Thanks so much to everyone for the postive feedback on part two! I enjoy reading your reviews. Normally I don't like making chapters this long but I found it hard to do in this case and didn't want the reader to lose momentum.
From the other side of the dark and cold room, Lily stood at the window, her eyes wandering back to Madame L'Angelle as she watched her opened up another vile of something, this time smoke poured out as she popped the cork open, dumping it into a bowl as she had already mixed a variety of unknown substances together.
"Come sit down." Her grandmother ordered, not looking away from what she was doing with her hands, squeezing something that crunched in her grasp.
Lily hadn't come close to the area Tulip was laid down, let alone look at her body, "I'm fine here." Lily said quietly.
"You need to be closer to her." Madame L'Angelle insisted. When Lily didn't respond or move, her grandmother lost patience immediately, "Or suit yourself and stay over there and be useless. Not helping her worth shit." She spat angrily.
The uncomfortable silence was especially chilling. After a few seconds, Lily finally turned, listening to what her grandmother ordered her to do and sat on a chair beside Tulip. Lily refrained from looking at Tulip's body as she kept her eyes glued to whatever it was Madame L'Angelle had her hands on. There was a concoction of ingredients unknown to Lily inside of the large bowl in front of her.
Noticing Lily's attention, Madame L'Angelle raised a thin brow, "Curious?"
Lily's eyes moved up to hers a moment, not sure how to respond.
There was a cold chill that hit Lily's neck and she couldn't help but feel like something was behind her, like she was being watched. She turned quickly just to be sure and saw nothing, her eyes scanning the doorway and far corner of the room she'd just been standing.
Her grandmothers voice pulled her attention again, "Judging by how utterly naive you are to everything around you, I take it Jesse never told you anythin' about your family." She specified bitterly. Once again, Lily wasn't sure what the right way to respond was, so she didn't.
"Hm." Madame L'Angelle kept her eyes on another ingredient she pulled out, a large, black withered stick from a long tube. It looked like old meat. As she studied it, she continued speaking, "Can't say that surprises me. Jesse's a selfish boy. Hmph." She huffed as she shook her head sourly.
With a bad taste in her mouth, Lily held her breath. The fact she'd just referred to Jesse as a 'boy' put an idea in her head just of how their grandmother saw him through her eyes.
What made her think she knew anything about Jesse to talk about him that way? Lily felt a small spark of anger ignite in her, and she did her best to try to smother it right away.
Lily watched as her grandmother bit down on the long, dehydrated piece of whatever the hell it was in her hand and she found herself cringing in disgust. Her grandmother chewed and spat it into the bowl. Scrunching her face slightly, Lily asked, "What is all this? What are you doing?"
Her grandmother hummed a moment before talking again, "What we're doing," She said in a tone of critique, "is bringing your friend back from the other side." She held a stern finger up, "Now, that's not an in-the-norm kind of thing, as I'm sure you can imagine, so it takes some bending of nature to pull it off." Madame L'Angelle interrupted her own dialogue as she held the bowl up over top of Tulip's body towards Lily, "Spit." She ordered. Lily took a moment to look into her grandmother's cold, dark eyes before she finally did as she was told, leaning forward from her chair and spitting over top of Tulip into the bowl. Lily was shocked when the substances inside sparked at the reaction to her saliva, flinching on spot as she sat back down.
Her grandmothers answer didn't explain anything to Lily, just opened more questions in her mind. She took a shallow and frustrated breath.
"We are calling her soul back to her," Her grandmother continued, "Which is one of key parts in doin' this... but she's also gotta come back on her own." She placed a finger into the bowl, licking the black, tar-like substance as she stifled a choke before she nodded, "She needs things on this side to persuade her to do that." She moved her tongue around in her mouth as she took a bony finger and pointed at Lily, "That's your job."
Lily shook her head, "How do I do that?"
"You're doing that right now." Madame L'Angelle stated impatiently, "Although you're dense and blind to everything that's going on..." She groaned bitterly, "Your energy remains strong. She can feel your pain and emotions, and the more you open up the louder you'll be for her to find the right way back."
