Silent Monsters

Chapter 3: Broken Dolls

CHAPTER 3 : Broken Dolls 

     Roaring masculine laughter and the clinking of glasses filled the pub as Emily sat there, her long slender legs crossed at the ankles as they swung back and forth.  A cheerful little hum vibrated from behind full red lipstick-smeared lips.  Ringlets of vibrant red locks framed a pale flawless face and hung down just past small delicate shoulders.  Emily only stood to the height of 5'1 and her petite frame only served to emphasize her childlike nature, though she was, in all honesty, a nineteen-year-old woman. 

     A dazzling array of pale green color complimented her eyes, which were framed by long full lashes.  They glittered in amusement as a tiny giggle escaped her lips.  Sharp fangs peeked through for only a moment as her tongue extending to travel the length of the large round colorful lollipop that was gripped in her hand, though no one in the pub seemed to notice.

     "Do you like my pretty dress?"  She asked in a tiny, sickeningly sweet voice.  The drunken slob before her sat at the bar, his grimy sweaty fingers grabbing at her thighs as they made their way up.  The man grunted in response, more interested in the soft flesh hidden beneath the light blue puffy dress with white trim that she adorned, rather than the dress itself.  Another giggle escaped her lips and suddenly, her eyes lit up as an idea sprouted in her child-like mind. "Oh!  Would you like to try my lollipop?!  It's really really yummy!  I don't mind sharing!" She exclaimed. 

     Before the man could utter a sound, she had reached forward with deceptively fragile fingers and grasped his neck with a strength that no man at this pub could match.  Her other hand plunged the lollipop past his lips, which, with the combination of Emily's strength and the sheer width of the lollipop, tore the corners of his mouth and caused cries of agony to escape the man's throat.  The cries were quickly muffled though as the lollipop was quickly shoved forward into his throat.  She grunted as she tried to ram it in further, but it had become stuck within the confines of his throat.  Emily sat there, one hand wrapped around the man's neck, the other hand buried deep within his throat, so it was no surprise when the first scream arose as someone finally noticed what was happening.

     "It's really good huh, Mr. Man?  Ok, it's my turn now!"  She started to try and pull it out, but the lollipop wouldn't budge.  She frowned softly, her lower lip pouting.  The inability for the lollipop to move was mistaken for the idea that the man was trying to steal her candy.  "Hey!  That's not very nice!  You're supposed to share!"  She cried angrily and her slender fingers slid from around his neck to find their place inside his mouth.  She curved her fingers inward to hook unto his jaw and yanked hard in an attempt to only open his mouth. 

     Instead, it caused the bone, flesh and tendon to tear and pop apart from his jaw all the way down the length of his throat.  It sent a large spray of blood to land on her dress, speckle her face and splatter the wall behind her, leaving most of the lollipop exposed.  She tossed the jaw and torn flesh to the side, oblivious to the c*****e she had just caused as she pulled her lollipop, bloody and all, back to her lips where her tongue waited.  She licked at the lollipop, smearing the blood along the various colors of the candy.  "Mmmm...." She giggled and hopped off the top of the bar, her landing barely making a sound. 

     She glanced down and as she noticed the blood that stained her dress, her lips formed into another frown.  "Aww.....You ruined my dress!"  She cried, a small sniffle and a whimper escaped her lips, completely oblivious to the chaos and screams as panicked people rushed around her, trying to escape the madness.  She stumped her foot down in a tantrum and her shoe crunched on broken glass.  She paused, momentarily distracted from the dilemma of her dress as the sound of broken glass under her foot caught her attention. 

     She tilted her head to one side curiously and stomped her foot again on the broken glass, listening for the crunch that followed.  A slow smile curved her lips and her eyes lit up in excitement.  She began to dance in the broken glass sporadically, her eyes trained down on the floor, amazed by the sounds and the sparkle of the glass below her feet.  "Crunch, crunch, crunch, crunch, crunch..." She began to chant the words in a sing-song voice happily as she stomped on the glass over and over. 

