WARNING: Violence. There will be another attack in this chapter, if it makes you uncomfortable click out of this chapter or skip over it. You have been warned.
Review(s):
patalmellow – that's a good, positive way to look at it! :) Elvira chi okami – that is true I suppose! You'll have to hang on and see what's in store. I'm afraid it will get worse before it gets better.
Thank you!
Now please, enjoy.
Beautiful Nightmares
Chapter Fifteen
He unlocked the door of the quaint house. "Come, come! Please, come inside." William ushered the two werecats into the foyer. It was friendly and welcoming. "I apologize for the brief explanation."
"Have you been residing here long?" Stella shifted her gaze from the floor to the friendly face of William's.
He faltered for a moment. "Ah, no. No we haven't." He wasn't about to start lying to these kind people. Especially since it took him awhile to find them. He was glad they never changed their address, phone number… even right down to their looks. Everything had remained the same. Now, perhaps there were a couple graying hairs now but for the most part… nothing had changed. He knew she needed positive influence and this was the only way he could think of to bring the lost popstar a sense of 'home'.
"William… you've taken care of our daughter all this time, yes?" Reid adjusted his horn-rimmed glasses shyly.
He gave a curt nod. "Yes, sir. Just as if she were my own." William bowed his head for a moment. "It seems as though I've known her forever… and she is my own."
Stella brushed some loose strands of hair away from her face. "Thank you for doing that… I just, I wish she would talk to us again." She swore she wouldn't cry but when it came to their only child and the fact that she dropped contact with them… Stella and Reid both couldn't understand what they did wrong.
William raised an eyebrow. "She would give anything to be contacted by her parents. She believes you disowned her after fame found her." He narrowed his eyes in mild annoyance. "That's why I hoped to contact you… I wanted to ask if you would give her a chance and meet with her."
Reid and Stella exchanged looks. "Whatever do you mean? We've sent her more letters than we could count. Everytime we tried to call her cellular… it never went through?"
It didn't take much deduction for William to realize exactly who was behind this miscommunication. "That damn Persian..."
Reid locked his gaze to William's. "That manager of hers is a shady character. Tell me, has he hurt our Catty?"
William swallowed hard. He wasn't sure exactly what Persian had done to Catty or how many times he had. He knew something was going on but whenever he brought it up to her she shut it down immediately. She was scared.
"William?" Reid asked again, the tone in his voice stern.
It shook the other from his thoughts. "I have suspicions. I have no proof of this, but I intend to find some." He sighed. "I'm positive that he's the one behind the miscommunication between you and your daughter." William glanced at the time and his eyes darted towards the door. "I must go retrieve her from school."
"Please, we'd love to see her." Stella was ready to beg, borrow, steal… plead on her knees if it meant she'd be able to even see Catty.
He rushed and grabbed the keys and stopped briefly in front of the door. "Absolutely, remain here. I'll be back… with Catty. I promise."
"Catty!" Stella rushed as soon as the front door opened and she hugged the young werecat tightly.
"Mother?!" She hugged the older tight. She never wanted to let go again. Not that she wanted to before… but it had been so long since they talked. She missed everything about her parents. Their voices and their hugs! Especially their tight, reassuring… secure hugs.
"Hi daughter." Reid spoke softly, giving a gentle wave from behind Stella.
Catty released her grip on her mother and darted for her father, nearly knocking him off of his own feet. "Daddy! I thought you guys hated me." She couldn't help the tears from falling down as she buried her face into her father's broad shoulder.
"Hate you?" He hugged her tightly. "Catty… no, I'm so sorry sweetheart. We've tried to contact you. We've called, sent text messages, we've wrote so many letters…" He stepped back long enough to wipe the tears away. "you haven't gotten anything?"
She shook her head vigorously and sniffled. "No! I've gotten nothing… Persian told me you guys didn't want to be involved after I chose fame over family… he said you hated me for it. That you disowned me! You were ashamed… god, I can't believe none of it was true." She bit down on her lip angrily. "Of course, he fed me fucking lies and he has since the start." She inhaled deeply but exhaled sharply. "I can't believe I was stupid enough to believe any of it."
William put his hand up. "If I may?" He cut in. "Catty… he's a con-artist… yes it's terrible that neither one of us saw it sooner but now we have his character in clear view. He gave a stellar performance when it came to feeding you lies. He must have taken the letters and destroyed them… changed your cellular number."
Catty nodded. "When he surprised me with a new phone after my first sold-out concert..." Her entire being was trembling, this time with anger, not fear. "It all makes sense now." She cringed and hugged her father again. "I'm sorry I'm stupid, I'm sorry I didn't realize it sooner, I'm so sorry I hurt you guys..."
Stella rubbed her daughter's back as she hugged Reid. "Catty, you couldn't have known honey. Don't blame yourself and you are most certainly not dumb! William filled us in while you were at school. You grew tired of being manipulated by the industry and you want to find yourself. Not a lot of stars would do that, desperate to keep their fame status and all. You're brave enough to leave it behind for awhile and find who Catty truly is. And going to school? That's wonderful that you're continuing your education sweetheart. You were supposed to take online courses that would be the equivalent of a diploma but you've decided to just attend Monster High!"
