The cold barrel of the gun was pressed to Catharine's forehead and her breath immediately hung in her chest. Then as he called her a murder a sickness came over her and the images of blood covered her mind. "I am not a murder," she said through her teeth.
"Oh? The police seem to think otherwise. Derrek Grotin? Yeah they think you killed him," Xavier explained still holding the gun to her head.
"Come on, Xavier, put your gun down," Fee said stepping over Catharine.
"I'm not dropping this gun till you explain yourself," he said.
Catharine took in a deep staggered breath. "I'll tell you anything you want. You don't need to hold a gun to my head," she whispered.
Finally he let the gun drop in his hand. "What happened to your boyfriend?" he asked.
She raised her brows and then looked around the bar as everyone stared at her. Anxiety shook her body and answered, "He was hardly my boyfriend and it was either him or me."
"What happened?" he asked again.
She closed her eyes thinking back and wondered where to start. "He was just a guy who helped me. I was alone on the streets and he took me in. In return I did everything for him, but I started to realize I was actually trapped when he got abusive. Though I should've realized from the way he talked to me that I wasn't anything more than a slave to him."
"And he tried to kill you?" Xavier asked.
Her memory was thrown back to that night. Everything was dark, but that T.V. and the dim light over the oven.
The television that never shut off was loud and the man in the large pull out chair chugged at his beers he'd brought home after work still in his scrubs. He demanded a sandwich and had she just put mustard on at like "he said six times" then maybe she wouldn't have reached her breaking point.
He threw the dish at the leg that he helped heal a few years ago and with pain flaring through her body, it was almost a reflex as she reached for the lamp, that was never plugged in, and bashed it into his head. The glass base broke and fell in pieces to the floor. He laid on the floor, blood gushing to the carpet, with a large piece stuck to his neck.
She remembered the panic that blanketed her as she watched him try to fumble for his phone. That's when she impulsively kicked the shard deeper into his neck and then in the head till he stopped moving.
Relief took over as she stared at his dead body, tears of joy stinging her face till she looked at his limp hand, still on his pocket to reach for his phone. It was then she realized that she'd actually just killed someone and her body began to tremble.
She reached for his pocket and pulled out his phone and dialed 911 and as the lady came onto the phone asking what her emergency was when she pressed it off. She'd just killed someone and there was no way she was going to turn herself in. She was finally free.
And with her new found freedom, she ran.
Catharine nodded slowly to Xavier's question and then mumbled, "Yes. I needed to escape."
He grumbled, but accepted what she said. "I'm looking for a tall blonde guy and a girl who kind of looks like me," he said and pulled out his phone about to show her a picture.
"Nicholas and Xara," she whispered. It wasn't a question.
"Yeah. I need to know where they are. Are they OK?"
She shook her head. "I'm sorry, they're dead."
Xavier was quiet and Catharine could hear from behind her as Fee walked over and put her arms around him. A bit of jealousy flared in her belly, wanting to be the one to comfort him, but he knew all about her now, and it seemed he'd want nothing to do with her.
Catharine dug into her pocket and pulled out the last thing she had on her. She placed the photo on the counter and said, "I'm sorry it's folded, but I wanted to give this to you."
He eyed her and then the picture before taking it into his hands to unfold it. Eyes began to glaze as he looked over the picture. "This is...me and my sister...and my mom." He looked over to Catharine. "How did you get this? Where did you get this?"
"Alright," interrupted the man with the cap. "Let's move on to more important questions. Where'd you come from?"
"And tell the truth," Xavier snapped. He was angry and she could tell he was fighting the urge to cry.
Shuffling in her sit she peered down at her hands on the table. "I helped a vampire. He's not any normal vampire though. He has horns and he's unkillable. Takes the form of a bat like monster."
"Do you know what he is?" Fee asked.
Catharine shrugged. "He says he made a deal with a demon for his power."
"Figures," Xavier scoffs. "Leave it to a demon to make something like that, right?"
Will shook his head. "What did you help him do?"
