Alexa stared at her hand, frozen. She'd just.... she'd just hit Kat. Out of anger and instinct, she'd slapped Kat. Alexa watched as Kat ran away, tears in her eyes, toward her room. She didn't know what to do. Go apologize? Stay and try and pick up the pieces of the party? Antwon was on the ground behind her, groaning and holding his chest. She should help him first, right?

Why had she done that? What had prompted her to? Kat was such a sweet girl, and she knew how important this night was. How could she just... flip like that? Behind her, she heard Cobb helping Antwon to his feet. He was huffing, clearly out of breath. Alexa thought she should turn, face him, apologize, but she couldn't find the words or the will.

All eyes fell upon her. She clenched and unclenched the hand that had slapped Kat, feeling its strength, testing it. She'd hit Kat hard, too. Hard enough to send her to the ground. Right onto the glass shards. A little bit of blood sat at her feet, from where Kat had fallen. She looked at it, a tear forming in her eye. Her vision grew blurry, hazy, and all she could see soon was red.

She panicked, wiping her eyes and swallowing her fears. Doing the best she could to regain composure, she turned to everyone at the party. Some guests had poked their heads out of the dining room to see what the commotion was. She forced herself to smile at them, for them, and waved to everyone.

"I sincerely apologize for my slave's behavior," she said, forcing a laugh. "She's never done anything like this. I had no idea this would happen, and I would like to offer my deepest regrets."

A murmur went through the crowd. She tried to ignore it. "Cobb," she said.

He nodded to her. "I will clean this up, Madam. Might you help our friend here? He's quite winded."

Alexa looked to Antwon, who was rubbing his chest and huffing. "I'm good," he said. "All good. Perfectly fine."

He laughed and stood up tall. "Whoo, that was quite a way to say hello."

Alexa breathed a small sigh of relief, pushing the pain down. There would be time for it later. "I am so sorry for this, Antwon. What a disrespectful way to welcome you. I had no idea she would do something so... out of character."

Alexa looked at her hands, searching for words. Antwon just chuckled and put a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry about it. I used to have a slave too. She'd act out sometimes, no reason. Just did it. So I get it."

"That was just so unlike her."

It was so unlike me, she thought. What have I done?

"Right," Antwon said, "Well hey, don't look so down. Every slave needs to be disciplined. If harshness is what it takes, so be it. I'll bet she learned a lesson or two there, to say the least."

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Alexa swallowed dryly. "R-Right."

"Well, let's catch up, shall we?"

"Um, right, aha. Sure. Where have you been? You kind of just dropped off the face of the map there," Alexa said, pushing the thoughts of Kat aside. There would be time for them later.

They walked into the dining room and found two open chairs. Taking them, Antwon said, "Ah, I got into a little scuffle. Actually ended up in prison, if you can believe it. Was supposed to serve six months, but hey, you know how it is today. Grease the right hands, and... well, the rest is history."

Alexa furrowed her eyebrows. "A scuffle?"

He nodded. "Drunken fight. My fault, I admit," he said, putting his hands up. Then, he pointed to his forehead, where there was a small scar. "That's how I got this scar here."

"I wanted to ask you about that..." she said, examining it. "It looks pretty bad."

"Well you see," he said, grinning, "the bastard clocked me with a bottle. Was a downtown thing, maybe you heard about it on the news. Anyway, got me with a bottle, so I got him with mine. Judge said, six months with possibility of parole."

Alexa forced herself to smile. "Ah, and you managed to buy yourself out of it."

He made finger guns at her. "Exactly."

"I see."

He frowned. "Don't look so down about it. Was an accident, is all. Accidents happen. Just as I'm sure your slave just committed an accident," he said, shrugging. "Things happen."

"I... suppose they do."

He clapped his hands. "Now then, about our little deal."

Alexa saw the last person off with a cordial wave and another sincere apology for the night's commotion. They were, of course, more than understanding and wished her luck in disciplining Kat. She thanked them, holding back her thoughts for just a bit longer, and then closed the door behind them. Cobb was busy cleaning up, ferrying dishes from the dining room to the kitchen, where he would wash them before sweeping up a bit.

It was late, and a weariness settled into her bones. She wanted to sleep. Her eyes burned and her shoulders ached. The dull throbbing in her head was a testament to how the night had gone: one big headache after another. She'd definitely feel it in the morning. Sauntering to the stairs, she turned her thoughts toward Kat.

What had she done? She struck Kat out of anger, the poor girl. And she looked so frightened when she'd looked up at Alexa. Her heart felt like it'd been hit with a sledgehammer, shattered into a million pieces. She wanted to cry, but was too tired. She wanted to sleep, but was too awake.

At the top of the stairs, she turned toward Kat's room. There, she stood at the door, fist about to knock, hesitating. What if she was already asleep? What if she was hiding, fearing some sort of retribution? Alexa blinked slowly, head turned down as the image of Kat hiding in her wardrobe floated through her mind. She needed to speak to her, if only just a little tonight. To apologize. It was the right thing to do, after all.

And she'd already done the wrong thing. She didn't want it to be like last time, did she? She shuddered and, with that in mind, gently tapped on the door.

"Kat? Sweetie? It's me. I'm going to come in, alright?" she said softly through the crack of the door. Shaking, she put her hand on the door handle and turned it, pushing the door open as quietly as she could, just in case Kat was asleep.

But when she opened the door, she didn't see Kat anywhere. The bedside table's drawer was open, as was the window, and a cold, wet breeze floated through the room as the rain crept in. She rushed into the room, looking around, opening the wardrobe. "Kat? Sweetie? It's alright, you don't have to hide," she said, hearing the panic in her voice.

Then, she saw it. The little splotches of blood on the windowsill, mixing with the fresh rainwater. "Kat? If you're in here, come out here right now. Kat?"

She rushed up to the window and leaned out, looking down below. A bush below looked crumpled, as if something heavy had landed on it. "Kat?" she called. "Kat!"

"Kat!"