Back at home

Once again night set in, as both women were set to enjoy a hearty dinner complements of Cherish, Cat’s mind backtracked to Cherishes previous statement about ending her "employment" with Don Emilo.

"I’m interested in hearing this master plan for how you intend to deal with Emilo." Cat inquired drinking a cinnamon applesauce through a straw. "I’m going to kill him" Cherish replied, continuing her savage onion chopping. "Whoa, when did you become a murderer?" Cat asked, drawing close to Cherish interested in hearing a possible story.

"You’re so nosy!" Cherish whined playfully pushing the little girl back a few feet. "I’ll be glad when you talk about little girl stuff like, boys and tattoos"

Cat’s innocent face released a chastising smirk before once again prodding Cherish into divulging her secret. "Yes, I’ve killed someone before but it was an accident. I’m not going into anymore details" She said, sternly.

"If you’re serious about getting us out of this whore ring, I suppose I can make an honest effort to start trying to be an actress." Cat wagered bending over the counter with her hands propped against the bottom of her jaw.

"Good, but I’ll need the help of those four body guards Han gave you." Cherish instructed tossing the onions with a mixture of butter inside a small pan.

"I don’t know where they are, for all I know the bastards could’ve gone back to Tibet." She didn’t know how to summon them exactly, but if their job was to keep her safe; she’d have to say they failed to stop her from slitting her own wrist.

Her interest turned from the Cardinals to the situation unraveling on television; apparently more and more "metas" were emerging in the world and people were in havoc over it. "That’s a crazy situation huh?" Cat said, alerting the Cherish to the ongoing meta-human struggle on the TV.

"Yes, it’s a shame" Her reply was generic; it didn’t contain the slightest hint of concern. "What’s the US like anyways?" Cat asked again, this time molding the huge block of beef into a square shape.

"It’s not really what it’s cut out to be, it’s better than living here; but it’s like being free but the freedom never really expands pass your front door. You should go take a shower before dinner, the meatloaf should be finished by the time you get out"

Cat nodded accordingly and headed up to her room to gather her things to take a shower. Cherish waited until she could hear the shower beat against its porcelain floor before summoning the Cardinals.

"Um-Cardinals?" She whispered, and on cue four of Ziccarra’s red Cardinals appeared out of thin air to greet the young woman.

"You called" one of them answered standing with his hands tucked inside his decorative red and gold Cardinal Hood. "I have a job for you guys." She explained, wiping down the counters with a hot cloth to prevent salmonella.

"We do not work for you, our employer is the child of the High Cardinal Queen" another spoke, but Cherish was able to halt a pre-emptive exit on their behalf.

"I-I know! But Catalina has not worked in a few days, if she does not pay Don Emilo we’ll be hunted and killed, I have a plan. With your help, we can ensure that she stays safe." The Cardinals glanced around before agreeing to help Cherish.

"Great meet me at this location; at exactly Six-thirty don’t be late!" She said, dismissing them.

The next morning

"Are you scared?" Cherish asked, watching as Catalina’s hand slowly quivered alongside her lithe frame. "N-no, it’s just a bit weird is all. I’ve never actually been around children my age." Cat replied, placing her hands in her pocket; she took one step up the stairs before glancing back at Cherish.

"W-what will you do while I’m gone?" She asked, still nervous; her eyes told the story she didn’t want to be abandoned. "I have a few errands to run, but I’ll be back at about seven to pick up you. Kitty... I’m not going to leave you" Cat broke a timid smile before once again heading up the steps; once again stopping to turn back.

"Oh, and make sure you color INSIDE the lines. You’re almost eleven years old now, that sh!t aint cute anymore." Cherish yelled, causing Cat’s cheeks to burn red with embarrassment. Watching as the closest thing she had to a daughter entered the Bogota school for performing arts; a warm feeling burned in her gut, she felt like she’d given Catalina a chance to become someone.

Cherish went to the supermarket gathered something’s for Catalina’s birthday, and doubled back to the house for some alone time. Removing a bottle of Jim Beam she sat in her window slowly drinking, and thinking. The combination wasn’t a productive one, her child’s birthday just happened to be today, just one day before Catalina’s—information she didn’t want to plague Cat with.

As the only remaining video she had with her dead child played in the background, her lips continued to hug the rim of the jim beam bottle, before her eyes glanced at the small picture she had. Her thick hair concealed the cascading tears that drenched the side of her face. Fate claimed one of her beloved children already; she would not allow it to take Catalina too.

"I’m going to protect you kitty" She said, wiping the tears from the side of her face. Dropping the bottle of Jim Beam, she changed from her everyday clothes into her street hooker clothes complete with the fishnets. Dropping a small pistol in her purse she set out with just under nine hundred dollars in her purse to Don Emilo’s compound.