"His name's Desmond. He wanted from me to help build his pack. He killed and added select people to his group that he knew would have powers to help him create the Hell we're all in right now."
"There's more of them?" Fee asked. "How many?"
"There's three more. Eve, Daniel and..." She looked over to Xavier. "Nicholas."
The whole room was silent to the name before Xavier asked, "My brother? You said he was dead."
Catharine shook her head. "He is. In the process of turning him, he had to die."
He was silent, but then asked, "How do you kill them?"
"I already told you they're unkillable."
"Then we find the demon that him the deal," he declared.
"Can we do that?" Fee asked.
Will stood and looked over to Catharine and then Xavier, "Take her, and don' let her leave your side."
Xavier nodded and Will left with Fee following. "Guess that means I'm off for the day," he said helping Catharine up while some hunters around them grumbled.
His hand was hard and rough, but warm.Nothing like Desmond and Nicholas's cold statue touch. She let a warm feeling travel through her from his palm and ended into her chest, filling her. She smiled at him, but he didn't return it, and the warm feeling was taken over by embarrassment. "Let's go," he said.
They walked through the front of the bar again and then across the street to where he opened the passenger side door for her. She said thank you and he nodded his head before walking to the other side to get in.
It wasn't long till they had come to a brick apartment building and parked in a small lot next to it. They walked to the door and he made sure she was in front of him when he shoved his key into the door. "Alright, only got ten seconds when I open the door before it locks again, so go," he said as he twisted the key and both of them hurried in.
In front of them were two staircases, one leading up and the one they had taken to go down. He kept his keys in his hands as they came to a wooden door with C-23 in shiny sticker letters on the door.
They both followed into a dark room and when Xavier switched on the lights it showed fairly used kitchen and attached living room. "It's really not much, but it's safe here."
He dropped his keys onto the counter and then walked to the fridge pulling a bottle of whiskey from the top. "Want some?" he asked and she shook her head no. She sat slowly onto the couch and he had walked over turning on the TV. "So Fee and Lo have taken the other two rooms, so I guess that leaves you the couch," he went on. She shrugged her shoulders and he frowned. "Not much for talking?" he asked.
"Would you like to talk to someone who had a gun to your head?" she asked.
He twitched his lips. "No I guess not." He was silent then whispered, "I just really needed to know where they were." By they, he meant his siblings.
"I'm sorry."
"Why did they turn him?"
A deep sigh escaped her lips. "He had a power that Desmond found useful."
"Which was what?"
"Oh.." she said not thinking he'd want to know. "Uh, I guess the best way to explain it is he imitates a barrier of pain."
"Yeah, sounds about right..." Xavier said sitting back. "And Xara? Nothing special about her?"
Catharine shrugged. "Not that I know of."
"That's good, she has peace," he said and all she could remember were Xara's screams. "Now, I need to do the same for Nick." From his own pocket, he pulled out the picture Catharine had given to him. "I don't even remember this, but I remember those days."
"What days?"
"My mother," he began. "She wasn't exactly mom of the year. She met dad when he came strolling through on a hunt with his own wife and baby boy at home. Long story short- she got pregnant, he didn't want to be with her and that set her on a dark path.
Our father took us in, shamefully having to tell Nance, his wife, who we grew up calling mom. We saw our real mother every once in awhile, but she did drugs and was homeless most the time." It was when he had said this she had gotten a sinking feeling inside. He had lost his family to Desmond, even his mom, and he didn't even know it. "How did you find this? Xara have it?"
She was silent a moment and went through her options before replying, "It was in the house. She lived in Desmond's manor unaware of him being there. If she didn't leave then she eventually died."
"A manor? I don't remember one, but she got what she deserved."
"How can you say that she was your mom."
"Mom? No. She gave birth to my sister and I and that's all she ever did for us."
" I see," Catharine mumbled.
"What about you?" he asked. "What's your family like?"
She shrunk in her seat afraid of the personal questions. "I honestly don't remember much."
