Kindred Spirits

84 - What's with the pouty face?

Book: Kindred Spirits
Chapter 84 (6x13)
Word Count: 856

Letting out a groan, Cassidy declined the phone call. Again. Caroline had been trying to call her all day to convince her to speak to her mom, but Cassidy was stubborn. She almost killed her mom and she wasn't ready to talk about it. So, she distracted herself by spending extra time with her kids. She was sat at a park bench, softly rocking them back and forth in their push chair, rolling her eyes yet again as she hit decline on Caroline's call.

"Rough day?"

"You should know better than to sneak up on a heretic. A little vampwitch who can both fry you and eat you." Cassidy chuckled, glancing at the sudden voice, immediately knowing who it was. She glanced to the side to see Kai sat beside her. "Where did you even come from?"

"Simple cloaking spell. Duh. You should know that, witchy." Kai smirked at her.

"Suppose I should." Cassidy sighed, resting a hand on her baby bump. Ever since her first pregnancy, Cassidy had been a bit out of the loop with her magic.

"What's with the pouty face?" Kai asked Cassidy, jutting out his bottom lip to mimic a childish pout.

"It's just..." Cassidy hesitated. "Do you think my mom hates me?"

"That depends."

"On what?"

"How much your mom wanted to die." Kai teased. "I mean, you did almost kill her. Maybe she'll love you for almost putting her out of her cancer-riddled misery."

"Ugh, you're no help, Malachai." Cassidy shoved him, and all Kai did was laugh in response.

"Kinda the point. You should never come to me looking for advice."

"I'll remember that for next time." Cassidy then rose up from the bench. "I better get going. See you later."

"Cassidy?" Kai quickly stopped her. "Your mom doesn't hate you, okay? Just talk it out."

"I'll try my best." Cassidy muttered. "Thanks." She then pushed the push chair down the path on her way home.

---

Walking into her home, Cassidy spotted Liz sat in an armchair in the living room. Liz turned towards the door, and she looked happy yet surprised to see Cassidy.

"Honey... you didn't come home last night."

"Yeah, sorry. I found out that Stefan, Katherine, and Nadia moved into a house on the edge of town and they let me spend the night." Cassidy stated without looking over at her mother, moving across the room to place Hope and Leo down in the playpen.

"I don't want to die with you not saying a word to me, Cassidy..."

"Don't say that." Cassidy finally turned to face her mother. "Not after what I did."

"You did nothing." Liz reassured. "I am still here, vampire-blood free."

"I almost killed you, mom. You can't just ignore that." Cassidy pointed out. "I wanted to help you. I wanted to ensure that you wouldn't become the creature that both of your daughters were turned into... I might have succeeded, but you could have died in the process!" Cassidy took a few steps closer to Liz's fragile body. "Mom, your heart is too weak to even handle a bit of siphoning. I basically forced you into having a heart attack!"

"This isn't really about the siphoning incident, is it?" Liz realised with a quiet sigh. "Come on, sit down." She pointed over to the couch beside her armchair, so Cassidy went and sat down. "What's going on?"

"I..." Cassidy nervously fiddled with her fingers, avoiding eye contact. "Well, you're growing weaker every day. You had a heart attack, just because of a tiny bit of siphoning... you're losing all of your strength, your colour, your hair... and I'm so scared that one day, I'll wake up to a phone call to tell me that you're gone. I didn't sleep at all last night, and I beat myself up all night for not being here instead of at Katherine's house."

"Cassidy, I promise you..." Liz slowly reached over to place her cold, clammy hand on top of Cassidy's. "I refuse to pass on if both you and Caroline are not by my side. I will hold on for as long as I can... I will not go without one last look at the two beautiful girls that I created. The girls who I am so proud of."

With tears stinging her eyes, Cassidy stood up from the couch and hugged her mom gently, too paranoid to hug her any tighter, and she cried into Liz's shoulder quietly.

"Don't leave me alone, mom, please!"

"Oh, honey..." Liz rubbed Cassidy's back soothingly. "Death might not come so easy for vampires, but it is a natural thing for humans, I'm afraid... not all of us can live forever."

It took a whole day for her mom's words to sink in.

"Not all of us can live forever."

Liz was right. Every human was simply a visitor, passing on through the world once their lifespan was up. And Liz's was coming to an end... her predetermined death date was growing nearer and nearer with every slow minute. That scared Cassidy more than anything.