Authors: Violet Walker
Diana took a deep breath and chastised herself for being so jumpy.
“Yes, sorry,” she answered taking Gomez’s hand, “I’m Diana.”
Gomez shook her hand and just like Cat had, he held it a second longer than was absolutely necessary.
“The agency send you over?” he asked.
“Yeah,” she said as Gomez finally let go of her hand, “I’ll be here for six months.”
Charlie looked her up and down and smirked once again. Unlike Cat, he didn’t seem to be unsettled or mystified by her. Indeed, he was looking at her the way Diana had seen a lot of frat boys look at her prettier roommates.
“The agency did a good job,” he said, eyes finally returning to her face. Diana felt her face go red. She didn’t know how to respond. Luckily, she didn’t have to.
“I’ll be in a meeting with Cat for about half an hour,” Charlie said, “but after that I’d like to see you in my office.”
With one last exaggerated glance at her, a smirk and a wink, he made to leave.
“Good to see you Charlie,” Diana heard Sandra call desperately as Charlie headed to his office.
He turned back only slightly and gave a disinterested wave.
“You too Sandra,” he called before entering his office. As soon as he was out of sight, Sandra turned excitedly towards Diana.
“Oh my gosh!” she said. “What is it with you and the guys in this office?”
“What do you mean?” Diana asked only slightly confused. Sandra rolled her eyes.
“Oh, don’t pretend like you don’t know,” Sandra said, “first Mr. Yazzie calls you into his office for a ‘private conversation’,” she said making quotes in the air, “and then Charlie comes in and totally hits on you! I’ve been waiting for him to do that to me since the first time he came into the office!”
“But...you have a boyfriend,” Diana said, remembering Sandra’s constant complaints about Ash the previous day.
“I know,” Sandra said, “but I’d dump Ash in a heartbeat if I had a chance at Charlie Gomez. I mean, he’s rich and totally hot!”
“I guess,” Diana said. The truth was that Charlie was conventionally attractive. He had the bright white smile, styled hair and tanned skin of a Hollywood star.
Still, Diana couldn’t help but compare him to Cat Yazzie and decide that he just didn’t stack up.
True, Cat’s teeth were not quite as white and his dark hair was wilder than perfect, but Diana could not help but feel that there was something much more real about him. Something more genuine.
“You guess?” Sandra asked with a good natured chuckle. “Well I suppose when you have the pick of two millionaires, you've got the right to choose which one you like best.”
Sandra headed back to her side of the desk and Diana thought that would be the end of the conversation. As soon as Diana settled back into her work, Sandra turned back to her.
“When you do decide which rich, handsome guy you want,” she said with a teasing smile, “just promise to put in a good word for me with the other one.”
“Will do,” Diana said with a chuckle. She shook her head thinking that she never, in a million years, would have guessed that a girl as beautiful as Sandra would be asking for Diana’s left over dates.
This job was certainly turning out to be much stranger than she had anticipated.
H
alf an hour passed and the page beeped on Diana’s handset.
“Hi Diana,” Charlie Gomez’s voice sounded from the other end of the line, “we’re ready for you. Just swing by when you get a minute.”
“Ok,” Diana answered, “just give me a couple minutes to finish this post.”
“No problem.”
The light on the pager blinked once again indicating that the call had ended.
Diana hurriedly typed up the paragraph summarizing the latest housing article, hit post on the Yazzie Properties facebook page and headed down the hall towards the office marked Charles Gomez.
As soon as she reached the door, she could hear voices issuing from the other side. One of them, most definitely, belonged to Cat.
“...they’ve already come for her once. They’ll do it again,” Cat said. Despite her better judgement, Diana leaned down and listened at the door.
“Cat, do you really know who was behind that? Really?” This voice belonged to Charlie, “It could have been someone with a personal score. It could have been someone…”
“Right after I’d given her the necklace Charlie?” Cat asked. “I don’t think so.”
It was now clear that they were talking about her. About what happened the night before. But how could they have known…
The note.
She had been right about the note. It must have been Cat who patched her up and wrote that note telling her to go to work.
“Ok,” Charlie said, “so...that’s suspicious but it doesn’t mean…”
He stopped mid-sentence and the room on the other side of the door went deathly quiet.
“What is it?” Cat whispered.
“There’s someone at the other side of the door,” Charlie said.
Diana, eyes wide at having been called out quickly stood up and knocked just as Cat opened the door to her.
“Diana,” he said, “come in. Close and lock the door behind you.”
He sounded hurried, almost frantic. Diana did as she was asked.
