Begonia

An Angel walked into the chamber, unaware of what to expect.

"Stand here," Ariel waved him over.

He passed by a reporter who sat in the corner of the room, his hands on the keyboard ready to type.

"We will conduct the experiment now. Be ready Mark."

"Yes ma'am," he replied to Ariel.

The Angel stood where directed, and Ariel watched him. She simply looked into his eyes, and he remained still but confused. In an unexpecting shift, Ariel's coat expanded outwards. Waves of heat pulsated the air as her artificial wings stretched wide aside, nearly enveloping the Angel's timid stance.

She dominated him with her intimidating presence.

But just as quickly as she let them out, she retracted the wings back into her suit. The Angel was left tense, bewildered by what had just happened.

Close behind, Veronica felt her nose tingle. "I smell…" she sniffed, "Fear."

Ariel moved aside. "Now's your chance."

Veronica moved forward in a slow but passionate stride, eventually coming face-to-face with the Angel. She sniffed again, this time licking her lips with recognition. "Fear."

She reached up and pulled the Angel's mask off, revealing a ghost-white face.

"Do all the Angels look like this?"

"It's an inevitable metamorphosis process that comes with becoming an Angel," Ariel replied.

"Jeez, Overseer Michael's brutal…" Veronica looked at the Angel's face in disgust. But through the beady black eyes, she recognized once again a prominent emotion; "Fear."

She stared through his vision, from which he could only make contact with Veronica's eyes. It started slowly, but as if exponential, the Angel's anxiety began to rise. His fear skyrocketed, and what were infinitely dilated eyes shrunk to a miniscule pupil. Inside his mind, the terror of death stockpiled until his brain could hold it no more. His eyes rolled up, and he fell onto his back; a large thud following the impact.

Veronica stared blankly. She looked at Ariel who returned a glance. The Overseer then walked over to the fallen Angel and placed her fingers along his neck. "He's dead," she looked back. "An instantaneous panic attack."

Veronica's face grew into a smile. Her lips wide, her teeth hidden.

"Good job Veronica," Ariel looked at Mark in the back; "Report the specifics." He nodded.

Standing further aside, Vidia watched seemingly mistaken. "What exactly happened?" Ariel responded, "I instilled enough fear that could surpass the emotional threshold, allowing Veronica to be able to use her ability successfully."

Vidia reacted with even more confusion, but said nothing more.

"Now remember," Ariel looked at Veronica; "As effective as fear can be, you have the ability to amplify any emotion to fatality. It's just about choosing the right one."

Veronica nodded in response. She hadn't stopped smiling. "As his fear grew while he looked into my eyes, he smelt like…" she paused. "A Begonia."

"A Begonia?" Vidia asked.

"Yes, a Begonia. A pink beauty that will seduce your thoughts, overshadowing the true darkness that lies beneath." Veronica kneeled beside the dead Angel. She inhaled the scent of his departure, and sighed with pleasure.

"You're disgusting-"

"Hey," Ariel interrupted, quickly approaching Vidia. "Avoid making anymore unnecessary remarks. Leave her be, that's the way she is."

Vidia rolled her eyes.

Ariel tilted her head in offense. "You're the last person that should be making judgements Vidia. Her ability is significantly more developed than yours right now."

Vidia turned around in annoyance at the words. Her face read disgust. Looking back towards Veronica who remained by the Angel's side, she realized how much she loathed the girl. As described in Vidia's head, Veronica was abnormal. The peculiar way she spoke, the eerie way she went about things, Vidia hated it all. Yet, it was Veronica who was succeeding. It was Veronica who had a better image on Overseer Ariel. It was Veronica who was gaining more power.

Why? Why Veronica? Why Veronica of all people?

Vidia asked herself these questions everyday. She envied the girl's affinity for her ability, because there was her, who struggled to even bring about her own.

"Are you ready for your test?" Ariel asked.

Vidia sighed, avoiding eye contact, "Let's just hurry up. I wanna see Gula."

A new Angel was positioned in front of Vidia, unmasked like the dead one. He was commanded to look straight ahead, of which he could make eye contact with Vidia. Unlike Veronica's ability, eye contact with Vidia would form a different result.

The Angel watched her eyes cluelessly, waiting for anything to happen. But nothing did.

"Vidia?"

She remained silent, still looking towards the Angel.

"Vidia are you-"

"I'M TRYING!" She yelled. "Just give me a second."

Vidia took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Misty whispers clouded her thoughts:

You need to show Overseer Ariel that you can be useful. You need to show Overseer Ariel that you're better than Veronica. You need to show Veronica you're better than her. You need to be able to use your ability so you can protect Gula. Remember how badly he suffered a few months ago? That was your fault. You weren't strong enough to protect him. You weren't there to protect him. Be stronger. Be better. You aren't good enough. Become better-

"SHUT UP!!!" Vidia screamed.

The others in the room looked her way with concern.

"Vidia?" Ariel leaned forward. "No one said anything. Are you okay?"

She took a moment to catch her breath. She looked around at everyone who watched her. She despised their pitiful looks. An echo suddenly pierced her brain; a shot of migraine. She held her head as if it was too heavy being on top.

Was there something else up there weighing her down?

She returned her focus towards the Angel ahead of her. "It's whatever, I'm just stressed."

Closing her eyes for a moment, she took a deep breath and resurfaced her focus. Slowly opening them, she engaged a deep contact with the Angel's eyes. The Angel continued to watch her eyes, not realizing his vision was falling deep into an abyss. The abyss' color was erased; a void, in which no light could escape. What used to be a peripheral sight full of white, was now imbued with darkness. The only sight he could see, were Vidia's eyes that left him blind—a pair of glowing eyes that roamed a drowned sea of black.

Ariel observed from afar, noticing that the Angel's pupils had clouded. She walked up and waved her hand in front of his face. "Nod if you see this," she said. But here was no nod. Ariel looked back at Vidia.

"Your ability worked."

Vidia held back a grin.

"You blinded her."