Hello! First of all, truly sorry for giving your hearts aches last chapter but trust me, it will have some unexpected turns still but there will be a happy ending. So don't wprry about that! Counting down slowly though to extermination day. What will she do? Where will she go? Enjoy the next chapter!

Loss of blood has her wobbly on her feet. It doesn't matter. It doesn't hurt. Her emotional bleeding overpowers that by tenfold. This numb feeling…

Cattaleya doesn't even look at the guest room as they guide her in. Hells, they could have brought her to a torture chamber and she would have followed. But they don't. They help her to sit down on the bed, Velvette takes a seat next to her to keep her from falling over. She feels a blanket cover her probably frozen wet body. "GO get the medical kit you useless twat!" She hears Velvette bark to who she guesses is Valentino as she sees Vox kneel in front of her, making eye contact to ensure she is… Alive still? Check her consciousness probably. "We'll get you patched right up, don't worry doll face."

"A needle and a threat will be fine. I can take care of it." She murmurs out, hearing the slur in her own voice. Perhaps the bloodloss makes her more woozy than she thought.

"Shut up, no need to act strong. Look at yourself! You can't possibly do anything in this state." Velvette snarls in something akin to worry. Though Cattaleya is not sure whether she should believe that anything anyone says to her is out of worry or concern or care. She will not be scorched twice. Though, in her logical mind, she knows the wounds on her neck and back would be too hard to clean and sew herself.

"Who did this?" Vox asks demandingly, though it is only to confirm his suspicions.

Cattaleya simply narrows her eyes. "What you are thinking is right." Is all she says as Valentino comes back with the requested medical kit.

"Alright, all of you get out so-" Velvette is cut short as Cattaleya simply tears the remains of the dress open near her leg, too tired to even stand and take it off properly.

"You can tear open the back if needed."

Vox takes the medical kit and rummages through. "Go get water and towels as well."

"The fuck do you think I am, the assistant nurse?" Valentino begrudgingly complains.

Vox's voice deepens and scratches. "NOW Val." With more complaints he leaves the room again. "This will sting." He says as he takes a careful hold of her arm. She almost feels like scoffing. That will sting? As if it could be worse than what has been done. Slowly he pours some alcohol on the wounds to clean but also numb the skin for what is to come.

With dulled eyes, she looks at her own arm. Torn. Flesh sticking out. Different from the first time he had bit her. He had sunk his teeth in back then. He ripped this time. Who knows the state of her neck. "He really let himself go…" She mumbles to herself.

When Valentino returns with again the requested stuff, Velvette starts cleaning the blood from her body which sticks to her everywhere while Vox starts preparing the needle to try and sew her back together. Judging by the mangled edges, it might prove to be a difficult job.

She doesn't really register it when Vox starts sewing. All she sees is him. The way he looked as he tore into her. Hear his laughter that cut sharper than any blade she had felt on her skin. His words, on repeat in her mind. Over and over and over again. Never had she felt this… Heartbreak before. Such betrayal. Had she really been so blinded by what he had made her believe? Made her feel? Has he truly manipulated her into believing their relationship had been pure? Had been real? While in truth none of it had been. When he had been at her beside, watching over her, had he been laughing and chuckling in his amused way thinking about what a blatant fool she was? How easily tricked? How weak?

Her arm is quickly covered in bandages. Has he been that fast or is she just that far separated from the ongoing reality? A hand tilts her face to the side, gently, though she does not want to ever think people touch her in a gentle manner again. Not for her sake. He is being gentle to not make himself feel guilty for hurting her. Cold on her neck before she feels the needle, pulling her skin. Her neck must look really horrific as she hears Valentino hiss from where he stands in the corner of the room as he merely watches.

How can someone like you recognize love, hmmm? You would see any form of simple manipulation that feels okay as love

She shouldn't have let him in. She shouldn't have changed. She shouldn't have allowed herself to feel. Or live. Or laugh. Or love. If she hadn't, she wouldn't be like this now. She would have still been unbreakable. Uncaring of the world happening around her. The bad, the good, it had all meant nothing in her living life. Nothing at all. That is why it had been easy to kill. Easy to breathe. Easy to just obey and do. She should have continued that way after death. This could have been prevented. This is what love cost her.

