𝗦𝗛𝗘 𝗟𝗢𝗩𝗘𝗗 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗦𝗜𝗡𝗡𝗘𝗥𝗦
CHAPTER FOUR!
〔 Season one, episode one 〕
𝑪𝑨𝑺𝑺𝑨𝑵𝑫𝑹𝑨 𝑹𝑼𝑩𝑩𝑬𝑫 𝑯𝑬𝑹 𝑬𝒀𝑬𝑺, trying to wake herself up as she walked into Nick's hospital room a soft smile appearing on her face as she saw Madison laying next to Nick. Travis bent over the two of them whispering in Madisons ear, which woke her up
"Okay, I need coffee before anything" she rose from the bed, Travis handing her a bag of fresh clothes
Cass walked over to Nick's side as he woke up, his eyes still adjusting to the light, barely registering Travis's words of reassurances but his eyes searched the room stopping on his girlfriend and then moving to his sister who spoke when Travis left the room
"That was sweet. You and the step"
"Not our step" Nick's deep morning voice spoke out, Cassandra bit her lip slowly as she watched the siblings interaction
"Mom likes him" Alicia stood up walking over to Nick's opposite side "who knows?, she's used to disappointment"
Alicia took off the lid of Nick's breakfast, before rolling it over to his bed, the both of them started to laugh as she sat on his bed. Alicia raised the bed before grabbing ahold of Cassandra's arm and tugging her forward onto the bed, the three of them started to laugh, Cassandra laying beside Nick and Alicia sitting in front of them it was a tight squeeze on the small hospital bed but none of them minded
"I know what you think."
"What's that, bro?" Alicia questioned
"I know."
"What do i think?" Alicia asked her eyes connected with Cassandra's, small smiles tugging at there faces as she unwrapped his jelly
"You're perfect and I'm not" he glanced at Cassandra "that she's to good for me neither of which I'm arguing with"
Cassandra rolled her eyes at his words,
Alicia nodded holding a spoon full of jelly up for Nick as he continued to talk
"You know, you're going to Berkeley, she's going to be a lawyer, yet I got expelled from–" Alicia cut him off by shoving the spoon full of jelly into his mouth but it didn't stop him "Citrus community"
Alicia smiles proudly as Nick laughed
"I'm here, you're there"
"I don't compare myself" Alicia smugly replied as she continued to feed Nick jelly
"You can't not" Nick smiled
"Well I don't compare myself with crazy" Alicia joked, Cassandra and Nick's faces both dropped, they knew she meant it as a joke but after yesterday, it hurt a lot more
"I'm not crazy" Nick's cracking voice told her
"He's not" Cassandra stated her eyes meeting with his, she needed to tell him what her and Travis had saw. She needed him to know he wasn't crazy
"Well, you repeat the same behaviour and expect different results. That's merriam-webster crazy"
Nick pushed Cassandra up, making her frown at him but he ignored the look taking ahold of hers and Alicia's hands, he looked at them both
"Hey, it's not gonna be like this anymore" he promised and instinctively Alicia shut down and Cassandra held back her tears, because everytime he promised this, he broke it.
"It will" Alicia stated
"No" he denied, squeezing Cassandra's hand as she hadn't spoken, making her head shoot upwards, her tear filled eyes connecting with his making his heart fill with guilt — all the times he let them down running through his mind, he wanted to change everytime he said it, he meant it. He honestly did. He just wasn't strong enough
"It'll be worse"
"I'm ending it now." He stroked his thumb across both of there hands "I'm chosing to"
"Okay" Alicia said
"Okay?" Nick asked his eyes darting between both of them
"Okay" The two girls replied but doubt was still in there minds. Alicia checked her phone her eyes widening in panic at the time
"I'm late" she said jumping up before looking at Cass "and your really late"
"Shit" Cass muttered standing up as Alicia walked towards the door
"Hey hey" Nick complained making Cassandra stop and turn around to face him
"Can I help you?" She raised her eyebrows at him
"Well if my girlfriend is just going to up and leave me, I think I deserve a goodbye kiss" Nick's cheeky smile covered his face as Cassandra sighed leaning in to hover over Nick, his head rising up a little to place a slow kiss on her lips before pulling away a bit and tugging on her bottom lip, making Cassandra moan as she leaned her forehead against him bringing him back in for a longer kiss
"Bye baby" Nick whispered once she pulled away and he watched her walk out of the room with a love sick smile on his face, she was the best drug he ever took.
