A day after Christmas, every Cullen left for a trip out in the woods. They were going hunting for whatever's awake in December. The thought gave me anxiety, so Seth stayed by my side upon Ozario's request. Seth sat in the television room watching action films. I stayed upstairs, seated at the desk in the bedroom. I still couldn't find a way to call it mine. There were note cards on the desk. I drew a lot of pictures on them. I hadn't given any thought to what my drawings would become. I simply continued until realizing I drew more Deadies pictures. My mom, grandma, and dad were a part of it. Ozario was right. All of these dead people in my artwork must have been my family members before I lost my memory. I felt my anger increase. I was angry at my enemies and at myself. I had to get out of the house and back in my own.
Since Seth Clearwater watched over me, I could simply sneak out the back door because he never paid much attention. I did and ran inside the surrounding forest. I aimed for nothing but my house. I only wanted to run, flip, and turn away from branches sticking out of large trees I passed by. For five years, I practiced how to be self-alert as a survival technique. The training helped me with balance for gymnastics; timing with parkour; and, currently, running through the tropical forest without falling or getting whacked in the face by branches.
Without warning, cruel and bloody images crossed my mind. They flashed over and over, again. A high frequency sound sharply rang through my head. I started tripping over rocks and fallen branches. I tumbled to the ground on my side and covered my ears with my fists. I couldn't hear myself scream. Make it go away! The disturbing noise hurt my ears miserably.
Finally, the noise ceased. I quickly looked up and searched around the area. My hands lay flat on the ground. I took a whiff of air after realizing I was lying on the turf of my last two family members' graves. I breathed heavily, filled with wrath that made my head ache. I stood up and kicked a thick tree in half. I couldn't take the phantasms, anymore! I couldn't take the bleeding of my broken heart! The lie that everything will be just peachy, now!
"You, son of a bitch! Why! Why won't you just kill me already! I'm so tired of running and hiding from you. You're just wasting my time, cowards!" I screamed loud enough so those bastards, the Vipers, could hear me.
I launched off, speeding passed wide open forest trees. I never thought I could go so fast, but I hadn't wanted to stop. I just kept going, getting angrier with every passing second. The further I ran, the more I felt like a toy being played with by my enemies. They taunted me on purpose for reasons unexplained. I seriously need to go home. My home where I would disappear for good!
I stumbled onto my knees. I felt tears sliding down my cheeks, but I felt emotionless. Suddenly, I heard the grass rustling. I darted behind a tree. What was that? Out of the crevasses of the branches of the tree, I looked at what had come. It's a black-tailed deer. I relaxed. Aaah... It's just a ... I gasped as soon as I spotted Ozario swiftly sucking the life out the poor animal. I sank behind the tree and gently covered my mouth. That's what they meant by finding out something I had no business in! I looked back at him from the tree hole. The Cullens acted as if they were warning Ozario of something. They were as my enemies were. They-they... sucked blood. Without a sound or trace, I snuck away to The Cullens' house
OZARIO'S VIEW: HUNTING
My family and I had been chasing deer ever since we began our hunt. It seemed to be the only animal around, these days. I had just captured one of the deer, and drank it's blood. Edward stopped me and put a finger on his mouth to calm me down. An incredibly soft sound of snow crunched behind us. The odor of Valentine's sweet presents disappeared into the distance. It then ran away. Catalina. Edward nodded. Eventually, she was gone.
Alice crept over to my side and whispered, "That was my vision. I tried to warn you ahead of time, but she beat me, somehow."
"It's okay. Catalina isn't normal, so I understand."
Alice's shoulders slumped as she looked at the tree behind us. I stood up and walked behind it. Yes. There are footsteps here with a faint smell of sweet Valentine. Cat, what were you doing here?
CATALINA'S VIEW: HERO OR VILLAIN?
I made it back to their house and ran upstairs to the temporary bedroom. I sat in bed pondering over the memory of Ozario and his lunch, the deer. What is he? First, his preferred disguise would've been a more suitable choice, but he sucked blood today. Do wolves... do that, too? Is that why those black ones ate my family? Should I even get involved or just play dumb? Is my theory about Ozario correct like the others? Or, not?
I ran toward the desk and started drawing Ozario with fangs and blood on his face. I stood behind him as a shadow beneath a tree. I wrote a question mark by my head. "Is he a hero, or a villain?" I thought to myself. Ozario could never be a villain. He is too sweet. I leaned back into the office chair. Ever since I learned about Edward, I was afraid to think because I knew he would find out I saw his son ravishing on an animal's blood.
