by H. M. Gooden
VANESSA GLANCED BACK over the gate she'd slammed shut a few minutes before and saw a small amount of ashes and clothes. The hat and purse sat eerily nearby, untouched by the fire. Vanessa hadn't been able to watch the whole thing, since it had been more gruesome than she could stomach, but knew for a fact the woman hadn't escaped. Vanessa had seen her go up like a torch and heard her screams continue for several seconds, before the burning progressed rapidly to the point where she couldn't recognize a face and the screams had stopped. She'd had to turn away then, her stomach heaving. She'd been horrified and amazed at Cat's power and for the first time, she thought that maybe her sister was a match for a sun god’s power, after all.
CAT FINALLY FOUND SOME strength returning to her body and looked up at her sister, who was still standing next to the fence looking at the spot where the countess had stood. Cat suddenly sensed a tickle at the back of her mind, almost like a scratching at a door. She felt more than heard a soft voice speak.
Hello? Cat?
She realized that Evelyn was quite literally knocking on the door of her mind, asking if she could come in.
She mentally sent back a soft 'yes' and heard Evelyn's question as though she was standing beside her.
Are you okay? You seem really tired. Is everything alright? Is Vanessa okay?
Cat nodded her head, then felt foolish and thought the words instead.
Yes, we're both here and we're fine. We found her, Evelyn, and it's all done. As soon as I have more energy, we'll meet you guys back at the apartment.
She felt Evelyn give her a mental hug then fade out of her mind. She blinked back to her surroundings to find Vanessa watching her with concern. She smiled wanly up at her sister from her seat on the ground.
"I'm okay, Vanessa. Just super tired now. Can we go back to your place? I need to sleep."
Vanessa gave her a relieved smile. "Of course. But I want to get her bag before we leave and see what it can tell us."
Vanessa quickly grabbed the purse, leaving the hat in the pile of ash beside it. They walked away, with Vanessa carefully supporting her little sister.
CHAPTER EIGHT
It took longer to get to Vanessa's place than Cat had anticipated. By the time they finally reached the apartment, she was almost completely supported by her sister's air magic. Vanessa had been careful about ensuring that what she was doing wasn't obvious to any casual observers, using just enough power to lift Cat without making her hover and keeping her arm around her sister in a supportive fashion. However, both Evelyn and Mai noticed immediately and rushed over when they saw the door open.
They helped Cat to the couch, each taking an arm to guide her. She collapsed into the soft surface, looking paler than usual with her eyes a burning sapphire under her flaming hair, which had long since escaped from the omnipresent ponytail.
Evelyn turned away from Cat, directing her questions at the much healthier looking Vanessa.
"What happened? You guys have been gone hours! I need some details, please."
Mai said nothing, but continued to look at both girls with her eyes wide open. Vanessa plopped down across from Cat, also tired from the effort of assisting her sister on their journey home.
"We followed the woman to a back alley, where she got one of the girls she was following alone. It looked like she was in the process of trying to take her soul or something. You'd have to ask Cat about that though. I couldn't really tell what was happening."
Vanessa looked at Cat for clarification and she nodded a tired agreement, so Vanessa continued.
"Anyways, I separated them and Cat basically took the woman on with her attitude. I was pretty impressed at her sass, actually, and couldn't have done better myself!"
Vanessa smiled proudly at Cat, before continuing more solemnly.
"She called herself Countess E-something Bathory before she attacked Cat. I threw her down with a wind-slap and then Cat kind of jumped on her back. From where I stood, I could see Cat glowing and at one point she actually looked like she was on fire, before she fell off the woman. I pulled Cat back when I saw the woman go up like a match then dragged Cat and the other girl to safety. It didn't take long until the woman was completely burnt up. The only thing left was a hat, which I left, and her purse, which I took."
Vanessa held it up for the girls to see then shrugged. "The girl bought my explanation story without any problems. I'm pretty sure she just wanted to pretend it didn't happen. And now here we are. Back at the apartment with a new purse." Vanessa thought for a moment, then nodded. "Yup, that's pretty much it."
