Memento Mori

It was early April and on this day in London, it was cloudy. But people still made their way through the streets and rode the tube. The tube was crowded, but not too crowded, small spaces still left open but many people talking and chattering, creating loud noise.

Due to the loud talking, you couldn’t hear a faint clicking noise. In the corner, there was a teenager.

It was Catherine Parr. Clad in a deep blue turtleneck and black pants, her hairstyle the same, curly hair pulled to one side, and she wore blue headphones over her ears. A duffle bag rested at her feet and on her lap was an open notebook. In her hands was a blue fidget cube and a silver pen. She was writing in the notebook and clicking at the cube, keeping her head down and avoiding everyone’s gazes.

She was on her way to London from a rural town. And it was clear she would rather be back in that town than the loud subway. Hunched in on herself, headphones keeping the noise out, and focusing on her objects in hand.

Cathy glanced up at one point and noticed a small screen playing a news report. She pulled her headphones down around her neck to listen, curiosity taking over. The noise was loud, but for a moment it was tolerable.

“Yet another car crash has occurred. This time, a bus driving on the busy sidewalk, with people still on board! Incidents like this have been increasing lately and police have begun looking into it.”

The second reporter continued once her co-worker was done. “The lead investigator for this case is detective Felix Griffin. Griffin has become rather famous as of late, making television appearances and solving several amazing cases. Onto other news, Henry Tudor, freshly graduated out of high school, is soon to be taking over his father’s company—.”

Cathy inhaled sharply at the name. Her clicking faltered for a moment before becoming harder pressed as her hands clenched around both pen and cube. She pulled her headphones back up to her ears, blocking everything out as she returned to her sanctuary of writing.

Soon, after calming down, Cathy put her pen down and picked up her phone, glancing to see if she had any messages from friends of family.

None. But she wasn’t very surprised. She was an outcast to her hometown. It wasn’t like she had many friends in the first place. Her hometown was rather rural, everyone knowing each other, and most students thought of her as the ‘weird autistic kid.’ But they mostly never bothered her about it and Cathy tried to ignore their words.

The friends she did have? They all left the second they heard of her assault charge. Her parents had practically disowned her. Her mother kept giving her sad and worried glances, but just like her father, she didn’t say a word.

Now, she was in London. Going to live with a godfamily she hadn’t seen in several years and live out a year’s probation.

As much as you would think the opposite, Cathy couldn’t wait to go back to her hometown. Yes, everyone was against her. But… It was a familiar place. And Cathy disliked change.

Suddenly, Cathy noticed something. An app was on her phone.

A glowing red app. Black markings formed an eye, staring right back at Cathy.

Creepy. But Cathy wasn’t very affected by the design. The creepy thing was that Cathy knew she hadn’t downloaded the app.

She simply let out a contemplative hum as she moved to delete it.

But before she could… something happened.

The crowded train slowed down to a stop. People talking to each other were stuck with open mouths and smiles. A man yelling at someone was frozen mid shout. A person dropping something was stuck in the middle of bending down. A couple was locked in a kiss.

“What?” Cathy whispered, pulling her headphones down once again as she took in the scene. He notebook had slipped from her lap, pen and fidget cube falling to the bench on either side of her.

Cathy stood up and looked around in shock. As she did, blue flames burst into being at the end of the car. Cathy stared wide-eyed as it formed a figure. You couldn’t make out its features, but you could see a golden helmet on the flame’s ‘head,’ the slits glowing a bright light where eyes should be.

Cathy couldn’t look away. “What… the hell are you?” She whispered to herself. The figure made no response, either not speaking, or too far down the car for Cathy to hear.

But as quickly as it appeared, it vanished. In half a second, time was back to normal. And people were staring at her.

Cathy flinched at the stares and the sudden, unexpected burst of loud noise. She quickly flipped her headphones back up to cover most of the noise and picked up her items, hiding in the corner once again.

But Cathy couldn’t take her mind off what had just happened. She put her notebook and pen away, focusing on the cube and her racing thoughts.

