He winced, his hands clenched in the pockets of his coat. “Cassie…”
“You have to leave me alone Devon. I can’t be near you anymore.”
“Cassie please…”
She lifted her gaze back to his. Drawing on her strength, she managed to retreat back behind the wall of rage that had been keeping her going. Chris’s Mustang screeched to a halt behind Devon’s car, its headlights reflected off of Devon’s taillights. He opened the door and climbed out but he didn’t approach them as he rested his hand on the roof. Standing in the wash of light, Chris’s sandy hair was highlighted with streaks of red; his eyes were bright with expectation.
She turned slowly back to Devon, hating the hurt and wounded look in his eyes, but knowing that she could not ease it. “Leave me alone.”
Her voice was harsh, cold. It was alien even to her. Taking a deep breath, she forced herself to move away from him, forced herself to walk toward Chris’s car. Chris’s shoulders sagged, his head bowed slightly. She could feel Devon’s gaze boring into her back as she reached the passenger side door. Chris lifted his head as he glanced toward Devon. Cassie stiffened, her eyes narrowing as she took in the silent communication that passed between them. Turning back to Devon, she frowned fiercely as she realized that although she was no longer with Devon, the two of them still talked with each other. And she was fairly certain that their main topic was probably her.
She glared at Chris. “Traitor,” she hissed, flinging the door open.
Chris’s eyes widened, he looked slightly chagrined before he ducked back inside the car. Cassie fought the urge not to look at Devon again, but against her will her eyes were drawn back to him. Her heart turned over as she found him still watching her intently. Hurt and longing radiated from him. Unable to move, Cassie stared back at him, her heart flipping as want filled her. For a moment she wished that things could be different, unfortunately they couldn’t.
Turning away, she slid into the passenger seat and closed the door behind her. Chris hesitated briefly before sliding the car into gear. “Are you ok?” he asked softly before pulling away from the curb.
“Fine,” she mumbled, keeping her head down as they left Devon behind.
CHAPTER 4
Cassie crossed her legs, folding her arms firmly over her chest as she leaned against the large oak behind her. She kept all of her senses honed on the night around her, searching for something, anything, in the dark. Well, anything other than Devon, who she knew was lurking in the woods at the edge of the cemetery. She resented his presence, but there was nothing that she could do to stop him from being there.
He would not leave, and she was certain that Julian and Isla would not make an appearance with him there. Frustration and anger boiled through her. She just wanted all of this to be over, but she wasn’t even going to have the chance to start it. Not as long as Devon, Chris, Melissa, and Dani hovered around her like nervous mother hens.
And with the way that one of them was constantly with her, she wouldn’t have an opportunity to escape any time soon. She wanted to smash her fist into something, instead she settled for clenching her hands so tightly that her fingernails dug painfully into her palms. “How long do you want to stay out here for?” Chris asked softly.
Cassie turned slowly toward him, trying hard to keep a tight rein on her temper. She didn’t want them to see how aggravated she was by their presence, and Devon’s. They had to think that she was ok with this; they had to believe that they could start leaving her alone. Because if they didn’t start to leave her alone, she was going to go freaking crazy. Because if they didn’t, then she would never get her chance to go after Isla and Julian, she would never get her chance to exact her revenge.
“Not much longer,” she answered absently.
Chris continued to study her for a moment longer before turning away. Cassie watched the woods impassively, taking note of the few creatures that stirred within its shadowy depths. If the animals were about then Julian and Isla were not. Unclenching her hands, she reached down to stroke her fingers over the stake she had in the waistband of her jeans. It did little to reassure her as she knew she would not be using it tonight.
Dani shivered, huddling deeper into her thick winter coat as the wind howled over the open expanse of the cemetery. Cassie sighed heavily, stepping away from the tree as pity finally sank in past the hard shell surrounding her. “Let’s go,” she mumbled.
