“Nightmares are not simply bad dreams

they are the mind’s way of processing difficult emotions.”

 

The weekend had finally come and gone; It was an eventful one to say the least. Colton and Lily’s engagement, Cassie and William’s first official date as a couple, running into Damon at a restaurant, the surprise wrestling event in which Cassie got to take part in, the proposal letter and ring from Damon, the exciting invitation to wrestle once again for the very same Tag Titles they held undefeated for years, upon their retirement, still remaining unbeaten, Damon kidnapping Sammy using Cassie as the form of ransom, to Summer posing as the bait, and lastly to the demise of her first love, the father of her murdered unborn child, at the hands of Hunter. 

 

Emotions ran wild that night.  A true definition of a cluster of fuckery in more ways than one.  Ending the chaotic night with the departure of her parents, it was only right to assume Cassie’s mental state would be a bit unstable, however, she managed to harness the beast within, and close out the events with somewhat of a peaceful sleep; Until….

The night’s summer heat wave had broken off into a slightly pleasant breeze; the welcoming climate change was just enough to satisfy the storm that had been brewing for a couple of hours.  The pleasant sound of rain tapping fiercely upon the tin roof of the cabin relaxed almost everyone’s mind for a peaceful slumber.  

 

Cassie tossed and turned most of the evening; her unrelaxed body made it quite difficult for William to sleep.  The defining sound of her pickup, driven by Hunter crashing into the podium, plummeting the rubble down upon Damon’s fallen body seemed to waken her with screams for what seemed like hours.  William tried his best to comfort and console her throughout the night, leaving him to an also long and restless evening.

It was nearly daybreak.  William found some peace in the comfort of the sofa, while Cassie finally rested alone in the bed.  Sammy was the first to wake; stepping out from the room, he notices William sleeping on the sofa.  He sits down on the floor in front of him as he begins to play with the action figures of his father and Aunt Cassie.  Remembering the events, he uses the figures, mimicking the match to the best of his ability.  Using William’s arm as leeway to the top of the stadium, he springboards his dad’s imagine down to the floor as it came crashing down upon an imaginary opponent using Cassie’s as the referee calling for the one, two, three. 

William’s eyes slowly opened from the excitement in Sammy’s play.  With a smile and pat to the head, he rises and greets him.  Colton is the next to wake, as he steps out from the room, looking over to William and Sammy.  “Look dad, you won your match against the pencil twins.”  Colton looked confused until he watched Sammy play.  He begins to laugh, shake his head and make his way into the kitchen to make a pot of coffee. 

 

William stands and joins him in the kitchen.  “Didn’t get much sleep, I guess.”  Colton looked at William as he walked up to the bar.  William shook his head, rubbing his eyes in the process.  “Man, that shit messed her up bad. I can’t imagine what she must be feeling.”  Colton raises an eyebrow shaking his head in return.  “I’m just glad it’s over.  The Bastard had everything he got coming to him.  My only regret is that I didn’t get in on the action with Pops.”  He turned, reaching for a couple of mugs and pours himself and William some coffee.  “I agree with you on that.”    

The two continue with small talk while Lily steps out of the room greeting Sammy with a hug and a kiss to the top of the head.  She walks into the kitchen with Sammy in her arms.  She is greeted with a kiss and a cup of coffee from Colton.  She places Sammy on the tall bar stool while searching the countertop for his favorite box of cereal.  “Cassie finally sleeping?”  She turned to William.  “Yea, I think the events were just a little too much for her.”  Lily turned to look at Colton. “She seemed to handle it though.  It was a lot, but she’s been through worse.”  Colton nods his head, takes a sip of coffee, looking over the rim of the cup to William, as he lowers his head remembering what Hunter had told him once before. 

 

Colton turns his vision back to Lily with a look of relief.  “Say, when sis wakes, I think it will be good to get out of here, now that things are handled.  It would do everyone good to get back home and have a normal routine again.”  Both Lily and William nod.  Lily begins to fix breakfast for Sammy, as she does, she takes a handful of the dry cereal, placing bites inside of Colton’s mouth playfully. 

 

“I will start packing things up.”  Lily steps away, walking into the next room.  “How’s she doing after last night?  I know that was scary with Sammy.”  Colton motions his head to William as they step away from Sammy.  “She is a tough one.  I think deep down she knew Damon would not risk hurting him, it was just a desperate attempt to get Cassie.  It doesn’t excuse him by any means, but even I knew he knew better.  Dad’s emotions just got the best of him.  I’m pretty sure all he was looking at was the pain he was causing to his family, and that is enough to drive any man crazy.”  William nods.  “I can see that.  I wanted to rip that shit eating grin off his face myself.”  Colton smiled.  “Easy killer.”  The two began to laugh.