At the entrance to the hospital Alicia and Cassandra catch up with Madison and Travis
"Hey babe" Madison said taking her shoes out of her bag to show Travis "these shoes don't go"
"I did tell him" Cassandra smiled as she walked beside Madison who pulled her into a shoulder hug before walking down the stairs to greet her husband
"I went" Travis replied
"I know. I appreciate it"
Travis's eyes drifted to Cassandra and just by his look she knew he wasn't talking about the shoes
"No, the shooting gallery. I found it last night. Me and Cassandra" Travis told her, making her eyes dart towards the brunette girl
"You took Cassandra there" her tone sharp, it was bad enough he went there himself but to take Cassandra to the place that Nick got high, the place that ripped him away from all of them
"It's not his fault Maddie" Cassandra softly spoke "I would have gone either way, to find out what happened there" images of the blood flashing through her mind but as bad as it sounded she hoped that it was enough to keep Nick from breaking his promise. That it had scared him enough to stay clean.
Madison sighed looking back towards her partner
"Something really bad happened there."
"I don't care" Madison started to walk away from the conversation hoping that he would drop it but he was persistent and followed after her. The girls quickly looking at each other and following after them
"All right, Nick needs to know. That whatever he saw was real or not."
"Of course it wasn't. He was raving when they found him" Madison replied
"Madison, you didn't see what we saw" Cassandra spoke out, making the blonde hesitate for a moment hearing the emotion In her voice
"We're late." Alicia intrupted "again"
"Thank you" Madison replied sarcastically
"Travis, you can not enable him and Cass you know better" Madison scolded the two
"Well I don't think he's lying though" Travis said looking to Cassandra for some back up, because the both of them knew how head strong and stubborn Madison could be
"And I know he's not lying. I know the difference between his lies and the truth, something scared him. Something bad" Cassandra said strongly to try and get through to Madison to make her believe
As the she walked beside the couple and watched Alicia storm off in front
"Oh, so the two of you think someone ate someone?"
"There's a lot of blood." Travis tried to reason with her
"It's a drug den"
"It was bad"
"Bad thinks happen there" Madison started to list them off, Cassandra sighed tuning them about, she knew all of the bad things that happen there, they play in her mind every single day, she walked over to Alicia as she got into the front of Madisons car, Cass leaned on the door
"You grumpy because you haven't seen matt yet?" Cassandra teased trying to take the focus off of Travis and Madison but both of them could still clearly hear there words
"Why are you doing this?" Madison questioned Travis as she placed her bag in the boot of the car
"I want to help him." Travis spoke softly, his eyes glancing over to Cassandra who was tugging on her Jean Jacket as she spoke to Alicia, he wanted to help them all. It wasn't fair for them to see this all the time. For Cassandra to throw her life away or have to leave him eventually which he knew would break her and him, It wasn't fair for Alicia to grow up watching her brother live the way he did and it wasn't fair on Madison to watch her son kill himself.
"I know. I know babe." Madison faced him
"Right?"
"Yeah" Madison shook her head "but you can't use Nick to repair things with Chris"
Cassandra looked at the older couple once she heard those words leave Madison, she watched the hurt cover Travis's face as Madison rested her hand behind his neck
"We'll help both of them" she reassured him "I promise. Okay?".
Cassandra turned her head when she saw them leaning in to kiss making Alicia laugh at her
"Hey, I've walked in on you and Nick doing worse"
Cassandra's face blushed red as she stared at Alicia, eyes wide.
