A teeny, tiny chapter.

After their conversation, the Puppet, or rather, Charlie, slunk back inside of the RV while Lea remained in the dark garage. It was cold, but she was hoping that remaining there alone would entice the spirit known as Cassidy to pay her a visit. As she sat there huddled up against the tire, tiredness began to consume her. Her eyes drooped, closing and opening a few times and her head felt heavy. Then, in the brief and blurry moment that her eyes reopened halfway, she caught a glimpse of the slumped figure of the yellow bear.

Suddenly very awake now, Lea jumped to her feet and called, "Cassidy!"

The bear had vanished, but calling out the name triggered a high-pitched static ringing in her mind that caused her to grit her teeth. Perhaps the sound was worse if Cassidy was angry?

"I – I just want to talk to you," Lea grunted through the painful noise.

The sound suddenly quieted, though it did not completely fade away. Nevertheless, it was far more tolerable now. Lea glanced around the darkness until she spotted what may have been the broken yellow animatronic. She remained where she was but stared hard at it, trying to make out all of the details.

"You are Cassidy, aren't you? My name is Lea."

"I know who you are." The child's voice was disturbingly vindictive.

"Right," Lea said. "Cassidy… Pup- Charlie says that you've been haunting that man. The… purple man." She winced as the ringing spiked for a moment.

"I'm not allowed peace. So, I won't give him any, either!"

"But… isn't it better to just let him go?" The sound grew stronger and Lea resisted the urge to hold her ears, knowing full well that it would not block out a sound in her head.

"Let him go? Why would I LeT hIm GO? He doesn't deserve peace! Whose side are you on!?"

Lea grunted and winced. "I'm – I'm just trying to help the others. You holding on to him… it's just making it worse! You're just hurting them more."

"I DoN't CarE!"

"Well, I do! You're making it worse for my friends, and you're making it worse for yourself! You'll never find peace if you keep doing this!" Lea couldn't help but shut her eyes and grab at her head now as the sound grew louder and louder. "Erg… I'm going to find a way to free them! I'm going to find a way to stop him! Even if I have to go through you, too!"

The sounds suddenly ceased. Lea opened her eyes and looked around. She could not make out anything in the dark now. After a long silence, in which Lea thought that maybe the spirit had left, she heard the voice again, calmer now.

"…I can't let go. Even if I wanted to, I can't."

"W-What do you mean?"

"I'm trapped with him. He wouldn't let me go…so I torture him."

The spite in that last sentence caused Lea to shudder. "Cassidy… What does he want with you? With them?"

Cassidy scoffed from the darkness. "He was mad about what happened to his own kids, so he took it out on others. Then, he learned about something he thought he could use to bring them back."

"You mean that remnant stuff?"

"How do you know that?"

"Charlie mentioned it briefly. What is it? What does it do?"

"How should I know?" There was a hint of annoyance in her tone, but the horrible ringing sound did not return, much to Lea's relief. "I just know he started making robots designed to collect it. After his experiments, I mean… But it didn't work out how he planned, and he ended up dead himself. Heh. Now he wants to use it for himself."

"Where, or what does that stuff come from?"

"Haven't you already figured that out? Children have the most."

There was another long silence between them before Lea spoke up again. "Cassidy, I want to help. What can I do?"

"I have a plan…"

Lea was a tad surprised. "You do? What is it?"

"The farmhouse that old lady was telling you about… It was my home." She chuckled a little at Lea's shocked expression. "It's really far from where I died, huh?"

"Yeah."

"The old factory there… Tch!"

"What? What's wrong?"

"I can't talk anymore. You're too far away. The closer he is to you, the easier it is to talk to you."

That was highly unsettling but Lea was still upset that their conversation was to be cut short. "We'll find that place," she told her. "And, when we do, we'll wait there for you…and him."

No reply came from the darkness, but Lea could feel a certain lightness in the air around her now. Cassidy had gone, for now.

To be continued…

Vindictive Cassidy has decided to put her trust in Lea, for now.

Guys, the end of Free is almost here! It is currently fall in the story, but early snowfall is coming. The story ends in winter.