by Liz Thomas
The coach smirked. “Why’re you telling me this, Cody?”
“Cause I want a life, Coach!” Cody exclaimed, “And I’m pretty sure you do too!”
His coach said nothing but was clearly interested. Cody leaned in, pressing his advantage. “I’m in love with someone, Coach.” Cody confessed, “and I want to take her and you away from this place, and I want to do it on our terms.”
“It’s a nice dream, Cody.”
“Dream with me then, sir.” Cody shot back, “You coach that game. You coach it like you would any other football game and we won’t just beat Allan; we’ll send a message to this entire godforsaken institution. We’re not toys. We’re not the playthings of the rich. And we want our lives back.”
“It won’t be much of a life, if we defy them.”
“But it’ll be ours.” Cody swore, “Plus….don’t you have scouts on standby?”
Coach Kruger shook his head. “I don’t think any of them would give me the time of day anymore, son.”
“Make them. You get them here, and I’ll show them something they’ll never forget.”
Coach Kruger looked at him for a moment, and then the familiar, competitive smile set in. “You sure about this?”
Cody nodded eagerly. “Very.”
“Alright, Cody.” Coach Kruger agreed, “Get ready for Allan. You play your heart out and I swear, I’ll make sure the right people are there.” He paused and added, “It’s the least I can do for you and Matt.”
Cody smiled proudly, “Thank you, sir.”
“I’ll shore up the team, too. There are some people up there who don’t want to lose.”
“Nobody on this team wants to lose, sir.” Cody added.
Coach smiled at him. “Go. Make your preparations. I’ll make sure things are ready on my end.”
Cody almost bound to his feet in excitement and shook hands with his coach. “Yes, sir.”
“Cody, one more thing.” His coach added seriously.
“Yes, sir?”
“This girl you love.” Coach spoke quickly, “Take care of her and tell no one of your relationship. If you do, it will be the end of you both.”
The thought of anything happening to Cassilia both angered and terrified Cody. He’d die before he let any harm come to her. God willing, when all this was over, they’d all be free of this place. “Yes, sir.”
With that, Cody left the house with a new spring in his step and hope for the future.
It was night, and there was a storm brewing overhead when Cassilia finally made it back to the house. She paused as she entered, as the three sisters and Roger awaited her in the front room, again.
If they’re going to kill me, now’s the time.
“Come on in, Cassilia…” Ramona said sympathetically. She cocked and shook her head as though looking upon a sick child. Trina was white as a sheet, and even Roger looked strangely mortified.
Cassilia entered and closed the door behind her, the impact hidden beneath a burst of thunder. Ramona walked up to Cassilia, who tightened up in anticipation for a strike. Instead of hitting her, Ramona merely placed her hands on her shoulders. “Cassie…” Ramona said softly, “I know you think we’re horrible to you, but the truth is, we love you very much.”
“It’s true.” Trina nodded, her voice hoarse. She touched her chest and cleared her throat as Roger looked at her coldly, “I know we can come off as, well, bitchy, but the truth is, we just want what’s best for you.”
Cassilia shot Annalise a quick glance. The girl appeared to be quivering with rage, and she shot Cassilia subversive look and shook her head quickly.
“We know all about you and your new boyfriend, Cassie.” Ramona continued, stepping away, “We’re sorry, honey, but you’re setting yourself up for a huge fall.”
Cassilia’s stomach felt hollowed out as anger rose to the surface. “How do you know about Cody?”
Annalise sniffed, shedding a tear.
“His girlfriend came by today, Cassilia.” Roger spoke, his tone ominous. “His real girlfriend.”
Cassilia shook her head as insecurities crept up. “He doesn’t have a girlfriend. I mean, I am his girlfriend. He broke up with her.”
“No, he didn’t.” Ramona said, pulling out her phone. “In fact, he’s with her right now. Look, see for yourself.”
Cassilia gasped as Ramona summoned a video on her phone that displayed Cody and Alyssa—the skinny bitch—in the throes of intimacy. She held the camera above her as Cody was nestled into her neck, thrusting into her madly. Eventually, the pleasure became too great to ignore and she dropped the cameraphone, hugging him with her thighs.