"That's rough. How'd you end up with Grotin? That guy was like twice your age," he asked and took a big swig of his whiskey straight from the bottle.
"He found me, passed out with a broken leg," she said trying to go back to the cold night she was laying on the ground. She was helpless and couldn't move. She remembered feeling someone had to be with her, but no one ever helped her.
That's when she had woken up. Warm, but now trapped in a Hell she didn't know how to escape. "He took me home. Fixed me up. I was stuck there with his abuse with nowhere else to go."
"No family to turn to?" he asked and when she shook her head no he nodded. "So you never got out of the house?"
"Sometimes at night when he was passed out drunk I'd sneak to the gas station with some money. Sit for a little bit and enjoy a soft drink, but like I said, I didn't have anywhere else to go."
"Do you know why you were left in an alley?" he asked.
She took his whiskey and took a swig herself. "I don't want to answer questions anymore," she said.
"I'm sorry," he apologized. "The more I learn about you, the more questions there are."
"Oh," she sighed and remembered her mystery had peaked Desmond's interest as well. "I'm really not that interesting."
"Well I think you are," he said leaning in to her.
She leaned in the rest of the way to kiss him as the liquid she had drank was made her face hot and burst with courage.
'*•.¸('*•.¸ † ¸.•*')¸.•*'
"Where is she?" Desmond yelled as he pushed the objects that were on his desk onto the floor. He'd been out all morning looking for Catharine and couldn't even pick up her sent. "How far could she have gotten?"
Eve stood calmly as he threw things about the room. "She probably just didn't want to be here anymore. Poor lost kitty-cat."
"No," he said his voice was deep and confident. "She wouldn't leave again. She knows she's safe here."
"Again? So she has a habit of running away."
"Once before," he growled.
There was a knock at the door and Daniel and Nicholas both walked in. "She's not in the town," Daniel said.
"Fine. Go to the city and look for her. Nicholas you go with him," he order.
"I want to go," Eve cried.
"Why?" Nicholas asked looking her over.
"Because I'm bored stuck in this house. Why don't you stay here? I bet Daniel and I can find Catharine faster without a worm dragging us down."
Nicholas released a low growl from his throat keeping his mouth shut and his form still. "You need to shut up. I bet you're the one who took her out of here," he accused.
She raised her blonde brows. "Me? Please, I would never carry that smelly cat."
Nicholas was now silent and looked over to Desmond and Daniel who were staring at him, hanging on to see if he'd defend what he said. "I heard you and Desmond talking. You wanted her out of here."
"Oh. You heard us? That doesn't mean anything. I wasn't going to bring this up, but I had a vision of Nicholas here telling Catharine she needed to pack a bag and leave."
"I-" he began, but didn't know what to say. He had told Catharine to leave and it left him wondering why Eve would have a vision of such an event. An event that didn't even include her in it. "You're lying."
"You hesitated."
"Because your lies caught me off guard," Nicholas said smoothly.
"Whatever," she mumbled.
Though Daniel seemed to be blank faced Desmond was clearly upset. "Stop. Both of you. Eve, go with Daniel if you wish. Nicholas will stay here. Clearly he needs time to compose."
Nicholas growled again to Eve as they left and then turned to Desmond. "You need to watch out for her."
"She's just overprotective and it comes across the wrong way. Did you really tell Catharine to leave," he questioned.
He sighed before answering, "No. I liked her here. Wasn't she part of our pack?"
"Of course. That's why we need to find her. You know as well as I do it's not safe out there anymore."
Nicholas nodded. "Which reminds me. There's more of them out there."
"On the lawn?"
Nicholas held the office door open for Desmond as they both looked out the large bay window that looked over the town, but instead what caught their attention were masses of black over the lawn. Monsters sat dormant waiting for his word and command. His smile was wide as he said aloud with his arms out, "hail to the king."
'*•.¸('*•.¸ † ¸.•*')¸.•*'
Please ★STAR ★
Follow Me On Twitter @SamanthaMcCaff4
Add The Vampire's Deal To Your Library Today!