Chapter 4

White Owl, Jizabel, and Ida waited for Cassian to return. Two weeks had gone by and they were wondering what Cassian had found out. Cassian entered the room and flopped onto the bed.

"Somebody get me mouthwash," he growled.

"What? Did Cain kiss you?"

Cassian shook his head. Cain was currently away and it was just him and Mary at the Estate.

That day, Mary had invited some of her friends from before meeting Cain and moving into his home over.

"But I was kissed," Cassian said, straitening. "Will someone please get me mouthwash! Stupid kid! I'm gonna rip out his eyes!"

"Oh?"

"I guess it was another boy who thought Cassian was a cute girl."

"Well, he does pull it off really well…"

"I hate you all," Cassian growled. "Okay, that aside, Cain has a very large collection of poisons. No one would be surprised if somehow, Lord Cain accidently poisoned himself."

"Can you compile a list of what the poisons are and what they do?" Jizabel asked.

"I've already gotten started on it," Cassian said, opening a drawer and showing a thin packet. "It's far from finished. Many of those poisons are not just immensely lethal, but very scary stuff. From what I know so far, all of the ones I was able to list slowly torture the victim to death, rotting them from the inside."

White Owl shivered. "Yikes. How'd you find out about the poison collection?"

Cassian slinked about, careful not to be seen by the staff. He entered a small study and looked around. One whole wall was covered by a curtain.

He pulled the curtain back and stared at the rows of poisons staring back at him. He reached out to pick one up.

A strong hand grabbed his. Cassian winced out of shock more than pain.

"Cassidy! What are you doing here?" Cain asked, loosening his grip.

"I'm sorry, Lord Hargreaves," Cassian said, "I was looking for the library and my curiosity got the best of me. Are you mad?"

Like I care.

"No, I'm not mad," Cain said, releasing him completely. Cain closed the curtain. "But those are very dangerous poisons. Even Mary hasn't seen them. It's best if you just forget them and run along, Cassidy."

"Alright," Cassian said, leaving. When he was far enough, Cassian frowned and looked behind him. No one was fallowing him. Cassian returned to his room and pulled out a pen and a notepad and returned to the study.

He searched the shelves for an encyclopedia all on poisons. Finding one large enough that it might contain most if not all the poisons on Cain's shelf, he opened the curtain again and looked at each label carefully before writing the name down. He checked the clock occasionally.

Once he had written three of the six shelves down, he closed the curtain and returned to his room…

"Wow," White Owl said, blinking. "You work fast."

"Since I'm stuck in a dress until this is done, the sooner the better," Cassian said. "I returned the next day and finished the list. Since then, I've been researching them, but it takes so much time, that I almost never leave this room because I'm so busy researching. When I do, it's because Mary wants to goof off with me."

"She's gotten attached to you, hasn't she?" Jizabel asked.

"A bit more attached than I think a girl should be with another…"

"No. Girls tend to be closer than guys," Ida added. "It's natural if Mary wants you to play with her. She thinks you're a girl, so she's going to want to befriend you and share secrets and talk about things that she doesn't feel she can talk about with her brother."

"You're a genius, aren't you, Ida?" White Owl said without thinking.

"No," Ida snapped. "I'm a girl too! Good God, White Owl! You're an idiot!"

"Sorry," White Owl said, hiding behind Jizabel. "I tend to forget that…"

"You really are an idiot if you forget that," Jizabel muttered. "That's like forgetting that Cassian's a man."

"That's true," White Owl agreed. "But it's easier to remember that Cassian's actually a man because he can be brutish."

"Watch it, Owl," Cassian growled.

"That aside," Jizabel said, "I want to know what actually happened before you came back to the room. You said you were kissed, right?"

"I don't really want to relive that…"

"Yeah, but you can't help that we're a midge curious," Ida said. "I mean, it's not like it was your first kiss."

"True," Cassian said. And it wasn't. His first kiss was back long before he knew anything about his condition. But it was certainly his first kiss with another guy.

Mary and Cassian laid a blanket down on the grass. Two boys climbed over.

"Yo! Mary. Thanks for inviting us over."

"It's just for tonight, though, Leroy," Mary said. "Hi James."

"Hey," James said. They sat down on the blanket. Cassian looked at the boys. They were staring at him. When Cassian looked at them, they blushed.

Oh damn…why me?

"Okay! Let's eat." Mary said, laying out the sandwiches.

"Mary, who's your friend?"

"Oh right! This is Cassidy."

Cassian smiled. "Hello."

Mary engaged Cassian in a conversation, but Cassian could only partly pay attention because of the conversation Leroy and James were having in hushed whispers.

They aren't as quiet as they think. This is why I don't like kids all that much.

"She's cute…"

"I dare you to…"

"…Barking mad!"

"Chicken?"

"Hell no," James snapped. He swallowed and turned to Mary and Cassian. "Er…Cassidy?"

Cassian turned to James, as did Mary. "Yes?"

James leaned forward and gently pecked Cassian's lips. Mary giggled. Cassian curled his hands into fists. This kid is dead! Cassian thought.

Cassian schooled himself and blushed instead, touching his hand to his lips. James pulled his hat down further to hide his red face.

"You're certainly popular, Cassidy," Mary said. "I'm almost jealous."

"Oi, a lot of guys wanted to kiss you too, Mary, but you're scary."

"What did you say?!"

Jizabel and White Owl laughed. "Oh, Cassidy," Jizabel laughed, "you're so popular with the guys!"

"Cassidy, how about a kiss?" White Owl added.

BAM! BAM!

"If you joke about that again, I'll slit your throats!"

"Why'd you hit me twice?!" White Owl snapped.

Cassian pointed at Jizabel. "He's my boss. If I hit him, I could get fired. Or worse."

"He's got a point," Jizabel added. "It means I can tease him indefinitely and he can't do a thing."

"Not necessarily," Cassian said. "I'm quite inclined to kick your ass when I get that new body you promised me."

"Hey, watch it," Jizabel warned. "There is a limit to how willing I am to help you out, Cassian."

"We had a deal."

"I know…"

"Enough!" Ida shouted. The three of them cowered. "The three of you are so idiotic, it's a wonder I'm still even attempting to help you three! I'm going home."

Ida climbed out the window and left.

White Owl, Jizabel, and Cassian blinked.

"What's her problem?" Cassian asked.

"No idea," White Owl answered.

"Must be that time of the month," Jizabel suggested. White Owl and Cassian turned to him and stared. "What?"

"That you could say that so seriously…"

"That's a little scary, Mate."

Jizabel rolled his eyes. "I'm a doctor. I had to study the woman's body just as much as a man's. It's not a big deal to me if a girl's pmsing or not."

"Yep," Cassian said, "you're a pervert."

"I'm a man," Jizabel said. "I can't help it."

"I guess that's where we all fail, eh, Cassian?"

"Will you two leave already?!"