The Cannibal and His Mistress

Chapter Three; August 12th

Katherine woke up alone but still in William"s bed. She could smell food and tries to get up but her wounds were making her weak. She gasps and winces in pain when she tries to move.

"Damn it." She says as her third attempt fails. She hears footsteps rush into the bedroom.

"Are you alright?" William asks as he enters the room and helps her up.

"Yeah, I guess I"m a little more dinged up than I thought." Katherine says as she limps out of the room, with William helping her.

"You"ll heal, you just need to rest." William says as he leads her into the kitchen and sits her down on a chair.

"I can"t rest, I need to get out of the city."

"No you"re not. You can"t go anywhere with that leg."

"But Will I need to leave the police are sure to find me and throw me in jail, and I can"t go back to the hell hole." Katherine says panicking.

"Katherine, calm down, no one will ever find you."

"You say that now, but what happens if someone recognises me?"

"No one will recognise you, if you don"t leave here for a while and just wait until the investigation dies down then you can go back out into the world again."

"How long do you think that"ll take?"

"I don"t know, a couple of weeks, couple of months at the most."

"I can"t stay here, I"ll go crazy." Katherine says.

"Calm down, I"ll be here with you. I can teach you how to be like me, that"s what you wanted right?"

"Yes, I want to be like you."

"Good, as soon as your leg gets better I can teach you how to kill. But today you need to rest." William says.

Katherine smiles as she begins to eat, it felt like a lifetime since she ate a decent meal. She can"t cook to save her life so she would have to rely on her husband but even then he wasn"t home anyway so Katherine would only eat fruit even then that wasn"t enough.

"Is there humans in this?" Katherine asks.

"No, we"ll get there."

"Well either way it"s very good."

"Thank you. I learned to cook by your mother, she was my best friend throughout university. She was like my sister."

"Did you ever love her?"

"Like a sister; yes. Romantically; no. She met your father and the two were inseparable then they got married and had you. The real fairytale romance, if only all marriages were like that."

"I hear that. It"s a shame she didn"t live long enough to teach me how to cook."

"I can teach you how to do that too if you wish."

"Really?"

"If you wish to learn?"

"I would love that. Being a woman and all, cooking and cleaning are really the only two things I"m good for."

"And sex."

"Oh gee thanks. You were supposed to say; no there are a lot of other things you can do. Is that too hard?"

"What are you saying you aren"t good?"

"That"s a bit personal isn"t it? Speaking of, how would s*x with you be?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean you consume flesh of the people who wrong you, what do you do with the flesh of a lover?"

"Oh Katherine, it"s not something I can simply tell you I have to show you."

"Try to explain it."

"I treat a lover the way they should be treated, I make sure to kiss every inch of their body, I make sure to give her pleasure before myself."

"Wow, I wish I knew what that"s like."

"Maybe one day." Katherine raises her eyebrow. "What?"

"Do you really think I"m that easy?"

‘Well, if you aren"t then why are we talking about this?"

"You brought it up."

"Hmm, interesting."

"What?"

"Why Miss. Swan are you a prude?"

"What, no!"

"Then let"s talk more." Katherine just looks at him. "Yeah, you"re right."

"Will, I must admit you are a very attractive man, very attractive, but talking to you about s*x is odd. I mean we have only known each other for a day."

"Katie, my dear, I am a Doctor you can talk to me about anything. If there is anything you wish to talk to me about something that is to personal you are in a safe place."

"Did you just call me Katie?"

"I"m sorry, do you not like that?"

"I do, my mum used to call me that."

"I know."

"Can you tell me everything about my mum?"

"Of course. I"ll tell you anything you wish to know."

"What was she like?"

"She was just like you, funny, bubbly and enraging, but she was my guardian angel, she got me out of a few jams, she was a smart woman."

"That sounds nice. I wish I could live up to her."

"What do you mean?"

"I"m not smart. I mean I am a smart ass but not her smart." Katherine says as she looks down and away from William.

