Clutching the rifle in her hands Casey made her way back, down the mountain. Her eyes thoroughly scanned the surroundings, small spaces between tall trees and beyond misty haze, careful not to miss anything. There wasn't anyone around and even animals seemed to have vanished, the forest was still and silent enough to plant an eerie feeling in the hearts of everyone that dared to venture close. And without her only way to move quickly, without Cinis by her side her fear grew tenfold. But she didn't regret her decision to come without him, too much noise would be made, her mom finding an empty spot in stables was a valid possibility. She couldn't risk it.
The edge of the forest was in sight, engulfed in early morning light that barely touched the sky. She felt her body growing tired both from walking for God knows how long and lack of sleep. But she couldn't afford to slow down, in fact she felt like she had to quicken her pace, worried that her mom would wake up to find her missing.
"I should stop doing this. Not that I did it a lot, but still…" – she grumbled in her mind – "it wouldn't be pretty if she actually caught me sneaking out… or in"
Her legs were about to give in as she ran in a large arc, making sure that she was in the view of only two windows: her bedroom and her studio. The house came closer slower than her sore muscles would appreciate. Breathing heavily she stood in front of a half-open window.
"Thank God no one else lives around here" – she climbed up with the last of her strength a fleeting thought of a burglar in their house passing through her mind. She knew it was unlikely.
Once inside she closed her eyes listening carefully: a rustle could be heard from the other side of the door, barely audible, not in rush or panic then a quiet hum followed. She thanked the Heavens that her mom didn't enter her room, judging by the sounds she was only waking up.
Casey didn't care about much more, she just wanted to sleep. Changing into a loose t-shirt she curled into a ball in her bed feeling much better already. She quickly checked the time before mumbling muffled complains into her pillow, falling asleep mid-way.
She traveled by foot almost two hours over rocky, uneven paths of a wild forest. Every step taken harder to overcome than the last in, at least, some way. That was more than she ever did and, hopefully, never will ever again.
It was past noon when she woke up, even though she didn't sleep nearly as much as she normally did, it seemed enough at the time. Barely noticing the image of her room in front of her eyes she let thoughts take over. She soon found herself staring down at her palm as one memory from the previous night stood out. She remembered vividly how he took her hand, wondering why he didn't let go. Sure she was gripping it, but Sans wasn't the type to hold on just for that. Maybe he zoned out, he was staring up all the time. She felt her heart beat a bit faster when a thought crossed her mind.
A hope, she never noticed.
"Maybe he didn't want to either"
Her eyes stayed fixed on her palm for God knows how long as she tried to sort her memories, but they all eventually returned to him. It was getting frustrating at that point, too distracting. Groaning she got up, her hand almost instantly grabbing her phone.
"1 am" – she spat at no one in particular, glaring down with hatred as if waiting for the poor device to apologize and turn the time back.
While the long nap was necessary she hated the idea of wasting precious time on her last day of freedom.
Casey changed and brushed her hair as quickly as she could, she looked at her reflection by the end of it vaguely remembering a tortured woman from a horror movie she once saw. Perfect. Storming out of her room she ran into the kitchen.
Soon she emerged from there like a beautiful swan that she was not: a cup of steaming tea in one hand, a plate with three sandwiches in the other and an unopened bag of chips hanging gracefully from a pocket of her old shorts.
"Hey, mom" – she greeted, in a somewhat tired voice, passing her by.
"Good morning sleeping beauty" – the ginger woman eyed her suspiciously – "are you feeling well?"
"Mm-hmm"
"Right, and that's why you wake up past noon looking like a nightmare"
Casey stopped in her tracks turning around, explanation would be for the best, for more than one reason.
"I stayed up late last night. Was watching the meteor shower"
"Oh, me too!" – The woman's tone instantly changed to her usual, cheerful one – "I should've joined you. It was boring on my own"
"I thought you were asleep too" – the young girl shrugged. She really did.
"Did you see the orange one?"
"I did! It was so pretty, and was visible for so long. Why, though?"
Eilis shrugged a giddy smile on her face. It was evident where Casey got her love for stars – "probably was closer or something"
"Yup, that's my mom alright"
"Anyway you go on now, I got some stuff to do in the town. When I'm back, help me out will you?"
