Through Kate's eyes….

This body is mine and yet I feel as if I am an intruder inside of it.

Seth led me to a back hallway lined with doors on each side.

"We made this side of the building into rooms for me, Richie and a couple other employees, though most the other Culebra's prefer the basement," he had said unlocking one of the doors and swinging the door inward.

"Like Scott?" I asked, though it hurt to think about my brother.

Seth nodded and gestured for me to enter. I stepped into the room. It reminded me of a motel. A queen sized bed with generic type bed spread, side table with a rotary phone and a lamp, vanity with a TV, closet and a bathroom just inside the main door.

"You hungry?" Seth asked as he turned on the bathroom light. He seemed nervous and unsure, that made two of us. I shook my head. I couldn't help but stare at my reflection in the vanity mirror.

I looked the same and yet different. I looked older somehow.

"Seth? How long was I gone?" I asked as Seth pulled some towels from the closet. He seemed fidgety and nervous but, was trying to hide it.

"Ummm a year, almost," he replied. I felt the breath leave my lungs as I reached for the bed to steady me. The room suddenly seemed to shrink.

"You ok?" asked Seth rushing to my side and helping me sit.

"A year? Are you sure?" I asked. My mind couldn't wrap itself around the notion. I remembered waking up on the platform above the blood well. I had been dressed in this white garment and my hair was full of blossoms. I couldn't remember anything until I started on my way to the Twister. How long had I been there? Months?

"Kate? What happened to you?" asked Seth as he pulled my hair back.

"I just didn't realize…I thought," I couldn't even finish. I swallowed hard and took a deep breath.

"I think I need to shower," I said. I had been wearing the same thing for a year, it was probably a good idea to get out of this white thing.

"Ok. I'll get some clothes for you plus I'm sure you'll want to see Scott," Seth said getting up and heading for the door.

"Wait Seth, I don't want to see him just yet," I said. I couldn't see Scott yet. I needed time to think before I tackled that reunion.

Seth nodded.

"I'll be back," he said and with that was out the door. I entered the bathroom and turned on the water.

The bathroom was spotless and everything in it was sparkling white. I untied the dress from the back and let it fall to the floor where it left a dust cloud in its wake.

I examined myself in the mirror. My skin looked more weathered than it had before, possibly from all the walking and being in the sun. My hair was far too long, I had trouble untangling it from the braid that it had been placed in.

That was another thing, who had done all this? Who had changed my clothing and fixed my hair? Who had put the blossoms around my head as I lay on the platform? Too many questions with no answers. How was I able to have this power now and how do I control it?

I heard Seth come back into the room with the clothes.

I stepped into the shower and let the water fall over my head. It felt amazing. Like a snake shedding its old skin. The shower floor became a ruddy brown color with all the dirt and grime I was washing off my skin and out of my hair. Why hadn't I noticed it before? For a moment I almost felt bad for going to Ranger Gonzales house and sitting on his clean furniture. But I honestly thought it had been a mere weeks since my death, not a year.

I used the sample bottles of shampoo on my hair but it wasn't enough. By now my hair had grown down my back almost to my butt. I would need to cut it or have someone get me more suitable personal hygiene products.

I turned off the hot water and wrapped a towel around myself. I looked underneath the sink of the bathroom for a set of scissors and found a basket filled with clips, hair ties and hair brushes. Plus a small set of scissors. I brushed out the snags in my hair and started snipping. When I was done the bathroom floor was covered and my hair was finally manageable.

"Kate you ok?" came Seth's voice. I opened the door to see him looking worried.

"I made a mess," I said putting the scissors on the counter. I realized he was probably afraid that I had answered the door holding a potential weapon.

"It's ok. I'll get one of the girls to clean it up. Here. They will be big but, I won't be able to get normal clothes until tonight," he said passing me a pair of light blue boxer shorts and a white tank top. The clothes smelled like men's cologne and I guessed they had been washed and laid in Seth's drawers. I smiled at the old memory. He always made sure his clean clothes smelled like his cologne. It was a time saver. He must have changed brands because the scent was different, comforting but different.

The clothes were too big but, anything was better than that dress!

When I walked into the room trying to dry my hair with a towel Seth was sitting on the bed.

"So, what have I missed?" I asked trying to sound light hearted. I was eager to hear the news but, also terrified.

Seth chuckled as I sat down next to him.

"Well, Richie won Miss. America, I am currently a billionaire and Scott has written several self-help books," said Seth, his face a mask of seriousness. We stared at one another for a moment before I felt my face crack and heard the unfamiliar sound of my own laughter.

