand, Doc.”
Doctor Marusic looked towards her with a hint of annoyance in her eyes. She sighed before addressing Sofia.
“You need to be more careful Sofia. I can’t keep bringing you back from the brink after every mission.”
Sofia waved her off and scoffed. It was an extremely rude action but completely in line with her character. Sofia and Doctor Marusic had a history and a long one at that. The doctor couldn’t refuse to treat Sofia and Sofia could afford to keep getting hurt in ways which she found extremely pleasurable. The only incentive Doctor Marusic had to make Sofia stop was the threat that she couldn’t heal her one day. Instead of heeding the warning, Sofia proposed a different compromise.
“Yeah yeah, I’ll find you some fresh uninjured bodies to use.”
Doctor Marusic rolled her eyes. She seemed to accept it, but wasn’t happy with that choice. It didn’t solve the problem and instead solved the symptom. It is like asking a child to stop eating candy and asks to instead buy more so the amount in the pantry stays the same. This isn’t fixing the problem, but Doctor Marusic is in no position to bargain and didn’t try.
Sofia looked over towards me and raised an eyebrow. Her grin stopped and she seemed confused and annoyed at my presence. I think I preferred her injured if she’s going to look at me like that.
“Why is he still here?”
Sofia looked over to the doctor while pointing at me and asked. The doctor let go of another sigh before answering.
“I hadn’t gotten the chance to set it up. Would you mind?”
She ended her question with a question, but her look at Sofia was closer to ‘If you won’t thank me, do me a favor.’ Sofia rolled her eyes and began walking out of the room. She motioned for me to follow. I stood up from the stool and chased after her. The hallway was grimy and clearly abandoned for a long time. Doctor Marusic must have been sanitizing that room for a while before we arrived. It was squeaky clean in comparison. I decided to ask a question while I followed Sofia.
“So what exactly are we setting up? And better yet why?”
Sofia stopped to check a room which was unlocked before continuing. All that was inside was an empty brick room. She answered as we continued down the hall, giving me a quick glance to make sure I kept up.
“You did what you needed. We’re letting you head home.”
My eyes must have been like saucers from surprise. I had not even considered that a possibility. I was effectively a kidnapping victim. If I tried to run, Sofia made it quite clear she would be more than happy to gut me. The thought of just being dropped off after all this confusing bullshit seemed just as surprising as anything else I had seen. Sofia finally found the room she was looking for and entered. It was a larger room with multiple chairs. It probably was some sort of meeting area in the asylum when it was still in business. Instead, it was set up more as a theatre. The chairs were all facing a singular old television set. The small tv was placed on a wooden crate with a simple mobile powerbox next to it.
“No, you’re not ‘free’. You know a lot and have proven useful though. We’re letting you go home under supervision.”
She did air quotations as she explained. She kneeled down and began messing with the powerbox to try and turn it on as she plugged the television into it. I asked for clarification as she tried to figure it out.
“What do you mean by supervision?”
The powerbox came to life with the sound of a spinning fan and soon enough static on the old television came on. Sofia stood up and sat in one of the chairs. I looked a little confused between her and the static television. She continued explaining from there.
“Your friend from earlier tonight. She’ll be watching you.”
Sofia pointed towards the television and I looked over confused. The static grew louder by the second and suddenly the black and white bits seemed to move until the black were on the outside and the white on the inside of an oval shape. Suddenly the shape blinked, like an eye was watching us from the other side of the television. I took a step back cautiously. It blinked again and suddenly a shape made of black static was coming from the center of the eye. It pressed against the screen and the indeterminate shape began to push the glass of the screen until suddenly it was on the outside of it. The fist unraveled into a hand and touched the ground cautiously. It began to pull itself forward with each new inch into the real world, its shape and color adjusted until it finally was a realistic color and not an entity of monochrome static. It reminded me of the scene from the Ring. The only difference, instead of a dark-haired demon, it was an odder figure once I could recognize a shape from it.