When her neck is wrapped, Vox asks her to lean forward to examine the wounds on her back. She does so. She hears him mutter something about having to possibly wrap her whole torso. So that means it must go from high up to down low. Without hesitation, she starts ripping the fabric more, not caring about how she exposes himself, not really listening to Vox's sputters. When she is completely naked from the waist up, she simply wraps her arms in front of her breasts and leans forward once more.

When the stitching is done, she sits upright, Velvette being the one though this time to bandage her up. From high chest to lower abdomen. He has inflicted long wounds…

Wounds that one day will be healed. But nothing can…

It all flashes in front of her eyes. His, what she believed to be true, smiles. His enjoyment and laughter. The way they danced. How his face lit up when she was enjoying his cooking. The way it felt when he embraced her. How smitten and flushed he actually looked each time they kissed. How he told her he loved her. How it looked like he meant it. How he purred as she read him books and stroked his hair. How he made her tea. How he-

How he had fooled her.

Tears. They flow silently but at the same time they scream.

She thinks she just died a second time.

For a minute, she is disorientated. The plush pink bed not her own. But when she sits upright she feels the aching in her neck, sees the bandages on her arm.

Right.

Cattaleya runs soft tentative fingers over her neck before looking down, seeing herself dressed in a black nightgown she can't remember putting on. Velvette's work probably.

She steps out, her leg slightly aching as well but nothing to pay much attention to. It is bearable. Finding a pink plush bathrobe, she puts it on and decides to go find one of the Vees to… Possibly get food she suppose. When she steps out of the door, she is met with a hallway and some other doors. There is also an elevator. Perhaps this floor is for guest rooms? She takes her chances and goes into the elevator. Her best pick, the penthouse which had looked like a communal space before she had… Trashed it.

Her guess was right, as she sees Vox sitting on the large round couch, scrolling on his phone. At first he looks up a bit indifferently but when he sees it's her, his eyes widen and he jumps up. "Cattaleya! You are awake already."

"I am." Her throat feels a bit raspy and the vibrations of her voice do make her neck ache, which she runs a hand over again. Not that it helps. "Had you expected me not to?"

"We thought you would be out at least for a few days." In a few strides he is in front of her, when he tries to reach out to her, to help guide her if she still feels light from the blood loss, she takes a step back. "How are you… feeling?"

She looks away from the sort of friendly smile he tries to put up. "Fine." She makes the motion to brush her hair behind her ear but… Her hand actually shakes as she feels the state of it. "Thank you for-" She doesn't dare say kindness. "- letting me stay for the night. I'll repay you but if I could get perhaps a shirt and a pants and something to eat I'll be leaving soon."

"You don't have to leave."

Immediately, she shakes her head. "I'll be fine."

Vox actually laughs, short and amused, looking at her as if she is crazy. "Fine? Have you forgotten that you actually got maimed last night? You can barely stand on your feet."

"I have had worse."

"Worse?" he shakes his head. "Really, it is not a bother, you can stay for as long-" He reaches out again.

Out of pure instinct she recoils back, her wings steeling over as she takes a stance, ready to defend. "I am not letting myself go through this again!" Her voice breaks at the end, and she hates the empathetic look Vox gives her. She hisses at herself because of her stupid revelation. Weakness. Vulnerable. Fuck this.

Vox holds up his hands in defense. "Alright, you can go. But where will you go?"

Her wings droop down. "I don't know… I'll figure it out. Somehow. I will not be the first soul to survive here on my own. It is none of your concern though."

"Most souls here survived by making deals upon arrival. Not many are powerful enough to actually survive alone."

"I can. And I will. And if not then let me perish." Vox grimaces at her reply.

"How about you do the more reasonable thing? You stay here, let your wounds heal, and then when you are at your utmost terrifying power, you go? That way you can at least be at full strength when you go face the extermination alone on the streets." He tries to reason with her, in a sort of aggressive way. Because honestly, he just wants to say how stupid she would be if she walks out like that.

Cattaleya opens her mouth to protest. When a sound interrupts the short silence. Her cheeks flush and Vox tries to hold in a chuckle, her stomach signaling the room of its emptiness. Loudly. "I'll call for breakfast. You take a seat." He says, not giving her much of a choice as he taps away on his phone, probably ordering through a special kind of app or whatever.

