Untouched, Un-pure

9

(This continues directly from where chapter 8 left off)

Casey lifted his heavy arms and wrapped them round her shoulders, so she could help lift him back onto the chair. His eyes began to gradually open as he fell into it.

"Casey..." he muttered.

"I'm here... I'm right here, okay?"

"Hmm," he said, nestling into her. She placed a kiss on his head.

"Miss Cooke, please sit down,"

"He's hurt,"

"I can always turn the lights on if you'd prefer?"

"Okay," she pulled away, quickly, "can I move the chair closer?"

"Case?" Dennis asked, feeling her pull away. 

"It's okay, I'm here,"

She looked on the floor and saw his glasses, with one smashed lens. 

"His glasses," she turned to the doctor after a moment's silence, "can I give him his glasses?"

The doctor nodded, hesitantly. 

Casey rushed to the floor and picked up the glasses, before kneeling to Dennis' level. She gently wiped his tears away with her sleeve and placed the glasses on his nose. They looked at each other for a second, and with a look of desperation, she turned to the doctor, who in a single moment of light that peaked through the seemingly infinite darkness in her heart, nodded. After all, even the worst of us are human. Casey and Dennis wrapped their arms around each other, and they both cried. The relief their embrace gave them both was overwhelming to say the least. 

"I'm so sorry, Case... I'm so sorry I'll never leave you again, you hear me? Never. The beast is gone now. I can keep him away you just have to stick with me. Okay? Do you trust me?"

"Trust you? I love you," she said as more tears fell, kissing him deeply, "I love you so much," she said softly between kisses, "and I'm never letting you go again,"

"Perfection," he said quietly, as he smiled. She laughed at the memory of the word that was distinctly theirs. Nobody else's. Because it's imperfections that make something perfect. The bumps in the road, and the journey that got you to the road in the first place. The tunnel before the light. 

She pulled his head towards her, gently, so that it was rested on hers. They looked into each other's eyes. In that moment, Dennis felt sick. His stomach was tensing and relaxing faster and faster by the minute. He had Casey, but he couldn't protect her. They could hurt her. 

"You need to go," he said to her.

"What?"

"It isn't safe here, Case. I've seen what they do to people. You've done your suffering," he ran his fingers through her hair. The words pained him, but if she wasn't there then that meant she wasn't in the same dangers he was.

"I'm not leaving. I have a cab picking me up later,"

"Is there anything I can do to change your mind?"

She shook her head, much to his disappointment, "what's happened since..."

"My uncle's been put in prison and I couldn't afford to keep the house,"

"That's great news," he hugged her tightly, "I'm sorry," he whispered into her ear. He didn't want Elijah's plan to fail, and if Casey mentioned more about her new housing then it would be game over. And so, after kissing her on the head one last time, he entered the darkness.

"OOOH EMMMM GEEEE!"

"Hey Hedwig," Casey grinned. She had missed him incredibly. The boy jumped into a hug with her.

"I missed you so much! I have so much to tell you! Drake's my main man now, I liked Nickie for a while but then they broke up and you can't like both," he said, rambling as he usually would when he found someone who'd listen, "Oh, and I kept my promise too,"

"The one about Mr Dennis?"

"Uh- huh! Barry says he broke a nerve or somethin' but we've been looking after him. You see, the lights hurt him really bad, but it hurts him even more when he's outta the light for too long, so Barry made me be in charge of making sure he goes in the light when he needs to be, and that I change to another personality before the light hits Mr Dennis if I can. Miss Patricia says he's just hysterical but I don't believe her. You see, Barry made me realise that, Miss Patricia, she was just using me to be in the light more so I stopped taking orders from her. Mr Dennis says that I'm more powerful than eeeeeeeverybody because of my special gift. Even Miss Patricia and the beast-"

The beast. That's how Dennis was keeping him out of the light. Hedwig. 

Casey was worrying more about Dennis now. She assumed that Hedwig meant he was having a nervous breakdown, which left a small crack in her heart. Small, but significant. The type of tiny pain that's too small for any doctor too look at, but lingers for so long, you forget how you felt without it.

"Thank you. I need you to keep it up, okay? Can you do that for me?"

He nodded, "I can do anything for you, you're my bestest friend... exetera" 

"You're my bestest friend too. Can I speak to Barry for a minute please?"

"Okay," he frowned, "but you'll be back again soon, right? So we can talk more," he smiled, optimistic. 

Casey nodded, "I'm never leaving you guys again,"

"Promise?" Held his pinky out with a grin.

"Promise,"

And with that, Hedwig was gone. 

"Hey again. Hedwig said you needed me?" Casey jumped on the man, hugging him tightly.

"Thank you," she whispered, "for everything you've done for Dennis," 

Barry relaxed slightly, and played with her hair, comfortingly.

"It's all okay. Dennis, despite his faults, is a great guy. He's changed so much, he's almost like a different person. Before I thought he was a total jack ass, with some dangerous issues but now, I think the total opposite,"

"What made you change your mind?"

"You. You know, I don't think he has the physical ability to say this to you, but he loves you. Like, so much, it's incredible but also kinda ridiculous at the same time. He's away from you, and it's like... like he's had the life sucked out of him. It's kinda like he's lost his soul. Any purpose he had, goes completely out of the window. He just... exists,"

Casey didn't know how to respond.

"Kevin's mom was a total bitch, in the politest way possible. What she did to Kevin impacted all of us but... Dennis most of all. His whole existence was to keep her happy, and no matter how clean he kept it she was rarely satisfied. She demanded perfection. Constantly, it was one of the only things she knew how to say. It needs to be perfect. Kevin, this room better be perfect by the time I get home. Perfect, perfect perfect. All day every day. It was torture for him. It stayed with him into later life, making him worse and worse as they years went by. And then, you came along. You changed everything. So if anyone should be saying thank you... it's certainly not you-"

Casey saw a bright light surround her, and Kevin's body was unconscious. 

"There's only so far you can stretch someone's mind before it snaps," Casey said, furious.

"I think there's been enough chit chat for one day Miss Cooke."