The lady in Red (REWRITTEN!)

Chapter 72

"I don't understand. Why are we here? Who are hell you?" A petite blonde says, struggling in her binds. Next to her is her father and brother, I'm assuming. I've lost track of this unfortunate family tree. And I'm losing patience. I rub my temples in frustration. The older man, the father, glares daggers at me and the son remains idle. He doesn't miss a thing. I put my focus on him, because now I'm Intrigued. Reading people and figuring them out is just one of my many qualities I possess. The young man can hide all he wants under his skin, but I can see right through him. When he realizes I have now zeroed my entire focus on him like a laser beam, he shifts uncomfortably against his seat. It doesn't take much, and it doesn't take long before someone as hard as him cracks under the spell I throw.

"Wait, I know you. You're..." The older man starts. I put my hand out for him to stop talking, and he shuts his mouth immediately.

"Let's skip the formalities, shall we? Where's the rest of your family, Jerry? How many of you are out there?" I ask, leaning forward with my elbows on my knees. The gesture intimidates the daughter as she pushes her body back against the chair—not that she has anywhere to go. I divert my focus on her, and lean towards her.

"Uncomfortable?" I taunt her, smirking as her eyes go wide upon a dark realization. She's a pretty one—one I don't want to mar so easily.

"Who are you?" She asks, her voice quivering. I sit back, comfortably.

"Who are you to Catherine?" I hit back, bouncing my foot over my knee.

"How do you know her? And where is she?" She demands.

"And why should I tell you where she is?"

"You have her, don't you?" The younger one says. My jaw twitches.

"I do, Timothy." My palms itch to do harm at his smirking little face, but refrain from doing so. Not yet.

"Don't you have anything better to do than kidnap and assault us?" Little Tim quips.

"Trust me, little one, I'd rather be doing a lot right now than wasting my time on you. Perhaps, like...doing someone?" I smile. Jerry goes berserk against his seat, and it brings me great joy. The blonde looks at me in shock.

"Bring her to us, Mr. Dean. We know what you are capable of. We know you're strong, and we know your power. We mean no harm to you. But we want her." I react faster than his next breath. In one quick stride, my hand is around his throat and I push his head back so hard, he chokes under my touch. It leaves everyone else around me stunned.

"It'll take me two seconds to end your pathetic life, Jerry, and everyone else around you," I threaten.

"And what good will that do? You can't kill us all. Catherine is means of pawn to us, that's all. She has what we want, what we deserve. She's of age now to give us everything that belongs to us," he croaks. I squeeze harder. The power to end his life lies in my hands, but I'm forced to hold back. Patience runs thin.

"Her parents took everything from us. We want it back," The girl cries. I cock my head at her, a laughter suddenly bubbling in my throat. I release Jerry, and sit back, looking back at the girl once again.

"Papers over blood? You'd stoop so low to torture her for monetary value?" I growl.

"It's ours," she defends herself. This time my hand reaches out for her throat, but I don't squeeze. Her resemblance to Catherine is uncanny, but she is nothing compared to her. Whereas Catherine is sweet like lilac, she is bitter like the thorns on a withering rose. Still, she holds a certain kind of innocence that I once saw in Catherine. The girl is young...nothing older than eighteen, maybe.