Cassie
The rest of the night, into the next day, I kept thinking about what I had heard on the porch.
I had definitely heard him say he was falling for me. There was no doubt about it. Yet, when he had pushed past me without saying anything more than, You shouldn’t have heard that, and I thought you were asleep, I questioned whether I’d been hearing things. The look he had given me, though, told me I’d heard correctly, and his subsequently behavior had been all just blow.
I sat on my bed, my chest feeling like something was holding it down. I just wanted him to open up to me. If he truly believed what he’d said to Diesel, then I didn’t have to argue myself out of falling for him.
There was a knock and I leaped at the thought that it could be Mason. I got up from the bed and hurried to the door, throwing it open, ready to tell him that I felt the same way too. Only it wasn’t Mason at my door. It was Khloe.
“May I come in?” she asked.
I nodded and let her past, then half-shut the door before turning to her.
“I’m sorry about earlier. I hope Mason wasn’t too angry with you.”
She brushed off my words.
“It’s fine. He’ll get over it.” She looked around my new room. “Just wanted to see how everything is going in here. Do you need anything?”
I shook my head. “Everything’s fine. Thanks!”
I stood there for a while, wondering how I could possibly approach the subject of Dana again. I couldn’t stop thinking about it, But I wondered if she would willingly start talking about it again, especially after Mason had abruptly interrupted us.
“So, I don’t mean to pry, but you were saying that Dana had been killed, and I can’t help but wonder how?”
Khloe nodded. She didn’t seem all that concerned about continuing the conversation. In fact, I wondered if maybe that was why she had come to see me to begin with. Maybe she was using the room as an excuse.
“She was tortured to death.”
My mouth hung open as the words came out of her.
“Tortured?” I asked.
Too many thoughts ran through my mind for me to take in what she was actually saying.
“Mason was forced to watch,” she continued, “and that honestly took a huge toll on him, as a person and, most importantly, as a man. He felt helpless, like there was nothing he could do about it.”
“Wow!” I whispered. “How awful!”
Khloe nodded sadly. We stood in silence for a moment, each of us lost in her own thoughts.
“You have to swear that you won’t tell him I told you the rest of the story.”
I promised, but I was feeling all emotional and couldn’t think about anything else.
Khloe said goodbye and left the room, leaving me to ponder over the effects such an experience would have had on Mason. In that moment, I would have thrown caution to the wind and gone after what I wanted, but I still felt hesitant.
Throughout the rest of the day, I would occasionally catch Mason talking to one of the men. He would glance my way, but each time I turned away from him. If he wanted me like he’d told Diesel he did, then it was up to him to make the move. That was my opinion anyway. I went on with the rest of the day, feeling much the same way.
That night, as I lay in bed, I wound up tossing and turning. I wanted to be there for Mason and to show him I wasn’t going to be just another notch on the bedpost to him. But it wasn’t my place to tell him that. I didn’t know anything about his relationship with Dana. They had obviously been in love, but that was all I knew. I just needed to bide my time and see if something of that stature could come about for us.
I was tossing and turning for what seemed like hours, until I eventually passed out from sheer exhaustion. The minute the dream started, it felt so real.
I was bound to a chair, unable to move. My arms were shackled down. My mouth was gagged, and three men stood before me. As I looked around, I spotted Mason standing there, just watching. Worry was etched on his face. I opened my mouth to try to scream and tell him I would be fine, but the gag pulled tighter, choking me. I turned to the other men and watched in horror as they each reached for a long strap. They had evil in their eyes and I couldn’t bear to watch them. They lifted their straps and began hitting me repeatedly. Tears sprang my eyes as I felt the raw burning sensation of leather biting my flesh. Please don’t! I silently begged. But the beating continued. One man grabbed a hold of my hair and pulled my head back, while they continued to thrash me. I was sobbing and just wishing for it to stop.
When the whipping did stop, I opened my eyes and turned my head to Mason. He was looking helpless, but his gaze remained fixed on me. The men dropped their straps and one of them grabbed a steel spike. My eyes widened in horror as he moved closer to me. Without a second’s hesitation, he ran the spike along my leg. I jerked and bucked against my binding as a strong piercing sensation ran beneath my skin. He grazed the spike over my legs, one at a time, each time pressing down a little harder until it drew blood. My legs shook beneath the cold metal’s touch and I could only watch…
Then, in horror, I saw another man with a blow torch. He ignited it and its flame bloomed. He walked over to me, a grin on his face. I cried and pleaded with him not to do it, but he couldn’t hear me because of the gag and, even if he could, he wouldn’t have stopped. He ran the torch up and down my body, burning my flesh as I screamed and wept. I was destined to die and I released a scream so powerful that it ripped my throat.
I sat bolt upright in bed, my mind still racing with terror. Then I heard his voice out on the hallway.
“Cassie? Cassie?”
I had locked my door, but Mason kicked it in.
I crumpled up in bed, tears streaming down my face. Mason flew to my side.
“What’s wrong?”
He sat down on my bed. I flung myself into his arms and buried my face in his broad chest. I felt safe there.
I gradually began to calm down, but the tears still flowed. It had been so real. I could still feel the spike as it tore through my flesh, and the fire sear my breasts and stomach.
Mason rocked me in his arms.
“What’s wrong, Cassie?” he asked, his voice soft and tender.
“A nightmare,” I finally realized. “I was having a terrible nightmare.”
“You’re alright now,” he said, stroking my hair.
I couldn’t lie to him. I pulled back and looked into his eyes.
“I know all about Dana,” I whispered. “You don’t have to carry this burden all by yourself.”
He started back in surprise, and I feared he would push me away. Instead, he nodded slowly.
“I really loved her.”
Tears welled at the corner of his eyes.
I drew him close in a tight hug.
“I know and I’m sorry about what happened.”
I pulled back and saw the tears glittering in his eyes. I reached up and wiped them away.
We stayed that way, wrapped in each other’s arms, until we both fell asleep in my bed.