"And when did she leave? asked the young woman before him, the soft almost, clinical prompting causing a vein to beat unsteadily along his jaw, in tune with the steady beat of the metronome echoing in the sparsely furnished room.
Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick.
He'd been here 23 times now. Once a week, like clockwork, in accordance with the court order. Ironic, given that there were no clocks in the whole building.
It was the oddest thing.
Not in the hallway, not in the Lobby, and not even here in this room.
It was funny the things you noticed when you didn't want to be noticed.
"Advay? she prompted gently.
"6:46.
"That's very precise. She noted, "Why not say a quarter to Seven or around Seven?
"Because it was 6:46.
"I see.
For the first time in their 23 sessions, Advay answered without prompting, a blood-curdling smile twisting the corners of his teenage features with blatant unrestrained malice, "I sincerely doubt it.
The smartly dressed young man before her continued to observe her intently, as he seemed to debate whether or not she was worth the trouble, or more likely, if she would give him the shocked reaction sociopaths like himself thrived on.
She would.
Smiling softly, he shifted slightly in his seat as he explained. "Numbers are finite. They don't humor inaccuracies, they don't pander to mortal flaws, and they always lead to balance. Do you believe in balance Mrs. Shetty?
"Karma has nothing to do with balance. It's a social construct humans use to pacify their petty grievances. Balance is different. It's like an equation an eye for an eye, if you will.
"It sounds like you're describing revenge. She replied calmly, making a short note in her records, more to avoid eye-contact at this point than to actually jot anything down. A fact she'd wager her session fee he already knew.
"Revenge isn't necessarily a bad word.
"Isn't it?
"Not in moderation.
"I see. What do you then consider, the act of physically restraining a young woman and using a paint brush to paint' acid on her to be moderate revenge' for?
"You're describing my indictment. The soft almost proud smile, that mirrored Raina Shetty's own, when she watched her first born take his first steps. The revulsion that the parallel drew made the hair on the nape of her neck stand to attention, and yet it evoked an inexplicable curiosity as well.
Why then did this animal magnetism, continue to draw her in the way it did?
------------------------------------------------------------------
Love always,
The Fortified
Shiv Shakti
