Dome → Isaac Lahey

4.8 : certificate

"I know that I joke around with you a lot, but in all seriousness you're like a sister to me and I never want to be in a world without you-"

"Casey, get to the point," Carmen shakes her head, taking her hands from his and wiping her eyes again.

"This isn't a joke," Casey sighs and stands up, grabbing hold of the manilla folder he previously set down. "I need you to understand that after today, we can never see the pack again."

"What?!" Carmen perks up, confusion and anger rising within her belly. "What are you telling me?"

"Please, promise you won't be mad at me," He almost cries, biting down on his lip to fight the oncoming tears, "Please promise you won't see me any differently. I've wanted to tell you this for so long, but I knew that they'd come after us if I-I did."

"The pack would come after us?" Carmen questions, beyond confused. Casey's grip on the folder tightens and he averts his gaze. "Casey, just tell me what's happening . ."

He doesn't say anything, but merely hands over the folder, looking up to her timidly as her hand pulled out the dreaded piece of paper and her face scrunched into a mean grimace.

"Is this some kind of joke?" Carmen snarls angrily as her eyes scanned over the words "Death Certificate" written at the top of the sheet, her parents' names inked into it, all in an elegant font. 

"Read it." Is all he gives her, beginning to pace around the room.

Carmen had never seen her parents' death certificate. She never wanted to. Why would she want to be reminded of the event that ruined her life forever? Still, she complied to Casey's order, inhaling deeply before she began to read some of the information out loud.

"Isabel and Norman Taylor." She begins, "Ages . . Approximated time of death . . Occupation . . Relationship . . Cause of death."

It didn't take a genius to know that something was wrong here. As her eyes scanned over the sheet, she caught on to some key words in the Cause of Death section.

"Isabel and Norman were found dead in their car on Saturday, June 27th, 2012." She read aloud nervously, "An investigation revealed that the car had been derailed due to a suspected tampered brake. The bodies of Isabel and Norman Taylor were mutilated with scratch and bite marks from the shoulders down, possible animal attack."

Carmen's eyes begin to water again as she glares up at Casey, who held a guilty expression.

"Piers told me they died from a car crash," Carmen shakes her head furiously, reading over the passage again, "He's always told me they died from a car crash. Why would he lie to me? What actually happened to them?"

"They happened." Casey states sadly but bluntly. "It was all Piers, Nina, and Luke."

"Why?" Is all that Carmen can ask through the ugly sob erupting from her throat. Of course there were a million other questions on the tip of her tongue, but she could only find it in herself to ask why.

"In order to get you to do what they wanted, they needed to turn you into a machine." Casey begins to explain, "They took away your parents because they thought that'd do the job. Their plan this whole time has been to turn you into their personal puppet, shield, and slave. And now, you gave them exactly what they wanted."

Carmen was at a loss for words, her breath caught in her throat.

"Oh, god, I'm such a terrible person," She whispers, her head throbbing. "I-I killed innocent people for them and I hurt everyone I loved, it should've been me-"

"You didn't know, Carmen," Casey pulls her into a hug, allowing her to cry into him.

"It doesn't matter!" She insists in a loud sob, "I willingly killed people! I ruined my own life, and now I have nobody!"