Repetition: You have served his purpose.

  Venessa(mentally): I haven’t done anything!

  Delirium(in Venessa’s head): But you will, if you stay here. In this house. In Saint Louis. In this universe. On Earth. There’s no escape.

  Venessa(weakly): No…no, you’re wrong.

  Delirium(laughing quietly): I don’t think I am. What’s the point of such a beautiful world when it’s bound for destruction?

  Venessa(weakly): What?

  Delirium: You’re life is over before it’s begun.

  Venessa(crying): I…it is?

  Delirium: Yes. You’re simply an agent in a grand scheme of bloodshed.

  Venessa: Well, I don’t…

  Avonari steps into the room.

  Avonari: Who are you talking to?

  Venessa blinks: Myself.

  Avonari: Really? You don’t talk to yourself very often. Something wrong?

  Venessa: No, nothing's wrong. Hey, Avonari?

  Avonari: Yeah?

  Venessa: Do you…Do you feel comfortable about this whole ‘Keeper’ thing?

  Avonari shrugs: It is what it is. It’s a safe place for an Anthran refugee like me. Why?

  Venessa: I just…maybe they’re not as well-meaning as they seem. What if…

  Her vision begins to blur.

  Venessa: What if we’re just pawns? What if they’re using us?

  A glass of water on the table shatters, and water and glass spill down the desk. Venessa stares blankly at it for a few seconds, eyes glazed over.

  Cory(from downstairs): Is everything okay up there?

  Avonari(to Cory): I just knocked something over.

  Cory(from downstairs): You sure?

  Avonari: Yeah. (to Venessa) Why’d you do that?

  Venessa sighs: That was a weird fluke.

  Avonari nods: I don’t have flukes in my powers a lot. Enhanced engineering and agility are pretty hard to mess up, but I’ve seen Jesse electrocute the couch and Josie accidentally freeze her orange juice. So I know what it’s like.

  Venessa(rasping): No, you don’t. You don’t understand anything. Nothing.

  Avonari(confused): What?

  Delirium(inside Venessa’s mind): You’re disposable.

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  Venessa begins to cry: Stop! Stop it!

  Avonari: Venessa, what’s wrong?

  Venessa can’t hear her. Incessant whispering fills her head.

  Venessa: SHUT UP!

  There’s a loud noise, flying shards of glass, and a light. Then it all fades. She’s laying on the ground. The world seems to disappear around her. The blue ocean envelopes her again.

  Venessa(in her head): I guess…this is where I’ll die. Drowning. A speedy, painless death.

  Delirium: Venessa…

  Venessa:(angrily) What do you want?

  A familiar face seems to form out of the water. The unfamiliar Hostility from Wyverna’s headquarters.

  Delirium smiles: I want you to live.

  Venessa: Then, why is this happening to me?

  Delirium: I’m not trying to kill you. It is the overseer who wants you dead. He wants you dead because you make your own choices.

  Venessa: You mean Beyond?

  Delirium grins: You’re catching on quite well for a subcreature.

  Venessa raises an eyebrow: Subcreature?

  Delirium pauses, then says: Perhaps to him. You see, the overseer does not care whether you live or die. In fact, it’s highly likely that you’re being set up for death.

  The water in the shape of Delirium’s face glances back and forth.

  Venessa: Why won’t you say it?

  Delirium:(slightly irritatedly) Say what, Venessa?

  Venessa: Beyond’s name. Why won’t you say it? You just say ‘the overseer’.

  Delirium sighs: What is the use of a name or title? It doesn’t change who the overseer is, and that he does not care for subcreatures like you.

  Venessa: And what makes you any different?

  Delirium:(angrily) Well, I’m certainly…

  Venessa: You work for Wyverna. I know you from the Hostility HQ. Wyverna tried to kill me. She tried to take my blood, and you…you helped her!

  Delirium: Oh, but you fail to see! The overseer took Wyverna’s essence away long ago, before the earliest of your species can remember. She needed the lifeblood to survive.

  Venessa: At the cost of my life! Your leader’s strong enough to think she’s some sort of ‘god’! I think she would’ve survived! And how do you explain the nasty experiments you were doing down there, huh?! The victims were regular people! They didn’t have powers or anything!

  Delirium: THEY WERE HUMANS! OTHERS!

  Venessa shrinks.

  Delirium composes himself: You see, it’s simply a game of survival of the fittest. It always has been. Weak creature conquered by the strong. Your kind experiments on bacteria because they are simple. In that way, it is ethical. It’s the same with Bridge-dwellers and you. That’s the rules. And it would be a crime to break the rules, now wouldn’t it?

  Venessa wants to say something back, but suddenly can’t. The world begins dissolving around her, and Delirium shouts angrily. She blinks and sees that she’s somewhere in the Keeper headquarters. Annelise is sitting beside her and holding her hand. Cory is standing over her with a comforting smile on his face. Susanna is healing some small cuts on Venessa’s skin.

  Cory: Well, good morning…or afternoon, I should say.

  Venessa begins to cry: I should be dead! Why am I not dead?!

  A distressed, mournful look crosses over Cory’s face, and he sits down, placing his face in his hands. Annelise hesitates for a few seconds before leaning forward and clutching her chest in agony.

  Annelise: She’s being attacked.

  Cory: By a Hostility?

  Annelise nods: Code 1084.

  Cory pales: Is that what changed in her? After he attacked her in the Hostility headquarters?

  Annelise grimaces and then composes herself: I think so. Susanna?

  Susanna looks up from her work: Yes?

  Annelise: I need either Pearl or Dortor in here right now. They’re the experts on this.

  Susanna nods: I think they’re both around. I’ll go get them.

  She rushes off. Cory pushes Venessa’s hair away from her tear-stained face.

  Cory:(to Annelise) Do you think maybe…you could hold Delirium back for a few moments?

  Annelise: I would, but she’s not being influenced right now. These…

  She wipes a tear from Venessa’s cheek. Venessa is still sobbing violently and muttering about how she’s supposed to be dead.

  Annelise: These are just injuries, but there’s something in her mind that’s anchoring Delirium. He might come back.

  Cory sighs: And when he does?

  Annelise squeezes Venessa’s hand tighter and looks intently at Venessa’s face: When he does, he’ll realize he didn’t come back to her alone.