Kita’s attention was drawn towards Cassie’s room.  His ears pointed up and his black fur perched high upon his neck and down towards the middle of his back.  A soft growl was heard as he walked closer to the door, teeth showing and all. 

He crouched down into a ponce-like stance, as though his instincts felt something was not right.  Colton and William kept a close eye on the bedroom door, when Cassie’s voice wailed out Damon’s name and echoed loudly throughout the cabin.  Kita jumps up, William and Colton take off to the room with Lily running close by. 

 

Cassie breaks out in a sweat as she sits upright in the bed, looking around in a panic state.  Kita jumps in and lays across her staring out the broken window.  From there William sits down, cradling her in his arms while looking over to Colton with a concerned look upon his face.  Lily steps in closer, she points and lets out a little scream to Colton. 

Kita perks up growling to the window as a green snake was slithering into the room from the open portion of the broken window. 

 

William and Colton bolted in that direction with Kita leaping down and grabbing the reptile in his mouth.  He begins to shake his head fiercely while the snake sways back and forth in his mouth. 

Cassie jumps from the bed and out of the room with Lily close by. The men begin to watch closely while Kita continues the attack until the snake is bitten in half. Kita drops the remaining portion from his mouth, flapping his tongue to the taste of the blood. 

 

William bends, picking up the remains as Colton rewards Kita with praise and a pat on the head.  “What kind of snake is it?”  Colton looks over to William as he picks up the pieces, tossing them out of the hole it slithered in from.  “A rough green.  Completely harmless.”  He laughed as both girls loudly spoke back.  “Harmless my ass.”  Colton shook his head and smiled.

 

As the excitement wore down, the four sat around the bar, snacking and conversating amongst themselves.  “I wonder if mom and dad made it to the farm yet.”  Cassie looked down upon the time on her phone. “It’s nearly a ten-hour drive Cass, with limited vision coming from the headlights, I’m sure pops stopped at a hotel for the night.  Besides, I don’t think your truck could handle the trip.”  Colton laughs as Cassie gives him a stern look. 

 

“You keep laughing, Dad did not have to hit him and leave him for dead, you know.”  She steps away when Lily begins to look at Colton as he shook his head smiling as she followed Cassie outside. 

William just stands watching as Cassie leaves the area.   Colton pats William on the shoulder, breaking his watchful eye.  “Don’t mind that.  She is not worried about Damon in the way you may be thinking.  She is just overwhelmed with everything that’s been going on.  Trust me, man.  You are all that girl cares about.  Come on, let’s get this stuff packed up and head home.  Things will get better once we get her back to the ranch.  I’ve called in a few favors and have had the place cleaned up.  Everything is set for her to come home too.”

 

While the guys were loading up the Hummer, the girls and Sammy were all getting changed and ready to make the four-hour drive back to San Antonio. Everything was now packed and loaded.  Colton and William give the cabin a once over before shutting the door.  Cassie, Lily and Sammy were all loaded up and ready to go.  William hoists Kita into the back of the third row, tossing a blanket down upon him.  Colton loads up into the driver’s seat as William slides into the back next to Cassie. “You guys ready to get the hell out of here?”  Colton looks at Cassie through the rearview mirror.  She nods and leans her head upon William’s shoulder.  Colton looks on with a smile.

 

The ride home was quiet, Colton released a long sigh of relief as the Kensington-Hurst Ranch sign had finally come into view.  He looks over to Lily who shares the same sigh of relief and then to the mirror where William and Cassie had fallen back to sleep.  Slowly Colton pulls into the long pathway, coming to a halt at the front entrance.   He shuts down the engine, leans back in the seat, lowering his hands to his side.  He glances over to Lily as they exit the car, quietly grabbing Sammy and making their way inside the house.  Colton begins to walk around, checking the place out. 

 

Everything seemed to be fine.  Sammy runs upstairs to Colton’s old room quietly playing with his father’s old toys.  Lily and Colton take a long stretch before falling back onto the oversized recliner with Lily on his lap.

“How long do you think we have?”  Lily nuzzles her nose into the base of Colton’s neck playfully.  He reaches around, grabbing her by the waist, pulling her tight into his chest.  He begins to passionately kiss her on the lips as the front door begins to open.  Mumbling under his breath.  “Apparently not long enough.”  The two break away as Cassie looks on while shaking her head.  “With all the rooms in this place, you let me cock block you downstairs.”  William walks in and gives Colton a look.  “Sorry, man.”  Lily sits up blushing as Colton rolls his eyes at Cassie.

