The Sea Noose

The Sea Noose


“Kassy!” young man, near the age of eight-teen cautiously opened the unlocked front door that was decorated with maple leaves.

“Kassy?” his voice was met with no reply. He furrowed his brow when he thought he might have heard something from upstairs. The house's staircases were huge, making every sound, no matter how small, seem to be ten times louder. He slowly walked up the stairs, his hand sliding up the maple railing. When he reached the second floor he paused, waiting to see if he'd hear it again. It sounded like whimpering.

“What could that be?” he whispered as he continued up the next flight of stairs. He paused at the top, heading to the right when he heard it coming from that direction. He looked down the hallway, seeing Kassandra's bedroom door, slightly open. That alone was odd. It was either completely closed or completely open, never in between.

He moved slowly to her room, the sound getting louder as he drew closer. He opened his mouth to call out to Kassandra when he heard the whimper be muffled. His fists clenched unconsciously. He inched closer to the door, pushing it open silently. It took all of his self-control not to gasp out loud and give himself away.

He had found Kassandra, but in a way he never would have dreamed about. She was lying on her back, naked with her legs spread. Her eyes were closed tightly and she was crying. Her father was the reason for her tears. He was in between her legs, thrusting into her forcefully, his hands gripping her hips so tight, the bruises were already forming underneath his fingers.

The young man's eyes filled with a hatred and loathing so deep, he looked like a frightening sight. He slammed the door open, striding into the room and punched her father hard enough for him to let go of Kassandra and fall to the floor.

“You sick, bastard.” his voice was dripping with burning loathing and her father glared up at him, pulling himself from the floor.

“I do believe, Cian, that you are breaking and entering. Leave at once and I won't have to call the police.” Cian cocked his head to the side, pretending to consider it.

“No, I don't think I will.” he punched him again and grabbed Kassandra's arm while her father was lying on the floor, holding his face. “Come on, I'm getting you out of here.” he pulled her up and was pushing her out of her bedroom door when her father slammed into him from behind.

“You little, fuck. How dare you try to take what's mine!” Cian grunted from the impact and turned to face him, ducking to the side to avoid a punch.

“What's yours? You have got to be insane! She is your daughter, you sick bastard!” Kassandra wrapped her arms around herself and slid down the wall, watching as the two stared fighting, throwing punches and kicks at each other. They'd go down one at a time. First her father, then Cian, then her father again. Cian's lip was bleeding, his face bruising and her father had the beginnings of a black eye and a nasty looking bruise along his side. The two's scuffle started near her door and was now around the top of the staircase. Her father tried to push Cian down the stairs, but he ducked and kicked his feet out from underneath him.

Kassandra watched, as if in slow motion, her father falling backwards, his arms flailing about, trying to stay balanced. He fell, his foot slipping from where he stood at the top of the staircase, and he fall hard. He slammed down the stairs, hitting the wall at the mid point and continued on down the other level of stairs. Cian stood at the top, breathing heavily as they both listened until there was silence, no movement from below. He turned slowly and looked at Kassandra, curled in a ball against the wall.

“Where's your phone, Kassandra?” his voice was gently, soft and sweet. She pointed at the door at the end of the hallway. He nodded and quickly made his way to the room. Kassandra took a deep breath and closed her eyes, her arms tightening around herself as she rested her head on her knees. She listened intently as Cian talked on the phone in a quiet voice, not really able to head what was being said. She looked up when he came back out of the bedroom, carrying a blanket.

“You should wrap up in this, Kassy.” he knelt in front of her and held it out. She took it, her arms shaking as she wrapped it around her bare body. “Now, Kassy, I don't want you to panic. What I did was for the best.” she looked up at him sharply, not trusting her voice to speak.

“I called the police and they will be here soon to investigate this.” her eyes widened and she sucked in a deep breath. He held up a hand. “Please, don't panic. I am going to tell them exactly what happened, at least, what I saw and what I did. They're going to have to... take a sample of his... semen from your privates, Kassy.” his voice was soft when he told her the last part. She shook her head, her eyes wide.