     Emily was so thoroughly entertained by the broken glass and her dance that she didn't even notice the angry man behind her.  "You murdered my buddy, you little w***e!"  A man screamed and in his drunken stupor, lunged at Emily.  But before he could reach her, an anguished scream was cut off in his throat as he was quickly yanked backward by his hair and his neck was snapped.  Emily's savior let the lifeless body slump to the floor with a heavy thud.  Emily's eyes widened and she looked up at the person who had saved her from the raging drunken man.  Reinna stepped over the man, a grin curling her lips maliciously, allowing the tips of her fangs to be exposed.  As she spoke, her sultry voice dripped with seductive tones. "Come with me, my pet....and we'll get you a brand new pretty dress..."

     *                                                           *                                                           *

     A low moan escaped her lips as consciousness slowly began to creep its way back into Kat's groggy mind.  Feeling a cool draft wash over her skin, she instinctively reached a hand out to grab at her covers.  Instead, her fingers found something else, something cold and almost spongy.  In confusion, she frowned softly as the grogginess slowly began to lift, the slow realization that she was not in her own bed at home making her eyes flutter open.  The sight before her caused a high pitched scream to erupt from her throat as she scrambled backwards, trying to get away from the obscenely decorated corpse that was inches from her face.  Instead, the action only caused her to back into more corpses, causing them to stiffly topple to the floor with soft thuds.

     The corpse before her was dressed in a red checkered frilly dress, a matching hat adorning his head, though it had started to slide forward over his face.  His face looked as if it had been decorated with makeup by a small child, bright red lipstick smearing beyond the edges of his nearly blue lips and blush was caked upon his pale cheeks.  The man was propped up against the wall like a doll, his legs spread straight in a permanent V shape.  His shoulders were slumped and his head was c****d grotesquely to one side. 

     To her horror, she realized that the whole room was filled with corpses, men and women both.  Each one was dressed in something doll-like in nature, each one decorated with badly drawn makeup, though it seemed some had been there longer and were in more advanced stages of decay.  Another scream threatened to rise in her throat, but she shut her eyes tightly and held perfectly still, drawing in a slow breath and letting it out.  She needed to calm herself down.  Where was she?  The stench of the rotting corpses was so thick that it was hard to concentrate, but she tried to remember what had happened and slowly, it came back to her: the fight with Reinna.  Her head had taken a pretty nasty hit. 

     She lifted her fingers to gingerly touch the spot on her head and winced in pain.  She could feel caked blood there and some was still sticky, not yet dried.  She tentatively traced her fingertips downward and could feel caked blood on her forehead, which made her groan.  If she survived this, she had an "I told you so" coming from River.  She tried to focus her thoughts back to the current situation.  The fight with Reinna didn't explain where she was or how she ended up here.  Was this Reinna's lair or something?  If that were the case though, where was Reinna?  She was pretty sure that if Reinna had taken her here that she would be waiting for Kat to wake up.  Kat shuddered at the thought of what things Reinna would have in store for her.

     "Do you like my dollies?"  The voice came from out of nowhere, startling Kat out of her thoughts.  When she opened her eyes again, she half expected a child to be standing there.  Instead, it was a red-haired woman, dressed just like the corpses around her, bad makeup and all.  Only this chic had a much livelier condition.  Kat's mouth stood slightly agape, stunned by the absurdity of the whole situation.  What the hell was going on, who was this woman?  She hadn't expected anyone else to show up other than maybe River or Reinna, or the police, if River became desperate enough.  She didn't even know who this woman was.  Was she hallucinating?  But the dread that was building in her stomach and the dried blood on her head told her it was far from a dream.  She tried to pull her thoughts back to the situation at hand and her eyes widened slightly as she thought about the woman's statement.  Dollies?  Did she kill all these people? 

     The vibrant smile on the woman's face exposed the edges of her fangs and the realization that she was dealing with yet another vampire made her stomach churn uneasily.  "Holy shit..."  Kat murmured, also realizing that she wasn't just dealing with Reinna and her murderous obsession.  This chic was f*****g nuts, even beyond Reinna's insanity, and that was hard to do.  The woman seemed to have retained a childlike nature.  You couldn't reason with that sort of insanity, so Kat would have to play on that if she were going to survive this.  "Uhh....yeah.  They're very...pretty..."  Kat said, struggling to fight down her panic and find something conversational to say.  She grunted as she began to sit up, her eyes never leaving the woman before her.

