As the night was soon turning into morning, Cassidy laid in the bed in the Angelville house with Lily laying into his left side. He listened to Lily's calm breathing of deep sleep, looking down at her and wishing the circumstances were different and he could join her. He'd been wide wake for the past three days, and he'd drained nearly the last of the blood bags they'd packed ensuring he was in as good shape as he could be.

Sure, he'd indulged in what substances he'd had left, and he had his fair share of whiskey with Jesse just hours prior, but given the amount of blood he'd been consuming combined with his general tolerance to drugs and alcohol, it really didn't do anything for him. If anything it made his cravings worse. He sighed, wiping his face with his free hand, his other arm nearly dead it was so asleep underneath Lily, not that he would dare think to move. He moved his head from looking down at her to the window, hardly able to see out of the dirty and old glass.

Moving his head, he stared at the ceiling, thinking about the conversation Jesse and himself had earlier. He let his mind wander about it all, feeling much better about where things stood with Jesse now, and entirely grateful he didn't have to be climbing in and out of windows like a teenage boy to be with Lily.

Cassidy's mind suddenly remembered the last of their night - Jesse had been right. When they got inside she was plastered, visiting with Tulip and smoking like a chimney out the window of their bedroom. It blew Cassidy's mind - somehow Lily's alcohol consumption affected Jesse's state as well. Tulip hadn't been too phased about it, but she hadn't seen everything unfold the way that Cassidy had.

He wondered about their connection and how long it would last, and how the Hell did it even work? Quickly, he found himself losing track of his mind a little too much, groaning out loud and silencing his inner thoughts as he struggled to find somewhere else to imagine. Lily's warmth and deep slumber was getting more and more enticing - and soon, Cassidy didn't realize he'd closed his eyes and fell asleep as well.


Lily was in a deep sleep, her dreams were inconsistent and changed back and forth. Suddenly, in front of her she recognized the woman that was her mother, "Lillian." She grabbed Lily's shoulders sternly, her eyes were red and broken. Frozen in shock, Lily stared at her mother in her state of distress as she shook Lily by her shoulders, "You need to protect yourself." She begged.

Still not able to respond, Lily's mouth hung open, shaking her head as she tried to understand.

"Protect yourself, Lillian!" Her mother screamed as she repeated herself, "Protect yourself!"

In a sudden shock, Lily woke with a sharp gasp as she shot upright in the bed. A startled Cassidy woke at her side, following suit as he launched himself upward, "Wot!?" He asked, entirely disoriented, "Wot's wrong!?" It felt like Lily had been underwater and just breached the service as she panted heavily to catch her breath. Cassidy grabbed her, "Jaysis, wot's goin' on!?" He asked in worry, "Yer heart's beatin' out yer bloody chest, love."

Trying to take slower breaths, Lily closed her eyes and pressed her hands on them, "Nothing." She assured, "Just a dream."

"Bad dream?" Cassidy asked.

Moving her hands from her eyes to her head, Lily ran her fingers through her hair as she looked at Cassidy right at her side. Shaking her head she sighed, "Yea." Cassidy nodded, "Hm." He hummed, leaning to her shoulder as he kissed her skin, "Alright." He sunk backwards into the bed comfortably, keeping a hand on her, "S'long as it wasn't one of those dreams yer known fer. Visions, like." He grumbled.

Lily stopped in her tracks. Had it been? She wondered. It had felt so clear and real. Cassidy put a curiosity in her head. Jesse had warned her Angelville was full of all sorts of unexplainable things. She'd seen a bit of it herself. She'd since her mother face to face once already, but when she woke Cassidy had asked if she was sleeping. Were they just dreams? Lily remembered when she first got into the house at Angelville she'd seen a figure on the stairs, but she couldn't be sure it was her mother. Was she just losing her mind or was there more to it? Cassidy must've noticed how quiet and still she'd been for so long as she sat upright in the bed. "You alright?" He asked.

Lily looked back to him, "I'm going to have a shower."


