#catrina lore

“Oww! What the hell was that for, cabrón!” Catrina hissed, pulling away from her older brother “Language, mija” Her grandmother scolded her, walking in slowly to sit in front of the beaten up teenager “She got into a fight, again” Dante sighed, going back to dab at his sister’s bleeding lip “I told you, I’m fine!” she shouted, standing up quickly before leaving the room. The two left in the room sighed, watching her leave silently.

“damn it, damn it, damn it…!” Catrina growled as she paced down the hallways of her family’s villa “Why can’t she just behave for once…” “I know mi amor…” “where did we go wrong, why can’t she be like her siblings…” Catrina froze in her tracks, the hushed whispers of her parents replayed again and again in her head. She bit her lip, tasting blood as her shoulders shook. Tears of anger ran down her cheeks as she stood there, hearing every insult her parents would never say to her face.

She did this for them, let herself get beaten and bruised if only for a glance. Just one look, that’s all she wanted. No amount of beatings would compare to the pain she felt at that moment. Without a second thought she felt herself run down the hallways, tears pouring uncontrollably from her eyes ‘why… why… why…’ the question kept replaying in her head ‘I just wanted you to love me… please… you love my siblings, so why am I different?’ She looked frantically around as she pushed open the villa gates, looking for somewhere to escape.

That was when they found me. Another fight, another cruel twist of fate. I didn’t care how many bones they broke, how much of my blood soaked the streets. Their beatings felt like nothing. I didn’t fight back, why should I have?

The bloodied teenager looked above her, the sun was setting. She felt herself grow colder. Was that the night setting in or something worse? She didn’t care. Catrina chuckled a bit to herself ‘Is this how I die?’, above her vultures circled waiting for their next meal ‘heh, good to know something sees me as important, I’d make a fitting meal…’ she felt herself grow weaker, she could feel the aching of her bones ‘just how many did they break, shit…’  Catrina couldn’t move if she wanted to. She could just close her eyes and it would all be over; all her pain and suffering would finally end. Who would compare a corpse to her siblings? She felt her consciousness leave her before- “¡Catrina, ay Dios mio, mijo ven!” it was her grandmother, Catrina weakly looked at her, a soft smile crossing her lips as she saw her big brother race to her.

I was scolded, grounded for weeks. I stopped getting into big fights after that, I still did fight but I was smarter. I started to focus on my magic. I picked up books about curses and incantations and found I have a knack for ancient magic. I finally had something unique to me. I entered Night Raven when I was 16. But… when I was 19, something changed…

‘Overblot’ The word ran through Catrina’s mind as she raced through the mirror, returning to her hometown. The normally happy village was filled with the sound of screams. She frantically looked for the source, before her she saw it. The monster that was her eldest brother. She had no choice as she saw people fighting him, she had to help them. Her hand trembled as she held her wand, tears falling as she raced into battle.

Overblots are tricky… you can save the person… or they can die. My brother was 26 when he died. When his magic over took his very person. I can still hear the last cry he let out. I was already dating Emiliano at the time. He was so kind, but I should have known better. It was the perfect time to pull me away from my family. Only one person in my family cared about me and I made the world forget about her…. But Emiliano said he loved me. All I wanted was to be loved, no matter the price.

Catrina bit her lip as she walked closer to the bedroom she shared with Emiliano; strange noises filled the air. As she got closer, she could distinguish them as moans. She felt her blood run cold as she pushed a bit on the door, looking through the crack. A blonde woman was under Emiliano crying out his name, Emiliano would look up, seeing Catrina. A smirk crossed his lips as they made eye contact, and as soon as they did his attention went back to his mistress.

‘why… why…’ Catrina sobbed quietly as she ran away. As soon as she closed the dorm to their manor behind her, she fell to her knees, collapsing like a doll whose master let go of its strings ‘no… it’s my fault... she must be his type. It’s all my fault, he said he loves me.’ She tried to convince herself as she looked down at the ring on her finger ‘He loves me.’

Affair after affair, I stayed with him through it all. The wounds he gave me, black eyes, cuts from glass or bruises. He tried to push them all away by saying how he loved me. How if I just listened, he wouldn’t have to hurt me. That it was the alcohol. I didn’t mind how much he hurt me, he said he loved me. This sick, twisted, and toxic love. It was all I had. He was all I had. After every woman he slept with he would buy me something. New pearls, gold, diamonds anything I could have ever wanted, but love.

‘Just play the perfect wife, smile for the cameras and make us seem like a happy couple’ She though as she pressed herself against Emiliano, kissing his cheek as she covered the scars, he gave her. ‘Just give in, it will all be over soon…’ She felt her back against the bed, closing her eyes as she gave into his desires ‘This will make him happy..’ she convinced herself ‘he loves me… he loves me… he loves me’ When they were done Catrina covered her body with a sheet, getting out of the bed as her husband slept. Slowly she walked into the bathroom and looked into the mirror ‘new marks… bruises and blood…’ she bit her lip as her fingers brushed over a bite mark on her neck. She sighed as she looked at her sorry self in the mirror before stepping into the shower. She let out a silent prayer, hoping the hot water would wash away more than just the blood and sweat.

That was how it normally went; he had his desires and I surrendered to him. It wasn’t long until I found out I was pregnant. I was terrified. How could I bring an innocent life into this situation? How could I be a mother? Did I even deserve to be one? I knew I had to find somewhere to escape. Never would I have thought that my old headmaster would ask me to become a professor at my old college.

Catrina gulped a bit as she looked around the campus. It was so familiar and yet so different. She hugged Celi close to her, the baby swaddled in her mother’s arms.  “A second chance… will this really work?” she spoke softly as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear “I suppose I should go and make my introduction…” she kissed Celi’s head as she walked.