Soul #2: Catherine

When I awoke, I went into Neko Zombie’s prison like what he told me to do. “Did you sleep well? Anyways, I’ve got to talk to you about a guest. Do you know who Catherine is?” The look on his face gave me an uncomfortable feeling.


“Catherine was once a nurse and used to take blood samples of her patients. Until one day, her husband stopped loving her and left her. Later that night, sadly, he died of a mysterious disappearance of half of his blood. The police found holes all over his corpse. Of course, Catherine was the only suspect, so she ran off. Unfortunately, she ran so far that she came here. Gregory then hired her as the hotel’s doctor. Since then, she ‘gets off’ on draining the blood of her enemies. Her most preferred tool is a giant needle that she’ll carry around in the hotel.”


I took it that my guess was correct. Suddenly, Neko and I heard a loud thump outside of the door. “Shhh…somebody’s listening…” (A quick side note. *[story events]* means the focus is off of the main character.)


* “Hee hee hee, I heard that!” It was Catherine. She was listening through the keyhole. “So, that boy is collecting souls…I think it’s time for a blood sample!” She was dressed in a nurse’s dress, maybe in her early 30’s, and was carrying a huge needle. As she walked down the hall, She continued to laugh.*


“Well, good luck…” Neko said quietly. He laid back down, and I left his room. How could I catch someone who’s a murderer? Would it be safe to steal the soul from her? I highly doubted it.


“(Hum hum hum) this is so awesome!” When I walked out of the room, I saw a boy about 11. He strangely resembled Gregory, wearing a striped shirt and had a similar red tinge in his eyes. He didn’t greet me, but he threw a banana peel on the ground.


Gregory followed in his path. “James, you nasty child! Stop throwing your garbage on the floor!” he yelled in an angry voice. He picked up the peel and stuffed it in his pocket. “What if someone fell and had an accident?” He asked him, but he had already left. “Where is that brat?! JAMES!” he yelled. “I’m the one who has to clean up all of your messes!” he complained, and ran after James.


Then a thought came to mind. I figured I could find bananas in the kitchen, so I walked down the hallway, into the lobby, and saw a door labeled “Eatery”. I went in and saw a big table, set with silverware, and above it hung a candle-lit chandelier.


Across the room there was another door that was labeled “Kitchen”. I went into the kitchen and saw a dark room with everything a kitchen usually has. I looked around and saw some fruit. I took a banana, ate it, and kept the peel. I left the kitchen, and went back to the hallway with my room. Unfortunately, Catherine was there to greet me.


“So, you’re the little boy whose collecting souls, aren’t you?” she asked. I didn’t need to answer. “Ohh, that face wants me to do TERRIBLE things to you! I think I’ll make it harder for you by running away! Tee hee hee!” She laughed, and suddenly ran off. “You’ll never get my soul!!” she yelled back at me.


I figured she come walking back again, so I went to the end of the hallway and threw the banana peel on the ground, hid behind a corner, and waited. Eventually, she did show up, walk on the banana peel, and fell, dropping the souls she had. “Oh!” she screamed as she fell and laid there unconscious (probably from hitting her big head).


I walked over to her and picked up the soul (in a bottle) and put it in my bag. I walked back to Neko’s room, and showed him the soul. “Good job.” he told me. “But now Catherine’s on the warpath. If she catches you, it’ll be needle time.” he warned me. I shook in sudden fear. The size of that needle was scary by itself. The thought of that penetrating my little body wasn’t very encouraging.

*(SHIRICK! SHIRICK!) That was the sound of a giant needle piercing Catherine’s bed. “It’s gone! IT’S GONE! My husband’s soul, it’s gone!!” Catherine yelled in pain. “That little brat must’ve taken it! Now I’m REALLY angry!” She continued to stab at her bed.*


“What can you do about it?” Neko asked me. “Simple. Just run away. Now one last thing…” Suddenly, my head started to hurt. “Around here, the power of your beliefs is everything. If the strength of your mind fails you, you’ll never be able to escape from this place, becoming an insane, permanent guest.” Just the thing I needed: another thing to worry about. “Did I save the worst for last?” he asked. “Yeah, sorry about that.”

“So tomorrow, you’ll be going after Judgment Boy’s soul. Do you know who he is?” he asked. “Judgment boy was once a lawyer, smart, and knew what he was doing. However, on the only case he lost, he quit his job due to his utter failure. In his depression, he visited a judgment teller, but she didn’t give him his judgment. Instead, she gave him a scale, holding a glass heart and a glass dollar sign.”

“She told him to give judgments to everyone who was troubled. Due to his insanity from depression, he took the scale, and was suddenly granted powers to give judgments. So he carries the scale with him where ever he goes, giving the troubled judgments.”

“You did a good job today. Now go back to your room and get some rest. Tomorrow’s another big day…” Neko laid back down, and I left his room. I went into my room and laid down on my bed, fell asleep, and began to dream…

“C’mon now! Give it up! Trow away all dem worries!” I was greeted by Death again in my dream. “Oh, it’s you again! Did ya get me another soul already?” I took out the soul. “Well, dat sure was quick! All right, hand it over, like we agreed.” The soul floated out of my hands and over to Death and he collected it. “Hey, hey! Tanks a lot! Just keep findin’ em and bringin’ em to me.” He started to disappear. “Good luck there, buddy!” he said, and disappeared, waking me from my dream.