"Oh, hey, you don"t have to be exactly like her, you can be whoever you want to be." William says as he walks over to her. "Yes she was smart, but you know what you want to do." William continues as he cups her face and makes her look at him.

"Oh yeah, and what"s that?" Katherine asks looking him dead in the eyes.

Katherine stares into William"s brown eyes, she could see so many emotions, love, lust, heartbreak, sorrow and for the first time Katherine could feel the emotions William could feel, she had never felt like that before. Her husband was cold and cruel he would never allow Katherine to look at him let alone look into his eyes. Katherine begins to cry thinking about how horrid her husband was to her. William softly caresses her cheeks with his thumbs. He slowly moves his face closer to her"s, Katherine"s first instinct was to pull away but the smell of his cologne, the sight of his perfect eyes, Katherine had never felt heat like it before. Their lips hadn"t touched yet and it was already more exciting than a single kiss from her husband. William presses his lips lightly to hers.

Katherine was overwhelmed with emotions, she never had a real kiss before, the kisses she got from her husband were pecks, no one really saw her as anything but a girl from the wrong side of the tracks. She was an orphan at age sixteen no one saw her for anything but the orphan she had become. Katherine gasps and takes two handfuls of his shirt to bring him closer to her. William takes advantage of her gasp to push his tongue past her lips and allow their tongues to mingle. It was Katherine"s first kiss and she begins to cry. He parts from her and looks at her with sadness.

"What is it?" William asks. "Oh God, it was that bad?"

"No, it"s just I have never been kissed before."

"Really? You have been married before how could you not have been kissed?"

"Sure I have been kissed, pecks but that"s all."

"You poor girl." William says as he pulls out the chair next to Katherine and sits down. He places a hand onto her"s and smiles sadly at her.

"Meh, I haven"t had the best taste in men, they always end up being bastards."

"You haven"t got bad taste in men, you picked me didn"t you?"

"I picked you?"

"Well, you showed up on my door step last night, you crawled into bed with me and we just kissed. I say you have exquisite taste in men." Katherine laughs at his explanation, he was right, she did choose him without realising it.

"You"re right, but the question is, would you choose me?"

"I don"t know." He says with a laugh. Katherine punches him hard on the arm.

"Ow, ow. Damn it."

"What?"

"I forgot I have wounds, which are still hurting me." Katherine says.

"Come on, let"s get you back to bed."

"Do you say that to all the girls?" Katherine asks with a smirk.

"Only to the pretty ones." William remarks as he places her arms around his shoulders as he places his arms around her back and under her legs and he carries her back to the bed. He lays her on the bed and covers her with the blankets. "You try to get some sleep and I"ll be back soon."

"Where are you going?"

"I need to get something."

"Something or someone?" Katherine laughs. William laughs too.

"Yes, don"t worry I"ll be home before you know it." He says kissing her forehead before turning to leave.

"I want to come."

"Oh you will." William says as he winks and leaves the room. Katherine gasps and bites her lip as she hears the front door close.

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William walks through Fleet Street trying to find his next target. But all he could think about is Katherine in his bed all scratched up and lonely. He felt bad about leaving her alone, but he needed food, and he knew that if he couldn"t get food today he would have to wait for a couple of days before he can try again. He stops in the middle of the sidewalk just thinking about Katherine, he smiles at the thought of her, her perfect eyes, her perfect face, her perfect body, her perfect twisted mind which is just as twisted as his is. As he is thinking he feels someone bump into him. He hears a scoff from behind him and then a rant.

"What the hell man, you don"t just stop in the middle of the sidewalk like, what are you stupid?" William turns around slowly to face the man who bumped into him.

"I am very sorry sir, if you wish to express your anger in a therapy session here is my card, come and see me and we will work through it together." William says with a very polite tone which was laced with underlining sarcasm.

"Um, no thanks jerk." William smiles at the man as he left.

