Don't Scream (Complete)

Chapter 43

Cassidy Hoskins

Cassidy Hoskins sat in her large, dumb, useless mansion. It was large and it was empty. Mr Hoskins - her father - had employed five maids and two chauffeurs. Four out of five maids had quit their job and both chauffeurs had resigned after Mr Hoskins' death. Now Cassidy was quite alone, in the large mansion. It was pretty quiet and empty even before Mr Hoskins' death. 

Her father wasn't always there for her. When Cassidy fell hard, he wasn't there to pick her back up. He was hardly there for her. In her childhood, Cassidy didn't remember much of her father. There certainly wasn't that many happy memories or anything of that sort. Sure, occasionally, Cassidy and her father could have a nice meal together, but that was as far as father-daughter bonding could get. 

Her father was a workaholic. He worked day and night and through the weekend. When he came home, he worked most of the time. But despite all this, he was still Cassidy's father. Whenever her father had even a spare moment of free time and the two could spend it together, Cassidy was never happier. 

Her father wasn't always there to comfort or to guide Cassidy. But she would be lost without him. She was lost without him now. Cassidy couldn't replace her father with a best friend or even a hot boyfriend. They were bonded by blood and that bond had been severed. 

Tonight, the sky was stormy and packed with a mass of storm clouds. Thunder rumbled in the distance and rain pattered against the windows in a huge sheet. Cassidy rested her head on the cold window, her breath frosting up on it. She clutched the silver cross around her neck, and for once in her life, she believed that whatever the cost, her father was in a better place. Because unlike his daughter, Mr Hoskins had believed. 

"Sweetheart, are you okay?" 

Cassidy looked up, a single tear rolling down her cheek. 

Her father stood there, by the window, looking at her crying. 

"Dad?" 

"Cassidy." 

Cassidy blinked. Her father disappeared. Standing in his place was the last maid in the house, who hadn't resigned. Rosa. By far the oldest and most useless maid in the house. Yet, she was the only maid in the mansion who hadn't left. No matter how badly Cassidy had treated Rosa in the past, Rosa was loyal to her. Rosa had stayed. 

"Cassidy, darling," Rosa muttered more to herself than anything as she crossed the room and sat next to Cassidy, patting her on the thigh. 

"Rosa, I'm sorry," Cassidy said. Once she's started, the floodgates rushed open and there was no stopping the flow of words that came gushing out. "I'm sorry for being so mean to you in the past. I never cared for you. I never appreciated you. I took you for granted. I mistreated you, I yelled at you when you did something wrong and I'm so thankful that you're still here." 

Rosa opened her arms wide silently and Cassidy fell into her embrace, putting her head on the old woman's shoulder and weeping silently. And just for once, it felt like Cassidy had a mother. 

Cassidy was aware of Rosa patting her head tenderly and her whispering in her ear. 

"Cassidy, you've come so far, sweetheart," Rosa whispered. "You're maturing, darling. You'll pick yourself up after this. You'll grow stronger. Trust me, sweetheart. Things will look up." 

Cassidy closed her eyes as the rain continued to patter against the window next to the pair of them. Soon, she succumbed to sleep. 

* 

When Cassidy awoke next morning, she's mysteriously transported back into her bedroom. She'd been seated by the window in the living room last night. Rosa must have carried her to her bed and tucked her in. Her father had done the same for her when she was younger. 

Cassidy lay back against the pillows before making a final decision and kicking her covers off. 

She walked down the stairs. From the kitchen, Cassidy could hear Rosa rummaging about, perhaps getting ready to whip up some breakfast. Before Cassidy could go over, she made a trip to her father's study. 

Opening the door, she went straight over to the portrait that her father hung on one of the walls. 

Cassidy knew from memory that her father kept a safe locked behind the painting. It had only dawned on her now that she might find some answers in the safe as to why her father had died. After all, that was where Mr Hoskins kept his most precious possessions private. 

Cassidy keyed in the four-digit password to the safe. It was her birthdate. The metal door to the safe creaked open, revealing stacks of cash. 

Cassidy pushed them aside. The cash was now hers, technically, since Mr Hoskins had left all his money and properties to Cassidy, at least, until she was older. From now until she was of age, Cassidy was to live in this mansion, with Rosa as her guardian. That was government protocol for her. 

Ignoring the cash, Cassidy reached into the safe, rummaging around, seeing if she could find anything of importance. She wanted the bastard who killed her father caught and apprehended. 

Finally, Cassidy thought she'd found something worth checking out. 

It was a simple slip of paper. Cassidy skimmed down the paper and smiled to herself. 

It was a list of all the financial records in her father's magazine company, EDITORIAL DELIGHTS. Mr Hoskins had made notes on the side of the paper. One of his employees had been embezzling company funds. The paper was dated on Sunday. Mr Hoskins must have found out about his employee embezzling funds when he was murdered. 

Cassidy folded the incriminating evidence in her pocket. She went to her bedroom, threw on some decent clothes, then slung her handbag over her shoulder. 

"Cassidy, darling, where are you going? What about breakfast?" Rosa asked as Cassidy walked down the stairs. 

Cassidy walked over and gave Rosa a small hug. She held Rosa's hands in her own and smiled at the older woman. "Don't worry, Rosa, I'll be back soon. I just need to make a quick trip to the police station."