"She’s a Liafador!" the old woman screamed, rushing into her son’s office with a wily smile across her face. "Catalina is the daughter of Ziccarra Liafador" she said, again informing her son. "Mama, is that supposed to mean something to me?" He replied counting his money.

"It should, her mother has conquered the entire Tibetan provinces, spreading her Cardinal influence! Think about what this means!"

"What does this mean?" He replied sitting a stack of money on his table top. The old coot released a deep sigh before beginning to explain. "The Red Cardinals are listed as a Terrorist Organization, if we appeal to the FBI we can get a lump sum out of the deal" her words brought a hearty smile to Emilo’s chubby cheeks.

"That sounds like a…" a knock at the door halted his words, rising to his feet he moved behind his half-naked concierge to the front door. As the young woman opened the door, his eyes rose from the bottom to the top of Cherish’s frame.

"I was beginning to think that you "Madeoff" with my money" He said, opening the door just slightly to allow Cherish to pass by him.

"BITCH!" He screamed smacking her to the floor as she strolled in. Her body hit the floor helplessly before trying to rise. "Stay down bitch! You are two days late with my money!" He screamed, standing over her, the anger in his body seen through his quivering fist.

"Where is that bitch Catalina!" He said, rising his hand to strike her again; as he brought his hand down to strike her again, Cherish rolled out of the way and in the same motion removed her pistol. Emilo’s hands shot in the air with a fearful smile, he didn’t get a chance to say anything; cherish popped one in his shoulder bringing him down to his knees. "No…I-I didn’t, SHUT UP!" Emilo started, but was immediately silenced by the angered Cherish. "You thought you had the power" she said, with labored breaths.

Emilo realized what this was not an assassination attempt; but an attempt for Cherish to reclaim her own life. "Heh, if you kill me doll you’ll never make it out this compound." He tried to reassure her whilst rising with his hand over his shoulder.

"Shut up!" Cherish screamed again this time; a forceful gale pushed from her body sending the cheeky old man flying through the wall into the next room. "Oh no…" she whispered, realizing she was losing control of her dormant powers.

Dashing into the room she watched Emilo pull himself through the debris backing away in fear. "So…that’s how you did it" He said shying away from the extraordinary presence of Cherish.

"Heh…I read your file, Naweya. Your baby mysteriously jettisoned out of her three story apartment building. The police blamed you, and how right they were" His eyes held the same look as her ex-boyfriend…fear.

"You know for being the man that just pissed me off, you is awfully catty" She said, using her control over the wind to hit him with a hardwood desk. "This is the fucking deal, release all the girls under your control…and I won’t kill you" She said, pushing her pistol back in his face.

"Ok." He said, as if it were nothing. It was in his answer that she knew he never meant it. Even in the face of death he couldn’t deny his own arrogant disposition. Right on time the four Cardinals sworn to protect Catalina appeared in-between Cherish and Emilo.

"This is the man preventing Catalina from living her life do with him what you will. I would suggest with starting with his mother…take your time with that bitch" She said, waltzing through his compound. Stopping mid-stride she heard the thunderous footsteps of Emilo’s compound security force rushing to the sounds of Emilo’s frightening screams.

"Whew…" she grunted throwing her hands outward the ambient energies surrounding her swirled and tumbled until three gigantic cyclones circled the compound. The distance from the innards of the compound insured they wouldn’t cause damage to the compound but, any of the loose items—and people were immediately sucked into the destructive power of the vortex.

As the armed gunmen were slowly sucked into the vortex Cherish waited until she knew the crushing wind killed them before causing the cyclones to abruptly dissipate. The savage winds did a substantial amount of damage to the compound, but largely left it intact. She wanted to search the house for things that would facilitate her living conditions; money, drugs anyways of worth, but Catalina was almost out of school and she didn’t have adequate time.

"Almost Seven" She whispered, heading for the front door, she needed to pick up Catalina from school. As she strolled back through the compound the Cardinals made a living sacrifice of both Don Emilo and his mother. She could see their grotesque concoction in her peripheral vision, but didn’t stop to admire the beauty of the Cardinals work.

Instead of walking away from the compound and risk being seen; she shot herself into the air with the use of her own wind and landed in an alleyway a few blocks down from Catalina’s school. There was a certain anxiety resounding through her veins, she was free to do as she pleased for the first time since fifteen years old.

She wasn’t entirely scared of the repercussions, more so how this would affect hers and Catalina’s relationship. The young girl would be free to do as she pleased now, perhaps she’d set out to find her mother with the Red Cardinals; or maybe she’d move to the United States to give herself a shot at acting. Cherish didn’t think Cat had all the necessary tools to live on her own; but she wouldn’t try to stop her should that be her choice.

