(2) OF ADVENTURES THE! (COMPLETED)

CHAPTER NINETEEN

CASSANDRA

Cassandra heaved, pulling the still refrigerator behind her. She was still in shock about what happened to Cecelia, but she had to pretend that it didn't bother her. Questions waltzed through her head: Why did this happen? Was Cecelia going to live? Did Kevin have something to do with it? At the thought of Kevin she flinched. Although she denied it, it was a sore subject. She shook the thoughts away and continued to pull Cecelia to an actual mechanic. $inamin protested this, and the others were wary that they wouldn't understand the circumstances. Cassandra reassured them that he could be trusted completely.

"We're here."

They were stopped in front of a large brick warehouse.

Angelo eyed it suspiciously. "Ughhh...are we at the wrong place, Cassandra? This looks like a shady drug front." Maria glared at him.

Cassandra walked up to a silver keypad and typed in a very, very long number (hint: it starts with a 92611739158451). A lock clicked open and a door--which was nowhere to be seen before that moment--hissed open. She trotted up to the door and looked inside, muttering to herself things like "I hope he's still here" and "I hope I didn't type in the wrong code and get decapitated".

"Jerome! JERRROOOMMEEE!"

A tall, but sturdy young man appeared. "Yus?" He looked at Cassandra, and a smile crept to his face. "Cas! What are you doing here?" His face darkened for a moment. "Aren't you married to that...cat....Kevin?"

Cassandra flinched for a moment. "It's really not a good time to play catch up. I have an emergency." She stepped aside to show him the gleaming appliance and her family.

Jerome's face brightened once again. "Ahhhhh. I see. Bring it inside."

The studio was large and filled with various household gadgets, the majority of which were chatting or doing various other activities that may or may not have included fights to the death, tag with light sabers, and Obliviation! A Game of Flamethrowers, Fatalities, and Fun!™ 

Maria gasped. "Oh my holy Legolas..."
"Just put it right here and let me take a look." Cassandra wheeled Cecelia gently into the spot.

Jerome looked her up and down, inside and out. "Hmmm. Say, are you sure it was an animate inanimate object?"

Maria gave a little huff. "That 'it' is my wife. Yes, I'd be pretty dang sure if she was alive."

Jerome had a startled look on his face, and muttered something under his breath. "Urm. Ugh...I've never seen anything like...her...before. She's brilliantly built, so artfully and sturdy. A master of the trade must have built her, you know. Way more complicated than any of these AIOs here. The thing is though, her whole system's fried. Zap. Like fried chicken. I can't think of anything that could have done this to her."

He looked up. "I'll take a try at fixing her, but there's no guarantee. It might take a while, so feel free to leave or walk around here."

Charlie and Alfonzo took off. Angelo looked at his mother, and she nodded to go after them. After a moment of hesitation, Angelo grabbed Julio's hand and raced after them.

Maria looked at Jerome. "If you don't mind, I'll stay here to watch."

Cassandra nodded. "Me too."

Jerome shrugged. "Suit yourself."

SOME TIME LATER

Cassandra had been sitting on a weird washing machine that kept farting out bubbles and gurgling the ABCs. She watched Maria pace back and forth, pausing every once in awhile to ask how it was going. Cassandra could hardly stand to watch Maria in pain like that. It reminded her of when she found out who Kevin really was in a way. Losing a loved one and all. Maria stopped pacing again and sat down on the concrete floor.

Maria looked up at Jerome. "So...how do you know all of this stuff? I mean, AIOs aren't really a prominent thing people know about.."

Jerome glanced at Maria. "Well, it was Cassandra who really introduced me to the field. She mentioned it briefly once, and the rest is," he paused to spread his hands out, "history." He went back to fiddling with Cecelia.

Maria shifted around. "Umm, may I ask you something?" Jerome nodded. "Well, how do you and Cassandra even know each other?"

Jerome stopped and his face flushed. "Ermmmmm...well...." He glanced at Cassandra.

Cassandra rolled her eyes at this. "We went on a couple dates in high school...and college. Nothing more." He raised his eyebrows. Cassandra sighed. "Okay, there's a little bit more to it than that. We were together for three of the four years of high school, and for all of college. Actually, he had proposed to me and we were planning on getting married." Cassandra blushed. "Though, as you can see, that never happened. I'm not sure why it didn't go through, but that I married Kevin instead." She turned away. Tears were streaming down her face.

After they got divorced (a.k.a. her leaving him), Cassandra had been having troubling thoughts. She was truly ashamed that she had married a freaking cat. Who does that? She could only imagine what a freak people saw her as. It was almost a relief that she didn't have any family. The worst part was that she wasn't sure why she had married Kevin anyways. They had only been together for a couple months. Maybe she was being spiteful towards Jerome after a fight, though she doubted it; that wasn't like her. Looking back, Cassandra realized that there was zero chemistry between them. In fact, it was almost like Kevin had been controlling her. This thought had always puzzled her. How could he do that without her knowing, and why?

Jerome coughed. "Umm. Well. I've done as much as I could for your wife, ma'am. But this is way above me. You should try to find her creator; it's her best chance."

Maria sighed and thanked him. She pulled out her phone to text the kids to come back to her. In minutes they were back and had Cecelia on the bed of the truck they had stolen. Maria motioned for them to go out and situate themselves in the vehicle.

After they left, Maria walked over to Jerome. She looked deep into his eyes. "Thank you. I know you couldn't fix her, but you did more than the rest of us could." She gave him a smile and turned to Cassandra. "I'll be out in the car." She walked out of the warehouse, leaving Cassandra alone.

Cassandra looked at Jerome. "Look, I'm sorry for everything. I don't know wh--"

He looked her in the eyes. "I know, Cassandra, I know."

He pecked her on the cheek and rushed away.