It was a girl. She wore a simple black hoodie with grey sweatpants. She was short and skinny. She was around five feet tall and her arms and legs seemed to be like sticks. Everyone I had met tonight was relatively skinny. Roxane and Doctor Marusic were naturally lean, Vikky was closer to unhealthy skinny but wouldn’t have worried any doctor, and Sofia was muscular and toned. This girl was anorexic, if she wasn’t then she desperately needed to start weight gain therapy. Her head was the last part to gain complete clarity. Her hair was midnight in hue but cut short in an unruly mess. Her hair probably hadn’t been brushed in weeks or months and was most definitely tangled uncomfortably. Her face was locked into an unhappy grimace as if being here in person hurt her physically.
Her eyes were the most disturbing part. They were shaped with partial epicanthic folds which suggested some partial Asian ancestry on top of what was likely European. The eyes were bloodshot as if she had not slept in days and lived on a diet of only energy drinks. Deep black shadows rested beneath her eyes with almost unnatural darkness that made wonder if the static from the television was remaining beneath them. She probably could have been a beautiful woman if there was care put into her appearance. Imagining it though, her appearance reminded me of code assembled on the first try. It was beautiful, but felt completely alien and ultimately something was wrong hidden underneath.
The girl’s eyes shifted towards me slowly. Her posture was horrible and she was nearly hunched over looking up at me. I felt my skin crawl and burst into goosebumps when I made eyecontact. Sofia began to laugh at me as she watched my posture correct itself and goosebumps burst out onto my arms.
“Ha! You look so fucking scared! God, Alice, you really know how to make people shit themselves.”
This girl, who must be Alice, the same girl who spoke to me on the phone, broke eye contact before looking at the floor gloomily. She didn’t seem to exactly appreciate Sofia’s bullying. I tried to adjust myself and overcome the innate fear I felt. Alice helped me before, it's the least I can do.
“Sorry about that Alice. You just make quite an entrance.”
She didn’t dare look me in the eye but her eyes scanned the floor to look at my shoes. She spoke weakly in the same meek timid voice. It almost felt as if the static-like sound I heard over the phone was still in her voice as she spoke in an almost imperceptible volume.
“I-its fine…”
Sofia only grinned smugly as she watched Alice suffer in the limelight. I wanted to say something to stop it, but I decided to not start a fight now. She said I was about to be taken home.
“So how are you supposed to take me home, Alice?”
I tried to speak calmly and without any sudden noise or volume. I didn’t want to baby her. She may be short but she was clearly an adult, probably around twenty, four years younger than myself. Still, I was worried about scaring her. It was a natural masculine instinct when seeing a scared woman. Then again, she was an associate of both Sofia and Doctor Marusic. I couldn’t assume she was harmless. Instead of responding, Sofia decided to speak before she could.
“She’s going to take you home the same way she took me there. Through your phone.”
She pointed as she spoke to the television. I must have made a stupid face in response because Sofia broke out laughing almost immediately after I heard her. I looked towards Alice to possibly explain but she only looked at the ground and refused to make eye contact with Sofia or I. Sofia instead spoke up to explain in a mocking tone.
“Think Dumbass, she came through a tv. She’s gonna take you the same way. Her contract allows her to live inside any device with an internet connection. She’s a computer virus. She got on your computer and phone and now can reach you anywhere.”
I looked towards the timid girl next to me. She seemed embarrassed about this fact and Sofia’s mockery made her want to run back into the television. I found myself saying what was on my mind though.
“Holy crap, that’s awesome.”
Alice looked towards me and finally made eye contact for a brief moment. Something close to hope or admiration was in her crawling gaze that seemed to alleviate its burning touch. Sofia seemed amused by our reactions and smiled at Alice. Not the cheeky grin of mockery but a knowing smile you gave a sibling when they were in trouble. Sofia then stood up from her seat.
“You two should get going. The sun will rise soon and we don’t want our sun-fearing goblin to get a tan.”
It was back to the mocking grin with Sofia as she stood patiently waiting with crossed arms. I was confused for a moment as she just watched me. I felt my hand be grabbed and saw Alice was now holding it. She didn’t look up but instead turned away and towards the floor as she reached out with her other hand towards the television. She touched it and my vision went entirely dark.