The Other Dunlap Girl

005. - The Aftermath of Golden Boy

005. - The Aftermath of Golden Boy

It felt like years have passed for Cassidy, she just sat on the sidewalk unable to move. Her mind processing everything, how could someone like Luke kill Brink? The entire thing playing over and over in her mind, from her and Marie finding the boy and Brink, to Cassidy and Jordan trying to fight off Luke. She was even surprised with her own powers, how did she hurt Luke with them? She's never hurt anyone before. Cassidy let out and like a cue, Jordan came over with an extra jacket for her.

"Hey, how are you holding up?" Female Jordan asked as she sat down next to Cassidy. She honestly had no idea what to say. Her brother killed someone, and then killed himself in front of her. She had no idea how this could happen, there were no signs for Luke's behavior. Then it hit Cassidy, who was going to tell Cate? Her heart broke just thinking about her sister's reaction to losing someone else who loved the girl.

"Um-I got to find Cate," Cassidy muttered with tears forming in her eyes. She tried to get up but Jordan was quick to grab onto her arm. The Dunlap girl became overwhelmed with her emotions as she began to sob, Jordan just wrapped her arms around the girl and pulled her into her chest. What the fuck was Cassidy going to do without Luke? She felt like she was back in the woods, crying out for Caleb, waiting for the boy to poke his head out behind one of the large trees.

As the cleaners scrapped up the remains of Luke, Cassidy just watched frozen, not being able to move. That's when she saw Cate, she somehow got past the police manning the area off. When she saw all the blood and guts her knees gave out and she was on the ground sobbing. Andre beat Cassidy to the crying girl and started rubbing her back. Cassidy quickly got up and ran towards her sister.

"Cate, I'm so sorry," Cassidy choked out, before wrapping her arms and engulfing her trembling sister into a hug. The two held each other as they both continued to cry. Cassidy didn't know what to do, how to comfort her sister when she needed it, when they both needed each other. All the girl could do was hold her sister as tight as she could and not let go. It felt like an eternity for both girls, just sitting there crying and holding onto each other.

"Hey, let me get you both home, okay?" Andre said weakly from behind Cate, before slowly standing up. Both girls just looked at each other and nodded their heads and wiped the remaining tears from their eyes before standing up and following Andre.

—

When Cassidy arrived back into her room she quickly turned off her lights and jumped into her bed. She let her blankets slowly enclose on her as she got into fetal position. Cassidy felt empty, she didn't have any tears left to cry after today. All she wanted to do was sleep for an eternity.

She couldn't sleep, but she was too exhausted to do anything else. Cassidy ended up counting the ceiling tiles... one... two... three... 16... 17...18... until she counted all the ones in the room. Still that didn't help the poor girl fall into a slumber.

Everything just kept replaying in her head, but one thing stuck out. The woods, why would Luke mention the woods? And how could Professor Brink be involved?

Cassidy wanted answers; she wanted to know what the woods were, why Professor Brink is involved, and why she's having strange dreams about any of it. It's like she's been there before, but for some reason she just can't remember. It all feels so familiar. Cassidy sighed as she turned onto her side, tomorrow was the first day of classes. Luke Riordan is dead and everyone is just going to pretend like everything is fine, when in fact everything is fucked.

—

Some point during the night, Cassidy drifted off into a dreamless sleep. She woke up from the screaming of her alarm clock, which she was quick to slam off. Cassidy woke up with another pounding headache, probably from all the crying from last night. She got out of bed and looked at herself in the mirror. She noticed how dull and lifeless she looked, she quickly threw her hair up in a bun and pulled on a sweater and some leggings.