The Gifted Chronicles: Power

Chaper 20: Interrogating a brick

Soot sat in a bleak white detaining room, on her left side a two-way mirror in which was one of the only other things she could study at the moment while her hands were cuffed to the top of the table.
Soot leans back in the chair to see how sturdy the legs were. Soot begins counting the little brown dots on the ceiling tiles that she could comfortably crane her neck at.

"It's nice to see that you are not fighting this time."
There is not any point in fighting when I know I do not have the advantage here.
Soot looks down at the blonde- curly haired grey-eyed woman standing at the opposite end of the table.
The hair seemed all too familiar to herself, "what do you want I'm sure you came from their headquarters to interrogate me huh?" The woman crosses her arms, and a look of distain washes her face as Soot realizes she is talking to herself. Soot studies her own face guessing that is what she must look like if she were to return her hair to its roots.

"How do you not remember yourself?" Soot frowns, "I do remember myself, just not as you. You do not exist." Blonde Soot props her hands on the table, "Look I didn't ask you to remember me. You crazy woman. I ask you to remember yourself. And yet..." Blonde Soot begins tapping her chin, "I am you."

Ash and the others stand behind the glass and watch in disbelief as Soot has a conversation with herself. Blaze twirls his finger in circles by his head and makes koo-koo sounds. Sparks smacks his hand, "that's not funny."

Ash contemplates what she hears from Soot's perspective, "All this time, she has been mentally unstable and waited for the right time to break."
Pyrah crosses her arms, "I don't know if a mentally unstable person could break, if they are already broken."
"Maybe I can talk to her face to face, after all I am a healer." Scorch reaches for the door but Pyrah grabs her wrist and shakes her head silently telling her to stay. "If anyone could get through to her it's Ash. She can keep up with Soot in the mind games." Ash turns around, "Pyrah are you calling me crazy?" Pyrah's eyes widen. "No, no I didn't mean that, it's just...you can... you know do the mind powers and all."

Ash laughs realizing that is what she implied. Ash had enough people in her past call her stupid and crazy she didn't want her own friends to call her the same. "Sparks before I go talk to her, is there anything that could cause someone to hallucinate?" Sparks shrugs her shoulders and types on her tablet, "well there is a number of things that could cause it. There is schizophrenia, lack of sleep, concussion, ADHD, irrational brain development at a young age...uh Cancer. There are a lot more, but that was just at the top of my head."
Blaze leaves the room having to go to the bathroom shortly followed afterwards by Pyrah leaving Sparks, Ash and Scorch in the room.
"An easy diagnostic could be ran on her right now, but I can already tell you that she has no signs of schizophrenia." Scorch implies.
"Scorch you are the healer and have worked in a hospital before do you think you could scan her brain? Sparks you think you could help her? I am going in to talk to her. I am tired of listening to her babble to herself." Ash says.
Ash walks out of the room leaving Sparks and Scorch behind. Ash couldn't help but fight down this feeling that Soot was actually brainwashed. Ash walks down the hallway not paying attention of where she is going, suddenly runs into somebody sending a flurry of papers everywhere as the other and herself tumble to the ground
"I am so sorry, I didn't see you there." Ash notices that it is a guy about her age wearing a black overcoat, worn out vans, while casually sporting a grey t-shirt and jeans. He looks up from his papers, "oh, I'm sorry too, I was walking to fast for my own good." He says with a low but clear voice.
Ash became a little stunned that his voice was quieter than she thought. She glances at his papers to see what he was working on, realizing that he studies similar things that she does. Ash slips some of the papers into one of the folders and hands it to him,
"I'm Drake." Drake shuffles his papers awkwardly.
Ash notices Drake look up showing his pale blue eyes rimed with glasses and dark brown hair.
"I'm Ash, nice to meet you." Almost for a moment Ash couldn't find words as if her mouth was filled with cotton She stands up, and points with her thumb not taking her eyes off of Drake. "I gotta go, you think you got the rest?" Drake glances up at her, "yeah, I can get it, you go do whatever you were going to do."

Ash slaps her forehead as she walks further away, Ash your such an idiot why? Do you have to be awkward around guys that are as smart as you? A strange feeling brews in the pit of her stomach, that feeling of wanting to get sick after a rollercoaster ride.

Ash steps in front of the door opening it without hesitation, she closes the door and waits for a moment to see if Soot would stop babbling to herself, yet she doesn't.
"Let me go!"
"how are you going to get out now that you're their prisoner huh?" Ash steps in front of the table to see if she would change, Soot heaves an exhausted sigh and rests her head on the table, "err, thanks." Ash gestures to the table, "may I sit?" Soot yawns but doesn't say a word.
"So, I see that you are conflicted with yourself Soot." Soot snorts, "Hmph what made that obvious?" Ash leans back in her chair, "you were talking to yourself." Soot tries to kick at Ash, but she was too fast and scoots her chair away. "Look, I know you are the bad guy and you would try to kill all of us in the building if you had the chance, but I want to ask one question. How the hell did you find us?"
Soot stays silent, "Why would I ever tell you how I got into this building? You forget, don't you?" Ash crosses her arms defiantly, "I am the one asking the questions here. Not you."
Soot smiles and laughs, "I'm not so sure about that."
Ash calmly looks at Soot in this state almost feeling sorry for her. Soot never deserved to have a life like this. "Ash you forget, don't you?"

Ash doesn't say a word but remembers what really happened on that night many months ago. "No, I'd never forget."
Ash looks up with a blank stare trying to hide the fact that it is like talking to a reflection, or interrogating a brick in which has no voice in the truth. "Yes, Ash you do remember, me Soot the clone." Ash slams her fist down on the table finally losing her cool the surroundings brighten as if an extra flashlight was turned on somewhere Soot smiles and squints her eyes as she looks at Ash, "you are not my clone." She says calmly as possible. Ash tries to regain her composure centering herself with all of the positive things. Even in the darkest of times light can thrive, you just have to find that light. Soot smiles at her "You see Ash, I know you all too well, better than anybody else in this facility even though I am quite your opposite." Ash slams her fist down on the table, "you are not me you are an abomination of me, now stay out of my head." Soot squints her eyes and stares straight into Ash's soul, Ash couldn't stand to pull her gaze away it was like as if she was staring into a mirror. "If I was in your head I'd be talking to you like this!"

"Get out!" Ash mentally yells at Soot. "Hah we are connected!"

Ash puts her hands over her ears fighting back and putting up her own walls, "You want to feel real pain? You want to feel what it felt like to me on the day you were created Soot? You have never gone through what I have gone through" Ash stands up and uncovers her ears, "I am stronger than you, we may be opposites, but I will never be like you, and if you want to be like me then fine I'd be glad to have you on the team until then you will be locked up in a confinement room."

Soot spits at me, "Go to hell, I will never join you!"

"I hope you will miss the sunlight Soot, because you will never see the light of day again!" Soot blinks breaking the link as if she was actually scared from that threat. Ash walks away towards the door. And looks behind her studying the room. "I'm already dead Ash. Just like you will be one day"