A/N: Oh. My. Gosh. Guys, I love you all. Thank you for kindly ignoring 'one-shot' in the summary and encouraging me to write another chapter. I think I'll write three separate one-shots for each of the trio on this event.
On a side note, I have not witnessed a car crash before, but I seen a commercial that was promoting people to not speed which had a crash scene.
The Other Side
There was the terrible sound of the screeching of brakes, and then the horrifying crash. Cass and Yo-Yoji stood there silently. The sky was so dark that it appeared to be night instead of the afternoon. The rain had slowed down slightly.
"Did you hear that…?" Cass barely whispered, trying to process what had happened just then. The contradiction, the arguement, the invisible hammer that smashed the link between them and Max-Ernest.
"It sounded kind of scary, didn't it?" Yo-Yoji nodded, "And didn't Max-Ernest go off in that direction?"
Cass looked at him, bewildered. Her heart pounded so hard that she could feel it.
"He did?"
"What, you didn't notice?"
She tried to say something back, but swallowed it down. "L-let's go see what happened." she fought to keep her breathing calm. The arrogance of him annoyed her deeply. And something could've happened to Max-Ernest. Cass stomped off. Yo-Yoji followed her reluctantly.
The scene was gruesome. Max-Ernest was trapped under the car, a little after the front tires. His eyes were glassy and wide, trying to look but not seeing. He was bleeding badly from the side and head. His hair was almost completely dyed red from the blood and the substance stained the pavement. The legs were bent awkwardly, suggesting that they were broken.
Cass stared a little, then dropped to the ground, kneeling on the cement. The impact stung her knees, but she didn't react. She just stared, stared at the pale figure of her collaborator.
Did I… Do this?
I didn't mean to…
No! Please! It's not my fault! I…
I killed him…
"What's- Oh…" Yo-Yoji caught up with her, panting. He looked at Max-Ernest, then Cass, then back and forth frequently. The driver was frantically and rapidly speaking into his phone. But everything he said was sadly French. Yo-Yoji pull out his own phone, but Cass snatched his wrist.
"It's no use, he's dead…"
Pathetic. You're a survivalist, yet you murdered your colleague?
They locked eyes.
"It's your fault…" she murmured.
"How was it my fault?" Yo-Yoji scoffed.
"You were the one who started the arguement!"
"In case you didn't notice, I was trying to stand up for you back there!"
"Whoever asked for you to stand up for me?"
Yo-Yoji glared at her, crossed his arms and walked off. Cass was fine by that, she wanted to be alone. She got up, walked towards the car, a little frightened. There was the lump in her throat again, hard and sour. She sobbed, and started crying, like a young child that had done something wrong. Then the girl walked away. Slowly at first, then picking up her pace, jogging, running…
Cass didn't care where she was going. There was nowhere to go for someone as despicable as her. The world will look at her with disgust and turn away from her.
She stopped.
Then… What's the point in running?
Quickly, she had to end this quickly.
To her right was a rather high building. A shopping mall, where her mother had bought her graduation clothes. The girl looked sadly at the Halloween decorations on the windows before stepping into the revolving door. Cheerful music played throughout the floor, but she didn't smile.
Cass took the elevator up the highest it can go, then she looked around, making sure no one's watching before slipping into the staircase that was the emergency exit. She climbed further up still, and found a small wooden door. Thankfully, it wasn't locked. The doorknob, however, was rusty, and she struggled to twist it. Finally, the door burst open, and Cass nearly fell on the ground.
She stepped out. The clouds were parting, and the sun was coming out. Not the ideal condition for…
For what? The girl thought, pushing the hair out of her face, only to have the wind blow them back again. What did I come here for?
She walked to the edge of the building and look down, then immediately backed away again, dizzy with vertigo. Shakily, she drew in a long breath, and then let it out. Her feet and palms were sweaty, but she advanced forwards, and then sat down, nudging herself to fall down.
And she actually did.
Cass found herself falling on something soft.
It was like her bed, with her blanket and her pillow. The backpack would be right beside her for emergencies... She lifted her head and look around to find an endless stretch of something cottony and white. Clouds? Not likely, clouds are just condensed water vapor; I would be falling through them.
She got up. She was a survivalist, no matter in what environment and condition. And this is truly shameful, she really did commit suicide.
Wait, she's dead.
Doesn't that mean she's on the other side?
The other side that was the Secret?
Forgetting all about everything else, Cass looked around wildly, hoping to see something of interest. Then something touched her on the shoulder. It was so soft, so light, that it sent shiver down her spine. She whipped around.
"Cass?"
"Max-Ernest?" it was possibly the worst reunion ever. Two friends dying within one hour.
"What did you do? Why are you here?" the boy stared at her wide-eyed, as if she was an alien.
"I… Missed you…" which possibly the worst reason in the world ever, since he died for only half an hour. Max-Ernest looked down at the ground (?).
"You idiot." he murmured, and grasped her hand like she grasped his so many times before. His eyes shone with tears. The boy tried to blink them back, but they fell down his face instead, leaving a wet path. "You don't deserve to die just to be with me."
"Yes I do," replied the girl dully, "I killed you in the first place."
Max-Ernest frowned.
"Are you sure you're Cassandra?"
"O-oh. I'm sorry…"
"Don't say sorry! It's weird coming from you."
Cass managed to laugh, a little unsteadily and hollowly. Then she gathered Max-Ernest into her arms and started to cry again.
"Alright…"
And he hugged her back.