Still stiff as a board, Lily took all the backhanded comments her grandmother had delivered as a grain of salt. Usually she wouldn't stand being talked to in that fashion by anyone, but she was overwhelmed with shock of many things and sleep deprived, making it harder to find her usual fight inside of her. Above all of that, she was frightened of the strange environment she was in, not sure she was in the position to be mouthing off the person who's Tulip's life depended on.
She tried to take as deep a breath as she could, which proved not to be that much as she finally wandered her eyes to Tulip. She was wearing the dress she'd just given her less than two days ago, but it felt like a year had gone by since.
There was blood all over it and suddenly she remembered how she felt when Tulip went back into the apartment building. How beautiful she looked as the dress fluttered in the wind behind her and how quickly things changed in the matter of seconds.
Lily finally looked at Tulip's face. Her skin was a terrible color. A color Lily had never seen. Her once beautiful features were sunken in and she looked nothing like what Tulip should look like. Lily remembered the last moments that Tulip struggled to stay alive on that kitchen floor and it was all hitting her so suddenly again. She stared at Tulip's closed eyes and the hair on Lily's skin stood straight up as she almost expected Tulip to open her dead eyes. It wasn't a relieving image for Lily - it was a terrifying idea.
The thoughts of how demented this position was consumed LIly's mind. Tulip's corpse laid in front of her merely as a shell to what was once someone she loved so much. The dark energy in the room was very obvious and there was an unnerving feeling that consumed Lily.
Madame L'Angelle's harsh voice tore Lily out of the chaos raging inside her head, "For Christ sake.." She hissed, "You're not doin' her any favors being so God damned closed up."
Lily felt a sense of overwhelming take over her as her grandmother belittled her again and again. She was glaring and talking through her teeth as if she was scolding her, "If you give two shits about whatever her name is..."
For the first time Lily felt her blood boil, and it happened in an instant. That little spark of anger inside of her was suddenly ignited again and before she knew it her voice was raised, "Her name is Tulip!"
Right when Lily said her name, a chandelier dropped from the other side of the room and crashed to the ground.
Jumping up from her seat, Lily turned in sheer fright, while Madame L'Angelle grinned in pleasure. Her plan had worked, she'd broke through Lily's shield and seen just how capable she was, and best of all, Lily was entirely clueless to it, "Yes." She hissed, "It's working. Keep going. Keep talking to her."
Lily felt her heart racing as she stared at the broken chandelier. The anger that was just burning inside her had been put out immediately and replaced with fright, "Uh," She tried to calm herself, slowly lowering herself back down to her seat as she felt herself shaking, "Um... Tulip." She swallowed, before clearing her throat and trying her best to keep her voice from wavering, "I'm here." Grabbing her cold, dead hand, Lily closed her eyes and did her best to keep her nerves suppressed, "I'm here."
There was a chill that ran through her and she felt far past uneasy. She felt herself beginning to shake, and did her best to take a few deep breaths. Jesse and Cassidy couldn't come back soon enough.
It had been a couple hours and Cassidy had texted multiple times to make sure everything was alright. Lily's phone buzzed yet again and she was relieved to see Cassidy's text delivering some news instead of asking her if she was alright.
On my way back now going as fast as I can
Lily responded with a short 'ok' text, her eyes looking at the long string of previous texts from Cassidy asking if she was doing ok every twenty minutes.
Madame L'Angelle's voice caught Lily by surprise, "Irish-" She paused as Lily looked up, "He sure loves you." She said, in a tone that was more condescending than admiring, "Didn't want to leave you. Even for a second." She noted.
Lily's brow scrunched a tad, wondering if the topic of Cassidy was a coincidence or whether her grandmother was somehow reading her mind, "Yea." Lily said shortly, her voice breaking as she cleared her throat again. She tucked her phone away as her eyes moved back to Tulip.
Madame L'Angelle turned her head, "You don't love him?"
