Cassandra

Thank you Shuura, jackpot, Julie, and Saige for reviewing. :)



I think only this chapter and then two more... Then it should be done.



Enjoy!



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I woke with a start to sound of a powerful bang on the door. Gripping the covers at my waist, I looked at Cassandra, wide-eyed. If it wasn\'t her, then it had to have been...



"Dave," she breathed, falling out of the bed to grab her t-shirt and throw it on herself. The knocking was more persistent and loud each time, like the beating of my heart. Cassandra wouldn\'t even look at me as she threw my bra, panties, shorts, and shirt onto my bare chest. She acted like her house was on fire. Like we were going to die if we didn\'t hurry up.



Maybe that was the truth.



I had managed to shuffle into my undies and slip my arms through the loops of my bra, but I couldn\'t clasp it in time. The door burst open and Dave stood, his dress shirt unbuttoned and leather belt in his hand. His face was fiery red as he looked between his wife in only a t-shirt and me half-naked.



I was so fearful of what could happen that I froze, my hands behind my back. I was breathing fast.



"I knew it," Dave whispered to Cassandra, whom remained frozen as well. "You cheating bitch." He slapped her hard across the face, the smack echoing in my mind. She fell to the mattress, cupping her cheek with her hand. Her t-shirt had folded upward and showed her fresh bandages.



I sat there, immobilized by what I was witnessing. I dared not to leave his eyes as terror swallowed me whole.



I winced as his icy eyes met mine. "You taped her up?" he questioned, seething.



My feeble response was a nod.



"Mm." He placed his hand over the dressings and ripped them from her soft skin, her screams muffled by the cushions. By the whimpering sounds, I could imagine that her wounds had reopened, but, again, I couldn\'t leave his face out of horror.



"Now," he murmured, flicking his attention over to me briefly, "you\'ll watch and you\'ll learn that my wife is entitled to all of this pain and deserves no happiness." He drew up the leather belt and repositioned himself on the side of the bed, clutching the flesh of Cassandra\'s right thigh. "Ready?" he asked me.



He didn\'t wait for an answer. Crack!



Trembling, I opened my eyes, gasping for air.



"Taylor?" a soft voice asked from beside me. A hand cradled my cheek. "What\'s wrong, Taylor? You\'re shaking."



My mouth kept moving as if I could form the words to tell her what I\'d just witnessed. But it was only a dream. It felt much more real than a dream, though. I stared at her, at the lack of hurt in her almond eyes, and I cupped her hand on my face. "N-nothing\'s wrong..." I mumbled, blinking multiple times to wake myself up.



Her neat eyebrows fused closer together. "You\'re sure?" she inquired, leaning towards me. Her lips graced my forehead, lingering for a moment, and then she pulled away. "You\'re warm, but I doubt it\'s from sickness." There was a faint smile there somewhere.



I swallowed. "I just... I was dreaming."



Whatever smile there\'d been, it had faded now. "A nightmare?" was her guess.



I nodded, my other hand moving up past my breast to press down on the skin covering my racing heart. It had really scared me. It may have been a dream then, but just earlier that day most of it had been real for Cassandra. Those lashings were real, and I didn\'t need to be present nor need to dream about it to know that her pain was as excruciating as it was.



"Taylor, tell me." Her palm from her other hand had been holding her up as she rested on her elbow, but she\'d replaced it with a stack of comfy pillows. "What happened?"



I swallowed again. "Do you really love Dave?" I asked, tightening my hold on her hand at my cheek.



She looked down at me, curiously at first, but then in utter seriousness. "I used to," she replied in soft tones. "Now it\'s become something other than that."



Abuse.



"Will you leave him?" I asked through a whisper.



"Oh, I--" She had started to smile, as if to laugh my question off, but her face contorted. "You\'re serious?" she asked me back, puzzled.



It was my eyebrows that clenched together this time. "Of course I am. Why would you stay with someone that hurts you like that? He doesn\'t love you if he treats you that way. Why should you stay with him?"



"He does love me."



I scoffed at her, shocked. Appalled. "How could you even think that?!" I snapped. "Is that how a man should treat a woman -- with disrespect and violence?! You\'re not meant to be beaten and battered, Cassandra, and you know that! Why, he thinks that you are pregnant still, right? But he\'ll strike you during your first trimester?!" I scoffed again. "Dave is no man, and you don\'t deserve scum like him!"



She stared at me, her face expressionless despite the knit eyebrows. I wasn\'t sure if she was letting my words sink in, or if she was leading me on and making me believe that she was considering my words but she really didn\'t care. Either way, her silence brought upon more frustration and forced me to push her hand away and sit up.



As I picked up my discarded undergarments and put them back on, I heard the hinges of the bed squeak. "My father used to call me \'Cassandra\' when I was younger," I heard her say. "He thought it was the most beautiful name in the world and that it should belong to the most beautiful daughter he could ever have. Every time he would say my name, I felt whole in my heart. I felt important.



"After he passed away, my mother refused to use my full name because it reminded her too much of him. And when Dave and I started dating, I told him to call me Cassandra, and he did. When we married, he started to use nicknames like \'Cass\' and \'Cassie,\' names that reminded me of my father\'s disease and death. Not my full name; not the name that made my heart full."



"Dave\'s called you by your full name before, though," I pointed out as she paused.



She sighed. "Only when I pleaded with him. After I told him I was carrying, he was so happy and willing to do whatever I asked." She bit her lip before murmuring, "I believe he has manic depression, and he only hurts me because it relieves stress. He can\'t help himself."



I shook my head. "That\'s not an excuse to hurt you."



"He needs me," she whispered, lowering her head, disregarding my latest remark, "and I need him."



I walked over to where she sat and grabbed her hands. "No, you don\'t," I told her, searching for her eyes hidden underneath her dark bangs.



She nodded. "I do." I barely heard her.



A tight knot in my chest, I moved my hand under her chin and lifted, finding her tearful eyes. "No. You don\'t."



She sniffed a laugh and shut her eyes, two tears trailing down. "You\'re something else, Taylor Ruine," she murmured, my name cracking in her throat.



With a sad smile, I leaned in and breathed against her lips, "I\'m all you need, Cassandra Wilton."