Spending as long as she could with the water pouring down on her, Lily couldn't seem to calm her brain down. She heard Cassidy walk into the bathroom, startling her a bit. "Ugh." She huffed, wiping the water off her face, "What a way to wake up." Lily stated aloud to Cassidy. She was a nervous wreck. She heard the door close again, finding it weird Cassidy had nothing to say back at her. Peaking her head out of the shower, she glanced around, expecting him around but he was nowhere to be seen. There was an unsettling feeling that took over, and she found herself too afraid to even close her eyes to wash her hair properly. Shaking her head, she sighed, "Pull yourself together." She huffed at herself.

When she got out of the shower, she took a few deep breaths. Hopefully some of Cassidy's playful banter would shift her mood.

As she got out of the bathroom, she wrapped a towel around her head and body, noticing in the corner of her eye that Cassidy was by the window in the corner of the room. Opening the wardrobe where all of her clothes were so nicely hung, she rifled through what she could wear for the day. "I can only imagine what we're going to have to do today. Yesterday with Jesse was a whole day of my life I will never get back. " Lily stated, her voice falling flat as she talked in towards her clothes, "Hmm.." She hummed, "You know..." Lily sang, filling her arms with articles of clothing, "This might be a record amount of time of me being in a towel without you pulling it off of me." She laughed softly, expecting a clever comeback from Cassidy. It was still quiet, "And this is probably the smallest towel I've ever had on me." She noted, trying to entice him.

When it was still silent, she felt the energy shift. She didn't have to entice Cassidy, what was she thinking? Her face went flat and with her arms full of clothes she stood upright and tried to listen for anything. She turned her head to where Cassidy was standing, the door of the wardrobe shielding her view. "Cass?" She asked, something in her gut telling her she wasn't going to get a response.

On the back of her neck, Lily felt the hair on her skin stand upright, she dropped the clothes in her arms as they hit the floor and she finally gained the courage to grab at the wardrobe door. Slowly, she closed it, seeing that the person standing in the corner wasn't Cassidy. It was her mother.

Her eyes locked onto Lily's. The same sense of stiffness took Lily over the same as it had in her dream. All at once she got lightheaded and felt a rush of shock shudder through her. She watched speechlessly as her mother stepped slowly towards the dresser, placing her hands softly on the top of it. Her mother looked drained. So tired and distressed, like she had been in her dream that woke her just hours before.

It felt like a lifetime of stillness, until abruptly, her mother threw the dresser down. Startled, Lily jumped backwards, her heart moving to her throat as her legs nearly gave out from under her. The dresser hit the ground with a loud crash that shook the fragile framing of the room. Lily panted heavily, unsure what to do, and beyond frightened to take any action.

In an instant, the bedroom door flew open. Lily's head snapped the way of the door, seeing Cassidy and Jesse as they rushed in, "What the Hell happened?!" Jesse asked, "Are you ok?" He stared from the dresser on the middle of the floor up to his sister.

It was clear when he looked at her that she was not okay. She was backed up to the wall and she was entirely white. Lily's mouth was stuck open, unable to find the words to even begin explaining what just happened. She moved her eyes to the dresser on the floor, before her eyes caught the wall it had been covering. There was a wooden board in the wall that was crooked, seemingly out of place.

Suddenly the pieces were rapidly put together in her head. She hadn't been attracted to the dresser. There was something behind it - something her mother knew about.

"What's goin' on up there?!" TC's voice yelled from down the stairs as he began his trek upstairs. Instantly, Lily pushed from the wall, the towel wrapped around her nearly falling off as she ran for the dresser, trying desperately to pull it back up. Jesse and Cassidy, although confused, followed suit and followed her urgency. Cassidy effortlessly yanked the dresser back up on it's feet, Jesse closed the open drawers that had several things fall out of it. Lily was on all fours on the ground shoving all the loose belongings underneath the bed to hide them.

"Push it back!" Lily whispered, "Push it back!" She panicked, looking behind her to see if anyone was watching them yet.

By the time TC and Jody made it to the doorway of the bedroom, everything was back in place. Jesse and Cassidy stood on either side of the dresser as nonchalantly as possible and Lily found herself sitting on the bed with her back to the door.

