Chapter Five: Horrors of Past and Present

Unknown POV.

I could tell she sensed something was wrong.

The way her back tensed and fists clenched, eyes rapidly searching the living room for an unknown presence, made her paranoia evident. Her blue eyes scanned every nook and cranny, not missing anything regardless of her anxiousness.

It was peculiar how she chose this exact day and location to get out of the house; as if God had gifted us with the perfect opportunity for the plan.

I had to admit she looked different in her black jeans and hoodie. Even the colours were nothing like her usually vibrant yet arrogant personality. It was weird to see her change so drastically, but I presumed such a thing was bound to happen after her father's death.

Antonin Carlone was terrible at many things, but fatherhood wasn't one of them. He had been a great parent; some might argue he was too good to his daughters. His death was the perfect opportunity for the next phase, with Cassidy emotionally and mentally weakened she wouldn't put up too much of a fight.

Then why did her steel-like gaze make me second guess our plan for the first time in a long time?

"Is she there yet?"

His sudden voice startled me as I turned my gaze away from Cassidy's form, walking away from the first floor's bannister to instead lean against the owner's bedroom door.

"No. She's still on the couch."

A scoff came through the phone as he shuffled for a while, finally muttering a simple instruction before cutting the call.

We hadn't predicted she would stick with the crowd. but had planned for it nonetheless.

It seemed she required a boost of paranoia to get the ball rolling, and we had the perfect method. I casually loosened my bandana as I walked past the bannister and downstairs, attempting to blend in with the thin crowd as I made my way to the kitchen.

A short Indian girl leaned against the platform as she quickly typed on her phone, subconsciously mouthing along to the words.

"Tanya, right?"

Her head jolted up as she finally noticed my presence, defensively closing her phone while nodding.

"Could you give this to Cassidy?"

Scepticism was evident in her expression as she leaned further into the counter, giving me an intimidating glare.

"What is it?"

I shrugged, acting as nonchalant as possible while replying.

"A letter."

She scoffed and rolled her eyes, this time not hiding her hesitance.

"Of course, it is. I'm asking what's it for?"

The short girl was certainly getting on my nerves with her continuous questions, but I couldn't do much except reply with fraudulent politeness.

"It's private. I can't give it to her in person because I don't want her to know it's me."

Her mocha eyes narrowed in contemplation before immediately widening, a tight smile replacing her frown.

"Sure."

I sighed as she walked away, fishing out my phone and dialling his number.

"She got it and she'll be out soon. Get ready."

A laugh resonated along the road as hot tears trailed down her rosy cheeks.

Cassidy knew going to that stupid party was a mistake, yet her regret couldn't change her fate. She probably longed to lie in bed and fall asleep to her cat's purrs, but first, she had to deal with the psycho chasing her.

He was fast, I would give him that, but she seemed to know she was faster. Her constant rounds of skating during the day seemed to increase her speed, so much so she was like a strand of light, shifting through the land undisturbed and uncatchable.

But he was the wind, barrelling through everything in his path, breaking down anything that dared defy him, and Cassidy was the paragon of disobedience at that point.

The wild goose chase had been on ever since they saw each other on the house's porch, bright yellow fairy lights being the only source of light as she raced away the moment their eyes met.

Cassidy had been smarter than we anticipated, running through the house the second my accomplice approached her from behind. It wasn't natural for someone to run like that, but the note left by Tanya had ensured she knew we were there.

Unfortunately, she had gone through a series of mistakes to put her in such a predicament, mistakes that if avoided could have possibly resulted in her freedom. Her first mistake was to think he was the only one over there, that he had no partner.

It was understandable, after all, I was used to being the one lurking in the dark during our little operations. It was more enticing to watch from the sidelines than to take part in the action as if I were witnessing a live film.

The second mistake, while not as obvious as the first, was to run into the forest. Cassidy might've been faster, but we were smarter and more experienced in this territory.

