Elsie

March 16, 34 AE, 3:04 AM

Downtown Los Angeles

This had to be a dream. A really bad one. One of those really trippy dreams that made absolutely no sense, but they would still mess up your mind even after you woke up. It had to be. Because Elsie couldn't think of any other reason how all of this could be happening.

But the pain in her right arm felt too real. The fear that raced through her veins and her pounding heart was genuine. And the look on Camilla's face as she was helplessly thrown off of Elsie's balcony was nothing Elsie's mind could ever imagine.

It took Elsie a moment to notice that the ragged sobs and screaming she was hearing was coming from her, and the realization made her only cry louder. The pain she felt was blinding, but it was her heart that ached more than her shoulder. Camilla should've been back already, flying through the window like nothing had even happened. Where was she? What happened to her?

"God, this is getting irritating," a snide voice said. "Can someone shut this bitch up already?"

A set of hands suddenly grabbed Elsie's left arm, and she thrashed about wildly, not wanting to make life easy for them. Surprisingly, Elsie managed to headbutt someone in the face, and they yelled out in agony as they dropped her. Even though the pain that came from landing on her dislocated shoulder was excruciating, Elsie took some satisfaction in seeing one of the metas rip off their mask to inspect their injuries, and Elsie had managed to hit the very spot where Camilla's attack had decayed the skin from their cheekbone to their chin.

Her pride was short-lived, however, when she felt a force suddenly tighten around her head and neck, and Elsie was dragged to her feet once more. This time, she was met by their ringleader: an older woman that wore too much makeup and had features as sharp as the stilettos on her bony feet. Camilla had seemed to hate the woman as soon as she saw her, and Elsie immediately felt the same way. She hoped Camilla would be as proud of herself as Elsie was of her at the sight of a large patch of rotting skin that covered nearly half of the woman's face.

Elsie smirked as much as she could, ignoring the way her body trembled unwillingly with fear. "Looks like you're gonna need more makeup to cover that up, you old hag."

The woman's glare went from disgust to pure hatred in an instant, and the force around Elsie's neck grew tighter.

"No wonder you two got along so well. You're both too arrogant for your own good." The woman scoffed. "And it'll only lead to your downfalls."

She tossed Elsie back to the ground, and Elsie felt the force around her try to make her land on her bad right arm again. Thankfully, Elsie managed to catch herself just in time, only to fall hard on her back instead.

"Two-five-four-three," the woman said sternly, not taking her eyes from Elsie.

At first, Elsie was bewildered. Was she supposed to know what that meant?

Suddenly, one of the metas emerged to the front of the group. Like the rest of the henchmen, this one was wearing the same dark mask that covered the bottom half of their face. Unlike the others though, their visible eyes were cold and empty. The only other meta that shared the same eyes was the one that tried to attack Elsie, just before they threw Camilla out the window with a bolt of lightning.

"Yes, Doctor," the meta replied, almost robotically.

"Tell her a story," the doctor said, her voice sounding almost as if she was singing a song. "Tell her how when we came to arrest Wyatt, Wyatt took her hostage and threatened to kill her if we got any closer."

The doctor's gaze remained on Elsie as she hummed thoughtfully, as if she was pondering what to order from a restaurant. "Which seems better: she threatens to suck out all of the air from her lungs, or she threatens to absorb all the liquid in her body?"

The meta merely stared blankly at the doctor.

"Right, you don't have opinions anymore," the doctor muttered. "Let's go with..." The doctor whispered something to the meta, then leaned back again with a wide grin. "It's more brutal, right? Anyway, Wyatt threatens the girl and tries to escape, we realize she's too dangerous to live..." the doctor grinned sadistically at Elsie, "and so we kill her. No, I kill her. How about... an icicle right through her head? It's a quick death, unfortunately, and it wouldn't be appropriate for the public to see her body, but you can't have everything you want, can you?" The doctor turned to the meta expectantly. "Well? Hurry up."

"Yes, Doctor," the meta said again, and they turned to Elsie, staring directly into her eyes, before making their slow approach towards her.

Elsie wanted to scramble backwards, to put as much distance between herself and the robot-like meta as she could, but she couldn't move. No matter how much her mind screamed at her body to move, she remained where she was, frozen in fear. And how could she not be scared? While she didn't know exactly what they were trying to do to her, she wasn't that much of an idiot either. If Elsie understood the doctor correctly, and if what she said was true, then they were going to somehow use Elsie to frame Camilla. And Elsie wanted absolutely no part in that.

"Wait, wait," the doctor suddenly said, and the meta obediently complied.

Obviously, Elsie didn't expect that the sadistic doctor suddenly changed her mind, but she couldn't help the small sliver of hope that she felt at those words. But of course, her hopes were dashed when the doctor with her noisy heels clacked up to Elsie and knelt right in front of Elsie's face with a wide, arrogant smile.

