The CEO's Painted Skin

Finally, the winged creature becomes a permanent fixture of Catherine's life inside the cave.

"Mother, when are you coming with me to the outside world?" asked the angel one day.

Catherine stared at him. "What is it about the outside world that you wanted me to leave this cave for?"

"You belong to the outside world, Mother. You don't belong here in your imaginary world. Everything here is fake! It's all a by-product of your imagination. The lake, the trees, flower, and even the whole cave only exist in your world, they only exist in your mind. Everything here is perfect, just the way you imagined it to be. Just the way your mind created them perfectly..."

"How can you say so? You're lying!" she said indignantly.

"No Mother! I'm telling you the truth! Just try to focus and concentrate with your mind, make the trees and flowers disappear, try it right now! And you will know I'm telling the truth," the angel was urging her to face reality.

"Okay, I will try, so that you can shut up!" she finally relented. She closed her eyes and began trying to erase the trees and flowers from her mind.

The winged creature was looking at her mother with great anticipation in his green-blue eyes.

A few minutes later...she finally opened her eyes...

To her utter shocked and heartbreak, the flowers and the trees disappeared, only the enchanting lake remains on the same spot.

"Oh no! Where are they---all gone?" she asked feeling wretched inside.

"See, Mother---? This is what I been telling you about. You have the power to delete everything that exists in your imaginary world. Now, try to erase the lake and the cave inside your mind. Do it now, Mother!" the winged creature continues pressing her on.

This time, Catherine was hesitating to obey the angel's command. "No! I can't do it! My home will be gone if the cave is gone! I don't know where to live," she cried.

The winged creature saw the hesitation in her eyes. "Just do it, Mother! If you won't do it, you never will! Just try it, you can always put everything back the way they are."

"Huh? I can make the trees and flowers appear again?" she asked in astonishment.

"Yes you can, because everything exist only in your mind, try it!" he persuaded her.

Catherine closed her eyes and began concentrating again. She eliminated the enchanted lake and the cave in her mind.

When she opened her eyes, to her horror, the lake and the cave already disappeared, in place is nothingness, everything she sees around her was pitch black darkness.

"A-angel... w-where... a-are... y-you?" she stammered and was struggling to adjust to the black surrounding.

"I'm here, Mother!" said the tiny voice.

The winged creature suddenly appeared from nowhere. Bringing heavenly light to the darkness.

"Thank God, you're here!" she exclaimed, feeling grateful for his presence, he was the only light in the middle of the darkness.

"Don't be afraid, Mother. I will keep you company here. This is your real-world mother, you surrounded yourself with darkness until your mind decided to create your imaginary world complete with a beautiful lake, colorful flowers, trees and the cave you call home to make yourself feel better. Then you become accustomed to your near-perfect imaginary world and doesn't want to face your reality anymore," explained the winged creature.

"...and w-what is my reality?" she asked.

"You will find out soon enough. If we exited this darkness you surrounded yourself with, you will remember everything that you've been trying to forget."

No! her mind was screaming, she's not ready yet to face the reality of her past. She wants everything back to normal, she wants her cave, her enchanted lake, her beautiful flowers, and trees, exist again! She closed her eyes and focus to wield back everything she deleted in her mind.

After projecting everything in her mind...

She slowly opened her eyes and behold!

The enchanted lake, the colorful flowers, the trees and the cave itself existed again in her world and the darkness is gone. A triumphant smile re-appeared in her lips.

"Yes, I did it again!" she was thrilled with her powerful imaginative mind.

"What you feel right now, Mother?"

"I'm feeling good. I don't like darkness. I like the current surrounding better," she responded.

"The world outside is much more interesting than this cave, Mother," said the angel. "Besides, you will see Father soon, he's been waiting for you to come back to him..."

"I'm not interested to see your father! Let's not talk about him!" her face suddenly turns cold.

The winged creature stared hard at her face. "Y-you remember my father now?" he asked.

Catherine didn't answer. Instead, she sauntered towards the lake and proceed to swim and enjoy the sparkling water.

"Come here little one! Swim with me," she invited the angel.

"Just enjoy the water, Mother. I will stay here and watch over you," said the winged creature.

Fifteen minutes later...

Getting tired of swimming, Catherine get out of the lake and commanded the winged creature to land on her palm. "Come here, I want to ask you something...," she said.

"What is it, Mother?" he asked eagerly, his eyes were gleaming with curiosity.

"If...If I will come with you to the outside world, can I still come back here? Just in case I don't like what I'm going to remember about my past?" she asked.

The winged creature shook his head. "I'm sorry, Mother. Once you get out of this parallel universe you created yourself, this place will no longer exist. You can never go back here," he explained.

"But I was able to create all these fake things, which means I can do it again if I wanted to!" she reasoned with him.

"Dunno Mother, much better if you just forget your world here and move on with your life in the outside world," he commented wryly.

Catherine was entertaining the idea that if she will finally remember her past and she doesn't like it, she will know for sure how to go back to this parallel universe she created herself.

"You can go now," she said softly. "I want to be alone for a while. Come back tomorrow, you will know my decision if I'm willing to leave this place or not," she said.

The winged creature was about to fly away...

"Wait...If I decided to stay here forever, what will be the consequence?" she asked.

"I will die, Mother. Because during the 8 months of your pregnancy, you will suddenly suffer high blood pressure, the doctors will prescribe you medicines for your high blood pressure that will poison me inside your womb. Because your zombie body in the outside world has been eating a lot and you are getting fatter as a pig and then all types of complications will come to your pregnancy later, that is why you have to come with me into the outside world as early as possible to prevent the bad things to happen!" there was an urgency in his voice.

Catherine's eyes registered horror, she felt alarmed.

Although she was not sure if this creature were telling her lies or truth, the thought of her baby growing inside her womb is about to die soon, it makes her feel so sad.

"I have another question," she was contemplating now of the impact of her decisions. "If I will leave this place, will I remember anything that happened here? Will I remember you?"

The winged creature shook his head. "I'm not sure. There is a possibility that everything you created here, and everything that existed here may no longer appear in your world outside. But, you will remember everything that happened to you before you come here, that is for sure," explained the creature.

"Okay. I now understood everything," said Catherine.

"I will go now, Mother. See you tomorrow!" the winged creature spreads his wings and flew towards the entrance of the cave.