Kass couldn’t sleep. She sat by the window, watching and waiting, half expecting more soldiers to come trooping around the corner any minute. Briefly she wondered if it had even been wise to leave Cat on her own earlier but there hadn’t really been a choice there either. She thought of the solider in the next room and how he probably didn’t look much like a person anymore. There certainly wouldn’t be enough for his family to identify him once he was done.
He must have been a tracker of some kind, except he hadn’t seemed completely sure they were at this location when he’d been asking the receptionist. He had been suspicious enough to go in the back though. So how had he found this place then? And who had he told? It was too bad she hadn’t had the chance to ask him.
She studied her hands. They were small slender hands, uncalloused, unblemished. They didn’t look like the hands of the killer. There was an advantage to that. She considered this information objectively and with a sort of detached mindset. They didn’t feel much like her hands either. This wasn’t the first life she’d taken with her powers accidentally. She told herself it was for the best. A scuffle would have drawn far more attention and she couldn’t have let him live. Such a waste to not get anything from him though.
Her mind jumped back through the sequence of events. Everything had logically been the best course of action at the time, a local optimum leading deeper and deeper into a well. She tried to figure out when it had all started. Had it been when she’d accidentally killed her university professor? Flung him against the wall, just like she had this soldier. She’d just wanted his hands off her back then, hadn’t meant to kill him. Had that been the moment it had all started going wrong? Or had it been later? Maybe the first time she’d pulled the trigger intentionally? At this point she wasn’t even sure exactly when that moment had been. Perhaps things had always been this way? It wasn’t like her childhood had been a happy one. There had been a moment though, after she’d met Sparrow, before she’d had Marc, when things had almost seemed perfect. Too perfect. Nothing lasts. She should have known better.
She thought about Sirius. How he looked at her and spoke to her, and made her feel like she mattered, somehow even when he was telling her that he wasn’t interested in her that way. But that wasn’t right. He wasn’t hers. Couldn’t be hers. He was Amanda’s and Amanda had been nothing but kind. Kass was a horrible person.
A part of her longed for the soldiers to come. Anything to end this torturous wait. But she would kill them all if they came and she knew it, like a spider waiting in a web.
“Have you rested at all?”
Cat’s voice interrupted her thoughts. She glanced back from the window. Cat was sitting up on the bed, looking more alert, studying her with a frown.
“I am resting,” Kass replied.
Cat narrowed her eyes. Then she slid off the bed and headed toward the table and the food Kass had put there. “I mean, don’t you want to get some sleep?”
“I’ll sleep tonight,” Kass replied, but she knew it was a lie. She couldn’t sleep, not while those soldiers were still chasing them. And who’s fault was that? She was the one who had dragged Cat out here. For the good of the Greenstone Valley? For Jesse? For herself? For simply something to do? She wasn’t sure anymore.
“Why don’t you get some now? I can keep watch for a bit if you’re worried.” Cat spoke in a matter-of-fact tone. One that contrasted so completely with the tumultuous state of Kass’s mind.
Kass turned to look at her.
“Go on.” Cat nodded toward the bed.
Kass sighed but did as she was told. “I’m not the one who’s going to be driving tomorrow.” But somewhere inside she knew Cat was right and that the lack of sleep wasn’t helping her mindset.
“I’ll wake you when I want to sleep.”
“I’ll set an alarm.” Kass could see from the look on Cat’s face that Cat didn’t think much of that idea but she kept her mouth shut, perhaps worried that Kass might not sleep otherwise. Kass couldn’t tell her that the alarm was because she wanted to check on the body later.
She lay down, not convinced she was going to be able to sleep but for whatever reason sleep came easy, for a time at least.
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Cat knew that sleep was one of the most important things which a person needed to survive. More important even than food. People went mad without sleep. Even if you didn’t die without it straight away, the effects of not getting it would kill you just as quickly. Even just a little sleep deprivation could be fatal. People made mistakes when they were tired.
Cat didn’t always sleep the night away but she had no qualms about napping in the middle of the day if she felt like she needed one, and lately she felt like she needed one often. Pregnancy had really done a number on her energy resources though. It was annoying to say the least.
Sure, one’s guard was down when one was asleep but if you didn’t know when an enemy was going to strike then it was better to sleep when you could. A sleep-deprived watcher wasn’t much better than one that was fully asleep.
Kass had been sitting at that window, so still, staring so intently, that for a moment Cat had thought she was frozen there. Her tone, when she’d spoken, had sounded distant, as if she were a million miles away. Given the way Kass had been looking out that window, Cat had been afraid she might not sleep at all. She’d been surprised when Kass had actually laid down on the bed. Still, Cat had figured it was probably safer for all of them if Kass was well rested and she hadn’t wanted to take any chances so she’d helped the woman along with a little sleep magic. She didn’t enter or manipulate her dreams, she just helped her fall asleep a little faster.
