Chapter 31 ~ Katerina
Katerina was sat on a hood of an old car next to William, her head rested on his shoulder after the interruption by Nethrys and Vytoni. Kat thought that it wouldn't be a good idea to hang out in her motel room, since Trudy was there with Adrian anyway; plus she couldn't have Trudy, let alone anyone finding out about them - Even though Vytoni and Nethrys had already caught them. She wasn't sure if she was ready to tell everyone about the two of them. She picked up the necklace that was tucked under her camouflage patterned shirt. The necklace hung around her neck with a silver chain and a simple clasp; it had a silver locket with a skull engraved into the shell. The necklace was a fourteenth birthday gift from her father - he had given it to her and told her to use it in times of desperate need, and that she only had two chances to use it.
"What are you looking at?" William whispered, staring at the necklace, his arm around her shoulders.
"Nothing, it's just a necklace my father gave to me."
"Hades?" Katerina nodded and smiled. She leaned up and kissed him gently on the cheek and giggled."What's so funny?" He furrowed his eyebrows.
"I don't know. It's just that I never really expected that I'd be with you."
William scoffed and barked out a laugh, "Is it because I used to be the enemy?"
"No, yes, maybe. It's just that one this quest I didn't expect to have a...boyfriend." Katerina blushed and looked down.
"So now I'm your boyfriend, huh?" William asked jokingly. Katerina ignored the question and pressed her lips against his. "I'm guessing that's a yes?" Katerina shrugged and gazed at the beach, not knowing what to say.
"Um, Katerina?" Katerina looked up at William, who was staring into her eyes with his piercing dark eyes - practically black, even though it was scientifically impossible. "I haven't officially asked you this but uh-
"Will you be my girlfriend, Katerina Hunter?" William whispered, holding her tight.
Katerina blushed an even deeper red and hugged him, "Of course!" William kissed her cheek and held her in a warm embrace, his arms wrapped tightly around her. Katerina squeezed him tight, cherishing her time with him.
"Oi, lovebirds, get off me car will ya?" An old man yelled, raising his walking cane. William rolled his eyes and slid down the hood of the car. He offered Kat his hand, which she took, and helped her down.
"Sorry, sir!" Katerina apologized, taking William's hand and gripping it tightly. Wolfe stifled a soft chuckle.
"You better be!" The old man jabbed at his car and got inside, smoke puffed out of the engines as he started his car. The car slowly pulled out of the parking lot, causing a racket of noise, and as soon as it was out of sight, William burst out laughing.
"Hey! Stop that- It's not funny," But as Katerina said that -Wolfe never stopping- she started laughing as well; slow and small giggles at first, then laughs as loud as William. They stumbled back to Wolfe's room -which was thankfully empty- still clutching their stomachs due to uncontrollable laughter.
"Bet we'll be receiving a complaint to the motel about us from him soon." Katerina laughed, jumping onto the bed. William shrugged and sat down on the armchair. "Hey, you ok?" Katerina frowned and got up from the bed which she was almost unwilling to do.
"Yeah, just concerned about this capturing Trudy plan," William sighed and rubbed his temples. "It's just that I'm really nervous about this idea we have on my pretending to capture Trudy."
"Don't worry, it'll be fine as long as you make sure that Courtney or Logan don't harm Trudy or yourself that everything is going to turn out okay!" Katerina reassured, beaming at her new boyfriend.
William nodded and shook away the thought then reached for Katerina's hand, which she gladly took. William pulled her down onto his lap and wrapped an arm around her waist.
"Hey have you seen Trud-" Adrian was standing at the doorway, gaping open-mouthed at their intertwined figures.
"Oh, for crying out loud! Do you ever knock?"
"Ooh, Trudy is gonna kill you!" Adrian gloated gleefully, earning hard looks from the both of them
"Why would she want to kill us?"
"She's a daughter of Aphrodite, she'll be mad because you didn't tell her you were in a relationship!"
"Ah!" William nodded in understanding.
"Well, you can keep this from her right?"
"Keep what from her?" Elektra was behind Adrian at the doorway, she barged past Adrian to see Kat sitting in Will's lap on the old armchair. "Oh." Katerina rolled her eyes and hopped off his lap which made William frown.
"Anyway, have you seen Enryx? He disappeared after breakfast!" Elektra said concernly, ignoring what she just saw.
"No, sorry Electricity!" William apologized jokingly, earning a glare from her.
"Why are you here, Adrian?" Katerina asked.
"Just checking up on Trudy to see if she's ready for the pretend kidnap plan," Adrian explained, "But this is far more interesting!"
Katerina rolled her eyes and pushed Adrian playfully. "Listen uh," Elektra started, "If you see Enryx, can you tell me?"
"Sure - why?" William asked her.
"Oh, just being the concerned big sister I am, I guess," Elektra said worriedly, "Well, tell me when you see him." Elektra hurriedly ran out of the room to seek for Enryx, while Adrian lingered behind at the doorway, glancing at the couple.
