I want it all... no... I want the world (TW)

All the words Collin decided to throw in Tidus face, made the demon freeze in his spot. Once again, he should hear those words. Cassandra did all those things to protect you. Cassandra did this… Cassandra did that. It made him growl lowly and sit up, removing his legs from Collin´s lap.
Cassandra did all of this… to protect him. To Collin… Tidus was cruel. A dog owner. And his dog was not Queen. Apparently, it was Cassandra.
she had considered to take her own life… because he had died. He didn’t know about that and now he felt sicker than ever.
With the blue eyes filled with rage, he looked at Collin and stood up, fast as a lightning. He growled lowly once again.
“Fuck off Collin,” he hissed in a warning. “Cassandra is no dog. She has her own god damn will!” his voice got higher by the minute. “I never asked for her to do all those things for me… my father fucking tricked her to believe, that if he had her way with her, that he wouldn’t hurt me… I already Feel guilty about that you fucking ASSHOLE!”
Out of pure rage, he threw the vodka bottle to the side, only for it to crash in a thousand pieces. “NOW, I would like for you to get the fuck out here, before I do something I will regret later on. I need no fucking babysitter and I need no lecture from a man I just met, who apparently is a brother to Cassandra… or in your case, my dog.” He turned his back to Collin. “Now. Leave my house. Immediately.”

Collin knew it was going to push buttons. He knew it would either hurt the demon or make him so angry that he would react; either way, he wasn’t going to let it pass, surely. He noticed how the demon froze by his words, before he growled and sat up; removing his legs from the werewolf. The demon stood up, and so did Collin; just in a slow and more calm manner. It was Tidus who was furious, not Collin. He was a calm as he could. He placed the beer on the coffee table as Tidus hissed a warning at him, telling him to fuck off. He didn’t answer, as Tidus started scolding Collin, until he called him an asshole. In pure rage, the bottle with vodka was thrown and shattered. Collin simply looked at the demon with furrowed brows, before he got told to leave not once but twice. He wanted to answer, but Tidus had made it clear he wasn’t wanted there. ‘’Of course.’’ He simply said. The then looked shortly at the bottle of vodka which was shattered on the floor. If Queen were to step there, it would be a bloody mess. He sighed to himself, shaking his head as he turned on his heel and walked towards the door. ‘’I never said you treated her like a dog… To me, the dog is the most loyal being on the planet. That was the only thing I meant by it. That she tries to prove to you that you can trust her to protect you, and when you deny her that, you tell her you don’t trust her.’’ He said, before leaving the through the front door, to disappear. It was impossible to tell the hour of the night, since thick clouds hindered any light from passing. He sighed as he started to walk. Cassandra would kill him for leaving Tidus, but he had been told to fuck off - which he of course would.

The hours had not been kind to Cassandra. Although Michael had given her vampire blood and ordered her to sleep, her body had only managed to heal slightly. She had left before Michael even had had a chance to wake up; of course leaving a thank you-note and breakfast from the bakery. The sun was already setting again, and all she had been doing was going home; taking a shower and cleaned the worst wounds, before she had gotten dressed and called Bienvenido to tell him that she was heading over to Tidus to make sure he was alright. She had picked up Disney-movies and a massive gathering of take-out food, snacks and beer, dragging all of it to the house she had left last night, in too much pain to even think straight. She knew Tidus was angry at her for leaving, so she didn’t barge in as she had done every so often. Instead, she knocked on the door, praying that he wasn’t going to tell her to go away. She held up a couple of movies and a box with pizza. She was wearing a pair of sweatpants and a massive hoodie, simply to hide away in. She still felt like shit; more or less for leaving him, but also for him telling her to stop doing what she always had done; tried to protect him.

The shattered bottle was quickly fixed, with Tidus making a portal underneath the shards, so it disappeared, and his baby wouldn’t be in danger. He looked back at queen. The poor beagle still laid in the basket. With a heartwarming smile, he went over to his dog, laid down on the floor and just laid there for hours. Caressing her soft fur. He disappeared into sleep. Right there. On the floor. Next to his therapy child.


A lot of hours later, he woke up, still laying on the floor, Queen snuggled close to his chest. He smiled, caressed her fur and sat up. He stretched and got up. Here he took another shower. Even after all those hours he still felt disgusting. And the scars stung. He had gotten used to that he would heal as a demon… but the knife… spell or whatever Darius had used on him… had other thoughts about that.
He sighed and put on the white tank top, the big ass grey sweatshirt and the sweatpants, there was so hella comfy. After that, he went downstairs, took Queen for a short walk before returning home again.
Just as he sat down, with Queen on his lap, it knocked on the door, which was pretty knew for him. The people he knew, usually just walked in and yelled: hello!
He tilted his head curiously, before removing Queen from his lap and getting up from the couch. Here he went over to the door and opened it. What was behind it… did come as a surprise.
There she stood. In her own way of saying sorry. Pizza and a couple of movies. He couldn’t help but smile over that scenery. For a second he rested his head against the doorframe, while looking into her eyes, before opening the door and taking a step back.
“come in,” he said with a soft smile and walked further into his house.
as queen saw Cassandra, she jumped of the couch and ran over to her, wagging her tail.

