T: Ah I see you have returned… hungry for more pasta it seems… well then let's get right to our next story then… here we see a different side of one of our favorite blondes… one miss Samantha Puckett… well I don't want to spoil too much so on with the story… if you dare

Never Again

I was 17 when she first came around. I had been living with my abusive mother for 17 long.. painful years. I know it seems strange that me, Sam Puckett, a name well known by the Seattle police department in my juvie years, was being beaten in my own home. I could stand up to the biggest of bullies and make the tremble at my feet but yet I couldn't bring myself to raise a hand at my own mother.. Sorry I'm getting side tracked from the story. Anyway it was around midnight, my mother was already asleep when there were three soft knocks on the front door, so I was the one that answered it. It startled me when I opened the door and came face to face with an odd looking little girl stood there, with cheeks pale, almost colorless, with red hair, braided into a ponytail, and a pink dress that was torn just a little at the hem. She had no shoes on and I could see her feet were turning slightly blue from the cold of the snow covered ground… and her eyes.. blank, dark.. almost black. I quickly let her into the house. Most people would be shocked by this but even with the rough outter edge I had when I was younger, inside I soft and caring, and who in their right mind wouldn't have let a little girl dressed like that in from the cold. The thing is though at the time I never once thought about why she wasn't shivering, or even asked why she was there at my front door to begin with. I led her to the living room, grabbing a couple of blankets and wrapped them around her as she sat down on the couch. She held onto the blankets tight, even though it didn't seem to affect her at all, but I just sat down with her and smiled, trying my best not to scare her.

"What's your name kid?" I asked softly

She turned and looked at me, staying silent for the longest time. After a moment or so I kind of started to get a little uncomfortable with her stare but I couldn't quite understand why. I was about to say something else when I saw her lips start to move.

"Cat Valentine" she said in the softest voice I had ever heard, almost not catching it

"Well Cat… if you need you can stay here tonight" I said with a smile on my face

She gave me a small smile before lying down on the couch, curling herself up into a ball as I got up and got her a pillow. After getting her situated I turned to head to my room, looking back at Cat, seeing her eyes still fixated on me. I gave her a smile before heading to my room. That night I had the best sleep I've had in a long while, not worrying about anything, not the fact that I would probably get a beating in the morning from my mother or the fact that a strange little girl who I had never seen before was sleeping on our couch.

When I woke up the next morning I stretched, letting out a long, rested groan before getting up and heading into the kitchen, only to be greeted with a coffee mug being smashed on my shoulder, making me drop to my knees

"Ahh why!?" I yelled out as I looked at my mom who had an angry look on her face

"What the hell did you do?" she yelled at me "Why is there dirt on the couch?"

I looked at my mother for a moment, confused by what she asked but also trying to get the pain in my shoulder to subside before I got up and went to the living room to, shocked to find that Cat was long gone, the only evidence that she had even been there was some dirt on the couch that probably fell off of her dress or her feet. I looked back at my mother who was standing at the kitchen entrance as she once again asked me what happened. I looked at the couch then back at my mother before taking responsibility for it, earning a hard slap to the face. I didn't say anything else to my mother, I just went to my room and got ready for school, applying some make-up to hide the bruise that had started forming on my cheek before I slipped out of my bedroom window and headed to school.

When I got to school I passed by a classroom that had the door open, the teacher always had the news playing on the TV in the morning. Normally I wouldn't have even noticed what was being reported but when I heard what was being said, I stopped dead in my tracks. The reporter on the TV was reporting on a murder case… the victim… was Cat Valentine. I stood at the door and listened as the reporter stated that Cat Valentine was found dead last night. That was all I heard before the bell rang for classes to begin, causing me to have to move out of the way of all the students that were coming into the classroom. I kept listening for anyone to say anything about the story during school but to my dismay, no one said a word about it.

When I got home I turned on the TV and flipped over to the news, luckily finding they were doing a live report on the case.

"Cat Valentine, 13 years of age, was reported dead last night" the reporter stated as the camera zoomed into the house they were standing in front of, seeing all the yellow tape surrounding the sceen, "She was found buried in the back yard of her home last night in, according to family members, a pink dress. There is reason to believe that the murder was caused by her mother, Kate Valentine, who, according to sources, has a history of abusive behavior towards her children. Police have tried to track Kate down but have been unable to do so and…" I tuned out the reporters words as a picture of Cat came onto the screen.

I looked at the picture, studying it for as long as I could. She appeared very close to how she looked when I saw her at my front door last night, red hair in braids, the pink dress, pale face… only here cheeks had color… and her eyes were a very light shade of brown… almost green in color. Now I know to most people wouldn't give a damn about these things but… it was different for me. If what the reporter said was true… she died before she showed up at my house. She died hours before. I thought for a moment… there was no way that was true… I tried to act as if nothing had happened. I went to bed early so I wouldn't have to deal with my mother.

It was a rough sleep but I did manage to sleep. I slept until about midnight when I felt a soft, cool hand stoking the bruise on my cheek. I sighed, still half asleep as I moved my head towards the small hand.

"Never again" came the soft, soothing voice of Cat before her hand vanished

I slowly started to drift back into unconsciousness until I heard these blood curtailing screams coming from my mother's room. I quickly jumped out of bed and ran to see what the source of the screams were, but I stopped right at the doorway, not moving an inch further into the bedroom, almost fainting from the sight that I saw. My mother was on her bed, thrashing around wildly as a small creature buried its face into her chest. I'll never forget the sound of my mother's flesh tearing, bones breaking and her screams growing louder and louder. I wished to myself that I hadn't gotten out of bed… later I would tell myself that I didn't… but I had. I watched as Cat pulled herself from the gaping hole in my mother's chest, I got a good view of her razor sharp teeth, covered in my mother's blood, seeing bits and pieces of my mother's flesh caught between her teeth. But then… her teeth shifted back to normal… and she gave me a small, innocent smile before she swiftly ripped out my mother's throat, silencing my mother's screams. That time… I did faint.

When I finally came to, it was morning. I had been gently placed into my bed and tucked in. I laid there for a moment or so, trying to comprehend what had happened the night before, trying to figure out if all of it was a dream… or if it was real. Finally the curiosity got the best of me and I got up from my bed and slowly made my way to my mother's room. I opened the door slightly and slowly poked my head into the room… I was shocked at what I found…That there was no one there. My mother's bed was all made, which was very rare to see. But there was no sign of any kind of struggle, no blood, no evidence to back up that anything that I saw the night before had ever happened. There was one thing though that I saw that let me know that what I had seen last night had indeed happened. There was some muddy, child sized footprints on the floor and on the window ledge, proving to me in my mind, that Cat had been there the night before.

I never saw my mother after that day… And I never missed her either. I moved in with Carly a while late… We got married and had adopted a child together… I named her Cat.

Recently though… I've noticed our neighbor's daughter had these bruises on her arms… and one day came out of the house with a black eye. I started watching their house after that. Then the other day… I saw something odd. There was a little girl running bare footed through their back yard and up to their back door. It was around midnight so I can't be certain but… but I thought… she met my eyes with her black ones… and I could swear she mouthed two words at me…

Never… Again