"My, my, you seem worn out."

Tahlia paused in her tracks at the door frame. The grip on the binder in her hands tightened superlatively at the sound of his words.

She felt a surge of self consciousness run in her veins all of a sudden.

Now, Tahlia had never thought of herself as quite the head turner. In all fairness, she never really did bother with her appearance, sticking to her trusty jeans and t shirts, her curly hair falling loose in it's messy glory.

She just didn't care.

But being called worn out by the god-like man in front of her, all of a sudden, caused her to grow conscious of how she looked.

Don't let him get to you.

"Yeah, well," She inclined her chin up, as if it was her ticket to a better stance, "You seem crazy."

She retorted, silently thanking the heavens that her voice didn't crack or go mute for once.

Logan Hunt was in just the same disposition as he was when Tahlia left last time.

Patches and ducts took up most of the spatial dispersion of his bare muscles, as he lay there looking spent, but heavenly.

The monitors beeped monotonously as they both gazed into each other's figures wordlessly, one's lips set into a frown and the other's an upturned curl.

Now, normally Tahlia would have kept her eyes cast down, in hopes that she didn't let the man uncover her notions.

But not today, no.

She kept her heated stare fixated at him to make sure he could feel just how much she despised him.

She walked in silently, beginning to set her things down quietly on the side table.

"What, no greetings today?"

She didn't have to look at him to know the smirk that sat in all of it's glory on his lips.

She chose not to answer, not wanting to waste anymore time with this Devil.

"Did you have any pets as a child?" She read out the first question in her file, making sure to keep her tone flat and emotionless. She was here for an assignment, and that was it. Or at least that's what she told herself a few hundred times before coming to Westerly.

"Yes, a kitten."

"What are your fondest memories with it?"

"Skinning it alive for a makeshift blanket. It was an awfully chilly night."

Tahlia stilled in her seat, gulping involuntarily. Her hands quivered as she clutched the thin leaf of paper which threatened to fall out of her grasp any moment.

Logan burst out into a small chuckle at the sight of all color evaporating from Tahlia's face.

"I'm kidding, relax." He sneered, "Like I've already said a billion times before, I don't remember anything."

"You shouldn't let yourself be fazed so easily Natalia, I do wonder how you think you could become a professional in this field."

Tahlia furrowed her brows, a sour expression taking over her features, "You're...You're..."

Logan raised an eyebrow at her struggle for words.

"Despicable." She spat, shaking her head.

She didn't care that she was violating every rule of speaking to a subject. All of her ethics were out of the window, she loathed him.

A pensive, half smile bloomed on his lips, "I've been called worse."

Nothing that you don't deserve, She thought to herself.

Concentrate.

A voice inside Tahlia reminded her, prompting her to reluctantly continue. She sighed, gazing at the questions that followed.

What was your behavior with children at school? When did you feel the first bout of aggression?

Tahlia knew Logan couldn't possibly answer these questions with no recollection of his past. These questions were formed for normal criminals, not mentally insane serial murderers.

Yet once again, Tahlia found herself fighting with the urge to ask about Ian. Those were territories of his mind she was the most unfamiliar with, yet the most drawn to. She wanted to know more about the darkness that inhibited inside him.

Focus on the project Tahlia, her subconscious reminded harshly.

She cleared her throat, before moving on to the next question on the questionnaire.

"What was your first sexual encounter?"

The words left her mouth before she had the time to process it.

Logan cocked his head to the side, an intrigued grin playing on his lips, "You'd like to know that, wouldn't you?"

She swallowed, mortified.

"I-no- it's a standardized question on the..I-I didn't- no."

The insides of her mouth went dry, her mind not able to form basic English phrases under his stare.

Her tongue cleaved to the roof of her mouth, as she closed her eyes in an attempt to regain from the stuttering mess. "You don't have to answer that."

His ocean eyes gleamed like stars as he mocked a frown, "But where's the fun in that? It was the only question you were stirred to ask."

She narrowed her hazel eyes discreetly, "I'd rather choke." She murmured under her breath.

"Is that so?" He leaned in closer to where Tahlia sat, a cool gleam in his eyes.

"Then how do you explain your breathing clearly become heavier? How do you explain your pulse elevating in a few seconds? Your heart, it's beating faster isn't it?"

If Tahlia was beyond words before, it didn't even come close to her predicament now.