She got off the couch and grabbed a Pepsi out of the fridge, before returning to the other girls.
"So, anybody have any questions?"
She looked at Evelyn and Mai while taking a sip from her can. Mai shook her head, still looking shocked and glancing over at Cat with concern.
Evelyn stood up and walked over to the window, looking out almost absently while she mused out loud.
"So, they've started to come for us then."
Vanessa pursed her lips, confused."Who? What are you talking about?"
"The Dark man isn't alone," Evelyn replied, sadly. "In my dreams, and also from what Robin's said, we'll be forced to deal with others of the dark, either created by or working with Dub. I'm not sure how many we'll face before him, but he isn't the only challenge we have to deal with this, not like last time when we only had Declan to worry about." Evelyn walked back to the couch where Cat was still sitting, almost half asleep now. "From your description, it sounds like you met Elizabeth Bathory."
Vanessa looked at her with surprise.
"Yeah, that's what it sounded like. Do you know her?"
Evelyn nodded. "She's a well known mass murderer, probably the most bloody female serial killer in the history of humanity. Her targets were usually young women, which would explain her focus today on the girls at the park. Historians say she'd bathe in their blood to keep herself young."
Vanessa shuddered in disgust, her opinion obvious even before she spoke.
"Well, that's gross, but she won't be killing anyone else now at least. She's a big ol' pile of ash in a San Francisco back alley now and I don't see her coming back from that."
Mai spoke for the first time. "How did you do it?"
Cat opened her eyes and looked at her. She'd recovered a little, but even a phoenix needs time to regenerate and she kept her answer brief.
"I touched her and channeled my energy into her. I found a really dark, dry soul and it just kind of went up like a campfire. Maybe it was because she had no good left in her anywhere, but I didn't feel anything that might be saved. I guess it made her catch on fire. I don't know how it happened, because I've never done that before."
Mai thought about her answer, speaking slowly and thoughtfully.
"I think that we will see more like this. Those that are so old and evil they can not be redeemed. But I also think it is important that we try to save them, if there is any spark of good left."
Cat gave a short nod of agreement, before standing up, still feeling a little unsteady and resting against the couch for a moment before straightening fully.
"I'm really sorry guys, but I need to get some sleep. We can go over it in more detail later if you want."
Vanessa helped her to the bedroom where Cat laid down in the bed in which Mai had napped earlier. Vanessa closed the door as Cat fell into a deep sleep.
CAT SLEPT AROUND THE clock until the next morning, completely oblivious to her surroundings. The episode with the countess had drained her even more than her showdown with Declan. She felt strangely neutral about the fact that she had, technically speaking at least, set a woman on fire. She always thought she'd feel bad, or at least something, if she ever had to kill someone, whether it was an accident or in self-defence, but found that she was surprisingly okay with it. The woman hadn't even felt human when Cat had touched her, just dark, twisted, and evil. She was rather surprised that she'd been able to set her on fire thoug
h, never having considered that she'd have that kind of ability. It actually made Cat feel better, when she thought about her upcoming battle with Dub, knowing that she had that much power. Maybe she wouldn't take up drinking yet.
Cat smiled to herself, still amused by her snarkiness when she'd first found out what they were up against. She sat up cautiously, testing her arms and legs before standing. She felt pretty normal, just a little thirsty. She changed her clothes and headed to the kitchen, moving as silently as possible so that she wouldn't wake Evelyn, who was still asleep in the bed next to her. Cat slipped into the living area, where she saw Mai sleeping on the couch under some blankets, still dead to the world.
It was bizarre to think that it had only been one day since she had woken up and met Mai for the first time. So much had happened in the previous 24 hours that it felt almost as if an entire week had passed instead of just one Saturday. She glided quietly into the kitchen, pouring a glass of water for herself from the water pitcher in the fridge. She enjoyed the soothing coolness of the water as it glided down her throat and calm at the everyday comfort spread through her body.
