It was snowing. No, it wasn't just snow, it was a blizzard, and it just happened to hit on the day Cassandra Jackson was supposed to be returning to sunny Southern California, where it didn't snow the day you were supposed to fly out. So unfortunately, Cassie was trapped in her birth city of New York, with the biggest snow storm the east coast had seen in the last fifty years.

Cassie sat in the room she grew up in, staring blankly out the window as the cursed flakes painted the world white. This was not supposed to be happening, she was supposed to on a plane heading back to her apartment in LA, but now she was stuck in the one place she did not want to be stuck in.

Cassie let out a sigh and stood up from the twin bed that used to be her own, but the once green and black sheets have been replaced with a pale blue bed set. As a matter of fact a lot of her things had been replaced. From her band posters that littered the walls to her music awards and achievements. The only thing that looked the same was the twin bed across from hers that once housed her brother. All of his things were the same, as if he had never left or aged. Same comic posters, same plaid bed set, all his sports trophies were still standing on his still full dresser. It was if she was the one who had died.

"Cassandra, dinners ready." Her mother's voice drifted into the room and brought Cassie out of her musing and back to reality. The reality that she was still trapped in the house her family grew up together in and then were shattered apart.

Sitting among family was supposed to be comfortable, joyful even, but this family dinner was none of those things. The air was filled with a loathsome draft that seemed to be directed right at Cassie. Her mother tried to keep the peace and start up a light conversation.

"This storm has to be one of the biggest storms I've ever seen. Your father would have said-"

"Well, Dad's not here." Cindy was Cassie's older sister, actually she was the oldest sibling among the Jackson family. Cassie's younger sister Cathy sat beside Cindy, her eyes downcast staring at her plate.

"Cindy, please not at the table." Debbie Jackson, tried her best to keep the peace among her broken family, but the week had been the toughest week of her life, she just didn't have the strength.

"Dont 'Cindy please' me, mom." Cindy slammed her fork down on the table and turned her blazing glare on Cassie. "Are we just going to ignore the fact that she was gone for the past three years. And now she thinks she can just come back into this house like nothing happened."

Cassie flinched at her sister's words, she knew her sister held onto grudges, but the one she held on her was never going to go away.

"Well, lets not bring up the past." Debbie told her oldest daughter and proceeded to eat her dinner, keeping her fake smile on her face.

"No, lets bring up the past. Where were you when Elliot was dying, huh? Where were you when your twin brother was in the hospital, sick." Cindy's voice dripped with venom as she glared accusingly at her sister. Cassie couldn't bring herself to answer.
"So thats it. You're just going to stay quiet, just like at his funeral. I didn't even see you cry!" Cindy's voice rose as she continued to voice her opinion. "Who do you think you are? You can't just walk back into this family! You can't just ask to be forgiven for what you've done! You're the reason Dads not-"
"Shut up." Cassie felt the words slip through her clenched teeth.

"What did you say?" Her sister asked in disbelief.

"I said, Shut. Up. You have no idea what you're talking about. I didn't cry at my brothers funeral because I couldn't bring myself to cry in front of you people. I had to watch as you buried my brother in the ground to be worm food." Cassie was breathing heavy now years of pent up frustration leaking out as she continued her rant. "And don't you dare bring up Dad. You can't just continue to blame me for his death. I didn't kill Dad."

"You didn't kill Dad?!" The disbelief on Cindy's face turned sour. "You didn't kill Dad? Of course you killed Dad! If it wasn't for you, he would still be here, with us!" Cindy shouted at Cassie, her claims feeling justified.

"I was eight Cindy! I was eight years old for christ sakes! I didn't see the damn bus!" Cassie stood from the table slamming her hands down on the wood and stomped over to the front door grabbing her winter coat off the coat rack.
"Cassandra, where are you going?" Her mother's voice may have sounded concerned, but she knew deep down her mother felt relieved she was leaving.

"My names Cassie mom, and I'm leaving." With that Cassie opened the door and slammed it behind her as she headed out into the cold city.

The storm seemed to be dying down enough to allow snow plows to move about the streets as busses and taxies followed after them. Cassie knew the airport would still be closed and she wasn't heading back to the town house any time soon to grab her luggage. So she wandered around the neighborhood she grew up in as the snow continued to fall.

Cassie's steps crunched in the white powder, her wandering leading to the neighborhood shops that consisted of an old toy shop, a small grocery store and a few chain stores. She could remember walking down this same street with her Dad and could remember the day he died, in this same place. Maybe it was her fault. Maybe if she wasnt so excited to go to the toy store and waited for her family. Maybe if she didn't run into the street. But she did, and now her Dads gone, maybe it was her fault.

"Jimmy! Stop pulling, we'll get to the toy store in a minute." Cassie looked across the street as a woman scolded her son who was impatiently pulling on his mother hand.

"Loom Mama! I can see the new Iron Man toy in the window." The small child wrenched his hand out of his mother's and ran for the toy store. Not noticing the speeding taxi cab racing down the ice covered road.

Cassie watched in what seemed like slow motion as the cab driver slammed on his breaks, but the ice caused the car to skid, heading right for the small kid. Cassie's brian went into overdrive, she didn't even feel her feet start to move. At one point she stood starring on the sidewalk, now she was in the road pushing the child out of the way, but before she herself could move out of the way, the ice below her feet caused her to slip leaving her to the cars mercy.