Cursed

Chapter 27

Cassie's POV
No news from Ada. Not for ages. Where is she? Has she found Eva yet? What's going on? We sit in silence, waiting for Lucky or anyone really to come in and tell us the hopefully good news.

"Do you think this will really work out?" Hunter asks.

"It has to," Flynn answers, clenching his fist.

Suddenly, the door flies open and Lucky stands there with red and puffy eyes, tear marks on her face.

"Lucky, what happened?"

"Ada she-" She struggles to get the words out.

"We weren't even able to retrieve her body... we don't even think she got to Eva and Cas at all."

"What...?"

Her what?

"Ada died, she was killed by one of the guards. I- I'm relieved they didn't capture her though, think about how much torture she could've went through if she did. I, I'm sorry, I'll leave now."

"Lucky wait!" Alice calls out, standing up. "Listen, please, stay here with us. I don't want you blaming yourself for it, you need people around you, to comfort you. Let us be those people."

"...You shouldn't be treating me so kindly, I failed to save your daughter. My own plan went horrifically, we lost a friend, for nothing."

The door slams shut behind her, echoing across the room until there is nothing but silence. But even that quickly breaks. Tears begin streaming down my cheeks, soon I'm sobbing, and no one seems to know what to do.

And neither do I. But soon my legs are moving, and I rush out of the room to somewhere - anywhere - private. Unsurprisingly, Hunter follows.

"Cassie! Wait up!" He calls, though I keep running. "Seriously, do you really think you're the only one upset by this?!"

I freeze.

"You think that because you love her that no one else could care for her as much as you. And maybe that's true, maybe we can't get anywhere close to the love you had for her, but we did - we still do - care about her! Don't you think I'm devestated by this too?!" He yells, his tears dropping onto the floor.

"Hunter, I-"

"No. You can go continue this pity party of yours, I'm gonna go find Lucky."

He walks off before I can say anymore. He can read me so well, too well, no one should know with such precision what someone's thinking yet he certainly does. And now he's mad at me because of it.

He knows I blame. I blame Eva, Cas, Lucky, even myself. If I could blame any, one person for her death then I would, and I'd take every inch of my anger out on them. But I can't take my anger out on Lucky, she's grieving too, and then I don't want to take the blame. Cas has nothing to do with the fact they are both in the palace but I don't want to force the blame on Eva because she didn't know, even if she might be the one who suffers the least from it.

And I don't want to hurt Alice by letting her see her daughter take the blame.

"Cassie? You okay?" She asks, appearing behind me.

"No... of course not. I just got her back, I only just got to see her again," I reply, "the only way I can describe how I feel to you is, you've just found out Eva's alive after believing she wasn't for however many years, imagine how horrible it would feel if she died in the palace or not long after we got her back."
"Then god you must feel awful. Y'know, Hunter asked that I talk to you, I don't know what he thought I could, though."
"It's cause you're warm, just like Eva said you were."

"Do you blame Eva for what happened to Ada?"

"Are you worried that she won't make it out?"

"Answer my question first."

"A little."

"Absolutely."

She sighs slightly, though a small grin appears on her face, and her smile makes me smile. I can't bring myself to blame Eva, especially with Alice around. She suggests we return to the others and I reluctantly comply, finding Hunter and Lucky in the room when I open the door.

"Cassie... are you okay?" Lucky asks.
"Better now, I'm sorry for how I acted Hunter, really."

"Eh, it's okay. You're lucky I called you out on it."

I guess I am.

Eva's POV
"You took your time in there," Sebastian says as I enter my room in my pyjamas.
"And you're still here? I really don't want to see you right now."
"What, because I killed that girl? It's your fault for going off with her anyway. Blame yourself for what happened."

"I'm not the one who ordered the guards to shoot her!"
"She was going to hurt you," he answers, a hint of concern in his voice.
"You don't know that! She was trying to save me from this place, from this nightmare! But you had to ruin it, didn't you?! You're a monster, now leave me alone!"

He glances over, eyes like lasers, but then walks off. Part of me expects the Silence to start burning, in fact I wait for it even once he's long gone, but nothing.

"I'm surprised he didn't do anything. Glad, but surprised," Cas says, fluttering over. "But we should really discuss a plan. I was thinking you could fight or threaten him in order to get the Silence off, from there escape shouldn't be too challenging, right?"

"Right, but I can't do much fighting like this. I'm too weak for a fist fight, I can't use my magic (and even if I could, he would likely destroy me) so there isn't many options. Unless..."

"Unless what?"

"A sword fight maybe...?"

"You're insane. You've never fought with a sword."

I know, but my only advantage would be using a weapon.

"Well, let's say this is the option we chose. Let's say I did challenge Sebastian to a sword fight over my freedom, how would we approach it. How would we even get him to come?"

"A note maybe, just leave it outside of his room and hope he see it."

"And if he doesn't?"

"We'll just keep trying. We'll keep on trying until we get our freedom back, until both of us are free from this place. Now what to write?"

"Get me some paper and a pen then we can begin."

Several drafts. More than expected for such a simple note. I don't want to beg him to come, but I don't want him to not come at all.

Before I can finish writing my final version of it, I drift off, the pen remaining positioned in my hand.

I dream about the girl, about Ada. Though it's not negative like one would expect. I imagine her with Cassie and Hunter - I recall her saying she knew them before - goofing off and causing mischief. They're happy.

I hope they're alright.

Cassie's POV
Eva and Cas...

I hope they're alright.

Nova Note:
F