With her eyes shooting back up to her grandmother, Lily shook her head, "What? I never said that." She said defensively.
Madame L'Angelle noticed the sudden bite in her voice and continued with the game of pressing her buttons, "Hm. I suppose your response just didn't give me that impression." She prodded, "It's alright to be afraid to have your heart broken." She continued to poke.
With her brow scrunching in annoyance, Lily pulled her head back, "No. I've had my heart broken many times. That is not something I'm afraid of."
Her grandmother spoke to immediately, almost over top of her, "Has Jesse ever broken your heart?" It was a question that came almost out of nowhere and blindsided Lily.
When Lily didn't answer, her grandmother continued, "He broke my heart." Madame L'Angelle shook her head slowly, and regardless of her heartbroken tone, there was no sympathy in Lily for her, "But I would bet anythin' he never told you about all of that..."
Her grandmother trailed off, hoping she would be eager to hear more. Instead of curious, Lily was defensive, "He's broken my heart, too." She asserted, "And I'm sure I've broken his just as much, if not more."
Lily's counter arguing was just as good. Now that Madame L'Angelle had her vulnerable and emotional, it was easier for her to get into her head. Madame L'Angelle could see into her, even for just a moment, "You know don't you? You've felt it."
Feeling a bit delusional, Lily shook her head slowly, her grandmothers eyes suddenly piercing into hers, "Felt.. what?"
"It's in your blood." Madame L'Angelle hissed, "I felt it as soon as I had it in my hands." With a hissing breath, Madame L'Angelle let out a disturbing moan, "Ah, yes it's so pure."
Continuing to shake her head, Lily swallowed, trying to sound somewhat strong, "What are you talking about?" Suddenly, Lily could feel something, it was so similar to the feeling she got before her premonition hit - but it was uncomfortable, like it was stuck. Like a sneeze that you couldn't get out. She closed her eyes, "What's happening?"
Suddenly, flashes of images appeared in her mind. They were broken and hard to make out, making it that much more disorienting.
The touch of someone on Lily's shoulder caught her attention, putting the cluster of shattered images to an abrupt stop. She gasped, turning to see a woman standing behind her - it was her mother. Lily felt herself go as stiff as stone, staring in complete awe.
When her lips moved, Lily wasn't expecting to hear Cassidy's voice come through, "Lily."
Judging by the look on Lily's face, Cassidy could tell he'd frightened her, "Sorry," He said, "Were you sleeping?" When she didn't respond, his brow narrowed. She wasn't reacting to him the way she should've and he began to worry, "Lily." He repeated.
He had no idea what she was seeing, and she had no idea that her mother wasn't actually standing there.
Lily blinked a few times and suddenly, the image of her mother morphed into Cassidy. "Cass-" She choked out finally.
With his brow furrowing with concern, he nodded, "Did y'pass out?"
Pass out? Lily thought. She'd closed her eyes for only a moment, and not by choice. Lily should have been able to hear Tulip's car coming from a mile away, but she hadn't. She had been completely out of touch with her surroundings. Lily remembered the terrible feeling she had and the burning sensation of her grandmothers eyes. She turned quickly from Cassidy and back towards where her grandmother had been, but she was no longer there. With her head spinning in confusion Lily shook her head, turning back towards Cassidy. She had to clear her throat before she could get any words out, "Where'd she-"
Suddenly, Lily has a sharp pain in her gut, she leaned over a bit, noticing the pain traveling around her body. "What's the matter?" Cassidy asked, noticing her discomfort immediately. He dropped the bags and boxes in his arms and grabbed her.
"I don't know." She sighed. As Cassidy leaned down at her side, he realized it had been almost two days since she'd had a dose of his blood. Her discomfort was likely the result of her body going into the withdrawal it had been known to do in the past.
Lily looked back to where her grandmother had sat and wondered where she was, "Where's-" As Lily turned back around to the door, her question to her grandmothers whereabouts was put on hold as she saw Jesse walk in. He looked battered and beat. There was sand and dirt that covered him, along with bruises and blood scattered around his face and arms.