This office, Charlie’s office, looked much more what she had expected from a CEO. The white walls were accented with modern paintings that provided a small splash of color. Charlie was leaning casually on a large glass desk next to the window.
“How much of that did you hear?” Cat asked just after Diana clicked the door’s lock closed.
There was no use pretending not to know what he was talking about now.
“Enough to make me wonder what the hell’s going on,” Diana said, straightening up and crossing her arms in front of her.
Charlie let out a sharp laugh.
“You nabbed a feisty one, Cat,” he said, “I like her all ready.”
Cat didn’t look at Charlie. Instead he kept his eyes fixed on Diana.
“It’s...it’s hard to explain…” he began.
“Try me,” Diana answered arms still crossed.
“All right,” Cat said indicating a chair in front of Charlie’s desk. Diana moved past him and sat on the edge of the chair. Deliberately forcing herself not to get too comfortable.
“It started years ago, no one knows when,” he said.
“Cat,” Charlie said rolling his eyes, “do we really have to go through the whole thing?”
“If we want her to understand,” he said, “then yes.”
“Okay, fine,” Charlie said, “but if you want to get her to the reservation, there’s not much time.”
“No one’s taking me anywhere until I know what’s going on,” Diana said sternly. Charlie threw up his hands exasperatedly, moved behind his desk and flopped down in his chair.
Cat looked at Charlie, rolled his eyes at him and continued.
“Diana, do you remember that story I told you when I gave you that necklace?” he asked.
“The one about the old salt woman,” Diana answered.
“Yes,” Cat said. “My grandfather told me she would come back one day when our people needed her most. What I didn’t tell you was that my family has been waiting for her for generations.”
“You said it was just a legend,” Dana said warily.
“I lied,” Cat said, “I didn’t think you would believe me, you still may not but, it’s important, very
very
important that you do.”
“What will happen if I don’t?” she asked.
“Oh, you don’t wanna know that,” Charlie said with the same smirk on his face he’d worn when he first met Diana.
“Oh, I think I do,” Diana said looking fiercely at him. “If this has something to do with whatever attacked me last night I think I have a right to know everything.”
“We may not be able to tell you everything,” Cat said.
“Why not?” Diana asked defiantly.
“Because
we
don’t even know everything,” Cat said.
“Ok,” Diana countered, “then tell me what you do know.”
“We know that my family has been waiting for a long time…. for you,” Cat said.
Diana stared at him wide eyed for a moment. Then shook her head as though to clear out what she had just heard.
“For...me?” she asked.
“Yes,” Cat answered, “the white salt woman. The one with the soul of the cougar. She’s you.”
“That’s not…”
“Possible?” Cat asked, “Tell me. Did you feel the talisman?”
“Did I feel…?”
“Last night,” Cat said exasperatedly, “did you feel the talisman burning your skin before you saw the cougar?”
Diana remembered the way the white cougar had become hotter and hotter until it had finally burned against her chest when she saw the black panther staring at her from the balcony.
“Yes,” Diana finally answered, “yes, I did.”
Cat nodded.
“I know,” he said. Then he reached beneath his shirt and took out a talisman almost identical to the one he had given Diana just one day before. This one was not white, but tanned yellow.
“Mine burned too,” Cat said.
Diana, eyes wide, still not daring to believe what she was seeing, Diana reached out a hand and looked towards the talisman.
Unlike with the marble necklace still around Diana’s neck, he closed his fist against the yellow charm and pulled it away from her.
“What does it mean?” she asked.
“We all have them,” he said, “they burn when a predator is near.”
“Who is we?” she asked.
“Well that takes some more explaining,” Cat said.
“Oh my god,” Charlie said, “you don’t have to go into all of it, just show her.”
“We can’t do that,” Cat said turning to him, “not yet, not until she…”
“Well if you won’t, I will.”
Diana screamed as Charlie disappeared and in his place, stood a large black cougar.
As it padded its way towards her she frantically rushed back towards the door.
“Diana, wait!” Cat said moving towards her.
Diana stopped. She noticed, for the first time, that he was moving with a slight limp which had not been there the day before. As he reached out a hand and Diana saw scars like claw marks on his arm.
Then, her frantic mind remembered the note left on her dresser, ‘don’t trust anyone,’ it had said.
What if Cat was not the one who had written that note? What if everything he had told her was a ploy to get her alone so that this...thing could kill her?
She felt Cat’s hand close firmly on her wrist and she gasped and tried as hard as she could to pull away from him as she reached for the locked door.
“Charlie,” Cat said still holding Diana in a vice like grip as she struggled against him, “change back now!”
