Catherine

"Here's what we're going to do. I'll play the bad cop and you'll be the good cop." I rolled my eyes as Shaggy poked Mr. Mustache's chest. They were kind enough not to tie me down and made me promise not to escape. With a man like the latter, I wouldn't even dream of it.

When I regained conciousness, I was in an old building. Well it looked old. And from what I've been hearing from Shaggy (for I don't know how long), he's been watching way too many hollywood movies.

"Why in the name of home am I the good cop?" Mr. Mustache poked his chest back. Shaggy slapped his palm on his forehead. " Because I said so."

"What do you think? I look badder, don't I?" Mr. Mustache looked at me. I fixed my glasses as they waited for my answer.

"Definitely." I nodded continuously as Mr. Muscle gave Shaggy a triumphant smile.

"You know what, fck it. Let's not play good cop-bad cop. We're not even cops." Mr. Muscle groaned. "You just don't want to play the good cop."

Shaggy ignored him. He grabbed a chair, turned it around and sat infront of me, eyeing me as Mr. Muscle stood behind him, his arms crossed.

"So you're her." Shaggy rested his head on his arms as he looked at me from head to toe. "I always pictured him choosing someone...what's the word..." He trailed off and Mr. Muscle snickered. "Hotter?"

Shaggy snapped his finger and turned to the latter to give him a high-five.

Well okay. Talk about being rude.

"Aside from criticising me,why am I here for?" Sounding like a professional comes in handy sometimes. It covers the fact that I'm freaking out and I might just pee in my pants right now.

"The mistress would like to talk to you." Shaggy said quite casually. Mr. Muscle frowned and whispered a little too loudly. "I thought we took her as bait." Shaggy quickly punched his stomach, making Mr. Muscle hunch over.

"You're not even sure that I'm the one your mistress wants." They stopped their bickering and turned their heads towards me.

"Oh we're sure. We would've preferred the redhead but you got his stench." I frowned. I lifted my arm and sniffed. What stench?

"So we're just going to stay here until she comes." Mr. Muscle produced a deck of cards from his back pocket and placed them on the centre of the table. One of the three furnitures in the room.

"Now who's up for some blackjack?"

***

"You're fcking cheating!" Mr. Muscle threw himself at Shaggy, grabbing his shirt.

This. In only three rounds. Wow.

I pushed myself out of my chair carefully. They're really into it so I suppose they wouldn't notice if I backed up a little...

I was almost at the door when I bumped into something soft.

I turned around to see piercing brown eyes, red lips and l'oreal worthy hair.

"I asked you two baboons to get me the woman. Not just any grandma you picked on Death knows where." My brawling captors instantly stopped what they're doing and quickly got to their feet.

"That is her, mistress." Shaggy explained and the woman looked at me. "Step back." I frowned, hearing her order me. But I did what I was told and subjected myself to her scrutinizing eyes.

She reminded me of Mariah Carey. You know, back in the 90s.

It was like Mariah meets Jessica Rabbit. She was wearing this blood red, form-fitting strapless dress, with a high slit on her right thigh that would make Ellie cover her with ten layers of blankets.

She turned towards the two and raised a perfectly plucked eyebrow. "Quite plain, isn't she?" The goons nodded enthusiastically and grabbed a chair for her to sit on. She waved her hand to dismiss them and snapped her fingers. A cloud of red smoke appeared. When it disappeared, the room's interior was added with a scarlet red throne.

Yes.

A throne.

She walked towards it elegantly and sat down,crossing her legs. She pointed at the chair I tried escaping from five minutes ago.

Miserably if I might add.

"Okay then. The 'mistress'. Why am I here?" I sat down hesitantly and fixed my jacket. I'm just hoping Rose really contacted 911.

Why didn't we run you ask?

Lord I'm stupid for thinking they were just asking for directions. Besides, we were in a public place. Who in their right mind kidnaps someone in public. With people possessing phones. That can take pictures.

What I lack in logic,I made up by being composed and tried making myself look like I'm not going to faint or vomit because of fear and panic.

"You're the bait to rile him in." she was looking at her scarlet nail polish as the goons hovered over her. Mr. Muscle punched Shaggy's arm. "I fcking told you!"

"Excuse me. I'm confused. Rile who? This is about Damon, isn't it?" I took off my glasses and reached in for the cleaning cloth on the inside pocket of my jacket.

"She has a gun!" I looked up to see Shaggy pointing at my hand, now covered by my jacket and Mr. Muscle standing in front of the mistress.

"Well...uh..."I cleared my throat. Am I supposed to just play along and hope for the best?

A dainty hand appeared behind Mr. Muscle and gave the daintiest of dainty taps. He went slack just like that, slumping heavily on the ground. Instinctively, my hands reached out to try and cushion the fall.

Hah.

As if I can cushion a man who's weight's ten times heavier than mine.

Not only was it a stupid attempt. It also blew my I-have-a-gun cover. They witnessed how I awkwardly waved my white cotton cloth. Well at least it symbolizes surrender. I guess.

Hope.

Whichever works.

"This is the replacement he gives me after his cursed offspring kills my minions." She sat back down her throne with a look of disgust and kicked the still man a couple of times. "Get this glob of fat off of my sight." Shaggy eagerly grabbed the poor man's feet and dragged him out of the room, occasionally grunting and complaining about Mr. Muscle going on a diet.

"So! Now we wait. "I turned to see her tapping her nails on the table.

"Excuse me for asking,but why do you need me to get Damon? Can't you just,I don't know, ask him? Not like this though. This...well this is kind of, a little bit, pretty much...kidnapping."