What was the being of flames? Why was it her who witnessed the event while everyone else was frozen? Was it just some hallucination? What did it all mean?

And why did the figure feel like an old friend?

~~||~~||~~

The Aragon residence wasn’t very difficult to find. Cathy had been given the address on a slip of paper and she simply plugged it into her gps app. After several minutes of walking she found the house. It was two storied and looked similar to the rest of the house on the streets.

She double checked the address before knocking on the door, messing worriedly with her fidget cube. She had put everything else, even her headphones, back into her bag.

It took a minute or two for the door to open, but when it did, a very familiar face was on the other side. A familiar face she hadn’t seen in years.

Catalina.

Her childhood friend who felt more like an actual sister than a godsister. She looked the same, only older and far more tired. She still had her love for yellow and gold, it seemed, wearing a yellow t-shirt and black-highlighted pants.

They stared at each other for a moment, wide eyed, before a voice called out. “Catalina, dear? Who’s at the door?”

Isabella appeared next to Catalina, her eyes lighting up upon seeing Cathy. “Catherine! It’s so lovely to see you! Adelante, adelante!”

Cathy was quickly ushered into the house. She stood in the doorway, glancing around. In the time she had looked away, Catalina had vanished.

But she didn’t have time to ponder that. Isabella began questioning her, asking how her parents were doing and even about what exactly happened leading to her arrest.

“When I heard about your arrest, I was in shock! What exactly happened?”

Cathy cringed at the question and quickly tried to deflect. “Wrong place at the wrong time.” She pressed a button on the cube a little harder than necessary.

“Well, one year and then you’ll be back home, safe and sound.”

Cathy didn’t reply to that. With how her hometown feared her, Cathy figured the rest of her life was doomed to be hated, feared, and outcast. Safe and sound wasn’t exactly how Cathy saw it.

Isabella clearly noticed that Cathy wasn’t going to reply and quickly took her into the living room. Ferdinand sat in an armchair. He glanced up upon hearing the footsteps.

“I figured you were supposed to arrive today. I couldn’t remember if it was today or tomorrow...” He said in place of a greeting.

“I’m going to go and finish dinner.” Isabella said, sitting Cathy down in another chair. The duffel bag rested by the teen’s feet.

“Well, how was your trip?” Ferdinand asked after Isabella left.

“Busy.” Cathy said simply. It was the truth after all. “And loud.”

“Yes, well. The subway can be like that.” Ferdinand agreed, setting his book aside. “How are your parents?”

“Fine…” Cathy huffed out, keeping her head lowered.

It was quiet for a moment before Ferdinand continued with something else. “I was given the details of your arrest. I have to say, I never thought you of all people would be arrested. Sweet kid, always quiet.”

Cathy tensed at the mention of her arrest. Her clicking stalled for a moment and she gave a quick glance to Ferdinand’s face before looking away.

“Try to look at me when I’m speaking, Catherine.” Ferdinand said. It sounded nice, but was a veiled order. “And put that silly toy away.”

“Yes, sir.” Cathy huffed, she hesitantly slipped the cube away into her bag.

Ferdinand nodded his approval before continuing on the topic of her arrest. “You tried to protect someone and got kicked out for it.” Ferdinand tsked. “You really should learn to keep to yourself and move along.”

Cathy clenched her fists, taking deep breaths to keep herself calm. She didn’t want to make things worse for herself by lashing out. She also wasn’t going to explain that it was her own ex-boyfriend, the man she thought she loved, who had been the attacker.

Before anyone could say anything, Catalina reappeared. “Father, may I show Catherine to her room?”

Ferdinand fixes his daughter with a stare. After a moment, he nodded. “Muy bien!” Then he glanced back to Cathy. “We’ll discuss some rules later.”

Cathy hid her relief as she quickly gave Ferdinand a nod, grabbed her bag, and followed after Catalina. She didn’t know if the interruption had been on purpose or not, but either way, Cathy was thankful.