"Sure"
The word sounded more like a shriek than an actual language as the girl turned around vanishing behind a white door.
Casey sat down, her hand immediately jolted to a laptop to press the on button, but the small light near it didn't glowed. She froze. Her hazel eyes rested on a thick book casually collecting dust in shadow of a wall below an open window. It was covered by few blank papers in an attempt to hide it from Eilis in case she came in.
Without thinking for another moment she grabbed the tome, the feeling of uneven leather underneath her fingers sent a wave of eagerness through her. Before she knew what she was doing the book was open, her eyes scanning its first page. Her mind easily distinguished sentences and words in endless lines of text. Rows of small handwriting clear of any spacing.
The next page was the same and the next and the next. She couldn't understand a word she read, but couldn't look over any. It was scary to, it felt as if something within her would stop or break if she did. She had to keep going.
A loud sound brought her back to reality, a familiar voice. She quickly answered her mother as she looked around hastily. Judging by the sun and the shadows at least an hour had past, maybe even two.
"Almost three" – she sighed staring at flashing 15:47 on the phone's display.
She noticed that the food she had brought was long gone. The page count in the tome was a roman 34.
"God almighty" – she whispered clutching her silver cross – "how did I read that much?"
How come she never noticed? Even three hours wouldn't be enough to read that much of a foreign language and comprehend its content, even if only subconsciously. What the magic was doing to her made her heart bead louder, head feeling dizzy. While it scared her, she couldn't ignore the excitement it provided either, she embraced it. She wanted to ask Sans about it, he could help her figure it out.
Her racing thoughts came to a halt when her mother's voice called out again. Without another second to lose Casey ran out barely avoiding a sweet reunion of the floor and her face twice.
She quickly apologized saying she fell asleep halfway through an anime episode. Wouldn't be the first time. Luckily the tasks her mom gave her were fairly simple, tedious and boring, but simple.
Fixing a small hole in the stables' roof took less time than she expected and she moved to their fence.
Repair a few loose boards and repaint some parts here and there. Shouldn't take too long.
At least she had time to think. She appreciated it, needed it. Endless flow of symbols and arcane words returned to her mind over and over again until she couldn't forget any.
There were spells written in those pages, quite a few of them. All were simple, two or three words in length, all were a part of something bigger. She thought she saw them somewhere before, most of them, at least. She remembered them in patterns and arcs.
She had to find a connection to the barrier in those words, some kind of clue, there was one… right? There had to be. That was the reason Sans entrusted the manuscript to her.
She wished she had more time though, with school starting she'd have barely any. She wished he gave her the book earlier. Maybe then she'd have results already. She felt the magic within her swirl and storm at the thought, rushing her to get back inside, to resume what she started. She felt its power lessen with each breath. Though she knew it could be easily replenished, it terrified her.
With a low thud the paintbrush rested on the ground beneath her feet, but she didn't care enough to look down. Holding her trembling hands to her chest Casey took deep breaths, her heart calming a slightly bit more with each. She failed to notice for how long she was panting, or how strong the heartbeats hit against her chest. The only thing that remained in her mind was the desire to break the magic surrounding the mountain. That was all she could remember. The rest of the world around blackened.
"Why? Why did he give me the one thing that could help so much so late? Why did we visit dad, why couldn't he be here instead? It's their fault. Because of them, the barrier will stay. Because they were thoughtless I'll lose it, my magic will be gone. I hate this I hate this I hate this.
I should do something. I need time. I need to break it"
A warm voice called for her from behind and she turned around to see a ginger woman calling her for dinner. She responded with a smile before turning her head back, to finish up what little work remained.
"What was I saying?" – She tried to remember – "right, school. I gotta go tomorrow… I don't wanna" – her mind whined as a desire to burn the place down flashed in her mind like it does every year.
She sighed remembering that her meetings with Sans would be lessened. She wanted to see him already. The thought drowned in few others as Papyrus' face came to her mind. His voice, his rambling about how great he was at, pretty much, everything he did and how awesome his friends were. The compliments he didn't spare for her in simple small talk, his innocence and joy. He was the best friend she could wish for and she hated herself for not giving him as much attention anymore. Sure it was more interesting to chat and hang out with the older brother, but that tall cinnamon roll always made her happy and she ignored him.