"I'm serious," I said playfully hitting Seth's shoulder. I had missed him.

"Okay, okay. I run the bar or restaurant, whatever you want to call it. Richie has taken over the Lords chair so he makes all the deals with the Culebra cartels," said Seth.

"I guess he got exactly what he wanted," I replied bitterly, "The throne and the Queen."

"You mean Santanico?" asked Seth. I nodded.

"Kate, she left the night you died. She wanted her freedom, not Richard, at least not anymore," replied Seth.

Well, that was shocking. I'd never actually met Santanico, except for quick glances at the Twister when she was dancing. All I knew of her was she seemed to have a strange hold over Richard, one that made him selfish and only concerned with her needs. The night that Carlos shot me it was clear that Richard had been obsessed with her but, he was also selfish and obsessed with power. In a way I blamed the Spanish beauty for turning him into the darkest version of himself. A version that was willing to sacrifice me and sell out his own brother.

I hope you burn in hell.

I remember how angry I was at him. How angry I was still.

Seth and I were quiet for several moments. I looked over at the clock above the TV, it was almost four a.m.

"So what happens now Kate?" asked Seth. I shook my head. I didn't know when the blood god would want its sacrifice. Didn't know if it would show some kind of sign or maybe give me some kind of indication. I had no clue how this works.

"I don't know," I replied.

"Well, I might have a friend who can help us," Seth stood up.

"Who?" I asked praying he wasn't talking about ranger Gonzalez. I really didn't want to involve Freddie any more than he needed to be.

"Sex Machine," replied Seth. I cringed. I hated that professor. He was half the reason for my death.

"I know what you are thinking but, he is the only one with any kind of idea of what this sacrifice is and when we can expect it," Seth said, I nodded.

"When?"

"I'm gonna send out a message to him tomorrow night but, for now I need to get some sleep and I think you should too," Seth said. He stepped over to me and laid a kiss on my forehead.

"I'm glad your back Kate. No matter how it happened. I missed you," he said with a small smile before leaving the room.


I laid down in the bed and stared at the ceiling. I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep. I felt too wide awake. As if I had taken a shot of adrenaline. I decided to try some reading and luckily there was a bible tucked into the night stand, yet when I opened the leather bound book I found I had no desire to read it.

That was odd. Considering I had spent so much of my life following the word of god. Yet I felt as if maybe god had turned his back on me. When I had died I didn't see a white light, I didn't hear angels singing at the gates of st Peters. All I saw was darkness until my body had felt like it was being electrocuted.

I put the book down and got up. I needed to move. Maybe walking around would convince me to sleep. I walked barefoot to the front of the building and into the bar. The floor had been cleaned spotless. You could hardly tell that every night the roughest and toughest of the road spent their nights here.

"Hello?" I called praying no one was here. I could see the pink and pale colors of the dawn rising in the distance outside. The Culebra's would be getting ready to sleep. As I passed the bar I noticed that the bottles and the shelves had all been replaced and cleaned up. It didn't even look like anything had happened.

I leaned over the bar to see the floor tiles below. All clean.

A pack of cigarettes lay on the bar top and I grabbed them and sat down in a booth near the window. I'd watch the sun rise.

For a long time I just sat and tried not to think. My head seemed clouded with all this information that I thought meditation was the best medicine. Then the sound of a car motor cut through the silence. I looked out the window and saw a black Porsche pulling into the parking lot. The windows on the car were all tinted black.

I was worried it would be some other Culebra at first, but then I saw Richards familiar form step gracefully out of the car and walk towards the restaurant.

I took a cigarette out of the pack and realized I didn't have a lighter.

"Damn it," I whispered under my breath. I stared at the end of the cigarette for several moments, angry for being thwarted. I didn't even smoke, I just wanted something familiar, something that would make me feel normal.

I wasn't paying attention to anything else just the utter disappointment. I didn't hear Richard walk in or even make the purposeful steps towards the booth where I was sitting. All I could think of was the end of that cigarette.

"Doesn't this look familiar?" came the snide voice above me. I looked up and was pulled from my thoughts. Richard stood over me wearing the same suit from the night before except he had a few spots of blood on the collar. I couldn't see it but, I could smell it.

I blinked and shook my head and when I looked down at the cigarette in my hand I could see that the end of it was smoking.

"What the hell?" I said in absolute stunned shock.

Richard slid into the booth across from me and took the pack.