 

Cassie begins to walk upstairs to her room with Lily following behind her.  William and Colton step outside to unload the bags, bringing everything inside. 

Colton gets a text on his phone from Hunter.  “Made it to the farm.  You need to pick up your sister’s new truck at the dealership by tomorrow. We are good. Take care boy.”   Colton swiped the message as they began to unload the bags.  “Pop already has sis a truck, we need to pick it up by tomorrow he says.  Care to tag along?”  William nods.  “Sure, I am just going to call and check in with my old man.  When Crashie comes down, let her know I’m on the porch.”  Colton nods as William steps outside.

 

Cassie was finally in her space.  The room upstairs had only been home to her for less than week since her birthday; a lot has happened in that short time.  She laid across the bed, staring up to the wooden rafter beams above her head.  Lily walks in and takes a seat on the edge beside her.

 

“It feels good, doesn’t it?”  She began to lean back beside her.  “Ya, it does.”  Cassie sighed, taking in a huge breath.  Lily turns to her side now, facing Cassie, she bends her arm, propping her head into the palm of her hand.  “How are you?”  Cassie turns looking to Lily confused. “What do you mean?” she asked.  Lily leans up just a little as both girls now sit with their legs crossed in the center of the bed.  “I mean, with everything, how are you doing?  Don’t make me have to spell it out for you Cas, you know what I’m talking about.”  Cassie unfolds her legs; she slides to the edge of the mattress and slowly stands to her feet.

 

  “You mean, how do I feel about my father brutally beating my ex-boyfriend and leaving him for dead, under a pile of rubble that he made by crashing my truck into a pavilion?”  She turned as she looked directly at Lily.  "How would you feel?” 

 

Lily frowns, and sighs.  She too slides off from the edge of the bed, standing to her feet and offers a hug, but is quickly rejected. 

 

“I am sorry for all the pain he has caused you and Colton with Sammy, and I also will never forgive him or justify what he did, Lily, but I loved him.” 

 

Cassie steps further away from Lily, walking over to her small nightstand on the opposite side of the bed.  She picks up the small picture frame with the image of her and William on a tire swing back when they were kids.  She turns to Lily holding it in her hands. 

 

“But I also love him!”  She presses the frame to her chest, crossing her arms over her chest, as to hold it for dear life.  “We were so young here.”  She slowly retracts the frame from her chest, staring at the photo.  “He was my first true love, before I knew what love was, Lily.  Damon was my true first everything, when I thought I knew what love was. How do I just forget about that?” 

 

Lily walks over to her, reaching for her arm.  “Cas, you don’t.  It is not designed for you to forget.  That is not how life works.”  She takes her hand and walks her to the other side of the bed to sit down. “I am not mom, Cassie, I’m sorry I don’t have the answer you need, but I think Colton might.  I think you should talk to him.”  Cassie lowers her head.  “But he hates Damon, he won’t understand.”  Lily leans down and whispers in her ear.  “But he loves you more.  I’m going to go down and get him to come up here, and I will leave you two alone, but if you need me, I will be just downstairs.” 

 

Lily makes her way down and sees Colton still sitting in the oversized chair.  She has somewhat of a saddened look upon her face as she takes a seat upon his lap once again.  "Babe, you need to have a talk with your sister." Colton gives her a confused look.  "What is she complaining about now? Why can't William go talk to her? He is her stray after all."  William looks over at Colton and gives him the middle finger.

 

Lily leans down and whispers in his ear.  "She needs her mother right now, not William.  You are the closest person to her here.  Trust me, you are the only one she needs right now."  She leans up, looking over to William with a half-smile, then she turns to Colton.  "Trust me."

 

Colton lets out a heavy sigh. He leans up and gives her a kiss. He stands up and walks past the sofa rubbing the top of William's head messing up his hair. He walks through the house, then up the stairs to Cassie's room. He gives a quick knock on the door and walks in. "Hey Cass, Lily said you needed to talk to me? What can I help you with baby sister?"

 

Cassie is still sitting on the bed holding the picture of her and William.  She looks up to him taking a deep breath.  "First of all, I want to apologize for Damon."  Colton gives her an evil glare.  But before he can speak Cassie finishes.  "I know I am not to blame, and I know there will never be an apology worthy enough for him, but I feel that I owe it to you and Lily.  It's hard for me to say this, to even bring his name up to you or anyone for that fact.  But I don't have anyone else I can go to.  please understand this before I go any further." 

