Chapter 17 Cathy

Chapter 17 Cathy

My body felt light as a feather. My feet were bare and full of dried mud, and my toes were bruised and cracked with bleeding cracks.

I looked around, feeling my pulse racing.

I was standing in the middle of a thick forest with trees so tall that their canopies completely hid the sky. I could hear the wind whistling as it hit the leaves and cut through the dense forest. I was completely naked, but in spite of that, I did not feel cold or pain in my feet.

How the hell did it get here?

"Eric," I shouted at the top of my lungs, but my voice echoed through the trees.

I felt I was being watched from all directions, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t see or hear anything. The more I tried to understand what was going on, nothing fit.

"Is anyone here?" I asked as my voice shook.

"I’m right here. Why can’t you see me?" an agonized and raspy voice echoed as if someone was in front of me.

I waved my hand in the air, trying to decipher if it was someone invisible or if I was imagining things.

"Where are you?" I asked, confused.

There was silence, and the wind blew harder, whipping my face.

"Cathy, I’ve always been here, waiting for you," the voice said more clearly this time. "Cathy!" the voice was similar to mine but rougher, as if it got tired from screaming so much without being heard.

"Cathy, are you okay?" the voice of Eric echoed in my ear like a whisper making my hair stand on end.

Blinking while opening my eyes, I found myself standing in the middle of the forest, looking around bewildered. But my perspective was different, my senses more acute. The hunger and agony present within me made me realize this wasn’t my body, and feeling her fears as well made it clearer. My throat hurt, and the undoubtable taste of blood flooded my mouth, and despite shivering out of fear, I wasn’t able to move as if I was rooted to the ground.

"Help!" I screamed, feeling my throat tearing and the taste of blood intensifying in my mouth. "Please help me." It wasn’t me saying the words, but it felt like it. Somehow, I felt connected to this person on a level I couldn’t explain. I felt her desperation, her longing to flee, and how those bindings sucked the vitality out of her.

"Cathy, wake up," Eric shouted, and I felt as if I was being forcibly ripped from the body I was inhabiting.

I sighed out all the air I was holding and began to gasp as my heart pounded uncontrollably. I opened my eyes, and he was lying on the bed looking straight into my eyes with wide eyes and his pulse pounding.

"Are you okay?" he asked me.

I was completely covered in sweat, my throat felt dry, and I was short of breath.

"Yes, I think so," I replied, sitting up with his help. "I had a very strange dream."

"A nightmare, I’d say," he said, wiping the sweat from my forehead with the palm of his hand, and for the first time, my body heat was so high that I didn’t feel his so embracing. "When I woke up, your face was red, and you were holding your breath. I tried to wake you up, but you didn’t respond, are you ok?" he asked one last time with concern. I nodded, confused.

I took a deep breath and looked vaguely at his disorganized desk until I noticed the time and snapped out of my trance.

"Shit! It’s late. Your mother must be waiting for me," I said.

"If you want, you can shower here," he offered.

"I don’t have any clothes here," I said and got out of bed hurriedly, grabbing my belongings. "I really have to get going, sorry," I finished giving him a soft kiss and walked out of the room straight to my room.

I went into the bathroom and took a shower in automatic mode as if my body was doing everything, but I was somehow absent from thinking about that strange dream. I felt as if doubt was gnawing at my insides, and a piercing sound was pounding in my head.

I dressed in simple clothes, and when I came out, Eric was waiting for me, dressed in a black suit, with square sunglasses and a gold wristlet.

"What are you doing here?" I asked him.

"I just wanted to make sure you were okay after the scare you gave me in the morning," he said. "Let me walk you to the lab."

He took me by the hand and led me down the corridor. It felt very natural, as if that was the right order of things. His hand fit in mine. His touch was gentle, and I felt the butterflies in my stomach flutter in harmony, giving me a warm feeling.

Eric opened the door for me. "See you later," he said.

"You’re not staying?" I asked.

"I’d love to more than anything in the world, but no. I have a business to attend to with my father that can’t wait," he commented without elaborating. And he gave me a subtle kiss on the cheek and said goodbye to his mother with a smile.

Lydia was sitting at the desk already with her lab coat and glasses on, playing candy crush on her cell phone at full volume.

"I’m so sorry to keep you waiting. I..."

Lydia raised an eyebrow, set the cell phone aside, and looked at me with a serene expression. "Is there something going on between you two?"

I felt a lump in my throat, one of the things I had been dreading the most just happened. Having to accept in front of other people my feelings.

"Yes, we are in a relationship," I told her, and it felt like a huge weight was lifted off my shoulders.

My mind stopped wandering, and I rooted myself in the present, waiting for the answer from the Night Pack’s Luna.

Lydia immediately softened her face and let out a smile.

"It was about time," she said. "I’m glad you finally decided to give each other a chance."

I blushed with embarrassment, that was not at all the reaction I expected from her, but it was sweet to see her so excited.