"Alicia!" She exclaimed, making the younger girl laugh and Madison stifle her own as she heard the girls conversation. She remembered hearing Alicia scream the first time she walked in on them which lead to Madison walking in as well that was probably the most embarrassing thing that ever happened to Cassandra but Nick only started laughing which she hated him for. Alicia muttered a bye as she closed the car door so Madison could drive away to save them from being anymore late
〕〔
CASSANDRA CLUTCHED HER TEXTBOOKS TIGHTLY AGAINST HER CHEST, quietly walking into her lecture, careful not to disturb the teacher or draw attention to herself. She took the seat closees to the door and tried to focus on the teacher.
After a couple minutes of her trying to jot down notes she finally gave up. She couldn't stop thinking about Nick and she couldn't stop the images of the church running through her head, she couldn't understand why he would stay in a place like that, when he had people who loved him, statistically people who take drugs come from bad homes. Nick didn't come from a bad home, he was loved, he is loved so much.
Cassandra sighed tapping her pen against the table, she glanced around the room at all the people,
a part of her that she didn't ever want to think about much, the part of her she believed is the reason she still loved Nick — the part that craved the freedom he had by taking drugs — sometimes she would find herself wondering how It would feel for her to just not care what people thought of her, to take drugs like Nick and not worry about all the expectations her father had of her. The idea of her being perfect that her father always drummed in her head, to never fail at anything.
She wanted to know what it felt like to stick the needle in her arm and forget everything....
Maybe the reason she loved Nick was because she wanted to be like him. To not care like him.
Maybe....her thoughts were intrupted by an annoying voice
"Hey miss perfect, I heard your boyfriend is a junkie" a blonde girl whispered from behind, making Cassandra wip her head around. How could she possibly know that?
"Not so perfect after all. Are you?"
"How do you know that?" Cassandra's voice came out more quite then she intended it to. Shock and worry feeling her body, she had made sure no one found out anything about Nick, she wasn't ashamed she just wanted one place were people didn't stare at her with pity or disgust or judge her
"Perks of being the daughter of a nurse" the girl snickered "so how does it feel knowing your boyfriend likes drugs more then you"
"Shut up!, you have no idea what your talking about" Cassandra snapped her voice bouncing off the walls, making every pair of eyes in the hall stare at her,
"Are you alright, miss Parker" The teacher asked, a angered tone laced in his voice
"Just fine" Cassandra gritted her teeth, leaving her stuff on the table and walking out of then room, the moment she left the room she started running, her shoes hitting the ground hard. She kept running untill she was out of the building, she couldn't breath, she couldn't come back here now they knew, she couldn't deal with there looks everyday
She ran to her car, looking through her pockets for her keys, taking deep breaths as she struggled to breath. She shook her head as she felt her keys, she knew in her state she shouldn't be driving, she sunk to the ground, pulling her phone out she looked through her contacts and let out a little smile as she pressed Madison's contact 'mother in law' Nick changed it a few months ago, when he was on another one of his 'I'm getting clean kicks' He promised he would marry her once he was clean
The phone rang for couple seconds and then she heard Madison's calming voice
"What's wrong, honey?"
"Maddie, I need you to come get me" Cassandra's voice came out strained because of the tightness of her chest
"Cass?" Madison's worried voice comes through the phone
"I'm o-okay" she ran her hand through her hair, trying to slow her breathing as she heard Madison's voice trying to calm her down through the phone, her legs pulled up to her chest, her back leaning against the cold metal of her car
After a few minutes the sound of wheels screeching to a stop next to her, Madison jumped out of the truck, rushing beside Cassandra pulling the younger girl into her arms
"Breath" she told her, forcing her to look up and into her eyes "cass what happened, this hasn't happened to you since you were younger"
"This girl, she knew about Nick" The brunette whispered. Madison looked down a worried look on her face as she soothingly ran her hand up and down her arms, wondering how she was going to tell Cassandra that Nick ran
Cassandra noticed the change in her face
When she mentioned Nick
"What happened?" Cassandra breathed a bad feeling settling in her stomach
"He ran" Madison answered Truthfully, Cassandra shook her head in disbelief it had only been a couple hours since he promised herself and Alicia he was going to get clean
"He promised" she whispered
"He means it, you know he does" Madison looked down at the girl with pitty
"I know..."