The interaction with her godparents was short, but Cathy was already dreading the year. If it was like that all the time, then Cathy was in for hell.

Catalina silently led Cathy up the stairs. The blue clad teen carefully followed behind, duffel bag on her shoulder and rubbing the end of her sleeve in the palm of her free hand.

They reached a rather plain room, set up with a desk and bed along with other basic furniture. A few small boxes of Cathy’s other items were tucked away in the corner.

Before Cathy could decide whether or not she wanted to talk to Catalina, her godsister seemed to decide for her.

“I’ll come get you for dinner later.” At the door, Catalina paused, giving Cathy a small glance. “It’s nice to see you again, Catherine. And I’m sorry about what happened to you. Defending someone should never be treated as wrong.”

And then, Catalina vanished from the room, leaving Cathy to unpack and think over everything that had happened.

The later dinner with the Aragon’s had been painful. Ferdinand announced the rules, nothing too important, simple curfew and the like. Then, Ferdinand and Isabella tried to make small talk with Cathy, who only gave short answers. Both were clearly frustrated at the lack of response, but didn’t try to press further. Catalina remained quiet throughout it all, but kept a close eye on Cathy, diverting her parents attention when she felt the girl was getting too uncomfortable.

As soon as she finished eating, Cathy escaped away to her room. The day had been draining, more so mentally than physically. So Cathy collapsed on her bed almost immediately.

But her body wouldn’t let her sleep. Instead, she fell into the memories of what had led to her probation. The memories brought back by her godparents’ earlier questions.

~~||~~||~~

It occurred several days, maybe weeks, ago.

It had just turned dark, the sunlight finally vanishing behind the horizon. Everyone was tucked away in their cozy houses. The rural town was quiet.

Cathy had been making her way home, spending a late evening at the library. A book was in one hand and she had been fidgeting with its pages.

Suddenly, she heard a scream. Cathy’s head shot up and she quickly glanced around. Then, in front of an alley, she spotted a young female, around her age, being harassed by two guys, maybe a year or two older, but still young.

Cathy watched as the two drunk men harassed the girl. She felt frozen, like she had been grabbed in some sort of icy grip.

Cathy didn’t know if she should interfere. But that was when she noticed one of the two figures' face.

Her heart jumped into her throat and she dropped her book. It was Thomas Seymour, her boyfriend.

Thomas only visited the town once a year, for a vacation of sorts with his businessman of a father. They had connected two years ago, when Cathy was a freshman and he was a Junior, and had been together since. Thomas was gentle with her, and was even completely fine with her autism ticks, something people usually found strange (she never noticed his angry glances). He loved her for her and Cathy just knew she had found love.

So why was he here, harassing another teen girl? That sealed her decision.

She swiftly made her way over and called his name. “Thomas?!”

Thomas’s head lifted towards the cry, his friend’s gaze following. Both of their stares were fogged and they were clearly drunk.

“Cathy?” Thomas slurred, staring at her.

“What are you doing?!” Cathy asked, now standing in front of them.

“Just trying to have some fun? What’s so wrong with that?” Thomas asked, as if he was confused by her response.

“Move along.” The other man huffed. “You’ve got nothing to see here.”

They had moved away from the clearly terrified girl. Cathy looked past the two, giving the girl a small nod. She was quickly darting away, vanishing into the darkness further down the road.

“What?!” The unknown man snapped. “You chased her away, just when we were starting to have fun!” He moved a little closer and Cathy immediately backed up, rubbing her sleeve anxiously.

Cathy carefully pulled out her phone, staring at Thomas pleadingly. “Thomas… don’t make me call the cops.”

Thomas was about to retort, but the man next to him barked out a laugh. “Do you know who I am? I’m Henry Tudor! And I’m going to control my father’s company. I’ll be the one ruling this country soon enough!”

He staggered forward, aiming to grab the phone out of Cathy’s hands. But the sober teen was faster than the drunk.

