Here, Kitty, Kitty

Laws of Attraction

The next day, Cassie remained in her room on the ship. Her primary reason for doing so was exhaustion. The duel she'd endured with Harry the previous evening had worn down her limbs in a way she hadn't experienced in a very long time. There was also the annoying itch of the scratches scattered across her body, tying themselves back together after a lick or two. When compared to the turmoil in her mind, though, they were hardly anything worth paying attention to.

For reasons unbeknownst to her, her pathetic little brain refused to let go of what had happened in the early hours of the morning. Harry wanting to see how her transformation worked wasn't a shock; it was only natural to be curious. Plus, if he could grasp even the tiniest opportunity to humiliate or hurt her in some way, he'd do so with the delight and gusto of Tick-Tock taking his father's hand. But she hadn't found any trace of glee when she'd turned. He hadn't given her anything, really, which was the strangest part of this entire conundrum. If there was one thing he guaranteed when it came to Cassie, it was his enjoyment at her expense. Even now, she could recall their chase in the maze and how cruelly excited he'd been at finding her so drained and unable to fight back properly. So where had that energy disappeared? His judgement she could also handle. His disgust at finally witnessing the change with his own eyes and at finally having his interest swept away at the first sign of her weaknesses.

'Does it hurt?'

His words had firmly burrowed into her mind like a dark spell, taunting her over and over again. What did it matter to him if it hurt her? That was his entire drive, wasn't it? To cause her pain in whatever way he could. She'd picked up on the way he'd said it that morning, or perhaps her brain was twisting the situation. He'd seemed curious enough, but there had been something else-something she couldn't bear to wrap her head around.

It had been driving her crazy all day, and she hated it. And dipping back into old habits, her flight had won this round. Even when she woke up sometime during the afternoon, she chose to remain in her bedroom. Well, Harry's bedroom.

Waking up, she'd stirred on the bed, stretching herself out as usual. Then her eyes found her sweater draped over the back of the armchair, right beside the bed. This, understandably, was one of the first things to set her off. Seeing her turn had to have swayed his interest; it had to have drilled it into his messed-up mind that she wasn't worth the interest or the energy. And yet, he'd brought her things down, as he'd said he would, and hadn't even attempted to attack her.

"Something on your mind, Cass'?"

Cassie blinked, her tired eyes focussing on Helena. "Hmm?"

It hadn't been long since the sun had set. Helena had come in a moment or two before with a glass of water and popped open the porthole to make sure Cassie's transformation was soothed by the cold air. Cassie felt a pang of guilt as she realised she had been so preoccupied with what had transpired with Harry that she'd forgotten about the Queen of Hearts.

There was a moment of quiet. Helena's lips thinned, her eyes darting between Cassie's as if searching for something. Then she asked, "What happened?"

For a second, Cassie was inclined to lie and say she was fine. After all, Helena was already going through enough on her own, with Gaston Jr. out of the picture, a little one wreaking havoc on her stomach, and being far from home for so long. It wasn't right of Cassie to keep putting her worries on Helena. But on the other hand, if not Helena, then who else would she speak to about this? Starla was sweet, but she was far too loyal to Harry to see it from an outside perspective. Gil, well, as wonderful as he was, he couldn't help her with this. And there was no way in Hades that she was about to go to Uma with this issue.

"He saw me turn," she finally muttered, pulling her knees to her chest.

Helena stared at Cassie, fully processing what she'd been told. A frown then twisted her lips. "What did he say? Do I need to fuck him up?"