No, not her grandmother, the body lay under that sheet.
Cassie shuddered, her fingers dug into the flesh of her arms as she hugged herself tightly. A fierce shaking took hold of her. The man moved forward, glancing briefly back at Cassie before he pulled the sheet slowly back. Chris gasped before turning slightly away. Cassie stood unmoving, her gaze latched onto the side of her grandmothers face. She had been so pretty, so full of life and cheer and love. Now, her delicate features were marred by bruises, and a large bump had formed in the center of her forehead. Scratches and cuts marred what had once been smooth porcelain skin, but that skin was now tinted a bluish gray color. Even her lips had been leached of color and were nearly as white as the walls surrounding them.
It was only a body, Cassie told herself repeatedly. Her grandmother was free now; her spirit was keeping company with the ghosts that she had spoken to in life. Though Cassie tried to convince herself of this, she found no comfort in the words. No solace in the fact that her grandmother was free. She was certain she would never find solace again in the cruel world they resided in.
Though she didn’t want to go any closer to the body, she knew that she must. Moving stiffly forward she paused next to the metal table her grandmother lay upon. For a moment Cassie expected her eyes to snap open, a bright smile to spread across her face as she launched up and yelled surprise. Though it would scare the hell out of her, Cassie found that she wanted nothing more than exactly that to happen.
But as she stood there, staring down at her grandmother’s prone form, she began to realize she would never see her grandmother’s sky colored eyes again. For a brief moment, pain blazed forth again, tears burned her eyes and the hard lump in her throat made it difficult to breathe. With trembling fingers, Cassie reached forward and lightly touched her grandmother’s cheek. Her skin was cold, hard, unyielding. Cassie nearly buckled; nearly fell to the floor as agony swamped her. It was sheer strength of will that kept her standing, kept her breathing.
Ever so slowly, she brushed back her grandmother’s strawberry blond hair. Two jagged tears marked her grandmother’s neck, wounds that could easily be explained by the accident. But Cassie was not fooled into thinking that was what had caused them. No, she knew exactly what monster had put those marks upon her grandmother.
Her hands clenched upon the table, fury and horror suffused her. Rage encompassed her, boiling through her with the force of molten lava, burning away everything that she was, everything that she had ever been. The lava boiled and poured through her, leaving only smoldering ashes in place of the person she had once been.
CHAPTER 21
Devon stood helplessly by, wishing that he could do something for her, but knowing that this was something she had to do on her own. Something that she had to come to terms with in her own way. Unfortunately, her way seemed to be the hardest way possible, and there was nothing he could do to stop it.
Cassie’s hands shook as she pushed aside her grandmother’s hair, her pain and anguish beat against him in rolling waves that made it difficult for him to think. Chris was deathly pale; even his lips were white as he watched Cassie with wide, pain filled eyes. Though Devon could sense Cassie’s pain, Chris seemed to be swamped inside of it, unable to escape from the emotions she emitted in waves. Her pain was so intense that Chris could not turn his telepathic ability off against it.
Chris met Devon’s gaze briefly, his sapphire eyes shimmered with unshed tears. He had also lost someone that he loved deeply. He had lost the woman that had helped to raise him, a woman that had loved him when his own mother couldn’t, or wouldn’t. Devon turned slowly back to Cassie. She was standing stiffly, her eyes locked on the condemning marks on her grandmother’s neck.
Devon’s eyes widened, his skin came alive with the tingling waves of fury and hatred that blasted from her. Chris took an involuntary step back, his head bowed beneath the force of the emotions battering against him. “Cassie,” Devon said gently, frightened by the anger blazing from her.
This was Cassie, his Cassie. Sweet, innocent, and so achingly lovely and loving. She didn’t know how to hate. Or at least she hadn’t before this moment. But now he could feel that hate blazing against him, feel the rage that suffused her, leaving her shaken and shattered. Her head bent, her golden hair cascaded forward as she inhaled shakily. Her slender back heaved slightly with the force of her breaths.
Though she did not want his comfort, he no longer cared. She was going to get it. He could not leave her alone to face this, could not leave her broken and torn. Striding purposely forward, he rested his hands on her shoulders, wanting nothing more than to pull her close and help to ease the feelings blasting from her.
She stood stiffly for a moment, the small tremor in her body reaching him. Then, she turned suddenly, pulling free of him as she spun wildly. “Don’t touch me!” she snapped, her eyes narrowing furiously. Her hands fisted at her sides as she glared at him with fierce loathing.
Devon stood stiffly, shock tearing through him. Though her reaction stunned him, it was what he had seen in her eyes that left him immobile and terrified. “Don’t you ever touch me again! This… this is your fault!”
Dismay tore through him; instinctively he took a step toward her. He wanted to console her, wanted to make this even a small bit better if he could. He also needed to protect her from what he was beginning to fear may lurk inside of her. Something he had been trying to deny about her, but now realized that it was very likely true.
Her eyes narrowed even more. “Stay away from me.” Her voice broke, her body trembled fiercely. “You helped create that monster. You brought him here. He’s here because of you! Not us, but you! He killed her, and it’s your fault!”
Devon felt as if he had been punched, hard. Terror and anguish tore through him. She had forgiven him for so many things, loved him through them all, but this…
Well this had been the final straw. She had been broken; there was no more forgiveness in her. Her beautiful azure, amethyst eyes were bright with anger, gleaming with it. Her small hands were fisted at her sides, her shoulders shook.
Though it no longer beat, he could feel his heart shattering, could feel the darkness swamping up, trying to consume him. Without her, he was nothing. Without her, his life meant nothing. He could feel the monster inside of him turning, twisting to break free, trying to use this as its opportunity to take control once more and return to its killing, wanton ways. Return to slaughtering innocents in its quest to satisfy its unending thirst.