     The woman clapped, her curls bouncing wildly as an excited squeal escaping her lips.  "I made them myself!  But I think they're all broken..." A pout formed on the woman's lips. "They don't play with me anymore.  It's no fun!"  She curled her hands into fists and propped them on her hips as one foot stumped in a tantrum type manner, the displeasure plain on her face.  Kat couldn't believe any of this; it was like a badly warped dream. 

     Scratch that...she didn't think she'd ever dreamed anything this f****d up before.  She had to play along though if she were ever going to get out of here.  She stood up slowly and tried to think of what to say.  Suddenly, an idea came to mind.  "Well I'm sure you have fun dressing them up, right?"  The woman's lips curved into a slow smile and her sour mood lifted as if it had never been there at all.

     Stepping forward cautiously, Kat strained to get her lips to smile.  She managed an awkward one and hoped the woman didn't notice its lack of sincerity.  "What's your name?"  She asked, trying to keep the conversation in a friendly manner.  The woman grasped the edges of her pale yellow dress shyly and swung the edges around as she rocked back and forth on her heels.  She looked up at Kat underneath thick long lashes as she spoke.  "My name is Emily!  What's yours?"  Kat passed the tip of her tongue over her upper lip nervously. 

     "My name is Kat.  Listen...Emily...I would like to give you a present.  You like makeup, right?"  The question was answered with an excited nod and Kat felt a little bit of relief hit her.  This was going well so far, but she wasn't out the door yet.  "Well Emily...I would like to give you a present...but it's at my house.  Can you show me the way out of here and I can go home and bring you back a present?" 

     Kat was relieved when she saw the excitement light up Emily's eyes at the prospect.  "A present? For me?!"  She squealed and then let out a high pitched giggle.  "I love presents!  I'll help you, nice lady!"  She whirled around on her heel and began to skip towards the door.  Kat shook her head in bewilderment as she noticed the woman wore shiny black Mary Jane shoes and lacy white socks.  This whole thing just grew more insane by the minute.  She drew in a deep breath, relief none the less sweeping over her.  She was going to get out of here in one piece. 

     She followed Emily cautiously out of the door into the hallway, her eyes scanning the place for any site of Reinna.  Suddenly, she realized where they must be.  They were still in the theatre, just on the second floor.  This bizarre woman was a vampire too, so Emily had to know who Reinna was, didn't she?  Then where was Reinna?  Kat frowned as her eyes nervously slid over their surroundings as if expecting Reinna to jump out at any moment.  She finally let her eyes settle on the woman ahead of her, watching her continue to skip happily, seemingly oblivious to Kat's nervousness.  She had to ask.  "Emily....do you know who Reinna is?" 

     Emily whipped her head around, not missing a beat as she skipped.  A smile curved her lips and her eyes showed their recognition of the name even before she spoke.  "Mistress Reinna?!  She's my mommy!  She gives me pretty dresses!"  Suddenly fear flickered across Emily's face and she stopped skipping to quickly whirl around and face Kat.  "But please don't tell her that I took you!  She doesn't know that I brought you up with my dollies.  I found you on the stage and you were so pretty!  I wanted to play with you and Mistress Reinna had left you allllllllll by yourself...alllllll alone...." Her lower lip trembled and her eyes pleaded, her fear genuine.  Kat didn't know why Emily would fear Reinna, when Emily was a vampire herself.  But if the woman was as childlike as she seemed, was it so odd, given the situation, that she would retain the fear of a child as well? 

     In an absurd way, it sort of made sense.  "Please don't tell her!  Mommy doesn't like it when I play with her things...She isn't very nice when she's mad..."  Emily cast her gaze to the floor and for a moment, Kat almost felt sorry for the girl.  The fear there was very real and Kat, knowing what Reinna was capable of, could understand that sort of fear.  Even if Emily was a vampire, she could imagine that Reinna could (and would) find ways to torment the poor girl.

