Sinful Secrets

Cassie couldn't sleep that night. Even with Trace there laying beside her, she didn't feel safe. After Cassie explained to him everything that had happened while he was away, he insisted that he stay over. Of course, Cassie's mom had no problem with this; she plainly thought that another man in the house would increase the protection factor. Sometimes Cassie wanted to slap her mom. Her mother would probably let any man stay over if it meant another set of strong muscles to defend the family.
Cassie looked up at the ceiling and examined the posters on the wall, which were too bright concerning the past year's events. Suddenly, she heard rain; the slow pitter patter of raindrops drowning her ears. Then, the thunder roared so loud, that Trace bolted awake, knocking Cassie off the bed. It was like a bomb had been dropped near by and Cassie's heart started speeding up its pace.
"Oh shit! Cassie are you okay? I-I'm so sorry. I uh, let me help you up," Trace said, still in a daze. He helped Cassie off of the floor and looked down to wipe his pants off. He looked over to the bright orange digits on the clock and sighed. 3:27 AM.
"I should go. I have to unpack and help my mom unload the new books at 8. You can come if you want, but then again, you don't like libraries."
Cassie sat there for a minute thinking about what he said.
When she was nine, Cassie was accidentally locked in the library's basement. She remembered how cold and dusty it was down there. The fear that creeped up inside her made it feel like she had just been dropped 300 feet, plummeting to the concrete ground. She also remembered how odd it was for there to be wind in a room with no windows and she had sworn that somebody was down there with her. If she thought back hard enough, she could feel the warm breath gently touching her neck and raising every single string of hair on her body. By then her arms were subtly shaking at her sides and she could visually see the goosebumps forming. She looked to her left without moving her head and saw a pair of shadows, one of which being her own. Cassie then shut her eyes and placed her hands over them. Her blue denim overalls were now sticking to her skin from the cold sweat dripping off her body. When she finally plucked up the courage to turn around, no one was there. She sprinted up to the door and found it to be unlocked...

Cassie had an epiphany at that very moment and said,"I'm going."
Trace had on that all too familiar face that screamed 'what are you up to?', but he quickly let it go and started to leave her room. "Walk me to your door?" They both walked side by side as they made their way through the living room, and to the front door. Cassie was unsure about this. She didn't want him alone out there and thought about walking him home, but remembered that once he was home, she'd have to walk back. For a moment or two, Cassie was fighting herself. She had no idea whether to do the right thing, or the safe thing. When Trace reached for the handle, Cassie placed her hand forcefully on the door.
"I don't want you walking around by yourself at night," she whispered.
"Just chill Cass, I live just around the block. And I'm going whether you like it or not."
Cassie's face fell, and she tried to muster up every reason for him to stay. However, her attempts were fallible and he stood his ground. She looked back up at him one last time and swung around, making a clear pathway to the door.
"I'll walk you home," she said. Trace was quick to keep her from walking any further.
"No. No no no no no way in hell am I letting you out there."
"Why the fuck not?" Cassie shot back at him. He was being unreasonable. Just because he had a Y chromosome didn't mean he was more equipped to handle a life-threatening situation that could arise at any time.
"Because I don't want another friend shishkabob," Trace said calmly and sadly. It was meant to take Cassie's temper down a notch, but all she did was hiss back at him," Well then you should know exactly how I feel." She stood there, defiant. And Trace knew, just by looking at her, her emotions so intense that he could feel them gnawing at his heart, that she would not budge. Not now. She used his amo against him, and his plan backfired. In an attempt to keep her there, he just got shot in the face and now, had no choice but to let her come along. He was a little apprehensive about it, but figured that she would probably follow him out the door even if he continued to refuse. So Trace grabbed Cassie by the hand and led her out the door.