The person that opened the door couldn’t have been further from the person she had left the night before. He smiled at her, telling her to com on in; making her sigh relieved. She had feared that he would slam the door in her face; telling her to piss off or something. Instead, she was greeted with a smile. Something had to be wrong… She entered the home, remembering the text she had gotten from Collin about him saying some stuff that was totally uncalled for, but she decided not to ask. If Tidus and Collin did have an issue with each other, it was not her place to figure it out for them.
She placed the bag, which was filled to the brim with snacks, beer, takeout and movies, on the coffee table, before she sat down on the couch with opened arms to welcome the royal member of the Patrons-family; the Queen herself. She kissed the wagging beagle right on the top of her head before she had to remind herself that scratching the wonderful dog next to her would demand nails - something that was still growing out from the previous night’s little incident. She started to unpack the bag, spreading out the food and drinks on the table, as well as putting the stack with movies - some Disney, some Pixar - on the edge of the table for Tidus to pick one to watch from.
She then looked straight at him. ‘’First of all… Please pick a good one!’’ she said, smiling carefully at the demon, before she went to be a tiny bit more serious. ‘’I’m sorry I left. I shouldn’t have.’’ She said, knowing that her apology might be worth less than the time spent saying it. ‘’I… Want me to take a look at those?’’ she asked, nodding towards the wounds Darius had carved into the demon’s skin. Darius might be part witch, but so was Cass. Magic, regardless of the caster, had to be channeled from something. She would, most likely, be able to heal them and remove any spell related to them. If he allowed her.

It was clear to Tidus that Cassandra hadn´t seen his smile coming. She probably expected him to shut the door and tell her to fuck off, just as he had done to her werewolf brother.
But… he wasn’t in the mood to be mad. He wasn’t in the mood for anything. Although, he admitted, when he saw all the snacks and drinks on the table, he suddenly remembered his love for snacks and numb killing drinks. The Disney films made him chuckle and look closer at them.
“Brother bear seems like a brilliant choice,” he said and got up, only to put in the DVD. He could almost have been frozen in his spot, when the feared apology swung through the thick air. So, he just sat there. Numb in front of the TV, as it slowly started to play the movie. Or at least the menu of it.
He sighed and stood up. Here he looked at her with a weak smile. “It´s okay.”
As Collin said. He got no reason to be mad. It was all his fault. Only his. He was always the one to blame. So… once again. His anger wasn’t allowed. His feelings wasn´t allowed. Just like his father had always told him. Feelings… was only a weakness. So… he let it go. Let it all go to hell.
When she mentioned the wounds, he pulled his sweatshirt closer to himself and shook his head. “No.” Here he sat down next to her.
without discussion it further, he opened a beer and gave it to her, still with the warm smile on his lips. He then leaned back and sighed relieved. “I´m so glad I can still smell the scent of pizza. For oh my dear, it´s an amazing scent.”
If he should be painfully honest. He did not need to know why she went to see Michael or even what she was doing with him.

Cassandra would have understood completely if the demon had decided to tell her to piss off. After all, she had left him with a stranger, vulnerable. Oh, how things had changed between them. they had been friends; they had been confidants. Now, she feared him shutting her out. It ached in her to plead for his forgiveness once more, but she knew it wasn’t forgiveness she needed; she simply needed him.
The way he decided that Brother Bear seemed fitting made her smile slightly at him. He sighed and stood up, leaving her to look up at him with a nervous look in her eyes. Was this the time he told her to leave for good? No, he accepted once more her apology; telling her that it was okay when it clearly wasn’t. what had Collin said to him? ‘’Okay,’’ she simply answered his rejection when she had offered to look at the wounds. She wasn’t pleased with knowing he was hurt, but she had no choice than to respect his wishes when it came to his body. He placed himself next to her again, making her sigh silently in relief. Why did she fear him leaving so damn much!? She took the bear he reached to her, before he leaned back and commented on the fact that he was glad to still be able to smell the pizza. She chuckled at him before she took a sip of her beer, although her hands still ached. She closed her eyes for a moment, before she looked at him shortly. She didn’t know what to say, to be honest. She feared every word would lead to an argument that would end up with her being hurt or alone. She couldn’t handle that fear.

