Kitten Comfort

Satine was a wreck, and she knew it. She came here to get away from everything - Dream, Lord Valen, Mathieu…everything. She stood at the spire of the Arachnos building, gazing out into the distance, trying to reason through her mess of emotions. Rain was pouring down in sheets, but she didn’t notice…and the wetness on her cheek was not because of the rain.

A body lay a few yards from her, glazed eyes seemingly watching the rain fall. Two holes at the neck were the only mark of violence upon the young girl’s body.

Satine had killed her, drained her dry. She kept telling herself that it was out of self preservation, but both she and the dead girl knew different. The murder had not made Satine any less suicidal, in fact, it had only heightened her drive to dive from the roof top.

Again and again, she came back to the same question-why. Why had she released her lover? Why was she even here in the Isles? Why had she let herself be claimed? After three hours of soul searching, Satine still had no more answers than when she had started.

She had not expected it to hurt so bad…she thought she had done the right thing, releasing Dreamblood to the arms of his lover. Now, she was not so sure. Her soul seemed ripped in two and a gigantic piece of her heart was gone, her very will to live seemed tarnished and frail. It was bad enough, the knowledge, but seeing how he ran from her so quickly was like a knife thrust into her already bleeding heart.

And so, Satine had come here - to die or live, she couldn’t tell. She simply clung there, to the spire, tears falling free, emotions ripping through her. Time passed slowly…it seemed eons ago she had killed the girl, but the body was still warm…

And then a sound. Soft footsteps came from the other side of the roof, then a pause. The clank of knees hitting concrete, and a sob. Satine, more curious than anything, swiveled to investigate.

A young woman knelt at the roof tops edge, head buried in her hands. She was dressed plainly, black and white shirt with long, armored pants, her shock of red hair unbound and snapping in the wind.

Another body wrenching sob. Satine dropped down to the roof top, some feet behind the girl, and noiselessly approached her. The girl never moved, never looked up, but still seemed to sense Satine. The girl’s southern drawl was palpable as she spoke. “What do you want?!”

Satine sighed, and knelt with her at the rooftop edge. “Nohzing ‘ou can give.”

The girl looked up. “That bad, huh?”

“Zhat bad.” Satine smiled bitterly, looking out over the edge for a moment before continuing. “Ees eet zhat bad for ‘ou too?”
The girl nodded, managing to compose herself a bit. “I guess I’m not the only one who comes up here for solitude.”

“I deed not come up ‘ere to be alone…I came up ‘ere to die.”

The girl turned, slightly, looking Satine over. “Been there, done that. It’s not worth it, you know. I’m sure there’s someone out there in the world that loves you.”

“Zee problem ees I loved heem too much, so I set heem free.”

“You’re a good person, then, sugar.”

“Non. I am a murderer. Not a good pierson.”

“So am I. And the people around me, they have pounded it into my thick skull that as long as I am sorry for what I have done, I can still be a good person.” The girl stopped for a moment, then smiled. “Name’s Catherine. But everyone calls me Kitty.”

Satine looked startled at this random spot of kindness. “Satine ees mine. Eet ees nice to meet ‘ou, Kitten.”

“Kit-oh, never mind.” For a long moment, neither woman talked, simply content in each other’s company. “You know, I would feel awful bad if you killed yourself tonight, what with me not going to stop you. Think you could hold off till I leave?” A rueful smile touched Kitty’s lips.

“Of course, Kitten.”

“That’s good, because I don’t plan on going anywhere for a long while.”