I don't like to be afraid.

she  laughs  a  little,  able  to  recall  a  few  people  she  used  to  know  that  were  similiar.  she  has  to  admit,  she  wasn’t  always  the  most  gracious  loser,  but  thinks  it  was  more  being  childish  than  anything  -  and  surprisingly,  she  never  held  onto  it  for  too  long.  then  it’s  back  to  the  more  grim  words,  and  the  smile  fades,  expression  neutral  as  per  usual.  “  people  don’t  like  being  told  what  to  do.  especially  if  they’re  teenagers  who  just  got  a  whole  lot  more  freedom  than  they’re  used  to.  i  wouldn’t  blame  yourself  for  that  response.  ”

it’s  not  the  first  time  she  wonders  how  her  class  would  have  dealt  with  this  situation  if  this  was  what  they’d  ended  up  in  instead, but  the  thoughts  disappear  when  she  notices  the  other’s  hand  on  her  wound.  it’s  something  she  can  sympathise  with  -  hers  bother  her  often,  but  at  this  point,  it’s  become  more  of  a  nuisance  than  anything.  her  next  words  aren’t  exactly  tactful,  but  they’re  out  of  her  mouth  without  thought.  “  did  they  have  a  funeral  for  you?  did  you  watch  it?  watching  who  mourned  for  you  could  tell  you  a  lot  about  how  they  actually  felt.  ”

“Yeah that’s an understatement. Even if it means they’ll starve if they don’t stop treating it like a free for all.” Cassandra sighs, running a hand through her hair. “I get that they didn’t like me telling them what to do, but I can’t believe he’d killed me over it.” She’s seen the face of her killer, and she knows she’ll never get it out of her mind. “What gets me is that I can’t tell anyone who did it, or if I can I don’t know how to do that.” That’s what’s even more infuriating. At Satomi’s question, she shakes her head. “I know they had one, but I couldn’t bear to watch it. I didn’t want to see my younger sister, the boy I like or one of my best friends upset over my death.”

“Well, The Raven is pretty iconic, so that tends to be the one I point to as my favorite…” He grinned, glad that she was even able to list off multiple of his stories from the top of her head. “Cask of Amontillado might be my real favorite, though. The Tell-Tale Heart is also a good one. I saw that on stage once and it was amazing.”

He laughed, his dancing fizzling to mere shuffles now that he was talking about something he loved. “Oh man, Stephen King gets pretty creepy. I’m an Edgar Allen Poe fan, myself. And Ray Bradbury, if we’re going science fiction, though he can do a little horror when he wants to.”

 he  returned  her  smile  faintly  after  opening  the  door  up  for  her ;  reaching  over  to  undo  her  seat belt , briefly  invading  personal  space.   ❛  no  problem. just  take  my  hand ,  I'll  make  sure  you  get  out  safely ,   ❜  he  murmured  , his  hand  outstretched   to  her.  

 ❛ yale, wow !  ❜    a grin  formed  as  they  pulled  up  to  her  house   ,  his  car  stopping  as  he  parked.    he  was  glad  she’d  remained  concious  and  responsive.   ❛  we're  here now  so  i'm  gonna  help  you  up  to  your  house.  ❜  he  spoke  calmly  to  her  as  he  got  out  and  met  her  on  the  other  side ,  now  opening  the  door  up  to  help  her  out. 

thinking  of  either  of  them  having  a  normal  life  is  strange.  she’d  never  met  cassandra  prior  to  her  demise,  and  now  can  only  really  imagine  her  as  a  fellow  ghost,  and  satomi’s  spent  more  time  dead  than  alive  by  this  point.  “  i  know  that  some  people  don’t  particularly  like  to  lose,  ”  she  laughs  a  little  -  they’re  rather  innocent  words,  really,  but  after  everything  she’s  gone  through,  she  can  only  associate  losing  with  dying,  but  it’s  best  not  to  think  about  that.

“  your  classmates  must  think  something  positive  about  you  if  they  elected  you  for  that  role,  yes?  i’d  think  if  it  was  chosen  by  your  peers  it  would  soon  turn  into  a  popularity  contest  -  most  wouldn’t  think  about  who  would  actually  do  a  good  job  if  given  the  role,  but  very  rarely,  these  things  can  align,  ”  there’s  a  genuine  smile  as  she  looks  over  at  the  other.  in  a  way,  she  reminds  her  of  yukie,  and  she’s  sure  she  would’ve  been  a  good  leader  like  her  .  .  .  could  have  kept  things  together.

It hasn’t been that long since Cassandra has been dead, and yet it feels like it’s been years. Especially after seeing everyone grieving for her. “Yeah, Harry’s definitely one of those people.” She says, though she gets the distinct feeling that there’s more to Satomi’s words than she’s letting on. And Cassandra isn’t about to pry into that. If Satomi wants to tell her, Cassandra will be happy, and if not, that’s perfectly okay too. “I mean, I don’t particularly like to lose, either, but at least I try to be a graceful loser and a gracious winner. If Harry loses, you never hear the end of it.” She can’t help rolling her eyes.

allie doesn’t mean to be so short with her sister.  it’s just that all of this was difficult to deal with.  cassandra almost dying had rocked allie’s world and not for the better.  now they had to find who did it and figure out what to do with them.  they hoped cassandra would remember the face of her attempted killer, but at the same time allie couldn’t blame her for blanking.  it was a traumatic experience, and nearly dying probably wiped some of that memory away.  ❝ i’m not trying to be a bitch or anything cass.  i’m just…  i want to find who did it.  and i want them to pay for nearly taking you away from me. ❞

it felt almost strange being asked those questions.  for so long it had been addy asking those questions to her mother.  she had been the one to be taking care of things, and now it was almost like she was helpless.  that was one of the reasons she sort of stayed alone, is she didn’t know how to be anything but the caretaker and head of the household.  ❝ just water is fine, thank you. ❞  would it not be weird to go rummaging around an unfamiliar kitchen she would’ve offered to get it herself.

he  must  look  ridiculous      ;      wire  encircling  his  frame,       lights  glowing  as  he  holds  the  string  with  an  uneasy  posture.       grizz  is  a  walking  christmas  tree      -     towering  and  illuminating.       embarrassment  nonexistent,       he  releases  a  casual  laugh  and  nods  at  her  question.      “yeah,      i  guess  i  do     -     i’m  a  little  stuck.”

Russel grinned, green eyes sparkling with excitement at her answer. “Yeah? I love books! What kind do you like? Science fiction? Romance?” He didn’t know enough about her to figure out what genre she liked on his own.

head lifts when she hears the voice.  cassandra was a very nice girl, addy had always thought so even if they didn’t speak before.  she always had a smile, she was always positive.  adelaine couldn’t think of a better person to be their apparent leader in this new society.  ❝ it’s okay, i didn’t mind.  you have a lovely home. ❞  she notes, looking around the kitchen once more.  it seemed like a very put together home.

  “ that’s pretty cool. “ he replied, taking a short look at the gps. they weren’t far from her house now – thankfully. “ we’re almost there, okay ?  just try and hold on a little further. “ you in school or anything? “ he asked, trying to keep conversation going.  

“ well,  the room is full of tarot cards and ouija boards so there is a possibility for entities, have shows like supernatural, etcetera  not taught you  anything ,  cass ?” willa joked.