Stranger Danger

Part 9

The next morning, Tyler woke up feeling like he hadn't slept at all the previous night. He stretched his arms out before getting up to take a shower. A while later, after getting dressed, he left his room. As he stood in the hallway, he looked at Cassidy's closed bedroom door and considered going in to try and patch things up from what had happened the previous night. As he thought about it, Ruby silently slipped out of her own room unnoticed. "Hey," she said.

Taken a little by surprise, Tyler turned to her. "Good morning," he greeted her, taking a few steps closer.

"You're up early," Ruby observed.

Tyler smiled. "Am I really? What time is it?"

"I'm not sure, but last time I checked it was pretty early."

"Oh. Is anyone else up?"

"Uh, yeah. My mom is downstairs with Aaron, and my dad's in his office."

"Oh, okay. I guess I better go down and say hi."

"Okay," Ruby said, smiling shyly. "I'll see you in a little bit."

Tyler smiled back. "Yup." He then headed towards the stairs, deciding that he would talk to Cassidy later. Down in the kitchen, he helped Glinda as a way to stay busy and distract himself. Once breakfast was ready, almost everyone was sitting around the table, except for Cassidy, who Tyler noticed hadn't shown up yet. "Um," he started nervously. "Should I go check on Cassidy?"

Glinda smiled. "Why don't I go do that?" She looked at her youngest daughter. "Sarah, why don't you help your sister finish serving the table?" Sarah got up, seeming annoyed, while Glinda left the room.

The table was all set once she returned and took a seat across from Tyler. He looked at her expectantly. "Is Cassidy coming down?"

Glinda shook her head. "I'm afraid not. She mentioned a pretty bad stomach ache. If you ask me, I think it's that time of the month, if you follow what I'm saying."

Tyler nodded. "Yeah. I hope it isn't too bad."

Glinda shrugged. "I'll make her some tea later and check up on her." She turned to everyone else. "Are we all ready for our prayer?"

During the prayer, Tyler couldn't get his brain to register what was being said as he was too busy thinking about Cassidy. Was she really on her period or was she so pissed off about the events from the previous night that she didn't even want to be in the same room as him? Tyler decided that he would go check on her later, after breakfast. He needed to find out what the real problem was. If there was any. *

After breakfast, he was ready to put his plan in action, but Glinda asked him to help Ruby out with the dishes, while she went to check on Cassidy, which he couldn't say no to. *

Meanwhile, Cassidy woke up in a dark room, not knowing where she was and unable to remember any previous occurrences. She rolled over and winced from her sore back. She rubbed her tired eyes and slowly sat up, realizing that she was on the floor. Getting up, she used her hands to find a wall. Stretching both arms out, her fingertips touched a wall on either side of her, indicating that the room was small. Running her fingers over the walls, she found a light switch and flicked it on. The dim light didn't have the biggest effect, but allowed Cassidy to see how small and narrow the room was.

She found a little door behind her and tried to turn the knob, but of course, it wouldn't budge. She rubbed her pounding head, the events from the previous night starting to play out in her mind. Had she been drugged? All she remembered was calling Maureen before being attacked by Glinda and Aaron. She had so many questions. Had she finished her conversation with Maureen? How had she ended up in this room, and which part of the house was she in? Plus, where was Tyler? Cassidy slumped against a wall as she gathered her thoughts by trying to play out all the events from the previous day, starting with the morning. *