Violet hadn't seen anything like it before, she hadn't heard anything like it despite her obsessive research that bordered the pathological.
She scrolled through logs of different specimen as she labored her third coffee, her mind buzzing and her hands shaking.
Suddenly her door opened and Willow appeared. She'd been hired roughly the same time that Violet had been. She was cute, a chubby, short girl with dirty blonde hair.
"Hey," Willow greeted, and when Violet simply smiled she pressed on, "Do you want to go out after work?"
"Sure," She agreed without thinking.
"Cool. I'll come bother you at your office at five, 'kay?"
"Sure."
Willow vanished as quickly as she had appeared. Violet then finished up her work and returned to the enclosure of her subject. She found him sitting in the water, his head turned to watch her as she approached him. She stopped before him, her arms crossed and her hip popped to the side.
"What was that?"
"I like to watch you. We have that in common."
"What else are you capable of?"
"I can show you."
Violet narrowed her eyes in a glower that intensified when he laughed.
"Answer me."
"I'll tell you tonight if I can have a nice meal with you."
"Do not ever enter my home again."
"Is that a no?"
"Yes."
"So it's a yes?"
"You're an idiot."
"Strong words."
"Answer my question and do it now."
"Tonight."
"I don't negotiate."
"Then you don't get your answers."
Violet muttered a string of profanities before she gave in, "Fine."
"I'll look forward to it. You can see Willow first, of course."
Violet's mouth hung open and again he grinned.
Violet left without another word. She returned to her office and finished her paperwork before returning to her research. At the end of the day Willow appeared in her doorframe again.
"We going out?"
Violet stood and slung her bag over her shoulder. Her and Willow walked outside and across the street to a bar. They sat at a booth facing each other. Willow shrugged off her jacket and leaned her elbows on the table.
"You like working here?"
"It's alright."
"I think it's great; good benefits, great pay, and we get to do something good."
The waitress appeared and they ordered two beers and a platter of wings. Their beers arrived in less than a minute. Violet downed half of hers in one long gulp.
"You're not social, huh?"
Violet licked her lips and set the glass down, "Not really. Sorry."
"It's okay. Just bare with me. I can be a lot sometimes."
Violet smiled awkwardly, "I don't think you're a lot."
"Liar."
"I'll concede."
Willow chuckled and succeeded in getting a large grin from Violet.
"How'd you get hired?" Willow asked.
"I was attacked by an anomaly. I killed it."
"Wow. What was it?"
The monsters were separated into different categories; animalistic, supernatural, and fatal. The monster that attacked Violet had been fatal.
"Supernatural," Violet answered, "It looked like a moldy human. It went on a rampage and I burned my house down to kill it. The organization found me in the front yard waiting for the fire fighters."
"That's crazy. I can't imagine how you felt. My father worked for the organization and I'd been in training since I was sixteen. I'd hate to have all of this just sprung on me."
Violet didn't drink enough to lose control. When she returned home she found herself drained. She felt the anticipation of the monster. She preheated the oven before opening the freezer and placing a pizza on the counter. She unwrapped it before setting it on a pan. Letting out a deep sigh she leaned against the counter top, resting her head against the cupboard. She took slow, deep breaths, filling her lungs with the warm air of her home. When the ding sounded she put the pizza in the oven. In a tired haze she turned and screamed, fear suddenly driving out her exhaustion when she saw the monster. Her hand rushed to her pounding heart. Her body returned to its serine state in a second.
"I apologize. I'm not used to socializing."
"It's fine."
"Take a nap. I will cook."
Violet passed him and meandered into her room where she collapsed onto her bed. In the blink of an eye she was waking up to the monster gently nudging her shoulder. She sat up and took the pizza. He settled himself on the foot of the bed. Violet watched as he took a large bite of pizza and hummed his enjoyment.
"What are you capable of?"
"I can make myself invisible, as you know I can split myself in two."
"What does that entail?"
He took another bite before setting the pizza down on the box. I watched as he left and returned with a bottle of soda and two glasses. He set the glasses on the end table beside me. He filled both halfway.
"The soda, you could say, is my soul, the glass is my bodies. The soul is divided into two different bodies. This allows both bodies to be animated, to move, to speak. But they're only filled halfway."
"You're weaker."
He picked up a glass and poured its contents into the other, "With all of my soul inside of me I am at my full potential, but my other body is comatose, and thus, breakable. Like this glass."
He handed her the drink. She brought it to her lips and tasted the bubbly cherry as it coursed down her throat. He returned to the foot of the bed and they continued their meal.
"Is there anything else?"
"My other body is incredibly strong. This one is agile. I can read thoughts as well but it takes an empty glass so to speak."
"I understand."
"Did you enjoy your day with Willow?"
"Why do you ask?"
"I'm surprised you two hit it off."
Violet's chewing slowed to a snail's pace. She eyed him, "Why?"
A slow smile took over as condescension clouded his gaze, "Did you think I couldn't recognize one of my own?"