Dani breathed a sigh of relief as she scurried swiftly to her feet. Chris and Melissa looked just as relieved as they hurried to join her. Cassie turned on her heel, not truly acknowledging their presence’s as she made her way swiftly over the snow covered landscape. The snow crunched beneath her boots, but it was hard enough now that she didn’t sink into it.
She was aggravated and frustrated that Julian and Isla had not made an appearance. She needed to draw them out, she needed to get free of her friends, and her guard dog somehow. Cassie glanced at the woods. Though she could not see Devon, she knew that he was out there, keeping pace with them, watching over her.
Anger blazed through her. She turned stiffly away from the woods, not wanting to acknowledge him in any way. She knew that ignoring him would not make him go away, but she didn’t know what else to do. She didn’t know how to make him leave. There was nothing more that she could say, or do, to make him understand that the best thing for both of them was to be apart.
The best thing for her was to get this over with so she could be free of the misery and rage consuming her.
“Cassie?” She turned slowly toward Chris, feeling stiff and wooden. “Are you ok?”
She frowned, nodding as she realized that she had stopped walking. “Fine,” she muttered.
Shoving her hands in her pockets, she kept her head bowed as she hurried toward Chris’s car. She climbed silently inside, her hand twitching back to the stake at her side. She watched unseeingly out the window as Chris made his way swiftly through the cemetery, the center of town, and eventually to her house.
She stared at the quiet house, allowing herself a moment to grieve for the warmth and happiness that used to enshroud the structure. It had none of that now. Now it was cold, lonely, a place that she hated, and that now only served as a constant reminder of all of her mistakes, and all of her failings. And there were so very many of them.
She had failed miserably in all she had set out to do, and her grandmother had been the one to pay for those mistakes.
Cassie shuddered as she slipped from the car, not looking up as she made her way to the door. Flinging the door open, she barely felt the heat on her chilled skin as she flipped on the lights. “How about some food?” Melissa inquired softly.
“Not hungry.”
Cassie tossed her coat into the hall closet and kicked off her boots. She felt drained, exhausted, completely beat, but she knew that she would not get any sleep tonight. She never slept anymore, nightmares plagued her continuously. She moved slowly into the living room and plopped down on the couch. She turned the TV on, but she didn’t watch it as she stared unseeingly at the flashing screen, not absorbing the scenes or sounds.
Chris sat stiffly beside her, folding his hands before him as he leaned his elbows on his knees. “Are you sure you don’t want some food?”
She nodded, absently flipping through the channels, though she was not looking for anything. She had nothing to look for anymore. Nothing to see. She was nothing now.
Cassie curled her legs underneath her and rested her head on the throw pillow. She remained unmoving, barely breathing as crashing waves of rage and absolute misery washed through her. She felt like a wildly swinging pendulum of emotions and she hated it. She wanted off of the rollercoaster that was her life now.
She didn’t know how much longer she could take all of this. She was rapidly falling apart and there was nothing that she could do to stop it. She had to find Julian and Isla soon. She knew that if she could just make them pay for what they had done to her grandmother than eve
rything would be better. Revenge had to make her feel better, mainly because she knew she would not survive the battle, but it would be worth it just to make them pay.
She had to find them soon though, because she was fairly certain that she was not going to survive this agony for much longer. She wasn’t even sure how her body was still running with very little sleep and almost no food, but it would only be a matter of time before it shut down. She just had to find Julian and Isla before she shut down completely, or snapped and lost it.
***
Devon watched from the shadows as Cassie slipped through the halls. She had taken to wearing black sweaters, and hoodies, in an attempt to keep herself hidden from the world. Though she may not draw as much attention from her fellow classmates as she used to, he couldn’t fail to notice her. No matter how hard she tried to make herself invisible, he would always be able to see her.
She kept her head bowed, her golden hair spilled out from under the hood she had pulled over her head. The habitual dark glasses she now wore were firmly in place again, blocking out the startling beauty of her violet blue eyes. Beneath the dark hood her skin was pale; the normal rosiness of her cheeks was gone.