"Jeez, Louise!"
Cat almost dropped the glass, startled to see Mai standing in the doorway with a blue blanket draped over her shoulders, like a refugee from a zombie movie.
Mai smiled apologetically. "Sorry. I did not mean to startle you. I felt the water running and wanted to see how you were feeling today."
Cat felt her heart rate slowly return to normal and sat down at the kitchen table. She smiled as she looked up at Mai.
"I'm fine, really. I've done things like this before and it makes me really tired, but part of my skill set is being able to regenerate, so while I'm still more tired than usual, it just takes a little while until I'm back to feeling like myself."
Mai nodded in acceptance, but looked at her shrewdly. "But how do you feel knowing that you killed someone?"
Cat sighed, then tried to answer honestly.
"I don't feel like I thought I would, for better or worse, but I'm not really sure how I should feel yet. I mean, on the one hand I did technically kill someone. I saw where they burnt into ash with nothing left. But on the other hand, they had no redeeming human qualities and were just a shell used to carry evil around and suck the life out of others. I'm not sad, but I also can't really feel proud of myself either. More, I don't know, irritable? I feel a bit off right now is all."
Cat rubbed her neck as she tried to process everything, feeling curiously empty of the emotions she thought she'd be experiencing.
Mai nodded. "I have seen a lot of destruction and damage before meeting the dark man and know how hard it can be sometimes to know right from wrong. It seems as though murder should always be wrong, but then you have a situation like this and it is hard to even think of it as murder, because it is not really. You did not kill a person, or even an animal. Instead, you drove back the darkness, which is a good thing, always."
Mai looked at her with compassion.
"It is also okay to not know how you feel, as long as you feel like you can keep going. That is the most important thing."
Cat smiled. "Thanks. It helps to hear you say it. And really, I’m okay now. I feel much better than I did yesterday and I'm sure I'll feel even better by tomorrow. The weekend is basically over, so I think it's time for me and Evelyn to go home. But we'll be back soon, I hope." Cat thought for a moment, then added, "we need to find you a teacher, too. I think now that we've run into the minions of darkness, we are going to have more to deal with. You'll need to have better control over your powers and know what you're able to do."
Cat wasn't sure how they'd find someone for Mai, other than just to let things happen to them as they always seemed to. Knowing Robin, it was possible he'd already found someone to train her, the same way he'd known about Mai joining them and always hinted so cryptically at everything that was going to occur.
"I would like that," Mai agreed. "I was just starting to understand my powers before..." her words trailed off sadly.
She looked out the window and Cat watched as she blinked her eyes a few times to keep tears from falling.
"My aunt was the only teacher I had." Mai's words were soft, full of regret and longing. "She was my best friend and I miss her so much."
Cat felt herself getting choked up at the picture Mai's quiet words painted. How incredibly lonely it would be to wake up in a new world. While they'd found her reactions to modern technology like cars, phones and TV hilarious, seeing everything from her perspective wasn't nearly as funny. She felt bad now about getting frustrated at Mai at the pedestrian crosswalk.
"I'm really sorry Mai. I know you miss her. Is there anything that I can do?"
Mai smiled a watery smile, luckily managing to keep her tears at bay. Cat wasn't really interested in a small breakfast swimming pool.
"Thank you, but not really. I will just have to get used to the world I have woken up in. I am sure with time, everything will become easier."
Cat and Mai sat in a mostly companionable silence for the next half hour in the kitchen. They didn't speak much, both content to spend the time in their own minds. Cat kept thinking about all that Mai had dealt with over the previous few days, or hundred years, whichever perspective you looked at it from and she wasn't sure if she'd have been nearly as calm as Mai seemed to be.
But you don't know until you go through something how you'll cope. It's nice to think you'd be awesome, but sometimes you even surprise yourself.
