Hide and Go Seek

[Requiem of Insanity]

Wind howled at her back as the puddles splashed away with each step she took. Rain fell in a torrent around like hunting wolves, not a single drop missing her fluttering cloak. She hobbled down the forest path with a limp breathing heavily. Each step added to the pain in her leg and the giant dehlar sword couldn’t take all the weight away as she used it for a crutch. An axe swayed upon her back next to her satchel of belongings. Black adorned her body in tight vlince and the suit covered all of her head and most of her face so only her eyes were visible. Cold piercing hazel glared at the world with open hostility and small fogs of vapor escaped where her mouth was.

She turned a corner and splashed into the mud sliding down a small hill. A fallen tree stump blocked her path and her world spun for several moments until she was able to shake her head clear of the haze. With a loud grunt she stood back up, using the weapon in hand as a crutch. Her leg felt better, but she knew it was only because it was growing numb. She tried to place testing weight and nearly fell over as her teeth clenched in furious pain. She looked back to hear the sounds of men shouting down the dimly lit moonlight path and she cursed as she began to hobble onwards again.

She came out to a clearing and her eyes scanned the world with trained appraisal. She spotted the unmistakable sight of smoke rising into the air like a single claw into the night. She moved as swift as she could trying to reach what was either a workshop or small home. The mud became thicker as the ground around her was softer making her sword sink in deeply into the mud and it pulled back as she tried to rip it out of the ground. When it became to difficult to pull her weapon out she just held it her side and willed herself forwards and onwards. Pain etched her covered face but her eyes never lost their hate.

At last she was within twenty yards of the house before she heard the sounds getting close again. She dug deeply into her heart for strength to lift one leg forward and drag the other one to meet it before she repeated the process. A silent force guided her, encouraging and keeping a steady hand of confidence upon her shoulder. This unseen guardian whispered sweet words of love and warmth into her ear as she used his strength for her own.

When she was near the porch the sounds of the men shouted louder and louder. She hit the wooden planks and immediately fell on her stomach. Her hands moved to her feet and she ripped her mud covered boots off and tossed her cloak to the side. She shoved them under the porch and slammed her blade down into the wet wood. It dug in deep and she climbed the blade, slipping once and cutting her fingers shallowly. Blood mixed with the mud on her sword but she ignored the sensation she felt from her wounds. She ripped her blade upwards and used more of her reserve strength to move towards the door. As the shouts hit an apex the lights inside the house turned on. A figure moved in the shadows towards the door and it opened right as she was in front of it.

A tall muscular man stood before her and his eyes opened in shock to see her. Before he had a chance to open his mouth her blade stabbed deeply into his gut bringing him to his knees where she pulled the blade out and stabbed him in his widened mouth. He didn’t have a chance to scream at all.

She pulled the body in, cursing her rotten luck as she shut the door and moved inside immediately grateful for the warmth. The body she placed in a chair around the corner and turned around to look for a hiding spot. Her eyes looked downwards towards a small girl, her eyes wide with surprise to see the woman in the sneaking suit as the woman was to see her.

They stood in their standoff for what felt like hours, and only the shouts of the hunting party awoke her senses to the danger she was in. She pulled her hand up and ripped her mouth cover down to below her chin.

“I need you to hide me.” she ordered to the child. The kid looked to her in confusion before she pointed towards the back of th house.

“When I do something bad I hide in this one spot where daddy can’t find me.”

“Take me there.” she commanded following the child. The shouts were getting closer to the house and she felt a thrill of terror wash down her spine. The kid entered a door to the left and pointed to her closet. The woman ripped the door open and looked around not able to see any hiding spot. The girl moved closer, pushing the woman’s wounded leg to the side before knocking on the wall quickly. After the forth hit a piece of the board loosened and the girl pulled the piece away.

The woman looked at the tiny place, not happy with the size of it. “It’ll have to do.” she breathed climbing in and drawing with a shudder of pain her legs and looking the child in the eyes. She had a beautiful set of emerald green eyes. “I’m playing a very special game of hide and go seek. You have to promise me that no matter what you won’t tell anybody I am here. Do you understand?” the girl moved forward looking at her oddly, before nodding lifting her pinky finger up.

“Pinky swear it.” she said assuredly looking at the woman with expectant eyes. The woman looked the girl over, and only after a gentle nudge from her dark companion did she lift her pinky and wrapped it around the child’s. After the children’s unbreakable promise was set she placed the board back into the wall, pushing it into place.

She bent her head to her knees and sighed deeply as she began to the long process of waiting for the hunt to end.

[Requiem of Insanity]

There was a soft rapping to the woman’s right and her head bobbed up in surprise, hitting the ceiling hard. She cursed loudly as a ray of sunshine entered her dark hole. Tiny fingers pulled at the hole in the wall and gently removed the section of her hiding hole.

“They left.” the girl said sweetly. “I made breakfast.” The woman rubbed at her eyes and felt every muscle in her body rebel at her. She allowed her body to fall out of the hole, using her sore muscles to pull her self out. Her leg was still sore as hell and she rubbed the spot where it was tender before using all her strength to lift up. She managed to walk two steps before she tripped and fell to the ground at the child’s feet.

“Gods be damned.” she cursed rubbing her chin and propping up on her elbows. The child stood stoically by waiting for her to continue, but the woman just sighed rolling onto her back. “Your in the deep one now, Cassandra.” she whispered to herself. Her eyes looked to her right noticing the child was starring at her. “Didn’t your mother tell you it’s impolite to stare?”

“I don’t have a mother.” the kid said swiftly. Cassandra blinked a few times.

“What about a daddy?” the girl shrugged indifferently.

“He tells me lots of things. But I try not to listen anymore.” she spoke in a tone that dripped of experience and Cassandra could see the tiny one’s eyes looking to her jaded. Cassandra blinked a few more times before she let out a snort of irritation looking up to the roof.

“Well then don’t stare. It’s impolite.” she chided. The kid nodded once still starring at her. She sighed again propping up to her elbows. “Don’t you have school or something?” she asked letting anger fuel her tone. The girl shook her head. “What about church?” another shake of her head. “A date?”

“I’m seven.” she said embarrassedly.

“Don’t you have anything you should be doing today at this moment?”

“I’m usually making daddy breakfast but he’s sleeping in his favorite chair. He told me not to bother him when he sleeps in that chair for any reason.” Cassandra lifted an eyebrow to her.

“Does your daddy beat you?” the girl shook her head again. “Does he abuse you? Hit you? Swear at you?”

“No, but he says really silly stuff like ‘I’m sorry, I promise we’ll live a better life.’ He says other things too. I just stopped listening to him.” Cassandra nodded.

“Ya, so you told me…” Cassandra felt a twinge of emotion when the child mentioned her daddy being in a chair remembering stabbing the Butcher’s Bill into his face. First things first, she’ll have to dispose of the body and fast.

“Did you want the breakfast I made you? It’s flap jacks and eggs and fresh cows milk!” she said excitedly. Cassandra looked to her with contempt.

“Don’t be silly, child. I’m not hungry.” her stomach growled loudly. The girl giggled causing Cassandra's face to flush as she gave her a nasty look. Another deep sigh left her lips before she looked back to the ceiling. “Sure, I’ll eat whatever you bring me.”

“Daddy says not to eat in my room.”

“Well I’m saying it’s okay.” Cassandra challenged her. The girl looked back at Cassandra before she ran forward and jumped over her making the serial killer flinch. “I’ll also need you to draw me up a bath.” Cassandra added with a devious smile. The girl stopped at the door, turned and nodded smiling from ear to ear. Then she ran off down the hall towards the kitchen. After Cassandra heard the sound of utensils clicking together she forced her body up and moved swiftly to the front room to dispose of the girl’s father.

[Requiem of Insanity]

Moving the dead body with a limp leg was harder than Cassandra had thought it would be. She dragged the lifeless corpse out the front door, assuring the little girl she would return in not more than five minutes. She dumped the body onto the dirt and with a wet thud it sunk into mud before resting. Cassandra painfully stepped down from the porch to the ground and her toes felt the rushing of mud between them like gooey porridge. She squirmed a bit but pushed the body over and under the porch. She crawled under with the body, scattering cobwebs and making bugs flee before as she made sure to leave him deeply in.

Satisfied with her hiding spot she turned and crawled over to her boots and cloak. She picked them up noticing the mud caked to their fabrics like an extra layer of fabric. Clucking her tongue she picked them up and slowly with a groan she re-entered the house dropping her belongings by the front door. She could hear the child running back and forth in the house along the creaking wooden floors, water splashing at every other interval. She poked her head curiously around the corner and found the child moving from one room with a bucket into the next room.

“Is my bath ready?” Cassandra shouted down the hall. The little girl dumped the bucket into the tub and returned with a big smile.

“Uh huh!” she placed the bucket down on the floor and ran into the kitchen bringing out a large platter with food and a drink on it. “Go ahead and get in, and then I’ll bring you your food.” she ordered. Cassandra gave her a curt look but moved down the hall all the same entering the bathroom. She tested her hand on the water and it was near freezing cold. She sighed deeply before stripping down to her bare flesh and with steely resolve she entered the water.