She had lost weight; her clothes were baggy on her, her face thinner. She was lean with an athletic grace, but with the weight loss the muscles in her arms stood out even more, and the bones in her hands were clearly visible as she clutched her books tight to her chest. Her face had thinned out considerably. She had always been beautiful, shockingly so, and she still was but it was a more refined beauty. She appeared older, more mature, as the youthful chubbiness of her cheeks had faded away to reveal the elegant planes of her delicate features.
She didn’t look at anyone as she slid into the girl’s locker room. Moving like a wraith, she obviously didn’t want to be noticed as she disappeared around a corner. “What’s with the sunglasses?” Devon inquired, turning as Chris appeared at his side and leaned against the locker next to Devon.
“She says the light hurts her eyes now.”
Devon glanced at the harsh fluorescents. They were bright against his eyes, but he’d had a lot of practice with adjusting his sensitive vision to them. “You don’t believe her?”
Chris sighed heavily, shifting his feet. “I believe that she believes it, but I think it’s just another way for her to try and hide herself away.”
Devon nodded thoughtfully; though he suspected that hiding herself was part of the reason he knew that it was not all of it. “She’s still not eating.”
“No, not much anyway. Probably just enough to keep her going.”
Biting into his lower lip, Devon fought back his frustration and anger. He hated being so impotent and useless, especially now, when she needed him most. If he could just reach her, if any of them could just reach her. “There has to be something we can do,” he whispered.
Chris lifted his eyebrows. “Doing the best we can. Nothing helps. And with Luther leaving....”
Chris’s voice trailed off, Devon turned toward him, feigning surprise. He knew that Luther had left, but Chris, Melissa, and Dani still did not know that he and Luther had been talking, researching about Cassie, and coming up against a solid wall of nothing. There was nothing about any of the Hunter’s like Cassie in the multitude of books that Luther possessed. It was the most frustrating, boring experience of Devon’s long life. Though they had been unable to find it they knew there had to be something out there about the other Hunter’s that had been like Cassie, and Luther was determined to find it, even if it meant leaving at a very bad time.
“Luther left?” he inquired innocently.
“Yeah.” Chris ran a hand through his already disheveled hair. “He got a lead on some Hunter in Texas or something. Said he needed to go, but the timing is awful. Cassie needs all the help she can get right now.”
Devon nodded, knowing that it was a lie. Luther was not in Texas, but it was as good a cover story as any. Chris didn’t know that Luther was trying to help Cassie, or that Luther may come back with the only way to help Cassie. “That’s too bad.”
“Yeah Melissa’s been staying with her, as you know.”
Chris grinned at him; Devon couldn’t help but return the smile. “What is this, a meeting of the minds?”
They turned as Melissa strolled up to them, her black hair neatly pulled back in a braid, her onyx eyes gleamed questioningly. “Yeah, you could say that,” Chris replied.
She glanced at the gym doors, scowling as she rolled her eyes. “You know if Cassie sees the two of you out here…”
“Three of us,” Chris corrected. “And she’s already in the locker room.”
Melissa nodded as she shifted her backpack. “Good. I’m going to go in, make sure she’s ok.”
Devon grabbed hold of Melissa’s arm, stopping her before she could disappear into the locker room. “How is she to live with?”
Melissa cocked an eyebrow. “She’s just peachy,” she mumbled, her gaze darted swiftly to the doors as if afraid she would get caught doing something wrong. “She’s the same there as she is here. Distant, unreadable, angry.”
“Have you had any visions?”
Melissa frowned at him, her fine eyebrows furrowed. “No, not about anything important anyway. Don’t worry; I’ll let you know if I do.”
Devon nodded as he released her arm. “Thank you.”
Melissa stood for a moment, her gaze darting between the gym doors and the two of them. With a soft sigh, she dropped her bag off her shoulder and turned to face them. “In all honesty I think she’s nearing her snapping point.”