〕〔
MADISON SHOOK CASSANDRA AWAKE, she had fallen asleep in the back of the truck and when she awoke, she looked out the window her eyes widening and images of the night before flashing through her mind as she stared up at the church
"You really think he came back here?" Her soft voice breaking the silence
"'It's our best bet" Travis replied
"This is where he dissappears" Madison's only focus being on the building, Cassandra was sure the same thoughts that ran through her head was running through Madison's
"Stay here. I'll go in" Travis told them both wanting to shield them both from the horrors that we're inside, the horrors that had already scared Cassandra
"You think I'm waiting in the truck?" Madison's Southen account becoming more noticeable as she opened the car door. Travis turned to Cassandra giving her a warning look as her hand rested on the door handle
"If she's going, I'm going" Cassandra told him jumping out of the car, slamming the door cutting off his protest as she jogged over to Madison
Cassandra looked up at the gigantic doors of the entrance that she and Travis's had ran out of the night before. Images of blood staining her mind, as Travis placed a comforting hand on her back she looked up at him a reassuring look in his eyes, she nodded and followed in after the two of them
"Hello" Travis yelled As they entered the church, his flashlight scanning across the room, Cassandra holding her sleeve over her mouth as she held onto her phone using the light as a torch, a slight buzzing echoing in her ear from broken lights
The only other noise being there footsteps.
"There's no bodies" Travis realised "they couldn't just get up and walk away"
"Someone must have cleaned it up" Cassandra muttered her eyes focused on the spot that was covered in blood Madison stepped closer to her, walking past her as she gently placed a hand on her shoulder turning her away from the blood but she couldn't stop looking at it herself
"Don't look" she whispered
"Maddie" Travis warned
"You were right. Something bad happened here" Madison breathed heavily as Cassandra left her side and walked behind Travis, she hated being here
"You said it yourself, bad things happen here all the time" Travis tried to comfort Madison all while keeping a watchful eye on Cassandra who looked pale as a ghost
"Yeah..." Madison breathed "it's a violent place"
Her heels clicked across the wooden floor as she moved further into the church, heading for the stairs, heading to a place Cassandra and Travis had not searched the night before, the two following after the head strong women
"This isn't your fault, Maddie." Travis tried to convince her, it wasn't her fault but as a mother She felt it was, in her mind she failed her son
"It's in the genes" Madison replied as the three of them walked up the stairs, Cassandra being careful not touch anything so she kept her eyes focused on where she was stepping
"Nick's got problems, Alicia doesn't"
"Well, I'm batting 500"
The three of them stopped at the doorway
"He's not here" Travis stated "let's go Maddie" he reached for Madison's shoulders but she shrugged him off
"No"
Cassandra looked around the room, her eye's zoning in on the bed in the middle of the room, the few items around the room that she knew belonged to Nick
"This is where he slept" Madison's voice echoed around the room
Cassandra found herself crouching down beside a pile of clothes, she pulled a shirt of the pile, knowing it belonged to Nick she held it up to her nose taking a deep breath. A smile gracing her face when she smelt him, she hugged it against her chest her eyes finding Madison who was crouched beside his makeshift bed, she watched Madison pull out a book from in-between the sleeping bags
"What is it?" Travis questioned his heart breaking watching the sadness In Madison and Cassandra. The longing they had for Nick to come home,
"It's Nick's" Madison whispered
Cassandra stood brushing off any dust from her jeans, dropping Nick's shirt she walked over to Madison and her eyes were glued to the book she held in her hands, she watched Madison open the book only to find drugs hidden in the pages, Madison groaned throwing it off the book — Cassandra knew she felt sick to her stomach because that was how she was feeling — its one thing knowing what he does its another seeing It
Madison collapsed her emotions getting the better of her, Cassandra stood in the corner silent tears running down her face at seeing his drugs at watching Madison fall apart, Travis running to hold her trying to comfort her in anyway he could but he didn't know how
"Hey, it's okay Madison" he whispered holding onto her "come away now, angel, come away"
Madison collapsed in Travis arms sobbing
"Oh, god"
Cassandra looked at Madison not knowing what to do, Cassandra felt pain but she couldn't even begin to understand what Madison must be feeling, Travis looked at Cassandra and nodded his head towards the door, knowing Madison wouldn't want her to see her like this, Madison always wanted to stay strong for them
Cassandra nodded, she really didn't want to stay in this place longer then she had to, she started to walk away the boards of the old wooden floor creaking under her converses, pushing open the large wooden doors she bolted for the truck once inside she brought her knees to her chest leaning against the back door of the truck, much like the position Madison had found her in earlier
"Where are you Nick" she whispered to herself closing her eyes as she leant her head against the window
Sirens and dog barks blaring outside the car when she heard Travis voice
"Home?" He asked opening the door for Madison
"No, not yet"
As Madison sat down Cassandra wrapped her arms around the blonde leaning her head on her shoulder trying to comfort her
"Let's try Calvin's" Cassandra suggested, both of the adults nodding in agreement, Nick's old friend. Worth a try, right?
