“Cassie.” She turned slowly toward Luther, ignoring the plate he held out. Sighing heavily, he lowered the plate. “Cassie, your guests are leaving.”
Her gaze darted past him to the line of people standing by the door. The only thing that got her moving was the thought that her grandmother would be disappointed in her if she was rude to them. She clasped hands, exchanged hugs, and murmurs and was greatly relieved when the last person filtered out. Closing the door behind them, she leaned heavily against it.
“Melissa and I are going to stay again tonight,” Luther said softly.
She opened her eyes; her vision was slightly blurry with exhaustion as she nodded. “If you feel you must.”
“We don’t want you to be alone,” Melissa said softly.
“I’ll be fine. Dani still lives here.”
Dani shifted nervously, obviously unsure how to handle the situation. “Do you want me to leave?” she blurted out.
Cassie shook her head, stepping away from the door. There may be little left of her, but she wasn’t going to throw the girl out on the street. “No, you can stay for as long as you need to.”
Dani glanced worriedly at the other three, not knowing how to take Cassie’s answer. It had not been inviting, but she had not been booted to the curb either. “I think it’s best if we stay,” Luther said firmly.
They weren’t worried about her being alone; they were worried about what she would do. She knew they watched her, knew that Devon was camped outside, but they could not watch her all the time. They would have to go home at some point, and eventually Devon would have to feed. And now that the funeral was over, Cassie had much more time on her hands to think about how she would get away. How she would carry out her revenge.
“I’m going to sleep.”
Though she uttered the words, she knew they weren’t true. She hadn’t slept in three days; she didn’t expect to sleep tonight. She moved away from the door, ignoring them all as she wearily climbed the stairs. She had become a bitch, a miserable cold bitch; she knew that, she just couldn’t bring herself to care.
But then, she didn’t care about much anymore. All of her caring, her love, her life had all been burnt away by the rage that now festered within her. There was nothing left inside her. It was best if she stayed alone, best if she kept every one away from her. It was better if they didn’t know how little there was left to her. Better they didn’t know that all that was left of her were smoldering ashes of the person she had once been.
A person she would never be again.