The pain Cass was feeling, was as clear as a dark, grey rain cloud. It hung over her head while she sat there and answered with an: okay.
He knew there was a lot to discuss. But he didn’t want to. He just wanted to sit quietly and watch a movie. Which became harder and harder to do. The rain cloud over her head grew.
He sighed and pressed the pause button. The movie stopped and now there was only silence. Carefully, he turned his torso towards her, his hand folded in his lap. “okay… This heavy air is exhausting…”
with a soft smile, he putted one of his hands-on top of hers. “Is there anything in your heart you feel like purring out?”
softly he started to caress her hand. “I… I wasn´t fund of you leaving me here… with the jackass… but I… I guess I understand why you had to…” he admitted lowly. “Understand… some of it… But… It´s not about me… is there anything you need to come out with?”

All of a sudden, he paused the movie and turned towards her; making her feel like he was about t break up with her or something - ridiculous, but frightening nonetheless. A hand was placed on top of hers, making her look down at their hands as he asked if she had something she wanted to talk about. The soft caress on her hand made her swallow hard. ‘’I’m fine, really!’’ she said, trying to lie about the fact that she felt like shit for treating him wrong. She took a deep breath as he said that he wasn’t pleased with her leaving him; as if she was ready for him to slap her hard across the face. She opened her mouth to say something, but the words never passed her lips, as the front door slammed open with immense force, and those familiar faces from the day before made an appearance. Darius and Lazy came in first; Lazy with that same slimeball-look on his face as earlier. Cassandra pulled her hand from Tidus’ quickly and instead got up from the couch to look straight at Lazy and Darius. Of course, she wasn’t all that well still; her hand still ached and she was dizzy as heck from standing up too fast. ‘’To finish our talk. The only thing I would ever come out with would be if I finally told you I was gay.’’ She said, trying to joke a little towards Tidus, but she kept her eyes on Lazy.

She wasn’t fine. Not at all. It stood out clear to him as a full moon on a night sky.
he was about to comment it. Tell her to tell him how she really felt. But… just as he was about to open his mouth, the front door slammed open and made him jump in his seat instead. Here he stood up and now stood face to face with none other than Darius the bastard.
His body trembled as he locked eyes with the witch. If it was fear or anger, he couldn’t tell. He just knew as he stood there, staring at Darius, he felt like throwing up.
Cassandra´s little lesbian confession made him looked puzzled at his sister. The little joke did not go unseen by Darius. He raised an eyebrow and chuckled.
“My oh my… Didn´t see that one coming.”
Taking a step closer, not only did Darius receive a low growl from Tidus, but also from the fearless beagle who stood in front of her owner. She barked furiously at him.
Darius looked down at her. His eyes showed no compassion.
This made Tidus stomach turn. Quickly before Darius raised a hand, Tidus made a portal underneath Queen, sending her back to Tivo´s apartment.
a bit surprised, Darius looked over at Tidus before smirking and snapping his fingers. This little snap made both Cass and Tidus flew up in air. Slowly they would feel a tight grip around their necks.
“That will be your only portal for now my dear,” he purred and slowly stepped closer to them.
By his side, walked Lazy and kept his fury on Cassandra.

She just stood there; her eyes fixated on the witch and his little demon-pet. Her eyes, although not transformed into their golden hue, glowed slightly from the magic she withheld. She wanted to talk back at Darius, but she had little time to open her mouth before Queen - the mighty beagle - opened hers in furious barking. Darius looked at Queen, and the moment he tried to raise his hand, Cassandra took a step closer to warn the witch, all while Tidus made a portal to send Queen away - hopefully to Tivo. With a smirk, the witch then snapped his fingers and both Cassandra and Tidus levitated with no control left. A tight grip ensnarled her neck, making her grind her teeth. She looked straight at Darius, thereby ignoring Lazy a little too much. ‘’Don’t call him that.’’ Cassandra said, spewing the words at the witch; clearly still very protecting of Tidus, even though he had told her to stop protecting him. All of a sudden, she looked back at Lazy. Although the grip on her neck made it hard for her to breath, she snarled at the demon with snarky words; ‘’One step closer and it’ll be your pecker I’ll be biting off next, you wanker!’’.

Darius smirked over at Cass. “Oh?” he purred. With movement, smooth as a predator, he walked closer to Cassandra and used his magic to lower her a bit. Here he caressed her cheek. “I can call him whatever I please.” He then turned his head to look at Lazy. The demon who clearly was annoyed by Cassandra´s choice of words. “Don´t worry, You´ll get your revenge.”
Still with his spell trapped around Cassandra and Tidus, he circled them and then let go. With a loud bump they would fall to the ground.
“There. Now... Have your fun.” With those word, Lazy jumped at Cassandra, sat on top of her and started to slam his knuckle down in her ribs and then her face. Here he kept yelling bicth into her face.
Tidus, still laying on the ground, searched for Cassandra and when he found her, he ignored all the pain and was ready to crawl over to her. If it hadn’t been for Darius grabbing his legs and pulling him away.
“nah ah, you´re staying with me dear.”
In pure frustration, Tidus kicked Darius in the stomach, only for the witch to laugh and watch as Tidus got up and ran over for his gun.
with a smirk on his face, Darius walked towards Tidus, calm and collected. “Dear, put down the gun.”
To that, Tidus just hissed at him and loaded the gun, while pointing at Darius face. Before he could fire, Darius created an illusion. One where there were only the two of them, standing at the top of a building.
“The fuck you piece of shitcrap!” Tidus yelled loudly.
“Shitcrap? Oh darling… you better lower your gun… you have no idea what your pointing your gun at right now… it could be Cassandra you know… I am creating illusions after all.”
In that moment Tidus cursed Darius whole existence.

