Chapter Four: The Lady of Pain

"It's about time."

Katra jerked at the voice, speaking from somewhere in the darkened room. Trembling violently with fear, she tried desperately to calm herself enough to speak, her voice frozen in her throat alongside her pounding heart, which had leaped there instantly at the sound of that voice.

It had happened like this so often during her life. Alone in the dark, either lying in bed or walking into a room, that voice would speak out. She had learned very quickly what to expect when she heard that voice. She whimpered involuntarily now, a well-trained animal reacting out of instinct and memory.

Emerging from the darkness, Ankara DuFarr smiled craftily at her younger sister, her perfect white fangs glinting in a stark contrast to her dark face. Tossing her raven hair over her slim shoulder, she adjusted her white gown and laughed. "Hello, Katra. A bit late, as usual."

"S...s....sorry," Katra stuttered.

"As well you should be," Ankara replied, her voice dropping a bit as she advanced. She took Katra's trembling face in her hands, raking her sharp nails along her sister's cheeks as she did so. "Daddy never liked your lateness. And neither do I."

"I s-said I'm s...sorry," Katra stammered. "W-what more d-do you w-want?"

Ankara's hands tightened, digging her nails into Katra's tender pale flesh. "For you to stop stuttering like an idiot child, that's what I want," she hissed angrily. "You sound like a fool, and it grates on my nerves. Shut up."

Katra nodded mutely, afraid to even speak one more word. She could smell her own blood as it trickled down her face, tasted a drop as it slid over her lips. She shuddered in fear, and Ankara smiled, enjoying her sister's pain and terror, relishing the power she held over her.

"So," Ankara continued as she roughly released Katra's face to wander around the tower room, "how have things been proceeding?"

"Pr-pretty good," Katra replied, trying desperately not to stammer. "I threw them all into one world, but didn't let on why. Next phase should begin soon."

"You what?!" Ankara whirled, an expression of stunned fury on her face. "You foolish twit! You weren't supposed to do that! I told you to scatter them!"

"You did?" Katra's face creased in a confused frown. "I could have sworn you said to --"

"Shut up!" Ankara roughly slapped Katra, her razor-like nails slicing further into her face. Katra whimpered at the pain as more blood welled up and began to slide down her ashen-pale face.

"Idiot!" Ankara continued. "I know what I told you, and so should you." Her icy violet eyes narrowed dangerously. "You better not have deliberately disobeyed me..... You know I hate that...." She grabbed Katra's arm, her nails digging into the delicate yet scarred flesh just below her wrist. Dangerously close to slashing it, she leaned forward. "You weren't deliberately disobeying me, were you? Tell me, dearest sister....."

"I wasn't, I swear!" Katra whimpered, her voice rising in panic and pain. "I thought I was doing what you said...... really!"

"You must not have been listening correctly when I spoke to you of what you were to do." With her other hand, Ankara slashed a long, thin scratch just below Katra's throat. She smiled at the sheer terror in her sister's eyes, at the tears of pain that glistened in them. Releasing her wrist, she licked the blood from her fingers, enjoying the expression of disgust and fear on Katra's face.

"The plan will have to be altered, you know," she went on. "I'm not quite sure how yet..... but you will have to fix your mistakes somehow, of that much I am certain." She glared at Katra, and her sister shrank from her gaze.

For what seemed like boundless eternity Ankara slowly paced the room, Katra watching her every drawn-out step with unconcealed anxiety. The only sound in the silent, tense room was the soft rustling of the simple ivory silk gown Ankara wore. It was the one their mother had worn many years ago when she wed their beastly father. She'd preserved it carefully all these years after their mother's death, keeping it free from age and yellowing and moths. It was marred only by some rips here and there.... and of course the occasional bloodstain. Katra gulped as she recognized a drop of her own blue-black blood, the stain faded but still there. She shuddered reflexively, dreadful memories awakening once again in her torture-warped mind.

"I think I shall accompany you this time." Although Ankara's voice was calm and coldly thoughtful, it still managed to roughly jar Katra out of her haze of horrid reminiscence.

"W....w.....what?" Katra stammered.

"Stop that stupid stuttering," Ankara gritted out. "Then I will explain to you what the new plan shall be." Her angry amethyst eyes burned into Katra. The young half-demon shuddered and took an involuntary step backwards. Ankara's deep scowl faded and was replaced by an amused smirk as Katra nearly tripped over her own feet.

"Now then," Ankara continued, her manner more relaxed since the bit of comic relief her sibling had provided, "I shall explain everything to you so that you understand. I am going to accompany you on the next phase of the plan, as an instructor of sorts. Think of it as a make-up exam, to raise your grade after your abysmal failure so far." She smiled a charmingly sinister smile. "If you pass, I shall bestow you with a generous gift."

"A.... a present?" Katra's eyes shone with childlike hopefulness. "For me?"

"Yes, dear sister, a special gift meant for you." Ankara smiled as warmly as she could. "You are, after all, my sister, and it would be wrong of me not to reward you for being a good one, as I'm sure you will be. Isn't that right?"

"Yes, oh, oh, yes," was all that the giddy Katra could manage.