Lily raised her brow in shock, "What happened to you?" She asked in concern. Cassidy and Jesse both noticed how incredibly hoarse her voice was. Behind Jesse, a man larger than Lily had ever seen followed in. He was grinning widely as maneuvered his body through the door frame to walk into the room. He ducked through the door frame, turning sideways as his shoulder width wouldn't have allowed him to walk in like an average person.
Speechless, Lily looked up, there were a few bangs and bruises on the large man as well. The massive stranger grinned down, "You must be Lily." He bellowed. Cassidy scrunched his brow defensively as he crouched down at Lily before he stood back up, facing the stranger, "Who th'Hell are you, now?"
Then, Madame L'Angelle's sharp voice came out of nowhere, "Jody-" Lily flinched, turning towards her grandmothers voice - and suddenly, she was back in the place she had been all along. Lily felt her head spinning faster. She'd looked for her just seconds ago and no one was there. What was happening?
"Go get TC and tell him I need some root of hemlock." Madame L'Angelle ordered, continuing with the mixture in the large bowl. With a simple nod, Jody looked to Lily once more before leaving the room. Lily hoped she'd never cross paths with Jody again, but her gut told her that was unrealistic.
As Jesse walked towards their grandmother, he handed her a vile of something Lily had no idea about. "How's it going?" He asked. His grandmother nodded back to him, "Your sister proved to make a decent lifeline to this side."
Simply nodding at their grandmother, Jesse bit his tongue, "That's good." His eyes moved to Lily. He worried how much into her their grandmother had seen. The more useful Lily proved to be, the more their grandmother would use that against her. Lily looked up to Jesse for a brief moment, hiding the fact she was struggling to keep her head on straight as things suddenly felt much heavier. She tried to get up, feeling a hundred pounds more heavy. She eventually found it in her to stand up, turning to Cassidy and looking through the boxes and bags he'd brought in.
Cassidy had done a good job in the couple of hours he was gone collecting a variety of things, Lily cycled through it, picking up a carton of cigarettes and a box of Boo Berry cereal. In the background, Jesse exchanged whatever it was he'd gone out and retrieved with their grandmother. From close to her side, Cassidy grabbed Lily's arm, "You doing ok?" He asked.
With a not-so deep breath, Lily put the carton of cigarettes and box of cereal down, staring at him a moment as he worried why she wasn't answering. Finally, she turned her head to the window, seeing the long driveway displayed in front of them.
From behind them, Jesse approached, "Hey." He said softly, "You wanna go outside and get some fresh air for a bit?" Jesse asked. Lily turned to him, her eyes flickering to Tulip as Jesse nodded, "Just take a minute. Nothing's happening right now." He assured. Her eyes locked to her brothers for a moment. Jesse had warned her she would likely see things - she wondered what he would have to say about her seeing their mother the way she had.
She wasn't even sure how to start with explaining everything that had just happened, and she wasn't convinced this was the right time or environment either, she would have to wait when they had a moment alone. Nodding back to her brother, Lily cleared her throat for what felt like the millionth time.
Cassidy nodded, his lips in a flat line and his brow low, "Yea." He nodded at Lily, "That's probably a good idea, love."
Lily continued nodding, following Cassidy's lead.
Grabbing a bag he'd brought in, Cassidy turned and let Lily walk in front, placing his hand on her back as she walked out the door of the room and Cassidy closed it behind them. He snatched the umbrella he'd placed by the front door and popped it open, grabbing the door and opening it for Lily. It was so bright outside, it nearly blinded Lily. She winced, squinting her eyes as she blindly made her way down the front steps of the large house, walking faster than usual as she passed Tulip's car, walking straight down the long driveway.