"He wouldn't come willingly. I've tried kidnapping him before. He disintegrated most of my lovelies. Now the only option I have is to take someone as hostage so he'd show his cute bum here." She smiled at me and I swear her eyeballs turned coal black.

Here I am taken captive by a movie junkie, a man who needs to exercise and every male's fantasy, all because she wanted Damon's cute bum to come over.

"You're the ex-girlfriend then?" I don't even know why I asked. It just came out of my mouth automatically. Partly because she seems to be his type. Dirty blonde curls and all. Remember how people who knew him kept repeating about him being into blondes? Can't blame him. They're marvelous beings.

"He's too young. Besides, I'm with his father. He's hotter." she whispered her last words loudly. Am I describing it right? Like in one of those farces.

Wait.

I looked her over again. She seemed to be around my age. I know plastic surgery procedures are advancing but not this advanced.

"Is your eye not open yet, dear?" I shook my head. Here's another thing. She speaks old. Like old movies prima donna old.

"You've been with him for a while now, haven't you?" I nodded and she sighed. "You're really not his type then. Can't blame the boy. I wouldn't date myself if I looked like..." she waved a hand on my suit. "that."

That's it.

"Look here mistress, I've been tolerating your criticism since I got here and I've been called worse ever since I could remember and you, or any other person don't have a-ny right to tell me that my clothing sucks because this" I did the same gesture she did when pointing out my suit "is better than looking like a sexy piece of lipstick!" I huffed and lifted my chin before getting on my feet. Not how I envisioned it to end but at least I let out the words I only say to myself in front of the mirror for the last fifteen years or so.

She looked at me, lips slightly parted. Probably shocked on how a dweeb from loserville had the guts to speak to her in such a manner. Who knows. She might be royalty or something.

Now here's the thing about defending your fashion sense to a hot woman who just happens to have you kidnapped. After you're done with your empowering speech, you really have no place to go. Really though. That's kind of the idea of being held captive. I can see Shaggy blocking the exit so there's that.

I took a step back and maybe she's gone coo-coo crazy. Well because she did the cliché   evil villain laugh. Complete with slow claps.

"You. I like you." she slowly approached me,a smile on her face. "My name is Sabina. I'm his father's wife. So that makes me his..."

"Stepmother." compelling her statement. She patted my cheek and turned around, her shiny shampoo commercial hair giving off a familiar scent. "But you're so...young."

She grinned and looked at Shaggy, him laughing nervously.

"I'm immortal, love. Just like his father. Unlike those greek and asian entities or whatever you call them you people believe in, we don't fade and disappear just because you don't believe in us. His father's universal."

Seeing that I was still confused, she rolled her eyes. "I thought glasses were supposed to mean you're smart." She snapped her finger and Shaggy approached us and stood like an obedient soldier at her side.

"The mistress is his master's wife. The one held responsible for guiding souls to where they belong. Due to irrational and idiotic wars and conflict, the master, with the consent of both the One above and the one below, has employed other souls to aid him on taking lost souls. Thus forming departments to keep the afterlife in order. His master's son, who we do not wish to speak of,is currently employed and is labelled as a reaper along with the others. A-"

"Just get straight to the point you idiot." Sabina snapped and Shaggy swallowed.

"The master is Death himself."

***

I gulped. I could feel all the blood in my body creeping up to my head.

"So..." I swallowed the lump of glob knows what stuck in my throat. "Damon's not human."

Sabina snorted with disgust. "He's as human as his mother. I leave for a decade and come back to see him falling in love with a silly human. If she didn't hide herself in that wretched place, she'd be long dead and suffering." she spat out the words with so much contempt, it must've felt like acid in her mouth.

I heard a crashing sound and a series of grunts before a man clad on a mechanic's uniform entered the room.

"So sorry for crashing your tea party but she's past her curfew."

I turned towards the door to see him standing rather confidently, grimacing as he made eye contact with Sabina.
He walked towards me and pulled me in for a quick hug.

"Did they hurt you bonbon?" He squeezed my arms and I had to tell him I was fine for a couple of times just so he would stop proding.

"I see your taste has...changed"
We both looked at Sabina as she rested her chin on her palm.

"It's nice to see you too. It's been seven years since I last saw you. Correct me if I'm wrong but that was the time when your minions tried drowning me on my birthday." I gasped as she just shrugged it off. Un-phased by the fact that she tried killing someone on his very birthday.

"Your father wanted to see you but he was too busy with all these dead people. I wanted to surprise him. And what better way than to bring you to him."

"By killing him?" I looked at Damon,feeling him tighten his arm around me. All of this at such a young age. I'm surprised he's still sane.

"What do you want?" she giggled and Damon had to place me behind him as Sabina walked towards us.

"He wants to know if you're joining the Guy above. Taking this..." She pointed at me."assignment."

"I'm not joining anyone." They stared at each other for a long period of time.
Probably three minutes. Leaving me standing there like an eavesdropper.

She was the first one to give in, throwing her hands in the air.

"If he wants to talk to me, tell him to visit me at the Garage. And leave her out of this."

I felt his hand touch mine. I feel like a damsel in distress. A stressed, weirded out, sick damsel in distress.

"Well I was hoping for a longer conversation but I don't want to be rude. Clearly you want be alone with this...girl. So! It was nice meeting you four-eyes." She snapped her finger and red smoke covered her. When it cleared out, she was gone. And so was her minions. She kidnaps me while shopping and leaves the moment Damon arrives because she didn't want to be rude.

Right.

I heard him cough. He was rubbing the back of his neck. He looked anxious. Funny how I was the one who got taken and all that shiznick and he was the one looking scared. He opened his mouth,

probably to explain everything.

"We're having chicken stew for dinner."

For real though.

"You're the reaper's son!"