Post by Casey Winslow on May 24, 2012 12:46:46 GMT -8
18th December 2011
10:00 p.m.
Today had been hard. He had returned to the safe house to a response saying the morning wouldn't work and designating 10:00 in the evening being better, but he had set it aside on his desk. It hadn't important right then. What had been was the fact Seren was being tortured and possibly and there was absolutely nothing he could do to stop it. In fact, one could argue, it was his own damn fault. If he'd never set the Syndicate man on the trail, if he'd never asked him to kidnap the Williams girls to force Williams' hand. If, if, if...! Then, Seren would have never had to endure whatever she would endure in what he was certain was her last few minutes of life. Williams would find out what he needed to know, and she would be dead. As far as he knew, Evie was Williams' only failure, his only loose end, and the man wasn't keen on another one.
But how had Williams found out about Seren? How? It made no sense. Unless... Had he intercepted her owl? He had to have to have stood any chance at beating him to the castle, right? Though, arguably, he had taken a long time to actually figure out how to get inside. The thing that bugged him more was that he had managed so quickly to get into the Room of Requirement. It was the only place he could have gone that he could have completely disappeared. A common room wouldn't have made sense for what he surely had in mind or else he would have remained in the professors' common room with her, and Casey would have never been any wiser for it.
He had tossed and turned for a couple hours after that before going to his desk and scribbling a note to Seren. Chances were, she would never get the letter, but he was trying to calm his mind. After a few drafts, he was satisfied (or as satisfied as he could be a the moment) and set the letter down before pulling on the clothes he'd worn earlier. Once dressed, he took the letter down to the owlery and sent it off.
Sleep still hadn't come after that, and all of today had been a blur. He had a few mumbled conversations with Lucy and his son's girlfriend, but beyond that, he couldn't remember whom he had spoken with or what he had done. Eat, he supposed, though nothing was memorable enough for him to actually remember eating. Walk, he also surmised, as he was now in the common area of the Corporum Building, his eyes looking toward the area where Lucy was playing with her daughter, Isabella, but not seeing.
How was Seren? Was she alive? If she was alive, did she now wish she was dead? What if she tied up the "loose end" herself? Those scars on her wrists... Casey shuddered, unable to help himself. "Casey?" He barely registered his name, but he looked over as Lucy sat down on the couch beside him. "You ok? You seem distracted..."
"Huh? Oh...yeah... I'm fine," he managed.
"What's going on, Case? Talk to me."
"Everything's gone so wrong...."
Lucy stared at him a moment in confusion. "What do you mean?"
"First, Julian. Now, Seren.... Always, Evie.... Lydia... Kara... Everyone I come in contact with... Everyone I open myself to is hurt."
Lucy looked concerned, though further confusion was held in her expression: pursed lips, furrowed brows. "I don't know who Seren is, Casey. But chances are, you can't blame yourself for her either. Evie chose the same lifestyle you did, and we all saw how you still did everything to protect her from it, and, as you had kids, them, too. You couldn't have guessed how obsessive the bastard would be, couldn't have guessed he would stoop so low as to kill your daughter, steal your wife, leave Kara without a memory. But Kara knew the risks when she went that day, too." She sighed, shaking her head. "Look, I know I'm not the best at explaining things or making points, but the truth is: you aren't to blame, not for Julian's kidnapping, not for Evie's memory, not for Lydia's death, not for Kara's memory or captivity, and not for this Seren, whoever she is. I mean, don't flatter yourself, Case." She playfully backhanded his upper arm. "You're not that important."
Casey forced a smile and sighed, looking over at the timepiece on the mantle of the large fireplace. "Thanks, Luce. I just...I have to go. I have a meeting with someone."
Lucy nodded, touching his upper arm to get his attention and stop him from standing and jetting. "Case, be careful. I don't like this group you're dealing with. They're more than a little shady."
"I'll be fine, Luce." Lucy didn't look convinced, but he was allowed to go, and he quickly left the premises of the safe house, disapparating as soon as he was outside the maze. Moments later, he was near a cliff, a steep one with waves crashing up against it. He took a few large, hurried steps back and rose his wand to look around for any sign of the Syndicate leader and the two girls.