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[Fiori]

Well... It wasn't a bed, but it was better than nothing.

((Cassie Chao continued from Dum Spiro Spiro))

In the end, Cassie and Madeleine didn't stick with June and Medea, opting to part ways after reaching the bottom of that mountain. As genuine as Medea appeared to be about her intentions, the mutual distrust between Cassie and June killed any hope of the two groups sticking together for longer than necessary.

The rest of the day was mostly uneventful, the two making slow progress through the empty streets of the mining town before finding themselves at a small neighborhood, at which point they were both so tired that when they picked a house to hold up in they slumped onto the living room sofas and fell asleep pretty much immediately.

Like many of their classmates, they were awoken by the screech of a microphone, Cassie groggily burying her head beneath a cushion to try and blot it all out. She didn't want to hear that man's voice again, didn't want to listen to his cruel jokes or hear about what happened to her classmates.

It was only after he'd finished listing them off that she noticed something off, sitting up with a raised brow. Did she hear him correctly? She didn't recognise every name that was brought up, killer and killed alike, but the one name she was expecting to turn up wasn't mentioned.

Did that mean Olive was alive?

Did that mean Connie lied to them?

But... Why?

She turned her head to Madeleine, who seemed just as confused as she was. She'd briefly ponder aloud if the ATs were lying to them, only to immediately dismiss that thought. Cassie wasn't sure herself what Connie had to gain from lying about Olive's death, unless she was simply mistaken. Or unless the two of them were up to something...

Well, ultimately it didn't matter. Whatever Connie was up to was none of her business, she could only hope she didn't have ill intent. One thing that did matter however was that they hadn't properly explored the house, not even bothering to check if there were any perfectly good beds they could have slept on.

After helping herself to some breakfast, Cassie slowly made her way upstairs to explore their shelter. Whilst it was a godsend compared to the shack they woke up near, it was still far from perfect compared to her parent's place. No central heating, or electricity, or working plumbing. But it did have a roof, and from the look of things two bedrooms as well. It wasn't perfect, but maybe... Just maybe, it was somewhere they could call home.

And yet, as she began to explore the second floor, she couldn't help but sense that there was something wrong.

The first bedroom she came across had a completely bare bed for starters. No covers, or pillows. Just a single mattress. At first she just assumed whoever used to live there took the bedding with them, until she reached the next bedroom to find that it's own coverings were left intact.

It was also at that point she finally noticed what was making her feel so uneasy: The smell. She had noticed it earlier when she first passed the staircase, unconsciously tugging her mask up over her face as the stench grew stronger and stronger, and even that barely blocked it out as she entered that bedroom. It was a smell that left an uncomfortable feeling in her stomach, one that reminded her of the time a possum passed away beneath the floorboards of her family's porch, left undiscovered for god knows how long.

Only this time, she doubted that this smell belonged to a possum, her chest tightening as she slowly made her way inside. For the first time in her life, she desperately hoped to come across the rotting carcass of some poor beast. Like a rat or some other lonely scavenger that had sought shelter in this house, only to pass away curled up in the corner.

As she peered inside of an open closet, her hopes were dashed in an instant.

Cassie stood there for a solid minute. Deathly silent, unable to take her eyes off the bloody heap in front of her.

Then, she turned around and slowly left, making her way downstairs in something of a daze. She would quietly grab her bag, make sure her things were all packed, then stumble towards the front door to make her way outside.

She didn't say a word as she left the house behind her.

((Cassie Chao continued in Little Things))