All her muscles as one chorus shouted against her in a chorus of agony. The cuts she didn’t even know she had stung like crazy and it was only with her incredible force of will that she did not scream out in shock. Her eyes however were bulging out of their sockets as she lowered herself deeper into the tub. At last she felt her neck hit the edge of the porcelain and she relaxed.

The floor creaked loudly as the child entered the room placing the food before her on a plank that ran from one end of the tub to the other. Cassandra closed her eyes and took in a deep breath and slowly letting it out. The girl’s hands began to run through her hair. She opened her eyes and pushed up turning to look the child in the eyes.

“What in the name of hell are you doing?” Cassandra chided.

“I was getting your hair ready to clean…” she said quietly looking to her feet.

“I am perfectly capable of cleaning my own hair, thank you!” Cassandra spat turning away from the girl. She closed her eyes again and rested. Her body began to lose tension but her head couldn’t clear itself. “What did I tell you about starring?” Cassandra asked, not bothering to look at the child.

“Not to.” she repeated from memory. Cassandra nodded. “Did you know your leg is covered in black icky stuff?” Cassandra looked down to her leg quickly and she cursed loudly as she saw the infected wound on her limp leg. She looked around quickly for anything and sighed turning to the girl.

“Go get my bag and a piece of wood from inside the house. “

“What’s wrong?”

“Shut up and do as your told.” The girl ran off and in a few moments she returned. Cassandra opened her bag and immediately found the book of matches she wanted. Next she took the wood and inspected it before tossing it aside. “Do you have any iron brands?” the girl cocked her head to the side in thought before she ran off. The front door creaked open and Cassandra waited thinking of how she was going to do this. It took a few minutes, but the girl returned with an appropriate iron brand. She got out of the water sitting on the edge of the tub looking to her matches. She lit them and placed them up against the iron brand and waited.

“Dammit it’s not hot enough.” Cassandra looked to the girl. “Stick this in the stove’s fire and wait until it turns red.” The girl nodded running into the kitchen. “Be careful not to burn yourself!” Cassandra shouted. Ten or so minutes later the girl slowly returned with the hot iron. Cassandra took the handle and placed it in the water for a few seconds. Steam erupted from the surface and she pulled the hot brand out and placed it on her infected wound.

Cassandra now screamed in pain as the brand went to work cleaning the wound and burning away the infection. She seethed in agony as she held it before her and when the heat cooled off she tossed the rod to the side and cursed. “That will fight it off for now, but I’m going to need medicine.” She looked for her bag and the little girl lifted it up smiling brightly. Cassandra snatched her purse up and pulled out a ratty old tome.

This tome was all of Catrina Ferman‘s, a deluded serial killer like Cassandra, knowledge on poisons and the human body. It took a while to thumb through the pages but at last she found what she was looking for. With a grin she ripped the page out and turned to the girl.

“I need you to get these items for me. In my bag is some gold. For now I’m going to rest on your bed.” The girl took the paper and nodded once before leaving to fulfill the shopping list. Cassandra watched her go and then she carefully moved her way over to the bed.

She had little trouble sleeping when her head hit the pillow.

[Requiem of Insanity]

Cassandra’s eyes shot open as the wind rustled the fabric of the curtains. Her body was sore and tingly as she adjusted to allow better blood flow through her veins. Only her leg remained numb and she looked to her infection and noted that the firebrand didn’t do as much as she was hoping it would.

Her eyes turned to the little alarm clock made out to look like puffy clouds. Her eyes looked out to the sun and she concluded that she had only slept for two or so hours. The girl would be back soon with her ingrideiants for her medicine, as well something else entirely.

She knew if she was going to be stuck in this place until her leg healed she would have the perfect opportunity to test out a new poison. While thumbing through the page of her tattered tome she came across one called Iron. It was a unique poison that had always intrigued Cassandra. Supposedly it could target the iron in a persons blood and replicate it at alarming rates. But to much iron in the human body could lead to illness. She also noted in the book that if this poison were to also had an extra ingredient added the effects would be more to Cassandra’s tastes. The victim’s iron would instead begin to disintegrate, or in simpler terms, burn away. This painful sensation would be nullified and feel nothing more than just a body ache, but if the iron in the body was multiplied, the effects were fatal.

The front door opened and the girl announced her being home, but her footsteps were heavier than it should be for a girl her size. Cassandra’s ears perked at this and looked oddly down the hall. Two shadows. One adult, one child’s. She cursed moving back into the bedroom looking for something to wear.

“Please wait here, Uncle Victor.” the girl said happily as she entered the room. She looked at Cassandra’s naked body and giggled moving over to a dresser and pulling out a long robe. Cassandra snatched it up and put it on looking towards the mirror. It was a bit short, but it did cover her infection. With pained steps she moved to the door way, letting the girl move ahead of her as she leaned upon the wall for support.

Cassandra’s eyes looked to the man who was supposedly uncle Victor. Her appraising eyes lit up immediately as did his when the two met. A soft dark chuckle escaped into her ears from her twisted companion, the shadow of a cat like being seemed to nuzzle against the man’s leg. It was odd for the two to stand off like this, naturally she was positive that had her leg not be such a burden she would have stabbed the man in the eyes. Something was making him hesitate, however, from doing the very same to Cassandra.

“You two look like you met!” the girl clapped her hands. Cassandra turned away from him with a casual glance out the window.

“He looked familier, but I can tell he’s nobody I know.” she muttered. “Why are you inviting strangers into the house?” Cassandra demanded looking to the girl intently.

“He’s…he’s not a stranger. He’s my uncle Victor…” she said softly. Cassandra lifted a challenging eyebrow. “Well…he said he was my dad’s brother…” she whispered softer. “I mean…I…uh…uh oh…” she looked up to Cassandra with tear filled eyes but was surprised to find Cassandra not giving her a chastising look.

“Tricking her to come here?” Cassandra spat in disgust. “Kind of low for you, isn’t it?”

“I didn’t trick my niece.” Victor said plainly giving her a dirty eye. “She’s my brother’s daughter. I know that. So my question is just who the hell are you?”

“I’m Cassandra, her father’s girlfriend.” she lied looking him square in the eyes. The man scoffed at her waving a dismissing hand.

“Lance never had girlfriends before. Don’t think that-” The little girl coughed loudly in a very embarrassed way. Both looked to her out of the corner of their eyes; a look of shock on Victor’s and a look of victory on Cassandra’s.

“Um…daddy had a lot of…”Aunties” over…” she said hiding behind Cassandra’s leg looking to Victor like he might hit her for speaking up on the matter. Cassandra placed her hand on her head, petting her like a cat. The girl nuzzled into her leg hiding her face in the robe.

“So why exactly are you here?” Cassandra asked. Victor took his hand and lifted it behind his head, scratching it lightly as he gave off a nervous laugh. “Please, tell me, because this is just sooo amusing.” Victor lowered his hand and gave Cassandra a nasty look.

“I’m here to surprise my brother for his birthday.” Cassandra rolled her eyes and looked to the girl, pulling her head back awkwardly and looking into her eyes. She nodded once and Cassandra dropped her grip going back to petting her as an afterthought. “Odd, considering you’re his girlfriend that you don’t know when his birthday is…” he breathed lifting back his jacket and exposing a small fire arm.

Cassandra had only heard of them before, weapons that used explosive powder to create a tiny explosion within the chamber to lodge a piece of pointed metal into the enemy. If aimed right it could kill a human, even a well built human, from a distance like a crossbow. They were also terribly noisy, which is why Cassandra didn’t bother with them.

She sneered at him in challenge, her eye begging him to open fire on her. But instead he looked at her before flinching back in frustration, placing his coat down. “Well, Uncle Victor,” she sassed. “Last I heard he wasn’t feeling to well and went out for a walk. He’s yet to return. So why don’t you go out and look for him while we girls prepare dinner?” Victor gave her a glare that could shoot daggers, but nodded once looking towards the girl.

“I was hoping for spaghetti tonight. That alright?” The girl nodded quickly running in front of Cassandra.

“Spaghetti is my favorite meal in the whole wide world! That shouldn’t be a problem!” She turned to Cassandra pulling on her arm. “Come on! We got to boil the water and prepare the sauce!” Cassandra gave him a cruel look as she realized what Victor had done.

Pasta, of course, she thought dimly. The sauce and noodles would take hours to bake from scratch. Enough time for you to be on your own and do some investigating about me. You’ll win this round, but in the end you won’t learn anything other than that a serial killer lives in this house. She paused watching him leave the house. He easily dropped off the porch onto the ground and bent down under the house looking at where the dead body was shoved. He looked up to her with a devilish smile before bowing low and walking off towards town. Crap. Now he has a huge advantage…

She felt her insides burning, but she couldn’t help but feel excited. At last my love, she mused to her dark companion. We have a challenge.

[Requiem of Insanity]

Cassandra’s mind wandered hopelessly across the field before her. She longed to be out in the world, traveling; anything but standing in this house next to a tiny child baking pasta. Well, to be correct she was baking and creating her medicine for her infected leg. She had studied it closely and was able to discern that if she acted quickly her leg would heal. She would have rather died if she lost her leg.