"Like a piece of poop" – a though clung, her face reflecting pure sulk, directed at herself, somehow.
She calmed down a lot more during dinner, reassuring herself that she'd think of something special for him. The sulk was gone and she, overall, became kinder towards the world, because food is foundation of all that is good.
As soon as she was done, Casey went back to her room, saying she was tired and sleepy. The urge returned becoming stronger with each step. She couldn't understand how she could be captivated with something, she couldn't understand in the slightest, so much. And though it worried her, she learned that there was no fighting it. It felt like her mind, senses, her vary soul was begging her to go on, to learn the magic within those yellow pages. She submitted.
In comfort of her bed Casey rested the heavy tome on her lap, it hurt a bit, but she couldn't care less. She barely noticed after a while, quiet sound of the wind calming her quickly.
As her eyelids slowly cracked open Casey let out a muffled groan in the pillow she was hugging. Blinking several times she let her eyes adjust to the darkness only few rays of dim light were clearing.
She didn't remember much from the night before, only how she changed into her pajamas before collapsing back into the bed. The rest was darkness filled with unreadable symbols, half of which she was sure she had never seen. Normally she'd think of it as something like a fever dream, something your brain creates to torture you. But that dream, those visions were calming, like they were supposed to be there from the beginning. Like she belonged in them.
Casey quickly glanced at her phone, silently praying for time to move slower. The dim numbers on a dark screen flashed for a second and she turned it off once again, her eyes hurting from the light. Few minutes past six. She sighed in relief shuffling in bed to take a more comfortable position. There was neither need nor a desire to get up just yet, a bit over two hours were still separating her from school. For a while she stared at the empty space failing to notice anything around, her mind filled with thoughts so small they seemed to vanish faster than they came.
It was calm and silent, just like she loved the most, but everything nice have to come to an end. A loud growl filled the room as she clutched her stomach. Too hungry. Dragging her bare feet over red and blue patterns of a carpet the girl was soon standing in front of a mirror, trying to make her hair, more or less, presentable. After messing with it with approximately two minutes she ended up with two tiny, braids on one side, a sky blue ribbon at the end, while the rest of the brown locks flowed in natural waves, sticking out in few spots. It was nice, she never liked her hair too tidy.
After another agonizingly long minute she put on a simple navy blue loose top with lase trim and grey knee long shorts. She looked at her reflection smiling, all the blue on her made her feel protected, safe.
"Weird"
Shrugging this new feeling off as an odd mood she exited her room, making her way to the kitchen with silent steps. Minutes later she was back, a plate full of food in one hand and a kitty mug with steaming tea in the other. Standard stuff.
Opening her now favorite book she sat in front of it. Experience of the previous day was enough for her to put a timer close to her. She wasn't yet sure if the time loss was because of the book and, by extant, the magic, but she wasn't going to risk the school to find out.
It felt like several minutes had passed when the timer went off. Predictable. Irritation filled her mind for a moment and she slammed her hand on the small device, desperate to stop its piercing sound.
"8:20. I have 40 minutes, should make it there just fine" – her mind quickly calculated as she hid the book in a closet, under a pile of sweaters.
Her mom was still asleep, so Casey locked their front door before leaving, just in case. In about ten minutes she was on her way to her doom, the town edging closer by second. She didn't want to leave Cinis, part of her mind screaming at her to turn around and ride to the mountain, part of her hoping that Sans would be there. But she forced those thoughts away, like many other excuses, many times before. After exchanging few words with the old man at the stables and, as always, asking to take good care of her horse Casey quickened her pace heading further into the town.
Though she knew there was enough time and being late wasn't an option unless she stopped, her legs wouldn't slow down. With a nail between her teeth the girl fought back a desire to bite down, as she looked around, observing people in hopes of a distraction.
"Calm down, Casey, you can do this" – she reassured herself before snapping at her own anxiety – "I'm gonna strangle you one day"
The next several minutes she spent realizing how stupid it sounded even in her head, pondered how she'd do that and finally came to a conclusion that couldn't, thankfully.