He was perceptive, far too perceptive for Tahlia's sake.

He quirked a brow, waiting for her to say anything.

"Uhm..."

"Uhm?" He smirked, clearly enjoying watching her struggle for words.

"God, you're..so..so.."

She clenched and released her fists repeatedly, searching for the right word to call that man.

She gave up when she realised that she was doing nothing more than putting on a show for Logan at the expense of her stupidity.

He ran his tongue across the bottom lip unconsciously, messing her equations up in a way no man ever could have.

Tahlia hated herself for finding anything complimentary about the killer at the moment.

"I hate you." She said quietly.

Tahlia expected Logan to grin maddeningly, or even counter back with a coy answer.

Nothing. Nothing, but silence perpetuated the space.

"Can I ask why?" He said finally, his poise calm, too calm.

She snorted, "Besides the obvious?"

He nodded, "Besides the obvious."

He peered into her eyes for a second, somehow making it seem like forever.

"Why makes you hate me Natalia?"

His voice was unusually quiet, as if he wasn't speaking to Tahlia, but the atmosphere that surrounded them.

Hate?

Out of all the personal and prodding questions Logan Hunt had asked her, this is the one that had caught her off guard, truly.

Hate was a strong word, yes.

But of course Tahlia hated him.

She had to. She did.

He was nothing but a disgusting murderer. The only feeling she ought to have felt was disgust.

Of course she hated him.

But did she?

She glimpsed at Logan, who gazed back at her emptily.

Even if she put the killings aside for a comical second, it didn't really change things a whole lot.

He was infuriating, sadistic even. Awfully charming.

Everything you'd expect from a psychopath.

He'd exasperated Tahlia since day one, his mood swings no better than strikes of a hot, burning whip.

But he'd hit a nerve when he brought up..

She swallowed, letting her sight fall back into her lap, on her fidgety hands.

Her attention was only swerved when the door was opened, creaking loudly.

"Good evening Miss." The doctor from the day before entered with a visibly fatigued look on his face.

"I'm sorry to have cut this session short, but we need to run some urgent tests on Mr. Hunt." He spoke with pursed lips.

"You can resume next week."

Tahlia was left confused, but also thankful in a way, therefore not questioning it like she otherwise would have.

She plainly nodded, rising up to quickly collect her things, not being able to gather the courage to look at Logan again.

Every thought from before prevailed in her mind, making full circles of culmination.

She muttered a small goodbye to no one in particular, before walking out with a muddled mind.

You hate him. That's the sane thing to do here.

Her ego was resolute, there was no way she could have any sort of positive feelings towards a sick killer who gutted women.

But he's mentally ill. It's not entirely him who commits the murders.

The real him could be the ideal him.

The id in the back of her brain countered back, affirming it's stance.

She paused, her mind flashing back to every single piece of conversation she'd had with him.

How intimidated she was.

What a nervous wreck she'd been.

How he made her heart race.

It was then, that all of a sudden, something ticked inside Tahlia.

Something stronger than she had anticipated.

Whatever it was, it had a mind of it's own as she turned back around.

Her legs picked up a swift pace, waltzing right back into the nursing room.

The adrenaline pumping in her only slowed down once she stood at the door, breathless.

"Natalia." Logan murmured, his tone holding perplexity as he saw her.

The doctor who too, seemed a little confused, chose to say nothing.

She stepped forward towards his bed, until she was close enough.

"I don't.." She began, licking her lips.

She looked up at him.

"I don't hate you, Logan."

With that, wasting not a single second, she turned back and walked right out of the room.

As she'd turned to leave, she didn't even notice the briefest of smiles playing on his lips.

And neither did she notice the one on her own.

✴✴✴

Sigmund Freud divided the human psyche into 3 parts, or 3 structural components of personality:

: This essentially feeds your thoughts and behavior that is illogical, irrational, primitive and selfish.

It works on the pleasure principle and calls for immediate gratification of needs; aggressive and sexual instincts.

: It works on the reality principle, therefore using realistic strategies to make decisions and deal with situations.

However, often this can be relatively weaker than the ego, i.e. your irrational thoughts are likely to override the logical ones.

: Think of it as a parent. It controls the id's impulses but also keeps the ego in check.

Example- If your id wins, and you do something rash and wrong, the superego is responsible for the guilt you feel.