In the mean time Lazy kept laughing like a maniac, while hitting Cassandra. “That´s for taking my finger you bitch!” in this situation, he was sure that he was stronger than her. Which was why he showed no fear.

Of course, Darius wouldn’t let her have any way of being protective of her brother, as he purred whilst moving over to her every so smoothly. Once lowered slightly, she felt his hand on her cheek as he caressed her cheek. Although his hand felt soft against her skin, and the simple feeling of someone actually touching her that way without even feeling the slightest romantic interest in her made her feel uneasy. What kind of psychopath was he?!

Lazy wasn’t pleased with her threat, clearly, which made Darius release them from his spell. She crashed onto the floor, face down against the floorboards. She barely managed to turn over before she felt how someone sat on top of her and with brute force began to beat her up. One loud snap told her that he had broken at least one of her ribs. She could taste the blood in her mouth. She wanted to transform, but she couldn’t. she wanted to use magic, but she couldn’t. all she could do was take the beating with as little whimpering as possible. Tidus yelled something, but she had taken a hit the eye socket, rendering her partially blinded by both pain and blood rushing to the area. She managed to get a firm grip on Lazy’s hand as he was about to punch her again. She clenched her grip on his fist, making it contort in her fist as fingers broke and bones shattered. ‘’I should have taken your whole hand.’’ She snarled at him, her voice slighty shaky by the pain.

In the minute she grabbed his hand and almost squished the demon´s hand, he yelled up in agony and looked down at her in pure fury. How dare she. How dared this fucking bitch treating him!?
Here he quickly let his demon teeth peek through. “You Bitch! You bitch!”
In a blink of an eye, he leaned down and let his teeth sink into her collarbone. He tasted the blood on his tongue and didn’t stop until he heard her scream.

Captured in the illusion, Tidus had lowered his gun and instead were trying to capture Darius in the portals. But the witch kept avoiding, sneaking around like a snake. It was almost if he knew every move Tidus was gonna make. Just like Tidus did with him by mind reading.
“We can continue this form of tag for hours my dear!” Darius roared in amusement. He took a deep breath and looked over at the blonde.
Tidus himself was also out of breath. Standing not more than few meters from Darius. “You… You can´t keep up this illusion… for hours…” and neither could Tidus keep making portals. A little secret he kept for himself.

Cassandra wasn’t by any means a weak witch. She had specialized in using blood to her advantage - yet she knew if she used her magic now, she could risk being drained of energy and rendering herself unable to help Tidus if he needed it. For once, she had to be selfish; she had to act to save herself from the pain the demon sitting on top of her inflicted her. The sharp and horrifying pain that surged through her as she felt Lazy bite into her flesh made her exhale sharply. She clenched her jaw, as she tried to keep from screaming out loud. The last time she had felt such a pain was when Tidus impaled her chest and had left her with three massive scars. With her free hand, she etched symbols into the air, making them glow slightly. Through her clenched jaw, she managed to speak in some ancient language, before the blood that had entered Lazy’s mouth stuck to his throat; closing up his esophagus and hindering his breathing. Her other hand still clenched his tightly, preventing him in beating her up more. ‘’Have nobody told you what witch-blood does to anyone but their mate?’’ she whispered at him, sounding mocking through the pain, as she simply waited for the poisonous properties of her blood to take effect on the demon. The blood he had already on his mouth - the blood that now closed up his esophagus and tried to strangled him - would soon poison him as well, and since it had lodged itself into his throat and formed a solid mass because of her magic, he wouldn’t be able to spit it out - or even breath. She was too busy taking care of Lazy to even look to the side and figure out what happened with Tidus. He wasn’t screaming in pain, so she figured he would be alright.

Lazy had not thought it through. As soon her blood started to strangle him, he pulled away, screaming a high-pitched scream that sounded oh so gurgle. He stepped back, yearning for air, while he was confusing running around in circles. “You bitch, you bitch!” he gurgled.
Cassandra was clearly in the winning hand here.

Darius looked over at them, smirked and then looked back at Tidus. “You´re right… I can´t keep this illusion up forever.” One snap from his finger and the illusion disappeared. Now Tidus would be able to see Cassandra and Lazy again. And what he saw, did not make the blonde feel happy. Cassandra was struggling under the hand of Lazy. The blood demon just stood there with a smirk, while Cassandra was heaving after her breath.
“No!” Tidus yelled. He completely ignored Darius as he lifted his gun and fired the shot at Lazy. The bullet ran clean through the demon´s skin. Blood was running down the wound as his body slowly changed. Changed into… Tidus heart stopped.
Cassandra.
Darius laughter was high as a maniac. It filled every corner in the living room with an echo.
“no… No…” Tidus voice tremble. Quickly he ran over to Cassandra, kneeling by her side and trembling picking her up in his arms. “no no no…”
He had shot her… he had shot her!

