The Stories of Latia, Vol. 2: Demon's Curse

Chapter 20: Lost in the Darkness

Chapter 20: Lost in the Darkness

The Narrator

"There... There must be something we can do," Alex softly cries from beside Jayme. He has his arm wrapped around Alex in an attempt to comfort them, which isn't really working.

"There isn't. We tried everything we could," Cassidy replies, her voice hollow with defeat and her eyes still fixed on the desk in front of her.

They all returned to their silence, the only noise being Alex, quietly sobbing into Jayme's shoulder and the soft sound of Jayme rubbing their back comfortingly.

"Do you two want the room?" James asks, breaking the silence when he notices that Cassidy and Avery haven't even looked at each other since they came in. Cassidy silently nods after a couple seconds, unable to find her words.

James gets up from his seat at the table and steps out onto the front porch, while Jayme helps Alex out the back door. Avery finally looks over to face Cassidy the second the door closes behind them.

"Cass, I..." Avery starts, but the moment she meets Cassidy's eyes, she breaks.

Her head comes crashing down onto her knees and her eyes quickly become waterfalls of salty tears.

Cassidy gets up from her chair, joining Avery on the floor as she continues to sob.

"I know," Cassidy whispers, rubbing Avery's back, trying to comfort her.

"You're... I don't... I don't think I can do this without you," Avery mutters through her tears. "I... I don't know who I am w-without you."

"Sure you do. You're Mrs. Avery-Fucking-Locke. You're the badass-bisexual-gunslinger. You don't need me to tell you that." Avery takes a break from her tears to laugh a little.

"But... But I want you to tell me that," Avery whispers, trying to hide the desperation in her voice. "I just wish we had the rest of our lives for you to tell me that."

"I know. Me too."

"And I'm not a mrs. We're not married yet," Avery adds.

"Yet. We could be..." Cassidy slides her hand up Avery's leg, entwining it with her hand when she reaches where they're rested on her knees. Avery finally lifts her head up and smiles a crooked smile at Cassidy.

"Come on." Cassidy stands, helping Avery to her feet.

They walk to the middle of the room, facing each other the whole way and holding each other's hands as tightly as possible.

Cassidy releases one of her hands to reach into her back pocket, pulling out two black wedding bands, wrapped in gorgeous, golden engravings.

"When did you...?" Avery starts, as Cassidy hands her one and she examines it more closely.

"I had these made... The day after the Two fiasco was over," Cassidy replies, trying hard to recall the exact date.

"They're gorgeous," Avery mutters, still in awe at the ring she was holding.

Cassidy clears her throat. "Do you, Avery, take Cassidy as your lawfully wedded wife?" She asks, in a fake, deep voice.

Avery looks up from the ring to meet Cassidy's gaze, both of their eyes filled with tears, but not ones of sadness like before. "I do."

'And do you-" Cassidy starts again in the same fake voice.

"Wait! I have vows, actually," Avery interrupts, pulling a little blue note card from her back pocket.

"Oh." Cassidy can't help but smile a wide smile while Avery unfolds the note card.

She clears her throat and takes a deep, shuddering breath. "Cassidy. Before I met you, I felt... lost. I was trapped, traversing the darkness of our world without any indication of where to go or what to do. But, when I met you... you became my only light in that darkness. You allowed me to see, and to realize there is more to life than just the darkness. I love you with all my heart, and I look forward to never needing to be lost in the darkness again."

Avery looks up from the note card, meeting Cassidy's loving, tearfilled gaze once again. When she did, Avery started crying, too, but not ones of joy this time.

"Ave..." Cassidy whispers, trying to wrap her arms around her, but Avery pushes her away. She crumbles back to the floor, returning to the fetal position she was sitting in before.

"I... I-I can't do this," Avery chokes between gasping sobs.

"I know. It's not fair that this had to happen to you." Cassidy takes a seat beside her again. "It's all my fault, and I am so, so sorry. I should've never come here that day..."

Avery lifts her head off the knees, wiping away her tears. "No, no, don't do that. Y-You needed help and I helped you... You needed love and I loved you."

"It's just... When you came here for the first time... I never in a million years would've guessed what you'd mean to me."

Cassidy wraps her arms around Avery, who leans her head against her shoulder, her knees still tight to her chest.

"And do you, Cassidy, take Avery as your lawfully wedded wife?" Avery interrupts their peaceful silence, using the same deep, announcer voice Cassidy used while sliding the ring she had onto her finger.

Cassidy softly chuckles, tilting her head to meet Avery's eyes. "I do."

"Okay then. By the power invested in me, I now pronounce you... Wife, and wife. You may kiss," they both say to each other at the same time, before their lips collide in a deep, tender kiss.

Cassidy's hands rested on Avery's rosy, freckled cheeks, while Avery's sat on Cassidy's shoulders, with her pointer and middle fingers on the base of her neck.

Cassidy eventually moved her hands downward to sit on Avery's neck, when they both slowly pulled away, but kept their foreheads pressed together and their eyes still slammed closed.

"What song do you want the first dance to, Mrs. Locke?" Cassidy asks, her voice low and her eyes still shut.

"I dunno, Mrs. Locke. Why don't you surprise me?" They both can't help but smile like idiots at Avery's words.

Cassidy pulls herself off the floor, stepping -more less stumbling- over to the old radio still sitting on Avery's desk, and pressing a few buttons on its front.

Long Long Time by Linda Ronstadt starts playing from the radio's speakers just like it did half a year ago.

"This one again, huh?" Avery laughs a little, getting up to join Cassidy in the middle of the room.

"Come on, it's one of your favorites." Cassidy wraps her arms around Avery, and Avery does the same, as they slowly sway each other back and forth as the song continues.

"Wait for the day... You'll go away, knowing that you warned me, of the price I'd have to pay..."

"Hey, Cass?" Avery whispers, with the song continuing to play in the background.

"Mhm?"

"Can I run a stupid idea by you?"

"Of course."

"What if... What if we ran away? Together?"

"What?" Cassidy softly exclaims, adjusting her stance to look at Avery's face.

"Well, you wanted to before... Before I knew, so I just thought... What if we did?"

Avery is met with silence, as Cassidy considers this possibility. "Where would we go?"

"Where were you planning on going?"

"Well... Well it's different if it's us."

"It doesn't have to be."

"As long as it's you leading me, I'll go anywhere," Cassidy whispers into Avery's ear.

"And I think I'm gonna miss you, for a long, long time."