Monster

               The bar clearly once had an enterprising owner that attempted to emulate a T.G.I. Friday’s with the kitschy pieces hung all around the walls, but these bits were dingy and dirty garage sale finds.  The air was marinated in stale beer with a slight undercurrent of unwashed bodies.  Dr. Mentz felt out of place in his clean polo shirt and khaki pants, especially when he eyed the three hunched beings at the bar looking as if they were fixtures more than people.

                Mentz sat at a table that was in the only well-lit area and upon feeling the stickiness of the table top kept his hands in his lap.  He wondered when the last time the entire bar felt the sting of soap and water.

                A waitress with a bad henna rinse and a jaded expression approached and asked him what he wanted to drink.  Her voice was surprisingly girlish and breathy in spite of her fifty odd years.  He ordered a beer he wouldn’t drink.  He hated beer but was certain if wine was available in the place that it wouldn’t be potable.

                He was slightly early for his meeting but was certain the other party would be prompt.  Miri seldom spoke unless she meant every word she said.  He tried not to look as nervous as he felt. 

                  The waitress returned with his bottle of beer.  He paid giving a tight lipped smile and a not too generous tip to which the waitress said nothing.  Alone again, he wondered what made Miri choose such a place to meet.  She had to know that both of them would be highly noticeable.  Then again, knowing Miri, that was exactly what she wanted.  She did everything for a reason.

                He knew the moment she arrived.  The whole atmosphere of the establishment changed.  Even the patrons stirred from where they meditated on their drinks.  The bartender openly gaped at her, and the waitress slid her hand up to her hair.

                Oh yes, Miri was conspicuous.  Her dark hair and olive skin spoke of a Mediterranean heritage, but her glowing bottle green eyes said she had inherited something different.   She wore a short print dress with a tight bodice and boots that went up to her knees.  She was striking in her appearance, but it was more than her looks.  She carried an aura that could fill any room. 

                Mentz unconsciously stiffened and held his breath like the prey that he was.  She was in control of this situation and he knew it.  So did she.

                Miri approached the table waving the waitress away with a flick of her hand.  The waitress looked relieved and scurried back to her post.   Miri sat down and stared at Mentz.  Mentz suddenly wished himself anywhere else but he knew he had to be there.  He had his duty.

                Miri smiled slowly, knowing she was making him uncomfortable and enjoying it. 

                “Why did you come?” She asked.  “You know there is nothing you can do.”

                He picked at the label on his bottle and said, “I came to ask you to return.”

                Miri barked a laugh. 

                “Why did you choose this place?” He asked.

                She smiled again. “Playing psychiatrist?”

                He shook his head. “Curiosity.”

                She tilted her head and regarded him for moment.  He hated when she that.  It made him feel like a fly that was about to lose its wings.

                “To give you something to answer for,” she said with a shrug.  “They will find out that I was here.  That you were here.  And they’ll wonder.  Why didn’t the good Dr. Mentz call in the troops?  I believe Scott will be especially displeased.”

                He looked about the bar and shifted in the rickety chair, unpeeling his feet from the floor.  He knew she was right.  He also knew she had deliberately set him up, but he decided he wouldn’t play her game. 

                “You need to return to the lab, Miri,” he said.

                “I am not Subject 942 anymore,” she snapped.  “You and Scott have had all the fun you’re going have.  The government wanted a monster and that is what you’re going to get.”

                “The government…”

                She swiped his beer bottle off the table, and it smashed on the floor.  Miri’s temper clawed at the walls, and no one made a move. 

                “The government spliced my genes so many times there isn’t a word for what I am,” she hissed.  “I’m certainly not human.  I’m not anything.  And you expect me to return.  Oh, no, I have too much to do.”

                “They did the wrong thing,” Mentz admitted.  “The government shouldn’t have taken all those people from the cruise ship and used them to experiment on.  They destroyed so many lives.  No one can changed that.  They can’t bring the dead back to life or restore people’s sanity.  They hid the truth and those people’s families deserve that truth. But, Miri, you can’t fight the government.” 