The not so large area in front of the only high school in town was filled with people when she arrived. Groups of students of all shapes and sizes were scattered everywhere, barely any space left between them to pass. For reasons unknown to Casey the first day was always too hectic. She glanced around and, for a moment, her breath hitched coming out as short gasps before she quickly calmed herself.
"I hate crowds" – her mind cried. She felt vulnerable, unsafe. She just wanted to go home, to see Papyrus. She wanted Sans to be there. She clutched her shirt.
"Casey!"
A loud, slightly high-pitched velociraptor scream came closer at an alarming rate, well at least it was happy. She didn't have time to turn around when something a little lighter than herself jumped at her from behind. Stumbling a couple of steps forth she tried her best to keep the balance, her hand grabbed something steady. An arm, a large one. Looking up her eyes met with a smiling beard of a tall man.
"Good morning Mr. Eraman" – she greeted in a calm voice shaking his hand. That was embarrassing.
The man gave her a stern look, making her mind race searching for the reason – "erm… Ethan"
She corrected herself remembering his request and the man smiled again as he returned her greeting.
"Good morning, my girl. Glad we met you, actually, we could use your help… well she could" – he pointed at Lucy who was now by his side, looking up at her father, grinning – "unlike you she's not too good with directions, neither she, nor her brother. Not the best thing to inherit from their old man"
"Sure, I'll help" – the girl laughed, her hazel eyes twinkling as she glanced around – "what about Nye?"
"He'd probably go ahead on his own. Said he wanted to 'look around'" – Lucy said making air quotes – "which basically means he'll be talking to the popular kids"
Strange. He seemed to be more of a loner. And even if it was a false impression, he didn't struck Casey as a type to seek or want too much attention.
"Why?" – She asked tilting her head, sounding genuinely curious. The faces of the two in front of her softened. Too easy, as always.
"He says he's gathering information" – his sister whispered leaning closer. Careful, but confident, as if she had been in the same situation before.
"It helps him avoid bullies. Worked before, will work again" – Ethan nodded.
"Interesting approach, but too soft…"
"Makes sense" – Casey smiled letting the thought rest deeper in her mind – "I never really had to deal with it though. Only once, but they expelled the guy two months after he targeted me"
"You got lucky" – she watched the younger girl narrow her eyes, eyebrows furrowed, seemingly recalling something.
"Enough with our dark pasts, ladies" – the older man sighed making Casey chuckle – "you're gonna be late if you don't move"
Saying that he immediately turned around walking towards the school himself a lot faster than the two girls could.
"He's gonna see the principal" – Lucy noted seeing the confusion on her friend's face – "has some paperwork he's gotta finish"
Casey only nodded, something else bothered her now.
Looking at the sea of people her senses were telling her to run and she hated it, hated feeling lost and helpless. Having someone close helped, but the suffocating feeling remained. She felt like she'd drown if she took another step. She filled her mind to brim with anything she could think of, anything to distract her as they walked.
The memories roamed from Papyrus, to lush green forest around the mountain, she remembered exploring it, taking long walks through its endless mazes finding the way out, each time with more ease. She remembered the symbols and circles, the magic engraved in stone, it filled her with determination to move on. She thought of what she could do once back home.
It helped her notice her surroundings less. At that moment she wanted to be wrapped in something warm and soft. To forget where she was only thinking of comfort it gave.
"Sans' jacket would be perfect" – she chuckled, barely loud enough for herself to hear. The coziness she felt just by imagining it was enough for her to get through the day.
"Should we get inside?" – A young girl's voice broke her out of her thoughts, her midnight eyes scanning the crowd left behind.
"Yeah" – Casey nodded taking few steps – "what about your brother?"
"He'll be fine. There are a lot of people he can follow"
"But your dad said-"
"You worry too much" – Lucy cut her off waving her hand in dismiss – "he said that just in case, but I think we'll manage most of the time"
Casey nodded with a short 'ok'. She wouldn't argue, not when her life was, so generously, made easier.