 

Colton walks over and sits next to her. He reaches up and puts his arm around her resting it on her shoulder. "Sis, we both said some things that we didn't mean back there. Just know this, I don't blame you for anything. He lied to us all. I know it must be hard for you. You loved him and to find everything out like you did must be hard. Just know that you are my sister and I love you. So, whatever you need, just know I will do anything I can to help you." 

She smiles, taking a deep breath. “How do you do it?  How do you love two people at the same time?  I know things are way different between Damon and Sasha, but Colton, what Damon was to me, is what Sasha was to you.  You know, I am not justifying what he has done to us all, but I don't know how to just unlove him.”

 

Colton sighed as he looked her in the eyes. "Cass, there is no easy way. You know how I was after Sasha. I would not let myself feel anything for anyone. Even at the beginning with Lily, it was only supposed to be a one-night thing, but you know how that went. The only thing I can tell you is that over time, that love you have gets smaller. It never truly goes away. You must give yourself permission to love again. I will always love Sasha, but it is ok to love again. I love Lily more than anything in this world. She understood me when no one else did. Find your person and hold on. It will happen when you least expect it.”

 

Cassie looks up with a smile.  "I hope you're right, I do love William, somehow I've always known it was him.  But Damon was my first."  She looks, as Colton gives her the I don't need to hear this look.   "William will be my last.  and luckily for you, there will be no middleman."  She nudges him in the shoulder with hers as she lets out soft laughter.  "I can only hope we both have a love like Mom & Dad.  Look at what they went through to get where they are.  That's all I ever wanted."  she smiles.  "I know you do too."

 

Colton looks at Cassie and smiles. He stands up and heads to the door. "Me and William have somewhere to go today. We are going to take Sammy with us. Can you make sure Lily is not bored? I went ahead and set up a cake tasting for you two today. Can you please make sure she does not pick out anything crazy for a wedding cake? Thanks sis." Colton walks out of the room as Cassie stares out the window.

Cassie turns towards the door, and mumbles to herself.  "Cake tasting huh.."  She smiles.  "Guess we will go wine shopping too.  Girl’s Day is never boring!"  She thumbs through her bags, walks to the bathroom and gets ready to shower.

 

Just as Cassie gets in the shower. William walks into the room. He walks into the bathroom still wearing his t- shirt and shorts. He takes off his shirt and leans half way in the shower with Cassie. He leans over and kisses her shoulders. "Need help washing your hair?"

She turns around to face him with a sly smile on her face.  She begins to look him up and down, standing on her toes, she wraps her arms around his neck.  He takes his arms and slowly wraps them around her waist.  He tilts his head down about to give her a passionate kiss, when Colton yells for him, from the bedroom door.  William shakes his head as Cassie shrugs her shoulders.

William steps out of the shower and into the room. Colton starts to laugh. William gives him the middle finger as he grabs a towel. Colton yells at Cassie. "We're even now." He turns and starts out of the room as William punches him in the shoulder.

 

Cassie shakes her head and starts to laugh speaking once again to herself. "Touché' brother."  She continues, still smiling. 

William dries himself off, putting his shirt back on.  He takes one last peek through the bathroom door as Cassie swings open the curtain shaking her wet hair. 

"Stop torturing yourself, Billy."  She reaches for a towel, wrapping it around her and begins to step closer to him as he continues to just stand and stare. 

She smiles while reaching out to his shirt, pulling him in closer, and allows the towel to fall.  She stares into his eyes for a moment and turns around, bending over and picking up the towel. 

She steps forward, away from William as he takes a deep breath.  She turns her head to him and smiles. "Better not keep my brother waiting, Babe."  She winks and blows a seductive kiss in his direction.

William drops his head defeated and walks out of the room. He hears Cassie giggle. "Love you baby!" She grins and turns back to her bag and begins to get dressed. 

 

Lily is making her way upstairs as Cassie is lacing up her shoes.  “The guys just headed out for the day.  What do you feel like doing?” Lily says as she walks in the room.  “Colton has a cake tasting scheduled for us, and I thought after that, we would go to Charlie’s and hit him up for some free drinks.  You know, hit mom’s secret stash and find something tasteful for your reception.”  She smiled as she nudged Lily in the arm.  “Cake, you say, I’m all for having me some cake.”  She smiled in return. 

 

The girls began to walk out of the room.  Lily smiles big as she reaches the counter and notices Colton’s car keys.  “I wonder if he forgot he left his car here.”  She picks them up, shaking them in the air.  “Who cares, we are about to take that bad boy for a spin.”  Cassie laughed as they packed up and headed their way out of the front door.