‘’It’s funny how that is all you can say,’’ she said, as Lazy kept calling her bitch after what had happened. A crushed hand; an esophagus that was closed shut and poison spreading through him. Her voice, however, was trembling as the pain from the beating and the wound on her collarbone made her body go into overdrive. She honestly thought she had won the fight; Lazy had made a retreat and she managed to get up on her feet even though the pain was unbearable. Tidus then yelled something, and the moment she turned her head to face him, she felt the sharp pain in her chest. She inhaled sharply, as the blood started trickling from the entry-wound. She then felt how her legs failed her and made her collapse onto the floor, while her eyes sought after the only person she trusted. She knew it had not been his intention - she would never think otherwise. The maniac-laughter from Darius made her understand exactly what was about to happen. She was dying…
She fought to keep her eyes open, as she felt someone pulling her halfway up and into an embrace. She knew the scent; she knew the voice. Still, it seemed to distant.

‘’For a second… I thought we had won…’’ she said, her voice faint and strained and blood filled her mouth and rendered her almost unable to speak. Blood pooled up on the floor around them, as she rested her forehead against him. ‘’Please forgive for this,’’ she then whispered, as she reached her hand up to his cheek; her hand soaked in her own blood. She pulled them down into the darkness together, as the memory froze time and allowed her to stay with him for a little while longer. The memory, however, wasn’t the usual kind. This was almost like an audiobook; her voice playing while only darkness surrounded them - engulfed them.

’’ It had always been this way. Mother would be cooking in the kitchen and father would be reading the essays of the students he taught at the academy. Collin would be at the gym until dinner would be about ready, and I would be sitting in my room; drawing. I could smell the stew mother was making for dinner that night; rabbit-stew. Beans, carrots, leeks. Some lumpy brown sauce. Ugh. Father yelled about mother had to turn down the ‘damn noise-box’, since he wasn’t able to focus on a specific essay he was trying to grade.
Dinner was horrible. I had not been eating meat for years, but mother and father never accepted it. The rabbit had been one from the former litter that the neighbor had kept in the freezer. Hopps, we had named it, when we took care of it that summer. Brown fur and long floppy ears; amber eyes - just like mine. Mother waisted nothing when cooking. She used every part of the animal, which meant that it wasn’t something unusual when I all of a sudden saw an eyeball look at me from my plate; slightly greased over by the brown sauce. I don’t remember screaming, but I do remember the feeling of my mother’s hand slapping me hard across my cheek, and how Collin looked down at his plate while his hands clenched into fists from pure restraint. I remember how I mumbled an apology and was forced to eat everything on my plate - even the eyeball - before I was excused from the table.
Collin and I were both told to go to our rooms and wait for our parents to tell us it was acceptable to come back out. With no arguing, we did as we had been told. Arguing with mother and father usually resulted in broken limbs, so we tried to keep it to a minimum. Collin had once tried to stop father during a ‘lesson’, only to have his shoulder dislocated. We had agreed he wouldn’t try to intervene from then on, even though we both knew that the only reason he went to the gym was to one day be strong enough to take on father without being the one in need of backing down.
Collin’s room was directly across the hall from mine. With our doors open, we could look straight into each other’s room, which was why we usually kept the doors wide open. Closed doors were reserved for ‘lessons’ and private-time. I remember how father decided that I needed a ‘lesson’ after my hysterical reaction at dinner. It had been a hurtful reaction towards my mother; criticizing her cooking like that. I didn’t notice him, until he stood in the doorway with his belt in his hand. He cognac-colored leather belt with the golden buckle; a buckle that could give deep bruises when it hit against the skin just the right way. I remember his coarse voice, as he demanded me to take off my shirt. I did as he demanded, of course. Resisting would result in a more hands-on approach.
I do not recall my father leaving the room. I remember him closing the door behind him, as he entered my room. Collin’s restricted breathing across the hall was impossible to ignore. It had not been more than a couple of minutes of pain, before father promised me pleasure. I was a big girl, he told me, and big girls do as their father says. Of course, he didn’t bother showering. He didn’t even bother changing underwear. He just drowned the stench in cologne. I can still smell it - that foul stench. I remember feeling my back being sore and cold, thinking that blood would stain the carpet or the sheets, and mother would punish me for making a mess. Father yelled if I tried to pull away; if I refused to open my mouth. If I coughed or didn’t swallow, he would have to give me another go with the belt. When he was done, he left. I don’t remember him leaving; I just know he did, because I heard him collapse on the floor on his way to the kitchen.
Why Collin didn’t kill him, I don’t know. Perhaps it was something about not hurting the alpha. All I know is that Collin was sitting on top of father, beating him so teeth would fall out, while mother yelled at Collin. Collin was shipped off to some bootcamp the next day while I was at school. His door was closed… After that, the ‘lessons’ was more often than not. There wasn’t much I could do, without father needing to give me a ‘lesson’. If I didn’t say ‘bless you’ when someone sneezed; when I got my period; then my mother or father had a bad day; when I was too sick to go to school… Any excuse. Collin didn’t return. He never returned.
One day, father and mother were having some grown-up time in the bedroom. I was used to being told to go to my room and be quiet. It wasn’t until mother screamed or cried that I would close my door. When mother went quiet, I knew it was my turn. Then I would smell that nasty cologne and feel his damp hands on me, until he was satisfied. I don’t remember what happened… I don’t remember how or why, but all of a sudden, I was sitting on the floor; everything covered in blood, guts, exploded limbs and brain matter… I remember my chest hurting, but I didn’t know why. Tears had streamed down my face, washing trails in the blood that had covered most parts of me. Mother screamed. First, she just screamed… Then, she screamed at me, as she grasped my throat and tried to kill me. I welcomed death that day, but it eluded me… I always knew it was someone I loved that would end up killing me. I would never have thought it would break my heart in the process…