William walks back to his home with a smile on his face, he enters the house to find Katherine sleeping soundly. He walks over to the bed and sits on it and light strokes Katherine"s face with his thumb. Katherine shifts a little at the feeling and opens her eyes.

"Hey." She whispers.

"How do you feel?"

"Better. Did you get someone?"

"Yes, I just have to wait for him to come to us." He says tapping her on the nose.

"Come to us?"

"Yes, I told him that I thought he had an anger management problem and soon he"ll start to think about it and will come to us to work on his issues and that"s when we kill him."

"Is it odd that I"m excited about this?"

"Nah, I get excited, especially when I know that you are going to be helping me."

"Yay." Katherine squeals.

"Do you think you can move?" William asks.

"I think so." Katherine uses her arms to lift herself into a seated position. It doesn"t hurt as much as it did earlier on in the day. "Do you have a shower I can use?"

"Why?"

"Because unless you want me to start smelling up your blankets, then I really want to have a shower." Katherine says laughing.

"Of course." William says as he lifts her from the bed and takes her to the bathroom.

As they enter the bathroom Katherine looks around to see a spotless bathroom, like every other room in the house. White tiles gleam in the light, the mirrors which hang on each wall around them, a large white bathtub stands alone in the middle of the room. It looks amazing to Katherine, her heart flutters at the mere sight of the tub, she hadn"t had a bath since she was a little girl.

"Are you okay?" William asks.

"I"m sorry, I haven"t seen a bath big enough to fit me for years." Katherine says as she wipes away tears.

"Are you going to be strong enough to bathe yourself?" William asks as he places her the chair next to the bath.

"Are you offering there, Doctor?" Katherine asks pushing him lightly.

"I could be. Are you strong enough or not?" William asks as he puts a plug into the drain and turns the taps.

"I don"t think so." Katherine says as she dramatically places her hand on her forehead and leans back in the chair.

"Come on, I"m being serious." William says as he rolls up his sleeves and tests the water temperature.

"Come on, it was right there. I had to do that. Yes, I do think I can bathe myself." Katherine says with a smile.

"Alright, I"ll leave you with incense. I"ll be on the other side of the door if you need help just call me and I"ll help you."

‘Do you think I"m incapable of bathing myself or do you just want to see me naked?" Katherine asks with a sly smile and a wink.

"If I wanted to see you naked all I have to do is close my eyes."

"Whatever, you have never seen me naked."

"That"s what you think."

"How the hell could you have seen me?"

"There is a full length mirror on my side of the room."

"And you watched me change last night?"

"Let"s just say I got a private show."

"You are so lucky I"m weak otherwise I"ll be slapping you so hard right now." Katherine says as she struggles to get off the chair. William rushes to her side to help her up. But Katherine snatches her arm back. "No, let me try, if I fall then you can help me. I"m going to have to get my strength back at some point." Katherine says with a painful hiss.

"Okay." William says with his hands up in a surrender.

Katherine tries not to show William how much her body was hurting as she hobbles over to the bath and leans against it on her good leg to take the pressure off her wounded one. She sighs when the pressure was taken off her wounded leg. Katherine then begins to undress. She is still wearing the shirt that William gave her the night before, she begins to lift it when she remembers that William is still behind her.

"Enjoying yourself are you?" She asks.

"We won"t know until you undress will we?"

"Will, you are not going to watch me undress, now get out." Katherine says as she leans against the bathtub.

"You know if you don"t stop the taps the bath will over flow and you"ll be cleaning it up and because of your leg, you won"t want to kneel so you are going to bend over to keep weight off the leg and I"m going to enjoy that view."

"And I"m going to enjoy slapping you." Katherine says as she turns the taps off then takes the shirt off not caring that William is still in the bathroom. She takes off her underwear and slips into the bath. "You can leave now."

"Or I could stay and redress your leg?"

"What is it with you and wanting to stay with me?"

"Why do you not like it?"

"No, it"s nice, but creepy all at once, I mean we have only really known each other for not even a day and already you have seen more of my body than my husband did in the three years we were married."