                “I don’t intend to,” she said, leaning back into her chair causing it to creak under the pressure. 

                “Just what do you plan to do?”

                “I’m not telling you shit,” she spat.  “Oh, you’ve pretended to be my friend…”

                “I am your friend,” he insisted.

                “You work for them.  I know exactly where your loyalty lies.  You said you were curious as to why I choose this place?  You’ve never been curious a day in your life.  If you were, you’d know more than you do about me.”

                Mentz suddenly realized that the rapport he thought he built with Miri over the past months was nothing but a calculation on her part.  He was being used and he should have realized that.  They had turned Miri into something else, god knows what.  She couldn’t be trusted.  She couldn’t be reasoned with.  In the government’s quest for the superior human, they very well made have turned a simple average woman into psychopath with amazing abilities.  In that moment, he knew he wouldn’t be able to stop her.  He could only find out what information he could.

                “Why am I here, Miri?” he asked.  “Why did you ask to meet me?”

                “Because you’re my little messenger,” she said as if it were obvious.  “I can trust you to be at least that.  You’re going to let them all know that their world is going to burn.  From the chief to the lowest tech.  Starting here and now.”

                Miri drifted a finger across the table in front of him leaving a smoldering trail in her wake.  Mentz’s breath caught in his throat.  Since when could she do that, he thought. 

                Instinctively, he reached for her, but she caught his hand and pinned it to the still smoking alcohol soaked table. 

                “You see the bartender?” She asked as she turned her head to look at the man.  “That’s the owner.  And Scott’s brother.  And he has no fire insurance.”

                The table next to them burst into flame.  The waitress screamed.  Three more tables lit up, and the patrons, awakened from their stupor, scrambled for the door followed by the waitress.  The bartender fumbled with a fire extinguisher.

                “Get out!” Mentz yelled at him.  “Just get out!”

                The bartender stared at him for a minute and then ran for the exit. 

                Fire licked up several posts, and Miri stood grinning at her handiwork.  Mentz grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the door.  He placed his hand on the door handle when the bar back exploded showering glass over a massive area.  Mentz felt the bite of broken glass hitting his skin.  He threw the door open, choking on smoke that was already filling the room, and flung Miri through the door before following her.

                Miri laughed.  “How gallant.  Saving me before yourself.  How foolish.  Fire can’t hurt me.”

                Mentz stared at her before saying, “You’d burn, Miri.”

                “But I’d heal,” she pointed out.

                “You don’t know that!” He yelled.  “You don’t know the extent of your abilities.  You’re not immortal.”

                “You don’t know that either,” she said and then turned her back to him to watch the flames shatter the front windows.  She clapped her hands.

                “You crazy bitch!”  The bartender screamed at her, grabbing her arm.  “You did this!  You set my place on fire!”

                Miri stared intently at him and whispered, “Get away, bug.”

                The bartender stared open mouthed at her and then quietly moved away. 

                Sirens sounded in the street signaling the arrival of the fire department and ambulance. 

                “Miri,” Mentz said, “stop this.”

                She giggled.  “I’m not Superman.  I can’t just blow out a fire.”

                Mentz shook his head.  “You know what I mean.  Stop all of this.  Stop what you’re going to do.  Come back to the lab with me and work this out.”

                An EMT approached Mentz and asked him if he was all right.  Mentz shook him off, but the EMT said, “Sir, you’re bleeding quite badly from your arm.  Let me patch you up.”

                Another EMT asked Miri if she was okay.  Miri twirled and then said, “Not a scratch.”

                “Sir,” Mentz’s EMT said, “please let me take care of you.”

                Mentz nodded and said, “Don’t let her leave the scene.  She started the fire.”

                But Miri was already gone, slipping away in seconds without being seen.  She was quick and silent. 

                Mentz cursed.  Miri wouldn’t stop.  He couldn’t imagine a way they would stop her.  She had been hiding her fire starting abilities.  What else was she hiding?