hourglass, 𝒎𝒂𝒛𝒆 𝒓𝒖𝒏𝒏𝒆𝒓. ¹

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀

⠀ ⠀ athena's eyes flit from window to window, their colour darkening slightly with every one she looks past, her hands are tightly clenched in knuckle-whitening fists. she pushes herself up so violently the chair skids backwards and crashes against a crooked bookshelf.
⠀ ⠀ ATHENA: "i'm leaving. you can tell ava whatever you want to tell her, whatever you have to tell her, but i'm not going to sit through something like this again. 𝒏𝒐."

⠀ ⠀ she's halfway to the door before mendel speaks. his voice rough and strained through the heavy silence.
⠀ ⠀ MENDEL: "you know, athena, for someone as curious as you are, i thought you'd jump at the chance to actually speak to someone who understands you."
⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ athena turns, fixes him with a narrowed gaze, her eyes blazing.
⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ mendel uncaps and recaps his pen.
⠀ ⠀ ATHENA: "just because you can ████████ doesn't mean you understand me."
⠀ ⠀ MENDEL: "not that. not that at all. think about it, athena. █████████ is very impressive, yes, and i won't even dare attempt to say otherwise, but it isn't like ours. we're something else entirely━something that's not quite human."

⠀ ⠀ athena hovers near the doorway. at last she returns, picking up her discarded book from the expensive white carpet, this time heading over to sit on the sofa. her face is impassive, but one gets the sense of something else, movement beneath murky waters. her eyes are still dark, shaded over by long lashes. they're observant, scanning the room again before settling down on mendel. she nods slightly, the movement barely visible.

⠀ ⠀ ATHENA (through growing static on the cameras and increasing glitches): "you know what, mendel, fine, i'll bite, but you get one chance and one chance only. if you aren't able to convince me, then don't expect me to come back here again. when did they give you ███████ and how'd you learn it?"
⠀ ⠀ MENDEL (visibly intrigued): "it ███████████████████. i was around nineteen, i'm twenty-six now. but you were given your own █████ at quite a young age, weren't you? i've been told you were seven or eight━am i wrong?"
⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ athena says nothing in reply. she barely moves, the only sign she even heard what'd been said was the slight twitch of her fingers and the barely noticeable curl of her lips at the mention of her age. she merely sits there, holding mendel's gaze until he sighs in defeat.
⠀ ⠀ MENDEL: "okay, you got me, that was a tangent. my real question is how long have you been having these nightmares? and what do you think is causing them to happen?"
⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ the voices become almost indecipherable through the heavy static.
⠀ ⠀ ATHENA: "this isn't about me."
⠀ ⠀ MENDEL (chuckling): "young girl, of course this is about you. all of this is about you. if you want me to answer your questions, which i'm sure are quite a few, you'll have to answer a few of my own. it's only fair if that's how we go about it."
⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ static silence.
⠀ ⠀ MENDEL (as if in response to something unspoken): "yes, yes. but i'd still like to discuss them with you. so, i'm going to ask again and hope this time you give me a proper spoken answer. i promise i won't write any of this down. how long have you been having the nightmares?"
⠀ ⠀ ATHENA (eventually): "maybe since wicked brought me in from the hospital and started running all their tests."
⠀ ⠀ MENDEL: "every night?"
⠀ ⠀ ATHENA: "just about. ava tried getting me some sleeping pills and then ended up giving a heavy sedative instead since the pills didn't seem to be working, not that the sedative works either━ if you write a word of this down, i swear i'll leave."
⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ mendel sets the pen down.
⠀ ⠀ MENDEL: "what are the dreams about?"
⠀ ⠀ ATHENA: "no. it's my turn to prod around in your business. you made the rules, surely you can remember."
⠀ ⠀ MENDEL: "by all means."
⠀ ⠀ ATHENA: "have you met any other ███████?"
⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ mendel pauses for several seconds, the static in the recording growing louder as he flips the pen around in his left hand, perhaps considering if he intends to lie.
⠀ ⠀ MENDEL: "yes. but it was not ████████████."
⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ athena's icy eyes are too bright now, fixed on mendel. he shifts in his seat, clearly uncomfortable. maybe with the odd colouring of her eyes, or maybe with the sudden weight of her full attention.