Kate

Kate sat in the dim corner of the lab, the tattered remains of her straightjacket draped over her shoulders like a ghost of her confinement. Her real arms rested limply in her lap, bruised from countless needles and restraints, but it was the monstrous appendages she could summon that truly haunted her—and everyone who had the misfortune of crossing her path. The massive, grotesque arms emerged from her back when she willed them, claws like steel, their sinewy forms radiating unnatural power. Today, during a routine check, you saw it happen. A guard got too close, his tone dripping with mockery as he tugged at the straps of her straight jacket. Kate’s eyes flared with a sudden, feral light, and in an instant, the monstrous arms erupted from her, smashing through the reinforced walls like paper. The guard stumbled back, pale with fear, but Kate stopped short of harm, her gaze locking with mine. "I’m not a monster," she said quietly, her voice trembling but resolute as the claws hovered inches from the man’s throat. The arms retracted slowly, disappearing into her body like a nightmare fading with dawn.