〕〔
THE THREE OF THEM PULLED UP OUTSIDE CALVIN'S HOUSE, Cassandra's eyes automatically finding him cleaning out his parents car, the loud noise of the vacuum hurting her ears
"Cal" Madison shouted to get his attention as Cassandra came into his view, he instantly turned off the vacuum, a surprised look on his face as she stood up
"Miss C, Mr Manawa" he greeted before wrapping his arms around Cassandra and pulling her into a hug
"Hey Cass" he whispered as his head rested on top of hers
"Good to see you Cal" she smiled up at him but by the look on her face, he could tell something was up and normally it involves Nick
He moved on to greeting Travis with a handshake and Madison with a hug
"Hey Cal, you look good" Madison told him
"Thank you"
He glanced at Cassandra who was tugging on her Jean Jacket once again, his eyes studying her
"Your looking for Nick?" He directed his words to the Madison but he couldn't tear his eyes away from Cassandra. He only knew her because of Nick but he hated what he put through
"Yeah, he was in an accident" Madison told him making him rip his eyes away from the brunette "cops picked him up, have you seen him?"
"He ran away from the hospital"
"No I haven't seen him in a while" He told them
"Got any ideas where he'd go" Calvin turned his head to Cassandra
"I don't know what I can tell you that she can't"
"But you know as well as I do, he wouldn't hang out where he use to" Cassandra told him, Calvin took note of the red rings around her eyes
"He moved away from us"
"Yeah, yeah" Madison whispered in disappointment
"You want to come in?" He offered "I could make some calls, maybe someone's heard"
"Thank you" Madison expressed moving aside to let Calvin walk past them and towards his house
"Yeah of course, anything for Nick" his eyes meeting Cassandra's as he said the last bit
"Thanks Calvin" Travis patted him on the back, Madison and Cassandra followed him inside, looking around not much had changed from the last time Cassandra was here, when they all use to hang out. She glanced over to the photoframe that held a picture of her, Calvin and Nick in it.
She was aware of the eyes that followed her as he reached for the phone to start trying to track Nick down but they both knew if Nick didn't want to be found, he wouldn't be
She felt her phone buzz, she quickly pulled it out, squinting her eyes in confusion at the unknown number but as she read the text it became clear to her who it was
'I'm safe, don't worry baby. I'm sorry'
She froze at the feeling of her eyes filling with tears but she rubbed them away quickly not wanting anyone to notice, she couldn't do it, she couldn't keep crying over him,
She sighed, telling them both she was going to wait in the truck, she got into the back seat laying down only planning on closing her eyes for a moment but she drifted asleep.
Cassandra woke a few hours later she guesed, noticing the pitch black sky but as she heard Madison and Travis talk she pretend to be asleep not wanting to disturb them and because she was finally hearing Madison's true thoughts
"We're gonna find him" Travis reassured her, the noise of the car rattling filling the silence between Madison's reply
"He doesn't want to be found"
"We'll bring him home"
"Travis, he'd rather sleep in that place then his own bed. He would rather sleep in that place then lay next to the girl who loves him – I don't — I don't know if I want him to come home" she watched Cassandra's sleeping frame in the mirror, sometimes she thinks Cassandra should just move on, be happy. God knows she deserves it. Her loyalty to Nick at only the young age of nineteen is stronger then most old married couples — she deserved to injoy her life while she could.