Taking a quick peek at their schedules Casey hurried to the stairs, Lucy following close behind. She showed the younger girl the first classroom and explained how to get to the rest. It proved to be a lot easier than Ethan made it sound like. At least, at first glance it was.
A loud bell rang indicating the start of their first class when she was still on her way and she quickened her pace. Students rushed, quickly emptying the halls, some simply entered the doors near them while others ran to the other end of long corridors. Few darted past her, closer than she'd appreciate. Her hand quickly found the silver cross gently rocking on her chest with each quickened step. It helped her heart calm.
The classroom was almost full when she entered, none seemed to notice her presence to her relief. Though she knew they only pretended.
Her eyes scanned the room as she made her way to one of the few remaining empty seats which was, luckily, by the window: a brief escape from this madness. After reforming most of the classes previous year not many assholes in her class remained. Just one, overly egotistical girl and two guys laughing near the back. Their noises were distorted, if she didn't see them laugh she'd think someone was having a mental breakdown. It sounded unpleasant: the laughter, but there wasn't much she could do about it except ignore it.
Sighing she sat down, sun still on the other side of the building casted a large shadow on the ground and few houses. Mt. Ebott, on the other hand, was engulfed in golden light. She loved how calm and inviting it looked, it made her smile wider. She wondered if Sans and Papyrus were there now, chatting or laughing in warm rays.
Her thoughts were cut short when she heard the teacher's old, yet lively voice as he greeted them, calling out names one after another as he made notes in the large journal in front of him. His speech was very similar to previous years': congratulations for the beginning of, this time, their last year, collecting the summer homework. Barely any new information was given, no new homework.
It was the same with the second teacher and the third.
At some point she stopped listening, only briefly paying attention to not miss anything important.
With a blank notebook in front of her and a pen in her hand she began scribbling. Spells and incantations filling the pages. Occasionally she left blank spaces, sometimes skipping over few rows or an entire page before writing again. She didn't really know why she had to, but the magic was requesting it and she obliged, she trusted it.
By the time it was lunch she was almost done. And it was irritating that she had to leave her work. Nevertheless her hunger was stronger.
Leaving everything she didn't need for the day in a locker Casey made her way to the cafeteria, feeling her stomach beginning a riot.
"Hey" – a familiar soft voice echoed a bit louder than the hunger games inside of her. Turning around she came face to face with a tall guy with jet black hair. He didn't seem to be bothered by the sounds of her stomach's battlefield, that alone made him more mature than most of the people in this lovely place.
"Food?"
"Food"
After the short and extremely meaningful conversation they continued their way together. Some people gave them weird looks, looking at Nye with suspicion or sympathy. Neither of them seemed to care enough to comment on it.
"I didn't see you this morning. Are you doing fine so far?" – Casey asked looking up.
"Yeah, I'm ok. People seem nice here, a lot more than in big cities. Though I hoped I'd be put in your class. Mom even requested it specifically, but, apparently, it was full"
He rubbed the back of his head looking somewhat upset, did it really bother him that much, or was there something else?
"Is everything ok?" – She asked, her fingers gently touching his arm when he didn't answer.
Grey eyes flickered to her and his slightly tense body relaxed as his attention retuned to reality.
"I'm fine, it's just annoying… and awkward and embarrassing" – he continued under his breath – "do… do you know Lyn?"
For a bit she remained silent, eyebrows furrowed as her mind presented all the names and faces she could've known.
"I think so?" - She half-shrugged, looking at the packed space between large open doors they were nearing – "long brown hair, slim, a bit pale, around this tall" – she held her hand above her head, somewhere in the vicinity of her friend's neck.
"Sounds like her" – Nye nodded picking up a trey to stand in the line, he continued in a whisper – "I'm not sure what to do. She was umm… fli-flirting with me. Does that happen a lot?"
A quiet snigger echoes as the two noticed an amused Lucy behind them covering her mouth.
"Someone finally did?"
Nye only shook his head with a sigh, blank expression on his face as he paid for his and his sister's food.
"So, who is she?" – The girl asked taking a seat, her question directed more at Casey.
