Chapter 18:

Vincent woke up to the deliciously warm feeling of having someone else in bed with him. He felt Katrina's face pressed up against the middle of his bare back, her warm breath breathing slowly and heavily against his skin. One of her arms was thrown lazily around his waist. He tried to move . . . to turn around so he could look at her, but her hand clutched at his stomach as if she were begging him to remain as he was.

He smiled, gently prying her fingers open, entwining them with his own. Slowly, he rolled over, careful not to wake her or to let a draft underneath the single blanket they shared. Katrina's mouth was slightly open, and Vincent ran a finger along her soft lower lip, making her press her lips together. Her eyes had a funny way of crinkling at the ends as if she were laughing in her sleep. He moved a lock of hair away from her face to look at them better, and then he touched her temple with a forefinger.

Katrina murmured and shifted her weight, turning onto her back. "Vincent . . ." she murmured quietly.

Vincent's eyes widened, expecting her to wake up. When she remained asleep, he reached out to brush the hair out of her eyes. The faint scent of orange blossoms invaded his nostrils and he sighed, thinking of his mother. The fragrance had been a favorite of hers when she was still sane enough to bathe.

"Vincent . . ." he heard Katrina whisper again, and this time she was awake and smiling at him.

His eyes darted away, ashamed that he had been touching her without her permission. When he looked at her again, her eyes were sad.

"Are you mad at me?" she asked.

He shook his head.

She sat up and touched his arm. "Then why . . . why don't you want me?"

Vincent stared at her. "I . . . I do want you."

"Don't you understand that I want you back?"

"No one has ever wanted me. I'm a freak."

"You're not. I've never, ever thought that, Vincent. Never."

He looked down at the blanket. "Why would you want to be with me? When there is Bo?"

"I like Bo. But I want you."

"Why?"

She took his hand and stood up, pulling him off the bed towards the stairs. He followed her up to the main floor of the House of Wax, over to a table where he kept his first wax creations . . . creatures with the torsos and heads of women but the bodies and legs of animals.

"I want you because of this . . ." Katrina said, touching a woman-octopus, "and this . . . and this . . ." She went on to touch every item there before pointing up to the oil painting just above it. "And this too." She whirled around, indicating the entire room. "Because of all of this. You're a genius, an artist, a . . . a . . ." Gesturing widely, she tried to think of the right word. "I want you because you're Vincent. I know this sounds stupid."

"No." Gathering all his courage, Vincent pulled her into his arms. "Thank you," he said into her hair.

They stood quietly for several moments before he heard her stomach rumbling.

"Breakfast?" he asked. She nodded at him. Hesitantly, he put his arm around her and they walked up to the Sinclair house.

Bo was snoring on the couch when they walked in. Katrina giggled and pulled Vincent into the kitchen. Opening the fridge, she squealed with delight. Bo had stocked it full of vegetables, fruit, meat, eggs, and milk. She went to open a cabinet and found some flour, sugar, coffee, and other staples.

"Do you like pancakes?" she asked Vincent.

His eyes widened. "Yes. Mother used to make them."

"You mean you haven't had pancakes since . . ." She stopped mid-sentence. "I'm sorry; I didn't mean to remind you of your mom."

"It's okay," Vincent said quietly, glad that she thought so much of his feelings.

Katrina silently began getting all the things she would need to make the pancakes and began to mix the ingredients together. "Will you find me a skillet and put some butter in it?" she asked.

He nodded and did as she asked, putting the skillet on the stove and turning on the gas.

"I'm glad that's not an electric stove," she commented. "I hate electric stoves. They burn everything I try to cook."

She began cooking the pancakes, making a delicious smell waft around the kitchen and into the room where Bo slept. Searching through the other cabinets, Katrina found another skillet in which she began cooking scrambled eggs, adding butter, milk, and salt to the mixture.

"Well ain't this the best fuckin' sight I have ever opened my eyes to!" Bo said as he stepped into the room, yawning. "A drop dead gorgeous woman cooking some excellent smelling breakfast. Well worth the expense of the food, I think."

Vincent stared at him with a mixture of worry and jealousy.

"Food's ready," Katrina said, motioning for Bo to sit. She served both men pancakes and eggs, setting down the butter and a jug of maple syrup on the table along with the plates. It wasn't until after she got them tall glasses of milk that she sat down to eat her own breakfast.

Bo eyed her approvingly as he shoved a large forkful of pancakes in his mouth. "This is the shit," he said, sighing.

Katrina pushed the remainder of her breakfast away. "I can't eat any more," she said.

"You'd better get some meat on them bones, darlin'," Bo told her, pulling her plate towards himself.

"I'm going to go take a shower," Katrina announced. "I'll clean up after I'm done."

"She's a keeper, Vincent," Bo told his brother after she had gone.

When Katrina came back downstairs about an hour later, the men were still eating. Vincent stared at her. Bo raised an eyebrow.

"This is worth hearing you talk about those clothes for an hour and a half, Kitty Kat," he said, grinning.

She was wearing a pink and black plaid schoolgirl skirt, along with a black spaghetti strap shirt with pink sparkly cherries on the chest and the word 'yummy' written in cursive underneath. Her curly hair had been plaited into two braids, one on each side of her head, tied at the ends with pink ponytail holders that had cherries on them. Pink barrettes were in her hair, right above her ears, and knee high black boots were on her feet.

Katrina sat down at the table with a smile, fingering a necklace that hung from around her throat. It was a silver chain with the name 'Vincent' written in cursive hanging from it.

Vincent choked on his milk. Bo laughed at him.

"Where the hell did you find that thing?" Bo asked the girl.

"At a store called Claire's," she answered. "It's a boyfriend necklace."

Before either man could reply, the front door of the house slammed open and Lester strode in. His eyes widened.

"Pancakes!" he cried.

Katrina pointed towards the center of the table, where there was a plate with five more pancakes on it. "You can have these," she said.

Lester grinned and took Katrina's empty seat. In no time at all, he had eaten the pancakes and was leaning back in the chair, letting out an enormous belch. Bo raised an eyebrow.

"Manners, Les!" He grinned at Katrina. "Remember there's a lady present."

"Oh. Sorry," Lester sighed, adjusting his pants. "Anyway, there's a reason why I came. There's a group of four headin' this way. All male, in a funny lookin' truck. It looks like them trucks in that Low Rider magazine."

Katrina's eyes widened. "Gangsters?"

Lester shrugged. "Don't know. But I shot out their tire back at the bridge. They're walkin' here, followin' Ma's signs."

"Ready to prove yourself?" Bo asked Katrina as he stood up.

She smiled. "It's a great opportunity for me to test out my new knife," she said merrily, brandishing the weapon.

"That's a damn beauty!" Lester told her, eying the knife admiringly.

"It is, isn't it?" Katrina asked. She pulled the bowie knife from the camouflage bag she had left on the table. "Do you like this one?"

Lester nodded. "That's a beaut."

She grinned at him. "Well then it's a good thing it's for you, eh?" Tossing the knife to him, Katrina watched happily as he studied the blade, smiling as he saw his name engraved on the hilt.

Before he could thank her, Katrina skipped to the front door.

"Let's go hunting," she laughed.