There were very few people in Sophie’s life that she readily associated with, which was not necessarily a choice born out of necessity as much as it was a preference. She found that when it came to most people, her “plays well with others” impulse was pretty stunted, if it existed at all. However, there were a few people that she found herself naturally attracted to, almost as if their personality was a magnet for her own. It didn’t happen often by any means, but often enough that she had found herself among a small group of people that she associated with regularly… though a good majority of them had left her in recent years, either because they had achieved the dream and gotten the hell out of this scar on the face of New Orleans, or because something much more permanent had happened to them. Something that made what was left of her caged off heart break every time she thought about it. There were those who thought that losing her freedom meant that she was better equipped to deal with loss than most people. In fact, she was one of the people who thought that, but no, as time had shown, she hadn’t taken the permanent loss of people she genuinely cared for very well.

Not that most people knew about that, she kept that part of herself firmly caged off and bottled up. Was that healthy? Probably not, but most of the ways that she could blow off steam around here were forbidden or impossible, not that the former usually stopped her in the first place. She already figured that she had a guaranteed life sentence, what was the point of completing the whole thing with good behavior and never having fun?

Still, there were few people that she was drawn to, almost like a magnet had been attached to their personality, one that was specifically geared towards her. One of those people was Elijah Cartwright. Once she had gotten to know him, it had surprised her how many similarities the two of them actually had, and she had found a kind of kinship in him that she hadn’t really expected. Truth be told, she hadn’t expected to find a kinship with anybody in here considering that this place had a reputation for breeding psychopaths and sadists to pass in society. She was not the kind of person who wanted to deal with any of that, so for a while she had just isolated herself off, because that was easier than dealing with figuring out who the crazy people were and who was actually pretty chill. Eli was one of the chill ones, and after a while it felt like the two of them had fallen into a steady, rhythmic friendship, one that Sophie was pretty eager to maintain. Despite everything, she wanted to have at least one friend to help her hold onto her sanity when faced with a life sentence inside these walls.

It was him that she was meeting today, and right after a group of patrolling ability blockers—the stuffy bastards that they were—had finished patrolling the hallway that led to the roof, Sophie made her way up there. It wasn’t easy sneaking around past Monroeville staff, but it was something that she had nearly perfected in her four years here. When she opened the door to the roof, the beautiful sight of the setting sun enveloped her, and for a moment, she just stared at it, soaking in the colors and the few residual dregs of warmth those last rays provided. This had always been her favorite time of day, and just for a moment she wished that she had the ability to alter time so that she could spend a few more moments just like this, while still meeting with her friend in lighting he could actually see her in. After all, he needed to be able to see her lips move in order to know what she was saying to him. She made her way over, sitting down next to him, tilting towards him enough so that he could see her face instead of her profile. “Thanks for asking me. I was honestly starting to feel like I was going to start climbing the walls if I didn’t get out of there today.” And wouldn’t that have been a surprise considering that was not her power. She chuckled. “It sucks most of the time. Probably the only moments that it doesn’t suck are moments like this.” And if someone could see the two of them now, there was a part of Sophie that was sure that they would toss her into solitary for a month and leave her to rot. Honestly, if she didn’t have friends, she might have considered it just for a change of scenery.


Sophie had never really thought about what she would do if she could leave Monroeville, probably because she knew that no matter what happened, she would never be getting out. Still, she listened to Eli’s vivid, bright dream for his future, a smile curling over her lips as he continued on. She could see him clearly in her mind’s eye, playing drums and absolutely stealing any show that he took part in. However, she knew that eventually the topic would come back to her, so she thought for a moment just as he was ending off what he was saying. “Honestly? I’ve thought about it so many times I don’t even know what to go with first.” Aside from torch the fucking hellhole, but that wouldn’t get everybody out and she knew it. “But if I had to make up a plan right now, at this very moment… I’d probably find my way to a little bar, maybe a cabaret, and start singing. And I’d keep going, make a name for myself, maybe make it big if I’m lucky.” Her voice faded slightly into something wistful, thinking about a future that she’d never see. “Under a stage name, probably. Don’t want the fact that I got thrown in here for four years to show up in my google search.”