With a defeated sigh, feeling rather discouraged by her bodily state, she just does what told, taking a seat on the couch. Vox takes a seat as well, on the opposite side of the couch. He tries to sit aloof, legs crossed and arms wide resting on the back of the couch, but the silence makes him… Uncomfortable. He changes his position, folding his arms instead and with his legs wide. Again he squirms a bit, wondering if he should actually talk and now leans his chin on his hand with his elbows on his leg.

"Is your body always this restless or is it my presence?" Vox shoots upright as he grimaces, not really sure how to reply. Again, she sighs. "Just ignore the fact I am here. You don't have to talk to me or take pity on me."

"It's kind of hard not to." Vox mumbles, which earns him the narrowing of her eyes.

"I don't want it and it won't do me good." Her neck aches again. Her fingers ghost over the bandage on her arm. "Were you able to stitch them up well?" She asks nonchalantly, as if asking about the weather.

"Good enough. The skin was… You know… Rather shredded." Vox says awkwardly, feeling weird to talk about Alastor destroying her flesh without… Well, talking around it.

"Let's just hope the stitches hold then."

"... Are we really not going to talk about it?"

Cattaleya closes her eyes and takes a deep breath to settle her rising annoyance. Annoyance that comes from a place of utter hurt and partly still denial. "For what purpose, exactly? Why do you even care or want to know? If it's for my sake, again, don't. I do not need false kindness nor do I have the energy to try and figure out hidden intentions. If it's just so you can use it as leverage against… him for whatever reason, I'll gladly tell you all if you so deeply desire. But don't talk to me in a way that would make me believe it comes from a place of care or empathy. Say it straight to my face and not behind a smile."

"Man, he really fucked you up."

She decides not to reply on that, instead she waits in silence till breakfast arrives. And when it does, once again, she eats in silence. Not hungry but knowing her body needs the nutrients.

Just as she is finished, Velvette takes her appearance. When she sees Cattaleya she actually smiles in a gentle sort of way. "Look who is awake already. How are you feeling, dollface?" She asks as she leans on her knees forward to get on eyelevel.

"Fine."

Velvette doesn't buy her curt reply but decides not to push, knowing when a girl needs her space. "Good. How about when you are done here, I help you clean yourself up?"

Cattaleya looks at the bandage around her arm. "They still look fine. It has not bled through the stitches I think."

"I don't mean that. I mean this." She points at Cattaleya's face and makes circular motions. "I don't think you have looked in a mirror yet otherwise you probably wouldn't have come down."

Ah, the make-up. All smudged and smeared around. Honestly, Cattaleya could care less about how it looks. And yes, she avoided a mirror this morning. Not wanting to face the… other state of her appearance. "Could you get me a shirt and such as well?"

Velvette straightens up with a grin. "Can I? You are talking about the fashion icon of Hell! I can do more than just give you a lousy shirt and pants. The latest trends, the newest designs, high class fabrics, you name it and I have it."

"A basic shirt and pants will be fine." Cattaleya says as she stands, not wanting to have a record on repeat. "Thank you for the food." She thanks Vox before following Velvette to what she thinks is the girl's room if the huge heart shaped bed, pink and red plushy couch and a huge walk in clothed say anything. It is a dream room for every fashionista sinner.

Velvette places her on a chair in front of her vanity and for a moment Cattaleya keeps her eyes closed. Not wanting to face the mirror. Literally. But she scolds herself for her immature thoughts. She needs to go back. Back to her. Back to the void. So when she opens her eyes, she thought she had prepared herself. When she stares into her own eyes, her soul cries.

Who she sees? She doesn't even know. It is not that beaten child. It is not that ruthless woman. It is not that liberated soul. It's… pathetic. It's found and lost. Once more, her soul is in uncharted territory. Is it weak? Is it strong? It's… Fragile. Shatterable. Already shattered. Is there anything left to shatter? Or rebuild…

She lets Velvette work and clean her face. Not caring when the woman started to apply a light layer of make-up on her face, probably trying to make her feel slightly better. Her eyes fall on her hair. Uneven. Cut. "Velvette, could you perhaps neat my hair a bit up?"

"Of course, dollface! What kind of hairdo do you want? I can put in extensions to get it back to your former length?"

Cattaleya shakes her head. "No, it…" A memory. His fingers running through her hair. Playing with it. Saying how much he loves it and how it fits her. "- Doesn't fit me anymore. Short is fine. I just want it not this uneven."