Cat couldn't have pictured any of her current life, except for school and running. Even having real friends seemed out of reach a few years earlier. In one short year she'd found people she could literally trust with her life and would give hers to protect. It had been like she'd gotten a new life at the time. But Mai had woken up in a completely different world and had to learn how to adjust without the help of her family or friends, dependent on Cat, Vanessa and Evelyn to help her. Life could be really crazy sometimes.
It was mid-morning before Evelyn and Vanessa trickled into the main living area.
"How are you feeling today?"
Evelyn made herself a cup of instant coffee before sitting down next to Mai. Cat smiled warmly at her friend's look of concern for her.
"I'm feeling much better. Almost back to normal, just a little tired."
Cat remembered that Vanessa had grabbed the woman's bag before they'd left, and turned to her sister.
"Hey, Vanessa. Did you check out the contents of that purse? I just realized I went to bed before I found out what was in there. Anything interesting?"
Vanessa nodded and went back into the living room to get it. She sat next to Cat and opened the unassuming floral purse. It looked like it could be one of their mothers everyday sac-type bags. Flowers on the outside, evil-lady items on the inside. Cat looked inside with trepidation, then sank back in her chair in disappointment, raising an eyebrow at Vanessa.
"Really? That's it?" Cat wasn't sure what she'd been expecting, but the book, lipgloss and wallet weren't very exciting.
Vanessa shrugged. "Yeah, that was pretty much the reaction the rest of us had. It would have been nice to have a magic wand or something. Maybe an amulet. But nope. Exactly what you'd expect someone to take with them for a nice, relaxing day at the park."
"Where you take home a teenager for a nice, light meal afterward," Evelyn added, with an eye roll which caused Cat to giggle.
"Well, that's unsatisfying. It would have been nice to have a little note in the bag, telling us what Dub's next move would be," Cat sighed.
Vanessa agreed, then changed the subject.
"Hey, Cat, now that this has all happened, what do you guys want to do next? Do we want to head out and explore more today? You don't have to leave until tomorrow."
Cat looked at Evelyn who raised one shoulder and gave her a doubtful look, then looked back at Vanessa.
"I think it's best if we maybe head back today. I'm still tired and if there's more of those
guys out there like Evelyn thinks, I'm really not up for that right now."
Evelyn looked relieved as Cat answered, then agreed. "I really need to practice. Right now we're kind of limited in what we can do. I was completely useless today, and we need to find a teacher for Mai as well. We probably should regroup and let Cat rest before heading back out. I'd like to be able to stay and help you next time, not just babysit." Evelyn grimaced, looking at Mai. "Sorry, no offence intended."
Mai shook her head with a small smile. "No offence taken. You are correct. I can not be of help right now, either.
"Well, I have to work on Tuesday anyway. So whatever you guys decide is fine with me. But either way, it looks like I’ve acquired a new roommate."
They'd all agreed that Mai should stay with Vanessa, as she quite literally had nowhere else to go, but no one knew what she else she should do. Finally after a long discussion, Vanessa had come up with the idea of taking Mai with her to the set of her new series to see if she could get her a job as an extra. Given that the show's producers were always looking for local performers, a Chinese teenager wouldn't be unwelcome on set, especially if she was as photogenic as Vanessa thought she'd be. Vanessa became excited by the idea that she'd be able to help Mai fit into the here and now, treating the idea almost as a project.
So Cat and Evelyn packed their stuff, both relieved and disappointed to be leaving so soon. They had not-so-secretly hoped to miss school, but would now be home in plenty of time to attend classes. After only two days, they'd accomplished as much as they had in the entire previous year in their fight against darkness.
With tight hugs and promises to call often, Vanessa and Mai closed the door on Cat and Evelyn, who slowly pulled the car out into the residential street, gliding through the lovely tree-lined neighbourhood then down the road back to Valleyview and home. Cat watched the scenery pass by with quiet gratitude. She'd faced darkness and come through into the light, touched but not destroyed. Altered, but not for the worse, she thought.