Midnight Playground

Chapter 28

As she had always done, Cassie had awoken with a jolt, shooting upright in her bed. She swallowed down with difficulty, her body trembling as she stared blankly at her surroundings. She was in Cole's room? Why? Her mind was awash with confusion, mirroring the weightless feeling that caused her legs to wobble. She slipped off the bed, literally, stumbling a few feet before she gripped onto the bedpost for support.

"This...isn't right." She muttered to herself breathlessly, pushing herself off of the post and towards the narrow doorway. She staggered down the hallway, her vision shifting from side to side making walking increasingly difficult.

Not right.

Not right!

Her mind screamed at her to keep moving, the weightless feeling pushing her forwards into a stumble. A nervous feeling began taking root in the pit of her stomach. When her eyes finally landed upon the mirror set at the bottom of the staircase she let out a petrified gasp, her throat too dry to scream. She scanned the image before her, scarcely believing it.

"What...is...this..." She muttered, pressing her hand against the cold surface of the glass. How was this possible? Ignoring the obvious matted hair, deathly pale complexion and the underlid of her eyes were rimmed purple, it wasn't hard to tell what was amiss.

Her hair had changed colour. Instead of her once dirty blonde hair that touched her shoulders, she was now a very dark brunette with long and glossy curling hair that fell down her back. And it wasn't just her hair that had changed. She couldn't quite put her finger on it, probably because she was still gaping at her reflection but something about her face was just...not her. She wasn't looking at herself. It didn't feel that way anyway. Her eyes travelled lower, widening a fraction as her hands moved instantly to the puncture wounds that were embedded in her neck. Her fingers trembled, running along the small bumps, feeling a prickle of heat strike through her at the touch.

Cole...had bitten her.

Her memories came back strong. How she had discovered Alec's father had been the one who had killed her parents. All this time, it had been a cover-up and she hadn't even known it. She hadn't even entertained the idea. In fact, more often than not, she had wondered if the demons had anything to do with it. It all just seemed...a little coincidental. And yet, knowing the truth hadn't really liberated her. She had chosen not to forgive him but to accept what had been, for Alec's sake. After all these years, she had finally ended her contract with Cole...But how was she still alive? The nervous feeling began to worsen.

Cassie shook her head, desperate to pull herself away from the mirror. This wasn't her. This wasn't her reflection. Occasionally skidding, she made her way down the hall, her legs wobbling, making her latch onto whichever wall was closest at the time. The next thing she knew, she was being confronted by a pair of familiar eyes. She staggered to a stop.

"...Bridget." Cassie's voice croaked out, her throat still hoarse. She choked on a rising cough, pain pulsating within her body. Bridget's eyes remained wide as she stood there, staring with her mouth partially open. Cassie figured she probably looked a real picture right now and her mind steadied itself long enough to lunge passed her, to the front door.

The light outside was blinding, searing against her eyes. The grass was sharp against the soles of her feet, as though every blade of grass had turned into a weapon against her. She felt overwhelmed. Her body still felt light, too light, making any pattern of walking difficult to control. She fell forwards, hitting the ground hard. She let out a scream, a sudden crippling pain tearing at her head, trying to split it into two.

Images danced and spiralled into her head, though she recognized none of them. She blinked and bit down hard on her bottom lip, trying to repress them, her surroundings marred with green. She blinked again, this time her vision tainted with dark subduing ovals of red.