“You see?” Ramona asked, an ever-so-slight smirk on her face, “He doesn’t want you.”
“Run.”
The word came from Annalise. Ramona, Roger, and Trina glowered at her. “Cassilia don’t you believe that!” Annalise rose, shuddering. “Anna…?” Roger asked in a warning tone.
“Run, Cassilia, get out of here!” Annalise urged, “This is a setup! Get out of here!”
Ramona stormed off towards Annalise as Trina snarled, yanking her down by the hair. Devastated and unsure of what to believe, Cassilia opened the door and raced off into the storm, heading for the one place she knew peace.
Winded, angry, and hurt, Cassilia frowned as she entered the darkened cemetery, unconcerned with the heavy rainfall that pelted her unprotected head. Usually there’d be some kind of emergency system that kept the lights on, but apparently the storm was bad enough to knock even that out.
A thunderclap of lightning illuminated the entire graveyard for a split second, and Cassilia froze as she caught a glimpse of the cemetery. She couldn’t put her finger on it, but she was most definitely not alone. Incomprehensible shadows danced across the tombstones, as though the spirits of those buried had risen and now wandered.
Cassilia gasped. It wasn’t the groundskeeper or any maintenance staff; they never worked this late. There was a presence here, and it was dark, angry.
Cassilia took another deep breath as forked lightning split the sky, illuminating the graveyard just enough to see the shadows of impossible things move across gravestones. “I’ve done them no harm.” Cassilia told herself. She repeated the phrase twice more before entering the cemetery.
The rain intensified. The thunder threatened to burst the sky open and lightning struck repeatedly, like machine gun fire as she proceeded along the familiar route that seemed to take forever. She was ever aware of her surroundings, knowing she was the only living creature there, but nervous of the presence that most certainly was not alive.
It was like the other world was angry. She’d never seen anything like this—
She came over the hill and saw her mother’s crypt, and her mouth fell open. The wind and rain washed her glasses from her face, and her knees buckled. The damage was visible even from several feet away.
Someone, or something, had torn the heavy front door off of the front hinge, and the crypt lay open and exposed. The crypt itself had been horribly defaced with lines of black spray paint that seemed larger every time the lightning struck.
Her stomach hollowed out and a conglomeration of rage and profound sadness welled up within her as she left her glasses behind and staggered towards her mother’s defaced resting place. She fell once and screamed as she landed, hands digging in the mud. The anger pushed her forward and she rose, eventually making her way through the torrential rainstorm to the one place she thought she’d find peace.
Someone had walked around the entire sepulcher and sprayed a continuous black line. One the rear of the edifice were the words “DIE BITCH DIE” in the same black paint. This looked like the work of teenagers, and Cassilia could almost believe that vandal teens were behind this, if her mother’s crypt had not been the only one vandalized.
It was when she stepped inside that the real damage was revealed.
She grunted, putting both hands on the door and forcing it open. Someone had actua
lly pushed the stone top off of her mother’s coffin, revealing it to the world. The coffin itself had been desecrated and stank of human waste.
Emblazoned along the casket was an eerie sign;
“ROOM FOR ONE MORE”
Aghast, her chest tight, Cassilia threw herself from the room and collapsed on the exterior of the tomb. Her breath came quickly, her heart beating so fast that she thought she might actually be having a heart attack. She clenched a hand to her chest and sank, her knees giving out from under her.
Beneath the cacophony of thunder and lightning, she screamed. After everything she’d done for other people, after what Cody had done to her, she just couldn’t take it anymore. If people wanted her gone that badly…
“What’re you waiting for?!” An angry, familiar voice called to her over the storm. Cassilia raised her head and found herself looking at Trina, soaked and apparently oblivious to the storm. “End it already! No one wants you here! Why don’t you just die already?”
An anger unlike anything Cassilia had ever known roiled within her as she rose, unable to take her eyes from her arch-enemy. “Do it!” Trina persisted, “Just die!”