"What do you want, Adrian?" Katerina huffed, crossing her arms. Adrian shrugged and pretended to be interested at Wolfe's sword that lay on the bed next to him, but got bored after a few seconds, and disappeared through the doorway.
"Alone again, at last," William beamed.
"Finally."
After chatting a little bit in the motel room, they decided to take a trip down to the local town of Palm Beach, a little suburb city called 'Pahokee'. They took a cab down to Pahokee where were tourists bustling around wearing massive sun hats and floral shirts, with Leis of pink, red and orange flowers hung loosely around their necks.
"Wow, this place is amazing!" William stared at the city in awe, grabbing hold of Kat's hand.
"Yeah, it really is, I guess." The city was surrounded with towering palm trees which swayed against the gently wind. The suburbs were small, quaint and rural; the neighbourhood was calm apart from some kids who were playing tag in a nearby park. Katerina looked back up to Wolfe to see that he was looking at the children in the playground, with a glint in his eye. "William?"
"Huh? Yeah?" He looked back down to Katerina and smiled, showing his perfect teeth.
"Nothing," She said, smiling back, then looked down at her map, "So, where to go first?"
"Wherever you want, princess."
She smiled at the nickname then pointed to a spot on the map, "How about here? It's a mall not that far from here," He nodded, and they started walking, hands intertwined. When they reached, Katerina stifled a gasp. The mall was gorgeous; there were multiple stalls of different colours and items. There were crowds of people surrounding different stalls, and she heard murmurs of people going 'ooh' and 'aah'. Further in the mall, there were different clothes stores.
She pulled William along and made for the doors of the well-known department store, Macy's. The first thing that came into her mind as she walked inside was, why do they bother putting makeup on their mannequins? William already looked bored, so Katerina promised him twenty minutes here, then they could go to a shop of his choice. He complied, looking amused. Kat browsed the shelves and racks, not really looking for anything but looking through the variety of clothes and accessories all the same. The only thing she found intriguing was a pair of brown lace-up boots that went up to the knees. She got them in her shoe size, shrugging as she sat down on the cushioned chair. She tugged off her normal boots and tried them on. A perfect fit. Katerina looked aimlessly at the pair of shoes, wondering if she should buy them.
"Can we get these wrapped, please?" Kat snapped out of her daydream as William called out next to her.
"William," She started to protest, "That's not really necessary-"
"Nonsense," He cut off, then smiled warmly at her, "My treat."
Katerina smiled and stood up in her new boots, hugging William, "Thanks."
"On second thought," He told the salesperson, "Just take the tag off. I think my girlfriend wants to wear them." Kat's heart fluttered as he said girlfriend. The salesperson came over and snipped the tag off her boots, taking her regular shoes and wrapping it in a box, then slipping it into a bag which William gladly carried.
"Where do you want to go now? Your choice!" Katerina took his hand and led him out of the store after thanking the staff.
He looked at the directory thoughtfully, then said, "I think I want to go look at the skateboard store."
Katerina was momentarily surprised. Sometimes, I forget he's just a teenager like the mortals around us. But she smiled and replied, "Why not?" Hand in hand, they went to the sports section of the mall, which was next to a roller rink.
William led her into the Skate shop which was called 'Sk8er'. How original. She scoffed at the cheesy logo of a kid making a figure eight as they passed through the door, but didn't mention it to Wolfe, who seemed fascinated by every model they passed, which all looked the same to her.
Soon, William picked up a black skateboard with a flames design, flipping it over and over in his hands, marvelling at something she couldn't really see. Why do they put the patterns on the bottom of the board?
"Like it?" She asked him, taking her wallet out. He noticed her movement, then shook his head, placing it back on the shelf.
"Nah. C'mon, lets get out of here."
"Wait a moment," She took the skateboard he was admiring from it's place on the rack and gave it to the clerk, along with a quarter of her allowance.
"What are you doing?" William asked her incredulously, staring at her with an undefined expression.
"It's not for you," She teased him, raising it to her right and as high as she can, though it wasn't really out of his reach.
"Oh yeah?" He smirked, "Why'd you buy it?"
"Uh... I like the color scheme?" She shrugged, holding to board under the crook of her arm, "But you can borrow it, if you like."
"I'd like that," He laughed, then took their map out again, studying it, "Your turn."
"Okay."
Laughing, Katerina dragged William into the photo booth, which was luckily vacant. She pushed the red velvet curtain aside and sat down on the cushioned seat, pulling William in with her, who closed the curtain as they both seated. She selected the number of photos she wanted to take and print out then inserted mortal coins into the machine and pressed the start button. A countdown from three started and they took four photos together.
They pulled back the curtain and stood up then left. They took the slip of photos out of photoretrieval box. Katerina smiled at it - the first picture was of them smiling at the camera; the second was of them laughing hysterically; the third was of William kissing her cheek, the fourth was simply of them sharing a kiss.
"Not bad," William commented, draping his arm over her shoulders. "Want to go get something to eat?"