     Kat risked a move and reached out, taking Emily's hand to give it a gentle squeeze.  "It's ok, Emily.  I won't tell her a thing.  Now, how about you show me the front door?  I can-” Her words were interrupted suddenly as she heard River's voice scream her name in panic.  Kat's eyes widened and she looked over the side of the railing.  She could see River moving down the aisles of seats, frantically searching for some evidence of Kat.  Kat's vehicle was more than likely still in front of the building and she could only imagine what was going through River's head right now.  "River!  Stay quiet!  I'm coming down!"  Even though Kat hadn't seen Reinna yet, it didn't mean that she wasn't still around. 

     She cursed under her breath and quickly turned to look at Emily, who was looking down at River with curiosity.  With her childlike nature, she probably thought she was still human and didn't quite understand her own strength.  Even though Kat somehow had a feeling that Emily wouldn't purposely hurt either of them, she was still dangerous and the last thing she wanted was for River to get hurt.  "Listen Emily...River is a friend of mine.  She can help me the rest of the way out of the theatre.  Why don't you go wait in your room and I'll come back with your present as soon as I can, ok?"  Emily pried her eyes away from River and her face grew hopeful, a look that almost made Kat feel bad for the fact that she was just trying to get rid of the girl.  Almost.  "Really?!  Ok!  I'll go get my dollies ready!"  Kat watched in relief as Emily whirled around and began to skip away, hearing her began to hum a merry tune. 

     Kat waited until the woman had disappeared around the corner before she took off running down the stairs, taking them two at a time.  It was a miracle that Kat didn't trip and land on her face in the process.  Soon, she was meeting River at the front doors of the theatre and River's eyes widened as she took in Kat's appearance.  Kat grimaced inwardly, knowing that River would want an explanation, an explanation that they had no time for right now.  "Oh my god, Kat...what the hell happened to your head?"  Kat shook her head and took hold of River's hand, urging her out the door. 

     "I'll tell you later, let's get the hell out of here first."  River didn't ask further questions, seeming to understand that they were better off waiting until they reached Kat's house first.  She followed Kat's lead instead and before long, they were taking off down the road in the SUV.  They rode in silence, each seemingly holding their breath the entire way until the SUV was parked at Kat's house.  Turning off the engine, Kat finally leaned back and her hands shook as she brought a cigarette to her lips and tried to light it.  She didn't get it till the fourth try.  Once she exhaled that first drag though, it was as if all the worry (if only for a moment) had drained away. 

     Finally, River broke the silence.  "What the hell happened back there?"  She asked, her eyebrows furrowed in concern, but underneath that, Kat knew that River's anger at her actions wasn't far below.  Kat's voice showed her irritation.  "I got my ass handed to me, that's what happened."  Kat paused for a moment, closing her eyes, taking a chance to calm herself before she spoke again.  It wasn't River's fault that Kat had gone off on her own. 

     River had planned to go with her, even though she hadn't agreed with Kat's decision.  Kat was pretty sure that her anger was more directed towards Reinna.  If Kat really thought about it though, part of that anger stemmed from her hurt pride at having her ass beaten.  Kat would never admit that last part to River though.   "Stakes don't work.  I think she was more amused by my attempt than pissed off.  I think that's the only reason why I'm still alive."  Kat said, her eyes still closed. 

     She took another drag of her cigarette and then looked over at River as she remembered what she had woken up to.  "You wouldn't believe what the f**k I saw back there when I came to.  I think Reinna has another pet.  The woman's nuts.  She still thinks she's a kid and she makes corpses into dolls."  Kat shuddered at the words, remembering the image of the bizarre corpse she had seen when she had first opened her eyes.  Knowing how Reinna was though, Kat was pretty positive that most of those corpses might have met their demise at Reinna's hands. 

     The image of Morgan's seemingly accusing eyes filled her head and she shuddered once more.  Kat forced the image from her head and tried to bring her thoughts back to the present.  Before Kat could say anything more, River's eyes widened and the anger that Kat had expected was thick in her voice as she spoke.  "Jesus Christ, Kat....you could have been killed!  I told you it was a bad idea to go out there!"  River shook her head and leaned her head back.  Kat bit her tongue at River's anger.  Kat probably deserved it, though she didn't regret her decision to go alone.  There was no telling what Reinna would have done to River.  She tried not to think of that, but with no success. 