“How’s the medicine coming?” the girl asked poking her head into the pot that she was mixing. Cassandra pressed her palm against her face moving her back like she would a cat that was getting nosey. She looked into her expectant eyes and sighed wishing for a life better than this.

“Fine, how’s the food?” the girl shrugged her shoulders as she sat on the stool next to Cassandra.

“It’s almost ready,” she whispered. Cassandra looked to her oddly before she sighed again.

“What?” she said angrily. The girl shook her head.

“Nothing.” she mumbled. Cassandra lifted her hand ready to slap her when she felt a cold commanding hand grip her shoulder. She rolled her eyes dropping her serving spoon and gave the girl her full attention.

“No, I really want to know.” Cassandra lied. The girl looked up to her, and then with a deep breath she finally spoke.

“What’s your name again?” it was an awkward question and Cassandra wasn’t exactly sure what to do with it. Now that she mentioned it, she didn’t know the girl’s name either. Cassandra waited a moment before she smiled softly.

“Cassandra.” she pointed to her. “What’s yours?”

“It’s Hester.” she said quietly.

“That’s a terrible name.” Cassandra blurted loudly. The girl looked up to her with teary eyes.

“Well I didn’t pick it!” she whined. “I wish I had a pretty name like yours!” she looked away from Cassandra wiping her eyes. “I’d do anything for a pretty name rather than this stupid ol name.” Cassandra felt a twinge in her heart as she sympathized with the girl. It was a terrible name after all.

“Well, why don’t we just give you one?” Cassandra offered going back to stirring her medicine. Hester looked up to her like she just told the child she was going to give her a hundred candy bars. “Hmm, what to call you?” Cassandra tapped her finger on the bottom of her chin. “What about Agatha?” she mused, knowing it was a name worse than Hester.

“EWWWW!” she cried. Cassandra laughed to herself.

“What about…” she pondered. “Boni?” the girl shook her head sticking her tongue out with her eyes closed tightly. Cassandra laughed again before she walked over and began to pet her head softly. “Hmm…what do you think I should call you?” she looked down and found the girl smiling, moving her head into Cassandra’s hand. The softest trace of a purr left her lips as Cassandra gently used her nails. “I’ve got it.” The girl popped an eye open and looked to her.

“What, what, what, what! Tell me, tell me, tell me!” she lifted her hand to tug on hers, but she patted it away before going back to petting her.

“I’m going to call you, Cat.” the girl looked to her wide eyed. Cassandra narrowed her eyes down on her making it clear the matter was closed and the girl smiled hugging Cassandra. She looked at the girl confused as hell trying to figure out what to do in this situation.

“Um…go check the food, Cat.” she nodded before scampering off and humming to herself. Cassandra just shook her head before going back to her medicine. She noted the time as she looked out to the sun, and with a careful glance back she took a small piece of paper out from her pocket. “Cat.” Cassandra called. The girl turned to her. “Do you have any clothing I can wear?” she nodded once running down the hall.

As she was gone she lifted out another pot and began to the fixings for her new poison. Uncle Victor would make a fine host for her newest trial. She smiled thinking of what his face would look like when he was slowly dying, but an image flashed in her mind and she shook her head in shock.

The girl was getting to her and she snarled her teeth in anger.

[Requiem of Insanity]

Uncle Victor slammed the door opened and his steps echoed into the kitchen. Cassandra looked at herself in the window. The denim black jeans fit like a glove, but her chest area wasn’t nearly as huge as the woman who wore the shirts before her. She had to take a piece of string and make a tight knot in the back and tie it off so the shirt didn’t fall off or droop. She walked down the hall carefully so not expose her weakened leg to Victor and when she rounded the corner to enter the kitchen he stood right in front of her with challenging brown eyes.

“Funny story I heard in town.” He said loudly. “Appears the town four miles from here lost almost ninety percent of its population in one go. They were all at the circus and some twisted ringleader poisoned them all so they would act like howling lunatics.” he showed his teeth to her as she flashed her own back at him.

“Ya, because death is just so hilarious.” Cassandra countered. However they both knew deep down she wanted to explode in a fit of laugher. She was proud of her accomplishment, but they did have Cat to think about. She was the careful pawn in the game they played. Neither were willing to sacrifice her just yet, not until they had a follow up move to end the other’s life. Cassandra knew she had the advantage in the poison she was going to slip him. It would take a few days time to develop the extra iron in his blood stream, then when she can introduce the catalyst to his system the iron would burn and she would stand victorious.

“Dinner’s ready!” Cat sang as she scooted a chair next to hers. The two predators glared at each other for a moment before they smiled quickly, Cat squishing between Victor to grab Cassandra’s arm. She dragged her over to the table and sat down begging for Cassandra to sit as well. Victor made his way to his seat on the other side of the table.

“When is daddy coming home, Uncle Victor?” Cat asked. He looked to Cassandra with a sly smile before he reached across the table and patted Cat on the head.

“He’s helping out the other town for a while. He told me to stay here and take care of you.” he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small doll. “He also told me to give this to you!” Cat squeaked so loudly Cassandra jumped dropping her fork. It clattered off the plate and startled Cassandra further, frustrating her so much she slammed her fists upon the table making everything on the wooden table jump.

“My ear, dear!” she seethed. Cat sank into her chest looking apologetically as she sheepishly whispered sorry. Victor grabbed himself some of the food looking at Cat.

“Don’t worry Hester, Cassandra is just a cranky woman.” Cassandra growled softly so only he could hear it and he showed his teeth once more to him. Cat lifted her head up quickly.

“My name is Cat,” she smiled proudly. “Cassandra named me that because Hester is such a stupid name.”

“Hester was your mother’s name.” Victor warned. “You should be proud to have such a beautiful name.”

“Oh come off it,” Cassandra said sourly. “It’s a terrible name and you know it. I like Cat.” she began to pet her again. “It just fits so well.” Victor gave her a warning look as he began to eat.

“Well if it’s all the same to you, I’m going to call you Hester, because I think it’s a pretty name.” he munched into the pasta and Cassandra felt her ambitions stir deeply within her. She grinned from ear to ear watching him slurp up every noodle and only when he looked to her did she drop it eating into his food.

He gave her a curious look before looking down at the food again. He poked it with his fork and brought more up sniffing it. Cassandra smiled eating her portion looking to Cat and fluttering her eyes in praise. It was rather good. Victor just looked to the food and dropped his fork.

“Who’s thirsty?” Cat raised her hand, Cassandra didn’t bother to acknowledge him. He walked over near the stove and looked at the pot. “Oh my, what’s in here, Hester?” he said grinning wildly. Cassandra’s eyes picked up and looked over to her vat of medicine.

“That? That’s just Cassandra’s medicine. She fell in the rain last knight.” Cat said as she slurped more noodles. Cassandra’s eyes lifted to his. As she expected, Victor didn’t care at all for Cat’s answer, he knew it was Cassandra’s.

“I see.” he said as if he just caught onto something huge. Cassandra lifted herself from the table and tried to move towards the pot. With a simple twirl of his hand he knocked the pot over onto the floor. “Oh my goodness!” he faked being shocked. “I am soooo sorry.” he lied looking to her with an amusement. Cassandra shook violently before lifting her hands to her hair and grabbing a large bunch.

“YOU IDIOT!” She screamed. “I worked all day on that!” Victor winked before pretending to be shocked. Cat got up and ran over with a towel in her hand.

“Oh no! Your infection!” Cat cried out in alarm. Victor’s eyes widened.

“Not an infection!” he gasped. Cassandra felt her ire rise to a fever pitch as she moved closer to him with a steady ominous pace. He only snarled his lips into a cruel smile before moving to the side and pretending to trip on his own feet. He landed with both fists right on her injured leg causing her to scream. “Oh my god! I’m such a klutz!”

“Cassandra!” Cat cried running over to her side. Cassandra only opened her mouth letting air escape as she held her scream of agony in. She fought with Cat to get her away from her as she tried to lift herself up. Victor placed one hand on her leg and pushed down with all his might as he stood up. Cassandra let out a tiny yelp making him smile.

“Uh, maybe I should just go get ready for bed tonight. If you two need me I’ll be in your father’s room Hester.” Cassandra glared daggers into his eyes as she watched him leave before looking to the mess on the floor. She crawled over to it and began to try and scoop up what she could, but Cat had inadvertently cleaned up to much of the slop to be of any use. Frustrated beyond all belief she screamed in rage slamming her fists onto the ground multiple times. Cat only stared at her in confusion.

“Can I do anything to help?”

“You helped enough you stupid brat!” Cassandra spat at her getting up and limping out the kitchen. “Leave me the hell alone, ok?” she muttered.

Her ears picked up the faintest sound of sniffling.

[Requiem of Insanity]

“You should be careful who you call a brat.” her dark companion mused.

Cassandra was on Cat’s bed, meditating and communicating with her dark companion. In her mind’s eye she was inside a blank void, only a solitary light shone down upon her and darkness was around every edge of the light. She was hoping he would calm her down and speak soft words of wisdom. She was being very disappointed.

“She’s an idiot!”

“Right, because every seven year old child knows not to clean up a mess.” he chuckled at her own foolish logic. “You were once a brat, you know.” Cassandra lifted her lip up and pouted.

