Sand and Snow

Cassidy nodded and moved back to her seat but looked out side at the garden outside , standing again she looked at them "I'd better patrol " she said and headed out side to walk around the perimiter finally finding a log she sat down and watch the world pass her by . She hated having hormones right now , picking up a rock she threw it as hard as she could to a tree . She lay down and looked at the sky over head .


Steven sat reading and thinking of what he had to do next , he'd aready noted the roof and fence needed fixing and so he noted to do those jobs when he returned home next , he saw Khaat deep in thought and watched her sighing as he kner to her he was moving fast for her liking but it was how he and Deliah wanted it to be.

Khaat didn't respond one way or the other to Steven. Her parents finished their tea and headed home, making Angus promise to take care of Brian and his knee.

Once they had gone, Brian found it was just far too painful to try to go upstairs. He opted to just stay where he was and sleep on the sofa. Khaat did understand. She simply said goodnight to everyone, and went upstairs alone. She got a book off the shelf, changed into her nightgown, and sat down on the sofa in her room. It didn't take her long to fall asleep there. When sleep began to hammer at her brain, she began to realize how very tired she really was. With a little luck the kids would sleep through the night tonight.

Cassidy moved from the log and continused the patrol around the perimiter she saw Angus as she walked in and passed him by s she moved to the kitchen and sat down with a fresh drink she felt she just wanted to be alone right now the day and night had been so filled with emotion that she wanted to clear her mind she ahd tried to be freinds with Angus but she could see it clearly on Khaats face she thought she was flitrting with him and she felt like that was all she could see and not the fact she was trying to make a freind.

Angus saw Brian had finally fallen asleep. He simply removed Brian's shoes and covered him with a blanket and left him on the sofa, continuing to ice Brian's knee. He changed the ice packs to fresh ones and let him rest.

Everyone was on edge about something, and Angus wasn't sure he understood why. It bugged him. He was hoping that morning brought a change. He found Cassidy in the kitchen. "I need for uou and Steven to go to bed. I'll be up tonight to take care of Brian anyway, and Michael will be here tomorrow to take over the kitchen. I'll need you two fresh to help out for the party. I'll keep watch tonight. You and Steven need to go to bed. I will need someone to relieve me for a few hours in the morning."

He went into the living room and said to Steven. "I need you and Cassidy to head upstairs to bed. I told Cassidy I need to be up tonight to take care of Brian's knee anyway. And Michael Tremaine will be here in the morning to push me out of the kitchen. SO I can rest then, but I will need the two of you to relieve me at some point tomorrow during the daytime. I do know you need to go out for awhile in the morning, but I think I can handle it. You don't mind not taking the night shift tonight, do you?"

Cassidy looked up at him as he spoke she stood up "sorry Angus but Im not tired " she said and moved into the living room with her coffee and sat down quiet in a large chair in a corner as she watched him ask Steven to go to bed steven nodded and headed up the stairs to bed she just sat in the chair for amoment then walked around making sure all the doors were locked and secure then she went to the gym and worked out on the punch bag hitting it as hard as she could taking out all her frustration on it .

"why...do..people...all...ways get....the ....wrong impresion" she said to her self and hit the bag hard as she could and kept going.

OOC: wait. i'm confused. cassidy's getting all bent out of shape because of what she THINKS khaat is thinking? khaat never said a word to her about angus.

Khaat was disturbed by the massive negative energy in the house. She couldn't rest. She kept waking up on and off during the night. She got up, put on a pair of black cordoroy pants, a heavy black sweater, her black boots and her heavy black coat. She took her wand and, without a word to anyone else, she apparated out. Everyone else believed she was in her room asleep.

She wanted to slip off alone to her secret safe place. She sat down crosslegged in the snow in the darkness. She felt very alone. Nobody understood, and they made it all about them. It wasn't about them. It was about her. It was about things she just didn't tolerate anymore like she used to. She huddled in the dark against the hard cold grey stone. Marble always got so much colder than regular stone.