“No.” her voice was rough and scratchy. He nodded his head and grasped her hands gently.

“Kassy, they have to know. They have to do this or, they'll think I'm lying and sentence me to jail for the death penalty for murder. What I did was in self-defense and if they know that he did rape you like he was, then they'll know that I am telling the truth.” she clenched her eyes shut and pulled her hands back, wrapping them around her legs as she hid her face and cried. He brushed her hair back gently and pulled her onto his lap, rocking her gently.

“Shh, it's ok, Kassy. Everything will be ok.” he held her until the sirens of the police cars in the distance stopped in front of the house.

“Any one home?” a voice called up.

“Up here!” Cian tightened his arms around Kassy as the owner of the voice gingerly made their way up to them.

“Hello, my name is Alex Brown, I'm with the police department.” Cian nodded in greeting.

“I'm Cian Drake. I'm the one who called about the rape and murder.” Alex nodded and pulled out his notepad, writing down Cian's name.

“Will you please tell me what happened in your own words, Mr. Drake?” Cian nodded again and told Alex how he had come into the front door and heard a whimper or something so he came up. He found Kassandra, he nodded to her, being raped by her father and punched him in the face, knocking him away from her. He told Alex of the fight that ensued and of how her father had fallen down the stairs and died. Alex nodded and continued to scribbled down the information. He looked at Cian.

“Why were you coming here to her house in the first place, Mr. Drake?”

“I know Kassandra through our painting club through the school district. I was to come over today to paint with her to create a joint entry for the art contest we hold each year.” he nodded.

“And how old are you?”

“Seventeen, sir.”

“And, Kassandra?”

“Nearly fifteen.” he nodded and scribbled that information down.

“And where is her mother?”

“Out of country, on a business trip. She's in London I believe.” he scribbled some more.

“All right, I'm going to call for the coroner and for some backup.”

“Why do you need back up? I'm not going anywhere. If I'm going to be charged with murder for rescuing Kassandra, then I'm going to be charged with it. I'm not going to run from it.” Alex nodded.

“I know, it's just standard protocol.” he headed back down the stairs, his walkie-talking in front of his face as he called for more people. Kassandra sniffled and looked at Cian.

“What...” she cleared her throat, “What will happen now?” he shook his head, leaning back against the wall.

“I don't know, Kassy, I don't know. But what I do know, is that I don't want to leave you.” she smiled softly and leaned against him, hiding her face in his neck. He rubbed her back gently and closed his eyes, listening as more sirens sounded within the distance, growing louder as they headed towards them.


“Well, Mr. Drake, I have heard your testimony, I have viewed the evidence throughly. I have even managed to coax a few sentences from Kassandra to help. And because of my findings, as the judge of this court, I here by find you not guilty on the charge of murder.” Cian smiled and turned to face Kassandra where she sat, next to his aunt, behind him and his lawyer. She smiled back softly.

“Your honor?” the judge looked at him.

“Yes, son?”

“I was wondering if it might be possible to give my aunt custody of Kassandra.” he tilted his head to the side, before looking at the woman in question.

“What do you have to say about this request, Ms. Drake?” she smiled.

“I would be delighted to have Kassandra living with us. I could even home school her, if she didn't want to go back to school for a while.” the judge nodded.

“Then I hereby grant you, Ms. Drake, full custody of Kassandra.” she smiled and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

“I'll never do a thing to make you feel like you're unwelcome. I won't hear of you saying no, either.” Kassandra smiled softly at the woman. She was quite nice and Kassandra was quite fond of her. She felt like the mother she never had.


From then on, Kassandra was home schooled and Cian went to college a year later after he graduated. Cian's aunt was very nice to Kassandra and was even the one to give Kassandra her high school diploma. When he came back, it was Kassandra's turn to go off to college. When Kassandra finished college she moved out to a nice home by the sea, with a worn stone path leading to the sandy beach. She didn't work, making her money selling the simply beautiful paintings she made in her own home.

The next time she saw Cian was at his aunt's funeral. Since they, he moved close to her and they started talking again, building up a strong friendship.