"From what I know she's nice and friendly, definitely not the shy type, never was. But I don't think I've ever heard of her being interested in anyone"
Nye was a good looking guy she couldn't deny and someone being attracted to him wasn't a surprise. But it was a bit odd, uncharacteristic. In the past several years of school she never saw Lyn make a rushed move in anything. In fact she was a lot more patient and careful than most people when it came to relationships. Whether it was a friend or a foe she took her time confirming it for herself over and over again and she'd stick to whatever decision she ended up making.
Shaking her head Casey put those thoughts aside, yet not discarding of them. For now she'd wait and watch, that was all she could do.
"You didn't buy any… thing?"
Halfway through Lucy's sentence a yummy looking lunch was in front of the chubby girl. Nothing fancy: crusty chicken, a couple of cheese sandwiches, a small bowl of veggie salad, grapes and water. Shifting a plastic fork in her hands Casey briefly glanced at her friends' trays. Taking a bite she scoffed.
"That was the main reason I learned to cook"
The two now looked straight up betrayed.
"You made that?" – They didn't bother to glance at each other like they'd usually do if they talked at the same time.
"I always do"
From their faces she could tell they were considering the options, probably thinking if it was worth it. She smiled remembering a similar reaction from a certain skeleton. How he convinced her to trade their food, swearing it was good. It wasn't bad, but she still regretted agreeing, it still was worse. Though in the end it was worth it, if it meant seeing him laugh his ass off it definitely was.
When the bell rang, they all walked back, each in the own direction. The rest of the day was same as the morning, boring, uneventful. History teacher was the only sadist to give homework that day and, unfortunately, Casey finished writing in the notebook, so had nothing better to do than listen to a lady talk about dead people with unpronounceable names.
The week went by faster than ever, each day passing neared her to meeting Sans and Papyrus. But this time around she was excited for something more than that. She was quiet impressed by her work and was hoping Sans would be too, almost half of the book had been read without her knowledge. The thought was ridiculous enough for her to laugh out loud each time it crossed her mind, though she tried to hold back during classes and, for now, she managed.
It was Friday and Casey was walking out of the main gate, a bright, happy smile painted on her face. Just one more day and she could go to the mountain. Too caught up in her own thoughts she almost didn't hear a familiar voice calling out to her. Turning her head a bit she saw Nye come closer, somewhat nervously.
She stopped, looking up, but he kept silent for a good while, clutching the strips of his backpack like his life depended on it. His eyes were fixed on the ground the whole time, though she could see them clearly. She just waited for him to collect his thoughts, it seemed like he needed the time, though couldn't help but silently theorize about his behavior.
"I don't know how to say this, so I'm just going to say it" – he said in a half-whisper, raising his eyes just enough to take a quick glance at the girl. Seeing that she was still listening he lowered his gaze and spoke – "I don't like that Lyn girl. I don't know what it is, but something seems off about her. I know I could be wrong, but…"
Casey nodded crossing her arms in a protective manner. Was it right to worry?
"She doesn't seem to understand or care when I say I'm not interested in her. And before you ask, yes, she's still at it, more than before. She's creeping me out" – he took a deep breath– "I have a favor to ask"
"What kind of favor?" – She furrowed her brows, answering almost immediately.
She didn't like where this was going.
"I wanted to get rid of her, so I told her I had a girlfriend… C-Can I tell her it's you?"
She had to admit, she did not expect the conversation to go there. But that didn't seem like a hard task. Something about the girl was fishy for her too, so that would be a good opportunity to look into it without raising too much suspicion. Plus she'd help a friend too, two birds with one stone.
Then why was it so hard to answer?
'But what would mom say, or dad? What would Sans think?'
'He doesn't need to know, does he? He's in the underground, he can't know unless I… I'd have to. I wouldn't be able to keep it from him… What would he say? What would he think?'
She felt her heart sting, picking up pace, her breaths turning deep and slow. She hided it under thoughtful sighs and whispers. She hated this, the whole thing, the whole idea and she hated the answer she was going to give.
"I'm sorry, I can't" – she heard herself say, voice a bit distorted, shaky. Staring at the ground she tried to collect her thoughts, searching for a reason to refuse, for a right answer. But the words came out before she had a chance to.
"There's someone I like"