     For the next few minutes, they sat in silence until Kat tossed her cigarette out the window.  "By the way...the b***h's name is Reinna.  She told me that before I blacked out, along with a few other choice words."  Kat immediately regretted the words after she said them and tried not to let her anger build again.  To avoid any questions about what Reinna had said, she spoke again.  "What time is it, anyway?" 

     River glanced over at her for a moment before speaking, as if all the ugly possibilities of what Reinna could have said were playing out in her mind.  She seemed to be debating on whether or not to ask about it.  River could probably tell that whatever Reinna had said had hit Kat pretty hard.  Kat and River had always understood each other pretty well and Kat was grateful for that as she watched River finally glance down at her watch.  "Five in the afternoon.  You must have been out for a while."  River let out a sigh and her eyes took in Kat's appearance before she spoke again.  "Come on....let's go inside and take care of that wound."

     *                                                           *                                                           *

     An hour later, Kat was cleaned up and had taken a nice long hot shower.  While River had cleaned the blood off of Kat, Kat had finished giving her the rest of the details about her experience with Reinna and Emily.  The shower had done her wonders and she felt much better, though she still hadn't managed to completely get rid of the queasiness in her stomach.  One of her towels was wrapped securely around her small frame and another was still being used to dry her hair as Kat walked into her bedroom.  Her eyes found River still sitting on the bed. 

     She was biting her lip and had her cell phone clutched so tightly in her hand that her knuckles were white.  She held unto the cell phone as if it were the only thing keeping her together.  She hadn't even noticed that Kat had entered the room; she was so deep in thought.  Kat frowned and looked her over for a moment, placing the towel for her hair over the back of her computer chair.  "What's up?"  River looked up at Kat and shook her head.  "It could be nothing...but Sarah isn't answering her phone.  I just got off the phone with Ava and she talked to her this morning, but she hasn't heard anything from her since.  She just tried to call too.  She's talking about packing up some stuff and just taking off, Kat.  That's what we should do.  We need to just get the hell out of here."

     Kat shook her head with frustration.  "With what money?  The little I have set aside from my fights?  No...You can take off if you want to, but if I leave, that leaves my parents at risk, River.  She'll kill them, I know she will."  She winced a little and gingerly touched her ribs.  She had a pretty good bruise on them, but nothing broken thankfully.  Kat had spent a good five minutes examining her body after she had taken her shower.  She hadn't bothered to touch the lump on her head. 

     It had stung like hell in the shower and it was still throbbing.  She grimaced inwardly as she thought about the fact that River would probably try to keep her up most of the night.  Sitting down at her vanity table, she picked up the brush and began to run it through her hair to get the knots out.  River looked at Kat with sympathy.  "I know hun...I just don't know what to do.  To top it off, Morgan's mom called me and she's asking questions.  I have no idea what to tell her.  I can't tell her what happened; she won't believe me, just like the cops didn't."

     Kat paused for a second as she looked River over for a moment and her expression softened.  She set down her brush, leaning forward to take River's hand.  "Listen...I've been thinking about it.  I want you to go.  I think it's for the best, at least for now.  I'll stay here, I'll figure something out.  In the meantime, it'll be safer if you just go somewhere.  Find out where Ava is going, find Sarah and you and Sarah go with her.  I won't be able to convince my parents to leave, so I have to stay here.  I don't even want you guys to tell me where you are going.  My luck, the b***h knows how to read minds and I don't want her getting ideas when I confront her."  Kat tried not to think about the possibilities, already feeling her imagination begin to stir.  She didn't want her face to show the reaction to those thoughts because it would probably give River the wrong impression.  She would probably think that Kat was afraid to face Reinna, which was the truth, but Kat didn't want River to know that.  Kat knew that if River saw her fear, it would be harder to convince her to leave.

     River began to shake her head slowly, her eyes tearing up.  Kat could tell she was trying to hold them back, probably for the same reason that Kat hid her fear from River.  "No...You're insane if you think I'm going to just leave you here alone to end up as Reinna's plaything, or worse.  I was going out of my mind earlier when I couldn't find you.  I couldn't handle losing you, Kat."  Kat yanked her hand away abruptly and growled softly under her breath.  She was already impatient with River's stubbornness and the softness that was there before quickly left her face.  "God damn it River, I have enough to worry about with my parents.  Why can't you take Ava's lead and get the f**k out of here?"  Kat looked away, frustration plain on her face as she grabbed her brush up and began to pull it through her hair aggressively. 