"Yeah, you inhale and it stays lit. Got a light?" he asked putting the cigarette in his mouth. I shook my head without looking at him.

What the hell? How could this be? Moving things with just a thought was one thing but, setting fires?

Richard found a lighter underneath the booth and lit up. He inhaled and exhaled a plume of smoke above my head then leaned back in the booth with one arm draped over the back.

"So Kate, you going to be angry with me forever?" he asked. I took a drag from my smoke, I wished I could smack the smug look off of his face.

"I'm sure I'll die again someday. Then maybe I'll forgive you, I just hope it's not so you can move up in the world," I replied. I pulled my legs up to my chest and stared across the table at him until it became too uncomfortable. I watched out the window as the first rays of the sun came up.

"Look, you weren't supposed to be there that night. It wasn't my fault!" Richard said.

"Sure it wasn't," I replied not looking at him. I admit I rolled my eyes in frustration.

"Damn it Kate!" Richie slammed his hand against the table and I jumped. Once again he was forcing me to acknowledge him.

"I'm sorry but, I offered to save you and you refused! Jesus you should be thanking me for sparing you, like you wanted me to," he said. I nodded my head calmly.

"Out of guilt you decided to save me but, it was too late," I said my voice was numb sounding to my ears. I put out my cigarette and moved to get up but, Richard grabbed my wrist. I had to use every ounce of strength not to throw him out the window and into the now risen sun. Instead I was struck by his hand on my wrist.

A thought or maybe a memory came flooding back. The night that I died Richard had cut my palm in front of Movado. I remember the eye that could see into people that was on his palm. For some reason, his gesture of grabbing me had brought this memory back to the surface.

"I'm not done!" he hissed at me but, I ignored him. I slowly picked up his left hand from my wrist and turned it over with his palm up. He didn't say anything but, watched me in silence, allowing me to move his hand. I laid his palm against mine with my left hand and waited for a moment.

"What are you doing?" he asked. I ignored him. When I pulled my palm from his and held it up to him. An eye was visible.

Richard stared at me in shock.

"That's how Santa Sangre brought me back," I said. Richard looked down at his own hand where his own inner eye was staring up at him.

"You made that cut the night I died and that's how Santa Sangre got inside of me!" I said. I don't know how but somehow I willed the eye to leave my palm and the hole was replaced with skin. Richard was speechless as his did the same.

"So you're right Richard, thank you! Because without you I wouldn't be alive, resurrected by a blood god who wants me to kill innocent people for YOUR race. So thanks!" I screamed and shoved him into the booth before I stormed away, heading towards my room.

As I passed Richards office, blood pumping in my ears I smacked my hand against the wall in anger.

"Kate!" I could hear Richard following me. I didn't stop. I wanted to tear apart the entire place! Destroy the whole place and watch it burn.

Richard had cut my hand so he could see into my head. When I was shot the wound hadn't healed and the blood of the Santa Sangre had used the wound to get into my soul and resurrect me. Whether it made sense or not, I blamed Richard!

"Kate!" He was behind me and my rage was boiling over. I couldn't stop it so I turned to face him.

Richard backed away as soon as he saw my face.

"Kate, calm down," he begged in a smaller voice. I took a step towards him and he stepped back. My skin felt like it was on fire.

With an invisible force I picked Richard up and slammed him against the far hallway wall. He dropped to the floor in heap.

"Kate, don't!" he said so I slammed him again knocking off plaster and a cheap looking painting which shattered as it hit the floor. This time when he came up from the floor he had transformed into the Culebra. His fangs were barred at me as he took a step towards me with a mighty growl. This time when I slammed him against the wall, I held him there. My focus was easier to hold than before and I could feel the power of the Santa Sangre flowing through me. It was actually satisfying to see Richard afraid.

"Kate…." He tried to speak but, the force holding him was strong enough to knock the wind from his lungs.

"I'm sorry!" he cried and the spell was broken. The pull of power I had felt disappeared and Richard crumpled to the floor. When he got up this time his face was normal again. The culebra was gone.

"If I could have changed everything about that night, I would have. I'm sorry you had to pay the price for my mistake," Richard said gasping as he tried to catch his breath. I looked down at my hands in wonder. Richards's glasses had flown off his face and lay a few inches near my feet. I picked them up and handed them to him. He put them on and I walked away in a daze.

When I got to my room I was half expecting Seth or Scott to come running in, awoken by the noise but nothing happened. Except for a small nose bleed, I was fine.

Shockingly when I laid down on the bed I fell into a deep sleep.