The Love of Lady Dimitrescu X Female Reader || One-Shots

The Price of Grief

Sitting on the porch swing, Cassandra scrolled through her Photo Albums on her phone for several more moments before she shut it off for the third time that night. Casting her gaze to the stars, she tried counting as many of them as she could, but her mind was too tangled to make it past seven. Nothing made sense to her anymore.

Bela stepped through the storm door and out onto the front porch, seeking her sister. "Cassandra?"

Listlessly, she turned her head to acknowledge her. "Yeah?"

"I was looking for you." Bela went over to sit next to her. "What are you doing out here?"

"I hate the silence in our house. I hate it! Mother's locked herself away in her study room each day, and Mom is always working on that quilt. Neither of them says much except: Good morning. Collect the eggs. Fold the laundry. Brush the goats. And then they cry and run off before I can say anything." Folding her arms over her chest, she set her legs down to stop the momentum of the swing. "I just don't know what to do. We should've gone on that trip with her."

Bela nodded, her throat clenched. "Even if we had been invited, we wouldn't have been able to prevent that bus accident."

"We would have found a way!" Cassandra raised her voice, remaining adamant that she could've done more. "We always did! You and I would have protected her! When have we not?"

Her chin trembled as she held back her tears. Bela was having a hard time not blaming herself. She was the big sister. There was never a moment where she would have hesitated to sacrifice herself for her dear sisters. They were her everything. Together, they were a package deal. If any of her friends had a problem with Cassandra or Daniela, she cut them out of her life. If anyone ever hurt them, she would make them suffer tenfold. Family came first. "We have since the beginning."

Fuming, the brunette paced back and forth on the deck, cursing at everything in her sight. She then swung her foot at the timber column on the porch. Cassandra kept kicking it harder and harder until her big toe throbbed with pain. "Ever since we were born, we've looked after one another! When she fell and scraped her knee, I cleaned her wound and put a smiley band-aid on it. Then I kissed her knee and told her everything was going to be okay. When that bully picked on her in fourth grade, I gave that tall girl a black eye for it. Even when Mother grounded us, Daniela had a way of softening her, so our punishment wouldn't be as harsh."

A watery smile appeared on Bela's face from one particular memory. "I remember that time when we broke Mother's pair of wine glasses during tag. Dani took the blame for us and told Mother she was trying to reach for them because she needed them for her tea party. What was she? Six?"

"Yeah, I think so. With her aching heart, Cassandra clutched her chest. She was lightheaded. The night sky no longer looked as splendid as it once did in her eyes. "Our baby sister's gone!" Her shoulders began to shake violently. "I don't want to wake up to another day without her! I don't want to!"

With torrents of anguish coursing down her face, Bela got up from the porch swing and hugged her aggrieved sister from behind. "I know it's hard. I've never known life apart from you and Daniela. And now I have no choice but to face a future without her in it. Please stay with me? I can't lose you, too."

"Our little squishmallow!" Cassandra sobbed, reaching up to grasp her sister's hands with desperation. "Why her? Why the purest soul? Must this universe be so cruel?"

"I don't get it either. I really don't. I want her here with us right now. I want to hug her and tell her something that'd make her roll her eyes at us. Dani was so tolerant of all of our bullshit and what we put her through. Teasing her. Pranking her. Remember when she came out of her general anesthesia after her wisdom tooth removal? We told her Mother got turned into a dog and ended up at an animal shelter. God, we were such jerks for doing that. Mom glared at us so hard and told us to comfort her."