"Do you understand what's about to happen to you?" the doctor asked, her tone light as if she was talking to a child. "I'm going to change your memories. Your last moments with Wyatt are going to be gone, forever. And you won't even realize it."

Elsie couldn't help it when her eyes welled up with tears, and that seemed to be what the doctor was waiting for. With a smirk, the woman got to her feet, and the other meta continued their approach.

"No... please, no..." Elsie pleaded as she finally got her body to weakly back away.

She knew she looked and sounded pathetic, but she didn't care. All she cared about was Camilla, and not letting these assholes tarnish Elsie's memory of her. She didn't know how it would even be possible for anyone, even a meta, to change memories. But she couldn't help but believe the doctor's threats as she shrank away as quickly as her aching body would allow.

But the robotic meta only stared coldly back at Elsie, making no indication that they heard Elsie's pleas or even cared. And when Elsie finally felt her back hit the couch, the couch that she and Camilla would always share, the meta knelt down and grabbed Elsie's head in a firm grip with both of their hands pressing on each of her temples. Before Elsie could protest or retaliate, she felt something like a piercing headache, then nothing but darkness.

No... please, no... Elsie didn't know if she was saying the words out loud, but she could at least try.

Relax, another voice said, and it took Elsie a moment to realize it sounded familiar. And then, she remembered: it was that robotic meta. That meta was in her head. That meta was working for the doctor and was going to ruin Camilla forever.

Get the fuck out of my head, you robot shit, Elsie tried to yell back, but she wasn't sure how effective rage was conveyed through thoughts.

I'm not going to hurt you, they assured.

Well, that's obviously fucking bullshit.

I'm serious. I'm an ally. My name's AJ.

Giving me a name doesn't make us friends, Elsie replied, then offhandedly realized that her words sounded like something Camilla would say.

No, it doesn't, AJ agreed. But I can give you the truth.

Why should I believe you?

AJ sighed—was it even possible to do that mentally? Miss Bates, I'm sorry, but we don't have time for this.

Before Elsie could ask what that meant, images began flashing within her mind, showing her memories that weren't her own. The rapid slideshow stopped at the sight of a woman's reflection in a mirror hanging on the inside of a tall locker door, just as the woman adjusted the collar of her uniform. A guardian uniform.

"Damnit, AJ, what's taking you so long?" a voice behind her said, but AJ didn't bother to look. "We're gonna be late!"

"Dude, chill," AJ replied. "You don't have to be half an hour early for every single mission."

"I am never half an hour early," the voice argued. "Twenty minutes, maybe. And this is not just any mission. It's our first solo mission! We have to show that we're as reliable as they think we are."

"You do know it's not a solo mission if there's two of us going," AJ corrected. "I think a more accurate description is 'unsupervised.'"

Suddenly, AJ spun around to jab a finger at the person she was talking to. And although the man seemed much more expressive and animated, Elsie knew his eyes belonged to the lighting meta. This man was the meta that threw Camilla off Elsie's balcony.

"And don't you dare say that it's still a solo mission because we're basically the same person genetically," AJ demanded, and the man closed his mouth immediately. "That would be insulting. Everyone knows the oldest sibling is always the best looking one."

"You know, they only say that to make people like you feel better," the man snapped back. "Now are you ready yet, or what?"

"Yeah, yeah." AJ slammed her locker door shut, then followed the lightning meta—her brother.

The scenes switched, and AJ was now in what looked to be an abandoned warehouse, surrounded by darkness and silence. She was pressed against one of the walls and was creeping carefully towards a turn, when suddenly, there was a loud crashing noise off in the distance. AJ froze, and the echoes of the crash were quickly accompanied by the shouting and yelling of multiple unfamiliar voices.

"Ian?" AJ hissed in her comms.

No response.

"Ian!" AJ repeated more frantically.

But there was only silence.

And then something crashed into her like a train, and AJ lost consciousness.

The scene changed again, and AJ was lying down in what looked to be a lab. It wasn't exactly clear, because AJ kept thrashing wildly around, screaming through whatever gag they had in her mouth. The people standing around her were saying things, but their voices were like static compared to the ringing in AJ's ears. And then, nothing else mattered as an immense pain engulfed her body, focused on nowhere in particular and everywhere at once.

AJ felt herself losing control; she was losing control of her own mind, and they were taking it. But she could fight it. She could win. But if she showed that she won, they would simply keep trying. They would keep trying, and they would never stop.

So she had to pretend to lose. She had to let them think they won.

And then the scene faded to black.

What the fuck was that? Elsie said immediately. And even though the images had faded, AJ's pain still lingered as if it was her own.

That was the truth, AJ replied. Or, at least, it's mine. So please, listen. I won't change your memories, but I'm trusting that you'll do what's best for the both of us and pretend like I did. You have to pretend that they've won, or they won't stop trying. Can you do that?