Oh, I’ll die, alright, but I swear to God I won’t go alone…
Cassilia rose to her full height and curled her hands into fists. Trina coughed and wiped her nose. “Yeah, that’s right!” She gestured violently, “Come on! Do it!”
Suddenly confused, Cassilia held her ground.
Trina stomped, kicking up mud and water. “What’s the matter with you?! Did you see what I just did to your mother?! Do it! Do it now?!”
As a cold realization hit Cassilia, anger gave way to disbelief, and then sorrow. “Tell me why, Trina!” Cassilia bellowed back. She didn’t know where the amplification was coming from, or the newfound strength.
Suddenly, she felt warm, comforted, as if something reassuring was at her back. “You tell me why!” Cassilia restated, stepping forward, “Mom was always nice to you! Why do this, Trina? Did Roger tell you too?”
Trina looked baffled. “What?” She shook her head, and then stomped again like a petulant child. “Does it matter who told me to do it? I did it!”
Trina spread her arms and confirmed aloud what Cassilia suspected, “JUST KILL ME, PLEASE!!”
Cassilia looked at Trina sadly as the storm raged overhead. After a moment, Cassilia shook her head. “Why?” She whispered.
“Why what, dammit? Just do it! Please!” Trina’s voice was cracking.
“What did I do to you?!” Cassilia railed back, pointing accusingly, “I loved you! My mom loved you! What did we ever do to you to make you hate us so much?!”
“Love? Love?!” Trina laughed hoarsely. She ran her hand through her hair and carried on the laugh long enough to make Cassilia believe she was losing her mind. “Oh, Cassilia, wake up! There’s no such thing as love! No one loves anyone! People say what they want to get what they want and that’s that!”
Cassilia stepped towards her. “That’s not true!” She hollered back, “My mom didn’t have to treat you like my sister! She didn’t have to clean you up when you were hurt! She didn’t have to read you bedtime stories! She didn’t have to make you part of the family!”
Cassilia could see the impact her words were having on Trina. She felt sorry for her, and knew that she was seeing her as she truly was, maybe for the first time ever. Still, whatever force that was giving her strength was pushing her onward, and she had to see this through. “So you tell me why!” Cassilia pointed up at her, “Tell me why you did this! Tell me why you hate me!”
“Hate you? I hate you?” Trina’s eyes bulged and she almost appeared demonic in the storm, “You wanna know why I hate you, you little rat? Huh?” Suddenly, Trina was barreling towards her and Cassilia thought the girl might take her down right then and there. Instead, she stopped short and looked down into Cassilia’s eyes. “You wanna know why? How many times has Roger ever touched you, huh?”
Cassilia’s mouth fell open. “…what?”
Trina nodded. “Yeah, didn’t know about that, did you, you little rat? No, you’re all safe and sound in your little attic and you don’t spend every minute of your life wondering about when he’s gonna call you, touch you…make you do things…”
Cassilia slowly shook her head. Roger had made a few advances at her over the years, but she never once imagined he’d be doing that to his own children.
The rain couldn’t hide the streams of tears running down Trina’s face. “What makes you so special? Why is it always me? Why doesn’t he ever go after anyone else?”
It was almost an involuntary reaction. Cassilia reached up, took Trina by her shoulders and embraced her tightly. “Trina, I’m sorry.” Cassilia spoke in the same voice her mother had once used on her, “I didn’t know, Trina.”
Trina bawled openly, pounding weakly on Cassilia’s chest, begging for the pain to stop, begging for anyone, anything to make it stop. Begging to die.
Cassilia sank slowly to the ground, taking Trina with her. She held Trina like a child, rocking gently. “It’s okay, Trina.” Cassilia whispered, rubbing her forehead, “He won’t touch you again, I promise. He’ll never touch you again.”
“He killed Annie…” Trina confessed, her voice dark and angry.
Cassilia frowned and looked down at Trina, who had stopped crying but was still shuddering. “What?” Cassilia asked.