Velvette understands and gets to work with the scissors. After some mulling they decided to give her thin bangs as well. When she is done, it looks fine. Shorter than in her living life, reaching her chin. It is fine. It does not bother her. Will not bother her. So she pushes that nagging in her stomach away.

Velvette brings her something more fashionable to wear than what she had asked for. Black velour flare pants, a halter top with fish netted sleeves. It looks fine. "Thank you. I'll be going then."

"Huh? Where the fuck are you flying off to so soon? You have barely just woken up. And you are wobbling on your feet. Don't tell me you are going back to that fuck face."

Cattaleya narrows her eyes as the woman. "No. But I am not staying either. I have once depended on something I believed to be kindness of others. I will not be cut in the same way again."

Velvette puts her hands on her hips and then fakes an aloof shrug of the shoulders. "Geez fine. I actually thought you had more backbone than that. But hey, disappointments come in every shape right." She says as she drops back onto her bed, taking out her phone and opening her socials.

Cattaleya, not having seen her intentions, takes the bite. "Care to clarify on that?"

"Nothing special. Just that I believed you to have guts. But it appears you are just a sad little whiny twat whose sad fragile heart got broken so she goes crying and hiding and believing that oh the world is so mean to me and I will never let anyone close again. Same old same old heartbreak melodies."

"You have no idea-"

"- what he put you through? Honey, you are not the only one who ever got betrayed. True, your former lover did it rather violently but you are not special. You do you though. Go find yourself a pit and make your bed there."

Cattaleya clenches her fists. How dared this woman speak to her in such a manner. As if she had any idea what she has gone through. Everything. All her pains and sorrows, dismissed with just a wave of a hand and a 'man up'. "I don't think you have any right to speak at all, judging my decisions without even knowing the details."

"It's not like you are going to tell them to me. You are going to cry and rage and deny and hide and then hit rock bottom so hard you will want to die. Besides-" She puts her phone on her chest and looks at Cattaleya with a more serious look. "- I speak from experience. Like I said, you are not the first woman to get her heart broken or betrayed."

This deflates Cattaleya a bit. The confession not expected. "Oh."

Velvette simply shrugs. "After the fifth time you simply wish to hang yourself. You'll get over it. I'd say there are plenty of others but that is bullshit. There is only one love that is worth it."

Cattaleya can't help but ask. "And that is?"

Velvette sits up and gives her a grin and she flips her hair and puts a hand on her heart. "Loving yourself. No one else will ever do it as good as yourself. And bitch-" She suddenly jumps up and aggressively pushes her back in the chair in front of the mirror. "- you got lots to drool over. I have only met you twice but I could see what you could be if you started loving yourself instead of waiting on others to do so." She grabs her chin as her other hand lays on her shoulder, looking at Cattaleya through the mirror. "Just look at those cunning eyes of yours. That sharp tongue full of cutting dialogue. That fucking body that could have sinners on their knees licking your feet. Use it. Use it to your advantage. Pull everyone close and when they do, when they are begging for your attention and love, you simply give it all to yourself. You have no idea what you can become now that your strings are cut, dollface. Be the powerhouse I saw in you."

Her eyes change. The way she looks into them changes. Everything she can do. Everything she has experienced. Her abilities. Her knowledge. All paths bared open. The soul behind it… A clean slate. "Nothing to hold me back, huh…"

Velvette's grin turns wide and sly. "There go go."

Alastor hasn't moved from his kneeling position on the ground. He doesn't even realize the entire night had flashed by till he hears a knock on the door. "Al? Are you in there? You and Catty just disappeared suddenly last night so…" Charlie's hesitant soft voice is filled with worry and a bit of awkwardness.

"I'll be right down Charlotte. If you could perhaps fetch your own breakfast today that would be lovely." His voice is schooled and full of his usual chipper.

"Okay! I'll see you downstairs soon." He listens to her retreating footsteps before he weakly stands up. Her hair still clutched in his hands, knotted together with the dried blood on his hands. With heavy feet he forces himself to the bathroom. When he looks at the mirror he wished he would see anything else. Anything other than his own wide plastered sharp toothed grin. Anything other than her blood covering his lips and face. Violently he bends forward, grasps the sink and hurls. His body spasms as he retches, aggressively throwing whatever was left in his stomach out, which is mostly red bile. He opens the water tab, to clean the sink and immediately wipes his face as well. His hands shake as he sees the waters turn pink. He doesn't look up till the waters disappear clean instead of bloodied.

