The Spirit Guardians Book 1: Enlightened

Chapter 12

The next morning, Cassie sat at the breakfast table as a warm cup of coffee soothed her cold fingers. She'd gotten some sleep the night before, but not as much as she wished. Her eyes were continued to droop, and she let out a large yawn every other minute. Even the coffee was not working its normal effects on her.

"Are you all right?"

Cassie jolted, looking up to find Conny.

"Oh, yeah. Good morning," she mumbled tiredly.

"You sound like you didn't get much sleep," he observed, sitting down next to her. He had just gotten up as well, Cassie realized, noticing his plaid green shirt and dirty gray sweatpants.

"I'm fine. Just tired from yesterday." She glanced outside, seeing that the rain had continued into the following day. The thunderstorms had been replaced by a gentle drizzle. 

"Training?" she asked as Miguel stepped through the door.

"No. It's raining. I don't want to be out there," he admitted. "Besides," he said, rummaging through the fridge. "You look like you could use a break anyway."

Cassie sighed in relief and washed her coffee cup out before heading to the bathroom to shower. She grabbed some warmer clothes that were comfy for a rainy day  and turned the knob, watching as cold water poured down into the white tub.

When she could get it as warm as it could go, she stepped inside, excited to have a day to herself. An hour had passed by the time her hair was dried and her outfit was on. She found the others chatting excitedly in the kitchen.

She frowned and headed to her room, deciding to clean-up a little after the tangled mess she had made of her sheets the night before. A knock sounded at her door as she finished tucking in the corner of her sheets, and Lillian entered.

"You're not training today, right?"

"Yeah..."

"Do you have any plans?"

"No."

"We were going to go to Cherie's since it's too far of a walk in the rain to go to town. Do you want to come?"

"I'm okay," Cassie said. She'd love to see Cherie, but she really craved some time alone.

"Come on. It'll be fun. You don't want to stay in an empty house all day, do you?"

"That's exactly what I want," Cassie argued.

"But...er, well, we can't exactly leave you alone due to safety precautions and stuff and—"

"I'll watch her," came a voice behind her. Cassie turned, noticing Marc. Perhaps it would be better if she went to Cherie's...though Lillian was already thanking him before she had the chance to say another word.

Marc held eye contact with her for a moment before she shut the door in his face, trapping herself in privacy.

It was only an hour or so after everyone left that Cassie's stomach rumbled for lunch. She'd been hiding from Marc in her room, though if he hadn't bothered her by now, she assumed it wouldn't hurt to grab something to eat.

She snuck out of her room, relieved to see Marc was shut up in his. She grinned and headed into the kitchen. As Cassie rummaged through the fridge, she realized there wasn't much food. She frowned a bit, believing she had made a mistake about not going to Cherie's. She ended up fastening herself a lunch of an apple, a piece of toast, and some cut up carrots.

Cassie ate in silence, watching as rain dripped down the window. The whole house was silent except for the sound of raindrops dripping on the roof. It was calming.