Cassandra felt pain listening to what Madison was saying, she was right. He would rather live on the streets then be with her and his family. It hurt her.
"'I get it" Travis told the blonde
"You do?" Her face showing her surprise "I don't, what does that make me?"
"Human" Travis told her,
Cassandra shot up hearing Sirens driving past them, she looked out the window noticing a bunch of traffic on the highway
"Weak" Madison replied to Travis
"Your not weak, your far from It" Cassandra told her a strong look on her face as she turned to look at the blonde
"I'm tired, of waiting on the call from the Morgue"
"I'm scared of finding his suicide note" Cassandra sighed taking ahold of Madisons hand she stared at Madison
"And Alicia is Afraid to. We all are but he's still here, if he wanted to go. He would have gone a long time ago" Cassandra tried to comfort her but chosing to say words she didn't really believe herself probably wasn't the smartess idea on her part because Madison could see the doubt in her eyes "it's okay to feel the way you do, to want to give up but we won't"
"That's not gonna happen. We are going to find him and we're gonna get him in rehab" Travis promised the two of them, stopping the truck as they hit the traffic "I'm gonna drag him there if I have to"
Cassandra let out a small laugh of the image of Travis dragging Nick to the doorstep of the rehab
"I will cuff our wrists together and drag his ass. I promise" Travis continued wanting to see Cassandra laugh more after the past two days they have had
More Sirens and helicopters could be heard making Cassandra turn her head to stare out the window, confusion filling her face. She wondered what was going on, she must admit recently there had been more Sirens and more people going missing, she guesed she hadn't taken more notice of it since she's been so worried about Nick — maybe it had something to do with the drugs that Nick took — Cassandra shot her head around hearing Madison and Travis
"Better call Alicia, get her to eat something" Travis told Madison as he realised the traffic wasn't moving
Multiple helicopters flying in there direction there lights blinding Cassandra, so she rubbed her eyes trying to get rid of sting of the light
"Might have been a high-speed gone bad"
"For your safety please remain in your vehicles" an officer announced over a microphone
Travis started to open his door when a police bike flew past them, nearly taking off the car door
"Whoah" Madison shouted
"Travis" Cassandra warned him, her eye's flying open in panic
Both of the adults stood on the frame of the car, trying to get a better look at the scene infront of them
"Can you guys see anything?" Cassandra questioned
"No"
Cassandra could barley hear Travis's reply over all the people shouting and the helicopters and Sirens, it started to cause her a headache so placed her hands over her ears
But nothing could stop her from hearing the gunshots, her eye's flew open and Madison and Travis jumped into the the truck, Travis quickly moving the truck, swerving through the traffic
"We're getting out of here"
Madison placed a comforting hand on Cassandra's knee both of them not being able to to look away from all the cars and police officers — neither of them having a clue on what was happening
〕〔
CASSANDRA SAT OUTSIDE THE SCHOOL, Madison had called Cassandra to come and pick Alicia up, apparently the gunshots they heard last night was police trying to take done one man and he only died with kill shot to the brain. The way its being described the guy sounded feral like how Nick was describing his friend
Alicia jumped in to the passenger seat, her phone in her hand
"I'm worried, Matt's not answering and lots of kids are missing"
"I don't know what's happening Alicia, I wish I did but I'm sure Matt is okay" Cassandra replied pulling away from the school
"You didn't see the video" Alicia said holding up her phone, Cassandra kept glancing between her phone and the road but hearing how many times that man got shot
"That can't be real"
"It is" Alicia replied a worried tone laced in her voice
The news started playing on the radio, the government was telling everyone to stay inside. Cassandra swolled a growing lumb in her throat, she was worried. She had no idea what was going on, she had no idea were Nick was. He could be out there in trouble or dead for all she knew.