"Thank you so much for receiving me so well and for everything," I said. "Now, do you think we should finish the perfume?"

She nodded, still looking at me with light in her eyes.

I took the peach extract and handed it to her and the exact measurements of adhesive, alcohol, and solvents for her to mix in a vessel.

"Before you, I lost hope that Eric would decide to get serious with a woman and get married," she mentioned as she mixed the products. "He had a suitor, but she turned out to be a schemer and ran away the very day of their wedding when my son discovered her plans." Lydia lost herself in her memories, putting on a somber expression and endlessly mixing the liquids in the glass receiver. "Eric never trusted women again."

I took a deep breath and nodded, understanding that it affected not only Eric but his mother, who worried about him.

"It must have been hard, and I understand," I added, putting my hand over hers to keep her from spilling the ingredients. "But at least it was before the wedding. If they had gotten married, it could have been a disaster."

Lydia nodded, wiped her hands with a paper napkin, and added the alcohol to thin the thick solution.

"But as soon as he saw you, everything changed in him. I could see the sparkle in his eyes that he had lost," she said. "The same one he used to have at Christmas when he opened his presents all excited or when he won a wrestling tournament in high school."

"I didn’t know Eric practiced wrestling," I said, grimacing with the corners of my lips and drawing my eyebrows together.

Lydia packaged the product, not even testing it. She sat down and took both my hands.

"He used to have so much energy when he was little, so much that he never got tired and wouldn’t let me do my duties," she said, showing her teeth with a big smile. "I couldn’t keep up with him, so I signed him up for as many activities as I could. Such as wrestling, baseball, and even swimming."

I immediately thought of Elliot. He was exactly the same, impossible to appease, and with so much energy that sometimes he left me exhausted from running after him in the park.

"Was he a good athlete?" I asked just to hear more about him.

"He was the best. He won all the gold medals and was offered scholarships by the university he attended."

Lydia spoke, puffing out her chest and looking lost in time as if seeing memories.

The hour flew by, and I heard new things, like how Eric was the smartest in his class, that he had graduated two years earlier and had won a math championship. Every time she mentioned something, I couldn’t help but relate it to my son.

"Are you still here, ladies?" asked Eric walking into the lab, looking happy to see his mother and me having some quality time.

"The time flew by," Lydia said. "I enjoyed our talk."

She left the fragrance room with quick steps without looking at her son’s face.

Eric shook his head and looked at me. "What was my mother telling you?" he asked. "Probably embarrassing things from my childhood."

I couldn’t help but laugh. "A little," I replied.

"She is hopeless, let alone the fact that she loves to embarrass me," he said. "Anyway, are you busy now?"

I made a line with my lips and shrugged my shoulders.

"I’ll take that as a no." he took my hand and led me to his car.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"To watch a movie, there’s a theater nearby," he replied.

"But I didn’t put on my makeup or get dressed up."

Eric scanned me with his eyes. "You look beautiful. With or without makeup, you are a stunning woman."

I blushed and climbed into the car.

He put his hand on my thigh and drove slowly to a small mall with just two movie theaters and a few clothing stores.

"It’s not the most luxurious, but the atmosphere is nice," he said.

The mall was set in a sea-themed atmosphere. Its walls were orange brick, the floor was polished granite, and there were few people.

Eric paid for the tickets and bought some pretzels, sodas, and chocolates.

"Wait," I said, stopping before entering the screening room. My cell phone was vibrating, and I pulled it out to check who it was.

"Who is it, baby?" Eric asked as he read my screen.

I felt my stomach roll, and my body shed the sensations around me. "It’s no one important," I said, hanging up the call and putting the cell phone back in my pocket.

Eric changed the expression on his face to a more serious and somber one and didn’t say anything to me all the way to the seats.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

"Hmmm, yeah," he replied coldly.

I knew I wasn’t okay, plus my cell phone wouldn’t stop vibrating. I wanted to answer it because I knew Elliot wanted to hear from me, and I was dying to hear from him, but at the same time, I couldn’t do it next to Eric. He would draw his own conclusions.

"Can you give me a second? I have to go to the bathroom," I said and made my way to the bathroom with fleeting steps.

"Hey, my little prince, sorry I didn’t answer. Mommy was busy," I said.

Elliot cautiously looked at my surroundings, closing his eyes a little to focus.

"Mommy, where are you? And why is it so noisy there?"

"In a bathroom. I’m in a meeting and won’t be able to talk long," I replied in a calm voice.

My pulse raced, and I immediately felt guilt and remorse. Not only was I hiding the truth from Eric, but now I was lying to my son.

"I just wanted to know if you were okay and if you were coming soon," my baby said with puppy eyes and pouting.

"I’ll be home soon, sweetie, ok? Be a good boy and say hi to Nani from me," I told him. "Love you."

I hung up the cell phone and went to my seat. The movie had already started, and Eric was watching, but with his mind elsewhere, I knew it was just a matter of time before I had to tell him the whole truth, but as long as I could avoid it, I would.