Did you ever know that you`re my hero Who: Keegan, Catherine and npc Terrell Where: Cat and Brandon's Apartment When: Saturday Late Morning, January 29
It had been a hell of a past few days for Keegan, and while most would consider what she had gone through to have been bad and the suffering the worse of luck, it had actually been a turn of good luck for the teen for it put her on the road toward a better life. She was slowly recovering from her injuries caused by being struck by Catherine, and had been seen through her withdrawal over the past four days by that same woman, the woman's boyfriend and the physician who had tended to her original injuries. It still seemed a bit surreal that she was actually in the apartment and away from the world she had been forced into.
Standing before one of the windows that looked out over the street, Keegan was peering out into the day taking a sip from her glass of milk while two slices of bread slowly toasted to a golden brown in the toaster. Catherine and Brandon were gone from the apartment at the moment leaving Keegan on her own. Something she didn't consider a bad thing as it showed they had put a little bit of trust in the girl by leaving her on her own. That thought though quickly crumbled with the half filled glass of milk slipping from her hand. She had watched absently as a black car pulled up to the curb across the street and it was only when she recognized the person emerging from the vehicle did Keegan become overcome with fear. Terrell. Back-stepping slowly away from the window, as she still wore the knee brace, Keegan bumped into a piece of furniture only to stumble and fall when she tried to turn and make it to the door. Managing to make it to her feet again, Keegan's eyes landed on the phone. Reaching it the girl grabbed the phone, and after a brief moment of recalling the number of where to reach Catherine, Keegan dialed the number in hopes of reaching the young woman.
Catherine and Brandon had spent the last day or so with his mother, since it had been LONG overdue for the two women to meet. When they had gotten back into town, Catherine had dropped Brandon off at the recording studio (she had her own appointment tonight, actually) before heading that way to her home so that she could check up on Keegan. Once she got used to the girl, Catherine found out that she was taking a liking to her. Once she had the drugs out of her system, she was actually nice. Hopefully it wasn't some long term con, but Catherine personally really didn't think so.
When her cellphone rang, Catherine saw that it was her home number (and knowing that it had to be Keegan), picked up it, and set it to her ear after hitting the 'call' button to answer it. "Hello?" she asked into the receiver.
"Catherine?" Pure fear seeping into her voice as she spoke. A sudden pounding at the door had Keegan spinning around in place with the phone tumbling from her grasp as Keegan stood there almost statue like unable to move. "Open the door, bitch. I know your skanky ass is in there." Terrell shouted from the other side of the door before he fist pounded the door again.
While Keegan hadn't been able to explain what was happening, hearing the guy shouting through HER door made it loud and clear. "On my way. Don't open the door for anything," Catherine said, not realizing that Keegan had dropped the phone. Catherine sped up the car, probably breaking every speeding law on record, but made it to her home in less than five minutes, barely parking the car before running toward her apartment door.
When Catherine reached the door of her apartment the slayer would find it had wide open having been kicked in by Terrell with his booming voice echoing out through the open doorway.
"You think you could just up and leave me, bitch." His voice raising with each word spoken to the cornered, and obviously terrified teen. "You owe me." He growled drawing back a hand to strike the girl again. Blood trickled from the corner of Keegan's mouth from being struck across the face by the man a first and she tried cowering away from him anticipating a severe beating before Catherine arrived at the apartment. Though she hadn't heard what the slayer said after she answered her phone, Keegan knew she was on her way. She just had to be.
Before Terrell could hit Keegan again, a whirlwind of very angry action happened that would be hard for the human eye to follow. Whipping out the butterfly knife that Catherine kept in her pocket, grabbed Terrell's hand, and pinned it to the wall, stabbing the knife clear through it. She then grabbed her katana from it's hiding place (she actually had more weapons hidden in her home than the Punisher) and pointed it straight at the pimp's neck. "You DARE break into my home?" Catherine asked in barely discernible English. "I suggest you get out of here and forget Keegan exists before I cut your head off and put it on a PIKE outside of my home for all to see." Right now Catherine was pissed off enough to do it, repercussions be damned.