"What in the Hell was that?" Jody's voice bellowed.

Jesse and Cassidy were both shocked to hear Lily speak up right away, "I fell down getting out of the shower." She lied, leaning down to her leg, "Hurt my ankle." She added.

Cassidy fluttered his eyes and shifted on spot quick before he moved to his knees in front of her, grabbing her ankle as if to be looking at it. His low eyes looked up to Lily's face, trying to understand himself what had happened. His eyes moved to TC and Jody standing at the door to see if they were buying Lily's lie.

"That was a heavy soundin' blow for someone your size." Jody tested.

Lily sighed, "Yea, I yanked a few things down with me trying to grab onto something." She lied again. Jesse's eyes moved from his sister to look at Jody and TC to see if they were buying Lily's lie.

Cassidy could feel her heart racing, making him wonder that much more what had actually gone on in the room while she was alone. Lily worried if TC and Jody caught onto her lying that they may find what her mother was trying to get her to find before she could do anything about it.

Jesse shifted his weight on spot, glancing at his sister in her towel as he stepped towards the doorway of the bedroom, "We'll let you get dressed," Jesse stated, eager to get Jody and TC away, "I'll find something for your ankle." As Jesse closed the door behind him, they could hear TC talking to Jesse, "Oh, you want somethin' for the swelling? Or, or the pain?" He asked in excitement, "I got somethin' for that little Jesse. Ha!" TC cackled, "Hell, I got somethin' for everythang! Let's go see what we got for lady Lil." Their voices trailed off as Jesse's efforts to get them away had worked.

Although, it was clear Jody had his suspicions.

Cassidy let go of Lily's ankle, staying low as he looked up at her, "Wot in the Hell happened in 'ere?" He whispered. Lily looked over her shoulder before she looked back to Cassidy. He shook his head with a smirk across his lips, "I leave you fer two minutes n'furniture is flyin' around."

When Lily didn't laugh back, he felt his heart sink. She glanced behind her briefly, wondering if her mother may be in another corner - but it was clear they were alone. Cassidy frowned, staring up at her. She had the same look on her face as she did after their first day in Angelville when she told him she wanted to leave this place. He shook his head, "Wot's goin' on?" He asked.

Lily sighed, her breath choppy as she felt a bit lightheaded as she got to her feet, Cassidy noticed her staring directly at the dresser again. She needed to see what was behind it. She placed her hands on the dresser, wanting to slide it away from he wall again, but decided against it - fearful to make more noise and cause more attraction. Her hands slipped off the dresser as she kept her eyes on it, "Can you pick this up carefully and move it without making any noise?" She asked. Confused and even more worried, Cassidy studied her for a moment, her eyes moving back up to him when she didn't get a response.

He nodded, grabbing it around his arms and lifting it as if it was a bag of feathers. Before he could put it down, Lily was already on her knees in front of the wall that was behind it. She moved the out of place piece of wood and pulled it out. With his brows furrowing Cassidy watched curiously, staring at the large hole that was behind the board Lily had just moved. She looked back at him and his eyes moved to hers.

"Remember how I thought there was something with this dresser?" She whispered. Cassidy nodded, "O'course. Y'made me rip the whole thing apart." Lily reached her hand into the wall, feeling around and Cassidy began to worry the further her arm went in. Eventually, she on her stomach and she was out of arm span, but her finger tips were just barely grazing something. She huffed in frustration, not able to tell if it was part of the wall or something worth reaching for.

"Here." Cassidy demanded, "Let me." He was relieved to see her arm come out of the opening. "This place gives me the creeps." Cassidy admitted, laying himself on the floor, "Last thing we need is yer arm ripped off. Least mine will grow back." He teased. Impatiently, Lily pushed at him to reach for what she had just tried to. He grunted, his fingers pulling at the item inside until eventually it was in his grasp.

Lily was surprised to see a book come out, she couldn't get it out of Cassidy's hand fast enough. He adjusted himself back up and sat beside her on the ground beside the hole in the wall. When Lily opened the book, her eyes couldn't read fast enough. "Wot issit?" Cassidy finally asked, "A diary or somethin'?"