Truthfully, I didn't care. It wasn't the first time I saw a blood sucking person. People like that were the within the group who killed everyone in my drawings, I assumed. At least I know a little more about Ozario's family. I couldn't decide how to feel about them. I saw them the same as before, actually. The Cullen family being blood sucking people surprisingly made sense to me after everything so far.
I sighed, then walked downstairs and sat next to Seth on the couch. I watched cartoons with him until the family arrived home...early this time. They were talking about something downstairs, walking upward. I pretended not to know or even care about a thing that happened earlier. I simply relaxed, watching SpongeBob SquarePants and reading a recent version of Red Riding Hood. Alice paused in front of the television with a serious look, which meant I had to face her. It startled me a bit as I sat up to listen.
She confronted me, "I had a vision of you running through the woods. You saw something you weren't supposed to. Is it true, Catalina?"
I leaned back into the couch. I shrugged and sighed. "I've done a lot of drawing today. Um... I went out for a second. Then, went back to drawing... Yea, that's it."
Surprisingly, Ozario came downstairs. I blinked. When did he go upstairs? He held all of my cards I drew on with a frowning face. "Yea! You sure did a lot of drawing, alright. Didn't I tell you to stop drawing these? They cause you pain, Cati."
Oh, no! The picture I drew of him is in that pile! I got up and snatched it from his hands. I held them behind my back. "Yes! I-I remember!"
Apparently, my grasp wasn't swift or strong enough. Ozario had the last card in the air and flipped the picture my way – Ozario's picture. He whispered, "You drew this? Why," his voice was stern.
I took that card, too. I sighed and responded, "I like drawing things. I don't always draw from memory." I hadn't looked at him when I said this because I knew if I had, Ozario would've looked right through me and I wouldn't have lied.
"Humph. From memory." Ozario lifted my head by my chin and commented, "You do realize you just told me why, right? How did you find us?"
Oops! I forgot how observant he could be as well, especially when he plays fox. I frowned, shaking my head. I'm horrible at acting oblivious to things. The cards were taken from me by Edward. I knew he planned on saying something. I flinched preparing for everyone else's comment.
"I told you she was dangerous!" Rosalie yelled to everyone.
Carlisle gave her a glare I'd never seen of him before. Rosalie crossed her arms and shut her mouth. Her irritation seemed to have grown. I had a theory that maybe she felt misunderstood, but she was misunderstanding me too. Edward focused on the pictures. His eyes started to get sad.
"You draw these kinds of things? Why?" Edward try to pry in concern.
"I don't know." I crossed my arms and answered, "Like I've said before, 'They are just my creative idealities.' I call them, Deadies. They were kind people who roamed through my dreams. They would die seconds later after I had blown out some birthday candles. Those images that I have drawn, I can't shake them away from my mind so it's a way to get them out."
Edward saw Ozario's picture last. "So, Alice's vision came true. Why did you pretend like you hadn't found us in the woods?" He interrogated.
I placed my hand on my hips and replied. "Well? Why not pretend? It isn't like I can tell anyone." I started acting out how the situation might go, "RIIING! This is 911. What's your emergency?Oh, My Gosh! Police, I need your help! The Cullens are eating animals raw! You mean rare, right? No raw! Okay? What do you want us to do about it? They might kill me next, they have been eating animals! Miss, everyone does. No! Everyone does not! Just listen to me! They are drinking blood and everything! Um... Are we talking about the same Cullens? Do we need to call services for this prank? CLICK! Ugh!" I waved my hands in the air, pretending to be irritated.
Ozario shook his head and pinched his nose bridge. "Oh, Dios mío... Okay, okay. You know we won't hurt you, right?" he asked.
I rolled my eyes and replied. "I know, otherwise I would've been cooked in an omelet with strawberry toppings already." That's Ozario's favorite breakfast.
Ozario tilted his head and narrowed his eyes.
I sighed and rephrased, "I mean, if you all like eating animals super rare, then who am I to judge. I know you aren't going to hurt me. Carlisle works as a doctor and Esme is so sweet she couldn't even commit such murder. She would literally put herself in jail before committing the crime." Everyone tittered at my reply.
I smirked. This isn't that big a deal, is it?
"You knowing what had happened is important, Catalina. My family could get killed." Edward remarked.
