"Michael? Michael Bloom?"

An overly cheery woman's voice called for me on loudspeaker as I sat up in the waiting room, my only company being the ticking clock on the wall and a couple tacky housekeeping magazines on the coffee table.

I heard a buzz and the door opened signaling it was time for my appointment, past the narrow halls I reached the office of Dr. Kaitlyn Harris.

I sighed as I readjusted myself before knocking, "Come in!" The doctor said. I opened the door to see a fairly normal psychologist's office with a stereotypical couch and saw a beautiful, young, brunette woman in a teal pantsuit sitting across from it.

"Hello, Doctor."

"Hello Michael! Now I know that you are new, but I had such a pleasant conversation with you over the phone."

I guess our definitions of pleasant are different, you are playing too hard into your act.

"Yes ma'am, I've survived an Outlander Rift recently and I was hoping you could help me out. I was recommended to seek out some therapy to get over my Rift Sickness."

Well I ain't exactly lying here.

The doctor leaned up with a worried frown that almost reached her hazel eyes, if this wasn't my first time she'd probably have me eating out of the palm of her hand.

"Alright Michael I know just the thing," she says with a brilliant smile.

"Let's try this," She walked past her desk and her bookshelf in order to wheel out a full body mirror.

I felt my hand twitch, I resisted the urge to face palm.

Nooo, you were doing so well and you break out the fucking mirror?! 

You have the secluded location, and identity done well, the therapist act was a bit cheesy but passable, but of course you have the mirror.

She walks over to me and places the mirror a solid foot away from me.

Here we go.

"So Michael, can you look into the mirror and describe what you see?"

I nod and gaze into the mirror and see… me. You know despite being a big dude I can understand why she seems so calm, I am so pale and gaunt. I already look like I am already dead with my sunken purple eyes,  shaggy platinum blond hair, sharp stubble, and craggy face.

I look more like a walking sculpture of a dead person.

It probably doesn't help that I am dressed like a 1950's salesman -- with my fine charcoal suit and jacket --who looks like he is about thirty.

I'm twenty-three…

But anyways I have to play my part.

"I-I-I see gold! Mountains and mountains of gold!" I exclaim with glee, leaning closer to the mirror.

The doctor smiles once more as she stands up walking behind me, "This could all be yours Michael… Though you'd need to do one thing for me."

She says not even bother to mask the noise of her blade being drawn.

"What's that Doctor?" I asked, pretending to be tranced.

"Die for me."

All she managed to stab was air as I rolled out of the chair and swept her legs.

"You know 'Doctor' I don't think I've ever met someone as over confident as you. I mean you didn't even try to sweet talk me, or even play the act for thirty minutes once I was in your office."

She jumped up with inhuman speed and lunged at me with a vicious snarl frozen on her face, I baited her like a matador causing her to crash into her mirror raining shards of glass onto her body.

"Tsk, tsk very sloppy, but what else could I expect from a walking corpse?" I smirked.

'Doctor Harris' paused as she pulled herself up from the wreckage with a shocked look on her face quickly morphing into a tight lipped, inhuman grin stretching ear to ear, as her previous hazel eyes became an inky black, and the illusion of well-kept office faded into an image of a building that has been abandoned for years.

Well shit.

"Oh Mr. Bloom you are delightful! I never expected to get attention of a freelancer such as yourself."

The corpse that was Dr. Harris wasn't movings its lips, rather the sound came out as a metallic humming that was trying to emulate human speech.

I glance at the wavvy, flame-like dagger – it was bordering at being a sword – in the corpse's hands, "Alright we can make this easy on the both of us, you be a good little murderous artifact and stop possessing that corpse, or I can whoop your ass and toss you into the Association's V.A.O." 

The corpse's smile quickly changed into a visage of pure rage as it charged me again.

I swift dove too the side barely dodging the dagger.

Alright, ass whooping it is then.

I quickly jumped over the desk as it followed up with a second attack once more barely missing my face.

I kicked the desk forward causing its to be sent flying over the desk once more prone, and drew my revolver blasting the creature twice in the head and once in the base of the neck with the 410 buckshot loaded into it.

Gotta always confirm the kill.

I rotate the corpse over finding the dagger lying on the ground radiating pure malice.

Oh hush you big baby.

I put on my leather gloves and grab my phone from my coat, reception should be good now since the dagger no longer has a conduit.

"Hey James, it's Michael. Job's done can you send a clean up crew? I got a possessive object here and it happened to be possessing one Kaitlyn Harris."

"That's great and all Mikey, but did you have to kill the broad?" I hear from the gruff voice on the phone.

"That is the problem James, she was already dead and has been for awhile now, my guess is that the object happened to get thrown from a minor Rift into the nearby grave yard three blocks from here, the object was probably living off the homeless population and stray animals to maintain a low profile."

"You got all that from a phone call and a office visit? Actually, nevermind it's you and yeah, I can get some guys there in about ten minutes just make sure whatever this object is detained and wait by the door, we don't want any other people thinking you kill the broad."

I rolled my eyes and looked at my watch, 1:00PM. Only people mulling about here would be bums or junkies so their testimony would be weak; anyways don't really have to worry about 3:00 traffic seek a unmarked van pulling up to a dead woman's office.

"Also Mikey, I have to ask."

"Hmm?"

"Did she help you out with ya issues?" I hear as he stiffs a laugh

"Fuck you James."

"Love you too, bud. See you later."

"Yeah," I say with a smirk hanging up the phone.

T.K._Paradox

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