After she dropped Alicia home, she got a frantic call from Nick, she sped all the way through LA to get to him, when she pulled up she was straight out of her car, Nick stood infront of her shaking and the moment she touched his arm he crumbled to the ground and she went with him, his head resting on her chest as he cried and all Cassandra could do was hold him, she ran her hands through his hair trying to soothe him
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry" he mumbled over and over again and she just held him closer, she had no idea what could have happened to cause him to react this way
— she pushed away all her hurt and just held him — she didn't questioned him, she didn't push him, he would tell her when he was ready
"It's okay" she whispered after what felt like hours he sat up his body still shaking and lit a cigarette, Cassandra stared at him with a worried look, her hand resting on his thigh
"I shot him" he whispered, her blood ran cold at hearing those words, her skin paled and she felt sick
"Who?" Her shaky voice broke the silence
"Cal...h-he tried to kill me" he faced her resting his hand on her neck and pulling her closer "h-he said it would be better for everyone if I died. Better for you, i-i grabbed the gun and it went off. I didn't mean to, I swear Cass"
"I know. I know" Cassandra whispered she didn't know how she could be so accepting of this. How she did not feel anything different for the man sitting in front of her, people always talk about the instant disgust they felt knowing someone they loved killed someone, that it would be wrong to love them still but this conformed it nothing could ever make her stop loving him
Drugs never made her stop loving him,
Heartbreak never made her stop loving him,
Murder hasn't made her stop loving him,
In a strange way it made her feel safer — she truly knew he would kill for her now.
Nick jumped up upon hearing the honk of a horn
"No, no, no" he mumbled repetitively
"Nick calm down" Cassandra whispered placing her hand on his back
"Nick" Travis's spoke
"Hey, I said not to bring her" Nick stepped forward making Cassandra's hand drop,
"I told you not to bring her"
"Where have you been?" Madison's worried voice spoke out "we've been looking for you"
Nick walked close to Travis, Cassandra grabbed ahold of his hand pulling him back and trying to calm him down
"Travis, I said not to bring her" his broken voice whispered
"Are you all right?" Madison's questioned her gaze switching to Cassandra's "is he alright?" Cassandra shook her head no as she held onto his hand which he kept a tight hold on as if it was his lifeline
"I know. We've all been looking for you"
Nick pulled Travis closer to himself and Cassandra
"I did—I did something" Nick whispered "I did a bad thing"
"It's okay, just get in the truck Nick"
"What are you talking about?"
Travis and Madison's voice bluring together as Travis tried to pull Nick towards the truck making Nick's hand fall from Cassandra's who was rooted in her place
"Just shut up. Both of you" Cassandra snapped, making them freeze and turn to the girl who doesn't normally shout especially at adults but the moment she did her confidence dropped
"J-just let him speak" Cassandra muttered Nick taking a step back infront of Cassandra and reaching his hand out behind him for her to grab
"Nicky, what happened" Madison asked her gazed locked on the couple
"He pulled a gun on me" his voice full of emotion
"Who?"
"What"
"He pulled a gun on me and he tried to kill me" Nick repeated " I wanted to know what was in, what was in the shit he gave me, you know"
Cassandra's eyes widened at the realisation that Cal gave Nick the drugs, he's been feeding his addiction
"What are you talking about Nick?" Travis asked
"Calvin. I shot Calvin" Nick told them " I shot Calvin, I killed Calvin"
Travis and Madison stepped back in shock, Nick falling backwards into Cassandra as she held onto his arm
"Where's Calvin" Madison asked "where!, NICK!, where? What are you talking about?"