Arriving promptly at the steps she watched Cat stroll from the school with her hands in her pockets. "So, come on how was it?" Cherish asked, running her hands through Cat’s hair. "Well...it was interesting the parts that I stayed up for. I found out I’m a pretty good singer…I do really good improv too."

Cherish’s eyes immediately cut to a squadron of police cars flying down the street, before resting placidly back on Catalina. "Ha! I always knew you were a drama queen".

Cherish jested purposely bumping into Catalina’s shoulder. "Did you see those crazy tornadoes earlier? Who would’ve thought here in Columbia" her eyes scanned the sidewalks, the people were still fearful; most of them had never seen a tornado before, three of them in one area seemed like the omen.

Cherish released a sigh, and stopped the young beauty in her tracks, Cat could see something was bothering her; but again her ability to be completely apathetic hindered a concerned inquiry. Cherished pushed her hands through her hair, before repositioning her hands back in her pockets.

"Don Emilo is dead." Cat’s eyes nearly popped from her eye sockets, the information clouded her immediate thoughts, and she remembered Cherish saying she would kill Emilo, but she never thought it to be possible.

"Th-that’s great what happened?" Cat asked again; this time closing the distance between them so the information didn’t fall on passerby ears. "Your Cardinals killed him…because I asked them too." Cat’s scoff turned into a hesitant chuckle; the thought that sweet Cherish could have someone killed left her mind boggled.

"So what now?" Cat asked taking a seat on their outside stoop. "Well, I was kind hoping you had some sort of plan." Cherish replied joining her. "I’m a ten year old; my mind is not capable of independent thinking"

"S’not true, you forget; you’re genetically enhanced to be better than the average human." Cherish said, always reminding her of how perfect she should be.

"Cat...I think you should find your mother" Cherish purposely didn’t turn to see the look Cat gave; it would’ve killed her to see Cat’s reaction. "W-why would I do that?" Cat replied, pulling herself from the stoop to peer into the teary eyes of Cherish.

"You’re not meant to be down here living this type of life. You’re one of the most beautiful human-beings I’ve ever met. You deserve to be living in Tribeca somewhere chatting up a Kardashian". Her explanation didn’t make a bit of sense to Cat; she didn’t know what Tribeca was.

"What I mean is, your father created you to be perfect, everything you know up to now has been taught to you by him or myself. Think about what your mother can actually offer you?"

"My mom can suck it; she looked me in my eyes and told me I was not her daughter. I don’t have respect for people like that. My dad used to make me feel awesome, because I was awesome. Now I kind of hate him for creating me in the first place. He can suck it too. Besides part of being perfect is realizing how imperfect we really are"

Cherish immediately grabbed the young girl and brought her in for an embrace, Cat was the best thing to happen to her; the maternal instincts that came with raising Cat, made her appreciate her own mother. "So is…abuelita dead too?" Catalina asked finally pulling away from the prolonged embrace.

"Yeah that bitch is dead too" there was a hint of malice in Cherish’s voice; she did not share the same opinion on Emilo’s mom as Cat.

"Cat, you got the lucky. You’re a virgin, and you were entirely too young to be in the whore home. Instead you got to live with Emilo until you started to fill out, and by that time you earned enough loyalty to just hit the streets. Me? I was in a whore home that—that woman ran; and drugged to the verge of over dosage."

"I hardly think being dry humped is considered lucky" She retorted, but she was beginning to understand why her price in comparison to some of the other girl’s was considerably higher. Emilo planned to extort her virginity for as long as he could, before selling her for a ridiculous amount of money to someone willing to take it.

Cat had never heard an actual account of what went on in the whore homes; but she did know they supposedly had sub-human living conditions. "I heard a lot of girl’s died in there; how’d you make it out?"

"There was this girl; her name was Emerald she stood about 5 foot 5 really petite frame, long black hair and intoxicating natural green eyes. She was a new street girl Emilo bought from another trafficker; apparently she escaped. To fill her vacant spot Emilo moved me to the streets. I don’t think she was a whore though, she was way too pretty, seemed to have her shit together. She might’ve worked for one of those alphabet agencies in the states"

Cherish had a very crude way of explaining things, she usually spoke to Cat as If; she were somewhat accustomed to the United States—which she wasn’t. The mention of "Alphabet Agencies" lingered on her young mind, before Cherish started speaking once more.

"I’m going back to the U.S to visit my mother. I kind of miss her." Other than having somewhat of a torn relationship with her parents; Cherish never really spoke of them, to Catalina this was a peculiarity; one that left her scrambling for the right thing to say.

