Chapter 41: Chapter 41

CHAPTER 40- SWAMP OF SADNESS

THIRD PERSON POV

Catalaya turns to face the woman claiming to be her mother, as she did the woman blows a cloud of shimmering dust into her face causing Cat to sneeze after inhaling it. It stunned her, and for a few minutes, she stood there motionless.

The woman began speaking in an unfamiliar language, her eyes began to glow and her mouth opened allowing a dark fog to come out. Catalaya's mouth opened as well and a bright red light flowed out of her. The two lights dangled in the air before switching bodies, the black one flew into Catalaya and the red into the woman.

Fatigue immediately swept over Cat and she closed her eyes for a second but when she reopened them she saw herself before blacking out.

The woman now occupying Catalaya's body and the demon demiurge stood over the unconscious body that Cat now occupied. Their plan to try and turn Cat against her father hadn't gone as they had hoped but that didn't matter since they didn't put much stock into it anyway they just felt that it was worth a try. This, however, was their original plan and so far it was going on splendidly. Lucifer would be arriving soon and all the preparations have already been made.

"What should we do with her mistress?" demiurge asks

"Take her out back and throw her in the lake"

"Are you sure mistress maybe we may have use for her later"

"I have no further use for her, I already have what I need. With her body, I'll be able to exact my revenge on Lucifer plus I'll have a strong body that I won't have to sustain with magic. Now throw her out so we can get ready for Lucifers arrival"

"As you wish milady" demiurge bows then roughly picks Cat up placing her over his shoulder and walks out.

Leaving the house demiurge walks around to the back taking the clear path that leads to the beautiful glistening lake behind the mansion. As he walks with brisk long strides Catalaya begins to stir, coming awake.

When consciousness came over her Catalaya could feel that she was moving, or being transported rather so she quickly forced her eyes open. She found herself above ground being carried on someone's shoulder, as she's about to start moving demiurges voice stops her

"Don't even think about starting to move young princess or I will have to subdue you and it won't be pretty"

"Where are you taking me" she demands

"Not too far, in fact, we're already here," he says stopping on the dock

"What, why are we here," she asks but then the realization hits, and she begins panicking twisting her body this way and that to get out of demiurges grip

"Settle down!" demiurge shouts throwing her to the ground

The impact knocked the air from Cat's lungs and pain immediately started radiating through her. She felt fragile and weak like it would take way more effort than would normally be required to move just a limb. Rage was building inside her for being thrown so harshly and to the ground no less. She wanted to snap demiurges' neck, she knew she had the power to but her body just would not comply.

Slowly and carefully she tried to get up from the ground but could not find the strength to do so. Rolling his eyes at her weakness, demiurge roughly picks her up and without a second thought throws her as far as he can into the lake, then turns his back and walks away.

Cat hits the water going underneath, she quickly uses all the strength she could muster to push herself back up above the water surface. However, as soon as her head is above water she realizes that the lake is no more and what was once a beautiful clear body of water is now a dark muddy swamp. Shocked, Cat tries to get out but the dock, the path, and demiurge have all disappeared. She twists and turns confusion clouding her mind as she tries to find a way out.

She suddenly started feeling like a heavyweight is pressing down on her, she tries moving but her feet won't budge. She finally got her feet out, moving again only to step into some sort of sinkhole, with the swamp waters now up to her waist, that's when she realized she's slowly sinking.

With panic setting in, bad memories she had tried to keep locked away in the darkest corners of her mind have begun pushing their way to the front. All the yelling, all the teasing, and bullying, and worst of all, the punishments, they all flashed before her eyes; her screams echoing in her mind.

She clutches at her ears and closes her eyes trying to block out the sounds and images but they only get louder and clearer. Cat felt her anxiety levels rising as more images appeared in the forefront of her mind and voices in her head screaming at her telling her she deserved it all, that she wasn't good enough.

