Dernier ─ Theo Raeken ²

13| ILLUSION

❝There's only one thing that can heal the heart. Only one. And it's called love.❞

➣

THE condition of the town still looks the same as the last time Cassandra visited. Unkempt and uninhabited. She wondered for a moment if everyone in this town had been one with the Wild Hunt since the disappearance of the citizens here began thirty years ago, but unfortunately that was a million dollar question. It was probably too late to save them, she thought. After the encounter with an unknown Hellhound last night, she realized that there were still unanswered questions that extremely bothered her mind until now. And Cassandra immensely wished she could find that answers before things got more promiscuous.

The wind blew off her hair in an unfriendly way and the eeriness that happened thirty years ago were still attached to this town, causing her to shiver under the sullen past memories.

Chris had called her and asked where she was, which she ended up lying and said she wanted to spend more time in New Haven to get used to the city she was going to call home for a while. And much to her surprise, Chris believed it all. Even he advised her to go to Union League Cafe, which was the best French restaurant he had ever visited. It was the hardest thing she did that day, considering she wasn't used to lying to her father. She tried to fake every laugh as best as she could during their conversation, though she was well aware that her heart almost explode because of anxiety.

So they haven't opened their mouths until this moment. Isaac, Jackson, or Nicole still hasn't contacted her and she understood the reasons why. If she was in their position, she would do the exact same thing. After all, it wasn't the first time she had let them down.

Taking a deep breath, Cassandra knocked the door twice as her heart began to pound endlessly. Not a moment later, the door swung open, revealing the one and only occupant in this town. "Lenore."

"I have to get used to this, huh?" The woman kindly spoke, a smile adorning her lips. "A visit by an uninvited guest–not to mention the visitor was a total stranger."

"Yeah. I'm Cassandra if you've forgotten–I came here roughly two or three months ago with my friends." Cassandra scratched the back of her neck awkwardly, averting her gaze to the little boy next to the old woman. "Hope I didn't interrupt your leisure time."

"How can I forget all of you easily?" Lenore laughed quietly, motioning her to come in. "And please, I have plenty of time for that."

She followed the woman into the house and both of them seated in the living room. Caleb decided to go somewhere around the house since he understood the conversation didn't need him. She was still a bit stunned by the fact that Lenore lives with a child who has died long ago. But then again, in this kind of universe anything could happen.

Cassandra sighed and prepared herself to blurt out the reason behind her arrival here in Canaan. "I honestly don't know where to start."

Noticing the perplexity and distress on her face, Lenore leaned forward and grabbed her hand for comforting. "Take it easy, Cassandra. Say whatever you need, I'll try my best to help."

The brunette nodded, throwing her a grateful smile and exhaling a deep shaky breath. "I thought the Ghost Riders were the last threat back then, but I was wrong. Things... Things become more complicated after that. The Hunters–they're going to come back to take over Beacon Hills. I–I don't know what to do anymore since the time when my friends fought the Ghost Riders, another villain managed to fetch my source of strength–and tragically, I should've died because of it. But until this moment, I still don't know why I'm still alive–still breathing. I desperately need answers for everything that happened to me, that's why I came here."