Through Pain We Survive

Chapter 82

***TRIGGER WARNING- Violence mentions***

"No!" Mira Lynne, who had been silent throughout this exchange, finally shouted.

"Shut up!" He glared to Mira Lynne, then looked to Cat. "She should be used to this from her mother anyway."

"Not even my own mother went this far." Cat was trembling, trying not to move. She  leveled her options, looking around.

Damien started laughing. "You really think that was going to work on me?"

"I had hope..." She said quietly, looking over to Mira Lynne.

Damien was still laughing. "I'm glad to know those acting classes in college paid off. I know I can trick someone as close to me as my fiancée."

"Ex-fiancée. What did you even see in me anyways?" Cat said, trying to get him to talk.

"Oh, my kitty Cat. Haven't you figured it out? You were just practice to see if the lines I was spewing would work. They worked magnificently on you, so I knew they'd work on another within my sights."

"Nothing you do is original. You recycle proposals and pick up lines. What about your books? Are those plagiarized too?" Come on, talk! I need him to get caught in a monologue! She thought to herself in frustration.

Damien faltered. "How would you know if they are 'recycled' as you say?"

"Women talk." She glared straight ahead, but knew she was starting to get to him.

"My books are not plagiarized. They are all my own. Just like the pickup lines and the proposal I used on you."

Come on, think! Get him to talk longer! "What even made you start a class?"

"It was a way to find my target. I know women like handsome teachers. They also like intellectual types, and they also fall for the 'poor orphan' card as well. It was just a matter of time before I found the right woman to try it out on. Namely, you, my kitty Cat. However, during my search, I also found another- she was a bit closer to my age, therefore more experienced in life. She was more beautiful- not that you aren't, my Darling, but she is in a different class than you. You are 'girl next door' pretty, she is 'drop dead gorgeous.'"

Cat saw her chance. If I can get him to talk like that one more time... I can interrupt him and get the gun. "So you never really loved me. You just wanted me until you found someone better."

"I may have loved you in the beginning. But once I found out about her, all others were so dull. No one else could have compared to her beauty. It was as if I had been blind before knowing about her and seeing her, and I finally regained my sight when I did see her. I—"

Cat pushed her way out of his grip, and grabbed the wrist of the hand that held the gun. She grabbed the gun, and after a struggle, she managed to take hold of the gun and aim it at Damien, gasping.

Damien laughed. "Wow. Look at you. Kitty Cat has claws now. What, are you actually going to shoot me?"

"Maybe I will, maybe I won't. Tell me. Who did you shoot?"

"You think I'd tell you that easily? It doesn't matter. They're most likely dead by now."

"If they're dead, then why does it matter?" She challenged.

"Very true. You really want to know? It was Sara and AJ. I was going to shoot Gwen, but her dumb husband jumped in front of her and tried to grab the gun from me. It went off in his leg. He was bleeding quite a bit." He laughed.

Cat stiffened, her finger trembling over the trigger. "How dare you..."

"Oh, Gwen was calling for an ambulance. He may not be dead. But where I hit him, you never know. Now Sara on the other hand, she was alone and I shot her in the back. She is most likely dead."

She looked down at the gun, her finger over the trigger. She couldn't move. Even if she wanted to shoot him, she couldn't.

"Come on. Do it. I bet you can't."

"Shut up, Damien!"

"You never were able to do anything I told you."

"Stop it..."

"Pull the trigger!"

"I CAN'T."

Even after everything he's done to us... To AJ... To Gwen... To Nate... To Becca... To Sara... I can't pull this trigger. Cat stared at Damien with dark, furious eyes.

Damien just laughed. "Pathetic. I knew you couldn't do it. You're too weak. This is why I fell out of love with you."

"Pulling this trigger means that I don't get the closure I want. I'm not a murderer."

A knock on the door startled them all. The door then burst open with three officers coming through. "Police! Hands where we can see them!"

Cat, Damien, and Mira Lynne all put their hands in the air.

"Care to tell me what's going on, miss?" The officer looked at Cat.

Cat took shallow breaths, deep in a panic. She was trying to get her thoughts together enough to tell the officers what was happening. She opened her mouth to speak, but no words came to her. Her eyes were wide in a frightful stare, tears brimming on her lids.

"I made the call, officer." They turned to Mira Lynne. "This man broke into our house and was threatening us with the gun, my friend was able to wrestle it away from him, and he confessed to injuring, possibly killing two people."

The officer turned to Cat. "Is that true miss?"

"Yes... His two victims were AJ Pinkerton and a woman named Sara... He told me." Cat stared at Damien, then at the gun still in her hand, then at the officers. "Am I going to get arrested?"

"You took the gun in self defense, and never shot it, correct?"

Cat nodded.

"You were acting in self defense. You will not be arrested in this instance. You however—" the officer turned to Damien, "dispatch has your confession of shooting two people on record. The call that came from this location heard all you said. You are under arrest." The officer put Damien in handcuffs and read him his rights as they lead him out the door.

Cat handed the gun to an officer who needed it for evidence, and looked over at Mira Lynne. Quietly, she embraced her friend, crying.

Mira Lynne held onto Cat. "It's okay. It's over. Let it all out." She rubbed her back soothingly.

The officers left seeing that the situation was under control.

Cat continued crying for a few more minutes, embracing Mira Lynne.

Once she calmed down, she wiped at her face. "I need to call Gwen."

Cat pulled her phone out and dialed.