You are worthless, not good at anything, completely worthless

Weak human trash

What a disappointment your parents are wolves and you don't have a wolf

Wolf less abomination

All these things that she had been told growing up echoed loudly in her mind and despite her screams and pleas for them to stop they just wouldn't go away. As she sank the voices got louder and the flashbacks began, the first being when she was around ten years old.

Flashback 1

She had just finished serving dinner and was now cleaning up the kitchen. She had made their favorite, steak and mashed potatoes with gravy. Dominic was spending the night at a friend's house so no one was there to protect her. That's why she'd made their favorite in an effort to please them if just for the night, especially Emerson.

If he was happy then she wouldn't have to suffer tonight. As Cat washed the dishes she hoped and prayed she'd get a break tonight but all hope was lost when she heard the sound of plates hitting the ground. The kitchen door busted open with a bang and Cat turned to see Emerson with anger on his face.

"So you think you're so smart, huh or maybe you think it's funny," he said

Cat looked at him confused, she didn't know what he was talking about, was there something wrong with the food? She wondered

It couldn't be she had made sure to make everything specifically how they like it, tonight's dinner had been cooked to perfection.

Or so she thought, unknownst to her jasmine had snuck into the kitchen when she stepped out for a second and added salt and pepper to the gravy.

"What are you talking about?" Cat asks

"I'm talking about the crap you gave us to eat" Emerson yells

"But there's nothing wrong with it I cooked it just the way you guys like"

"Oh really?" he sneers

"It seems my taste in food has suddenly shifted and I like eating crap. How about you, let's see if we have that in common" he says, grabbing her by the hair and dragging her into the dining room.

He then throws her to the ground and cuts a piece of the steak then forced it into her mouth ordering her to eat it

"Good isn't it," he asks, cat nods a yes in reply

"I agree," Emerson says.

He then scoops up some mashed potatoes and stuffed it in her mouth harshly

"How about that, good right" he questions again receiving the same answer

He then took up some gravy and pushed it in her mouth, the spoon touching the back of Cat's throat causing her to gag but that was soon overshadowed by the horrible taste of the gravy which she immediately spit out.

"What's the matter isn't it cooked just the way you like," Emerson says mocking her words from earlier

"What, but how?" Cat says mainly to herself

She was completely confused, she was sure the gravy had been perfect so why didn't it taste so horrible.

"I don't know what the hell makes you think you could pull one over on us but I'll teach you a lesson you'll never forget" Emerson growls slamming Cats back into the wall.

She knew what was coming next and it made her want to curl up and die

"Dad please, I didn't mean to I'm sorry" she begged

"Don't call me that" he yells in her face shaking her violently

He then grabbed her by the hair and dragged her down the hall and opened the door for the basement then kicked her down the stairs. Cat went down head first, her face slamming into one of the steps on her way down. Her back made contact with the cold hard floor and she screamed out in pain, she was dizzy and dazed, her vision blurred with tears.

Emerson walked down the steps and kicked her in the ribs, a crack was heard at the rib breaking and Cat screamed again. He kicked her once more causing her to cough up blood. He continued to kick her until it became hard for her to breathe, then he dragged her by the hair and chained her to a wall before walking away.

For a second Cat thought it was over and she sighed in relief but that relief soon faded when he walked back over and a loud crack echoed in the air. Something ripped the skin on her back apart and she screamed. Emerson was whipping her. He hit her harder every time she screamed. She screamed louder and louder hoping someone would come to save her but all she managed to do was rip her vocal cords. Emerson continued his assault on her back, lashing away at the already torn and battered skin until every inch of her back had a cut, then he had put down the whip telling her to clean up her blood before it stained his floor, and walked out.

Flashback 2

Catalaya kept her head down as she made her way to her class, her belly growled. She had only eaten scraps over the past three days so her hunger was becoming unbearable but she'd have to wait until lunchtime when Dominic would come by, then she would ask him to buy her something. Normally her friends would provide her with food but she was on her own that day because they weren't coming to school.

Her belly growled again and she prayed lunch came around quickly as she sat down in her seat in the far corner of her classroom near the garbage bin. The class was rather busy that day, she noticed, as she placed her bag on the desk ignoring the new foul words that had been written on it.

