☂︎︎ HOUSE OF SHADOWS ☂︎︎ - five hargreeves

* 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚁𝚞𝚗𝚊𝚠𝚊𝚢 *

[014]
- ☾ '☂︎︎' ☽ -

December 6, 2006

           Cassidy roughly shoved the last remaining clothes from her closet into her bag. Her bathroom was empty, the pictures were taken off the walls; any remnants that a sixteen year old girl lived in the room were gone. If anything, it looked like a guest bedroom. The only thing that would have given her away were the multiple sets of identical uniforms hung up in the otherwise bare closet. It was the only thing Cassidy left behind; she'd always hated the scratchy vests and always-too-long socks that she and her siblings were forced to wear.

           Every Hargreeves child was given seven uniforms, one for every day of the week. There were only six in Cassidy's closet. Grace could not wash out the crimson blood that splattered the majority of her last uniform, so she was sewing her a new one. But Cassidy would not be there to wear it.

           She snatched the blue and black hoodie off of her bed and threw it on; it had been a Christmas present from Ben a year ago. It was one of the last things she had to remember him by. Cassidy scanned her bare room as she tied her shoes, finally giving it one last look before turning off the lights and quietly shutting the door.

           It was dark in the hallway and Cassidy was careful to avoid certain floorboards that had the tendency to be unnecessarily loud in the wee hours of the night. As she crept past her sibling's rooms, she slipped an envelope underneath each of their doors. She'd written a letter explaining her disappearance to everyone except three of her siblings. Five was gone, and there was little chance he would come back; Luther would rat her out in a heartbeat as soon as the letter passed under his nose; and Ben was dead.

           As she passed Five's room, she blew onto the hanging number on his door and a cloud of dust flew into the air. Reginald had forbidden anyone to enter his room and proceeded to lock it shut to further ensure this. He'd done the same with Ben's room shortly after his death, but not before Klaus and Cassidy raided it of some of his clothes. It had been locked before they got a chance to retrieve anything else.

           Cassidy patted Ben's door fondly as she passed it. Once again, another brother was taken from the family, and yet again, she'd taken the blame. But this was not the full reason she'd decided to leave. . . .

           "Cassy?"

           She turned around, to see Klaus standing meekly in his bedroom doorway. The blanket he wore slipped off of his shoulder as he shuffled towards his sister. In the dim light of the hallway, Cassidy could make out the redness that bordered his puffy eyes along with the glittery shine of his lashes that only tears could produce.