• “Yes... That's what I said... Al, we never talk anymore so what's the point?... Look, its late and I'm tired... Yeah, we'll talk later okay?... Yeah, 'night.” Cathrin closed her cell phone and sighed as she leaned on the balcony railing. She then saw someone coming out of the tree line. She knew it was Swipe, and watched as he continued toward her house. Cathrin turned and ran out of her room and down the stairs, making it to the front door just as the doorbell rang. She opened the front door in a hustle.
    “What are you doing here?” Cathrin asked. “Voltiere will be mad if he finds out you were here.”
    He smiled as sweetly as he could. “Miss Airia, I am sure you are over reacting. Voltiere wouldn't get upset just because I'm visiting a friend.”
    Cathrin gave him a odd look. “You came in my house without asking, scared my friends and me near to death. Then that spying on us in New York.” She stepped outside closing the door behind her. “What makes you think we're friends?”
    Swipe simply smiled. “Miss Cathrin, don't you think we can work things out?” Then quicker then Cathrin realized he was behind her holding a cloth to her mouth and choke-holding her from behind. Cathrin quickly attempted a time spell against him. It didn't work, and she passed out.

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    Cathrin awoke, propped up. It was still dark, definitely not past 2 am. Her senses were a little foggy, but she was coherent, thus not dead. She recalled being at her house, talking to Swipe...
    “Oh, Swipe!”
    “You rang?”
    Cathrin looked around, then up, where the voice had come from. Swipe sat on a low branch in a crouch, not seeming to care about whether he fell. She braced herself against the tree, using it to get up. “What did you do to me...?”
    “Ah. Chloroform, you see.” He shook a small bottle, a little less than half-full, between his finger and thumb. “Does wonders, doesn't it? I wasn't able to get you out of the city limits with such a small dosage, but you're awake for the show.”
    “Show?” Cathrin mimicked.
    “Oh, you didn't hear? Law and Order's on tonight; it's a Wednesday. I hear it's a good one, a good use of superstition and all. See, there's this girl.”
    Swipe hopped down, came face-to-face with Cathrin, and took her face in his hand. He seemed to take pleasure in watching her struggle. His eyes grew wider, while his mouth sported a deep frown. “And this guy. And, quite frankly, he's fed up with her. Not only is she oblivious in every sense of the word, but now she's been taken over by the person this guy hates most, and she doesn't even recognize <i>that</i>!”
    His frown became a slow smirk; his tone quieter, more menacing. “But that's okay, because he finally found a way to make sure she'll never be taken over again. Oh, shh, hush now...” He stroked her hair sweetly, a false sense of comfort as she shivered.
    Cathrin took her chance. She used a spell meant to send Swipe forward in time. However, battered and bruised her spell failed and backfired, hurting her more than before. She slumped against the tree, defeated in her mind.
    Swipe's smirk grew more pronounced. “Come now, we can't have you dying before we've finished the prologue!” He got down in her face once more. “Now, where was I...? Ah, yes, his only solution. So, the guy decides to <i>kill</i> her. But why? Isn't there another way to save her from the true villain here? No, which is why he has to become a murderer, <i>again</i>.”
    “Again?” Cathrin seemed confused. “No, no, you didn't.”
    “Yes, again. And yes, I did. I'm surprised Voltiere didn't plant that into your brain too.” He lifted her chin. “But that's quite all right. Some things that should be said, sometimes never are.” His expression changed again, now into a bored look. “You'd know, wouldn't you? Or you might, if you weren't so foolish.”
    “You're the fool! Kill me and Voltiere will be on you like flies on a fly trap.” Cathrin looked at him with anger flashing threateningly in her eyes.
    “He already is. The only one who's not is Zachariah, and that's because I have him preoccupied. Isn't that nice? The one you cast away is the only one who could've saved you.”
    Cathrin looked away from him. “So, if you're going to kill me, why haven't you done it yet? I'm here, defenseless and alone, so whats holding you up? Not <i>afraid</i>, are you?”
    He laughed a bit. “Oh yes, I'm absolutely <i>terrified</i>. Because you could stop me. Because you could run if you had to, couldn't you? I've seen all your little tricks.” He put his arms out, smiling again. “But I don't need any. I got you here with a bottle of gas, and I'll take you out with a couple of bullets. Your kind's even weaker then those dogs.”
    “At least those <i>dogs</i> know how to play fair.”
    “Mouthy, aren't you?” Swipe struck her then, in a rage. “Those <i>dogs</i> are just that – dogs! What're they gonna do for you, fetch a stick or two, then roll over and play dead?” He snarled. “I'll tell you, this death won't be a game.”
    Cathrin's eyes grew wide and fearful as a barrel was brought to her forehead. She was much too afraid to do anything to save herself.
    “I love you.”
    One shot, and she wasn't there to love any more.