Nothing—she didn’t have to say anything, before she could purse her lips to spit out a guttural response; Cherish interrupted with a proposal of her own. "I think you should come with me". Cat’s head looked up from her downward gaze with her tendril-like black hair in tow, she could only raise a sardonic eyebrow--it was a natural defense.

"I don’t own a passport" She said, still trying to process why Cherish NEEDED to see her mother. "Are you coming back?" She asked, daring herself not to lock eyes with her interim mother. "Of course! " Cherish reassured trying to appease the nerves of Cat.

"Well, I don’t want to say I don’t want you to go, but…I don’t want you to go." Cat’s gaze turned grave, there wasn’t a time she could see herself without Cherish. She could see her reservations were placing Cherish in a sticky situation.

"We need to find jobs" Cat said opting to change the conversation seeing it wasn’t working in her favor. The change of conversation didn’t ameliorate prior feelings for wanting to visit her mother, but Catalina was correct in her assessment of their current financial situation.

"Yeah well, we will. But tomorrow we’re celebrating your birthday. We’ll worry about that when I come back."

Cat chose not to hear anything about Cherish leaving, rather her attention turned to a five foot five, silver haired, full framed female walking past the stoop. "Catalina?" She was a student in Cat’s performing arts class—Martha Phillips. She’d seen the silver-haired girl a few times at school, but Cat was in a class full of younger inexperienced children; while Martha was with the older; more advanced classes. Cat didn’t think of her as a friend, more so an odd-glance periodically in class; she didn’t even know Martha knew her name.

One thing she did notice was that Martha was boisterously dramatic with everything she did—it bugged Cat to no end. "HOW are you!" the silver-haired teenager screamed, dragging the end of her words.

"I-I’m good" her reply filled with a hesitation that suggest she had been caught off guard. "Me, and a couple of friends are heading down to the plaza for a good time; you want to come?" Her question was directed towards Catalina, but her eyes shifted as if; she was really asking Cherish.

"You go ahead with your friends; I have something’s to set up anyways." Cat was genuinely surprised at Cherish’s reply; perhaps she didn’t catch the subtle hint that Cat had virtually zero interest in hanging with them; but she went anyway, only to take her mind off of things.

She did find it funny that Martha labeled their outing as a simple "Good time" with little prefix as to what that actually entailed, especially since the guy to girl ratio favored the males 4:2.

The group consist of Catalina and Martha, there was one guy who stood about five foot six; he had a very large frame, small beady goldenrod eyes, and a head that seemed to be disproportionate to his body. Cat didn’t find him attractive at all, but he exuded a confident aura that made it easy to see why he was the life of the group.

Two of the other males were twins, both had sandy blonde hair with sapphire tinted eyes; neither of them stood more than five feet four. The last was a coy local Columbian, he kept his distance from the rest of the massive group and walked stride for stride with Catalina and Martha. He had the "make" of a flimsy teen, and spoke with a slight lisp, there were small little indicators that suggest he was gay; but Cat kept those thoughts to herself.

The entire sojourn to the plaza was riddled with innocuous exchanges; oddly enough Cat never cared to learn the names of company—save for Martha. "So, Catalina how old are you?" the Columbian asked; shifting the attention of the group to the reserved Cat.

"I turn Eleven tomorrow" she replied apprehensively; a revelation that was followed by an awkward silence and a series of perplexed gazes. She understood, she didn’t look her age; most of them had tagged her for about 16 or 17, she found herself being excluded from most adult talk at least as far as the guys were concerned.

After a five minute walk the group arrived at the plaza, a place where other teens and cliques gathered to hang out. Judging from the various accents in attendance, she could tell this particular milieu was targeted towards diplomatic teens—those who were living in an embassy somewhere.

There was a whole host of drinking and "pill-popping activities" going on; nothing she was really interested in. As the guys quickly disperse to engage in the evenings activities; Martha pulled Cat to the side for a more private conversation.

"You don’t care for us to much?" Martha’s voice was laced with thick French inflection; allowing Catalina to accurately pin-point her country of origin. "It’s not that, I generally don’t hang out" her answer was only partly true, she didn’t hang out; usually because she was always working for Emilo—but she also didn’t care for them.

Martha let out a flamboyant laugh before accusing Catalina of being a terrible liar. "What made you even speak to me?" Cat wondered.

"Well, I’m going to be honest; you have this Mephistophelian ambiance about you. When I saw you my curiosity piqued; so I told myself that I was going to get to know you." Martha replied speaking with an overuse of her hands.

"So what’s your power?" Cat wasn’t entirely sure if Martha knew for sure she had powers; or if she was merely assuming; whatever the case—she was wrong. "I don’t have any powers. I’m a human" Cat replied.

