Designed by Freepik
"Do you know where you are?"
My attention snapped up to the stoic man behind the desk. I glanced around at my surroundings to get my bearings. The gray man sitting across the table from me wore a black lab coat and had slicked-back hair.
“From the one-way window, security door, and uncomfortable chair you gots me strapped to, prolly a interg...intregrat…” I let out a frustrated sigh and closed my eyes.
Come on, guys.
“Interrogation. We’re in an interrogation room.”
He raised one of his gray eyebrows and took notes on the digital pad he held without looking away from me. “Very good. And do you know why you are in this interrogation room?”
I shrugged to hide the failed attempt at breaking the restraints. “Gonna guess we did somthin’ worth gettin’ arrested for.”
“But you do not remember what that something is?”
“Last I remembers, was mindin’ my own business in Mac’s bar when some ass sucker-punched us. Musta been a bad fistfight if y’all decided to strap us down like this. Are these really needed, Doctor…” I squinted at the red embroidered letters on his coat. "...Corialis? Corialis. Cor-i-al-is."
He stared at me blankly. “The officers tell me it took several of them to restrain you in the first place. They had to tranquilize you to stop you from raving about setting them on fire like you did that building?"
"Building?"
His eyebrow raised as he took more notes and picked up a small remote control with his other hand, activating a screen in the had been hidden in the wall. A blonde newswoman appeared on the screen with a serious look.
"We bring you breaking news from downtown where a bar fight became something much more terrifying. On-site is Owen Collins to tell us more. Owen?"
The pretty blonde woman was replaced by a terrified young man of color with brilliant blue hair who was standing in front of a mostly burned down building.
"Th-thanks, Kim. Behind me is what remains of Mac's Bar, a popular local eatery. Around 9:30 this evening, police were called to respond to a bar fight between Thomas Bernard, a local street thug, and a yet unnamed man. From all accounts, Mr. Bernard initiated the confrontation. Tanya Ferguson was working in the bar when things got heated."
The screen swiped to a woman with clear signs of having been in the burning building, a microphone held to her from off-camera. "I saw Tommy come in and knew somethin' was gonna go down. He been in here every night lookin' for a fight. Don't know who that green-haired fella was what he attacked but Tommy didn't say a word before throwin' fists."
The screen swiped back to Owen who looked a little more put together. "Witnesses say the altercation was fairly one-sided with Mr. Bernard being so much larger than his opponent, who was described as “scraggly” by those present. No one is sure how the blaze began, though some have said the unnamed opponent somehow lit the wooden floor on fire with some kind of concealed contraption."
Tanya's image returned to the screen. "He laid his hands on the floor and suddenly there was these green flames spilling ‘cross the floor at Tommy. Like snakes, they was. Ain't seen nothin' like it before."
Back to Owen. "Fire officials have not released a statement about the nature of the accelerant used to cause the fire but we have been told that the color of the flames indicates copper was somehow part of the equation. Fifteen people have been hospitalized and the only death was Mr. Bernard, though officials are having trouble identifying the charred remains. The unnamed arsonist has been taken into custody and is expected to go through a mental evaluation for the bizarre claims he shouted at the officers."
A corrections officer appeared on the screen, speaking in front of a small crowd of reporters. "We have apprehended the suspect and confiscated his weapon for further analysis."
The officer was replaced by Owen again. "From the previous site of Mac's bar, this is Owen Collins."
I could feel the color draining from my face.
You really did it now, Time Bomb.
"So." My attention snapped back to Dr. Corialis when he spoke. "As the nice young man said, you were making some fairly outlandish claims when the officers brought you down. You kept threatening to set them all on fire even after they took your incendiary device."
I laughed nervously. "That's not probable, Doctor. I am the incen… incendar…" I closed my eyes again.
Come on, guys.
"Incendiary device. We are the incendiary device."
"That is impossible."
"Improbable."
"Excuse me?"
"Anythin' is possible, just not always probable."
"That may be, but the probability of you lighting that fire without aid is very low."
I clenched my fists.
Don't do it.
"I can burn this whole place down right now, ol' man."
"Go ahead."
I stared at him in confusion. "You don't know what you're askin' for, Doctor. Ain't no one gonna survive but us and I ain't lookin' to up my kill count for the day."
He relaxed in his seat. "If you are going to light the place on fire, go ahead and do that. Prove me wrong."
We had a silent stare off for several moments before panic began to set in. I looked down at my hands, waiting for the warmth that always accompanied the Magic.
"Something wrong?"
I growled at him and tried to free myself again. "What the fuck do you do to us?"
His blank stare didn't waver. "We took your weapon."
"I am the weapon!"
"If you do not calm down, I will have to have you tranquilized again."
I struggled in vain for another moment before giving up. I panted slowly, my entire body shivering from my physical and Magical strain. "Don't know what y'all did, but you will regret it. I'll burn down everything you hold dear."
He tossed an odd contraption on the table between us. "Recognize this?"
"Can't says we do."
"You should. It is the device they took from you. They have yet to make it work and were hoping you could shed some light on how it functions."
I glared at him. "We didn't use whatever this thing is to set the fire. We set it all on our own with these two hands. We have more power than you can imagine."
"These delusions of power are why they called me in to evaluate your mental state. You see, my institute specializes in ridding individuals of severe delusions such as yours."
"We ain't delusional, Doctor Corialis. Don't need help, thanks."
"Says the individual speaking as though they are more than one person. Your delusions may be more severe than I originally thought." He stood and moved to the security door, pressing a button on the wall. "I have finished my analysis. Send in my associate." The door swung open, a burly individual wearing black scrubs filling almost the whole frame. "Xeka, please restrain subject 963 for transport to Glennbrook Institute."
Wordlessly nodding, Xeka approached me with granite features.
I grinned up at them as charmingly as I could. "How 'bout instead you just undo the restraints so this don't have to escalate?"
Xeka stabbed a chemical dispenser into the side of my neck and the room became hazy.
"Guess not…" My vision faded as Xeka unstrapped me from the chair only to wrap me in a full-body restraint. I squinted at my captors. "Darkness damn you both." The world went black when Xeka lifted me onto their shoulders.