“Yeah, well I wasn’t as dim witted as she is! She’s such a burden! She’s helping Victor and she gave him a major advantage by revealing all my secrets to him. She’s sobbing her eyes out now as we speak to him. Knowing him he’s going to start asking her questions about me. She’s nothing but trouble.” she muttered lifting her knees to her chest wrapping her hands around them.

“You do realize how badly I just want to slap you, right?” her twisted lover said calmly. Cassandra looked to the darkness before huffing at him. “You know I would never lie to you, my beautiful deluded dark devious darling…” he spoke softly into her ear and she melted into his words. “The child isn’t to blame. You are.” Cassandra’s eyes shot open and her mouth opened in shock as if her lover just slapped her across the face.

“I’m to blame?” she asked incredulously. The darkness laughed in a giant chorus.

“Yes, as a matter of fact you are!” she felt her skin grow cold. “Think about it this way. You have reacted violently to him knocking your medicine over. He expected that. You tried to take action, which he expected. So by doing what he expected he was able to not only knock over your medicine, but also knock a blow on your leg. He wasn’t even aiming for you bad leg, he was just falling trying to guess which one it was based on your reaction. Again, you played into his hand by reacting. He also knew your temper would be short, so what did he do? He excused himself from the situation making you madder and announced where he would be. Was that for your sake you think? I doubt it. He declared where he was so that when you would inevitably scream at the child she would come crying back to him. Darling love, you are the one who should be blamed. You fell right into his plan.”

Cassandra let the information sink over her, and with a shudder of realization she slapped her forehead and groaned loudly. “I hate it when your right.”

“You must be a hateful person.” her lover joked. Cassandra let off a small smile.

“Hmm, but my hate could never be at you, my darling.” She took a deep breath. “Well, I have to get the child back. I don’t have a choice. And besides, he ate the poison, it’s going to take longer since he didn’t eat the whole plate, but it’s not like I have anywhere to be with my leg. I just have to wait until the fever hits, and then I can slip him the catalyst.” the darkness reached one long talon like finger and softly stroked her cheek.

“That’s my beautiful darling.” it cooed.

[Requiem of Insanity]

Cassandra took in a large lungful of air before softly letting all her pride out in the gesture. Her dark companion lifted a soft encouraging hand to her shoulder and she steeled her resolve walking into the bedroom of Cat’s father.

“Hey you,” she said lightly walking behind the girl and reaching her fingers out to pet her. She violently shifted on the bed away. Victor looked to her with a confused eye fixing his robe. “Cat sweety.” she sat on the edge of the bed.

“My name is Hester.” she said sternly glaring at Cassandra with tear filled eyes. “Besides, I thought you didn’t want to talk to me anymore.” she looked away drawing her knees into her chest and wrapping her hands around her legs. Cassandra looked to her and felt her own feelings sympathize with her. She was just like that not five minutes ago.

“Yeah, I did say that.” she said softly. “But you know what, adults say lots of things they don’t really mean you know.” she looked to Victor with a smile. “Right, Victor?” the girl looked up to him and he dropped his confusion quickly, fumbling to pick an emotion.

“Uh, erm…Yeah, all the time.” he said happily wiping at the air dismissively.

“The thing is you have to learn when to say your sorry and take those words back. It’s up to you kiddo if you want to accept the apology, but the right thing to do is always offer it.” Victor’s jaw was dropped to the maximum as he looked star struck at Cassandra. She had to admit that while she spoke from the heart she did feel a little squeamish at the words.

Cat opened herself up a bit looking to Cassandra before sniffling. “You said really mean things.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Mommy said those words to me. She left and never came back.”

“I’m not your mommy.”

“I wish you were.” she admitted. Cassandra’s jaw now was on the ground. She looked into those pleading eyes and she swallowed deeply. Even the guiding hand of her dark companion faltered at the impact of those words.

“Uh…” Cassandra was lost for words. Victor looked to the both of them and he lifted himself up onto one hand leaning into Cat.

“You know, maybe that should be for another time. After you get to know her. You two did just meet not more than two days or so ago…”

“How did you know that?” Cassandra inquired. He looked to the girl.

“She told me.”

“No I didn’t.” She said looking up to him. Victor’s face lost all color quickly. He began to cough and laugh hesitantly before he moved away from the child. Cassandra was not only happy for the change of topic, but the sudden leverage she had on him. Not one to waste the opportunity Cassandra moved on the attack.

“How odd,” she mused. “In order to know that you would have to have been in this area. The town is a mile away from the house, and if you were in the area you surely would have dropped by. But you came from the town on the way in.”

“I uh…didn’t want to be a burden so late at knight.” he said weakly. Cassandra narrowed her eyes smiling.

“Oh really, I don’t think it would have been.” Cat nodded her head in agreement. Victor looked around to both faces before he lifted an accusing finger.

“Well why were you here so late?” he gave her a knowing smile but Cassandra just laughed lifting her hand to Cat’s head and petting her.

“Simple, we were playing Hide and Seek.” Cassandra looked to Cat and winked to her. Cat looked up to her and smiled. “Come on sweety, let’s go to bed. Uncle Victor doesn’t look well.” She said smiling triumphantly. As Cat moved herself out the door Cassandra stopped and turned to Victor. He glared at her, snarling and showing his teeth.

Cassandra stuck her tongue out at him before walking off to bed.

[Requiem of Insanity]

Cassandra's eyes shot open as the sun pelted down upon her fave. She blinked multiple times to get the sleep out of her eyes moving her hand up. As she did so it trailed along Cat's body and she stopped at the girl's shoulder.

She looked to the alarm clock and found she had slept in past ten. She smoothly pushed the girl away tucking her in before limping over to her closet. She opened it, looking for something to use as a cane and found the nothing of any value. Changing into her clothes for the day she touched her stomach and felt hungry.

She limped out into the hallway towards the kitchen and she growled finding Uncle Victor cooking eggs. He sensed her approach and turned around, looking deep into her eyes.

"So you just a cold blooded murderer, or something more?" he blurted.

"I smell the distinct odor of shame on you." Cassandra chided back. "A unique smell of someone who has a pathetic M.O." The man pelted his lips back into a grin.

"Torture I bet." he mused tapping a knife against his chin in thought. "Odd, you seem like some Ice Queen to me. How on earth you got a child to fall head over heels for you is amazing."

"I'm amazed myself." Cassandra admitted sitting down. He lifted the pan up and dropped the eggs onto a plate before walking over to Cassandra and sitting. "Ugh, you burnt the eggs." she whiffed the air wrinkling her nose in disgust.

"I like them that way. It adds a special hint of flavor." He licked his fork before eating the egg. "So what did you poison me with?" he asked eating more of his meal.

"Like I'd tell you." she laughed.

"I didn't think you would, so I went ahead and read your book. It's...amazing." he pointed a thumb at the book of Catrina Ferman. Cassandra's eyes went wide.

"Ah fuck!" Cassandra shouted getting up and limping over to the book.

"Your leg is getting worse." Cassandra scooped the book up and thumbed through the pages making sure nothing was missing. "I see you are limping more. We may have to amputate it."

"It's fine for now. I have to just make a new batch of medicine."

"Did you need to use these herbs?" he didn't bother to look to her as he dangled a seasoning shaker in his hand. Cassandra turned to it and made a move to grab it. He sprinkled every last drop on his eggs before eating it.

She collapsed on his chair, grabbing him by his hair and pulling it back as hard as she could. He cried out in pain as he tried to grab her hands. They struggled for a moment until they heard footsteps approaching.

Like two kids who put their hands in the cookie jar they scrambled to sit appropriately at the table. Cat lazily waltzed in and sat next to Cassandra leaning on her. Her hand instinctively rose to girl's head where she began to pet her.

"You hungry kiddo?" she asked. Cat nodded. "Eggs sound good?" Cat nodded again. "Scrambled?" a third nod before Cat nuzzled her arm smiling. "You got it." She lifted up with a groan and made way for the stove.

She pulled out cooking utensils and a pan and reached for the eggs. "So what chores do you have to do today?" Cassandra asked. Cat looked up to her and thought about it.

"Just feed the chickens. Dad does everything else on Wednesday. It's my day off."

"Well if Uncle Victor is staying in your father's stead he should do all your father's chores." Cat nodded. She could here the fork drop in agitation.

"I have plans today, sorry guys." he lied. Cassandra turned to him with spatula in hand.

"Now, now," Cassandra scolded him. "We cooked dinner last night and we are going to feed the chickens. Then Cat and I have shopping to do in the local market. Then we have to prepare tonight's meal. So If we are doing all the work, how fair is that to Cat?"

The girl looked to him as if her Uncle Victor was being a jerk, and he felt powerless to stop Cassandra's careful manipulation.

"Fine, what do I need to do today?" Cat lifted her fingers up counting them off on her hand casually.

"Milk the cows, feed the cows, feed the pigs, bail the hay, clean the farm, sheer the sheep, tend the garden, pull the weeds and check the wheat and corn. You also need to pick up the eggs, gather the pigs and move them back into the farm now that we fixed their stable and also feed the horses."

