Chapter 3 - Don't crush me
2173 Words
" Can you answer the same question for me?" I raised my eyebrows, looking straight into Cassian's face, his eyes never leaving mine, I slowly crossed my arms on my chest.
Cassian's serious face was only a few centimetres away from mine, and I could see the anger just welling up in his eyes. For a few seconds, there was silence and tension in the kitchen. I have a right to be in this house, those are Cassian's own words. Is he going to take me and throw me out?
"This is my house, take your ass to the living room. I'm doing my work while you're running out of class." Cassian rolled his eyes, turned in one easy motion, and headed for the living room.
Chloe and I walked behind Cassian. I hadn't expected him to cause such a big drama over one day's absence from school. He's probably more protective of his wine cellar than my studies. In one swift movement, Cassian took one of the couches, sliding the dark brown folder onto the table with a light motion. Then he leaned his back against the back of the sofa, his green eyes turning towards us.
"Who's there?" Chloe furrowed her brow as she sat down on the couch, her eyes lingering on the folder on the table.
"All the information about the Day of the Blood Moon. It's the little piece that Dillan and Henry missed that could have gotten Sarah killed." Cassian's eyes flicked to my face for a second.
"Can you be a little clearer, what day is it, why is it so important?" Chloe's eyes immediately went to Cassian's cold and calm face.
"Blood Moon Day is when the moon turns bright red. Of course, this requires the most perfect conditions. It happens once every fifty years - when the Sun, the Earth and the Moon line up perfectly." Cassian's green eyes looked directly at me and sometimes at Chloe.
"If Sarah fails this time, there won't be another." Chloe looked at me, wrinkling her pretty eyebrows.
"Tell me that eclipse is still far away?" I gave Cassian a questioning look as I got more comfortable on the couch next to Chloe.
I saw Cassian fall silent for a moment, as he in thought. He was probably thinking, is it worth revealing the real date to me? Maybe he was wondering if we would be able to find Dillan? We have to, it can't be otherwise. Otherwise, that day would mean absolutely nothing. I can't afford to lose hope that he's all right. Otherwise, there will be no one left by my side. I couldn't bear to lose the man who showed me how beautiful the world is. Only thanks to him that I come out of the black thoughts in which I was drowning after my mother's death. I am finally trying to breathe, to live, to love. I have to fight, not to give up on my dreams, for my future. Dillan has always believed in me, now I have to believe in him.
"By my calculations, it should have happened from the night of August 15th to the morning of the 16th. I will have to look into it further. This is just the minimum information I have gathered while drinking coffee in the library." Cassian's eyes went to the wall behind me.
"And what's in that black book?" Chloe's eyes darted somewhere towards Cassian.
I followed Chloe's gaze only then did I realise what she was talking about. A small black book was squeezed between the sofa. The spine was a little frayed, wrapped a few times with black ribbon and neatly bound. This is the same book that Cassian always writes in and carries with him. Something very important, close, or perhaps personal is probably contained in those pale yellow pages.
"None of your business, crow." Cassian's green eyes seem to darken momentarily as he gives Chloe an angry look.
" We have a month and a half to save Sarah's life." Chloe's eyes shifted to me, and I could see the worry shining in them.
"That's a whole month, we'll find Dillan for sure." Cassian's eyes came back to me, he was sitting with his arm around his neck, his head tilted slightly forward.
"We'll have to wait for Henry and Elaine, hopefully, they'll have good news too." Chloe's hand rested on her chin, her eyes turned towards the fireplace where the flames danced.
"I'm going to have breakfast, can I get you anything from town?" Cassian rose from the couch, making his way towards the main exit with a slow step.
"I'll have the same like you." Chloe rolled her eyes as she got more comfortable on the couch next to me.
It only took me a few seconds to realise what Cassian meant. Of course, it's not a normal breakfast that people eat. It's the blood bags that Cassian keeps hidden somewhere. Of course, there is another version. He sees living people, then he tricks them into going back to normal life and forgetting everything. Neither of these options seemed right to me, but it's their livelihood. I cannot condemn them, they would not feed or they would die.
"Sarah, the same for you?" Cassian raised his eyebrows, looking directly at me, I could see that mischievous little smile playing on his face.
" No Cassian I don't drink blood. I get chicken wings." I looked at Cassian with a small smile, he was trying my patience.
"Chicken wings with blood or clean?" Cassian opened the door to the house, then looked towards me with his left eyebrow raised.
"Don't be disgusting." I wrinkled my forehead, thinking of wings with blood.
Cassian's face instantly broke into a huge, wide smile. Then he winked and waved a few fingers as he disappeared behind the door of the house. What's with the vampiric jokes chicken wings with blood sounds disgusting. I could feel Chloe's gaze fixed on me, and there was an uncomfortable silence around me. I knew Chloe well, she was silent, her mind full of questions.
"Come on, what is it?" I turned my whole body to Chloe, getting comfortable on the sofa.
"What's with the winks and waves?“ A few deep lines etched themselves into Chloe's forehead, and there was a smirk in her eyes.