My entire career is based on pretending, Elsie assured. She wasn't exactly sure if she could trust AJ, but she at least agreed that her best option was to play along with what she said.

I admire your confidence, but pretending for a job and pretending for your life are very different, AJ said. Believe me, I've been doing this for nearly ten years.

Ten years?

But what about Camilla? I have to find her. I have to help her. I can't wait that long.

One problem at a time, AJ said. For now, she's fine. She has to be, no matter what they tell you about her. They need her alive to do to her what they tried to do to me, and what they did to my brother.

Elsie's heart dropped at AJ's words. She couldn't stop her mind from remembering the scene of AJ in the lab, and she felt like she was going to be sick. She couldn't let that happen to Camilla. She had to get her, but how?

Patience, AJ pressed. If you're thinking about doing something crazy, then I'll have to change your memories, or they'll end up taking you too. Yes, they wouldn't care if you're not a meta. The only reason they're not taking you is because your disappearance would draw too much unwanted attention, but you can't count on that to protect you forever.

Now, pay attention. Doctor Hester is going to ask you what happened tonight to test your memories. Do you remember what she said, about having me tell you a story? You have to pretend like you believe that what she said really happened. You have to say that we came in to arrest Camilla, just as you saw. But then Camilla takes you hostage and threatens to kill you. Do you remember seeing Hester whisper to me? She wants me to make you think that Camilla threatens to absorb all of the liquid from your body. And when she tries to escape, Hester kills her.

By piercing her head with an icicle, Elsie finished solemnly. She remembered what the doctor, Hester, said.

She's a sadist; she wants to see you in pain, AJ explained. The easiest way out of this is to give her what she wants.

It wouldn't be hard to pretend she was in pain, because Elsie wasn't pretending. What would be difficult is channeling that pain into acting like she believed Hester, and not by trying to get Camilla back.

I can do this, Elsie said, more to herself than AJ.

Good, because we're out of time, AJ said. And if you aren't sure how to act, just appear dazed and confused. My abilities tend to do that to people if I alter too much, and it shouldn't arouse any suspicions.

I'll be fine, Elsie insisted, but she felt anything but fine.

On three then, AJ said. One, two, three.

Elsie felt herself gasp at the sensation of AJ leaving her head, and she automatically crumpled to the ground, breathless. Even though AJ claimed she didn't change any of Elsie's memories, Elsie still felt confused for some reason, and she hoped she kept her last bit of sanity to at least carry out their plan.

Like AJ had warned, the sound of Hester's heels grew closer, and Elsie felt the familiar force lifting her by her head and off the ground. A moment later, Elsie was face-to-face with Hester's disgusting sneer and her disgusting face, and Elsie's determination to act became stronger than it ever had before. AJ was right; Elsie couldn't do anything for Camilla right now. She was useless. She needed a plan, and for that, she needed time.

Elsie let her bottled-up emotions, her frustration and anger and fear, flow to the surface, and she immediately began crying and shaking, holding nothing back.

Somehow, Hester's sneer grew even wider.

"Now, tell me, dear," Hester said. "What happened?"

And so Elsie told her exactly what she wanted to hear. How Camilla had betrayed Elsie's trust, how she threatened to brutally murder her without a hint of remorse, and how the blood spewed from her skull once the doctor accurately shot her with a spear of ice. By the end of it, Elsie was crying so badly that she could barely speak, and she wasn't sure how much of it was still an act. Regardless, Hester seemed to be getting off to Elsie's suffering, and once Elsie had finished proving her altered memories, Hester actually did let out a small moan of pleasure.

"Perfection," Hester sighed, before letting Elsie drop back to the floor again.

This time, Elsie didn't bother trying to avoid impacting her injured arm, and the piercing pain in her shoulder helped clear her mind. She continued to let her emotions out though, but now her cries were softer and more sorrowful than before.

"I think we're done here," Hester finally said, then turned to AJ. "Two-five-four-three, make her sleep."

"Yes, Doctor," AJ replied obediently, then turned to Elsie with her cold, vacant eyes.

Elsie didn't bother putting up a fight this time as AJ slowly approached her and knelt down once more. She didn't flinch away when AJ placed her hands back on Elsie's head. And she didn't resist when she felt AJ's consciousness melding with hers. In fact, Elsie welcomed it.

I'm sorry, AJ's voice echoed in her mind.

And then Elsie's world went dark.

---

NOTES

Alright, here we go!!! It's the start of Phase Three and things are getting interesting! At least, I find them interesting; I don't know about you guys. I'd love to hear what everyone's theories are for what in the world is going on.

Also, now that we've had chance to see both Elsie and Camilla's perspectives, whose POV do you all prefer? Personally, I find Camilla easier to write and more relatable, but Elsie's perspective is fun to read.

Thank you for reading, voting, and commenting!