Quote of the Chapter: “Nope. Not happening. There has to be another way. Killing is not the answer!” - Katie Lockwood...yes, you're reading it correctly. The same Katie Lockwood we know and love.
Also, you gotta love the couple's way of discussions...
As Eric’s entire household was massacred by a furious Mr. Isaac, Katie and Caitlin were engaged in a heated discussion. Thanks to what the Agent did, they could speak freely without getting every sentence listened in on by Mr. Isaac.
Unfortunately, this secrecy did little to help the girls solve the dilemma they were facing. And when it came to this issue, the two girls each took up a surprising position given who they were. In fact, those that didn't know better might think Caitlin was the immortal sadomasochist just from the initial conversation.
“I am not doing this.” Katie growled as she strolled across Caitlin’s living room in circles. The annoyance in her voice was clear. “Nope. Not happening. There has to be another way. Killing is not the answer!”
Caitlin sighed. She really didn't think she would be the one to say this, but… “Listen, Katie. You know as well as I do that we can’t beat Mr. Isaac, and guess what? If you don’t do the killing, then he will! And he won’t just kill us, he will throw us to what is basically hell! I don’t like this any more than you do, but this is the only way out and you know it!”
“Oh wow! Killing is the only way?” Katie scoffed at her girlfriend’s words. She tossed her arms into the air in an effort to exaggerate her disbelief. “What happened to the girl who told me not to lay a finger on the innocent? To use my urges for good? To work to preserve the part of good inside me? What happened to that Caitlin?”
“And what happened to the girl who rejoiced in using violence? Who wouldn’t hesitate to shed blood, that of her own or that of anyone else? Anyone! Where is that Katie Lockwood?” Caitlin retaliated just as ferociously. “You are a disgrace, Katie! I expected you to be stronger than this!”
“Disgrace?” Katie was almost laughing. “Really? I can single-handedly cripple and kill every single one of the 4,000 students in that damn school! I can rip them limb by limb with my bare hands and I will be smiling the entire time!”
“Then why are you so opposed to the plan?” Caitlin pushed forward.
“Because…” Katie sighed. It took her a few moments to give the answer both girls knew all along. “Because there’s one person I can never, and will never, kill.”
She drew in a deep breath.
“I’m not going to kill you, Caitlin. Not today. Not tomorrow. Not ever. I will not lay a finger on you no matter what happens.”
Indeed. That was the reason why Katie, the sadomasochist that she was, refused to simply exterminate the school and fuck up Mr. Isaac’s plan. For this plan to be effective, she had to kill all the 30 students that Mr. Isaac was preparing to sacrifice to the Chaos Domain, and this included Caitlin. In fact, this included almost everyone still alive in the original class.
They were placed in hell for the longest, and they were of the finest quality. Mr. Isaac put the most effort into them. Only by massacring most of them could Katie lay waste to all of Mr. Isaac’s schemes for the past three weeks.
According to the Agent, if Mr. Isaac failed this sacrifice, he would not be given another chance. His superiors would deem him as too weak to keep investing in and would take him out. In other words, breaking the sacrifice pretty much meant killing Mr. Isaac.
But for her to ruin the sacrifice, Katie had to kill Caitlin. And if there was one person she couldn’t kill, that was her girlfriend.
“Not lay a finger on me?” Caitlin lowered her head briefly before suddenly reaching out and pulling out Katie’s Knife from her pocket. Katie simply stood there as Caitlin reached forward, slashing the Knife across Katie's cheek.
“Uh…” The brunette growled as the Knife drew blood, creating a deep scar across her chin and all the way up to her ear. For most people, that meant whenever the word ‘pretty’ was used on them, it could only be referring to their personality.
For Katie, it meant a few seconds of pain before the wound healed itself.
“Caitlin?” Katie stood there, a little confused. “You know...I enjoy a good old slashing session as much as the next person, but…”
Before she could say another word, Caitlin took another step forward, cutting the Knife across Katie’s eyes. She struck hard and mercilessly, blinding Katie completely with that strike. Katie took a few steps back as pain consumed her. Even for her, the eyes took a while to heal.
“Defend yourself!” Caitlin called out, Katie’s Knife still in her grip as she demanded. “Fight back! Strike me down!”
“Come on Caitlin!” Katie complained, but ultimately, she just sat back as Caitlin charged into her once again, sending her crashing onto the sofa. This time, Caitlin slid the Knife across Katie’s stomach, cutting through another one of her black jackets and practically gutting her alive.
“No!” Katie cried out in agony, not because of the wound, but rather because... “That’s one of my last jackets! Also...ouch!”
But Caitlin was in no mood for that as she slapped Katie across the face once again. Hard.
“Fight back!” She demanded again. “Hit me! We both know you want to!”
Katie growled in frustration. Oh, how she wanted to follow Caitlin’s orders! There were so many things she could do to Caitlin! Her body started shaking in ecstasy just as she thought of a few of them. But...no!
That was when Caitlin struck down again, digging the Knife into Katie’s chest, and that was the final straw.
One moment, Katie was laying back on the sofa. The next moment, she leaped back up. An animal growl left her mouth as she grabbed Caitlin by the neck and slammed her body against the ground. Before Caitlin realized what happened, Katie had her Knife back in her hand.
Almost without thinking, the girl brought the Knife down on Caitlin...until the blade came to a stop.
It took all of Katie’s will to stop just an inch before Caitlin’s left eye. One moment late and she would’ve carved one of Caitlin’s eyeballs out.
“Why? Why force my hands?” Katie demanded. She sounded like a wounded beast, cornered and broken. “Do you have any idea what you could’ve done? Any...any idea of what I will become if I strike you down?”
