Catherine

CHAPTER IV

I'm not going to lie and say that having someone else, someone alive, in the apartment wasn't a HUGE change, but hearing her in the other room made me remember my sister... from before. She was sort of pretty, but she also seemed empty. She seemed like she was just hanging on to life with cheeks that were just a little too hollow, white hair that was a just a little too wiry, and a bony body.

I didn't realize that I had been staring at her until her eyes flicked open. I saw a startled look cross her face and she quickly sat up only to clutch her head and fall back down again. She looked over at me wearily and I had an eerie feeling that she knew everything. Of course, that was impossible. I smiled at the girl. She didn't smile back. She simply closed her eyes again.

"What's your name?" She asked me in a raspy voice quieter than I thought was humanly possible.

I hesitate, but I don't know why. Something is.. 'off' about her. "My name is Catherine." I respond after what seemed like hours, "What's yours?"

She opened her eyes again and peered at me. He steely grey eyes bore through my skull. "I'm Madison, but you can call me Maddie." Another long silence suffocated me and I felt an intense need to break it. Before I could, however, she spared me the trouble, asking where she was. I told her that she was in my apartment just outside of the city center. She sighed like I had somehow disappointed her. She barely moved her mouth as she spoke, "You could stand to be more specific, but I understand that people like YOU like to be secretive." She gave me a creepy smile. Her lips spread thin and her teeth were perfectly white against her gray skin and seemed to be slightly pointed. Her eyes portrayed a knowing look that made my blood run cold. I have never felt guilty about any of my... endeavors, but that didn't seem to be what the girl had in mind anyways. She seemed to be observing. Her head suddenly tilted to the side like a dog. It was at a strange angle and it made me nauseous.

I tore my eyes away from the girl, encasing my heart and mind with stone. The uneasiness instantly evaporated and the new me was back, cold as the young girl's eyes. She immediately noticed the change and raised an eyebrow.

I had no intention of killing someone in my apartment, but this girl was trying me. The last time I did that it was in a fit of rage. After I had scrubbed the floor for days and got nowhere with the stain, I had to tell the cleaner's that my 'cat' had knocked a bottle of wine off my coffee table.

I was honestly a little curious about the girl anyways. It wasn't everyday that someone could see through me like that. I wonder what kind of upbringing she would need to have in order for her to see that. I felt a little of what may have empathy but pushed it aside. I couldn't imagine it was any more traumatic than mine.

She brushed her white hair out of her face and rearranged herself, but that smile never left her face. "Catherine?" She asked.

"Yes?" I spoke slowly and carefully.

"I'm not sure that you know how much you're hurting me." She said at a whisper. I hated that she couldn't be bothered to raise her voice. Of course I didn't really want her to yell either. Seeing such a person become unhinged would be terrifying.

I smiled fakely, "What do you mean?" She only semi-shrugged, her eyes grew wider and wider. I was getting ready to kick her back on the streets. Come to think of it, why did I even take her in? I don't owe her anything.

As if sensing my thoughts, she rose off the couch and made her way to the front door. As she put her hand on the doorknob, she turned to me one last time sighing. The sadness on her face took me aback. Her smile had dropped and her eyes looked tired again. "I wish you would listen to me." She said shakily as she threw open the door and ran out.

Just as I was recovering from that experience, the phone on the end table rang. I jumped.