Sophie didn’t really mind being cooped up when the choice was hers, it was the fact that other people were the reason that she was stuck somewhere that she suddenly hated it. She had mouthed off with the express intention to get hauled off to solitary confinement with the express purpose of wanting time to herself that didn’t involve drooling patients or when everybody else got to be way too much, and to be totally honest? It wasn’t that bad, when she wanted to go there. However, she was stuck in the general area of Monroeville because of her reaction to things that had been largely out of her control, so while it might oscillate a little between “kinda shitty” and “really shitty”, there was still always an undercurrent of shittiness that she was there to begin with. Some of the people that she had surrounded herself with had made that a little better, but the fact that her four year anniversary of being in this absolutely mental place was in a few short days was not something that had gone without notice. Generally speaking, that tended to sour a girl’s mood, and Sophie was no exception to that particular rule.

“It’d amuse the hell out of me, too. Can you picture the staff’s faces?” She mimed a horrified and disturbed face for all of about thirty seconds before it faded away into laughter. “Don’t even need an ability, just need to have my outdoor privileges revoked for a day.” A Miami girl born and raised—until she was about thirteen, anyways—Sophie loved being out in the warmth and the sun, and she had gotten neither of those two things for generally being a nuisance. In her defense, all the books in the library looked lovely when they were reversed on the shelves. Now, at least, she could soak up a few of the last struggling rays of the winter sun, and dread the return into the climate controlled hell that she had called home for the past four years. “Well I appreciate your optimism, darling.”

“You’ll get the first, even if I have to hunt you down to get it to you.” A smile played over her lips as she thought about it. She would wear something nice, something fitted and far away from the memory of the loose clothes that frequently adorned her body at Monroeville. Something extravagant, just because she could. Maybe something silk or lace or any other delicate fabric she could get her hands on that wasn’t a cotton polyester blend. Something that would make her shine. The music would always have a vintage hit to it, something that she could lose herself in, and when she would open her mouth? It would be like she was enchanting the entire crowd. She knew that holding her own against any Siren that existed in the world was impossible, but she wanted to come damn close. She snapped out of her daydream and turned towards him again, the dream performance fading back and tucked away into a drawer, something to keep her going when the world got to be too impossible. “You and me both. It’s been so long since I actually sang anything.” She didn’t even know if her voice still worked the same, and she was a little afraid to find out. It’d be a shame to waste a good voice on a mental patient anyways.

“Hmm,” Sophie leaned back on her hands, thinking about the question. It was always so hard for her to describe her own voice, partially because she didn’t want to sound like she was bragging and partially because she was always quick to describe it as the type of music she liked to sing with it, but that wouldn’t do this time. If there was anybody that she wanted to give an honest answer, it was Eli. “Well, I’ve had a few people tell me that I kind of sound like Amy Winehouse.” Another vintage style singer with a raspy voice that could bring people to their knees. She wished that she had a voice like that. “Apparently I have that same raspy, soulful quality she does. I sing some newer stuff, but I tend to stick with older style music. I can absolutely kill an Alicia Keys song if I’ve warmed up.” She ran a hand through her hair, thinking about the last time she had actually sang. It was the day before the incident that started all of this. No… actually, it wasn’t. There had been one other time, when she had been out on the grounds of Monroeville. Around two years ago, with nobody around but the wildlife and maybe a stray orderly or two who had let her continue. In that moment, everything else had felt quiet, had felt bearable. Maybe that’s why she didn’t sing anymore. She didn’t want this to be bearable, she wanted it to be miserable so that something could drive her to get the hell out.

At his question, Sophie let out a quiet sigh. It was a question that she had been asked once or twice, but it was not anything that she liked talking about. “No, it’s okay.” Was it? “I uhm… When I was fifteen, I made a guy go blind.” The fact that Eli, being deaf, might have an adverse reaction to her taking away someone else’s sense of anything had definitely crossed her mind, but that wasn’t something that she could think about now. She pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around her legs, the lighthearted and whimsical moment lost in the pain of of her memories. Some of it, she knew, was etched on her face, but all of it couldn’t be. “This is going to sound awful, probably most of all to you, but he did deserve it.” Did he ever. “What about you? Why did you get tossed in here?”