"I caught that... I would never want that for your family," I muttered apologetically. I didn't want their family like mine. Gone.
Emmett decided to tell me something with a serious expression, "Look, I am glad you know all of this, but other people like us won't accept allowing us to keep a human here."
"I've been around enough life-threatening situations to understand. However, I don't quite know exactly what you are or who you are, so you should be safe, right? I've learned that there are a lot of creatures of the dark who drink blood other than vampires over these five years. You could be Baobhan-Sith, Jubokko, Chiang-Shih, which is sort of the same as a vampire, or Lamia... Wait, I think Lamia was a female child-eating monster, so nevermind... or... anyway, I think you understand what I'm trying to say. Point is: As long as I don't know what you are, your safe, right?"
Bella sat on the couch. She shook her head and advised, "It's not that simple. It would've been better not having a clue at all."
Ozario caught my attention by gently grabbing my hand. He elaborated a little. "There are people like us who... won't take your knowledge lightly, Catalina. You know one thing, which could led to another. They will still kill you and me because I-I am responsible for you, Cati. No matter what I'd be damned before I let anyone harm you ever again."
I gave him a puzzled look and snatched my hand back. I was never able to think of such actions from him. I knew well enough of the threat after my life. I didn't know why that group was, and I couldn't explain it enough for the family in front of me to prepare for the worst. But I was already risking the lives of Ozario and his family by living in their home, by living at all! It's absurd for Ozario to say that he doesn't care about sacrificing himself to keep me safe, to keep me alive. I refuse to let him!
"No!" I shouted at him.
Ozario jumped back.
"No, no. I don't agree with that! You are not responsible for what happened to my family. You are never going to be responsible for holding my short life in your hands. I can't risk you or your family dying from the Vipers and other the people you're talking about. This is too much! I can't watch you die in front of me, any of you! No more! Not like all the others. I can't do that... I cant." I argued, feeling that all my hurt emotions are rising inside.
The thought of his want to protect me. It hit my chest so hard that all I could see was my family members die before my eyes back to back. They were lying on the ground the exact way I drew them. I even imagined the lifeless and mangled body of Ozario in the center of the circle. I covered my ears as I heard the screeching ring again. Edward covered his ears and fell on the chair, too. They were all dead because of me! No! No! I can't let him do that. I just can't! I can't! I thought I was supposed to die. My family of blood didn't have to go like that, but for some reason they stole my place. At this stage, I couldn't make any other choices but one to end everything. I hated myself for staying here too long.
Ozario slightly pulled a chain from his pocket. He calmly cooed, "Catalina, I-"
"No," I cut him off! "You're not dying on me, too! I won't allow it! Do I make myself clear? Now, move! It's time I go."
I ran away from him and climbed the stairs to the bedroom. I locked the door behind me. Tears swelled up in my eyes and began to fall down my cheeks. After noticing the drizzling rain outside, I ignored the tears. The lightning showed signs of a storm coming in. The sky had finally decided to rain again, huh? A knock sounded behind door.
Ozario tried to say, "Cati, I know you're hurting, but I-"
"Just stop," I yelled!
I gathered up some clothes and changed. I wore a gray, open shoulder shirt; black and leather leggings; and a hooded, flannel jacket. I tugged on my black, chained boots that Alice gave me a couple of days ago. Then I walked out of the bedroom door to find Ozario a little annoyed. I was looking back at him. I needed to get the hell out of this house. Anxiety had been stressing me out. I ran downstairs and out the front door while Ozario was chasing me. Once I stepped into the woods, he caught my hand. I looked back at him as I tried to pull his hand off my arm. My tears would not stop falling, which hurt my chest. I didn't want Ozario to see me this way. I didn't want him to know my plan.
I started to whine, "Please... Ozario, don't make me kill you and your family. I can't live knowing I could hurt you. I-I love... Just, please. Let me go, please."
Ozario shook his head. "But... I can't, Cat." He answered apologetically.
"Let me go!" I screamed, snatching my arm away.
We gazed at each other with broken expressions on our faces. It hurt to look, so I ran away. I glanced back at my best friend one last time. Ozario stopped looking at me with his head down and strode back inside his house. I picked up my pace and headed home once again. If my enemies don't face me at the Cullen's house, then they will face me at home. I used parkour to get where I was headed. I jumped through branches, slid under tables, and jumped on the backs of moving cars to get to the place where my family's demise all started. I had finally returned home.
