A New Virus

A Monster

Annalise sat on her bed, curled up into a ball in the corner as he listened to her dads talk. She was listening through the laptop, a skill she never told them that she had learned on her own.

"If what she wants is to work with me than-"

"She is not working with you," Dark said sternly, cutting Anti off.

"She wasn't scared, Dark. It didn't bother her to see me slowly kill those people." Anti protested.

"With how Wilford talks, with how all of us talk about death so openly, she wouldn't be scared of death."

"She was amazed by it. She was entertained. She loved it." Annalise heard several steps being taken. "She's a virus. She's like me. She's a killer."

"It's too dangerous for her to be a killer."

"She's done it before." Annalise stiffened. She's done what?

"She didn't know."

"At three years old she killed Rus and those other virus'. She killed her own mother, Dark."

"My..." Annalise suddenly found herself struggling to breathe.

Her mother? Did she kill her mother? She was told that her mother ran away after Anti and Dark threatened her. That she was living somewhere else with her father. Was her father dead? Did she kill her father too?

Tears started to fall down Annalise's cheeks as she slowly crawled out of her bed.

"She didn't know Anti. She thought she was putting them in time-out."

"Forever time-out. Death. She was talking about death. She just didn't know the word for it."

Annalise walked up to the office door, gently placing a closed fist on the wood.

"A three-year-old shouldn't know about death."

"They shouldn't know curses or how to hide from the police or how to use pixels to form a giant fucking butterfly to absorb living people."

"I-" Dark stopped when Annalise knocked. "Annalise?"

"I...I'm a monster?" Annalise asked in a whisper, looking at Dark with her red, wet eyes.

"Ann!" Anti rushed over and hugged Annalise, tucking her head under his chin while he rubbed her back. "You're not a monster."

"I killed her?" Annalise raised he head, looking at Anti's chest. "I killed my own mother?"

"You're a virus." Was Anti's response.

"I'm a monster." Annalise stepped away from her dad. "I killed my mother. I killed all of those other virus' and I..." Annalise's voice got caught in her throat.

"You're not a monster." Anti held Annalise's upper arms and bent a little. "Look at me, honey. Look at me." Annalise sniffed and finally made eye contact. "We are not monsters. We are just not human. We're different from humans. Their morals do not match mine and Dark's. At least, not all of them." Anti looked over at Dark and saw that the demon was watching them, waiting for the right moment to speak. "Ann, princess, how virus' are formed, it...it fucks with the head. We seem to crave what humans would see at horrible, as disgusting, as cruel." Anti shook his head. "There are no words to describe what I feel when I kill. But you do not have to be like me. You're not like me, you were born. You don't crave like I do."

"I do..." Annalise swallowed thickly.

"What?"

"Those fights I got into when I was younger. They did provoke me, but I always went too far. I loved seeing their blood being spilled by my hands. I've always loved that rush I get when someone dies on TV and that rush was more than I have ever felt when I saw you kill the Phillips...I'm a monster. We're monsters."

"Annalise. It's okay. We can work through this." Dark finally spoke, going over to the two and resting a hand on Annalise's shoulder.

"Let me work with dad. Please." Annalise begged. "I can't be the normal little girl you want. I can't."

"Annalise..."

"Please." Annalise was crying again. "That was the only time I ever felt right. That was the only time I wasn't questioning who I was. Why I felt the way that I did. I didn't hate myself. I felt like I belonged." Dark and Anti both looked at each other. "Please. I am a monster. I want to be a monster. I need to be a monster."

"No," Dark stated.

"Fa-"

"I said no!" Dark's aura shook a little. "Anti's job is dangerous for anybody but himself. I will not risk you getting hurt."

"If she's with me." Anti placed a hand on Dark's chest. "She won't get hurt."

"Anti." Dark put his hand over Anti's. "I love you and I trust you, but you are not fully here when you're at work."

"I would never harm Ann."

"I am not saying that you would. But others. They'll see a young girl working with the person killing them and they will use her to their advantage."

"I'm not a child," Annalise stated.

"You're only seventeen," Dark stated back, lowering Anti's hand and stepping forward.

"You know that I can handle myself. Dad taught me how to use a knife, Uncle Wil showed me how to fire a gun, Marv taught me how to escape if I ever get tied up, Dr. Iplier and Dr. Schneepelstein have shown me how to treat wounds and you taught me how to read people, how to know what would work for them in a single sentence, how to manipulate. I can take care of myself!"

"We taught you those things to keep you safe," Dark said.

"And they will! They'll keep me safe while working with dad!" Annalise argued.

"You are not working with your dad! This is the last I am going to hear about this!" Dark was about to turn around and leave.

"Why do you keep doing this!?" Annalise cried. "Why do you keep acting like we're a normal family!? We're not! We're a bunch of fucked-up beings!"

"Watch your-"

"My language is the last thing we should be worried about right now!" Annalise's body glitched a little.

"Maybe we should call it a night?" Anti stepped between Dark and Annalise.

"Why don't you trust me!?" Annalise yelled.

"I don't trust others!" Dark protested. "Quit acting like a spoiled brat and actually listen!"

"I hate you!" Annalise screamed at the top of her lungs before glitching out of the room. Dark went stiff, eyes wide and mouth open.

Annalise landed in the living room, crying into her hands. How could she say that? How could she be so cruel to her own father? But how could he be so cruel to her too? Annalise started to pace. It wasn't fair. She was a virus. That is who she is. Her dad killed, why couldn't she? She's already proven several times that she can defend herself, easily. She's even killed in the past, clearly, it doesn't traumatize her. All Annalise wanted was to actually fit in. To have someone else to understand and her dad was the only one that did and she just wanted to know what it was to be a real virus.

A soft buzzing snapped Annalise out of her thoughts. Anti's phone was on the coffee table and he was being called. The caller ID read 'blocked' and Annalise knew what that meant. She looked over at the office, not even bothering to listen in. After a strong breath, Annalise picked up the phone.

"Glitchers."