Horror had become far too frequent in Sophie’s young life. For the most part, the people that she associated with were in here for dumb and potentially non-dangerous reasons… but there were a few people that everybody knew about. Those few people who had managed to hurt themselves or others, and who wanted to continue doing it. Those were the people she tried to avoid and distance herself from, and those were the people she ended up getting lumped in with most often. It was tragic, really, that people thought that way because they refused to believe that she was the assailant rather than the victim, and if anybody knew the truth, they might even think her remarkably patient for not wanting to raze this entire place right down to the foundation. Of course, precious few people did know the truth, which made it easier, in a sense, to fly under the radar of the other patients at Monroeville. If they knew that she didn’t fight back unless she had no other option, they might make it a point to knock her out of the pecking order completely. That was not something that she wanted, in any sense of the imagination.

Eli laid out the fact that he’d get her outside, or at least help her pretend that she was, and warmth spread through her chest. She was oddly touched that a boy who didn’t even know what she was in here for would go to lengths that would possibly get him in trouble. “You’re way too kind to be locked up in here, doll.” She chuckled, running a hand through her long hair as her eyes slid towards the slowly setting sun. She don’t know how she got lucky enough to meet Eli, how she had been blessed enough to have a friend like him in her life when she was sure that she would never have anybody again. However he had come into her life, she was glad to have him, and she hoped that he would stick around. “I hope that’s true.” Leaning in slightly, she bumped her shoulder against his, smiling fondly at him.

For a long time, she had felt that getting attached to people was dangerous, that it only led to trouble. However, at some point in their shared time here at Monroeville, she had grown attached to Elijah Cartwright. She had gotten attached to one other person so far in her time here, none other than Aisling Maeve Donoghue. Her friend had gotten out, and she missed her every single day, but she was glad that at least one of them had gotten out. Especially since she was sure that she never would.

“Oh, yeah.” She turned a bit pink, she had forgotten for a moment that her friend couldn’t hear the words that she was saying, and was relying on reading her lips since she hadn’t exactly mastered ASL yet. She wanted to learn, but the only person she could learn from was sitting in front of her, and their time spent together was often stolen and fleeting. However, the conversation shifted, and she found herself smiling at him again, reveling in the fact that they were talking about something that went beyond the gates they were all stuck behind. “I haven’t, but I’m sure I could figure it out. Especially if it means escaping this place mentally for a while.” Still she couldn’t help but chuckle at the thought of having a lip-sync concert. Maybe she could invite—nope, the thought stopped before it was even fully formed. If she was doing something like that, the only person she was subjecting it to was Eli, maybe Aisling if she were still here.

Their conversation turned serious, and Sophie bristled slightly as she felt his hand on her shoulder, before relaxing into it. This was Eli. She had nothing to be afraid of. Reaching up, she placed her hand over his and gave it a gentle squeeze. “Thanks, Eli.” She waited, letting him finish what he was saying. Truth be told, she wasn’t sure that she would ever take him up on that. Even the thought of telling someone about it, even on a vague level, would mean facing things that she hadn’t faced in the past four years in this lunatic asylum, because she felt like she had nobody to talk to about any of it. She certainly couldn’t trust her psychiatrists, every single one of them had been so preoccupied with the idea that she was lying that none of them seemed to bother with the idea that she might be telling the truth, or the pain that had come from it. “I might take you up on that.”

As Eli thought, Sophie watched him. His brow furrowed, and he tensed; similar reactions to the one she knew that she had whenever someone mentioned her past. Talking about the entire situation was not exactly her favorite thing to do, and she had a feeling that it wasn’t Eli’s either. It wasn’t anybody’s who didn’t belong in this place. “Eli… I’m so sorry.” She couldn’t imagine what that was like. The power had come slowly to her when she was younger, and it was little modulations, nothing as powerful as it seemed Eli’s was. “For what it’s worth, I still don’t think you belong here.”