Trina sat up. “He killed Annalise, Cassilia.” Trina reiterated. “He warned me he was gonna do it. He murdered my sister. If you don’t kill yourself, he’s gonna kill you too.”
Terror gripped Cassilia as she knew Trina spoke the truth. She didn’t display the emotion on her face; instead, she just nodded. If it meant her life to put this monster away, she’d gladly pay that price.
Another thought took hold and she looked at Trina. “I need to ask you something.” She began, unsure she wanted an answer. Trina waited.
“Did Roger kill my mother?” Cassilia asked and then held her breath.
Trina looked at Cassilia sadly, and Cassilia felt her heart sink. “Did he?”
Trina shook her head and looked away. “I don’t know. Probably. He’s killed a lot of people over the years.” She looked back at Cassilia and said, “I’ve helped, too, Cassilia. We all have. Ramona, Annalise…we all helped kill women so he could inherit their money.”
“He made you.” Cassilia said reassuringly, “It wasn’t your fault.”
Trina smirked and chuckled. “You’re sweet. Maybe you can lull me to sleep every night.”
Cassilia said nothing, wishing she could do something to make Trina feel better. “But there is one more thing you need to know.” Trina said.
Cassilia waited.
“That boy you’re involved with. Roy?”
“Cody.” Cassilia corrected, not wanting to be reminded of him right at the moment.
“He didn’t cheat on you. He didn’t do anything wrong.”
Cassilia frowned. “How do you know that?”
“Because I’m the brunette in the photo.” Trina replied casually. “I made those photos.”
Cassilia was simultaneously relieved and hurt. “What? Why?” It was another involuntary reaction, and it came faster than either of them anticipated. Cassilia reached back and slapped Trina so hard that rain and tears were sent flying in drops from the new red Matt on the side of her face. Enraged, Cassilia rose. “What is wrong with you people?” She demanded, unable to contain her anger any longer, “Are people just forbidden to be happy here?”
“If it conflicts with the grand design, then yes.” Trina replied, looking up at Cassilia, “We were all in on it, Cassilia, if you want to know the truth. Alyssa, her father, Roger, those girls at school you don’t get along with…it was all designed to drive you to suicide.”
Cassilia was mad enough to stomp the life out of Trina. Instead, she fumed. “Why?” She seethed, “Why not just kill me? Why go through all this?”
Trina exhaled and rose. Once
she said this, there would be no going back, and likely she’d see Annalise sooner rather than later. “Because, Cassilia.” Trina said slowly, “You’re about to inherit twenty-one billion dollars.”
Cassilia quickly shook her head. “Don’t you dare lie to me now, Trina.”
“Oh, I’m not lying. Not in the least. According to Roger, you’re the score of a lifetime. “
Cassilia was sickened at the thought of being anyone’s ‘score’, but at the same time, she was happy to know that Cody had been telling the truth. At least someone still had a sense of honor.
“The law firm of Buckman, Reilly and Gallagher.” Trina continued, “Maybe you’ve heard of them?”
Cassilia nodded. “Yes, they handled my mother’s estate.”
“Apparently there’s a catch in her will stating that if you met certain conditions, I dunno, behavior stuff and all that, that you can come into your inheritance early. Something suspicious happens to you, and BAM! The money goes to charity. But if you off yourself, Roger gets it.”
“Twenty-one billion dollars?” Cassilia mused. She’d known her mother had been worth a lot of money but had no idea she’d been that rich. Cassilia didn’t know what she’d do with that much money—
“So if I kill myself, Roger gets everything…” Cassilia echoed, putting everything together.
Trina nodded. “Yeah, and everyone involved gets a cut.”
“Everyone you mentioned is worth a fortune on their own.” Cassilia said, “Why would they need any more money?”
Trina looked at Cassilia as though she was crazy. “Cassilia. In this world, you can never have too much money.”
Again, Cassilia thought she might vomit.
Her stomach tightened, and she rose, turning, she sprinted off, leaving Trina and the cemetery. She needed to see Cody.
An hour later, they had finished patching things up sexually. She had relayed what had just happened, and they lay cuddling in silence.