"Where are y'goin'?" Cassidy asked from behind her, shuffling a bit faster to catch up. Lily didn't respond. She was just focusing on getting as far away from the house as possible. Her stomach was all twisted and she felt ill. She stared down the driveway as it seemed to never end no matter how far they walked. There were giant trees that boarded the entire length of the gravel road. The farther down she walked the more the road seemed to waver. Soon, her mouth began watering - she was going to vomit if she didn't stop moving. With a stagger, she turned off the dirt driveway and towards one of the massive trees.
Cassidy watched as she let her weight hit the ground and she sat, catching her breath for several seconds. It made him uncomfortable seeing her willingly just sit on the patch of dirt beneath the tree, normally she would be opposed to getting any sort of scuff of her, could she control it.
Seeing Lily cut loose on her anal tendencies should've made Cassidy happy - she was always so uptight and any time she loosened up it was entertaining to him, but she wasn't unwinding in a relaxing way. She was unwinding mentally and Cassidy could she she was losing touch of herself more and more.
"Lily-" Cassidy said, walking right up to her with his umbrella still over one shoulder.
"Cassidy, for the love of fuck, please do not ask me if I'm alright." She begged. It felt like she had the worst spins in the world. Taking her hands she clenched to the ground hoping to stop everything around her from moving so much.
Cassidy nodded, still standing as he took a moment to look to his side, studying just how isolated they were in Angelville. There was a slight breeze and Lily noticed it for a moment. Her throat was a little less clogged and finally her head was slowing down from the intense spinning.
Her mouth had finally stopped salivating as much as it was and she was convinced she'd avoided throwing up - for now. Cassidy shifted on spot, lighting a cigarette as he reached into the bag he'd brought out and handed Lily some water, "Here."
She looked up at him, "Thanks." Her voice was soft but it cracked as she spoke.
Grabbing the water bottle Lily was shocked at just how good it felt even just to hold. It was so cold, the outside of it was dripping with beads of heavenly condensation. Lily's thirst suddenly hit her like a tonne of bricks.
She open the bottle and began drinking it, feeling the coldness rush through her. Still standing at her side, Cassidy puffed at his smoke, "You want me to leave you alone?" He asked. Lily moved the suction of the water bottle from her mouth, her breath was short as she felt the cold water rushing through her intestines, "God, no. Don't leave me." She said quickly as she crunched her face.
He was glad at her immediate response, not believing he would've been able to leave her alone to begin with, "Alright." He said, looking around at the large shaded area and closing the umbrella as he sat at her side.
"Is that just a normal smoke?" She asked, before shaking her head and leaning to him, "You know what, I don't care." She grabbed it and put it to her mouth, taking a large drag as she hoped a good nicotine rush would give her some sort of relief.
She inhaled as her hand carefully went up to her throat, "I feel like I've been swallowing cotton balls." She complained, "Like my throat is clogged or something."
"Hmm." Cassidy hummed, "Your voice sounds like y'headlined a heavy metal music fest." He noted, hoping to get a halfhearted chuckle. When she didn't react, he stayed silent. With her mind going a million miles an hour, Lily tried to focus on the distant sounds of their surroundings. There wasn't much, but the bugs that were buzzing in the long grass were a decent distraction. Lily hand't noticed she'd powered through the whole cigarette until it was nearly burning her fingers. Raising her brow slightly, Lily put the cigarette out on the ground at her side, "I don't know what's going on with me." She rasped quietly.
Cassidy studied her a moment. It had been nearly two days and there had been no sleep or time to recharge for Lily or Jesse. "It's been a while since you've had yer usual dose." He pointed out.
Her tired eyes looked up to his - she'd forgotten entirely. Of course that would explain her pain earlier. She shook her head, "I forgot all about that." Lily stated, "It's hard keeping track of everything happening right now." Cassidy nodded, "Its not easy." He agreed, "Got some food here, too." Cassidy said, reaching into the bag and handing a variety of things over to her.
Lily nodded, "Thanks, Cass." She took what he'd given and couldn't bring herself to find any appetite in herself to even begin to eat.