"Sounds like," he said in a defeated tone. "An all day task..." he sighed galring at Cassandra. "Dinner better be spectacular." Cassandra walked over to the table.

"Cat grab plates, please." the girl nodded moving to the cupboard. As she was gone, Cassandra smiled to Victor a triumphant smile, placing the eggs on the table. "See how I don't mess up the eggs? To much fire, and you'll ruin everything." she hinted to him raising her eyebrows.

Victor just muttered his anger before getting up to begin the chores.

Cassandra sat as Cat placed her plate in front of her and a second in front of Cassandra. She ran to the inner house well and returned with two glasses of water placing them down before the two. Cassandra served them both.

"What are we going shopping for?" Cat asked.

"Food and medicine." Cassandra said eating the eggs. Cat took a bite and her eyes lifted in praise.

"Wow!" she pipped. "These are tasty!" Cassandra nodded.

"Well duh," She petted Cat taking another mouthful. "I know how to cook without getting burned." she said ominously looking at Victor outside.

[Requiem of Insanity]

The market was like any other Cassandra had seen. Boring, plain, and full of activity. Merchants peddled their wares while the local town continued to work to get the trade and commerce going with traveling caravans. Some men were loading a cart, while woman were looking at dresses.

Cat’s eyes looked to the surrounding world with a curious eye as she walked. She seemed a little dissuaded with the activity, something Cassandra was sure would excite her. She was hoping the girl would find something shiny to play with while she went to the town apothecary, but she was quickly realizing how feint an idea that was becoming.

“You look bored kiddo,” Cassandra said as she felt her leg shoot with pain. Wincing deeply she bent over to let her wounded leg rest. “Damned leg.” she seethed.

“Did you want me to buy you a cane?” Cat asked curiously. Cassandra loathed the idea looking up to see a few fingers point. A middle aged man walked forward with a caring look and Cassandra’s teeth flared in a snarl.

“You want some help, mam?” he asked politely. “Hi Hester.” he added looking down at the girl and smiling. Cat smiled back and waved to him.

“I’m fine.” Cassandra muttered. “You can leave us alone.” The man gave her a curious look before he turned to Cat.

“Dad’s new girl?” Cat nodded excitedly.

“She’s going to be my mommy.”

“Really? He’s settling down now?”

“Go away!” Cassandra shouted pushing the man to the side as she walked forward grabbing Cat by the arm. The girl protested, pulling back nearly causing the serial killer to fall over. Her hand ripped free and she glared to Cat. “What’s the big deal, Cat?”

“You’re hurt and I don’t want to see you like this!” The girl pointed to her leg. “You keep walking funny and it’s because your wound is acting up.”

“Knock it off, Cat.” Cassandra warned. The man coughed loudly. “What, cretin?” she said irritably looking towards the man. He pulled his coat open a little, and the symbol of an order of traveling medics was stitched onto his shirt. She felt her cheeks turn red.

“I get it…” Cassandra mumbled petting Cat softly. “Kiddo, go get these things from the market, take whatever gold you need.” The girl obeyed nodding once and running off. Cassandra looked up to the healer before sighing loudly lifting her pants up to show her wound. The medic quickly bent over and looked to it.

“Infected.” he said more to himself than to his patient. “Looks like an arrow wound.” he gingerly touched the leg looking at the edges. “Mud and dirt…pretty messy.” he stood up. “Looks like your okay for now. Let’s head to my tent where I can rub some tonic and wrap it in a bandage.”

“You would be better pressed to re-open the wound and just slam some disinfectant in there.”

“Aside from the agony that would instill in you that’s also risking inviting other infectious viruses.” Cassandra continued to stare at him. “Very well.” he sighed giving in. He lent her his shoulder and she took it as the two walked awkwardly to the edge of town. He had a small tent set up with an open flap. When they entered the space was littered with all kinds of tombs, potions, tonics, bandages and surgical equipment. Blood also reeked in the air.

“Interesting,” Cassandra said smelling the sweet scent. She felt her ambitions grow and her dark companion left her laughing wildly as it swam into the tent getting a sense of the blood. He placed her gently on his table sitting on a stool bringing her leg up.

“Well it’s home.” He mused softly. He looked over her entire leg. “If you don’t mind me saying, you have an amazing body.” Cassandra’s free leg kicked him in the stomach as she glared to him. He doubled over, coughing and laughing at the same time.

“Okay…” he wheezed before getting up smiling brightly. “I could have phrased that better.” he took in a deep breath before he pulled out a match and lit a lantern. He took a small pocket knife out and ran the blade under the heat sterilizing it.

“Stick to medicine.” Cassandra warned. She watched as the blade gently moved over to her. She felt a cold grip touch her shoulder and she jumped, reaching down for the knife. The doctor instinctively pulled back lifting his hands up defensively.

“I swear I won’t do more than cut into your wound.” he promised. “As a doctor I won’t lie and tell you that you won’t feel a thing, but since this is what you wanted you’re going to have to trust me.” He looked to her sincerely before he lowered the blade again.

“Can I do it?” Cassandra asked nervously. The idea of someone cutting into her made her anxiety spark. The doctor looked up to her as if she was crazy.

“Just trust me. Talk to me, tell me anything, say anything, just do whatever it takes to take your mind off this.” Cassandra cringed as he lowered the knife again.

“Tell me about Hester.” he said calmly.

“You mean Cat?” Cassandra said wincing in anticipation. The first cut came and she gripped the sides of the table in a death hold.

“Yes, Cat.” he said louder. “She seems in rare spirits. Usually she’s sullen and depressed.” he made another cut and Cassandra felt a tear run down her face. The cold grip of her twisted lover held her tightly to keep her from screaming.

“What…do you mean?” she whispered in pain.

“Hester,” he cut again. “I mean Cat,” he put the dead skin in a pan next to him whistling at how much more work he had to go. “Is a sulky little girl. She’s always moping about telling me how she doesn’t fit in. Keeps insisting that she watches me cut into people.” he shuddered before he took another cut pulling out a large chunk of skin. He wiped his blade and placed it under the lanterns flame.

Cassandra felt a twinge spark inside her mind. A motherly instinct began to creep up from her spine up the back of her head and the sudden grip on her mind from her dark companion assured her he was thinking the same things.

“She seem…excited by it?” Cassandra probed before she titled her head back grinding her teeth in pain as the knife returned.

“Not really…More like she’s just interested. She’s very quiet when I work unless she spots something. Her body twitches each time the patient screams, but she doesn’t move an inch. She just watches like a…like a…” he looked for a word spinning his wrist around with blade in hand.

“Cat.” Cassandra whimpered as she felt the knife return.

“Yeah, like a cat.” he said at last. “Almost done. Last cut.” He pulled the knife in and took out the last of the scab and skin underneath it. As he tossed the skin aside he turned and stood walking to his table of medicine grabbing tonics and a large bottle.

“She’s a cute girl.” Cassandra admitted. “Very strong despite her tiny frame.”

“You look like you don’t know what to think of that.” the doctor said sitting back down. “Let me tell you something about her. She’s not a girl with the saddest sob story growing up, but it’s no fairy tale either. Everyone in the village heard about what happened to her mother.”

“What? She die?”

“No, she left her to her about two years ago and said she didn’t want this runt anymore.” he looked upset as he applied the tonic carefully. Pain spiked up and down her leg and she cringed in response. “She was a warrior first and a mother second. Always looking down upon others. We were sure her father just happened upon her drunk.”

“So her mother is a bitch.” Cassandra said factually. “And a whore.”

“Her mother also saved this village from some guy named Lucid. A serial killer with a deadly grudge.” She looked to her doctor with more intentful eyes.

“She kill the bastard?” he shook his head.

“Nope, not as far as I know.” he said wrapping a bandage on her wound. “She just fought him, and he ran off swearing revenge.” He patted her wound gently. “There, all better. You should be fine with just the bandage, but I’d get Cat to buy you a cane with any money you have. It will come in handy and speed up the recovery.”

Cassandra slid off the table and walked back outside to find Cat walking back with a bag full of food and other things. She also had a little cane dragging on a rope tied to her wrist. Cassandra smiled to her in a motherly way before she felt a wave of agitation flood over her.

“Come on kiddo.” Cassandra said putting her hand out so Cat could grab it. “We got dinner to make.” Cat smiled to her. She lifted her bag of coins and took out five golden crowns tossing them to the doctor. They landed in the tent behind him and he looked to them confusedly.

“I don’t recall us negotiating a price.”

“I don’t recall us doing that either. So there’s the cash you can spend on some other woman to takeout on a date.” The doctor gave her a blank look before laughing and scratching the back of his head.

“You got me there.” he said laughing waving them off.

Cassandra walked with Cat and thought about all she had learned before she made a conclusion. “Uncle Victor…” Cassandra whispered. “Also known as Lucid.” She smiled despite herself as the two walked. Cat happy to feel like she had a mother, and Cassandra pleased with the days events.

Regardless of what the two thought, both looked like a happy family.

[Requiem of Insanity]

“Cat, dear,” Cassandra said as they opened the door. “I want you to go wash up now for dinner.”

