Chapter Six

Natasha, an infamous vampire who has lived for centuries, was romantically involved with both Vincent and Dimitrius Cromwell. Vincent satisfied Natasha's thirst for power, yet she found herself in love with Dimitrius. After losing her memory and spending four years in a mental institution until April of 1916, Dimitrius stumbled upon her while playing psychiatrist and aided her in escaping. Afterwards, Natasha finally realized that she was in love with Dimitrius, who had loved her for years, but she had always been with Vincent in those times, and they shared their love together, which left Natasha pregnant with twins. One girl, one boy, Natasha gave the boy up for adoption while she left the girl, Cassandra, with Dimitrius, who also gave her up for adoption. The guy grew up and married and they gave birth to a guy who married and his wife gave birth to Nathalie Owens, who later married Bryan Scott and reproduced to have Cassandra. In that, Natasha is Cassandra's great-great-grandmother.

Cassandra was always a quiet child, keeping to herself, but always became concerned when it came to the emotions of others. Later, she would learn that she would have to feed off of emotions, the ability she was born with, every week or so, otherwise she would become mentally unstable. Needless to say, since she did not know how to control her abilities and there was little emotional pain to feed upon in her house, she would slip into psychotic rants, but her parents thought that it was normal for such a strange little girl.

When she was thirteen years old, Cassie felt completely void and empty of any emotion. She went down to her basement to be alone, but she found it so hard to comfort herself. It was as if she wasn't feeling anything at all. Her movements were slow, deliberate, and she couldn't speak very well, she soon found. "My life...isn't worth living..." Realizing this, she took a length of rope from the tool bench, making a noose the way she had seen it done in movies. Tying it to a thick, secure pipeline, she stepped up onto a stool, ready to slip it over her neck and kick over the steps. Nathalie, however, had been doing laundry and came downstairs, gasping loudly at the sight. "Cassie!" She ran to her, dropping the laundry, and embraced her, feeling a slight pull that felt normal. Cassie was feeding off of her emotions, and soon came to her senses, the raven-haired beauty returning to her usual self.

Her large brown eyes, however, remained sad from that day on, realizing and recognizing her curse, and knowing that she was a mutant. Now sixteen years old, she entered the office of her psychiatrist, a nice, cocoa-skinned woman with a femininely short haircut. Ms. Bryant, first name Kay, offered Cassie a seat on the other side of her desk, and Cassie sat down as she did every week. Kay smiled to her patient, crossing her legs.

"So, how are we today, Cassie?" Kay had a notebook and pen ready, although she remembered everything she told her by heart. "Feel anything unusual?"

"Not really. I've been alright, as usual." Cassie yawned a bit, her hair back in a ponytail and dressed in simple, casual clothes and athletic shoes.

"Good. I want to talk about the incident that happened in your basement when you were thirteen today. Mind telling me why you tried to commit suicide?"

"I felt like I had nothing to live for. I couldn't feel anything positive...Just negative things. I just felt like I had to end it if it was meaningless."

"How was your childhood, Cassie? Any domestic violence, abuse?"

"It was fine. I wasn't the most outgoing child, but I was normal. No, they never hit each other. But I would get these days where I felt like I was starving." Cassie chose her words carefully.

"What do you mean by starved?"

"I'm a mutant, Kay. Answer enough of your questions for today?" Cassie sighed lightly, rubbing her forehead. "I'm stressed out."

"A mutant?" Kay tilted her head curiously. "Then why haven't you attacked me with psychic powers or an optic beam of some sort?"

"Not that kind of mutant. I just know that I can feel what other people are feeling, and I can feed off of their emotions. If I don't, I starve. I can control their mind while I'm doing it, too, so I can force them to remember things."

"Really? Why don't you show me this 'mutant power' of yours?" Kay quirked an eyebrow, not really believing her patient of a year, but as Cassie stood and placed a hand on Kay's forehead, she began to get a bit nervous.

"You're getting nervous...Don't worry, it won't hurt. You'll feel a pull."

Sure enough, she was feeling a pull, and she suddenly felt drained mentally. "Okay. You can stop now. I believe you."

But Cassie kept going. She had to see. Cassie needed help. She forced a memory out of her from her childhood, where she was getting raped by her neighbor's son.

"That's enough!" Kay opened her eyes, Cassie taking her palm off and feeling rejuvenated, calmly sitting back down.

"Told you."

"This isn't a game. There's a place for people like you..."