Cat’s answer caused a curious brow on Martha’s face to rise; she could see the previous presumption and eventual revelation left the silver haired teen a bit disappointed. Martha’s eyes shifted to Cat’s lithe but overdeveloped body, as anyone could see it was not that of an eleven year old. Cat could visibly see the French native once again drawing an assumption in her head, but for this one instance the usually intrusive Martha remained quiet.

"Are you a meta-human?" Cat asked, her curiosity had been mounting in the aftermath of Martha’s question. Martha threw her hands up in the air with her usual charismatic élan, before excessively nodding her head yes.

"I studied in Paris at Valerie Huntington’s academy, my father got a job at the American Embassy; but once they started the whole registration act stuff. He reapplied for a position here." Martha’s explanation provided Cat with a bit of clarity on the on-going mutant-human conflicting ensuing in the North, but the mention of Valerie Huntington was a surprise.

She knew the name from various magazines and the occasional commercial; but never knew the world famous super-model to be associated with mutants—or homo-superior as they were officially classified as.

"What can you do?" Catalina asked; now genuinely interested. Martha drew uncomfortably close and whispered so that only Cat could hear. "I can read people’s minds." Her revelation was the source for many questions on Catalina’s end; but before she could ask any of them she could hear Martha speaking again; this time almost in a singsong manner. "I can also see the future!"

Martha proved to be full of surprises; Cat had a hard time digesting the disclosure, instead of engaging Martha further Cat alluded to returning to the events transpiring behind them. As the two of them slowly moved back toward the plaza Martha gave Cat a bit of cryptic advice.

"Don’t try to control the next few events of your life, just allow them to happen. You’ll become a stronger person from it." Cat’s eyes briefly met Martha’s, the alluring crisp brown eyes Martha had before shifted to a more sinister crimson hue. To Cat, this charlatan was the proverbial "Snake in the garden" leading her to some sort of predestined path.

Cat chose not to say at the soiree too long, the atmosphere was cloudy; and full of uncertainty. As Cat departed Martha returned to her friends reconfirming her initial impressions of Catalina. "I fear that in the eyes of the beautiful beast; many innocent people will meet their end."

Cat’s walk back was a tense endeavor, she’d taken this exact route many times before; but tonight she couldn’t help but feel like the darkness was purposely molesting her. With each step her eyes cant both ways remaining vigilante of what may pop out at her. The darkness became a source of anxiety; this was the first time she could remember the night’s sky without the governing presence of the moon.

Struggling up the stoop to her apartment, she found herself riddled with deep laborious breaths; the kind one usually gets from running. "Are you alright?" A passerby asked, causing Cat to look back at the concerned woman.

She was thrown back by the woman’s face—it was hers. Instead of the incandescent glow usually associated with Catalina; this version of her was darker; and bore the same red glare she saw in Martha just moments before.

With the simple shake of the head; she was finally able to see the woman for who she was—just a kind old woman who happened to see a child in need. Had she been seeing things all along? It was a question that rapidly begins to circulate through her mind as she sped up the steps to her apartment. When she reached her room she didn’t bother to undress—she collapsed on her bed exhausted. Glancing at the clock she realized she spent more time than she originally planned to at the plaza. "Maybe I’m going crazy because I haven’t eaten anything today…" though it was true; she hadn’t ate since the meatloaf—she didn’t exactly plan on getting up to get anything either.

The night was quite—too quiet for Catalina; the eeriness of her room and the dark figures she believed she saw compelled her to leave her room for Cherishes. She slowly slid her head into Cherishes room; the much older woman was long asleep, seizing the opportunity to slid in without too much protest Catalina toss back Cherishes covers and balled up right next to her.

The night didn’t seem to terrifying now; at least not for the brief moments she was awake anyway.

Catalina’s Birthday

"Happy birthday to you!" Cherish screamed waking Catalina from her deep slumber with cake in hand. Cat woke in frantic but soon calmed down once she realized what was happening. "Here, here blow out your candles" Cherish insisted placing the cake right under Cat’s nose.

Blowing the candles, Cat struggled to keep a tough exterior despite being overjoyed that Cherish took the time to acknowledge her birthday. "How does eleven feel?" Cherish asked placing the cake on top a dresser.

"It doesn’t feel like I’ve been a sex slave all my life" Her cynical remark complimented by a comforting smirk. "No, but It feels the same. Anyways thanks Cher".

"What made you sleep in here with me?" Cherish asked, slowly portioning sections of Cat’s cake for consumption. "I couldn’t sleep yesterday." She simply replied, trying not to think too much into everything that transpired.

"Oh! And I’m totally ok with you going back to the States for a few days" Cat lied, but she knew it was something Cherish really wanted. "Now that I’m taking these acting classes, most of my time will be spent practicing and stuff."