Henry stumbled, his weight pitching forward as he fumbled in the air, having missed his target. Henry hit the cement with a loud thud. Thomas was quickly by his side and helping him up.

Blood was dripping down the side of Henry’s head and he held his face and head where he had hit the cement. A scowl now accompanied his bloodshot eyes.

“You bitch! I’ll sue!” Henry snarled.

Cathy felt herself freezing slightly at the notion. “You can’t… the police will find out the truth…”

“The police listen to me!” Henry slurred. “Who are they gonna believe? A wealthy, future business man? Or a nobody bitch like you?”

Cathy tensed and felt a small, anxious noise escape from the back of her throat. Henry could be right…

“Although… you could make it up to me.” Henry grinned, his drunken brain clearly proud of whatever plan he had. “By being my girlfriend.”

For a moment, Cathy could only stare at his smug smile. She felt panic flutter in her chest. “What?! I’m already dating Thomas!”

Henry’s clouded eyes looked intrigued at that. He glanced over at Thomas. “So this is the freak you’ve mentioned? You don’t mind if I date her, do you?”

Thomas snorted, resting against the wall. “Not at all. I was planning on breaking up with her anyways. She’s too weird for me.”

Cathy could only stare, wide eyed at the ground. Her hands were clenched into fists, her nails drawing blood from the palm of her hands.

“What will it be?” Henry had a triumphant smirk, staring at Cathy. “Jail or a new boyfriend?”

“I…” Cathy wanted to cry and scream. She almost did. But carefully, she managed to answer, breathing sharp and erratic. “I’ll be your girlfriend.”

She didn’t want to ruin her life. What else could she do?

Henry’s grin widened and the drunk man quickly got her number before stumbling off with Thomas. “I’ll be in touch!”

Cathy forgot about the book she had dropped earlier. She went home and cried, her parents being out late left her uninterrupted. She sobbed and punched both her bed and also her arm and leg. She flung a stack of papers and books from her desk, scattering them across the floor.

She screamed for Thomas’s betrayal. She screamed for Henry’s manipulation. She screamed for her future.

The betrayal stung deep. Cathy’s tears burned and her crying was too loud to her own ears.

The next week was absolute hell.

Each day, Henry took her out on a date. He sat too close for her comfort and would touch her when she didn’t want it. Not in a sexual way, but it still hurt and burned her skin. Everytime she tried to stim herself, be it rocking or using a fidget toy, Henry would berate her for it, almost to the point of yelling.

Cathy almost broke down several times, from both overload at Henry’s yelling and unwanted touch, and also from mental pain at everything that was taking place. No one, family or friends, was helping her with Henry, most of her friends didn’t even know yet. Everyone who did, even her parents, were too afraid of the power Henry held to say anything.

The last date of the first week as a supposed ‘couple,’ Henry took Cathy to a café. Her favorite café.

It wasn't her favorite at that moment.

After the date, Henry and Cathy had sat on a bench nearby. Cathy fidgeted, rubbing at her shirt sleeve. Henry pulled her closer, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. Cathy tensed even further, his touch burning. Henry turned to face her and without a word, moved closer to kiss her on her lips.

Through the week, Henry had kissed her on the cheek and head. Cathy submissively allowed it. But a kiss on the lips was the final line for Cathy. The stress and agony of the week finally came crashing down on her.

Cathy slammed her hand on the arm of the bench as she stood up. One of her hands grasped onto her arm and her nails dug into the sleeve, hitting skin. Henry blinked, seemingly unfazed at the outburst.

“I can’t do this anymore!”

“What are you going on about?” Henry huffed, keeping an arm across the back of the bench.

Cathy began to pace in front of the bench, staring at the floor and breathing heavily.

“I don’t love you, Henry!” Cathy spat. “I was happy with Thomas! And then all of this happened! He left me behind so quickly and you are trying to find someone who will fall so easily for you, even through blackmail! It’s not going to be me!”

“I can get you arrested, Catherine.” Henry said in a low tone.