It's said a determined man can accomplish anything he puts his mind to, and she had been on our minds for quite some time. He finally seemed to catch onto her as they turned deeper into the forest, an evil glint in his eyes as she nearly tripped over a stray root.

Her scream echoed around us as he yanked her back by her leg, a crack resonating across the road as her knee strained. Cassidy attempted shaking off his hand, but he was done playing games as he stepped on her ankle, eliciting another blood-curling scream.

Normally her boots would have served as a shield but his Dr Martins and brute strength were enough to ensure her ankle was broken. That wasn't a smart move on his end, and simply added more collateral damage we needed to take care of. How were we supposed to fix her ankle and knee without outside help?

The skater cried and flipped over, pleading for mercy for the first time as she stared at the boy clad in the shadows.

"Please, leave me alone! I don't want to play your sick games!"

The last sentence was a screech resonating around them both as he dragged her towards a tree.

He had chased her towards the forest side, a place people rarely visited due to the ghost and murder stories surrounding it. I was to wait in the car a road away from the party and follow them before intercepting her path when it was time.

Cassidy had been naïve enough to think she'd lose him in the sparse trees and not get lost due to her family going on camping trips there a few years back.

We had, of course, done our research.

I sighed as I got down from the car, shuffling my hand through my blonde waves and walking over to them. Phase two was finally put into motion. Hopefully, she wouldn't find my bandana suspicious.

"Help, please!"

Cassidy muttered around the cloth he was forcing upon her mouth. Just as planned he turned towards me and let go of her, a smirk gracing his lips as I feigned a glare.

"Let go of her."

"Or what?"

"Or I'll call the cops, and trust me, you don't want that."

Thankfully, I held back a reaction to the cliche line.

He dropped the chloroform and advanced towards me, his brown leather jacket swaying along with the leaves in the cool forest air. He played along for a minute, telling me to leave and forget I saw Cassidy before punching me lightly when I declined his offer.

We put on a show, him and I, tossing around on the forest floor, and throwing punches with no force. His jacket was strewn over a high branch to ensure it wasn't damaged while also allowing him more movement, I, on the other hand, preferred to leave my hoodie on.

Finally, after minutes of the fake brawl, I knocked him out with a punch to the head and turned towards Cassidy, realizing her wary position on the ground made her look akin to a deer caught in headlights.

After a bit of convincing, she finally agreed on allowing me to drop her home, not realizing the path we were taking would lead her to the one place she wanted to avoid.

With my arm around her shoulder, we walked to the car, her scepticism evident as I set her down into the passenger seat. Just as planned I got into the driver's seat and offered her a water bottle, subtly locking the car doors as she gazed at me hesitantly,

"Would you like some water, you seem parched."

After a moment she nodded and accepted the plastic bottle with a whispered thank you, downing half of it in one go.

The drug seemed to work its magic, making her pass out in less than no time.

Finally, my partner decided to lift his head off the ground and throw me a questioning gaze, receiving a nod as confirmation. He stood up and approached the car, stopping to retrieve his precious jacket before getting into the back.

A hand approached Cassidy's forehead, brushing away stray brunette strands as she unwillingly dozed off.

"She looks prettier when she isn't screaming her head off."

Math had always been a hard subject for me, the numbers and various topics jumbling up into one big numerical monstrosity, but usually, I would have a calm mind while working out each problem.

Today my mind just happened to be the complete opposite of calm, for an uninvited guest had taken up a seat in the second row of the classroom, her head ducked down as she continued scribbling onto her notebook. I looked up from my textbook, glaring holes into her brunette little head.

Out of all the schools on this side of town, it was annoying how she chose Briston High, yet there wasn't much I could do about it except grumble softly.

Just as I decided to turn back to my work, I felt someone's gaze on my back and turned to see Cameron's eyes flitting between Cassidy and me. Finally, his hazel eyes settled onto my form with a questioning look. I gave him a shrug and turned around to the front, sighing as my phone vibrated in my pocket.