Katie knew she already had little care in the world. She didn't care about people like Vivian or Eric. And her parents? Who even are them again? In fact, Katie hasn’t returned to her house for at least a week. Caitlin was her last connection to humanity. What would she be if she lost that connection?
Caitlin bit her lips and remained silent.
“Back in Masonville Hotel…” Katie gulped, returning the Knife to its sheath in her thigh. It stung a little, but it hardly distracted Katie from her words. “You told me you wanted me to fight for good! To essentially use my power for good and save people! Kill the bad guys only! What changed?”
She stood back up, allowing Caitlin to get back up as well. It took a single glance around to tell Katie the brief clash between the two girls had left most of the living room in ruins and stained with blood. Nonetheless, she found her way to one of the remaining sofas and sat down. Caitlin wiped off some blood on her broken lips and sat down right beside Katie.
She drew a deep breath before replying.
“Reality happened, Katie.” She turned to her girlfriend, who stared right back at her. “I’ll admit, Katie. Yes. Back in the Masonville Hotel, I had my hopes up. I thought...I thought maybe after I die, you can go around the world, taking down the Dark Pantheon and the Sect of Ascension and all those bullshit organizations out there feasting on the flesh and soul of innocent people. You could’ve been the hope that our class never had!”
“But guess what? I realized something. This universe isn’t kind to the good guys. We live in a world with infinite evilness and corruption. The villains feast while the heroes weep. And even the common civilians...the innocent...they are selfish and fearful. Asking you to be the selfless hero...it’s nothing short of cruelty, especially for someone like you, Katie.” Caitlin slowly reached out and caressed Katie’s flawless cheeks.
“So I don’t want you to use your powers for good, not anymore. That was so stupid to begin with. Well...I am not telling you to join the Dark Pantheon or anything. All I want for you, Katie, is for you to be free!“
”You can be good and evil at wish! Demon and Angel. Human and animal. Hope and despair. I just want you to be free to do whatever you want without having to worry about guilt or burden! Just do whatever turns you on and makes you happy! That...that is the least I can wish as your girlfriend!”
She leaned forward and kissed Katie on the lips before pulling back.
“And we both know I am the only thing holding you back. So go on, Katie…” She reached down and tapped the Knife deep in Katie’s thigh. “Do it. Your Knife terminates body and soul alike. Kill me...and end all this!”
Katie stared into Caitlin’s eyes in silence before wrapping her arms around the girl.
“Freedom, huh? Well, by that logic, isn’t it also my freedom to not kill you? To try and save you? Plus, I don’t have that much faith in the Agent guy. Even if I do decide to start killing...” Katie frowned. “how long will it be until Mr. Isaac notices me and just restrains me until the games are over?”
“Maybe the Agent can blind Mr. Isaac completely or keep him occupied?” Caitlin shrugged, but she immediately refuted herself. “That doesn’t make any sense either. If the Agent can intervene at such a level, then why would he need us? What’s preventing him from literally blowing up the school with a bomb or a missile or something? Why would he turn to us? I...I do see your concerns.”
“Exactly! Therefore, we should wait and see what happens!”
Caitlin sighed in defeat as Katie kissed her on the lips.
For the rest of the week, things moved quickly. With a terrifying speed, the curse was spread across the entire Riverside High School. Neither teachers nor students were shown any mercy. All the teachers had their corpses turned into puppets as they guided their poor students through a series of gruesome games. Mr. Isaac didn't have the time to waste on this many students, so the games were many times crueler than what Katie’s class was first put through.
The casualties grew exponentially every day. Every day, hundreds of students were killed, with their bodies collected by Mr. Isaac and turned into puppets. At the same time, their souls were sacrificed to the Will of the Chaos Domain, empowering Mr. Isaac with every passing day.
Everyone in Katie’s class felt the pressure as well. For one thing, every time they walked across the hallways of the school, they would see the other classes playing some rather familiar games. From time to time, bodies would fall down from the building and go all splat on the concrete steps in front of the building. Whimpers, cries, and screams were pretty much the constant background music, along with waves of relentless gunshots.
For three full days, Katie’s class was turned against the other classes in a series of team competitive games. In one team game, Terry and four other students were put against five students from Mrs. Dent’s class in a game of tug of ropes...a game of tug of ropes that ended with Terry and his classmates outright shooting the other team full of shotgun shells. Not the most normal ending, but an ending nonetheless.
From time to time, one of the students in Katie’s class would disappear and never be heard from again, just like Kyle and Eric. Most of the class didn't think much of it, but Caitlin correctly assumed that these students were those that had to be sacrificed alive. Mr. Isaac wouldn’t let them die just yet, as they were too valuable to be thrown away.
In fact, Caitlin knew she herself was also one of these sacrificial lambs. Perhaps the only reason she could still spend time with Katie was because she wasn’t primed yet. She could still get more desperate. She could still be more broken. And as long as she could still be worth more, Mr. Isaac wouldn’t take her out.
Across all the games, Katie and Caitlin did very little other than enjoy the little time they had with each other. They both knew the games wouldn’t last for another week. Soon, one of them would be dead or worse.
Katie still refused to kill Caitlin. She was as compassionate now as she was cruel to other people. In fact, she has even screamed into the air, trying to summon the Agent down. She wanted to make a deal with the Dark Pantheon operative. In exchange for him to intervene directly and for Caitlin to live, she would do anything and everything.
But the Agent never came.
“There has to be another way.” Katie declared countless times throughout the days. “There has to.”
And then another way arrived in the form of a call from Vivian Saturday night.
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