"Maybe it"s because you feel safe with me more than you did with your husband and you don"t mind being yourself around me."

"Maybe, or maybe you just want me to let my guard down and then you kill me in my sleep. When you do make sure to enjoy my flesh."

"Oh I will, but you"ll be still alive when I do enjoy it."

"Oh, my God." Katherine says with terror written all over her face.

"Oh no, no I"m not going to kill you, and I am certainly not going to eat you while you are alive, I"m not a monster. Well I am but not one you need to be worried about."

"Oh that"s a lot more comforting." Katherine says as she starts to take off the bandage and rag from her wounded leg.

"I"ll be right back."

"Wait, where are you going?" Katherine asks reaching out to catch his arm.

"I"m going to get some more things to patch you up, I"ll be right back, I promise." William says. He walks out of the bathroom and to the basement to collect the materials he will need to fix her leg.

William returns to the bathroom to find Katherine with her head below the water, her eyes open, a very few bubbles making their way to the surface, she was still, motionless, her eyes didn"t move when he peered into the bath like he thought she would. Out of a fit of panic he reached into the water and dragged her out. As soon as she reached the surface she took a deep breath and spat out some water she had in her mouth into his face.

"What"s the matter, Doc? Couldn’t stand to see me like that?" Katherine asks in a fit of giggles.

"Don"t ever do that again!" William yells at her.

"I"m sorry." Katherine says as she places her hand over her mouth and begins to cry.

"Oh, Katherine, I am so sorry, please don"t cry, please, I"m sorry, look I"ll go and get some food for you, you haven"t eaten since breakfast." William gets up in a rush in hopes that food"ll calm her down. When the door closed behind him, Katherine opens are eyes and sniffs.

"That was fun." She says as she leans back in the tub so her back was on the side of the tub to prop herself up.

William is in the kitchen making food for Katherine when there is a knock at the door. He stops what he is doing and answers the door. He looks to see the man that had bumped into him earlier.

"Can I help you, Sir?" William asks with a kind smile.

"You are Doctor William Beckett, yes?" The man asks.

"Yes I am. What can I do for you?"

"I was thinking about what you said, and I have to admit that I am an angry person and I would like to work on that."

"Very well, how would you like to come back tomorrow and we can start your therapy?" William asks.

"I was actually kind of hoping that we could start today."

"Oh, my office isn"t prepared for patients today, but if you come back later tonight at about six I should be ready." William says.

"Sure, whatever." The man says as he turns to walk away. William closes the door feeling uneasy about the man whom will later be his victim. His and Katherine"s victim, he smiles at the thought, he is willing to share his victim with Katherine. The thought made him happy, happier than he ever thought he could ever feel.

He makes his way back to the kitchen to finish making food for Katherine. He walks into the bathroom to find that Katherine was still sitting in the tub, she was just staring at the wall opposite her, she didn"t notice William as he enters the bathroom and places the tray of food on the vanity. He picks up the chair he had placed Katherine on earlier and places it behind her.

"Katherine, are you okay?" He asks when he leans in close to her ear. Katherine snaps out of her trance and almost jumps out of her skin at his sudden appearance.

"Oh, my God, don"t do that."

"I"m sorry. Are you okay?"

"No, my pulse is through the f*****g roof now. But before I was just thinking about something."

"About your husband?"

"Oh God no. Well, actually more like his murder, I want to go see the crime scene."

"Katherine, you know how dangerous that is."

"I know, but seeing all the blood I got excited knowing that the man can never hurt me again." Katherine says as she tilts her head back to look at William. William puts his hands on to side of her head and uses his thumbs to massage her temples.

"I understand that, but if you go back there it"ll make you look more guilty."

"I know, but I left something there."

"What?"

"A necklace I got for my eighth birthday, mum gave it to me but she never told me who it was from, there was no card either."

"What does it look like?"