“But I wanna help you cook!” she protested, but a stern look from Cassandra whipped the tiny girl into motion as she moved onwards towards the bathroom. Cassandra stepped into the kitchen dumping the bags on the table sorting through the food and looking for something to make for dinner. She put the food in cupboards and tapped a finger on her chin in thought as to what she could make, what Cat might like, and she felt the biggest slap on the back of her mind.

Cassandra nearly blurted out in shock as her dark companion lavished her with moody intentions. She cringed at the touch regaining control of herself. It was clear he was disapproving of her motherly instincts.

“Jealous?” she said smartly to herself. She felt a cold grip on her mind and she cooed at the grip. The it felt like he was squeezing her brains out of her ears. She apologized multiple times before he let go, her eyes darting around to make sure nobody noticed. Shaking her head to alleviate the pain she decided upon making baked potatoes as she pulled the ingredients out and grabbed the bucket to fill it with water. As she walked down the hallway she found Uncle Victor looking through a crack in the bathroom door with a disgusting look of pleasure in his eyes. The sight itself made her rage boil over as the bucket left her hand and smashed into his face.

He collapsed to the floor sprawling out and rolling before returning to a standing point with his gun cocked and ready to shoot. “You really ready to fight this out now, Remi?” Cassandra felt her nerves grind at the fact he learned her name, but she kept a calm face of hate as she showed her teeth to him in challenge.

“Maybe I am, Lucid.” The gun lowered to the floor as his jaw dropped. At first he seemed deeply disturbed by this revelation, but he grinned standing up.

“Only a matter of time I guess.” he mused pocketing his gun. “Since I can’t make the child my pawn I may as well get some jollies from her.”

“Your fucking disgusting!” Cassandra said wrinkling her nose to him. “Perverted sociopaths don’t usually meet my appetite, but for you I can make an exception.” Cassandra tightened her fists as she prepared for a brawl.

“An exception for me, or for her?” he said pointing to the bathroom. Cassandra’s heart skipped as he mentioned that. “Cold blooded Cassandra Remi is brought low by a tiny brat. Who knew it?” he walked forward dipping to grab the bucket before he tossed it to Cassandra. “Maybe we should postpone this, the girl is almost done with her bath.” Cassandra held the bucket dumbly as he walked by her, patting her on the shoulder before moving into the kitchen.

She walked like a zombie as she dipped the bucket into the well and she could feel her dark ambitions grinding against her nerves. She was getting soft, and the girl was the reason. She couldn’t take her, she couldn’t adopt her. That was silly a notion to even conceive. She was serial killer Cassandra Remi, the dark mistress of the night, the giver of blessed torture, the midnight monster. Mother never once fit into her heart.

She filled the bucket with water and walked back to the kitchen where she began washing the potatoes before placing them in the oven to cook. The entire time she was robot like, even letting Lucid play with Cat as she continued to cook. When dinner was ready she just placed the food on the table and sat, her mind confused with thoughts.

Only when a pair of slender arms wrapped around her waist did she shake out of her funk.

“Thanks for cooking!” Cat said sweetly nuzzling her head into her side. Cassandra lifted her hands and began to pet the child before she looked to Lucid who smiled vilely. Cat was a tool, not her pet. Not her child…Why was she falling in love with her. First Kane, now her? She sighed realizing what she had to do.

She got up and walked to the cabinet pulling out a small jar with a soft smile before she approached Lucid’s plate dumping it on his potato.

“What the hell?” he shouted in alarm, pushing the food away.

“It’s a seasoning, not enough taste.” she muttered indifferently. Cat nodded to her.

“Mine is plain too, I want some!” Cassandra dropped the seasoning on the table and Cat took it and dumped some on her potato. Warily Lucid began to eat his potato again, keeping an eye on Cassandra. She to poured some seasoning on her food before taking a generous portion and eating. Content he was being poisoned he began to eat.

“I was wondering if tonight you would stay up with me.” Cassandra said to Lucid. “We have a lot we need to discuss.”

“I’m coming too!” Cat swore. Cassandra smiled and petted her shaking her head.

“Nope, you have bed.” She said. “Besides, this is grown up stuff, stuff only your uncle and I can talk about.” Cat got really upset at the words, but Lucid lifted a hand and rubbed her shoulder.

“No worries little one, when we’re done I’ll read you a bed time story.” Cat nodded happily at that continuing to eat her potato.

“Depending on how he’s feeling I may read you the story.” Cassandra said to Lucid instead of Cat.

“Why don’t both of you read it!” Cat offered. Both shook their heads. Cat shrugged and finished her potato. “I’m going to bed now so you guys can talk now!” she ran off into her room and Lucid smiled watching her leave.

“So then, what you going to do to me, huh?” Lucid said smartly. “You got nothing on me.”

“I love baked potatoes.” Cassandra said in a very off manner. “They are juicy, go great with different vegetables, but still can have meat added to really make the food…pop.”

“Ya and they are full of Iron too, but what the hell does…” Lucid stopped as his eyes went wide. “Iron…” he repeated. “The Catalyst to the poison…” he gave her a look of earnest intent before he shook his head.

“A good bluff.” he said darkly. “A very good one. But you see, you wouldn’t poison yourself as well.” Cassandra shrugged.

“I never ate the pasta that night.” She flashed her teeth.

“Yes, but Hester ate that garbage. You wouldn’t poison her.” he said laughing her off, but when he looked to Cassandra’s dead serious face he began to feel very uncomfortable. “You…you did poison her…you just poisoned her and me.”

“You thought I loved her enough to protect her from you?” Cassandra whispered. “That little shit means nothing to me!” Cassandra stood up placing both hands on the edge of the table grinning vilely.

“You just reminded me that I had a game I had to win. For you, it’s over.”

[Requiem of Insanity]

There was no way Cassandra would lose to him. Lucid was the lowest base of scum on the world and his regrets would be more sweet than any honey she would ever hear. She had got so caught up in Cat that she nearly forgot that Lucid had to die. Her dark companion had reminded her of that when Lucid pointed it out to her. So in a show of pure spite and devotion to her twisted lover she would kill both of them. Destroy one person, and purge the weakness inside her in one foul swoop.

Yet Lucid wouldn’t go without a fight. He reached into his vest quickly pulling out his gun and cocking it. The plate in front of him was pushed up into his face and the first shot went wide as potato covered his face. Cassandra did a daring leap over the table and struggled with him.

Iron had a catalyst that was required to start burning the bloodstream, but it would take a while like a boiling pot of water. The chair Lucid sat in fell over as the two rolled into the hallway. Lucid ended on top and his fist came down like a brick as he slammed into Cassandra’s face. She took the hit as her fingers fought off his other hand, the gun aiming down upon her shoulder and the carpet as she struggled to keep it away from her as another shot nearly killed her.

At last she managed to find purchase on his body as she grabbed hold of his ear and pulled down to the side with all her might. “MY LOVE!” She shouted angrily and like a tidal wave a dread feeling washed over him and he felt powerless to move. This allowed Cassandra to get up and run down the hall towards Cat’s room.

She used her shoulder to knock the door open and her leg cramped up as she fell to her good knee. She mentally thought about the bad timing to decide to fight, but the adrenaline kept her going.

“What’s going on! I don’t feel well!” Cat said with tears in her eyes. Instead of answering her she moved to the closet and opened the hidden door pulling out her bag of tricks and the most important tool in her arsenal, the Butcher’s Bill.

The Dehlar blade was still caked in mud, but the small glint from the moonlight told her it was hungry for blood and she would oblige the dreaded blade. As she turned she found Cat looking scared out of bed in her pajamas.

“I feel bad!” she whined. Cassandra felt her heart twinge but the call from her Dark Companion told her he was losing his grip on Lucid. Cassandra ignored her a second time running out into the hall. Just as her head poked around the corner another gunshot nearly took her life. She ducked back into Cat’s room and cursed.

“What’s going on?” the girl cried.

“Shut up!” Cassandra bellowed moving to her purse for something to throw. She found a few throwing knives and placed one in her free hand and one in her mouth. She moved back up to the door and waited. As she peered around the edge she could hear the click of the gun as another blast went off. Wood splintered and shards flew everywhere, one of Cat’s dolls was shot between the eyes and she cried holding her hands over her head in terror.

Cassandra retaliated by tossing a dagger down the hall making Lucid fall back. She moved into the hall grabbing the blade in her mouth and running like a berserker. As Lucid showed his face around the corner she threw the last dagger and sprinted. Lucid cowed in fear behind his hiding spot as she neared the edge.

She felt something spike inside her leg and she cried out in pain as one of her daggers was lodged shallowly into her upper thigh. Lucid had tossed it blindly, but the trick worked and he was upon her in moments.

The two were locked in a stalemate as Cassandra fended him off, his pain growing by the second as his blood continued to boil. But he also had a rage inside his mind that made him immune to the obvious. He would fight until death at this point, nothing else mattered.

Cassandra pulled the dagger out and tried to stab him with it, but he used the muzzle on his gun to parry the blow. His quick shot missed her by inches and she felt locks of her hair being blown away. He retaliated with a back hand slap which she deflected with her elbow. Both cried for blood at the other as they stood eye to eye.

