Before Her Eyes (Constance Langdon x OC)

Homes Old And New

Constance had come right over, finding Cassandra sitting on the stairs, face and clothes splattered with blood. If Cassandra hadn't just killed a man, she may have taken more notice of how genuinely unfazed Constance had seemed about the whole ordeal. She'd come with several jugs of bleach, which she sat on the floor nearby.

Cassandra, her eyes fixed on Phineas' body, was completely zoned out. Only when Constance had put a hand under her chin, tilting her head to look at her did she realize she'd even come in. "I would kill or die for you," she said, letting Cassandra know that she was in this just as much as she was. "Now let's clean this up."

After a long night of digging and scrubbing, Cassandra had explained everything to Constance over a cup of coffee the following morning. She'd been remarkably levelheaded through the whole thing. Almost as if she'd done it before in some other life. She shuddered at the thought. She'd stayed at Constance's house the night of the incident, and every subsequent night after. She moved in, really. All of her stuff made its way over, and Simon had made himself right at home that very first night.

Cassandra had frequent nightmares that first week at Constance's, and sporadic ones thereafter, but over time, the trauma, and the memory began to fade. It would never completely leave her, but it was almost as if someone else had done it, and she had only watched it on a screen. That was not that case, of course, and no matter how much she was able to distance herself from the event, she'd always know the truth of it all. He'd killed her family, and she had killed him in turn for it.

After the first and second months had gone by, she was back to what passed as normal most days. She got back to work on her articles. She spent time with Simon and Constance. She laughed again, smiled, ate three square meals a day. She was doing well, thriving even, considering. She knew she would have let the house take her had she stayed there alone all this time. It would have swallowed her up just like it had to all its previous owners. Without Constance, she'd be just another buried body.

It was now three months later, and Phineas Black's body had been long taken care of, buried in the backyard under the cover of night. He was the latest addition to the numerous other unfortunate souls that the house had claimed over the decades. And it was nearing the anniversary of her family's murder. Seven years it will be this year. It took her seven years to get the answer she'd so desperately longed for. Seven years before she could have any closure and truly feel like her family could be at peace.

She'd always visited their graves on that fateful day, it had become a tradition of hers, and she always said that one year, she'd come with answers. It was about time she finally came through on that promise. Never had she been so far from home though. She'd always walked to the cemetery from her apartment. Now she was on the opposite side of the country. She brought up the subject to Constance, about going to visit. "Let me come with you," Constance had offered.

"Would you," Cassandra asked. She'd always gone alone before, but this time was different. It would be nice to have Constance come with her.

"I could have us packed and ready to go tomorrow," she said, her warm smile was a great comfort to Cassandra right about now. "I'll take care of everything," Constance continued. And she kept her word. She booked the flight, found a hotel, and did, by far, most of the packing.

Cassandra felt odd going back to Massachusetts. Back home, though she supposed it wasn't exactly home anymore. Her home was with Constance. If she'd been asked a year ago if she'd ever consider California her home, she would have laughed, or scoffed, or called the notion preposterous. Not anymore. Not after everything. Somehow, it felt as if she was meant to go there. To live in that house full of ghosts and meet Constance, to give the house its next victim, but not be one herself. Fate or chance, she came out of it alive, with answers, and with a sense of peace.

Constance rented them a car, though Cassandra insisted on driving because she knew the area better. It was hard to hold back the tears as she drove. A lot of emotions were hitting her at once. Grief for her family. She'd never had much of a chance to grieve them properly, not when she didn't know what, no, who, killed them. The tears were also happiness, relief. She was free. Free of the burden of not knowing. Free of the man who'd deceived her for years, making her near crazy searching for something that was right there in plain sight. Finally, after having driven most of the way on autopilot, they were there.

Cassandra parked and got out of the car, walking down the long gravel pathway to her family's graves. Constance followed suit, but kept her pace a few steps behind Cassandra's. This was the first time she had ever brought anyone else with her, not even Simon had been given this privilege. He was currently resting in the middle of the hotel's king sized bed. This was the first time for a lot of things, actually. The first time she visited and actually had answers. The first time she could stand in front of the graves without feeling like a failure. She knew what killed them, or rather who, she reminded herself again, and she'd been able to exact her revenge on the man. "You can rest now," she said, her voice somber and quiet. "All of you." A tear fell from her cheek and hit the cool, hard ground as Cassandra bent over to place the rose on her sister's grave. It wasn't just for her now, but for all of them. Her mom, her dad, Emily and even herself. There'd be no more sleepless nights endlessly researching, no more figurative monsters to chase. It was all over. She could go home, live her life for herself now. Perhaps she'd get a job teaching history at a local university. Learn to cook more than three different meals. Maybe even ask Constance to marry her.