"Just.." Nick pointed down the tunnel gesturing to where he left his body
They drove the car down to where Nick said it happened, Nick's head rested on Cassandra's shoulder as she ran her fingers through his hair
"It's my fault. Calvin must have gone looking for him" Madison started
Nick grabbed her other hand and started tracing little patterns on It, the sound of the gunshot still ringing in his ears
"We don't know what we're dealing with here, Maddie" Travis gripped the steering wheel "we don't know"
"I do"
"Whatever happened, it was self-defense, okay?" Travis tried to reassure everyone
"Self–defense"
Travis parked the car as they came to the opening, all four of them getting out of the car Cassandra could already see Cals car, but Nick ran past her as Madison started to shout for Calvin
"He was here" Nick kept repeating pointing at the car the other three following after him
"Nick" Cassandra called out after him
As she followed him to the car, Madison called after him to
Cassandra held her hand over her chest, her heart breaking at the sight of Nick falling apart in front of her
"No, no, he was here" he shouted "he was here, he was here" Nick cried
Nick started searching around and under the car for him
"There's nobody there baby, there's nobody" Madison tried to reason with him as Travis searched the car, Cassandra scanned the area for any trace of Calvin or evidence that what he was saying is true. Any chance that Cal had gotten up and walked away
"Let's call Calvin and found out what's going on" Travis advised
Nick started to freak out, everything in his mind was telling him he was insane. Cassandra and Madison both trying to calm him down but he kept pushing them away untill he fell to the ground loud crys falling from his mouth as Madison held him, his body shaking from the sobs
Cassandra ran to them when she saw Madison trying to get him up, they both pulled Nick up by his arms
"It doesn't make any sense" Nick whispered , desperation in his voice
"I know, baby" Cassandra whispered helping him into the car, Nick sat In the truck a death grip on Cassandra's hand, the only thing letting him know that everything was real, her touch.
"maybe I am insane" he whispered his eyes locking with Cassandra's
"Your not" Cassandra whispered placing a kiss on the side of his lips " baby, your not"
Travis started reversing the car, when a figure appeared behind them
"Holy shit" Travis whispered
"Oh, my god" Madison spoke opening the passenger door
"Stay here, don't move" Travis ordered the two as he followed Madison
Both of the nineteen year olds wipped there heads around only to be faced with there old friend, Nick's hand tightened around Cassandra's
"No, no, no, no Mom!' Nick shouted confusing Cassandra as he banged on the glass, sliding it open "he will kill you, Mom!"
Nick jumped over Cassandra as she screamed
"He's attacking them!"
Nick flicked the key turning the engine on and before Cassandra could even blink he had stepped full speed on the peddle reversing into Cal — Cassandra fell forward hitting her head on the back of the truck she was sure it would cause a concussion but that didn't matter right now, what matter was how the hell was Cal still standing after a gunshot wound to the heart let alone attacking Madison and Travis
Cassandra held onto the door as Nick hit Cal, his eyes meeting hers a concerned look on his face and then she felt it – the blood dripping down from where she hit her head
he reached his hand out about to wipe the blood away but then they heard a faint growl coming from under the truck both of them turning to see Cal standing up again
"How the hell?" Cassandra whispered it was just like the video Alicia had shown her, when the man only went down with a kill shot.....to the head
"The head Nick" she told him
"What!" He exclaimed
"The head, hit his head"
Cassandra held onto the door steadying herself as she watched Nick's face turn from panic to anger and his foot hit the peddle driving them straight into Cal, his body flying out into the opening as the breaks screech coming to a stop
Nick and Cass both sat there there breathing heavy, but Nick snapped out of his shock quicker then Cassandra, his worry for her taking over now that they were safe. He leant over her, bringing his hands to her face he wiped the blood away with his sleeve as he stared into her eyes, seeing all the worry and pain in them. He knew he was half of it and he couldn't fix it but he could fix the other half. He wrapped his arms around her, the brunette girl hid her face in his neck as he held her tight — he never wanted to let her go and she didn't want him to either, she felt safe. The kind of safe she only felt in his arms.
Nick and Cassandra pulled apart, stumbling out of the car, Nick ran to her side holding her up by the waist incase she was dizzy and helped her walk to the edge
"God" Travis mumbled as they stared at Cals body, that was still moving, they couldn't take there eyes off of him
"What the hell is happening?" Madison asked
"I have no idea" Travis spoke
"'The end of the goddam world" Cassandra answered as she leant against Nick feeling herself becoming lightheaded