Lucid brought one leg in and rotated his body tossing Cassandra over his hip onto the ground where she landed with a thud pushing over a table. Her sword fell to the side and Lucid brought his gun up to her temple and cocked it.

“Last bullet.” He said in a sinister tone. Just as Cassandra closed her eyes for fear of death she heard Lucid scream in agony as the gun faltered. She moved in time as the bullet landed upon the wood floor blasting clear through to the ground. She rotated, grabbed the Butcher’s Bill and swung with all her might as the flat edge of the blade hit him in the face knocking him out cold.

She breathed heavily as she watched the man slump down. She looked to her wound and evaluated the damage before getting up.

She had plenty of energy to drag Lucid into his bedroom to prepare him for her hobby.

[Requiem of Insanity]

“You’re probably wondering why I am here.” a sinister voice said from the darkness.

Lucid bobbed his head up and down looking for the sound of the voice, but he was met at every turn by a sinister and dark chuckle. It was cruel in intent, dark and dangerous in design. He felt his spine shiver in fear as he tried to raise his arms. He was tied down.

“So this is how you do it…” he said at last, looking up to the ceiling in defeat. “Stripping me is a very odd touch. I feel very vulnerable.” He said looking to his left.

Cassandra stepped out of the shadows, a cruel smile upon her features as she watched the man look her up and down. She lifted up a small knife and approached the table. “Welcome to my song.” she said motherly. “All children will eventually learn this song.”

“Oh?” Lucid muttered. “Getting big for our britches aren’t we?” Cassandra smiled to him as she lowered the blade to his lower lip. He looked up to her with a confused look, then with one swift motion he was illuminated to Cassandra’s form of hobby.

Taking the lower lip and tossing it aside he cried out in agonized pain. Tears rolled down his face as he felt the blood drip down the sides of his face to the bed below. She carefully sauntered her way back into the shadows before returning with a larger fillet knife.

She hovered over his leg for a moment. “How about you feel what I’ve been walking on for the last three days…” she said seductively as the blade began to neatly take off a large chunk of his skin. His cries silenced themselves, his vocal chords unable to create of pitch he was screaming for.

“To big for my britches?” Cassandra mused. “Lucid, your such a foolish person. You came here expecting to take advantage of a little girl to avenge a woman who you hated. A woman who fought you off before.” she smiled before tabbing the edge of flesh beneath his penis.

Lucid muttered incoherently, unable to focus from the amount of pain he was in. “I’m really disappointed.” Cassandra said honestly as she retreated into the shadows. The sound of her heels echoing in the darkness made his mind uneasy. She returned with a tiny potato peeler in her hand with a dark look in her eyes.

“Iron failed.” she continued. “It was meant to destroy your blood stream, burn you from the inside out. But all it did was spike your temperature for a little while. You should have been dead. Oh well. I’ll know what to do next time.”

The potato peeler stabbed into the fleshy skin, and she turned it like a screw in a wine bottle. Lucid bellowed out in pain, blood spurting everywhere as she shoved it deeper into his body before pulling out violently.

“So be honest with me Lucid.” Cassandra said leaning into his face looking him in the eyes. “Did you ever find her? Did you kill her?” He looked to her in confusion, his upper lip trembling as he spoke distantly.

“Who…” he barely whispered.

“Cat’s mother!” she said matter-of-factly. “Did you ever find her?” Lucid looked to her before he let a small smile creep on his face. It was disgusting without the help of the blood and gore on his body.

“I…got her…good…” he breathed. Cassandra nodded before lifting up and turning to the shadows.

“Come.” Cassandra ordered. Tiny footsteps echoed in the darkness as Cat stepped forward glaring at Lucid. “This is my life, child.” Cassandra said like a teacher. “I kill those who do wrong. Do I do this out of justice? No, I do it because Lucid screams are far more loud than those of the innocent.”

“I understand.” Cat said in a trance like state.

“Will you kill him because he killed your mother?” Lucid looked to Cat with contempt. “Will you kill him because he felt no remorse for her death? Will you kill him because he looks to you now for a release from this torture? Will you end him?”

Cat remained quiet as Cassandra and her Dark Companion watched her, seeing a small ambassador of the shadows step forward and place a gentle hand on her shoulder. It wasn’t whispering into her ear, it wasn’t pushing her forward, it was just there with her, like Cassandra’s dark companion was doing for her twenty years ago.

There was silence save for Lucid’s groans. It lasted for nearly twenty minutes until at last she spoke. “I will not kill him.”

“Why will you not kill him?” Cassandra asked, but not in a condescending tone.

“Because it’s yours to give. He will suffer more if you do the deed.” Cat spat.

“And why do you want him to suffer more?”

“Because he made my mother suffer. So I shall watch him suffer.” Lucid looked to her with a pleading eyes. He began to spit up blood as he fought to speak.

“Kill me, child! Kill me!”

“She won’t do it, Lucid.” Cassandra said sadly. “She won’t do it because she is not like us. When I watched my father kill a man, I took the knife from his hands and asked how I could be like him. She will not hold the knife, she is to afraid.” Cassandra sighed again. “If she cannot willing kill a man because SHE wants it, then there is nothing left to do but continue on.”

“What the fuck are you saying?” Lucid shouted. “I don’t get it, this…this is insane!”

“I’m glad you say that, because now you know the words to the Requiem of Insanity!” Cassandra said lifting up the Butcher’s Bill.

Lucid’s agony continued on all through the night, his mouth always screaming to her song as Cat watched in the corner, letting the blood flow over her. When the rays of the sun began to shine Cassandra ended the madness, putting her tools away after cleaning them lovingly like they were children.

Yet the girl never took her eyes off the mutilated body of Lucid, like a cat starring at a dead mouse.

[Requiem of Insanity]

As the sun rose Cassandra walked, her leg feeling much better after her midnight activities. She was pleased with her self and she giggled like a school girl as her dark companion lavished her with sweet nothings as he whispered into her ear.

Cat stood behind her, her own bag of things. She packed light; a few pairs of clothing and a small knife. Cassandra watched her the entire time. She didn’t say goodbye to her dolls, didn’t even bother to grab her favorite blanket, like Cassandra she packed only her ambition, not her desires.

She shook her head sadly.

“You’re not coming kiddo.”

“Yes I am,” Cat said angrily. “You proved to me my mom is dead. So now…Now I want to be like you.”

“No you don’t.” Cassandra said motherly. “You want to cling to me like a leech because your empty inside.”

“Your killings don’t bother me. I won’t tell anyone!”

“What of your father?” Cassandra asked.

“I left him a note.”

“What if someone killed him while your gone?”

“I’ll kill them.” she said darkly.

Cassandra looked to her before dropping her bag and opening her arms out to her. “Kill me then.” she said honestly.

Cat gave her a strange look, but in the short time she got to know the real Cassandra Remi she learned she never lied about who she kills. A strange feeling washed over her and in that mixed madness of emotions the girl ran forward to her, tears brimming her eyes.

“I HATE YOU!” She screamed. The girl leapt upwards and into Cassandra’s arms, beating her tiny fists into Cassandra’s chest before slipping out and falling to her knees, still furiously hammering away at her knees. Cassandra reached behind her back, grabbed Hope’s Requiem, and dropped it behind the girl.

“Take it.” Cassandra said lifting up the Butcher’s Bill. The girl turned and grabbed it holding the weapon in both hands.

“I’ll kill you!” The girl shouted as she ran forward. Though Cassandra was no warrior with a blade, she easily knocked the girl aside. She placed a hand on the girl’s shoulder and moved up the back of her head rubbing her neck before petting her. The girl sobbed and cried.

“I don’t care you killed him…” she sobbed. “I don’t want you to leave me.”

“You’re dead weight to me.”

“I can learn.”

“You don’t have it in you. Not the way I do. Maybe you can learn to be a great serial killer, but not like me. You don’t hear my song.”

“I can if you teach it to me!” she pleaded.

“I’ll teach it to you only when I’m killing you. “

The two remained quiet before Cassandra stood up and began to walk away. “Take that axe. It belonged to another person I loved. Like him I grew out of my shell and found human emotion. I want you to take that axe and study, learn, and grow at your own level. When you can raise it against me, with that look in your eye and that feeling in your heart to hear the song you have created, maybe then I will find a place in my heart for you.”

Cassandra walked away from the girl leaving her all alone. As she wondered away she felt a pain in her heart. She wanted to run back and hold her tightly, whisper her care for her, but she wasn’t allowed such a luxury. She still had more people to kill. Cat was a distraction, not a help. Distraction’s were for humans. She was a monster.

A solitary tear fell down her cheek as she left Cat alone.

After five minutes she forgot all about the girl she had met, leaving her as another memory in the chasms of her mind.

[Saxon]

STORY

Continuity - 5/10 - When reading this thread, I didn't really see anything that might have tied these events to a larger picture. By that, I don't necessarily mean that this should've been a small piece of an overall epic, but from the beginning it felt like you had dropped Cassandra right in the middle of a narration with little background on why she was doing the things she did. For people who read a lot of your material, it might have been easier to read into your intentions for this thread, but for somebody like me who hasn't I had a hard time trying to make sense of it.