Katerina shrugged and smiled, "Sure!"
They walked over to a frozen yoghurt store that they passed near the entrance, taking a seat right next to the window; they could watch the mortals outside prance around, going in and out of the mall. Briefly, Katerina wondered what it must be like to lead a normal life, but brushed it aside when she realized she probably would have never met William.
"Penny for your thoughts?" Wolfe smiled at her, unaware of the splotch of frozen yogurt on the tip of his nose. Laughing, Kat tapped her nose, but William still didn't seem to realize yet. There was a crowd of little children -probably at a birthday party- on the next table, and they were all pointing and giggling. Katerina grabbed a napkin and leaned over the table, wiped his nose and pecked him on the lips. The kids all chorused "Ew!" in unison, leaving the couple to burst out laughing.
They finished off their frozen yogurt, which took a while since they ordered a second bowl. They took off after finished their snack, hailing a cab back to their motel.
After the hour and a half cab ride they arrived back at their motel and to Katerina's room, where the others were anxiously pacing back and forth.
"Where were you?" Lysandra burst out, her motherly attitude showing through as she fixed Kat with her death glare, which didn't really work since her cat-like nose would twitch and her whiskers would wilt, making her look like a stuffed animal. Apparently Enryx thought so too, since he was biting back a laugh as he reached for her hand. At the last second, Lys seemed to be about to jerk her hand away, but she let him lace his fingers through hers. They both looked awkward about it, but their budding romance seemed to be sweet.
"We've been waiting for you two for hours!" Trudy exclaimed, but Katerina wasn't fooled; there was an excited gleam in her friend's eyes, and she knew Trudy was going to interrogate her for every little detail later.
"Well, we're back now!"
Rosamynd let out a deep sigh, "Since you're back, we should go through with the capture plan."
"Ah, the plan. I completely forgot about that!" William frowned and sighed.
"Sorry about that, bro," Adrian apologized half-heartedly, "But it's the only way to find out where the Terror Twins are hiding."
William groaned, "I know, and they're not twins. Not even siblings. They're cousins." Adrian shrugged and resumed .
"You're our only connection!" Elektra stated.
Katerina hugged him, instantly felt sorry for him. He returned the warm embrace and held her tight, and as soon as he did she instantly heard Trudy's 'aww'. Katerina rolled her eyes and hugged him tighter.
"C'mon, loverboy. We got to get you ready," Adrian prompted, pushing him towards the door.
"I-uh guess I have to go get ready," William whispered into her ear and unwillingly pulled away from the hug. Katerina frowned and let him and everyone else leave.
She sighed and began to pack up her camping bag again, figuring that they would have to leave very soon. She took the pictures from the photo booth out of her pocket and sat down and stared at their laughing, happy faces, sadly wondering how long the happiness would last.
Soon, Elektra gathered everyone up to the parking lot, bustling around nervously and making sure everyone was there and ready to go. Apparently, she had found Enryx in the back parking lot practicing with his crossbow. They were standing in front of the food truck, which had food and grease stains all over the sides and it smelled of tacos and cheese. William wrinkled his nose, commenting, "Glad I'm not going in there." Katerina punched him lightly on his shoulder, but nervousness was eating her from the insides.
"Yeah, and make sure it all goes according to plan," Rosamynd added, chewing on her hair nervously. Trudy wrist's were bound by rope and there was a mouth gag hung loosely around her neck. Her and Adrian were talking in hushed tones. William had his black sword strapped on his back that Vytoni had given back to him when he joined their team. Elektra and Enryx were having a heated discussion about him using the crossbow. Lysandra was sitting down next to the driver's seat, reading, her cheeks still fuming from her anger. Scarlett was by the truck, twirling her hair and annoying Vytoni with her 'One time at boarding school' stories, which according to Vytoni's expression seemed uninteresting. Nethrys was leaning against the truck and had his headphones on, sneaking little glances at Vytoni every few seconds.
Everyone had wished William and Trudy their good lucks and safety warnings. Adrian had even threatened him, telling him that if he ever hurt Trudy he would reach into his chest, grab his heart and rip it out of his chest, giving him graphic details. It was Katerina's turn to say her goodbyes; she sighed and went up to him and hugged him. He gave her a kiss on the forehead. She smiled and giggled went on tiptoes to give him a kiss. She whispered in his ear,"Please don't get hurt or killed and try not to get Trudy in danger."
"I promise, I'll be back to see you and by then we'll be ready to take on Courtney and Logan."
"I'll make sure of it!"
"Time to go, we don't have forever!" Enryx commanded. Trudy walked over to them, her eyes were watery with unshed tears. William took her elbow -with Adrian giving him the death glare- and a swirling mass of darkness erupted from the ground and William walked towards it, tugging Trudy along. He turned around and smiled at Katerina.
"Be safe, yeah?" William smiled softly, nodding and mouthing 'you, too'. She closed her eyes as they disappeared through the shadow portal, fighting back the urge to run after them.
~END OF CHAPTER 31~