She knew why everyone was so excited but she could not share in their joy. That day was her birthday but that wasn't what had everyone so excited, of course not. The reason they all couldn't wait for the school's day to end was that later a grand party would be held for the archangel Gabriel's son with whom Catalaya shared the same birthday, not that anyone except her friends and brother cared.

Despite her dislike for her classmates she still listened in on their conversation. When she heard Noah's flavor of the week boasting about how he told her he loved her and that he said he knows she will be his mate when they come of age next year, Cat unconsciously scoffed at her idiocy. However, that was a big mistake since the girl along with the rest of the class heard her.

"And what the hell are you scoffing at bitch" jasmine said

"Uh... Uhm" Cat stutters

Smack!

Jasmine slapped her across the face. Then she grabbed her by the hair and pushed her face up close to the rubbish bin that stood next to Cat's desk.

"No jasmine don't let that trashy omega make you ruin your beautiful skirt by going near to the bin," one of her friends said to jasmine in a deeply concerned manner.

"What, she's not an omega Chelsea and she's not trash she's worse. To call her that would be an insult to said things" jasmine replied, the entire class laughed hysterically.

Fortunately for catalaya, the teacher entered the classroom a few minutes later which forced jasmine to cut her 'fun' short and head to her seat. Mr. Harris the science teacher places his belongings on his desk then clears his throat to get everyone's attention, while Cat tried to get the scent of stale garbage out of her mind which was a bit impossible since she was right next to the source.

After that incident, the class went on smoothly until they were told that they'd be put in groups of two to carry out a class experiment. As expected no one wanted to pair with Catalaya and when the teacher got impatient he chose a person at random, and unfortunately that person was jasmine. Exasperatedly Cat got up and went over to the table where Jasmine sat waiting for her with a lovely smile and a sunny disposition.

"Hey sis," jasmine said with a smile but the malice coating those words would give the devil chills

Cat on the other hand ignored her and listened intently to Mr. Harris's instructions. Jasmine kept teasing and taunting her but Catalaya paid her no mind, suddenly jasmine leaned over and whispered.

"When we get home I'm going to make sure you regret ignoring me, bitch"

Then as soon as Cat stretched her hand out to pick up one of the chemicals jasmine moved her hand as well picking it up before Car and spilled the corrosive liquid all over cat's arm. The searing pain caused the cat to scream loudly, all the students as well as Mr. Harris froze in shock as cat got up from her seat holding on to her bloody arm.

"Oh my gosh sis I'm so sorry" jasmine exclaims, her face displayed regret but her eyes held no such emotion

"Mr. Harris I swear I didn't mean to we just reached for the bottle at the same time and it spilled over her" she says all teary eyed

Seeing the understanding and pitying expression on Mr. Harris as well as all her classmates face Cat knew they all believed Jasmine's lie, not that she expected any difference. In fact no one even tried to help her get to the nurse. They were all concerned about Jasmine as if she was the one who had been burnt. Cat eventually went to the nurses office to get her armed cleaned and bandage then carried on with her day.

Her problem however only got worse when she got home and found out that Jasmine told their parents that cat tried to burn her with acid which she luckily dodged and it ended up spilling on cat instead. That evening Cat endured pain like she'd never felt before.

Flashback 3

Cat and Dre's conversation after mating

"What's got you so happy" Cat asked turning to face Andreas

"You feel it don't you the strengthening of our mate bond" He replied

"Yeah i do, i never thought it would feel this good to be mated" she smiled

"You know what else I feel?" He asked, watching as Cat's cheeks turned beet red because he now knew her secret

Chuckling Dre said "There's no need to be shy about it babe I've know for some time now i was just waiting for you to say it but you don't have a thing to fear because i love you too"

Cat's eyes widened at Andreas' revelation and she felt her eyes water with unshed tears. Dre was looking right at her getting lost in her mystic blue eyes while she got lost in his stormy dark ones.