She glanced out the window a few times but there was nothing out there and she figured if anyone found them here, there wasn’t much advantage in seeing them coming before they got to the door so once she was done eating, Cat found a TV guide and started on some crosswords that were in the back.
She hadn’t been going at those for long before she heard Kass stirring. But the woman wasn’t awake. She was obviously dreaming about something unpleasant. Her brow was furrowed and she made the occasional whimper as her head tossed gently from side to side.
Cat got up from her seat and crossed the room. She reached out a hand and then hesitated. Perhaps she had snooped enough already? Instead, she gently grabbed Kass’s ankle and shook it.
“Kass,” she prodded.
Before Cat had even finished speaking, almost at the first touch, Kass suddenly sprung awake and sat right up. Breathing heavily, she yanked her feet up the bed towards herself and flattened herself against the wall. She stared wide-eyed at Cat for a moment, her hand groping about no doubt for a non-existent gun, before recognition filled her face and her breathing steadied.
“You alright?” Cat asked, echoing the question that Kass had asked of her earlier.
Kass nodded. Her face was now the colour of a light pink rose, and she was shaking slightly. Like a scared little mouse thought Cat. What had she been dreaming about this time? More war horrors? Or her kid again? Maybe both?
Ducking her eyes, Kass pulled herself off the bed and returned to the seat near the window. “You know what? I’ll sleep later,” she remarked.
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Cat watched her with a worried frown for a little while. But then, with a shrug, she pulled herself up onto the bed. She felt like she could sleep for a thousand years herself. Well, maybe not sleep but at least lie here. But she did need something to do and maybe some more food before the nausea returned. She slipped off the bed again and grabbed both the book with the crosswords and some of the food Kass had brought earlier. There were crackers and cheese and fruit, all of which sounded perfect right now, although what she really wanted was yogurt. Maybe Kass would go get her some?
She eyed Kass watching the window and decided it probably wasn’t worth it. Besides, they had plenty of food. The woman did seem to need a distraction though and there were some crossword clues Cat was stuck on. Kass was good with words, maybe she would know the answer.
“Hey, what’s a five letter word for ‘epic poem division’?”
“What?” Kass glanced up from the window.
“For my crossword.” Cat held the magazine up. Five letters meaning epic poem division, starts with a ‘C’, ends in an ‘O’.”
Kass thought for a moment then replied, “Canto.”
“Canto?”
Kass nodded. “It’s a long section of a long poem.”
“Hmm, okay about about another four letter word, second letter ‘L’, for a female voice?”
“Alto,” Kass replied without hesitation. Her eyes glanced from the window to Cat and back again as if torn between two things.
“Six letter word for ‘rambled’?”
Kass frowned. Considered it for a bit, then got up to have a look, leaving the window behind her. She looked thoughtfully at the page for a few seconds before declaring, “Roamed,” with a smile. Then she sat down next to Cat and proceeded to fill in the rest.
“Well, great, now what am I going to do for the next several hours?” Cat asked as Kass handed the now complete crossword back. When Kass hesitated and didn’t immediately answer, Cat asked less sarcastically, “Do you want to watch a movie?”
Kass’s face relaxed into a small smile and she nodded.
They spent the next few hours watching movies on the TV, chatting about the characters and plot, and laughing and joking as if they were just two old friends on holiday. Kass knew an awful lot about the original literature and film history so Cat picked her mind in that teasing manner she was so apt to use and for awhile Kass seemed to almost relax. As she answered Cat’s questions she seemed to become, for a time, an entirely different person, playful and lighthearted, neither shy nor cold.
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Eventually Cat called it a night and Kass returned to her seat by the window, tension refilling her posture. She would have been lying if she had said that the last few hours hadn’t helped her focus somewhat though. Once she was sure Cat was asleep, she did her telekinetic window trick and then slipped next door to check on the body.
It was decomposing nicely. Well, perhaps nicely was not the quite the right word, but the acid was doing it’s job. Kass didn’t stay in the room too long, all too well aware, the longer she lingered the more risk of exposure to toxic gasses. She simply rotated the body over and gave the acid a stir before closing the window again and returning to their shared room.
She tried to sleep for awhile, listening to the sound of Cat’s resting figure breathing softly next to her, but she kept hearing other noises too, or mistaking shadows for movement outside. Several times she got up from the bed to peak out past the curtain to find there was nothing. She set an alarm for early in the morning, just a quiet one, knowing that it took quite a bit of noise to wake Cat but not herself. Truthfully, she probably didn’t even need it. She had a habit of waking up at the time she wanted to, but she didn’t want to take the risk of sleeping through it.
For a time she almost drifted off but then she was awoken by Cat giving a start and a gasp as if waking from a nightmare.
