Once Bitten, Twice Shy

1

"Catherine."

The floor was cold; she registered that first.

"Catherine sweetheart, can you hear me?"

It was cold and hard and a complete contrast to the soft warmth of the hand that cradled her other cheek. She registered that after, and her body flinched away before she could enjoy the comfort. Light pierced the calming darkness when an eye fluttered open, then the other and she found herself dizzy and aching, wishing she could return to the peace and quiet of wherever she'd just been.

It took a few blinks to distinguish the two pairs of eyes staring back at her.

"Hey, you're okay." The voice was soft; a gentle, motherly tone as if the owner was afraid of scaring her off - she found herself instantly at ease at hearing it.

"Catherine, you're safe now." A smile, bright and beaming and warm.

"How do you know my name?"

"You were the only one left." The first replied. "Process of elimination."

The woman was crouched before her, close enough to feel welcoming, but keeping enough distance to avoid intimidation, and the other, slightly younger girl was stood behind her, a hand on her shoulder and a childish grin on her lips. She hadn't realised how scared she must have looked before glancing down at her arms; they were wrapped tightly around her legs, knees brought to her chest in defence.

"Only one left?" Her head was spinning. "Who are you?"

"I'm Jane, dear." That was the one closest. "And this is Katherine." She patted the hand that lay on her shoulder, looking up at the girl behind her.

"You can call me Kat," She was still smiling.

"Do you remember what happened?" Jane asked carefully, She shook her head. "Okay, do you remember anything from your life?"

She thought for a moment. She tried to remember, she really did, but nothing came. There were no pictures or sounds or sentimental feelings, just the ghostly fragments of memories that had been lost long ago, replaced with an automatic list of facts that she supposed summed up her life. "My name is Catherine Parr." Jane nodded along, she guessed in encouragement, as she continued. "I was born on the 16th of August, 1512... And this isn't what the world looked like."

She frowned when she realised and took another look around. The room was bright and light, the walls painted a crisp white. The wooden floor was polished and smart and there was a rug lying on it that she feared was at great risk of damage. The sun streamed in through a giant pane of glass that was held together only by a flimsy frame of plastic. It looked like it could shatter any moment, yet the women before her hadn't seemed to have noticed the hazardous condition of the window, nor the fact that the carpet should really be hung safely on the wall. Now that she thought about it, the women themselves looked just as peculiar. Their hair flowed freely down their shoulders, the ends of Kat's having been coloured a vibrant shade of pink, and the clothes they were sporting were the kind that could cause a public outcry.

"Where am I?"

At this, Jane took a deep breath and looked at the girl sympathetically. "You're in the twenty-first century, Catherine."

She could feel her eyebrows moving closer together, lips parting to let out the multitude of questions appearing in her head. Kat spotted the frown and jumped to settle the matter. "You're dead." She scrambled. "Well, you're not dead. You were dead. Now you're alive, but like, not in the same time you used to be alive? It's like-" She let out a desperate huff as Jane placed a hand on her arm and turned back to Catherine.