"It"s a silver chain with a silver dagger pendant. At the end of the pendant is a ruby it looks like blood dripping from tip. It"s my favourite piece of jewellery, I wear it all the time but I didn"t put it on yesterday. Have you ever had anything that you loved so much that it was like it was apart of you?"

"Yes, I have this." He says taking out a pendant which looks exactly like Katherine"s dagger she has at her house.

"How did you get that?" Katherine asks.

"My wife and I could never have children, but I really wanted at least three and one day while I was walking down the street and I came across a jewellery store and I saw a matching set of dagger pendants in the window. I knew that I had to buy them, but your mother told me that I was never to visit you anymore after she knew what I was, I just dropped off the box at your house and wrote your name on it, hoping it would get to you. I did write a note with it but I guess your mother read it and tore it up."

"That pendant was from you?" William on nods with his head hanging down. "You have to know, I don"t love a lot of things in my life, that pendant was the only thing that I ever held onto because I know that some one special gave it to me. I never take it off only to sleep, so the thing doesn"t choke me while I slept." Katherine continues.

"Really?"

"Of course, to be honest I don"t care what you do, I think you are really gentle and kind, I know you will look after me. Like you said you really wanted a child or three, so I guess you are just going to have to settle of one." Katherine says.

"Well considering what has happened between us in the last day I think it"s safe to say that we are more than that."

"Is that what you want? You are, after all, twenty years my senior."

"I don"t know, I haven"t really loved anyone since the beginning of my marriage, which was at least twenty years ago."

"That"s really sad."

"Meh, that"s how somethings go I guess, you fall head over heels in love with someone then without realising it you don"t love them anymore."

"I have never loved anyone before, only mum and dad but even then it wasn"t really love. They were so overbearing and forceful that they didn"t even see how unhappy I was. They only set up the marriage with Jacob because he was from a rich family and he was so charming to them, too bad they never saw or anyone saw what he was really like behind closed doors."

"I"m sorry."

"It"s not your fault. People only see what they want to see I suppose." Katherine says as she starts to shiver.

"Are you cold?" William says as he places his hand in the water to find its gone cold. "Okay, time for you to get out before you freeze to death."

"I was so spaced out I forgot to wash myself."

"How about this, you step out of the tub, I"ll refill it and I"ll wash you myself, you lazy bitch."

"Hey, I was thinking."

"And I couldn"t be prouder of you for thinking about murder, but you still have to do other things at the same time." William says with a smirk.

William helps Katherine out of the tub as the cold water circles down the drain. The last drop of cold water flows down the drain William puts the plug back in the drain and turns the hot taps back on. William pours some bubble bath liquid into the rising water, lavender scented bubbles start to form, Katherine takes a deep breath to take in the smells of a flower she hadn"t smelled in years. It took Katherine back to her childhood before her parents died, they would always take a long stroll in Hyde Park. Her father would pick two flowers from each flower bush and hand one to Katherine and the other to her mother. Katherine would twirl, her skirt end in her hand, she would pretend to be a princess.

‘Katie, are you okay?’ William asks as he places his hands on her shoulders.

‘Yes, I was just remembering my parents. The lavender brought it all back.’ Katherine sighs sadly.

‘I have something that’ll cheer you up. The man I ran into on the street came by and he will be coming back at six to have a ‘therapy’ session.’

‘Ooh, you’re right that did cheer me up.’ William moves her hair away from her shoulders to reveal a tattoo on her left shoulder blade. ‘Kraujas tirštesnis už vandenį.’

‘Blood is thicker than water.’ William translates.

‘You speak Lithuanian?’

‘Taip, aš, mano gražuolė.’ Translated: yes, I do, my Beauty.

‘Of course you would. What other languages do you speak?’

‘Spanish; because I am from Spain. Polish, Romanian, French, Danish, Russian, Portuguese and obviously English.’

‘Jesus, well I guess someone like you, smart, cultured, well-traveled, should have more languages than that under his belt.’ Katherine teases.

‘I would have, if I didn’t get married.’

