Rehearsal breakfast [Tag: Katherine]

[Katherine Sallow]

Katherine could understand where Dorian was coming from. For all they knew Cassim and Della were just hidden very well but that was wishful thinking. Katherine turned around to place the scarf on the bed only to look at the scissors and smiled. Gently, she weaved the fabric through the scissors and placed it back on the bed.

“Kath, look.” She turned around to see Dorian by desk looking at something. As she walked over and stood next to Dorian she saw it and smiled “We’re not the only ones who mourn them.” She shook her head “No. We aren’t. When me and Hannah were talking through the wall she mentioned her and another girl named Jessica made a makeshift memorial for those who had fallen, I guess this is it.” Katherine felt some comfort to it but part of her only felt even more worse just by looking at it. She looked up to Dorian who was still staring at it and she could only wonder what he was thinking. “How does this makeshift memorial make you feel Dorian?” That was probably the best question she could ask at this moment in time.

[Dorian F. Blund]

Katherine seemed strangely unaffected by the memorial, but he quickly understood why: she’d heard of its existence already, and so she could see it prepared as a place to mourn rather than lament. In a way, hearing it came from Hannah (that was the handwriting he recognized!) filled him with warmth; he knew her intentions, he knew her heart was pure and kind. Her and… Jessica? How strange, he’d been blissfully unaware of her existence for so long, as she apparently was not involved in any game or event of relevance for months apart from meeting his brother-in-law once, and yet now he was hearing about her everywhere.

“How thoughtful.” He breathed out. It was hard to look away, if only for the time being. Katherine’s next works shook him out of his thoughts, and he glanced over at her in surprise, not having expected such a forward question. She sure had a talent to ask him exactly the same questions he wondered over himself… and had no answers for.

“Better. … … … worse?” He’d started off confidently, even nodding as to prove his own will, but found himself unsure as soon as the first word came out. “… I think I want to feel the way it’s supposed to make me feel, but I can’t quite find myself there.”

He shook his head; the more he thought about it, the more disheartened he became. Looking for a distraction, his eyes settled on the pen on the table. The girls must have left it there for them to use. “Where did they get this? I haven’t seen any writing material in any of the rooms I’ve been in ever since we got here.” They were lucky to have found something like this; it seemed like such a simple, unimportant item, but it held power. Communication. Dorian comtemplated the crayon with eager eyes, but had to convince himself to leave it; even if it didn’t seem impossible for him to write, he doubted he was the best person for this to get to. “I don’t think they would mind us adding a few names, right?” he prodded, glancing at Katherine. “Could you help me write them?”

He already knew what list to give her, if she agreed: Kamala. Cece. Mathias. Daniel. Keiari. … he hesitated for a second, but decided against citing Annie; out of all them, she was the one whom he wanted to see associated with this place the least. She, too, was a victim of Mrs Baker, but in a much different way.

[Katherine Sallow]

Katherine nodded at Dorian's answer or part of his answer. She noticed how he was trying to distract him from the question she asked and couldn't help but smile "Classic Dorian." She thought. “Where did they get this? I haven’t seen any writing material in any of the rooms I’ve been in ever since we got here.” Katherine shrugged her shoulders "I guess it must be by pure luck, something one desperately needs in this place."

When Dorian put forward his suggestion, Katherine smiled a little more "I was thinking the exact thing. Great minds think alike I guess." She said laughing a little before she went to grab a crayon. "Well we are already aware of...Kamala, Maya, Mathias, Daniel and Keiari...is there anyone else I missed or wasn't even aware who passed?" She said looking up at Dorian. 

[Dorian F. Blund]

He decided to ignore Katherine’s knowing smile, because if he didn’t, he would get flustered again, and now was neither the time nor the place. Instead, he simply nodded at her guess; yes, luck, probably… or something else? After all, Jessica had spoken to Mrs Baker’s son, hadn’t she? There was already one case of a prisoner working for their captors, so… who knew.

Distracted by his worried thoughts, he finally noticed how she quickly agreed to his idea, taking the crayon with eager hands and citing a list of names he had some difficulty catching up on, though he believed she had everything. Almost.

“Cece. With two Cs.” He added. “She was one of my roommates… she passed down in her sleep. Ethan knew her.”

He watched as she wrote down the names; this should have been a mournful time, but his mind was racing. If he had believed in the afterlife, perhaps he would have thought to pray, but he didn’t, and he doubted empty words would do their “souls” much good; so instead, he remained quiet, showing the dead the respect they deserved, before he dared to speak again.

“Thank you for your help. I hope that list won’t have to grow even more in the future…” There must have been some deaths he hadn’t heard about, for sure. He was still uncertain of the fate of the man with the “valentine card”, or the blind man who had been unmatched in the last game, but he was afraid both of them must have met a dark end. Yet, even if he had any way to prove it, he knew not their names, and so, there was not much else he could do.

There was something he could ask, however, and about someone he could name. Dorian turned towards Katherine, his expression more serious.

“Talking about “victims”… when we were in the boiler room, you raised a toast to someone named Kim. I assumed you were talking to the voice giving us our orders, and Ethan told me that was the name of a fellow prisoner. … do you know her? … did you know she was working for Them before that day, and… what do you think of her? Is she dangerous? Should we be worried?”

That was a lot of questions, but Dorian was, in fact, worried; Ethan didn’t seem to really think she was to be feared, and she was probably doing this only out of self-preservation or to protect someone; still, the doubt remained of what her true intentions were, and how far she was willing to go. After all, even someone with the purest of goals could do the most horrible things, in the name of saving the ones they loved. If she was to choose between her friends and everyone else, did Dorian and Katherine hold any chance?