“I don’t care!” Cathy cried, crumpling in on herself. “I can’t… I can’t do this anymore…”

Henry stared at her for a moment. Then, he simply stood and walked away, leaving Cathy alone at the bench, struggling to calm herself. Everything had happened so quickly, and Henry hardly even cared.

“Suit yourself, Parr… Thomas was right, you’re too weird for my tastes anyways.”

That night the police would show up at her door. Her parents were mortified as she was taken away. Cathy remembered the bright lights of the officer’s car lights and the blaring sirens. She had an overload that night. Majority of the officers tried to be accommodating and helped calm Cathy down. Cathy knew they were just doing what they were forced to by a man with too much power. She wanted to blame them but didn’t. No, that blame was all on Henry.

Apparently, he had gone home and injured himself. He had injured himself on purpose to make it seem like Cathy assaulted him, just like what he threatened to press charges for one week ago.

It was funny, really. Catherine Parr, the outspoken queen, had avoided her arrest, and gone on to live with her Thomas. Catherine Parr, the quiet teenager, didn’t avoid arrest, and now she was on probation in place of execution.

~~||~~||~~

Cathy took a deep breath as she opened her eyes again. It still hurt to think about. Thomas. Henry. It all hurt.

Cathy gave a glance to her phone, deciding to check one last time for messages before giving up.

Cathy paused, staring at the screen. The app was back. A familiar bright red and black eye staring right back at her.

Cathy simply deleted it before standing up, grabbing her fidget cube as she went.

She wanted to get some more writing done. So she made her way over to her bag and pulled out her notebook and pen.

Cathy didn’t know how long she spent hunched over the desk. She was lost in her own world. The clicking of her fidget toy, scratching of her pen on paper, and the flooding of her ideas consuming her. Calming her.

Her parents always had to force her to bed, telling her that she would always have time to write later. In the mornings, her mother would always tease her for the dark circles under her eyes and her father would chuckle as he handed over the pot of hot coffee.

That life was gone now, her traitorous mind reminded her. They hate you just like everyone else in that town does. All for something you didn’t do.

Cathy jolted as a hand touched her shoulder. She spun around, standing as she flinched away from the sudden touch.

She found Catalina, staring at her with both surprise and worry. Cathy had dropped everything as she moved. So she began to rub at her sleeve, gaze fixed on Catalina’s shoulder.

“Sorry, I don’t think you could hear me.” Catalina explained gently, taking a few steps back to give Cathy space.

Cathy simply stared. But clearly, Catalina spotted something in her almost blank gaze.

“I wanted to make sure that you‘re doing fine.” Catalina answered the unspoken question. “I know this has been… hard for you.”

Cathy bit back a retort. Catalina didn’t know about what Henry put her through up until her arrest. She only knew that she had tried to defend someone and get arrested for it. But ‘hard for you’ was still fairly accurate.

“I’m… adjusting…” Cathy said simply, picking up her fidget cube. Catalina didn’t mind the clicking.

“Adjusting is always good. And I’m truly glad to see you again, Catherine.”

“Call me Cathy.”

“Hm?” Catalina hummed, glancing fully at the other teen.

“Call me Cathy. Like when we were kids.” Cathy elaborated, looking up from her clicking to Catalina’s shoulder.

Catalina surveyed her for a moment. “Alright… Cathy. I can do that.”

Cathy nodded happily. “Did you need something? Or were you just checking on me?”

“I just…” Catalina hesitated. “I missed you. All these years. And suddenly, you’re back for such a horrible reason. I wanted to make sure that you’re doing alright with the sudden change... That nothing’s wrong.”

“I think…” Cathy felt a little more courage to speak up. “I’m doing as well as I can in the moment.” She took a deep breath, wanting to keep herself calm.

Catalina’s hand twitched, clearly wanting to wrap Cathy into a hug, but Catalina respected the other’s space. “I’m always here if you need to talk.” The, ‘just like when we were younger’ went unspoken but comforted both of them.

“And if I don’t want to talk about any of it?” Cathy asked, almost suspiciously.