"Just now did you notice? He's always like this." I sighed, my eyes briefly darting over to the window that wasn't at the front door of the house.
Probably all those memories that have been revived in my mind are true. Cassian has been my hero since I was a little girl. He was the man who taught me to be strong, to be careful, to be safe. Those three memories sometimes keep going through my mind. Are there more? Or are they just a small part that I have unwittingly learnt? Now I am probably beginning to understand why Cassian is so cold with everyone. He needs to watch from the sidelines how his brother spends his days with me. It's probably damn hard for him to see that. One thing I have to find out is what kind of relationship he had with my mother. He indeed knew where I lived all the time. So he must have known my mother. I just need to find the right opportunity to ask him, because he won't tell if I do it now.
" So you don't think it's strange that Cassian would do that? His brother Dillan is your boyfriend after all." Chloe's voice shattered my thoughts, her gaze looking worried.
"I'm trying not to dwell on it." I shrugged, looking into Chloe.
"What do you think of Cassian's words on Red Moon Day?" Chloe's eyes darted to the folder on the table.
"I think he's trying to help us. Although it's really hard to understand why he's doing it. He's always been the one who hurts others, and now he wants to be good?" I wondered aloud about the thoughts that were running through my mind.
"I'm sure he just wants the curse lifted. Of course, he doesn't want you dead, you're probably the only witch who can do that." The corner of Chloe's lips turned up slightly at the word witch.
"We need to keep an eye on him, I'm not sure if he's really on our team. Sometimes his actions are unexplainable by common sense." I sighed, leaning my head against the back of the sofa.
"What does your dad think of Cassian?"Chloe asked a surprising question, and I saw her eyes linger for a moment on the front door of the house.
"I tell dad that Dillan had to go away on important family business to another country. Of course, he had a question about Cassian, I mentioned him as a good friend. Although I'm sure Cassian had already gotten his claws into Dad's thoughts before." I rolled my eyes as I watched my best friend sitting next to me.
"I'd rather have Cassian get his claws on your dad than have your dad find out the truth about the world around him." Chloe dipped her eye, lifting the corner of her mouth.
There was a loud slamming of a door in the small corridor near the main door. My eyes immediately darted to the person who was disturbing the quiet morning. Two familiar silhouettes appeared before my eyes.
"You're back." Chloe instantly found herself at Elaine's side, hugging her with both arms.
"Don't crush me. Come on, we need to sit down for a conversation." Elaine's face froze for a moment as she stopped in front of me.
"Hi, Henry." I waved to my history teacher, whose face looked very tired.
A few moments later, Henry and Elaine sat down in front of me just on the other couch. Chloe took the seat next to me and made herself comfortable. I studied Henry and Elaine's faces with my own eyes, trying to understand what information was waiting for me.
"The town of Elldervile is fifty-five kilometres from here. Twenty-five people have disappeared there in the last ten days. Five have been found dead and the other twenty are still missing. The interesting part is that the day before we stayed in the city, there was a huge fire in one of the buildings. Twenty innocent lives were lost in the flames." Henry's eyes darted from me to Chloe, and I could see him nervously chewing on his bottom lip.
"I guess that it's not just fire. I don't think twenty completely different people just died in a fire in broad daylight. Of course, the guess may be wrong, but the cops are still trying to gather data and confirm identities. The dead and those who have been reported as missing." Elaine's voice filled the living room as she sat quietly with her hands on her legs.
"It is a fact that the only suspect is Nikita, but how and why?" Chloe's eyes darted to Elaine, then slowly moved to Henry.
" Probably trying to get our attention to stop looking for Dillan." Henry wrinkled his forehead, cupping his chin.
"And what's if fire isn't Nikita's job?" Elaine raised an eyebrow, turning to face Henry.
"You're saying she has a sidekick?" Chloe rolled her eyes directing her interested look at Elaine's face.
"Herland, Lucian, Leyla. All of these people worked for Nikita, I wouldn't be surprised if she has more people doing her dirty work for her." Henry shrugged and counted the people on his fingers.
I don't think Nikita is so stupid that she would try to divert our attention somewhere else. It must be some kind of hidden agenda that needs to be worked out. She has lived on this earth for eternity, she can burn those people for nothing. Well, we are still talking about Nikita, but there must be a reason why these people were burned and not just killed. Besides, the number is very unusual, twenty ordinary people. But who can say whether they were really ordinary people? Perhaps vampires, werewolves or witches. But you can't call them up again ask their real identity. Behind all this is something altogether bigger and blacker than just death.
"What's on your mind, Sarah?" Elaine's voice snapped me out of my deep reverie, I could feel her two eyes watching my face.
"If there was even one witch among all the corpses, then it's a sacrifice." I stared at Henry, waiting for some hint that I was wrong.
"Sarah's right, but what's the point? Sacrifice can be done for a million reasons. To want to give all your powers to someone else, to raise the dead from the living, to want to take all the powers from the dead." Several deep lines appeared in Henry's forehead, showing deep thought.
"The deliberations proceed without me?" A loud knock sounded at the entrance of the house, and all eyes turned to the guy standing in the doorway.
- Writer
