Casey had just woken up, and realized she was in Derek's room.
Furrowing her brow, she sat up, and looked around, when it hit her. Yesterdays events...the house...the little boy's arm...
She's slept away the rest of the day.
She checked Derek's digital clock. 8:00 AM.
She walked out of Derek's room and padded tentatively into her own.
She chanced a glance at her bed, and saw to her surprised that someone had changed the sheets, and her blanket was folded sloppily on the floor.
Had Derek hired a maid while she was asleep?
She made her way downstairs, and saw Derek sitting in his chair, concentrating on the morning news.
Casey silently sat on the couch, and Derek acknowledged her with a curt nod. They turned back to the TV.
"...And just last evening a house was burned down, location was..."
Casey winced. The Fisher's. Oh God, were they okay?
"The inhabitants of the home, the Fisher's, are in critical condition in the Toronto Community Hospital, and it has been confirmed that the youngest of the family, a seven year old boy named Joey, suffered third degree burns and was found dead at eleven PM last evening. Police say that it is likely that the boy had fallen asleep in the fenced-in backyard, where the fire took place, and it was confirmed that the back door was locked. The young boy was thus unable to climb the six foot fence, and was stranded and severely burned, the strange part was, that Joey was missing his left arm. His older sister, a thirteen year old girl by the name of Claire was carried out of the house by a local firemen. It was reported that she was found passed out on the floor in front of the back door, most likely from smoke fumes, and had blisters and burns covering her hands. News on the mother and father have been unannounced. Questions about whether the fire was intentional or not are still to be answered..."
Casey turned horror-struck to Derek, who had flicked off the television, but seemed unable to tear his eyes from the blank screen.
Unable to stop the tears, they flowed down Casey's face as she stood. "That was completely intentional, Derek! That means this freak could be anywhere! That means he was listening to me in the morning screaming about the prank calls! T-that mean he was in our house...In my room!
Casey broke down into sobs, and just as Derek had stood again with means to comfort her, the phone rang.
Derek covered his action of moving towards her by grabbing the phone.
"Derek speaking. What's up?" He answered.
Casey wiped her face and smiled.
Derek grinned at making her smile, but the grin slid off his face in a second. He put the message on speaker. It was that little boy's voice. The one that had been calling all yesterday morning.
"Is your refrigerator running? THEN YOU BETTER GO CATCH IT!" The squeaky, high voice rung through the living room.
"How many hands does it take to dial?" The high-pitched voice suddenly dropped lower. Someone else was on the line now. Their voice was raspy and menacing.
"Just one." They whispered.
Derek took the phone off speaker, and growled into the phone, "It only takes one hand to choke a guy to death too."
Casey's eye were wide, her jaw dropped.
Maniacal laughter was heard over the line, and it suddenly went dead.
"He has our number Derek! He's a psycho! A psycho..." She started crying again, falling into Derek.
Derek stared down at her. This situation had turned into so much more than he'd expected. For some reason, he felt partially responsible. What the hell? In two days...no, one day, he'd lost his It-wasn't-me attitude, and actually felt responsible! This was psycho.
Derek maintained his role as Mr. Cool for abot three seconds, before he thought, to hell with it. He held her tight, stroking her dark hair, letting her soak his T-shirt, when all of a sudden, the phone rang again.
Casey turned to it fearfully. Derek snatched it off the speaker and immediately snarled into it, "If this is--Oh! Hey Smarti!"
Casey looked considerably relieved, and attempted to wipe off her puffy face.
"Oh, no. I wasn't yelling at you, I thought it was those...those annoying boys down the road that keep prank calling us. Uh-huh. Smarti? Are you okay?"
Casey looked up at Derek. She saw pain and sadness in his eyes.
"Shhh. I know Marti. I know. I'll miss Joey too. Yeah, Dimi's okay. No, his house isn't burned down. Okay. You can call him after. Huh? Oh, yeah. Casey's fine." He glanced at her, and she gave a watery smile.
"I love you too, Smarti. Yeah, you can talk to her." Derek pressed a hand against the mouthpiece.
"You okay?" He asked Casey gruffly, and she nodded, standing to take the phone.
"Hi, Marti!" She said brightly, sounding completely convincible. "Yes. I heard about Joey." She whispered.
"I know he was your friend. I'm sorry Marti." Casey sniffled into the phone. "Okay. I love you too. Bye."
Casey placed the phone on the receiver and turned to Derek.
Derek and Casey gazed at each other a long time.
"I'm scared, Derek." Casey whispered.
He placed his hands on her shoulders, electrifying her with his grip. "As long as I'm here, Casey, there's nothing to be afraid of." He said softly. Nothing to lose, right? He thought, explaining his actions to himself. I'm just making her feel better, nothing more. I don't actually care...Who the hell am I kidding? I care more than anything.
He battled with his mind, not realizing that Casey was still trapped under his hands.
"Thanks Derek. Um...Derek? You can let go now." She said giggling at last.
He flushed, removing his hands, grinning sheepishly. "I'll be in my room."
"No!" Without realizing, without thinking about it, she grabbed his hand, pulling him back towards her. "Stay with me."
Derek raised an eyebrow, and gave his signature Venturi smirk. "Anytime."
She blushed, and at that moment, Derek and Casey had formed an invisible bond. Everything seemed like it was going to be okay.
Until...
"Derek, I need the remote." Casey reached for it, but he held it high.
"Ha! Not a chance, Princess."
Casey rolled her eyes. "Der-ek! You are impossible!"
He grinned. Music to my ears.