"Bitch!" Terrell snarled at the slayer in obvious pain from having his hand pinned to the wall with a knife. And he would have added more to that laced with obscenities if it weren't for the fact that some psycho bitch was holding a sword to his throat. He was used to keeping his girls in line by keeping them in constant fear of what would happen if they even thought of not doing what they had been instructed to do. That clearly wasn't going to work on Catherine, who at the moment had the upper hand and a very sharp weapon to back her up. "Bitch ain't worth it. Useless piece of human being if you ask me." The words coming out as Terrell dared a hateful glance toward Keegan.
"And yet you're here beating the hell out of her," Catherine pointed out. She pressed the tip of the sword slightly into Terrell's throat, causing a slight trickle of blood to seep out. "I have nothing against killing you right here, you piece of filth," she pointed out to him. She then gave him a rather disturbing grin, showing that she might actually be enjoying doing this to him at the moment. "If you want to keep stealing air from more worthy pond scum, get out and never come for Keegan again or I'll personally slice your Achilles tendons and THEN really start to inflict pain while you can't get away."
With a slow reach up not wanting to give Catherine additional incentive to use that sword of hers on him right then and there, Terrell tugged the blade out of his hand releasing the limb from the wall. "You keep the slut." He said tossing the knife down at the slayer's feet. He didn't move further, and wouldn't until Catherine removed the tip of her sword from his throat.
Catherine moved the blade away just enough so that he could back out the door. "I will," she said simply to him. "Now get out of my home."
As he took slow steps away from Catherine, Terrell couldn't help but leave parting words for Keegan as he reached the door. "When she's done with you she'll cast you back out onto the street along with the other trash. Mark my words." The teen given one last "if daggers could kill look" before he was out the door.
Keegan just stared wide eyed after the guy with a release of the breath she hadn't realized she had been holding. She then found herself sliding down the length of wall she had been pressed against to slump trembling to the floor as everything she had been holding in escaped her in a rush of emotion.
If he hadn't been out the door right after saying that, Catherine would have stabbed him just for saying it. Lucky for him she had other matters to attend to.
Slamming the door behind him, she picked up the knife and set it both and the sword into the box that she used for dirty weapons to be cleaned later before going to Keegan. "Are you alright?" she asked, her face now full of concern.
"I'm.... I'm sorry." Keegan managed to stutter out swiping a hand across her eyes to wipe away fallen tears as she looked up to Catherine.
"It's not your fault," Catherine said to her, pulling a kleenex out of her pocket and handing it to the girl. "Was that who I think it was?" she asked.
Keegan nodded in response taking the offered tissue from the woman. "I don't think he'll come back." Last thing she wanted was to have more trouble brought down on Catherine because of her. The teen dabbed at her eyes and then the corner of her mouth, even though the slight flow of blood from being struck had ceased.
"If he shows up again I won't be nearly as polite," Catherine pointed out. Next time she'd probably just cut his head off and do the whole 'sticking it on a pike' thing. "If he's even remotely intelligent, I think I got my message across. You're under my care now. And I have no intention of tossing you out at any point."
"It's been so long since anyone's been nice to me I've almost forgotten what it's like." Keegan said almost choking on her words as emotions once more started whirling within her. "I promise not to cause any more trouble for you, or Brandon." She promised with a weak smile to Catherine.
"Trouble tends to come whether you want it to or not," Catherine pointed out. "It's kind of my life, honestly." She gave the girl a smile. "Hopefully we won't have any more trouble from him, though. If he does get a hair up his ass and show up again, I'll take care of him. No problem."
"I've never met anyone like you, Catherine." Keegan smiled lightly. Not only did the young woman have her respect, but she now won a bit of hero worship from the girl. Keegan had never seen anyone stand up to Terrell the way Catherine had, and certainly no one had stood up to the guy in protection of her. In Keegan's eyes Catherine Baclanova was one of a kind.
Catherine chuckled. "You just haven't gotten around enough yet," she joked. "So, wanna get something to eat or anything? We can always order a pizza." She needed to clean up the bit of blood on the floor before anyone got there, but it wasn't anything she wasn't used to.
"Anything that's deliverable." Keegan wasn't all particular about what they'd get to eat, the teen just wasn't in any mood now to brave the public by going out to have something to eat.
"Pizza it is," Catherine said with a grin. After putting in an order over the phone, she pulled out some cleaning supplies so that she could get to work on the floor and weapons.