Diana stared, eyes wide as the black cougar disappeared and Charlie stood in its place. His stupid cocky grin still present.
“At least she knows,” Charlie said.
“It...It was you!” Diana exclaimed pointing at Charlie still working against Cat’s grip on her wrist. “...you...you came after me last night...you…”
“No, he didn’t,” Cat told her firmly.
“I don’t believe you,” Diana said between clenched teeth as she worked against his hand to pry him off of her, “and let go of me!”
Finally, she stomped on his foot and in shock, he let go of her wrist. She unlocked the door and rushed out of it into the hallway.
She could hear him calling after her. Ignoring his cries, she rushed towards the employee only break room and locked the door behind her.
Diana made for the locker which held her purse. Quickly, she put in the combination and gathered her things from the inside. Once she had her phone and purse in hand, she sunk down into a chair by the small table to catch her breath.
There, she tried to work out what to do. She could not go back into the hall. She knew Cat would be there waiting for her. Perhaps with his black panther friend, intent on finishing her off.
At that moment, she heard a pounding on the door.
“Diana,” Cat said through the locked door, “please, let me explain.”
Diana didn’t answer. She looked wildly around for a fire exit. There had to be one somewhere. The front door could not be the only way out.
“Diana,” Cat called again, “I’m coming in.”
Diana’s heart began to pound inside her chest. She stared at the lock on the door as it turned and clicked open. It was as though she was frozen to her chair. She couldn’t move, she couldn’t breathe.
The door opened and Catahassa walked in. She stumbled backward as he closed the door behind him and turned the lock. Trapping her.
“Stay away from me,” she warned him fiercely. Though, she was very aware that she had nothing with which to back up her threat.
Catahassa stayed back by the door and put his hands up in a gesture of surrender.
“It’s just me,” he said, “I promise. I’m not going to hurt you.”
“Why should I believe you?” she asked stepping back further from him until she nearly collided with the cabinets at the back of the break room. Cat did not move towards her but kept his hands up and stayed near the door.
“There were two creatures at your apartment last night,” he said, “one black, one yellow.”
“Yes,” Diana said uncertainly.
“The black one attacked you,” he said, “the yellow stopped it.”
“It looked that way,” she answered.
“It looked that way because that’s what happened,” Cat said.
“How do you know?” Diana asked.
“Because I was there.”
Cat closed his eyes and Diana watched in awe as the tall, athletic man before her disappeared and transformed into a small, yellow mountain lion.
She nearly screamed again until she looked into the creature’s eyes. These were the same eyes that she had seen locked in battle with the black panther. This was the creature who had saved her.
She took one step towards it. As she did, the mountain lion sat back on its haunches and closed its eyes.
She took one step closer as the cougar disappeared and Cat stood fully formed in its place. He opened his eyes and looked at her.
She realized, for the first time that his eyes were the exact same shade of black as her animal saviors’ had been.
“It was you,” she said, “you saved me. But how did you…?”
Once again, Cat pulled out his talisman. The yellow charm that was nearly identical to the white cougar pressed against Diana’s chest.
“They’re connected,” he said holding the charm out to her.
Diana came close enough to touch the charm. She reached out towards it and, this time, he did not pull it away from her.
As her fingers brushed against the talisman, the necklace next to her chest, glowed warm against her skin.
It was not the harsh burning that she had felt the night before. It was not a sharp kind of warming. It was a calm, comfortable feeling that spread through her entire body.
When she took her fingers from the little charm, she noticed that her journey towards the necklace had taken her within inches of Cat. They were so close now that she could feel his breath on her cheeks.
She let go of the talisman and looked up at him. He was staring down at her with an odd expression. Diana could not help staring in his eyes, the eyes that had saved her. They seemed to pull her in. Exactly as they had done when she had first seen them staring out at her from the cover of a magazine.
She stood up on her toes and brought their lips closer. She closed her eyes.
His lips met hers. It was slow at first, gentle, hesitant. Then, as Diana opened her mouth to welcome him, he wrapped his arms fully around her.
Vaguely, she felt the warm glow spread from the talisman against her chest and through her entire body as his hands moved from her back, to her hair, then along her hips. Finally, they wrapped around her waist.
Just as they did, there was a knock on the door.
“Cat,” Charlie’s voice called out from the other side of the door, “Amanda says we’ve got company. If we’re going, we have to go now.”
Cat moved away from Diana and hurriedly unlocked the door to the breakroom. He opened the door and, at that moment, Diana felt the warm glow from her talisman disappear to be replaced by the harsh, burning sensation she had felt the night before.