Cult

33: Mistress Kitty

I sit on the bench next to Liam for another minute or two or five... I'm not sure. My thoughts are confused and jumbled so I shake my head and focus on the way my heart beat is rising and my palms are moist with sweat. I don't want to believe what Liam is telling me, but at the same time, I know he can't be lying.

"I'd better get back to bed," I speak up.

"Yeah, me too," Liam agrees. He wipes the sweat off his neck with his towel and stretches his arms and legs before leaving for the bathrooms.

I sneak back into bed and curl up close to Harry. I wrap my arms around his waist and act as the big spoon. I close my eyes and rest my head against his back, listening ot his heartbeat.

"Kat?" he speaks up. I shake slightly, caught off guard by his voice. I thought he was asleep.

"Harry? Are you awake?"

"Mmhmm."

Harry turns and curls his legs up to his chest.

"I'm sorry, Kat, I'm so sorry, baby!" he murmurs under his breath. 

"Harry? Are you ok?" I press at his shoulder and move the hair form his face, but he keeps shaking his head. He's sleeptalking.

"Kat, I didn't mean to, I'm so s-sorry. I shouldn't have brought you here.... V-V is dark.. your blood... a spell. Dark-dark spell..."

I stare at Harry, unsure if I should wake him or let him ease back into sleep. If I wake him now, he'll be embarrassed and nervous. 

"It's ok, Harry," I whisper. I massage his back, trying to ease the tension in his body and hoping it will help his mind relax. I don't want to make a big deal out of what he just said because most of it was incoherent, but what did it mean?

V...dark spell...blood. The pretty much sums up the House of Omega and this cult, but why is he saying he's sorry? He's sorry he brought me here, yeah, ok, that's understandable. But why does he sound so guilty? Why did Liam and Niall also sound so guilty today? As if they knew a lot more than they were admitting. 

I sit up in bed and take and rub my forehead. I can't form a logical explanation for everything that the boys have been tellin me these past few hours, especially not at this hour. I might as well just go back to sleep and think about it in the morning, when I'm awake and alert.

Harry's mumblings die off after a few minutes and we both go back to sleep.

***

Harry wakes up before me and is already in the bathroom. I follow him there and brush my teeth, watching him shave from the corner of my eyes. He doesn't seem to notice at first. Then he smiles.

"What's the matter? Never seen a man shave?" he teases. I try to smile.

"Actually, I remember every morning when I was a kid, I'd sneak into my parents' bedroom to see if they were awake. They had this nice fluffy bed, way better than mine. And my dad would wake up before my mom and shave very cleanly and precisely. He was very organized, very aware of how to keep things separate yet parallel...."

I'm not sure why I'm half ranting about my dad at this point. I haven't verbalized anything about my parents in weeks. But strangely, it feels good to talk about them now. I don't feel as much antagonism at this point in the game. They're like a distant memory to me now, but I don't know if that makes me super relieved or heartbroken...

"Your...dad sounds like an interesting man. Based off the night I met him, he seemed like a nice guy. After all, he did give your hand to me instead of...instead of Zayn."