Dome → Isaac Lahey

4.8 : certificate

When the car came to a halt, Carmen perks up in her seat and looks around while Casey gets out of the car, slamming the door shut behind him.

"Come on," Casey nods for her to follow, ignoring her question. 

Carmen pockets her hands in the baggy grey sweatpants and wearily gets out of the car, not enjoying the vibe of the small, isolated neighborhood. She joins Casey at the front porch and watches as he fishes around in his pocket for his keys, pulling them out and opening the door.

"So you live here . .?" Carmen asks obviously as they walk into the dark space.

Casey doesn't reply as he turns a ceiling lamp on, revealing the extremely messy one-floor home. He steps over empty beer bottles on the ground and ignores her once again as he leads her to a room at the back of the small house. Although it was impossible to get drunk for him, it seemed like he had been trying relatively hard as the trail of them never ceased when they reached the room. On the back wall were tall, silver file cabinets and a desk hosting a laptop, along with a dim lamp. A single green suitcase was in the corner of the room.

Casey reaches over on the wall and flicks a switch on, bringing more light to the room.

"What is this?" Carmen inquires as he saunters over to a file cabinet, sifting through it before pulling out a single manilla folder. He stares at it in his hands for a few seconds as Carmen walks up to face him, concern written over her face.

"Casey . ." She speaks lowly, placing a hand on his arm. "What's all this about?"

"First, you. Tell me everything that happened at Eichen," He demands, setting the folder on the desk and turning back to her with hopeful eyes. "You've been acting weird the entire ride here."

"I don't think you're one to talk," She retorts, rubbing her arm awkwardly. "Besides, I'm sure I haven't been exactly acting like myself for a while now."

"Carmen." Casey states seriously.

Carmen frowns at the thought of the previous night and sighs, taking a seat in the swivel desk chair. She then began to spill about everything that had happened at the facility, not skipping over a single detail. His frown seemed to deepen at every word that left her mouth, and his eyes went wide as she explained what happened the previous night with Oliver, Stiles, and the Nogitsune.

"So . . The Nogitsune isn't in you anymore?" Casey inquires timidly, rocking back and forth on his heels like a child. "Stiles gave in to it so that you wouldn't be killed?"

Carmen presses her lips and hums in confirmation, clearing her throat. It's silent between them for a while before a sniff catches Casey's attention and he whips his head up to see Carmen wiping away a tear and biting down harshly on her lip.

"I-It should've been me," She cries, looking up at him with glazed eyes. "Stiles doesn't deserve this. He didn't know that I used him and now he has to deal with the Nogitsune on his own, all because he tried to save me. God, I'm such a piece of shit."

Casey didn't know what to do as the girl before him burst into tears. He wished he could say that he was surprised, but he wasn't in the slightest. He knew her. He knew that no matter how hard she tried to play the villain, she was golden deep down, and that gold underneath somehow always found a way to shine through no matter the circumstance. He knew that she would crack some day, and thank god it was today.

She deserved to know the truth.

He kneels down in front of Carmen in the seat, grabbing hold of her hands and staring at her intensely.

"Car, you trust me, don't you?" He asks seriously, his gaze never shifting from hers.

She can only furrow her eyebrows and nod, curious as to where this was headed.