Shadow Cat

All xmen characters are copyrighed to marvel.
All made up characters are copyrighted by me,
as I designed and created them.
I do not claim ownership to any marvel thing or
person, etc.


CHAPTER ONE:
Dinner Conversation


At a medium sized, darkwood table, a slightly chubby teenager, in most people's opinion down right fat, sat alone. She was quietly eating her dinner, lifting the fork to her pinched mouth automatically, like she wasn't even aware of what she was doing. Apprehension trembled her pale hands. With a dispondant look, she pokes at a lump of white potato, then secures it on the prongs. She eats it mechanically, then sends a panicked look to the stairs, then flits back, riveted to her plate. The food on her plate consisted of cardboard and paste tasting, or at least, to the girl anyway. Her face drains of emotion, nothing to betray her thoughts that normally flicker on her face.

Footsteps thump on the stairs semi-heavily, and a balding, man trudges down them, his face drawn. He was dressed in a robe, having just come from a hot shower. His hair was still wet, and the robe was rather ratty, and well worn. Dropping from the last stair, he heads straight for the stovetop, where dinner was awaiting. Kitty's throat contracts, as she watches her step father from the table, awaiting the cruel outburst that would follow momentarily, as she knew it would.

Instead, he lifts his rather flaccid arm, and opens the cupboard, selecting a plate. Then, he turns to the oven, his face ugly with rage, "You fat bitch," the man swore, angrily shoving the food onto his plate carelessly. A few assorted vegetables and meat slop to the floor in disregard. "You are such a fucking pig," he continued under his breath loud enough for Kitty, but not her mother who was in the next room, and from her seat at the table, Kitty could still see the veins throbbing at his forehead. Perspiration beads on his forehead, tracing the receding hairline.

Kitty's eyes swell with tears, she bites her lip, to stop it from quivering, and stares at her plate, with its half-eaten food.

"You worthless peice of shit, how dare you hog all the food? Aren't you fat enough? Do you really need to take more than your fucking share of potatoes?" he growls menacingly, pivoting on his heel.

Kitty rises from the table, and walks demurely into the kitchen, head down. At the sink, she opens the cupboard below, pulling out the trash can and dumping her food inside. She was finished with her food, she would not eat it it. She regrets she even had the need to eat, and wants the floor to swallow her whole.

She chokes back tears that well in her brown eyes, and school her face into an expressionless mask, still as marble, but it trembled underneath. Why was he so worked up about potatoes? Fried, mashed potatoes. There wasn't that much there to begin with, and she didn't even want any!

Holding back the words she longs to say, she sets her hands, which curl into fists, on the countertop infront of the sink, then flips on the water to begin washing dishes. She has to bite her lip to keep from telling him off, which was a new feeling for Kitty, she never felt so, angry. She doesn't want him to hit her, not today, and not any other day. It was time to stop.

He slides up next to her, greasily smooth, with his steaming plate in one hand, and mutters, "What gives you the right to take so much? You never contribute to this family, all you do is take, take, take. You think you can have whatever you want. I work my ass off for this godamn family, and I am repaid by not getting the food I pay for?"

Kitty edges away slightly, fine tremors quivering her chin, and wracking her body.

"We don't have the money to feed an elephant like you," the girl flinches in an unconcious move, automatically turning away from her step father, as he raises a fist, as if to strike her.

She trembles, as she fears for her life. She is beaten every night, and tonight is no different.. but somehow... it felt different. He takes his anger out on her, finfing no one else fitting of the punishment he felt he was due to give.

"Take whatever Kitty's desire is, that's what you think. The rules don't apply to Queen Katherine, do they? Selfish, insolent, disobedient, piggish little shit." He draws in oxygen in a way a smoker draws in the cancerous cloud of smoke.

"You'll pay, bitch." he states with a sneer literally oozing with contempt, and shaking with rage, he stalks away.

Katherine gives a sigh of relief. He hadn't hit her. Yet, anyway. She stands in front of the counter beside the stove, trembling, she tries not to make a sound, no sign that she was upset as she was, it was weak. And as the sound of his footsteps disappear, she crumples onto the counter, head falling into protective hands. Her long, dark brown hair covering her face in locks, curtaining her face as she slides onto the floor almost immediately after crumpling, onto her butt. Her hands muffle her sobs, and she draws her knees to her chest, squeezing her eyes shut as hot liquid falls from her eyes.

The sharp sting in her eyes strikes viciously, relentlessly. Two new teardops threaten to fall onto her pale, rounded cheeks. Her vision is blurry, and Kitty wipes at her eyes almost impatiently, giving a weak laugh, forced sounding, even to her own ears. 'If only people at school could see upbeat, outgoing Kitty now!' she thought, without humor.

She had only been slumped for about a minute, when the sounds of a stirring conversation in the next room drifts to her ears. Hearing her name, she quietly slips over to the doorway, which ironically, had no door, and waits for what the man would say.

"She took my share of the potatoes," he said to his wife, gesturing at the 'pitiful' amount of fried potatoes on his plate.

Suddenly, Kitty's mood lifts a little. She wants to burst out laughing, at the insane way her stepfather found fried mashed potatoes so important. But, she knew, her stepfather was something to be wary of, being especially dangerous in this kind of mood. But, it is just potatoes... what happened that day to make him so angry? Jumping on such small of a thing, latching onto it with the fangs of anger.

"Will," Kitty's mother begins, "there weren't that much of the potatoes to begin with," she caught what he was angry about right away, "they shrank when they were fried, and stuck to the pan. We each took a third." Kitty, though, was shocked; her mother never stood up for her before. And realising this, William levelled a glare at his wife's head, so furious, Kitty suspected her mother's hair may ignite.

Will's mouth pinches in anger, as he tries to control his emotions. Putting on a false air of calm, he began to eat his oh-so-precious-potatoes.

"Besides," Kitty's mother continues, unaware of how deep her husband's anger is, "Katherine didn't even want the potatoes, she thought you should have them all. It was I who encouraged her to take them."

'She shouldn't have said that,' Kitty mutters to herself mentally.

"Louise!" Will belows, and flings himself in an upright position. Chicken, peas, carrots, and the coveted potatoes land uncerimoniously on the floor with the plate and silverware clammering ontop of the mess.

'Mother doesn't know when to stop,' Kitty's mind whirled, hereyes wide with fear, she should leave, she knew that, before she's seen, but is drawn to the scene, like the suicidal moth to the flame, riveted to the spot.

The back of Will's hand cracks against Louise's cheek, and she falls to the floor, shaking, and with a sob. Turning with disgust, as Louise pathetically attempted to clean mes mess up, Will's gaze lifts, and settles on the girl hiding in the shadows on the landing above the stairs.

He starts to step towards her, and Katherine's eyes widen, her body shaking with fear. Realizing his intent, she scrambles up the stairs, legs flying behind her and dashes into the kitchen. He had hit her, yes, but never her mother!