Catherine: The Novel - Prologue

"Is this what you're looking for?" Catherine asked with a slight lisp, suddenly raising her right arm. She gripped a kitchen knife in her hand.

"Hey... Stop that..."

It didn't feel real. Two beautiful women were having a standoff in a dirty studio apartment. One stood in the kitchen, piled high with dishes, the other in front of a window, the blind drawn, and the bed. A space travel poster was pinned to the wall.

"Just... listen to me, okay?" he pleaded with his girlfriend Katherine, the woman with grey, red-tinged hair standing in the kitchen. She wore a tight suit. Maybe she had stopped by on her way to work. In contrast Catherine, standing by the bed, wore only a long-hemmed T-shirt, Vincent having simply hurriedly thrown on a worn dressing gown. There was no explanation for their situation - and yet he had to smooth things over somehow.

"I already broke up with her, but she suddenly showed up here..."

He glanced to the side of him, but lacked the courage to look her in the eyes and quickly looked back at Katherine in the kitchen.

"You have to believe me. Please!"

"Because of you..." the blonde Catherine said from beside him with a sigh. The darkness in her voice was palpable, as though echoing from the depths of a deep well. "Because of people like you, Vincent is confused. If you weren't around, Vincent would be happy..." she said, leaping to her feet. Circling around the low table, she rushed at the ashen-haired Katherine.

"Hey...!?"

Panicked, Vincent chased after her, pounding across the floor. Taking aim at the staggering Katherine, Catherine thrust the knife.

"Wait!"

Vincent almost tumbled across the floor. Brushing past Catherine, he held his collapsed girlfriend close. Drawing her tightly to him, he used his own body to shield her. The knife slashed through the air where his girlfriend had been only seconds before.

"What are you doing, you idiot!?" he shouted angrily, looking over his shoulder.

Catherine's eyes went wide, staring straight at Katherine. It was as though she had completely forgotten that Vincent even existed. Pulling the knife back towards her, she thrust it again. Immediately, a sharp pain shot through his side. It felt as though his body had been torn in two.

"Aaaaaah!"

Katherine left his grasp, running from the kitchen to the bed. Her leg caught on the low table, sending the ashtray clattering. Helpless, Vincent collapsed shoulder-first onto the floor. He felt the impact in the wound in his side, feeling as though his whole stomach had been gouged out.

"D-don't come near me!" came a trembling voice.

He looked up, his face contorted in pain. Katherine thrust out her hands, trying to force Catherine away from her. Catherine, however, naturally took no notice, swiping the knife sideways.

Katherine managed to recoil within a hair's breadth, but lost her balance, falling over backwards. Catherine reached out. Grabbing onto her foe's grey hair, she tugged violently on it. She meant to pull her head off. Then, Katherine grabbed her leg. She toppled to the ground, her glasses falling off, collapsing onto the bed.

A scream spilled from her throat, and she desperately tried to stand, but without hesitation Catherine leaned over her.

"Stop it! Both of you, just stop..."

Elbows to the floor, Vincent somehow managed to look up. He could see them both in his blurred vision. From his current position, he couldn't see their faces. Vincent's girlfriend was fixated upon squirming free, attempting to push Catherine - who now sat atop her - off, her legs waving in the air.

"A...ah..." he heard a hoarse voice say.

Their movements gradually slowed, before finally coming to a complete stop. All he could hear was painfully loud-sounding breathing.

"Did you... really stab her?"

His voice sounded like it belonged to someone else. His mind gradually began to blacken.

"No way... Why...?"

Why had this happened?

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