A month away from Raccoon City hadn't done her much good. She'd thought that if she was away from it all then she could relax, but relaxation turned out to be harder to find. She never did find that picture. The movers hadn't found it either. With a heave and a sigh, Cass finished packing up the suitcase. How much clothing had she gotten since she got here?
The sound of her father came from downstairs as she zipped up the suitcase. Carrying it down the stairs, she was careful to not make any noise. She wanted her things in the car before she bid them goodbye. Sneaking past her father, she made it outside. The sticky air made her yearn for Raccoon City. It had been hot there but nothing like this. She was careful to shut the door softly and made her way back inside.
"Sneaking away, are we?" her grandfather said with a slight judgmental look in his eyes before he chuckled. "Just kidding. I'm going to miss you, kiddo."
Cass gave him a hug before making her way to the living room.
"Thank you for letting me stay here for a while," she said to her stepmother, who sat on the couch knitting while watching the television.
"Leaving already?" Cass' father asked as he burst into the room. "Did you even look at the job postings I showed you? That city is dangerous. You should just stay here."
"Well, I guess I'll have to make it safer for Elza's sake, won't I?" Cass snapped back, sick of his comments.
"Oh, honey," her stepmother said in a syrupy voice. "He's just worried for you."
"And thank you for your concern," Cass said irritably before she started to leave the room.
"Hey, kiddo," her grandfather said from the doorway. "It looks like you forgot something in your room."
"Oh?" Cass asked, trying to figure out what it could be. She'd thought that she'd gotten everything. As she jogged up the stairs, she went through her list of belongings. She was pretty sure she hadn't forgotten anything. Her grandfather waited for her by the entrance to the room.
"Didn't know you collected snakeskin? You find it out back?"
Cass looked at him in confusion before looking into the room. A molted snakeskin sat on the counter next to a torn picture. She tossed the skin into the trash bin before she looked at the photo. It was the picture inside the frame that she had lost. Torn in half so that now it was only a picture of Chris. Chills went up her spine. Was this some kind of joke? Her grandfather seemed to be just as confused. Had Umbrella sent this to her as some kind of warning or threat? Was Chris safe?
Getting back to Raccoon City was more important at the moment, she decided, putting the picture back in her pocket. She gave her grandfather another hug as she told him goodbye. He still looked confused but accepted her hug without another word.
Cass took two steps at a time down the stairs barely avoiding crashing into her father.
"I don't like the idea of you going back there. Especially without Chris. A girl shouldn't be alone in that city."
"I'm capable of handling myself, and I won't be alone. Elza's waiting for me on campus, and Jill's waiting for me at the house. I've got plenty of people around me. I'll be fine," Cass argued for what felt like the hundredth time.
"And both of them are women. And aside from that, I heard about your new roommate. Jill, right? Apparently, she's on house arrest. No badge, no gun. What are you going to do if someone invades your house?"
"We've got plenty of steak knives," Cass snarked back with anger. It hadn't mattered what she'd told him. Chief Irons and her father had worked together for a long time before her father had retired, and her father refused to believe that her experiences with that awful man were anything but a misunderstanding. "Aside from that, I have a gun. We'll be fine."
"Cass… you shouldn't put yourself in danger just to be with your friends."
"A lot of my friends are dead!" Cass snapped back and started walking back to her father. "And whose fault do you think that was?! Irons is a selfish, arrogant monster, and I won't let him take anyone else from me."
"I thought your captain was the one who sent your friends on that mission."
"And whose approval did he have to get first?"
"Being a chief means making a lot of tough calls. I'm sure Brian thought your friends could handle it. They were an advanced search and rescue team after all."
Cass sighed. This was hopeless, especially since she didn't want to make him a target for Umbrella to use. Telling him the whole story might make him open his eyes, but even then, that was unlikely.
"Goodbye. My stuff's already in the car. I'll call you when I get there," Cass said in a calm tone.
Her father gave her a hug and said, "I just want you to be safe. Where is Chris anyway? Last I heard he was going on vacation, but no one seems to know where."
Cass distanced herself from the hug and replied, "No idea. I believe he wrote something about babes and beaches."
"Atta boy."
Cass clenched her fist as she said goodbye to her stepmother and left the house. The fact that he believed that showed just how little he knew anyone. Getting into the car, she started the engine and took a deep breath. It was going to be a long drive back to the city alone. At least, she still had Chris' mixtape. As she turned up the music, a small grin appeared on her face. Relief flooded her body as she drove farther and farther away from her father's house. Surely, even Raccoon City wouldn't be this stressful.
She focused on listening to the music to drown out the new doubts filling her mind. Barry hadn't contacted anyone in a while, but he had moved to Canada. No doubt he was busy. The chief had gotten suspicious of Jill and put her on house arrest. And Chris… the last she had heard about him was a note he had sent. Remembering the note, she laughed a little. He was trying to be subtle, but that had never been Chris' strong suit.
The fuel gauge cried out as she approached a gas station. Stopping to refuel, she noticed something odd on her back window: a handprint. Maybe it was from Kevin? She put her hand up to check the size. It was human sized at least, not completely reassuring. It could even be from her father or grandfather, resting something on top of the car. She relaxed and closed the door behind her before going inside to grab something to drink. As she paid for gas, she noticed a car pull up to the pump furthest from her car.
A man got out of the car, and Cass got a chill down her spine. Something about the man was familiar. Cass turned away before he could look her way and quickly walked out of the store. Filling up the tank, she kept a wary eye toward the stranger. Where had she seen him? Was she just being paranoid? Taking a glance at the handprint, she laughed at herself. Getting unbalanced by a handprint and a stranger, it was a bit pathetic. Still, it wouldn't hurt to be cautious.
A payphone sat outside the gas station. Fishing some quarters out of her pocket, she decided to call Jill.
"Hello?" asked Jill with frustration in her tone.
"Hey, it's me, Cass. How are things?" Cass asked as she warily glanced at the stranger.
"Counting the days," Jill replied irritably. "So, you're on your way back now?"
"Yup. Just stopped at a gas station to fuel up. I should be at the apartment tomorrow around sunset. I'll take a break tonight. Find some motel."
"Okay then, just be careful."
"Have you heard from Chris?" Cass blurted out before checking on the stranger. He'd left the store and was smoking by his car at the pump.
"Not since the letter. I think he's onto something… and I wish I'd found more."
"If you had, then your punishment probably wouldn't just be house arrest."
Jill sighed before she answered, "I guess you're right. It probably wasn't such a good idea to split up… but I was hoping…"
"Right now, I'm more concerned with your safety than Umbrella. Karma will come for them, and I want all of us to be there when it does."
"Yeah, I agree. I'll see you when you get here."
"See you soon," Cass promised, hanging up the phone.
After getting back into the car, she headed toward a more traffic heavy highway. It would take longer to get home, but she'd have witnesses if anything bad happened. As she looked behind her, she could see the car following her. Her hands tightened on the steering wheel until the car took a different ramp. With a sigh of relief, she relaxed. What had put her so on edge? She tried to remember who he reminded her of, but she couldn't think of anyone specific. It was likely that Umbrella or its competitor had eyes on her; she just needed to play it cool. Turning the radio back on, she concentrated on the music as she made the journey home.