The memory ended, and left was a limb Cassandra with all life gone from her eyes. Those golden eyes of hers had hardened as amber, leaving the fire within her extinguished. Her hand slowly left his cheek, only to rest on his chest; one last attempt to feel as close to him as possible. All there was left was her blood on the floor and on his face. The blood, still steaming hot, soaked into everything it could, staining the floor, the furniture… That way, at least a tiny part of her would stay with him.

This couldn’t be truth.
This couldn’t be truth.
he refused to believe in it as he sat there on the ground, with the bleeding Cassandra in his arms and Darius laughter echoing in the background.
her words made him tremble and shake his head. “We… Cass…” his words were stuck on his tongue. It felt like acid. His sight got blurry as the tears started to fill up and sting his eyes.  “Forgive… forgive you for what… I will… you will… make it… I…”

Her hand on his cheek pulled him down into a memory. A memory where he could only sit in the background, starring at a young Cassandra and what appeared to be a young Collin. But… that didn’t make sense. They had met each other as a lot older.
Could this…
His thoughts got interrupted as he saw the mother, cooking in the kitchen and almost disappearing behind the thin layer of smoke. The father´s word, now made Tidus look down at him, as he recognized what appeared to be one of the horrible stepfathers. The sight of him made Tidus stomach turn.
And it wasn’t the only thing making his stomach turn. The sight of the soup and the eyeball in Cassandra´s plate. Her scream made his protect instinct kick in. only again to realize he could do nothing. It was a memory. He only experienced what Cassandra had. Even feeling the pain from the slap her mother gave her on the cheek. He tasted the horrible taste of rabbit on his tongue… and everything turned to hell from there.
He followed Cassandra to her room. And could only scream in terror and pain, as her step father forced himself on her. Told her that she deserved it. The tears stung in his eyes, as he placed his hands on his head, cursing for it all to go away. This was not a dream, it was a memory, a horrible memory from a person that he loved more than anything in the world.
He felt the feeling of being strangle as the father forced himself down Cassandra´s throat. It was all such a mess. The tears tasted like salt as they traveled down to his lips. The taste of salt made him feel even worse.
what happened next, all seemed like a blur, Collin had attacked the monster and was therefore sent away. Leaving Cassandra alone in hell. The hell who drove around in circles.
The next thing was him, sitting on the floor, with the feeling of Cass near him and the nasty smell of blood and cologne. A scream… a scream was now empowering the whole room. A last scream from her mother and a strangle against their neck… after that… darkness.

He was thrown out of the memory, now back in reality, with Cassandra dying in his arms. Completely lost, he looked down at her, as the fire in her eyes disappeared. She was gone. And it was his fault.
“No… No Cassandra…” he shook her a bit desperate. “No. No. NO!”
tears were streaming down his cheek, landing on her now ice-cold skin.
The feeling of Darius slowly gaining up on him, made the blonde freeze on his spot. Not of fear. But of pure anger. Carefully he placed Cassandra down on the floor, before getting up, turning 180 degrees and jumping at Darius. Taken in surprise, the witch felt down to the ground, now with the demon hovering over him.
With his hand now raised, Tidus got out his demon claws and in a blink of an eye, he let the claws pull out the left eye of the witch. A scream of pure pain left Darius lips as he quickly covered the left eyes with his right hand.
But what would probably have been the right eye´s turn, the Witch snapped his finger and gone he was. Disappeared underneath Tidus like dust.
“No! COME BACK!” Tidus yelled up in frustration. He felt down on all fours. Arms shaking. As he turned his head, he hoped it for all to have been a dream or rather a nightmare. But no… she was still laying there. Drowned in blood.
Carefully he crawled over to her, once again taking her in his arms, just sitting there with her in silence. With a husky and shaking voice he started to sing.
Immortals… a song from fall out boys that they for fun had claimed as theirs, back in the days. Only now… it felt as every word was on fire as it escaped his lips.
The joyful tone far from joyful as he slowly sank further and further into the darkness.