What is he going to say? Questions will be asked. The simple question of where Cattaleya is…. He is going to have to put up a striking real performance. His best smile. It can not waver. Not once. He is going to have to put up a facade for the rest of his life. He just hopes it will get easier in time. That time will make the questions disappear. The subject of Cattaleya gone. That one day the answer will be simple, she is in Heaven. One day…

When he looks up into the mirror, his facade is in place.

The fact that he arrives downstairs without Cattaleya by his side is something that is so unusual that it immediately raises questions. "Oiy, where is Feathers?" Angeldust asks, remembering the interaction between the two last night and not having a good feeling about it. "You both left the venue rather early, didn't ya?"

"How rather observant of you, Angeldust." Alastor sits down and makes a cup of coffee appear in his hand. "How did the night end anyway? Any exciting new alliances made with our most terrifying Overlords? Or was it all for naught like I had predicted? Ha ha ha!"

"You're dodging the subject Asshole. Where is Cattaleya?"

Alastor stops laughing as he takes a sip from his coffee first. "Just to quell the curiosity of your sticky little noses, all I will say is we had a disagreement and for the time being Cattaleya is not present."

This time, it is Husker who speaks up, actually slamming his hand on the table. "Where did you take her, you sick-"

"Ha ha ha Husker, dear friend. If I were you I would be careful who you speak so highly disrespectfully to. Or did you forget you still wear a leash?" Alastor's grin widens as Husker looks displeased but seems to reel in any further outbursts. "I didn't take her anywhere. She left of her own free will." Fled. She fled. Luckily, lying comes easy to him if you look on the outside. On the inside, the lies he is clinging to are already giving him a headache. "I don't know where she is but time will tell."

There is not a single soul at the table who doesn't look worried or suspicious, but all decide not to question or push the Radio Demon any further. Not knowing where pushing his buttons will end in. No one realize how lucky they were that they did not push him further.

That night, Cattaleya leans against the window to the balcony of her… Temporarily new room in the Vee's building. Contemplating what roads are ahead of her. There are so many options. One of them is that she could stay here. Build a life as an employee to one of the Vees. Preferably Vox but she knows Velvette would steal her face away for her fashion line for certain. Working for Valentino of course not even an option. She would rather kill the bastard than do anything at all for him. Perhaps if she played her cards right though she could get him to consider nullifying his contract with Angel… It would be a difficult path but if she has time enough to observe the Overlord, find his weaknesses and desires, she might be able to manipulate him in a way that has him letting go of his most famous star… She wonders though if staying here would not be indeed a redo of her time in the Hotel.

She could also return to the Hotel. Ignore and fight through the pain. Chin held high sort of speaking. She could still help Charlie with her nobel goal. Then again, if Alastor had been telling the truth, then Charlie had been using her just as much as Alastor had been manipulating her. The memories and family she had made in the Hotel… All tainted. She doesn't even know how to separate real genuine interactions from facades… That hurts. She doesn't want to think that bad about them. Alastor is an entirely different story, surely, but the others…

What she also is considering is the offer in the letter Emily had sent. A place in Heaven. Perhaps even having a say and a voice as Emily tries to reform the rules of Heaven. The rules of souls being judged. She could perhaps have a real purpose there. A holy one. To help souls like hers walk through the golden gates. It would be hard work but it would be something she would gladly spend her energy on. Her afterlife dedicated to other souls… Then again, would she be used there as well? Set to work on a single job her entire afterlife. No other way to do but to serve. Yet again.

Cattaleya looks at the clock building counting down towards the extermination. 13 days. That is quite a short amount of time to decide on her faith…

They are coming for the Hotel…

A slight pang in her stomach. The idea of leaving them to their own faith, to protect themselves… It doesn't sit right with her either. The side effect of caring… She shouldn't care about it anymore. They should be able to protect themselves. IF they asked Lucifer, he would never say no to protect his daughter. And if Alastor, the bolstering bastard that he is, is truly that powerful, he will be able to take a stand as well.

Where is that animal? That undefeatable, unbreakable, beast inside of you?

13 days before the angels come down. 13 days to decide where she will stand when the Heavens come down. Whether she hides, plays safe, or lets her beast run loose.

What do you think? What will she choose? Where will she go! Review me your theories! Eager to hear you suspicious :)