Cassidy knew he should give her his blood sooner than later, but he decided to give her a moment. He took a deep breath, finding it hard to find the right words. This was just as unusual to him as it was to her, but the difference was at least he was coherent. He'd indulged in multiple blood bags while he was out and was more on his toes than he normally was, but she was burning out very quickly. The lack of sleep combined with not paying attention to her hunger or how thirsty she was only made her worse by the second. Cassidy cleared his throat quickly as he did his best to reassure her, "I know you're prolly feelin' all out of sorts wit everythin' that's happened the last coupla days. On top of it'all y'haven't ate or slept proper, so that'll do anyone in..." He began.
She nodded, staring forward. His voice was low, "But I jus want t'give you the peace of mind that I'm at my best. When I was runnin' around jus now I downed about three or four bags of blood-"
Lily looked at him sharply, "Sh." She hushed, grabbing his arm and squeezing. He raised his brow, "Wot?" He asked. "Be quiet." She whispered.
Cassidy's brow scrunched as she looked around them, "There's no one around us." He stated confidently. There was a look in her eye he didn't recognize in her. With her grip still tight onto him, she shook her head softly, "This place is really messed up, Cass." Her voice was so quiet, it was hard even for him to hear, "I-I've been hearing and seeing things. I can feel eyes on me." The tone of her voice was foreign.
Suddenly, Lily noticed how crazy she must've sounded, "I swear." She tried to assure, only sounding more insane, "I swear." She repeated.
Cassidy's brow lowered, his gut twisting with worry for her mental state, "Lily." He said sternly, "Wot happened while Jess n'I were gone?"
He could see the obvious struggle in her eyes as she tried to convey what was going on inside of her, "I-" Lily started, trying to remember how it all began, "I don't know exactly." She swallowed, "I just remember... something suddenly taking over me and I lost all concept of what was going on around me until you pulled me out of it."
Cassidy had no doubt in that but he could see Lily was on the brink of breaking, so he tried to keep things level, "Maybe y'jus passed out? You're exhausted, Lily. The mind plays all sorts o'tricks on you when you combine lack of sleep and this much emotional trauma." He tried his best to find reasoning in efforts to calm her down.
"What time did you text me?" Lily asked, grabbing her phone. An icon popped up saying her phone was nearly dead. She dismissed the notice, opening her last text from Cassidy. It had been nearly an hour ago. "Almost an hour." She stated, her voice getting a bit more panicked, "After you sent me this, I was talking to my grandmother for maybe a couple minutes and then suddenly... suddenly, I was out, and you were there. I was out for almost an hour, Cass. That's not right!" Her words were getting faster and more panicked.
"Listen to me." He said, grabbing her shoulders, "Y'need to calm down."
Lily's eyes were lit up crazily as she ignored his efforts to sooth her, "When you touched me I saw my mother." Cassidy's eyes studied hers intently as she struggled to convey what she went through, "I saw my mother and it took me a while to see it was you. Cassidy - That house -" Her mind was working at a million miles an hour and nothing was making sense out loud, "You should've seen all the shit my grandmother is doing in there. It's fucked-"
Cassidy interrupted her chaotic rambling and clenched his grasp on her tighter, "Lily. Lily- listen to me-"
She kept talking over him, "What if this is all just a big mistake? I mean, it's just not right, you know? Bringing someone back from the dead like that - it's- it's not natural. What if she's not her?"
"Take a breath-"
"What if they do bring her back, and Tulip's, like, messed up?"
"Lily-"
"I don't want to be here." Lily stated.
Cassidy stopped trying to talk over her and stared into her eyes, holding onto her tight. He watched her open her mouth again with no sound coming out. Her eyes were terrified, and she was shaking.
"Cassidy. I don't want to be here." She repeated as if she might not have said it out loud the first time.
The words rang in Cassidy's head over and over. Hardly moving on spot, Cassidy didn't move his eyes from hers, "Are you sure?" He asked.
Lily nodded slowly, and Cassidy didn't ask her twice.