I´ll try to picture me without you, but I can´t...

What ensued the darkness was pure flames. As is she had been caught in some paralysis-like state, everything was nothing but darkness and the feeling of fire consuming her. She wanted to scream, but every time she tried, she was reminded that she had no way of moving. It felt like being torn apart, only to be sewn together, over and over. It was pure agony.

Then, after what had felt like an eternity, everything stopped. Like a blazing hot sword being dipped in the tub with water at the forge, the flames disappeared. Her body was weightless, as water secluded her and filled her lungs, making her gasp for breath, only to feel the drowning sensation.

Agreed timejump - one week

It had been a week since she had gotten shot. Was this death? Was this what waited once life left once’s body? She shivered by the thought. All of a sudden, she felt the water being forced out of her lungs, making her want to gasp for air - which she did. In a rapid and vigorous motion, she gasped in the air; coughing as is she had never been breathing before. She opened her eyes, shaking immensely as she looked around in pure confusion, not understanding anything. She noticed she was sitting in a coffin, making her shake her head harshly as she tried to crawl out of the coffin backwards, only to whimper in panic. ‘’W-what the h-hell!?’’ she whimpered, feeling her eyes tear up as she heard her own voice, so brittle and fragile, as her throat had never been used in its new state.

Hell.
One word he could describe his week. The same thing was the case for Tivo. Without Cassandra… their world felt grey and empty. They barely saw each other. Tivo was hiding in his apartment, drinking until he passed out, only to wake up and drink again. A horrible limbo.
Tidus… tried to arrange the funeral. He tried to keep a cold face every time he talked with professional. But whenever he was alone, sitting there in the dark, he remembered the sorrow and sank into a puddle on the floor. Laying there for hours and hours. Or… it felt like he was laying down. Sometimes he just found himself, sitting on the kitchen counter, taking big sips of his favorite rum.
Collin had traveled to Scotland. Informing the rest of the family. An action Tidus appreciated he did.
Tidus kept to himself. No Christian. No Emory and no Rhaegal. No one saw him the whole week, except the professional, who should take care of his Cass.

The worst day had come. He should look at her corpse and gives a thumb up about her appearance, before they sank her into the grave, to rot in a coffin.
Slowly eaten up by darkness, he drove over there, completely forgotten how he even got in the car and to the place anyway.
He mumbled a greeting to the man, before walking in to Cass, who just laid there. Empty. Cold.
They had done a good job though. They had brought back her warm red cheeks and pink lips. Even giving her a bit of eyeliner and mascara. Every sign of Tidus accident on her body had been removed.
softly he caressed her cheeks. Tears were slowly starting to run down his cheeks again.
“How am I supposed to… go on… without you…”
In an attempt to stop his tear, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. What only felt like few second, now felt like time was standing still. He had opened her eyes and there she sat. SAT. awake.
He jumped a step back. With a hand to his chest, he gave her the elevator look, stopping by looking in the amber eyes. Those well-known amber eyes!
“Cass… Cas…” her name tumbling out of his throat. “Am… Am I dreaming?” He looked at her like he had seen a ghost. “Are you… are you here?”

Cassandra, terrified of what had been happening, looked straight at the familiar face as she noticed the tears on his cheeks. It had not been a dream or a cruel joke… It had been real! She felt the tremble grow, as she reached out towards him and placed a hand on his cheek, her thumb used to wipe away one of his tears. She was cold and her whole body ached from not being in motion for a whole week. Her chest burned from not breathing and her collarbone felt like someone had torn her skin. She just sat there for a moment, before she pulled him into her arms; hiding her face against his chest. ‘’Oh my god!’’ she said, feeling how she began to sob against him; against the chest where she had died the week before. She breathed in sharply, which only seemed to make it even more obvious that she was sobbing loudly. She tried to speak, but her words drowned. She hadn’t even had time to process that she was dying before she had been forced to let go of the last little string of life in her. She was latched onto him; her arms making sure he didn’t move away from her, as she breathed in the familiar scent. ‘’Don’t make me go back…! Please..’’ she begged, sobbing, as she hid her face against his chest.