Shaking her head, Lily read various hand written words, a couple in particular catching her eye but one word in particular, PROTECTION. There were many pages Lily flipped through that had all sorts of things crossed out, but the subject on the top of each page remained the same. PROTECTION. Lily's dream flooded back to her. The only thing her mother had said was to protect herself. She'd found what her mother had directed her to, but the words on the pages were all crossed out. Failed attempts it seemed. Beginning to worry about her more and more, Cassidy could hear her heart rate increasing more each second. Lily began flipping through pages faster. "Lily?" Cassidy asked. Finally, she stopped. A page that was circled many times. No words were crossed out. It looked like a recipe and it was clear it was the one that had worked after many failed attempts.

Cassidy studied her face, her eyes welling up as she felt completely overwhelmed. He grabbed her, "Lily, say somethin', please." He begged. She kept her eyes on the book, and she shook her head slowly. Lily's voice was so quiet it was hard for Cassidy to hear, "I was beginning to think I lost my mind." She said.

He knew that. She had seemed so completely out of tune the last several days, he was beginning to worry she was spiralling downward. Leaning closer, Cassidy waited for her to explain.

All of her dreams, the visions. It wasn't just instinct or good intuition. Lily looked up to Cassidy, and he was relieved to recognize her behind them again, "I think I finally understand what's going on with me."


Lily had gotten changed into clothes quickly and entertained TC as Jesse had come back and they gave her non-existent ankle injury the attention it supposedly needed. When the cost was clear, Lily was able to show Jesse the book. Both Jesse and Tulip were in the room now, listening as Lily explained in a low whisper what had happened. She'd explained everything what seemed to be ten times already, but she kept going on as no one said anything.

"What was that?" Lily asked, turning to the bedroom door that was closed. "Nothing." Cassidy assured, "I told you already I'd hear somethin' comin' from down the bloody road fer Christ sakes." Lily took a deep breath and nodded, looking back at her brother and Tulip. All three of them stared at her, not saying a word the entire time she had explained. It was nice to see Tulip out of her spot in the bed, but Lily's mind was far too busy with everything else that was consuming it to appreciate the fact her best friend was back at her side looking as normal as ever.

Lily shrugged her shoulders, whispering a little louder, "This whole time, I constantly feel like there's someone watching me. I just avoided it. Ignored it any time it happened. But this time I found it in me to just..." She threw her arms up, "..look." She threw her hand towards the corner Jesse was standing close to, "And she was there."

When no one said anything, Lily sighed, "I'm telling you. I've seen her a few times here now. I knew there was something with that fucking dresser. She came to me in my dream and warned me, and then when I still couldn't take a fucking hint, she threw the mother fucking thing to the ground and practically shoved my face in it." She huffed in frustration, knowing how crazy she sounded, "I know its sounds absolutely insane. I know that-"

"No it doesn't." Jesse stated, finally cutting her off. Tulip and Cassidy looked up at Jesse, who was seemingly less shocked than they were. Jesse flipped through the book again, "This was mom trying to figure out how to survive here." Jesse stated, "There's a lot in here." He shook his head in amazement, "I can't say I'm surprised about this happening with you, Lil." Lily threw her head back, "Oh, please tell me you knew that I could see fucking dead people and kept that from me, too!" She whisper-yelled. Cassidy was thankful to see her spark back so suddenly. Jesse smirked, shaking his head as he was unable to hold back a chuckle at her playfulness, "No. Of course not." He took a breath, closing the book and handing it back to Lily, "Not like that. I just mean that there's lots of history with our family with this sort of stuff. Look at gran'ma."

Lily shook her head, "She can see people that are dead, too?" Lily asked. Shaking his head, Jesse looked at his sister, "No." He took a few steps, "She can't." There was a smirk on his lips that Lily found confusing. Jesse was beaming, knowing this fact would hit their gran'ma in the best way - not that their intentions were for her to find out, for the time being at least. Growing up with her around, Jesse knew the things she could and could not do - and the things she could not do, absolutely killed her inside.

"I know someone else who can, though." Jesse stated.