She decided she had to stick around at least long enough for her mother's birthday party. Once that was done, she decided she was giving Brian sole custody of her children and she was leaving. For good. She was done. She was done with all of it. And they were all better without her anyway. She began to formulate a plan in her mind. She wanted one that would work this time. There were a few matters to contend with. Deciding where to go, for example, not forcing Brian to neglect himself, making sure the babies were well provided for, making sure that she had enough money to get by on, and a hundred other things. She began to design a spell to try to erase her magical signature--to disappear. Muggles could disappear. For a wizard to disappear, well, that was another matter whatsoever. It meant erasing all traces of one's magic in order for someone skilled to be unable to follow the traces of magic that were left behind. And then there was that whole business about her bond with her father, her bond with Rob, her mother's seer's powers, all of it. She had to circumvent it all in order to leave them.

Cassidy hit it over and over for about half an hour till she could do no more . Stopping she sat down on the bench and wiped the sweat from her brow . Moving up to the kitchen she found several candels and quickly moved back to the gym setting them down she lit them one by one and sat cross legged in front of them her hands palms up as she meditated, as she had not done for several months since joining the orginisation. Her breathing steady and rythmic as she drifted into a relaxed state hoping it would stragtened out her mind from all the negativity around.

Khaat's grief overwhelmed her. She could only see what she had lost and was about to lose forever. She wept--sobbed for hours until she was sick, laying in a weak heap in the snow. She finally felt into a very light sleep out of her own exhaustion.

Angus had been up all night tending to Brian. Brian now woke naturally at the stroke of 5 am. He had been doing it naturally for too many years to not wake at that time. The swelling was down considerably in his knee, and it didn't hurt nearly as badly as it had before. He knew that Angus was still outside. He took the soggy ice pack off his leg and put it on the floor. He saw Angus had brought the crutches closer so that he would have them if he needed them. He picked them up and made his way upstairs.

Going into the nursery, he saw the girls were still sleeping peacefully. That made him smile. He wanted to remember what they looked like at this age, what they smelled like, everything about them. He never wanted to forget these two wonderful little lives that had been such a huge part of turning his life around. He was so different than who he had been. And he was happy.

He didn't want to wake her, but he really just wanted to check on her He opened the bedroom door very, very quietly. To his horror the bed was empty. He dropped the crutches and did his best to run to the bed. He laid his hand on her side of the bed and found it was cold. She had been here but not for some time. He looked in the bathroom and found it was empty. Both her wands were gone. He checked her closet. She wasn't there either. He began looking for some idea of what she might have on. She had a lot of clothes. It was almost impossible to tell. And then he noticed. Her black suede boots were gone from their place beside her favorite tan ones. That meant she had some sort of black pants on. She was particular about that. He began looking farther. Her long, heavy black suede coat that almost brushed the ground. He didn't know what top she had on, but he figured he had enough. He limped over to his closet and looked for fresh clothes and a warm winter coat and gloves.

He shouted for Angus.

Cassidy's eyes poped open and she bolted up the stairs two at a time to Khaat and Brians room instantly she saw the bed was empty and thumped the door frame "god damn it Khaat don't be so stupid " she siad diving to Brian with the crutches again and helping him up back on to them "let me guess st art searching places she could have gone, since it could not have been an attack she left of her own accord " she said looking at him as she sat him on the bed waiting for Angus as she checked his knee quickly .


Steven sat bolt upright in bed then quickly dresing dobe to the door " Khaat?" he said blerry eyeed and half a sleep .

"She wouldn't have done that...unless...what happened last night after I went to sleep?" Brian demanded. "When I went to sleep, things were fine. What happened? Did you guys have an arguement? Anything negative? Remember, she's a seer. What the hell happened after I went to sleep? She's been gone for hours. Her bed is cold. Think. Tell me now--whatever it was. If I know what happened, I'll know where she went."

"Nobody argued, Brian," Angus said. "Not that I remember of. I asked Steven and Cassidy to go to bed so I could be awake to ice your knee."

"And?"

"Cassidy said she wasn't sleepy," Angus said. "That's all."

"Cassidy? Steven? Did you have words with her? Or were either of you upset about something? I don't care what it was. Just tell me the truth."