Before Her Eyes (Constance Langdon x OC)

Time For Herself

Cassandra's night had been terrible. While Nora kept her promise about Thaddeus not waking her, if she was even still in the other room, she wouldn't have slept a wink anyhow. Not after the nightmare. It felt so real, just like it was happening all over again.

Her phone rang. She picked it up to see the time on the clock was 4:44. No one should have been calling her at this hour, but she answered anyway. "Miss Reagan," the officer asked over the phone.

"Speaking," Cassandra replied, wiping the sleep away from her eyes. "What's going on," she asked.

"I'd really like to speak to you in person," the officer said.

"Why, what's wrong? Did something happen?" Cassandra was wide awake now, her anxiety flaring and giving her a rush of adrenaline.

"There's been an incident, Miss Reagan. Again, I really feel like you should come in so I could speak to you in person."

"Just tell me," Cassandra demanded, raising her voice. It was if her body knew what was coming.

"Your family has just been found dead in their home. I'm terribly sorry."

Cassandra dropped her phone in shock at the news. She froze, hardly even blinking as she half listened to the officer's voice still coming from the dropped phone. She couldn't go to the scene, but she felt compelled to anyhow. They'd probably already considered her as a suspect. She'd have to come in to the station to get the rest of the information. She later learned that the officer who'd called her had been a rookie, and that he'd been reprimanded for calling her at all. He'd found her number on the fridge. It was her new one that she had just given her mother the previous week.

She came into the station to be questioned, and that was the moment she'd first seen the crime scene photos. At seeing them, she screamed and cried until she made herself sick. It wasn't real to her until then. It was no more than a plot to one of the horror movies she'd loved so much. It was worse than any horror movie, seeing her family like that. More blood and body parts than they were human anymore. The murders were visceral, inhuman, and Cassandra immediately suspected something supernatural was to blame.

She woke up feeling nauseous and was restless for most of the night after that. She maybe managed to get in about four hours, mostly before the dream, but that was nowhere near enough. At least she didn't look as tired as she felt. She splashed some water on her face in the bathroom and took another look in the mirror. Time to start a new day whether she liked it or not.

She was going to take a day off from everything. She had an article to turn in the following day, but she'd gotten most of it done already, the rest could wait until she was able to stay awake enough to finish and proofread. Today was going to be about resting and refueling and figuring out where to direct her search next. She wandered downstairs and out to the kitchen where she caught sight of Constance's note from yesterday. Bleary eyed, she picked it up and read it over again. Brownies sounded like the perfect way to start her morning and put her nightmare behind her. She didn't put in a lot of effort to get dressed. She had put on a slightly oversized grey cardigan, a white tank top and black leggings before she came downstairs. No reason that wasn't good enough.

Cassandra headed outside and made her way to Constance's house next door. She breathed in deeply, hoping her lack of rest wouldn't show on her face, then she knocked. She waited only half a minute before Constance came to the door. She still had her hair down and was dressed in a gorgeous silk robe. What time was it, Cassandra wondered. Had she come too early? "Cassandra, come on in. I hadn't expected you so early." The two of them walked into Constance's kitchen and Constance gestured for Cassandra to take a seat.