She could see the silent sigh of relief resounding through Cherishes facial features; It was in that moment that she opted not to tell her about her experiences the night before. "Well that’s great so how about you eat this cake" she said handing Cat an enormous piece of cake.

"N-not to big…" Cat protest much to the chagrin of Cherish. "I have class today, and I really don’t want to be running back and forth to the bathroom all day".

Though it was unusual for Cat to turn down any quantity of food; Cherish understood the reasoning behind it—still she wasn’t too happy about making a cake that wasn’t going to be consumed.

"Well what do you have planned for today?" Cat asked taking the small plastic fork to her cake. "I’m going back to Emilo’s compound to look for something we can sell. It’ll alleviate us having to work for a little while."

"You should take the Cardinals with you just in case some of Emilo’s men are still there" cat suggest still chewing on a piece of cake. "I thought of that too, but those cardinals only act in your best interest. I doubt I could get them to work with me again."

Cat’s knowledge on the Red Cardinals was limited to the information Han’s pamphlet , but according to Cherish they were a terrorist group operating somewhere within the borders of Spain. "Well then I suppose we need to make sure they obey you. Cardinals…" on her command the four crimson clad Cardinals appeared mysteriously in a circular formation in the room.

"I’m not going to lie…that’s freaky and cool at the same time" Cherish said with a still face. Cat moved slowly from the bed back toward the presumed leader. "Do you know who I am?" Despite the fact that these entities claimed to be her protectors Cat asked her question from a considerably safe distance.

The lead Cardinal nodded ominously before answering Cat’s question. "You are the genetic offspring of the High Cardinal Queen; how may we be of service?" Cat turned her head back towards Cherish mouthed his response; she was admittedly impressed with the amount of discipline the Cardinals carried themselves with.

"That’s right; Cherish here has come into some information that will prove to be beneficial to me. I need you guys to accompany her on this uh…endeavor" she tried her hardest to repel the professionalism of the Cardinals; but her words lack conviction.

"Nice character work Angelina" Cherish interrupted sarcastically; criticizing Cat’s acting. "Let me get dressed and then we’ll be off. Cat you should probably get ready for school."

"School can suck it" Cat screamed purposely trying the patience of Cherish. "You better take your little ass in that bathroom and get ready for school." Cherish replied her voice just below the scream, the aggression she showed in that brief moment cause her to break out in laughter.

"Ok, Ok I’m going no need to yell!" Cat said with her usual sass complimented by placid smile.

From within the walls of the shower Cat could hear Cherish making an exit with the Cardinals, as the steamy water poured down her raven tendril-like hair and medium frame; her mind became tangled in a previous conversation she and Cherish shared.

Did her mother really have the connections needed to propel Catalina to the future she wanted? Despite the harsh opinions she displayed on earlier topics regarding her mother; she did give the notion a lot of thought.

All thoughts of trying to reconcile with her mother ended by the time she finished showering, there were other things worth thinking about; like how she’d deal with Martha’s intrusive nature. Wiping the steam from the mirror; Cat was immediately thrown back by the gloomy shadow being repelled in the mirror.

Instead of the more stationary appearance it appeared in previous encounters; this one was more sinister looking. "What do you want from me?" Cat screamed, watching as the reflections incandescent eyes slowly begin to simmer into a nefarious crimson tint.

The reflection said nothing; instead it gave a wide jaw grin before dissipating back to Cat’s reflection. "What the eff is wrong with me?" Her eyes immediately darted back towards her bedroom—more specifically her clothes chess.

Walking the distance from her bathroom to the chess, she fixed her eyes on a small plastic bag sticking from the top of the chess—the cocaine she purchased from Paco just days earlier. "I wonder…" she said, taking the contents from the drawer with a bit of curiosity.

Cherish arrived at the compound to see that the police had already cordoned the area off, the compound looked as if the corrupt Bogota police swept through the luxuriant estate looking for either drugs; or money—probably both.

"Alright, sweep this place clean. Look for anything of worth." She said, turning to the four Cardinals in tow. The thought of the police having confiscated what she was here to retrieve crossed her mind; but she knew Emilo—he’d have a stash. Placing her jittery hands within the pockets of her denim jacket, she begin looking for any indicators of a secret room or safe. It was weird standing in this room; back when it was still operational; this compound was a safe haven for illegal drugs, prostitution, human trafficking and the interest of corrupt government officials—many of which she was forced to entertain while in captivity.

Strolling through the expansive kitchen to Emilo’s personal office; she was surprised to find it mostly intact. Everything was intact; some of the appliances were still operating as if Emilo himself had recently used them. This was pretty concrete evidence the police weren’t interested in the least as to what Emilo actually had his hand in.