It was a dream. It must be. She couldn’t be sitting there… alive… far from dead. His eyes were stocked at her. He feared moving. If he moved, she would disappear. She would be laying in the coffin again. Death. Empty and pale.
So, he stood still, completely still and watched her. The hand on his cheek, so warm, so soft, brought him back to realization. She was there. With him. In was not just a dream or a sick game his mind was playing.
before he could move, she had pulled him into her embrace, hiding her face away in his chest.
His body reacted before his mind did. Pulling her into that well-known hugged they always shared. Her little sob made the tears come back in his eyes as well. She was there. She was right there. He couldn’t believe it.
He hugged her tightly. And he was never letting go of her again. Never.
“Never…” he said. Hiding his face into her hair. “You´re never going back.”
He did not know why she was back. But right now… he couldn’t care less. One of his hand disappeared into those brown locks of hers. “You´re here… you´re here.”
after a weak of no eating, his body was slightly weak and trembling, as he hugged her tight into him.

She felt how he had frozen as he had seen her - making her fear that he didn’t want her to return. It had all been so terrible; she had only managed to stay with him for a moment, before she had been torn from life and left alone in that personal hell of hers. She wanted to tell him something, anything, but hearing his words, promising her that she never had to return to that place made her simply hide up against him for a moment, before she once again realized where she was sitting. ‘’How long?’’ she asked, her voice trembling as she feared the answer. it had not been just a couple of hours, then he wouldn’t have had a coffin ready for her. She had been dead for days, at least. The thought made her chest ache, as she tried to imagine what had happened to all of them. Tidus, Bienvenido, Collin, Michael… Calsifer! She froze on the spot for a moment, while she tried to think things over. Then it hit her; she had to be the brave one. Tidus looked like he had gone through hell as well, weakened from not doing anything to preserve himself - just as she had done when he had died. She pulled out from the embrace, ever so slightly, only to look up at him and plant her lips on the corner of his mouth - a kiss, yet not romantical in a lover’s sense. It was simply her, admitting that she truly did love him - and that they had done what they had promised; gone to hell and back for each other.
She then rested her forehead on his chin for a moment, as she tried to collect her mind. What had happened? What had been the true cause for her death? Had it been an illusion? I must have been… Darius. Was he alive? She didn’t know, but she was keen to find out, and if he still breathed and walked the earth, she would sever his legs from his body and pull his lungs from his chest - only to show him what it felt like. The burning sensation on her collarbone made her look down, only to see a different name on her chest, and those scars of hers; gone. The only scar left was the scar from the bullet - an eternal reminder.

How long… this made him sigh and then smile a bit relieved at her. Still so softly, he caressed her hair, promised sweet promises of never letting her go again. Never hurting her again.
“Forever! Actual time… a week,” he answered her. His voice still a trembling and hoarse mess.
as she pulled out of the embrace, ever so slightly, he was surprised to feel her lips to close to his own. A kiss there did not feel romantic or a kiss of a lover. It was a kiss from Cassandra. His Cass who he had thought he had lost for good.
There was not much to tell her. Nothing had really happened. Besides him and Tivo being in hell.
almost as if he could read her mind, he started to separate his lips and taking deep breath. “Collin went to Scotland… telling your family… Tivo… he… he´s been locked up in his apartment for the whole week… Tivo!” His eyes here almost pupped out of the blonde´s face. “I have to call him! I have to call him and Collin!”
He quickly digged down in his pocket, picking up his phone, with shaking hands.

A week. For a whole week, he had suffered the consequences of a crime he did not wish to commit. She felt her throat close up, as all she could say was a measly “What?”. How similar they were, those two. The moment the other faded into nothingness, the other one collapsed with the loss of will to live. As Tidus explained what had happened to those she left behind, he suddenly seemed to remember that he wasn’t the only one thinking she had been dead for good. As he panicked, trying to manage the phone with shaking hands, she reached for it in a calm motion. She took it, and without hesitation dialed the phone number by memory; looking at Tidus as it rang. She locked eyes with the blue eyed demon as the werewolf finally picked up his phone. “hola mi amor... No sé cómo decir esto ... pero ¿no quieres venir a buscarnos? te necesito...”. With those words she hang up the phone and looked down at it.
Collin can wait...” She then said, as she handed Tidus the phone.
“Please help me get out of this thing before Bienvenido shows up...?” She then begged, looking at Tidus with a pleading gleaming her eye.

His pain and shaking were clear to see. Therefore, he thanked Cassandra, inside his head, for taking the phone and calling Tivo herself. Even though he didn’t understand what she said to Tivo, it was said in such a soft tone, that he couldn´t help but smile. And he could already imagine how Tivo had dropped the beer in his hand and ran out of the door.
as she handed him the phone, he took it back with a smile and nodded to the fact, that she said Collin could wait.
Carefully he reached in to help her get out of the coffin. He could only imagine how stiff her body must be. A painful thought that brought him back to his own time in coma. The cold floor must feel like knives for Cass. “You alright?” he asked a bit concerned as he supported her. The pain and limpness in her legs, made him support her, help her to stand on her legs.
He would do anything for her…
A fear inside him still whispered in his ear, that this was just a dream, she was not alive.