Usually, I wouldn't have bothered checking it, thinking it was some app notification, but with Cassidy over here, I knew he would be there too, drawn to her like a moth to a flame.

A glance towards the classroom window overlooking the football field confirmed my suspicions.

His grey Maserati looked peculiarly out of place parked underneath the oak trees. I knew the text was from him even before I glanced at the notification, however, how he managed to glare and type simultaneously was beyond me.

I didn't bother reading the whole text, I already knew what he wanted from me; it was the same as always.

The bell rang as my phone vibrated once more, painting in annoyance as I turned towards the boy beside me.

"Hey, I'll meet you after school. I need to do something really quickly."

Without bothering to look back at his reply, I walked out of the classroom and towards the emergency stairs.

I waited on the second-floor landing, scrolling through various apps to try and seem busy. Finally, when I was sure everyone had left for their classes, I opened the steel door and walked into the science hallway.

The hall was decorated with various posters regarding different experiments and projects, a gold frame emphasising the science fair's winner placed amidst the posters. I didn't have time to stray and stare at the decorations, for my time frame was small and diminishing by the second.

I took a quick left and quickly skimmed past the math hallway before turning to the right and proceeding down an empty corridor.

I stopped as a blue wooden door came into my view, its top painted in clouds supposed to look welcoming. A bronze plaque fading at the edges informed passer-byes that the room beyond was the school counsellor's office.

The door was barely an obstacle to surpass, but the time certainly was.

Ms Bell was known for taking a snack break after every lesson, but if I didn't work fast, she would catch me. I could pretend to need counselling, but even that wasn't a valid reason why I was inside her locked office, using a teacher's equipment.

Overhanging lights brought a subtle warmth to the room, the various pieces of furniture and objects painted a slight orange by the warm bulbs.

A money plant sat towards the right corner of the room, its leaves extending towards a white shelf adorned with certificates and picture frames. Beside the shelf, a brown, wooden bookshelf was filled with various therapeutic books, the contrasting colours making the bland shelf lively.

Opposite the bookshelf was a set of armchairs, a table and a couch; each of them following the brown and white theme of the decorations. The table held a vase filled with assorted roses, the wilted petals indicating their lengthy time in the blue vase.

But that wasn't what I was focused on, no my gaze was drawn to the centre of the room, which was occupied by a large, white desk its top cluttered with loose sheets of paper and files over Miss Bell's patients.

I had the brief urge to sort through the file cabinet behind the desk in search of a certain Carlone's papers but refrained from doing so due to the receding time span available. Instead, my blue eyes turned back to the impossibly messy desk, a printer, scanner and stapler sitting in the middle of various decorative sheets.

I plugged in the grey printer, a green light blinking on the right corner as a mechanical buzz sifted through the air. My right arm reached into my backpack thrown onto Miss Bell's swirly chair, retrieving my laptop and quickly typing in the password.

Thankfully I hadn't deleted the note's format and quickly shifted the cursor to the folders on the desktop, clicking through two folders and hovering over the note. My fingers danced over the keyboard as I gave his text message a once over, copying out the cynical words before deleting the message and any sign of the note.

With a click the printer whizzed awake, producing my desired slip of paper in a few seconds. The room was left empty in a matter of minutes, and young Miss Carlone's locker was full a little while later.

Skip the last lesson, we're going for a ride, you'll be back in time.

A sigh escaped my lips as I glanced down at the text, walking towards my locker and pulling a black hoodie over my head, ruffling my blonde hair, and dashing out the school's building. I gave Briston High a once over before slipping into the passenger seat of his Maserati, glancing at the tattooed palm resting on the gear shift.

"For her sake, I sincerely hope she's ready."

His greeting wasn't one I appreciated, but I replied nonetheless.

"I don't think anyone can be ready for what you have planned, it's not really something a normal teenager dwells over."

His hickory eyes met my blue ones as his lips tugged into a smirk while replying.

"I guess she's not normal then."