[Katherine Sallow]

“Thank you for your help. I hope that list won’t have to grow even more in the future…” Katherine placed the crayon and stared at the list "It's quite alright and I hope for the same." Katherine couldn't help but stare at the list just a little longer before Dorian had mentioned Kim. "Ethan told me that was the name of a fellow prisoner. … do you know her? … did you know she was working for Them before that day, and… what do you think of her? Is she dangerous? Should we be worried?”

Katherine looked up at Dorian and all she could do was sigh "I only knew her briefly when we talked through the wall back when we first roommates. When I first heard her I thought she was nothing but a kind person and not threatening at all. At the time I thought she was one of us...I believe she still is but something tells me I shouldn't." Katherine sighed and pinched the back of her left hand in frustration, she didn't know how to feel about Kim. Was she truly on their side or not. "With the position she's in, Kim is possibly a little dangerous but I don't think she is a huge threat at least I hope not."

Katherine was very worried about what could happen now that Kim was on their side, she possibly had no chance of survival but didn't want to admit to it to Dorian "I don't know if we should be worried. I just hope Kim doesn't do anything reckless." In the end even though Katherine knew Kim very briefly she still had some hope that Kim would be alright in the end no matter what choices she made.

[Dorian F. Blund]

So, Katherine and Kim weren’t close; he wasn’t unsure whether that was a good or bad thing. If they’d been closer, perhaps he could have a new opinion on the girl and more information to paint a proper picture of her goals and possible betrayal; and if her reasons were good, maybe she would keep Katherine safe. Then again, not being too intimate with someone who was working with their enemy also seemed ideal: whether because Kim herself was a traitor, or because Mrs. Baker wouldn’t use Katherine’s life against her to manipulate her. For now, he would choose to be glad that his friend wouldn’t be a target.

“I believe she still is but something tells me I shouldn't." this line stuck out to him; Katherine wanted to believe in the good in people, just like she’d done for Geoff when he’d been forced to shoot someone and many thought him a villain, Dorian included. Yet, at the same time, Katherine knew better than to trust her blindly, and her doubts echoed his own.

In the end, she couldn’t really give him a definitive answer, and none of his worries had been cleared up. He glanced at the cameras, choosing to turn and give them his back; talking in front of them was always a risky move, but then again, if Mrs. Baker hadn’t wanted anyone to know that she had a little helper-used-to-be-prisoner working for her and for them to theorize about her, she wouldn’t have let them hear her voice so clearly and live to tell the tale. This was her own fault, really, and it was nothing she shouldn’t expect.

“From what I’ve heard,” he said, choosing to be vague and not name Ethan; the poor boy already had too much on his plate, he didn’t want to point any fingers and risk bringing him more animosity “she’s not someone one might think to be evil and have bad intentions, but not exactly someone they trusted particularly either, least of all with their own life. So I do not feel any more at ease knowing she is up there now.” the least amount of minions they had to get rid of, the better, and a teenager or scared young lady was not a good addition to the mix. “… after all, if this Kim isn’t in fact a bad person, and if our captor isn’t too dumb, then she’ll pick someone weak-minded and easy to manipulate, whether for her own safety or that of others. I wouldn’t exactly put my life in her hands either. Then again, that might be WHY Mrs. Baker showed her off to everyone, so that we would distrust her if she ever tried to help.”

He wouldn’t put it past her, indeed, to pick a random person, push her in the spotlight and involve her in the death of many, just to have her become a pariah for everyone to judge, fear and reject. But why would she go to this much trouble for this person in particular? Things weren’t adding up, and he had to resolve himself to the fact he wouldn’t know the truth for quite a while, if ever.

“Whatever the reason, we can’t let our guards down as long as we don’t know what’s happening.” Without really thinking, he gently lifted Katherine’s hand, holding it in hers as he looked into her eyes. “I know you might not want to be, but stay suspicious until we figure out what the deal is. Remember our promise, right? No putting yourself in danger.”

[Katherine Sallow]

Hearing what Dorian had said about Kim, Katherine wasn’t so sure now of herself if she should completely trust Kim and vouch for her safety just as she had been with Geoff. Things with Kim weren’t making any sense and Katherine knew no one would have the answers to their many questions except for Kim but they would never know her true intentions till the very end of this nightmare. If they got out in the end.

“Whatever the reason, we can’t let our guards down as long as we don’t know what’s happening. I know you might not want to be, but stay suspicious until we figure out what the deal is. Remember our promise, right? No putting yourself in danger.” Katherine then looked down as she noticed how Dorian had lifted and was holding her hands. She looked up back at him and tried to smile “Although I know deep down inside, I think Kim is very much on our side...I won’t let my guard down and I won’t put myself in danger. Not after what happened in the previous events…” Katherine then put her hand on his cheek and then gave a genuine smile. “ I promise you that.”

[Dorian F. Blund]

She took a few moments to make sense of his words, before finally agreeing with him; she still seemed to want to trust Kim, but she would be careful at least, and that was all Dorian could really ask for. She had been put in danger enough times already.

Her hand reached his cheek, and Dorian glanced at what he could see of her digits; her touch was always so gentle and meaningful.

He hesitated for only a second before resting his own hand over hers, acknowledging her affections.

“Then I promise you the same.” He smiled. They needed to worry about those they could trust before people whose alliances were still unclear, and that included each other.

With that said, he looked down at the small altar one last time; seeing the list of names ever-growing was still rather depressing, but he felt somewhat content to know they were leaving this proof that those who passed weren’t forgotten. If only Mrs. Baker could leave it untouched… but she didn’t seem to care about it so far. May it stay that way.

“I think I ought to take a shower.” He turned back to Katherine; with gentle motions, he separated her hand from his cheek, giving it a small squeeze before letting go. “You can start breakfast without me if you want.”