“Then you don’t have to.” Catalina replied smoothly. “I know… we haven’t talked in years. We’re different than we were as kids, we don’t know each other like we used to. But you were my sister. And you need someone friendly to be on your side in such a new place.”

Cathy watched Catalina carefully for a moment, as if searching for a different motive. Then, she slowly nodded. “I’m willing to try…”

Catalina looked relieved. “Then we’ll try. My parents… they’re never here, always busy. It’s usually just me around the house. It will be nice to have company.”

“Really?” Cathy asked, slightly confused. She also felt relief that she quickly hid. “But they’ve been here all day…”

“They wanted to greet you. Set up their rules.” Catalina snorted, sending a glance to the door. “Give it a day or two. They’ll be gone again, just like before. Now, you need to sleep.”

“Are you sure I can’t write a little bit longer?” Cathy asked, fixing Catalina with a questioning glance. At Catalina’s crossed arms, Cathy knew she wouldn’t win. It seemed Catalina was just as strong willed as when they were kids. “Alright…”

“Thank you.” Catalina said with a huff of laughter, striding over to the door as Cathy slowly moved under her covers.

Cathy knew it was only a piece of Catalina she had seen. Throughout the rest of the day, Catalina had been distant, almost cold. And Cathy had a feeling she would be seeing both sides just as equally. Although, she didn’t know if it was true yet. Perhaps she’s wrong. But it was fine, that was the most trust someone had shown her in a while.

And from a sister figure she hadn’t seen in years, Cathy cherished it.

“Good dreams, Cathy.” In seconds, Catalina’s walls had come back up. As she left the room, she spoke one more time. “Father has to take you to meet the principal tomorrow.”

Cathy wasn’t too worried about that.

What she was worried about was how many people would see her as weird and try to do things she is uncomfortable with. Her old classmates and teachers had learned most of what she was uncomfortable with. Some tried to avoid doing those things around her. There were always the students who didn’t know, and as much as Cathy despised it, she couldn’t blame them.

But there were others. She had the teacher who kept trying to make her speak and maintain eye contact, and the bullies who would make fun. But it was always minimum, maybe once a month, and there was always another teacher to interfere.

To her, this new school was a wild card. She had no idea what to expect.

But she wanted to leave that worry for the future. Right now, she wanted to sleep for once.

And within seconds, she did.

~~||~~||~~

The first thing Cathy saw was blue. Chains hung from the ceiling. Cathy shot to her feet, panic taking over. This was definitely not where she had fallen asleep. And yet… it also didn’t feel like a dream.

She got a better look standing up, the room she was in was small. She had been laying on a hanging bed chained to the wall. A cell door was in front of her and at some point, her clothes had changed to a black and white striped prison uniform.

She stumbled forward but her foot caught on something. A ball and chain was holding her back. But Cathy managed to pull herself forward to the door. Outside the cell door was a circular room, other cells arranged around it.

She was in a prison.

In the middle of that circular room was a table, a singular light shining down on it. A figure was hunched over the table.

“Where am I? What am I doing here?!” Cathy felt question after question rattle in her brain, but those were the ones she voiced.

Suddenly, two short and child-like figures emerged from either side of her cell door, turning to face her. They were similar, possibly twins. Both had silver hair, one pulled in buns on either side of her head and the other with a long braid. They both wore the same uniform of a deep blue and black uniform that declared their status as wardens. Hats of the same color were perched on their heads.

The one with the buns held a silver rod, the one with a brain held a clipboard. Both had an eyepatch covering one eye, on a different eye from each other.

They stared at Cathy, almost threatening.

Past the girls, the figure at the table looked up. He was bald on the top of his head, grey hair on the back and sides pulled backwards. His ears were long and pointed, staring eyes were wide and bulging. His nose was impossibly long, pointed just like his ears. He wore a black suit and white gloves. A grin was stretched across his face.

Then, the man spoke. His voice was deep and calm.

“Trickster… welcome to my Velvet Room.”