Through Pain We Survive

Chapter 59

A few minutes later, they heard the door buzz. AJ walked through.

"Gwen?! What are you doing here?"

"AJ!" Gwen rushed to him and hugged him. "Baby, are you okay? What were you thinking?! You know how dangerous Damien is! If anything were to have happened to you—" her breath hitched, tears streamed down her cheeks. She couldn't continue.

"Honey, I'm okay." He wrapped his arms around her protectively, cradling her head and rubbing her back. "It's alright. I'm right here."

"I'm glad you're alright," Cat commented, looking at the door.

"Cat, thank you for being here with her." He knew how difficult this must be for her. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm okay." She responded, looking back at him. "Did you get the answers you were looking for?"

Gwen looked up at AJ in time for him to shake his head. "He wouldn't give me a straight answer. He just kept saying things like, 'You don't deserve what you have,' and 'you'd better watch her pretty little neck' and 'make sure you keep a close eye on the wife of yours.'"

Cat's eyes fell to the floor, angered by what she heard. "Do you know if he can see another visitor today?" She was seething.

"You can ask." AJ motioned to the receptionist.

Cat nodded and turned to walk over, but Gwen grabbed her wrist. "Please, don't go. I don't want you to get hurt."

"I'll be alright. I trust the guards can stop him if he tries anything. Will you trust me, please?"

"But—" Gwen started, but AJ put his hand on Gwen's arm. Gwen looked to AJ.

"Let her go. She wants to do this."

Gwen looked from AJ to Cat, and sighed. "Okay. Be careful."

Cat took a deep breath and walked over to the receptionist. "Is Damien Grant available to speak with?"

"Let me check." She clacked on the keyboard a few moments. "He is available. I'll have this officer take you back to him."

Cat looked back at Gwen and AJ. "Gwen, here are your keys." She handed Gwen her keys. "I'll be careful. I'll call you as soon as I'm done."

"Okay." Gwen looked apprehensively to Cat, then to AJ. AJ wrapped his arms around her again.

"She'll be safe. Trust her."

"Besides, the walk home will give me time to clear my head," she said gently.

Gwen's head snapped to Cat immediately. "Oh, no, no, no, no. No way! We are not leaving you. We'll be right here."

Cat's eyes went wide. "Oh, you don't have to-" she saw the look on their faces, and sighed. "Okay. See you soon." She walked over to the officer and they headed back to talk to Damien.

"Yo Grant! Another visitor!" The officer shouted to Damien. He came and unlocked his cell. "You're quite popular today."

Damien didn't say anything. He was just glad he riled AJ up. He knew he could get under his skin.

They rounded the corner and went into a room. Cat was already sitting at the table.

"Well, hello there my pretty kitty Cat," Damien simpered. "You just couldn't stay away, could you?"

"Alright, look. You're going to tell me what I want to know, or I'll press another charge against you and you'll be in here longer than you'd like." Cat adjusted the scarf around her neck with her hand that didn't have the ring. She didn't want to give him the satisfaction of seeing the fruits of his labor.

"Aww, what do you want to know, my Darling?"

"Why all of this over a YouTube channel?"

"Oh, my pretty kitty Cat, is that what you think? Why would you concentrate on that when you're here with me?"

"Damien, I came here for answers, not for a date," she responded flatly.

"We could make it one." He wiggled his eyebrows.

"I have no interest in dating you," she responded, trying to keep calm.

He glanced to her left hand. "You're still wearing the ring I gave you, so you're still mine. Remember what I said- you take it off, you'll have me to deal with." Damien smiled.

Cat had a shiver run down her spine. "Nothing's stopping me from taking off the ring," her voice shook slightly.

"You wouldn't. You know as soon as I get out of here I'm coming for you. I like playing with my kitty Cat."

"You are extremely lucky I haven't placed a restraining order against you," she snarked.

"Please. A piece of paper won't stop me from getting to you." He reached for her hand.

She saw what he was trying to do and jerked her hand away.

"You deserve to rot," she said, a disgusted look on her face. "Officer, I'm done here." She headed towards the door.

"Just remember, I will always find you!"

"If you find me, your bloodline will end with you." She left the room.

She walked a few feet away from the door and took a couple deep breaths to ease her nerves. She was glad she confronted him, but she didn't get anywhere with him either.

She continued down the hallway and went through the main doors to find Gwen and AJ sitting, talking quietly together.

Gwen looked up and rushed to Cat. Enveloping her into a hug, Gwen was grateful she was back. "Thank goodness you're okay."

"How did it go?" AJ asked.

"He just led me around in circles. He threatened me, I threatened him. He also made some... Not so nice comments about the ring." Cat was hesitant to embrace Gwen in return, but soon did so.

"What? How?" Gwen released Cat and stepped backwards towards AJ.

"I own you. You're too scared to take off the ring. The second I'm free I'll come after you. That garbage." She said, mocking Damien's voice as she quoted him.

"Can you file a restraining order against him?" AJ asked. Gwen wrapped her arms around herself like she was cold.

"Unfortunately, even if I did, it wouldn't stop him." Cat responded.

"What would?" Gwen asked quietly. She was feeling more and more scared even with Damien behind bars.

"Death." Gwen looked for a hint of a joke in Cat's tone or facial features, but there was nothing.

"Okay, let's get out of here before we start that kind of talk around the police," AJ reasoned.

They turned and walked out of the station, no wiser to Damien's purpose for their torture than before.