“You alright?” Kass whispered as she heard Cat sit up, words that were becoming all too common on this trip.
“Yup,” mumbled a sleepy sounding Cat. She pulled herself out of bed and disappeared into the bathroom.
Kass checked the time. It was almost early enough. She waited until she was sure Cat was asleep again before she slipped out once more. This time in dark clothes and with the intent to get rid of the last of the body and equipment.
The body was mostly mush by now. She could have left it a little longer but that might be getting too close to dawn. What wouldn’t wash down the drain would be small enough to fit into a couple of the polyethylene bags she’d bought earlier.
She gave the tub one last stir then waited in the nearby room to give it a few more minutes. Once she was satisfied that the body was as mushy as it was going to get for now, she returned to the bathroom.
She’d bought a few packets of baking soda at the grocery store with the intent of using them to neutralise the acid. She poured it in now, using telekinesis to ensure it was mixed thoroughly. She took her time, trusting her mask to protect her from the gases. She took comfort in the fact that she couldn’t smell anything more than the inside of the mask. She covered every area of the bathtub, anywhere that the acid might have splashed.
Once she was certain the baking soda was mostly mixed in she slowly added in some water from the tap. Do this too fast and the violent reaction would cause splatter and mess. Carefully she took her time to mix that in as well. She watched the mixture bubble and fix. It took well over several minutes before she was satisfied enough to turn the taps on more strongly.
Once the reaction had stopped she further diluted the mixture. She made sure to scrub the edges of the tub as well. This she did with a sponge also without touching it. Then she pulled the plug up with her magic. She winced when it flew up a little too high, but she was far enough back that the splash didn’t get her.
She listened to the tub drain, the slurping sound it made echoed loudly and obnoxiously amidst the silence of the night. This wall boarded the room where Cat slept and Kass had no idea how thin the walls were. They had heard little from the other guests though and it wasn’t like an emptying tub was that unusual, even if it was the very early morning. Some people rose early and strangers could be strange.
Kass used her powers to further agitate the mix as if flowed down the drain. She hoped nothing would get stuck. As the water level dropped, remains were revealed. A partially eaten away pelvis would need separate disposal, along with several of the larger bones, but the acid had done its job and broken things down enough that Kass could lift all that remained into a smaller bag.
Once more, her powers came in handy, although it proved harder than she’d imagined it would to raise a bone from the tub and move it into the mouth of an open bag. It frustrated her a little. There were telekinetics who could move ring along a string without ever touching the string but here was Kass, using all her focus and patience to get pieces of a body into a large bag. She held the bag open with her hands too so she had to be extra careful. Several times she’d hit the edge of the bag or missed it completely. She managed to avoid herself though and eventually the job was done.
She placed that bag, made of special material into not one but three other bags, the latter two being regular black garbage bags that looked like regular household rubbish. That could now be disposed of in the regular trash. Even if she’d messed up the neutralisation step, the polyethylene should protect anything from seeping out, at least before it was well and truly disposed of.
She did briefly wonder if Nin was one of those places that used materiokinesis for garbage disposal but she figured it was unlikely. That sort of process was expensive and only done in high density areas. No one would bother with it out here, surely?
It took her a little over an hour to dash across town and stash the neutralised, cleaned, and empty barrel with others of its kind out the back of a chemical lab. Even if they did a count, it wasn’t like they could trace it and the barrels weren’t exactly highly regulated. They’d probably assume a miscount. There were enough barrels for that not to be unreasonable.
The body she dumped in someone else’s rubbish, far away from the motel, out the back of some cafe that probably threw a bunch of stuff out daily. By the time she got back to the room, a gentle rain had started. A glance at the courtyard wall suggested that blood smear would be washed away before sunrise.
She then spent another hour thoroughly cleaning the bathroom and tub. She did it with the window open, hoping to purge most of the gases before people started waking up. She aided this process by getting one of the towels and using her telekinesis to flap it frantically back and forth. She couldn’t go too fast because of the noise but it was a hell of a lot better than nothing. She left the window open wide for continued ventilation.
An inspection of the bathtub raised a slight problem. The acid hadn’t leaked out but nor had it left the tub completely intact. It took a close inspection to notice it but there was definitely some pitting and warping. At a glance it could be put down to it just being an old tub but anyone with knowledge of crime scene analysis who looked close enough would likely find it very suspicious. There wasn’t much she could do about it now other than hope no one ever decided to look too closely at this tub. May all policemen be assigned a different room or be too tired to give the tub more than a cursory glance while they were on holiday. She was probably safe unless something else made them look closer at this room.
She threw out everything, except the mask. It was a risk keeping it but she didn’t have one back home and it would be useful if she ever decided to do any painting or had use of it again. She double checked the room, wiped everything down, locked up, and returned the keys to the return box near the counter.
She was back in bed with maybe an hour to spare before Cat woke up.