     She wasn't so much concerned with brushing her hair as she was concerned with finding something to do with her hands that didn't involve punching a wall.  Taken aback by Kat's sudden anger, River looked away, trying to hide the hurt in her eyes.  She ran her fingers over her eyes, desperately trying to wipe the tears away.  She wasn't about to let Kat see how hurt she was by her anger.  River forced an indifference to her voice as she spoke.  "Let's wait till tomorrow to talk about it.  I'll stay the night again tonight.  My father's ugly face is the last thing I want to see right now and I don't think it's a good idea for either of us to be alone."

     Kat shook her head in anger, her eyes avoiding River's.  "Tomorrow could be the day that you become Reinna's lunch."  Kat stopped speaking before she could say anything that would hurt River's feelings.  She loudly dropped the brush unto the vanity table before she spoke again.  "I'm going to have a smoke."  She stood up abruptly and crossed the room, barely slowing down to grab her robe as she stalked angrily out the door.  Soon, she was wrapped up in the robe, standing outside with her cigarette between her lips.  She could feel a cool wind caress her skin, but thankfully it wasn't too cold. 

     Kat would have probably suffered the cold instead of take a blow to her pride by having to go back inside to get dressed.  It was late February and it probably should have been cold, but Louisiana was usually known for its weak winters.  Even though she had never really felt an attachment to the state, it was times like these that she was thankful for where she lived.  That didn't mean that Kat wouldn't jump at the chance to move somewhere else, though.  She had been saving up her money to move out of the country for some time now.  Kat had always been a fairly independent individual, so she hadn't wanted to use her parent's money, though they probably would have given the money to her if she asked for it. 

     Taking a drag of her cigarette, she breathed in deeply, leaning her back up against the cool brick wall.  She rolled her head back and let white puffs of smoke slowly drag from her mouth into the night air as she pried her thoughts away from her future plans and tried to think about the way she had reacted to River.  She knew River was just trying to protect her, but the whole thing was frustrating.  She wasn't really angry at River, she just wasn't sure of how else to keep her safe.  A few minutes later, River was outside and standing beside her.  Her tone was soft and understanding as she spoke.  "I'm sorry Kat, but you know that you'd do the same if it were me in your situation.  You can't get mad at me for being a good friend." 

     It was amazing how very different Kat and River could be and River's gentle demeanor softened the edge of Kat's anger as it often did.  Kat arched a brow and one side of her lips curled in a half-smile.  "You're right.  I'd do the same thing."  She paused for a second, her face growing more serious.  "I just don't want you getting hurt, hun.  You're my best friend and you mean the world to me." River nodded.  "You mean the world to me too.  That's why I can't leave you behind."  Kat glanced over at River and suddenly grinned that mischievous grin that River knew and loved.  "You know, River...I think I have an idea.  If I'm right...I know exactly what to do to end all this.  Come on...let's get inside, I'll tell you about it."

     *                                                           *                                                           *

     Kat wasn't sure what quite woke her up, but when she opened her eyes she drew in a sharp breath, as she seen a dark figure hovering over her.  She started to let out a scream, but a cool hand was suddenly pressed firmly against her mouth, muffling the sound.  "Ah ah ah...none of that now.  I've already killed one of your friends this night, my pet...you wouldn't want to make it a second one."  Reinna purred in a sultry voice, turning her head to look at River's sleeping form, indicating who she meant.  Kat's heart skipped a beat and she tried to calm herself down, not wanting to give the woman any reason to hurt River.  Slowly, the woman withdrew her hand.  "That's better, my lovely.  I know what's in your heart, my love...it would be tragic to see such a beautiful thing such as River wasted in c*****e, would it not?"  She said sadistically, but somehow still managing to sound seductive.