"I love you too, i love you so much" she cried

"I- I've been wanting to tell you for sometime now but i was afraid"

"I know, baby I know. I understand that it's hard for you to give your heart away after its been broken so many times but i promise i will never intentionally hurt you and i will never leave your side"

"You promise?"

"Yes, i swear to you that i will never leave you, you are my light my life my refuge my home and i can never leave my home" Andreas says before connecting their lips in a sweet and passionate kiss

When they separated Cat says with a sigh

"I'm glad to know this because as long as i have you I'll be ok once you're with me i can conquer the world"

"I love you Andreas"

"And i love you, Cat"

Flashback 4

"AHHHHH" Catalaya screamed

"Cat what's wrong?" Everyone asked

"I- i don't, I don't know"

"The pain make it stop" she pleaded

"Where are you feeling it? Dominic asked

"In my chest, it feels like I'm being stabbed by a thousand daggers"

"Ok I'm gonna take some of the pain" he told her

"Wait no!" Adonis said stopping him

"What, why?" dominic asked

"Because the pain she's feeling isn't just any regular pain it's the pain of a mates betrayal" Adonis answered in a sad voice

"What?" Cat and her friends gasped

"I'm sorry Cat but Andreas is having sexual physical contact with someone else" Adonis responded

At that point catalaya felt like she had no more tears left to cry as the last piece of her heart shattered. Betraying their home was one thing but she never thought that Andreas would betray their bond.

"AHHHHHHH" she screamed on top of her lung a second time as another wave of pain washed over her

Not only was her whole body now in pain, her head felt like it was being hit repeatedly with a mallet and it burned as if something was being branded onto her brain. She closed her eyes and held her head as she let out an ear splitting scream, suddenly she could see something g in her mind's eye.

If she hadn't been speechless before she definitely was now, the scene playing in her head was beyond shocking and something she never thought she'd ever see, yet there it was playing out in front of her, Andreas and Aphrodite lip locked in a heated kiss. Aphrodite opened one eye as if looking for something behind her and when she spoke Cat realized she was in fact looking for her.

"Can you see me Catalaya?" aphrodite asked

"Oh I'm sure you can and I hope you're enjoying the view. You know if I'd known Andreas was this good of a kisser I'd have taken him from you before you even met" she taunted

"You bitch I'm so gonna enjoy ripping your ugly face from that head of yours" Cat growled

"Oh hush with your threats little girl the adult is speaking. Now i don't know how you were able to see behind my mask or how your able to use anti magic spells but it doesn't matter because now that hell is at the most vulnerable it's ever been since created I'm coming for you"

And with that she along with Andreas disappeared from Cat's mind. Unfortunately the pain was still very much present.

"Please daddy make it stop i can't take it anymore" Cat begged as more pain ricocheted through her

"Breathe princessa" Lucifer told her

"Please I-i i can't do it its too painful"

"I can't stop it sweetheart it's too dangerous"

"I don't care make the pain go away like you did with Noah" Cat pleaded

"No baby girl I can't"

"Why not?" she asked hurt displayed on her face

"Because despite Andreas leaving and doing whatever he's doing now he didn't reject you so your bond with him is still very much in place plus its new and still at its most vulnerable so if i were to attack it now in an attempt to break or seal it i would undoubtedly not only kill Andreas but also you"

"Isn't there anything else you can do Mr Morningstar" harlequin asked as she held Cat close

"There is one thing, sweetie, I want you to give legacy control of your body. I know she probably doesn't want to come out now because she's hurting but she's the stronger of you two in this situation to handle the pain" Lucifer told Cat

Nodding her head she closed her eyes, reaching out to her demon.

End of flashbacks

Cat tried her best to fight against the images in her mind, tried to think positive in order to rid herself of the bad memories but despite her fight the last two flashbacks got the better of her breaking her heart all over again, and as such she finally gave up. She gave in to the horrors the swamp had forced upon her allowing its power to overcome her and pull her into its deep dark depths and in no time it had taken almost all of her body. However, as her head went under she caught a glimpse of something flying towards her at top speed but it was too late she'd already been taken by the swamp.