"You"re not married now, why don"t you travel more?"

"It"s too late for me."

"It"s never too late. If you never do then you will never forgive yourself. If you need a travel partner I"d be more than happy to accompany you." Katherine says.

"I bet you would." William says as he begins to wash her hair.

"Come on, if you really want to travel we should go."

"Well, I really want to go Asia." He says.

"I want to go to Asia too. Japan especially."

"Why Japan?"

"The Cherry Blossoms, the culture, the food."

"I would love to go to China, walk across the great wall."

"When my leg is better we should go." Katherine says with a smile.

"If you want to roam around Asia with me?"

"Of course I do."

William and Katherine finish washing her when they hear the doorbell ring. William helps Katherine out of the bathtub and leaves the room to answer the door. William rolls down his shirt sleeves and answers the door to find the rude man from earlier.

"Welcome back, sir." William says allowing him to pass into his home.

"Where would you like me to sit?" The man asks.

"Off to the left there is my living room, sit anywhere you like." William says as he heads to his bedroom to find Katherine struggling to put on her dress from the night before.

"Mujer, what on Earth are you doing?"

"I"m putting my dress back on." Katherine says falling onto the bed trying to put on her corset.

"Why?"

"I can"t really walk outside wearing nothing, can I?"

"Well, you could, but I don"t want anyone else seeing you."

"Oh, that"s real nice." She says with a huff. "Are you embarrassed by me?"

"What, of course not. I just don"t want anyone else but me to see your body. Your body belongs to me now."

"Does it not?" Katherine says standing from her the bed and hobbles over to him, she falls into his arms when she trips over her feet. "This would have been a lot sexier if my damn leg wasn"t banged up."

"I thought it was sexy."

"See, see now you are trying to be a kiss ass."

"Is it working?"

"Maybe a little."

"Good, now I have my patient here. Did you want to stay in here?"

"Did you want me to stay in here?" Katherine asks playing with a button on his shirt.

"What are you doing?" William asks.

"I"m flirting with you. Is that okay?" Katherine asks.

"Yeah, but not when I"m ready to meet a patient. Damn it." William says squeezing his eyes shut.

"Oh, I guess little Will is coming out to play." Katherine says with a giggle.

"I don"t need him to be. I am meeting an important patient whom is going to be our food for the next few days." William says trying to control his breathing.

"Okay, Okay, go and get us our food." Katherine says turning William around and slapping his ass. William looks back at Katherine whom is giggling and closes the bedroom door behind her.

William walks into the living room to find the man sitting on the couch.

"Are you okay?" William asks the man.

"Yes, sorry, I have never been in therapy before."

"That"s okay, there is nothing to be afraid of." William says. "Okay, lay on the couch and close your eyes." The man does as William instructs. "Take a few deep breaths and imagine yourself in a happy place."

"Happy place?"

"Yes, the place where you feel most comfortable."

"Okay."

"Where is that?"

"In bed with my wife."

"Your wife?"

"Well, ex-wife, she left me a few weeks ago."

"Is this when your anger started?"

"Yes, in fact."

"Ah, okay, your anger is because of your wife leaving you. To get out your anger you must to see me once a week for a month, you have to let out your anger toward me if you don"t feel better within that month then I"ll try something else."

"Okay. Thank you, Doctor Beckett."

"Not a problem." William says watching the man get up from the couch.

"What is this?" The man asks holding up a blood soaked rag.

"Oh, before I was a psychologist, I was a surgeon, I had a patient come to my last night with a gun shot to the leg. She is resting right now and will be as good as new in a few days." William says thinking about Katherine and what she could be doing in his bedroom.

William allows the man to leave and tells him that he will see him next week. William turns around with a smile. He walks toward his bedroom to find Katherine sleeping in the bed on the same side as heeded last night. William chuckles and takes off his shirt and pants, he slides into the bed next to Katherine, he wraps his arms around her waist and hugs her from behind as he falls asleep.