Devon frowned at her. He could sense Melissa’s reticence to talk about Cassie, but this seemed to be something that she needed to get off her mind. “What do you mean?” he demanded glancing sharply at Chris, who looked just as confused as Devon felt.
Melissa shrugged as she tossed her long braid off of her shoulder. “I just don’t think she can keep going like this for much longer. She’s going to snap and either hunt those two down on her own and get herself killed, or she’s going to have a breakdown. She can’t keep shoving all of her grief and sorrow aside; it’s going to break free one way or another. We need to be prepared for that.”
“What makes you think that?” Chris asked softly.
Melissa shrugged again as she reclaimed her bag. “Simple reason. She’s been living like this for the past two weeks. She can’t keep going, one way or another everything that is eating at her is going to come out. I just hope that she survives the aftermath, even if she doesn’t want to.”
Though she said it in a flat monotone, tears shimmered in her dark eyes. Her fear for Cassie was palpable. “This can’t go on anymore,” he said firmly, though there was a tremor inside him. “I don’t care if I have to lock her away somewhere, but this can’t go on anymore.”
“You can’t do that!” Melissa gasped. “She’d hate you forever!”
Devon glanced sharply at her, his hands fisted at his sides. “She already hates me,” he growled. “But I will make sure that she lives, I will make sure that she doesn’t do anything to get herself killed! I will not allow her continue to waste away. She can hate me for the rest of her life, but at least it will be a long one.”
Chris and Melissa exchanged worried glances. “Devon…”
“No,” he interrupted Chris sharply. “If something doesn’t change soon, or if she even tries to go after them, I will take her from here and there is nothing that either of you can do to stop me.”
Their eyes were wide and turbulent but they didn’t argue with him. Even if they did, he would not change his mind. She had to survive. He could not live through the loss of her life; he could not keep his sanity if such a thing happened. If Cassie died then he was as good as dead also. But his life meant little to him, compared to hers. He would gladly die if she was killed.
“I think you’re right,” Chris said softly, turning slightly away from him as he folded his large arms over his chest. Though he did not l
ook happy about the decision, he would not argue it.
“Chris!” Melissa hissed.
He shook his head briskly. “No, he’s right. She’s on a downward spiral that will only end with death. We can’t let that happen to her. She needs to deal with her emotions, she needs to come to terms with all of this, and until she does, then we have to be the ones to keep her safe. Even if it means doing something she’ll despise us for.”
“Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that,” Devon muttered.
They both looked sharply at him, their torment and unease evident in their lost gazes. “I don’t think it will,” Melissa said. “I don’t think she’s going to make it to that point. She can’t keep going like this; it’s only a matter of time…”
Melissa’s voice trailed off as her eyes darted back toward the gym doors. “Well, I suppose we should go get our PE on. I’ll see you in a little bit.”
She turned and hurried swiftly across the hall, disappearing inside the door of the girl’s locker room. Devon glanced sharply at Chris. “Do you think Melissa’s right?”
Chris shrugged as he stuffed his hands in the pockets of his jeans. “I think she may be. Cassie’s so angry that it’s the only emotion I pick up from her. It’s hard to tell what is going on with her. Come on, we had better get going.”
Devon stifled a groan at the thought of having to go. As far as he was concerned high school was a waste of time as it was, Gym being the biggest waste of it. He followed Chris into the boys locker room though, wrinkling his nose at the heavy scent of sweat and body odor that filled the large, blue tiled room. He changed swiftly, paying little attention to anyone else in the room.
Following behind Chris, they made their way swiftly out to the large gymnasium. His gaze instantly found Cassie leaning against the far wall. Her hair had been pulled into a loose ponytail that enhanced the angles of her thinner face. She had changed into a pair of shorts and a loose fitting black t-shirt that hung limply on her slender frame. The sunglasses were still in place.
Kindled Page 4