"Let’s see" She murmured activating his dormant computer, initially nothing caught her eye; just a bunch of receipts that didn’t identify a buyer, however a small folder in the top right corner labeled "Catalina" snagged her attention.

Clicking on the file, she gave a quick scan to certain passages; that is until she found an email from Emilo to a woman named Isabella Marisol, time stamped just a few hours before he was killed. What she was able to diagnose from the series of emails was that:

Emilo wanted to sell Catalina to Isabella Marisol; who Cherish could only guess was a member of the Red Cardinals. The deal had been agreed upon initially, but then Emilo requested more money; which angered Isabella. The letters mentioned the death of Paco; which made Han’s statement regarding his death make sense.

Emilo then sent a message saying he was going to sell Catalina to the U.S government to help aid them in thwarting the Cardinals; she could only assume that Emilo had no idea he was in fact speaking with a Cardinal leader.

The messaged ended concluding their negotiations on the account that Cherish and the Cardinals ultimately killed him. "Hey, are you guys done?" She spoke… but there was an absence of sound. Cherish begin to clutch her throat trying to force her vocal cords into making any type of noise—to no avail.

Turning back in the direction of the kitchen; her eyes fell upon an intoxicating black woman wearing a light brown see-through dress with long black leather boots. She stood about 5 foot 5 really petite frame, long black hair and enthralling pair of natural green eyes. "Emerald…" Cherish finally spat watching as the frail woman moved towards her.

"It’s Ashley to you…I got a couple of questions. This will be easy-going…depending on how you answer them"

Cherish stood apprehensively, she had no idea why Emerald would show here; but it didn’t appear that she came to have a friendly chat. Her threats wore thin on the ears of Cherish, from where she stood, she presumed Ashley to be the culprit behind her loss of voice; but she was also with powers and wouldn’t allow this woman to bully her.

"Who are you, really? What do you want?" Cherish asked doing her best to keep a tough exterior. Ashley took a step forward repelling a confident snare—one that indicated she was not going to be misled by Cherish’s gambit.

"My name is Ashley Emerald Mooreland, that’s all you get. What are YOU doing here?" She said taking another step. Cherish very slowly moved her hands from the innards of her pockets; before she could answer the four Cardinals appeared in a "Diamond" formation in front of her.

"Cardinals!" Ashley screamed, before dropping a smoke bomb to conceal herself. "What the hell is going on here?" Cherish screamed, throwing her hands up to push the contents of the smoke pellet away. As the smoke passed over the bronze skin beauty; she appeared clad in a middle-eastern assassin garb complete with a face veil.

"Braveheart!" one of the Cardinals yelled throwing himself into battle with the Emerald assassin. Cherish ducked for cover; but found her place of refuge no match for the boisterous wail of the African siren’s death wale.

Clutching her ears in pain; she sat completely oblivious to the action transpiring on the other side of the desk—action that didn’t last too long; Cherish looked up to see the demise of three of the Cardinals at the hand of Ashley.

"What the fck!" she gasped trying to run for cover; her efforts to escape were thwarted by a caltrop that snuggly wrapped around her knees causing her to fall to the ground. "I’m not one of them!!!" Cherish screamed trying to free from the binding weapon.

"My questions stands, who are you? And what are you doing with the Cardinals?" Ashley asked using her boisterous wail to inflict a rudimentary form of pain on Cherish’s ears. "My name is Cherish...I was one of Emilo’s sex slaves!" she confessed struggling to keep her ears free from the damaging sound.

Ashley stopped the forceful discharge of sound, but remained aggressive in her attempt to extract information. "What were you doing with the Cardinals?" The "Emerald Assassin" was by no-means stupid, she knew the telltale signs of a "protective liar"; she’d never get the information she needed by simply asking. Unsheathing her green dragon blade; she placed the hilt on the neck of the flailing woman. "What were you doing with the Cardinals?" She asked again; once again, Cherish’s attempt to answer was halted by the distracting presence of the fourth Cardinal. Appearing with typical Cardinal fashion the skilled combatant placed an adroit spin kick directly into the chest of Ashley sending her sailing back into the computer desk.

Landing with enough force to temporarily stun her; Ashley’s eyes darted toward the file Cherish left open on the computer. "Catalina…is here." She said, turning to with a confident smirk.

"Emerald…you once worked here for Emilo! I took your place once you escaped…Catalina has been here too!" She said, trying to appeal to Ashley’s memory.

