I appeared in my demesne, surrounded by lanterns and pillows. Walls of glass revealed that the safe space was tucked in a mountainside, trees loaning a green tint to the room. There was a room with the door open behind me, an empty cage in the barren closet. Meeka stood in the right corner of the room, arms crossed and eyes closed. She was shutting herself off from me, which meant she had something to say. She wasn;t much of a talker these days, especially since I had cut off her tongue some years ago. Maybe that was her beef.
I cleared my throat, alerting her to my presence, and her black eyes opened, no whites or pupils, just endless black. Her black hair spilled over her pale shoulders. Her mouth opened, showing another endless black hole, void of tongue. Her maw of teeth closed over the hole, and a simmering growl rolled from the back of her throat. She was at least annoyed. Maybe she was in the middle of something, and I had interrupted.
I heard her voice in my head, which hadn’t made itself known in some years. “You are a monster.”
“That’s funny coming from you,” I responded, motioning to her claws and otherwise monstrous visage.
“You locked me away for over a decade. That might have seemed like a short time to you, but it was ages for me.”
“You are a personification of my rage and discomfort and nothing more. We do not have the relationship we once did. There is no advice you could give me that would bear any weight anymore. I have moved beyond you, out of your reach.”
“You also suffer no fool lightly.” Her voice was in my head, but it still groaned with a vocal fry. “No sister living in your house, no husband accusing you of things you did not do. With no conflict, of course you seem happy.”
“Of course i’m happy. I don’t have you harping on me to kill those around me anymore. Or slam them in the throat to keep them talking, or stomp their feet to keep them from following me.”
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