The Other Minister- Book One (Cassia)

Chapter 1-Cassia

Cassia was bored.

She'd got home at lunchtime and, after the buzz of her last exam had worn off, she'd been wondering around the house with nothing to do. School may be boring, but it kept her mind occupied. And away from my future. Not knowing what would happen to her after Habs wasn't a problem. She knew exactly what she was going to do. She just didn't like it.

She had drifted between things. Her laptop, her bookshelf, the TV, her sketchbook.... Nothing could keep her distracted for long. It was stupid, really. She was going to Oxford, for goodness sake! She would have a profitable job, she would never have to worry about money, and she already knew she would be successful. For anyone else, it would be a dream come true.

Not for Cassia, though.

When she thought about her future, it was as if someone had thrown a blanket over her face. Suffocating. This wasn't what she wanted from her life. She'd had plans to travel, to go to art collage. The world had seemed open and free, full of possibility. That had been two years ago, before Dad had asked her what she wanted to do after school.

It had been the biggest row she'd ever had with him. Her stepbrothers and stepmum had kept out of it, unsurprisingly. Jennifer Clarke was a women out of the 19th centaury- meek and mild, always obeying her husband. Dad was the boss of the house, no-one thought otherwise. But Cassia had got his temper as well as her mother's, and when they argued, sparks flew. This one had been worse than normal, even by their standards.

Dad had apologised since then and, when he was home, he'd done what he could to make it up to her. Cassia didn't care. It changed nothing- she was still going to Oxford to study law.

Suddenly, Cassia was jolted out of her mind, by the doorbell. Strange. Jennifer and the boys weren't back for ages, and her dad....... Well, that was another story. Jonathon had moved to his flat in Westminister yesterday , to be 'closer to work'. It was a busy time for him. He'd been telling her about 'policy re-writes' and other stuff, but hadn't gone in to too much detail. She knew it was necessary, that her dad was needed by other people as well, but it was so frustrating!

Sighing, she climbed the stairs to the door, wondering who it could possibly be. Not Jennifer or her dad, they had keys after all. They wouldn't have needed to ring the bell.

Finally, she reached the door and slowly, cautiously, opened it.

A man was standing on the steps. He was the sort she saw with her father, serious and suited, with the tie just the right lenght and width. His face was bland, the expression of a man used to hiding his feelings. When he saw her, he broke into a smile that stopped just short of his eyes.

"Cassia, isn't it? Cassia Clarke".

Cassia put on her best politicain's daughter face. " Yes. How can I help you? If you want my father, I'm afraid he's staying in Westminister at the moment".

A flash of irritation crossed his oh-so-smooth face, appearing and dissapearing in an instant. Then he was all smiles again.

Don't trust this guy. The thought came, unbidden, into her head. One of her feelings. She could never quite put them into words, but there was something wrong about the man. Something all the poker faces in the world couldn't hide.

"Then I'll just wait for your mother. I met her at a dinner party once. Lovely woman"

Cassia tried to stop him, to object, but he had already slipped through the door and closed it behind him. She felt her muscles tense, as some silent instinct woke in her. Everything in her screamed to run, hide, fight.

But Cassia didn't do that. Instead she lead him into the house, down to the living room.

***

The man, who'd introduced himself as Mr. Reidm was looking around their living room. Thanking Jennifer for being such a neat freak- a first - Cassia stood awkwardly by the door. She wasn't quite sure why she'd let him in. A part of her brain was screaming at her, yelling that this was wrong, all of it so wrong. But he was here now, no doubt about it, so she had to keep up the act.

"Do you want anything? Tea, coffee.....?"

" Tea would be lovely, thanks." He said nothing more, so she busied herself with the cups and plates, and waited for him to speak.

Mr. Reid was acting strange. Tilting his head to the side, as if listening for something. As she watched, he began to sniff the air, his nostrils flaring like a dog. No, like a wolf. A big, bad wolf, who she'd let into the house. Cassia shivered, and went back to the now heating kettle.

Eventually, when the kettle began to whistle, the man broke the silence.

"Do you know when your mother will be back?"

Cassia knew answering might be a bad idea, but she couldn't stop herself. "In an hour." Maybe, if he knew the wait would be that long, he would go, but somehow Cassia didn't think he would. She grabbed the kettle and poured the water into a mug, holding on to it tightly. Just in case.

"An hour," he muttered, more to himself than to her, "enough time, move than enough. If we can't have him...."He looked at Cassia, and suddenly the wrongness was overwhelming. She couldn't breathe.

Mr Reid reached out and grasped her wrist. His grip was strong, too strong and without thinking, she threw the mug of scalding water into his face.

He screamed, a sound that was definitely not human, and she ran. 

Feet slipping, she sprinted up the stairs, one flight at a time, burgundy carpet blurring beneath her. Her heart was thick and pounding, her breath was like a scream, his scream, and worse, something was coming after her, running with a lollop, the big bad wolf, and the sound of claws scraping over walls followed it, and the noise, the screeching sounded like a bat with the sound turned up, horribly harsh and shrill and it was gaining, definitely gaining....

It caught up with her an the mini landing between the second and third floors. She felt the clawed hand close around her ankle and grabbed the glass bowl off the windowsill, tossing it over her shoulder. It connected, the hand let go to a symphony of shrieks, and she ran faster.

Finally she reached her floor and jerked the door open. She slammed it shut and threw the bolt, but there was no time to barricade it and she knew the lock wouldn't be enough. Breathless, she scanned the room and saw the foam baseball bat she'd stolen off her stepbrother. Holding it tightly, Cassia waited.

The creature that had been Mr Reid was on the top floor now. She could hear it, on the landing. It let out another shriek, and then came the teeth-clench sound of its claws scraping her door. She could feel it, it's malicious glee vibrating through the wood. It was playing with her, like a cat with a particularly juicy mouse. But it would get bored eventually.

A battle cry came now, a horrible sharpened roar, which seemed to go on forever. Then a thud, and silence.

She waited. Her heart tried to push it's way out of her throat.

More silence.

Someone knocked on the door.

James says "dont log on on my computer