Let's Play A Game

Chapter 9 - Cat

Cat batted her eyes, doing what she could to make sure that the tears that now threatened to spill down her cheeks would stay in place. She felt Sia's fingers intertwine with hers as both of them sat, their backs pressed against the back of a couch. Footsteps echoed in the room as the Faceless Man made his round, the sound of something wet pressing against the floor filling Cat's ears.

Kyle was somewhere across the hall, probably safe in his little salt circle, protected from the horrors that the night had to offer. She hoped for his sake that he wouldn't do anything stupid and that he would stay in place.

However, a part of her, small as it was, wished that he would come and fight. Push the Faceless Man away so Cat and Sia could escape. She knew that if Kyle did something like that, he would get caught but that small part of her was alright with losing him.

In the end if it came to choosing between him or Sia, Cat would always choose the latter.

As the footsteps grew closer, Cat wondered how she had been wrong once again. It was her idea to go find the salt circle. She was so sure of herself and her ability to evade any danger that came her way that she even fought Nathan.

However, she had forgotten that Nathan had never been wrong. He was stubborn but he was never wrong and now he was somewhere beyond the darkness, safe with Ansyl.

Don't go. We need to stay together.

His words had been so true yet Cat had pushed him away.

"You're a coward," Cat growled, shaking her head while Nathan stared at her, his lips pressed together to form a thin line.

"I'm just thinking straight. You want to go back to the place where you saw this demon or whatever it is. That's risky," Nathan argued, trying to talk some sense into Cat.

"Hiding and playing along is just as risky. What if he is expecting you to hide? What if he's waiting for you beyond one those doors?" Cat asked, pointing at the three rooms behind them.

Ever since Brianna had been taken from the living room, Cat and her friends had been running down the hall but the hall never ended. She knew that even if they tried to reach the rooms at the end of the hall, it would be of no use. The Faceless Man wouldn't let them go. He would trap them in this hall and catch them all.

"Cat, please," Ansyl whispered, clinging to Nathan's arm. "Nathan is right. We need to stay together,"

"We need to find Brianna," Kyle countered.

"We need to stop fighting! It's enough!" Sia said, stepping between everyone.

Cat glanced at Sia who slowly intertwined her fingers with Cat's and she knew that the blonde-haired girl was on her side. That was all Cat needed.

"Then it's settled. I'm going to go look for the salt circle and fight my way to safety. You can hide and wait for the demon to find you," Cat said and then turned away from Nathan.

As she walked away, Sia and Kyle walked away with her but Nathan didn't. That hurt because Cat was leaving behind the boy she had grown up with. Maybe sometime in the past, he would have stayed by her side. He would have done the wildest things with her, taking the role of her partner in each crime.

Then one day she walked into their lives with her innocent blue eyes and a face that had taken Nathan's breath away since the day he had seen her. After that he was always around Ansyl, trying to impress her and slowly changing his ways to suit hers. Some would say she saved him from a path of self-destruction. Cat thought that Ansyl had ruined the best things about him.