Before she knew it, Cassidy had grabbed Tulips car from the front of the house and it was in front of her. She jumped into the passenger side quickly. Cassidy hit the gas before she had the door closed, and the gravel sprayed from the back tires. Lily turned to look back at the house, feeling more and more relief the farther they got from it.
"Where do you wanna go?" Cassidy asked eagerly, the gas pedal to the floor. Still staring out the back window of the car, Lily shook her head, "As far as possible from here."
As she stared at the house getting further and further, she found herself waiting for regret, for the sudden sadness of leaving Jesse and Tulip behind - but it never came. Relief began to consume her more by the second, proving to herself that this was what she wanted. Cassidy turned sharply, speeding out the gates of Angelville and hitting the road as fast as possible. With a heavy sigh, she turned to face the front of the vehicle.
Cassidy glanced at her a moment, grabbing her hand and squeezing it, "I know jus the place." He assured. Shaking his head, he stared at the road, his mind racing at the idea of the two of them out in the world with an endless amount of possibilities ahead, "I promise I'm goin' to make sure things will be better for you from here on out, alright?"
With a roller coaster of emotions brewing inside of her, Lily couldn't do much more than nod silently, squeezing Cassidy's hand almost as hard as he was squeezing hers. Her throat was still stuffy, she coughed in efforts to clear it, but it only got worse. "Ah-" She winced, her throat was so raw it was starting to hurt.
Suddenly Lily felt her throat close. She pulled her hand from Cassidy's, clenching her neck as the struggled to breathe the little bit she could.
"Lily, you alright?" He asked, trying to keep his eyes on the road while simultaneously trying to see what was happening to her. The pain in her face was obvious and she was struggling to breathe. Cassidy felt his heart drop, finding himself focusing on the road ahead of them less and less as he stared at her, reaching his hand out to touch her, "Wot's goin' on?"
When she couldn't respond, Cassidy slammed on the brakes. The car skidded to a stop, "Hey. Hey!" He said urgently, turning completely to her. His hands were scouring her as he tried to figure out what was happening. Her brow furrowed and the last of her throat closed as she was unable to breathe at all.
An idea hit him like a train - his blood. He assumed she must've been going into shock from the withdrawals of it.
In an instant he punctured his hand with his teeth, while at the same time, Lily's phone began vibrating on the seat between them. It was Jesse calling, and Cassidy ignored it without a second thought.
He placed his hand against her mouth but she was unable to consume it. With her throat entirely blocked, she couldn't ingest it properly. Cassidy felt himself begin to panic as he watched her struggle more and more. There was nothing he could do to help her, soon she was going to die from suffocation. If that was the case, he had to be ready. He felt his mouth water and his entire body tingle at the thought of biting into her - but he was entirely conflicted. He wanted to so badly but just as much of him dreaded it.
Once again Lily's phone was vibrating. Cassidy groaned in panicked frustration as picked it up, and Jesse was already screaming on the other side, "Lily! Lily!" Jesse yelled urgently. "Jesse!" Cassidy hissed between his teeth.
"Cassidy get her back here right now you hear me!? Right now!" Jesse ordered, "Our grandmother's gonna kill her!"
Cassidy froze on spot. If Jesse knew what was happening, maybe this wasn't about Cassidy's blood after all. He could bite her and risk trying to turn her into a vampire, but what if whatever this was happening to her was stronger than that?
Cassidy wasn't wiling to take that risk. He had no time to argue. He threw the car into drive and span around, rushing as fast as the car would allow back to Angelville.
He kept his hand on her and tried to be supportive in his words, assuring she was going to be alright, but she couldn't hear anything. Her ears were ringing and she had no idea what was happening - just that death was close to her.
As Lily's vision began fading, the last thing Lily saw was the large iron arch that gated the front of Angelville. As soon as they broke through the front gate of the property, her throat opened. Cassidy heard her gasp for air, and her hearing suddenly came back - but her sight didn't. She heard Cassidy's voice and could sense the panic in his tone but she couldn't process anything before slipping into unconsciousness.