To have gotten a better score in this area, I think you could've taken some time to write about how Cassandra targeted this person, why she chose him, and the methods she used to track him down. The reason why this is so important is that it can add to the hook to your overall story and help draw the reader in. Anybody can write about a serial killer preying on those like herself, but it takes a really good writer to leave a lasting impression on the reader while doing it. Try applying that to your writing and you should definitely see some better results in your next judgment.

Setting - 4/10 - The setting in these events was briefly touched upon, but it seemed like you eventually forgot about it or chose not to give any more detail to it other then to tell me where you were in a particular scene. This could've been much improved. When writing, it's just as important to give as much detail to make a setting vibrant as it is to make a character life-like, because both of these things play on each other so much in a story that when one is neglected too much, the other falls to pieces.

Take some time, maybe in the beginning of a scene, to describe some of the more memorable parts of your scenery to help the reader get a picture in their head. Often the reader's imagination will do most of the work for you, but you need to be able to give them an idea of what you're trying to set up so they can think about it. The most efficient way I've found to do this is to do it just like you would if you're entering a place like a restaurant or a friend's house for the first time. Within the first five minutes of your first visit there, you'll probably take in more details of your surroundings then you ever will again.

Try to also word it in a way that shows Cassandra's surveying the area and forming an initial impression of everything around her, because not only will it help get the reader on the same page with you but it'll also show that this character isn't just a cardboard cutout meant to be carried from scene to scene, but an actual person that's sharing a series of events that went on in their life.

Pacing - 7/10 - The pacing in this story was actually pretty good. You never dawdled longer in a scene then you had to and it seemed like you were trying to utilize your momentum to help keep the reader's heartbeat racing. Focus on using that more in your later threads to help add suspense or heighten the adrenaline rush to some of the action in your scenes, it'll evoke a more positive feeling in the reader when they feel like they aren't just reading this story but can picture themselves right alongside the characters.

CHARACTER

Dialogue - 4/10 - There was a lot of dialogue in this thread, in fact I'd be willing to argue that it made up most of your posts. While that isn't a bad thing if communication is a strength of yours, what was most disappointing was that a lot of this dialogue seemed hollow and forced. This is by far your biggest weakness. None of these characters seem like they were actually speaking from their own perspective but rather saying lines for an audition. I could tell that a lot of the dialogue you used were popular sound bites that every actor of every television show has said at least a thousand times in their career. I challenge you to pick them out.

There's a reason why they don't carry over really well to literature. The words are hokey because everyone has heard phrases like "I'll kill you!" or "What the fuck are you saying?" thousands of times, so they all lose their flavor. Dialogue like that just becomes filler and you'll often see audiences placid in their reaction to phrases like these compared to knee-jerk reactions to more original writing.

Whether you realize it or not, you probably think up some interesting things in a conversation on the fly when you're with your friends or family. Try this exercise. When writing dialogue, imagine yourself talking to the other character. What would you say in that particular situation? How would you say it? If practiced enough, you'll begin to see a transition in your dialogue from hokey, hollow exchanges to meaningful, intriguing conversations between characters.

Some other things I noticed in this thread were that you often gave explicit and ridiculous reactions to some of the things your characters say. They'd often border upon being melodramatic and it wouldn't take more than a simple accident or misunderstanding for anyone to meltdown or lose their temper. This doesn't work because it isn't realistic, not even in the most dysfunctional family you've ever come across. I understand that there was a lot of tension in this thread given two murderers trying to square off with each other, but you need to remember that tension builds, it doesn't explode.

Try to read this thread back to yourself and picture what it'd be like if Cassandra or Viktor slowly came to realize the other's true intentions. How would this affect them? How would you react in a situation like that? If you try to incorporate more normal, less knee-jerk reactions to a lot of your writing and work on building that momentum instead of trying to constantly use it, you'll find more positive results.

Action - 5/10 - There was a lot of action in this thread, and while I may question some of it's merits, you tried your best to keep me on my toes while reading this. My biggest gripe was that a lot of the action depicted in this thread didn't make a whole lot of sense. The infection and how Cassandra/doctor tried to treat it, for example, was wholly false. I'm not sure if you were aware of it, but from the way you depicted this infection in her leg with black fluids leaking out of the wound, it sounded like she might have been on the cusp of gangrene or a blood infection. Neither of these infections can be 'burned out' or destroyed with fire, and all Cassandra was doing was mutilating herself.

The doctor was shockingly not that much better, who seemed to spend more time trying to get into Cassandra's pants and tearing away flesh from the infection and exposing it before wrapping it, but I have no idea how this could be considered treating the wound. To treat an infection that severe, you need pumped with enough antibiotics to kill the infection, which will probably cause problems in itself. Once gangrene comes into play, there's no longer a question of whether or not you can get rid of the infection but instead how much of the limb you're going to need to amputate before it spreads to the rest of the body and kills the person. An infection that spreads to the blood is fatal because it begins to run rampant throughout your system and you need immediate treatment or there is a good possibility you'll be dead quickly. I think in this time period that you had for the setting, either of these possibilities would've been a death sentence for Cassandra considering how naive doctors were at that time.

The two other things that really stuck out in my mind were 'The Game' and the killing of Viktor, which tie into each other. Throughout this thread, you took a lot of time having Viktor and Cassandra keep Hester in the dark while they manipulated her and played games with each other. Why? I really doubt that murderers are as dramatic and verbose as the impression you might have gotten off of a show like Dexter. An encounter such as this should have been over within minutes instead of days, especially in the way you chose to narrate it which showed a lot of arrogance and immaturity for serial killers who are typically more methodical and filled with purpose.

With all that in mind, when it came time for the climax, Cassandra went completely out of character by a) poisoning Hester with Viktor after just having a revelation over whether or not she'd be able to raise her and why she couldn't as a murderer, and b) Trying to goad Hester into killing Viktor for her essentially destroying the previous point of drawing this killing out into some sick game between the two murderers by using, protecting, or preserving Hester's innocence. I didn't know what your intentions were with that, so I thought I'd shotgun it.

To fix this and improve your score, which you can do easily, remember your two best friends with action in a story. Realism and common sense. Would you tear the lips off of somebody you're about to kill just to do it? Would you put a hot brand to yourself even if you don't know what you’re doing in the hopes to cure an infection beginning to run rampant? Would you poison somebody you care about just because it's convenient to you at the time?

Use your head. You'd be surprised how many points you would have gotten in this area of your score if you had just taken time to step back and say to yourself "Is this working?" or "Does this sound right?" and taking the time to fix your mistakes instead of submitting the thread and losing points to parts of your thread that were non sequitur. Work on it.

Persona - 5/10 - As I said through much of your scoring, your characters were more like caricatures than people. Nobody except maybe Hester really acted their age or appropriately in the things they did. With serial killers who are often advocated to be some of the most cunning and methodical monsters in history, both Cassandra and Viktor seemed pretty dimwitted in the things they did. Neither of them really seemed to use a lot of deduction in the conclusions they made and often used these skewed conclusions to make petty attacks with one another.

Overall, this thread could've ended a lot sooner then it had, and I think the biggest reason for it was that not a lot of consideration was put into the personalities and actions of your cast. I think what might help you in the future is to start taking more time in planning your characters, how they think and what they do because it seemed almost as if you wrote down the first thing that came to mind and settled with it. Part of finding a voice in these threads is to try and strive to make these characters as lifelike as possible to give the reader more reasons to remember what they read and to follow you onto other things you do.

WRITING STYLE

Mechanics - 6/10 - There were a lot of grammatical errors in this thread, and it got to the point that I think none of these posts were proofread. Microsoft Word doesn't catch everything, and if it's the one thing I'm a stickler on when it comes to writing it will always be mechanics. Grammar, spelling and how we use them is literature's form of maintenance and while it is very rare that you'll find the perfect book, post or thread without their share of errors, it is crucial that you try to minimize them as much as possible.

This shows that you care about what you're writing and that you want to submit it because you're confident that what you've written is quality work and others who read it will feel the same. When you don't proofread or edit, it shows the complete opposite and says a lot about your character as an individual when you aren't disciplined enough to remain attentive to the things you write. If you practice this and do it for your next thread, I guarantee you that you will see a dramatic improvement in your mechanics score.

Technique - 5/10 - I didn't really see a lot in this thread that could be considered to be your own style to writing. A lot of the posts were bland in that regard and I feel that rather then depending on the occasional simile, you need to start being more adventurous. Challenge the way people think or even the model of beginning, middle, end in literature that so many people are used to reading. Some of the most memorable books or authors are often the ones that a reader can take something away from what they've read rather than read something like it was straight from a script from a screenwriter. Be creative.

Clarity - 6/10 -

Wild Card - 2/10 - I'm aware that Cassandra is in the model of Dexter, but in your own style. While I normally dislike the ripping of literature, I had a cool experience when reading this thread. When it came to the lecture of the dark companion, I automatically was reading it in the voice of James Remar like he would be if he was talking to Dexter on the show. Though accidental, I feel generous. Here's 2 points in wild card.

TOTAL: 49/100

You've gained 1825 EXP and 150 GP! Congratulations!

[Taskmienster]

Everything added. Fools.