"That was her?" Ashley replied in ignorance, remembering the other girls having mentioned a child amongst them. She’d never met Cherish; nor did she actually engage in any of the activities while "enslaved" here. Her mission then was to assassinate a key congressman that would be essential in starting the Registration Saga in the U.S. Though she succeeded someone rose to fill his shoes making her overall efforts futile; now her mission was to find out why the Cardinals had taken interest in the South American country….she’d just found out.

"That makes this a bit easy" She said, pulling herself of the edge of the computer desk. "Tell me where Catalina is?" Ashley said, standing across from the Red Clad Cardinal with Cherish lying still behind him.

"NO! I won’t let you hurt her!" Cherish wailed once more trying to free herself from the strict grip of the caltrop.

"I did ask nicely" Ashley said, throwing one of her black eggs into the eyes of the Cardinal temporarily subduing him for the moment. Leaping from the balls of her feet, The Emerald assassin went to deliver the death blow on the Cardinal only to be completely leveled by a disastrous blast of wind.

Ashley’s body tumbled a few times before rolling to an abrupt halt on the far side of the room. "Heh…" she grunted visibly impressed with Cherishes ability to project the wind. Ashley rose using the hilt of her blade for support, now back on her feet she rose to face a liberated Cherish.

Cherish knew there was no way she’d ever be able to survive a physical fight with Ashley; it was apparent with Ashley’s confidence that she knew it too. As the Emerald assassin moved forward; she couldn’t help but slowly move backwards trying to keep a comfortable amount of space between them.

Ashley’s hand slowly rose the rising wind suggest a powerful attack was imminent, a flurry of swift sonic energy pulse streamlined toward Cherish forcefully sending her body spiraling into the adjacent rooms. During this frantic assault Cherish could do nothing but protect her head from taking potentially fatal damage.

Ashley’s burst rip through the walls and even the hard metal appliances inside the kitchen. All around her bits of debris littered the air before falling to the floor either beside or on her. "Stop running!" Ashley screamed, aiming a blast from the next room, the concussive sonic energy ripped through the wall once again hitting Cherish—this time sending her body flailing through a lower level cabinet full of pots and pans.

Blood begin to discharge from various regions of her body, the aftermath of the vicious sonic energy blast left deep gashes on her arms and legs. It was clear to Ashley that this fight was a bit one-sided; she never intended to engage in a display of powers with the Windwaker; but it seemed only necessary to show the extent of her power to negate anymore wind gales.

"Look, I don’t want to hurt Catalina. I’m trying to keep her away from her mother." Ashley finally revealed coming to a halt a few paces away.

"If Ziccarra and the Cardinals get a hold of Catalina…she will be transformed into a weapon. It’s what she was created for" Cherish struggled to respond, so instead she gave a nod "As to say continue".

"When I met Ziccarra Liafador she was a well known Flamenco dancer and a scholar. Once her parents died, Kane used his mental control over her and made her a sex symbol...forced her to use drugs. Purposely deprived her of her insulin shots, he eventually drove her into a deep depression." Cherish hadn’t heard that part of the story, rather the part where Ziccarra broke the control and murdered a great deal of people in the Tibetan Plains.

"How does any of that relate to Catalina…?" Cherish gasp trying to rise to her feet. "Because Catalina is a genetic replica of Ziccarra…everything she experienced will pass on to Catalina. And Catalina will act upon those experiences"

Ashley’s explanation didn’t make a bit of sense to Cherish, Catalina didn’t exhibit any signs of aggression; but she did utilize cocaine and was exposed to the underbelly of the sex slave ring could Ashley be right?

"H-How do you know all of this…?" She asked having finally made it back to her feet, but only managed to stand with the support of a nearby wall.

"I found Kane Liafador’s notes at his villa in Belize; he’s been planning this for quite some time. Since you and Cat are so close I’d say you too skip town together; especially since Ziccarra knows you’re here" Ashley closed the distance between them with her hands extended; Cherish perceived this as an attack and sent another one of her wind gales plowing directly into Ashley.

The forceful burst of wind deposited the airborne Emerald Assassin on the outside of the compound. Rising to a knee, Ashley could feel Cherish once again on the offensive; preparing another one of her sonic generated attacks—she prepped to fire only to have her own energy backfire. The traitorous energy sent causes her body to spiral out of control into a gate on the fire side of the room.

It was her own power that damn near ended the fight for her; but she could only assume that cherish manipulated the wind around her attack and cause it to backfire. "She’s learning…" Ashley applauded, it didn’t take long for her to register that the injured Cherish had retreated.

Normally, she’d give pursuit; but her own injures were too grand to simply ignore; she’d have to remain stationary for her healing factor to kick in.

"The Cardinals are here because Catalina is here…" She assessed before trying to think about what her next move should be. Even though she defeated the four accompanying Cherish; she knew the Cardinals were here in bulk.