Catty hummed in thought. "Mom… they don't know who I am. I created… this whole alias because I didn't want to make it known that I'm… gallivanting I guess… we just took off in the middle of the night. I started school a few weeks ago… I'm not that far into it but… you think I could graduate?"
Reid nodded eagerly. "Of course you could, you're not just anyone's daughter, you're ours."
She blushed. Catty hated how Persian kept the two people in her life that meant everything to her… from her. He wanted her all to himself. What an asshole! "Mom… dad… I promise we'll never miss another beat of communication, okay?" She pulled them both into a hug. "I love you so much."
"We can guarantee we love you more," her father joked softly. He left the small tear trailing down his cheek. He could stop wondering how she was… because now they knew. Al they had to do was make up for lost time… but it was a small price to pay to have their daughter back.
Meet me outside. NOW.
Catty looked down at her phone and winced. She met up with him every day during lunch. It was getting extremely hard to come up with excuses as to why she wasn't staying for lunch. Some days were better than others. Sometimes Persian had her sit in his car while he threatened her. The usual if she did anything stupid that he would hurt everyone she loved, including her parents that she just reconciled with. He was a vile creature.
She bolted down the hall and out the front doors.
"Hmm..." Toralei, the super-curious werekitty, watched as the new ghoul left the school in an awful hurry. "we're not supposed to leave school grounds… where are you going Miss Scarrington?"
With her iCoffin tucked in her hoodie pocket Toralei looked around cautiously prior to making a stealthy exit. From the corner of her eye she caught Dakota getting into a vehicle. It wasn't the one she usually got into after school hours. This one was different.
Toralei crouched, hid behind bushes and shifted her spot to get a better angle. Her eyes widened when she saw someone hit Dakota, a small bit of her blood splatted on the passenger side window. She was stunned. Completely stunned. What the hell was going on? She pulled out her iCoffin and crouched again, moving to the edge of the bush and she zoomed in on the screen… her finger pushed the red 'record' button.
"Why are you being so distant today, huh?" He purred at her as he nuzzled into her neck.
With blood slowly trickling down her lip, she refused to cry. She didn't want to give him the satisfaction of seeing her suffer anymore. "Why do you think?" She narrowed her eyes at him. "Because this is wrong. I will never consent to this..." he went to kiss her but she moved her head. "I'll never consent to you..." He tightened the grip his left hand had on her throat. "I'll n-never... con...sent to-this... c-crime."
He lifted her head and smacked it off the window. "I didn't ask you to speak. Did I? No. I didn't. Just lay back and take it like a good kitty should." He tore open the silky blouse and trailed his tongue along her soft breasts. "That's right..."
"Persian… this is the last time… you said… it was-" She moved her head quickly and his fist hit the window instead.
"You're not 'done' until I say so… Noir. I can easily make your life miserable..."
"You already have." She spat some blood at him and this time he broke the window in a fit of rage. He pushed her throat dangerously close to a jagged piece of glass. "One more word… just one more."
Her entire body shook with fear. He was serious. She could see the want in his eye. If she didn't agree to everything… he would kill her on the spot.
"Now that you've shut up, it's time to grasp what a real man feels like inside ya." With no warning he forced himself into her and she cried out in pain.
Toralei ran. She ran as fast as her legs would carry her. She darted into the school where she felt safe and grabbed a garbage can. She vomited everything she had consumed that day mercilessly into the trash. By the time she was done, tears were streaming down her face. That was horrible! Sure she maybe saw something like that in movies or television but that horrible act took place less than five feet away from her.
She did nothing… Dakota was still out there… but there was something she could do. It was the right thing. Toralei wiped the edges of her mouth and ran again, but this time… she didn't stop until she saw the familiar door, stamped: Headmistress G. Bloodgood.
Did she knock? She couldn't remember. But she nearly collapsed on her desk. "Toralei?!" She questioned, feeling rather startled.
"M-M-Mrs. Bloodgood… I - I, holy-fuck… I… you have… she's hurt… he's still there!"
Grace Bloodgood stared blankly for a moment. She had no idea what Toralei was trying to tell her. This best not be a waste of her time. "Toralei my goodness, spit it out!"
She tossed her iCoffin on the desk. "I-I followed Dakota out of the school about twenty minutes ago… we're not supposed to leave school property during lunch..."
"Right."
Toralei began pacing back and forth. It seemed to help her gather her scattered thoughts. "She got into this car..."
"That's strange," she drummed her beautifully manicured nails on the top of her desk. "her guardian doesn't pick her up from school..."
"SHUT UP!" Toralei screamed out, she had to fight back tears. "Let me explain!"
Grace's eyes widened… though she didn't appreciate being told to 'shut up'… something clearly had this ghoul rattled. She realized it would be best if she just sat there and listened.
"She got into this car and then… I saw blood… and I couldn't see much… he hit her but then he, he tore her shirt off her… oh god, it was awful! He… he forced… himself on her… I think..."
Bloodgood held up a hand. "Toralei…" A very small percentage of Grace felt that maybe she was just trying to stir up some drama involving the new ghoul… but the majority of her felt that Toralei being so distraught was the result of what she feared was happening. "You do realize what you're accusing this man of, don't you?"
Toralei pressed the video on her phone and it began to play…
