Certain Things: A Cassidy Fanfic

Secrets

WARNING:  SOME GRAPHIC DESCRIPTIONS/BLOOD/GORE AT ** (typical Preacher stuff; read at your own discretion)

"Jesus, what the hell happened?" Cassidy exclaimed as he slowly walked into the room. I followed behind, staring at the man on the floor.

"Who's he?" I asked, pointing to him. She held her hands out in defense.

"I'll explain another time but, right now, I need you to help get rid of him" she said, almost pleading. I looked to Cassidy, who was scratching the back of his neck.

"Who-ffff... yeah, fine" he replied. I squinted at him while Tulip hurried to the bed and grabbed a shirt. She ran into the bathroom and I stood in front of Cassidy, putting my hands on my hips.

"How in the hell are we supposed to hide that " I said, pointing to the man in the floor. He was large, definitely bigger than Cassidy and I combined.

"I think I saw a supply closet in the hall, couple doors down. Bring me any tools ye find, garbage bags, maybe a bucket" he replied, hands on his hips and staring down at the man. I looked at him in confusion, but obliged, and left the room, running to the closet and bringing back the supplies. As I was returning, I saw Tulip running down the hall back toward the elevators. I entered the room and saw Cassidy kneeling down next to the man.

"Here" I said, handing him the supplies. He took a large garbage bag and stuffed it under the man, rolling him over and pulling it out from under him on the other side. He looked up at me with a huff.

"So, now what?" I asked, kneeling down as well.

**"Now... it gets ugly" he said. I arched an eyebrow at him as he reached for the mini saw from the toolbox. He took a deep breath, then took the man's arm and cut into it, sending a squirt of blood into the air.

"Oh God" I mumbled, covering my mouth as I tried (unsuccessfully) to suppress a gag. He looked over at me with raised eyebrows.

"I'm sorry, did you just gag?" he asked in a surprised tone. I took a breath and nodded my head.

"Er, need I remind ye of when ye massacred nine Hunters at once? Not to mention your Da'"

"Well, I didn't... dismantle them" I replied. He laughed with a snort and shook his head. After a second he looked at me seriously.

"Go. I'll take care of this on my own" he said, sincerity in his voice. I chewed at my lip, taking a deep breath before shaking my head.

"No... I can do this" I replied. He raised an eyebrow and handed me the saw. I reached out, hand shaking, and took it hesitantly. Positioning myself in front of the man, I pressed the saw into the cut and began to saw, sending more blood into the air in spurts. the sound of flesh, muscle and blood squishing together as I cut through it made me nauseous. Eventually I cut through, and set the saw down, my hands covered in blood.

"Okay, what now?" I asked, completely out of breath. He sighed and picked up the arm, and I was taken completely off guard as he bit into it.

"Wh- you're gonna..." I stuttered, trying my best to not vomit on the spot.

"Quickest way to get rid of the body. Now, come on, keep cutting" he replied before taking another bite. I winced, and picked up the saw, taking a breath before moving on to the other arm.**

And we continued. I kept hacking off body parts, and Cassidy ate them. Sometimes, if I was moving too slow, he'd just start chomping down on the man to get rid of the body faster (despite how nauseous I was throughout the whole ordeal). Eventually, we were just left with scraps of bones. Cassidy put them all in a garbage bag and slung it over his shoulder.

"I'll dispose of this, you clean up" he said, walking out of the room. I sighed and looked at the wall and rug, which had decently sized blood stains on them. Running into the bathroom, I found stain removal and a brush under the sink, and started scrubbing. Just a moment later, Tulip came back into the room.

"He- wow, ya'll move fast" she huffed. I chuckled and continued scrubbing.

"So... Jesse and I... we're not getting married" she said. I spun around and stared at her, wide-eyed.

"Wh-why?" I asked. She walked over to the bed and rummaged through a pile of clothes.

"We just... well, I  just... felt that the whole idea of marriage is... dumb," she dragged on, tossing a burgundy shirt at me. "Put this on, you got blood on your shirt. I'll take over" she continued. I hesitantly nodded and walked into the bathroom and changed shirts, scrubbing out the blood stains on mine the best I could. 

When I came out, Tulip was still scrubbing the carpet. I couldn't help but stare, completely out of sorts.

"So... this is what you do? Help keep secrets from each other?" I almost blurted out. She stopped, her gaze never moving from the carpet.

"Why do you sound so surprised? It ain't new to you..." she replied. I was silent, taking in her words. Pressing my lips together, I kneeled down and took a rag from the tool box and began wiping the blood spatter off the wall. We worked in silence until any visible trace of blood was gone and Cassidy returned.

"Tulip, what're ye doin' up here?" he asked, confused.

"Jesse and I ain't gettin' married" she replied, slinging her bag over her shoulder. His jaw dropped, and he looked towards me, puzzled, to which I simply shrugged.

"So, we're going back on the road. Let's get going" she continued, giving the room one last look over before leading us out. The three of us made our way down to the lobby and outside, where Jesse and the angel were waiting in front of the car. Tulip walked past them both, tossing her bag in the back and getting into the driver's seat. I followed suit, jumping in the back.

The angel and Cassidy exchanged some words and hugged for quite a while before saying goodbye, which ended when Jesse walked up.

"Heard about the wedding. Sorry about what happened" Cassidy said lowly, though still audible to me and Tulip.

"It's fine. We agreed. Bad Idea" Jesse replied. An uncomfortable silence fell on the two of them before Jesse spoke up again.

"Did something happen?" he asked louder. My heart skipped a beat at the suddenness of his question, and I looked at them from the corner of my eye.

"When?" Cass asked all too quickly.

"Just now. Upstairs. Feels like somethin' happened" Jesse replied. Cass looked at me, and I looked up at Tulip through the rearview mirror, making eye contact, remembering our conversation earlier: Help each other keep secrets. We were in it now, all three of us, together. I lowered my gaze and played with my fingers, anxiously waiting for Cassidy's reply.

"No" he said, and got into the car. I let out a small sigh of relief, and overheard Jesse then talk with the angel.

"Good luck with your search," the angel started, "Never met God myself, but I hear good things... mostly... Where will you go next?"

"We're gonna follow the music" Jesse replied. I wrinkled my nose in confusion.

"So far we don't know much about God... What he's like, who he knows, why he left. All we really know is he likes jazz. So stupid I didn't think of it before. If God likes jazz, what better place to look for him than..."

"New Orleans" Jesse and Tulip said in unison. Tulip cursed under her breath, and tossed out a cigarette she was smoking. I didn't hear much of what else was said between Jesse and the angel, but a booming find peace resonated throughout the area just before Jesse got in the car.

Tulip began to drive off, and I turned around in my seat, looking through the back windshield. The angel was staggering backward, looking at us in awe-- a look that I didn't quite like. I had a feeling in my gut that something wasn't quite right.

That something wasn't over.