     Kat narrowed her eyes angrily, her voice coming out in a harsh whisper.  "Don't lay a finger on her, you little cunt, or so help me god..."  Her words were interrupted by the Reinna's quiet laughter, which only fueled Kat's anger.  She could feel Reinna lean in close as she spoke in a low voice.  "Don't worry, love...You're the only one that interests me...." She said, her lips brushing the edge of Kat's earlobe.  "But if you don't play nice, I'll do such wicked things to your little friend that you will never be able to wash the nightmares from your head."  Reinna's voice turned cold as she said this and then just as quickly as it entered her voice, it was gone, the seduction returning as she spoke again. 

     "I haven't come to take you...yet.  You still have others I could slaughter and I have all the time in the world to play this game.  Either way, I will get what I want.  But time is running out for you, my dear.  Tick-tock, Tick-tock."  She paused for a moment and suddenly, Kat could feel the tips of the woman's fingers lightly trail up the length of her thigh, causing her skin to crawl in disgust and fear.  "I've only come for a visit tonight, my love."  She seemed to pause for a moment as if thinking of something else before she spoke once more. 

     "I know you've met my pet, little Emily.  What a naughty, naughty girl she is.  But she has been taught a lesson she will not soon forget."  Kat grimaced as she tried not to imagine what Reinna did to Emily in punishment.  She could remember the pained look on Emily's face when she had said that Reinna wasn't very nice when she was angry.  Kat had an idea of what she meant.  "Ooohh....Kat's friend is pretty, Mistress Reinna, can I play with her?"  Emily's small voice piped in from behind Reinna.  Suddenly, Reinna was sitting up and her hand flew out, striking Emily hard against the mouth. 

     The blow sent her flying across the room.  Kat could hear the poor girl's back hit the door with a hard thud.  When she slid to the floor, Emily immediately curled up into a ball and Kat could hear Emily whimpering, as tears began to trickle down her pale cheeks.  "Shut your mouth before I sew it shut!"  Reinna roared, her voice filling the room with angry intensity.  River stirred and Reinna's eyes flicked quickly to her shifting form.  Kat's heart nearly stopped, praying that River didn't wake up.  But she did not and for once, Kat was glad that River was a heavy sleeper.

     "Now then...where were we?"  Reinna leaned forward once more, the tip of her nose tracing the line of Kat's jaw.  Her hand lifted, one long fingernail slowly trailing down the other side of her neck and made its way lower until it lingered in Kat's cleavage.  "It's been so long since I've had a...mature...companion.  I've only had Emily and she's as useless to me as a child..."  Kat held her breath, the woman's roaming touch causing her stomach to churn, but knew that River's life was on the line.  She closed her eyes tightly, trying not to dwell on it as she spoke.  "You killed Sarah, didn't you?  That's why River and I couldn't reach her..." 

     Low laughter once again filled her ears and she forced her body still so that she wouldn't instinctively try to take a swing at the woman.  "Ohh...I did so much more than that, my love.  I took my time with this one.  She didn't die until just before I came here.  I would have kept her alive for longer, but I finally got tired of the smell of her vomiting, so I put her out of her misery.  Then I gave her to Emily for her to play with.  You've seen her 'dollies', have you not?  She's got a nice cozy little spot in the corner of Emily's room."  Her last words were just too much for Kat.  She wanted to scream, wanted to hurt something, but she was powerless to do so.  "You f*****g monster...."  Kat whispered hoarsely, tears threatening to fall.  She wouldn't give Reinna the pleasure of watching her cry, though, so she forced them back as much as she could. 

     More laughter greeted her words.  "Monster..." Reinna paused for a moment as if contemplating the word before she spoke again.  "That I am, my love.  You're really the cause of her death though, don't you think my pet?  You could have stopped it from the beginning if you weren't so proud and selfish.  She could be alive right now, sleeping soundly in her bed, safe, if you had only given yourself to me.  Even poor little Morgan would still be alive right now if it weren't for you.  So who is really the monster here?  How cold-hearted is it to leave your friends to die?"  She hissed the words harshly into Kat's ear, her lips tickling the edge of her lobe.  Kat felt a surge of guilt overwhelm her and she turned her face away.  Her eyes shut tightly and this time, she could not hold back the tears that came.  "Tick-tock...Tick-tock..." She heard the woman's soft whisper and then suddenly, both Reinna and Emily were gone, leaving her alone with her remorse.