Lily stands staring at the car nervously, “I’ve never driven anything that fast.”  Cassie breaks out in a huge smile while trying not to laugh.  Lily notices her reaction and immediately picks up on the joke.  She blushes as she tosses the keys over to Cassie.  “Like I said, I’ve never driven anything that fast, but I’m sure you have.”  She winks as Cassie’s eyes lit up.  “Okay, girl..I got you now!”  They both laugh as Cassie slides into the driver’s seat, starting the engine.

The sound of the revved-up engine began to purr underneath the accelerator; Cassie smiles while playfully bouncing in the driver’s seat.  “Oh, I could get used to this.”   Lily turns only to smile in her direction.  The girls speed off down the drive and make it to the interstate.   

 

Within minutes it seemed they’d reach the small bakery just 9 miles down the road.   Cassie parks the car, sets the alarm and both girls walk inside.  The young lady at the counter steps up to assist them.  “We have an appointment scheduled for some wedding cake tasting, under the name Hurst.”  The young lady scrolled through her tablet to find the reservation.  “I see it, for Lily Hurst, correct?”  Both girls look at each other with a smile.  “Yes, Ma’am.”  Lily looks at Cassie.  “I can get used to that.”  Cassie laughs. “You better, there is no refund once you say I do.”   “Right this way ladies.”  The girl escorts both Lily and Cassie to the back room. 

There are three tables set up with numerous flavors of cake bites.  Each with a small glass of milk to drown out the pallet after each one. 

“Ms. Summer already gave us a list of flavors to choose from, and then the traditional flavors.  She asked to have her samples saved for last.”  Cassie shakes her head.  “Always, leave it to mom to add in the expensive shit.”  Lily’s eyes grew wide. 

Both girls sat down and tried about six varieties of flavors.  Each girl writes down the flavor of their choice.  “Now for Ms. Summer’s list.”  The girl brings in a small round tray with five different flavors.  The young lady smiled as she placed the Almond slice in front of Lily. 

“This is our popular one, it’s a subtle almond extract mixed in with either a chocolate or vanilla base.”  Both girls take a bite with each flavor cake base.  Cassie marks the chocolate; Lily marks the white.

  “Next, we have an Almond Amaretto.  It’s much like the first but has more of a nutty and sweeter taste.  Mixed with dark chocolate, for a semi sweet taste, or with vanilla for that extra hint of sweetness.”  Both girls try each one.  Neither write anything down. 

 

The girl comes back with another sample.  “This one is our salted caramel.  It’s a richer, less sweet taste.  The balance of sweet and salty come together nicely with this one.”    Lily takes a bite and immediately writes down on her paper.  Cassie holds the napkin to her lips, shaking her head. 

“And finally, Ms. Summer’s favorite.  The Cardamom.  A subtle, more adult flavor.  She asked not to give you the flavors, but for you to try it.”  The girls look at each other, and back to the pieces of cake.  They take a sniff, as a floral, yet smokey cinnamon scent was escaping each piece.  They both take a bite, and their faces lit up in amazement.  “Oh, damn.  This is good.”  Cassie smiles.  “Yeah, it’s oddly tasteful.”  Lily replied. 

“What is this burning sensation I’m getting?”  Lily reaches for her glass of milk.  “That is the bourbon.”  Cassie smiles and nods her head.  “Of course it is!”  The young lady begins to smile as Lily begins to fan her tongue.  “I think I better just stick the basic flavors.”  Cassie laughs.  “You’re a Hurst now, you better learn how to drink.”  Lily looks at her with an unsure smile.

 

Both girls take their notes and step away from the table.  “Will you be making a decision today, Miss?”  Lily looks at Cassie.  “No, I think she’s going to need some more time.  Maybe bring her fiancé’ with her next time.” The young lady smiled and nodded her head.  She handed Lily her business card. “Just give me a call when you decide to do another tasting.”  Lily nods as they begin to walk out of the store. 

They begin to walk to Colton’s car as Lily notices a tanned piece of paper stuck under the driver’s wiper.  “Oh, God.  I hope that is not a ticket.”  Cassie walks over and lifts the wiper.  She looks at Lily and frowns.  “Have we been inside that bakery for over an hour?”  Lily shrugs.  “It’s a parking ticket.”  She looks around for a sign.  “One hour parking only.”  Cassie smirks, unlocks the door, slides inside and puts the paper over the visor above her head.  “We can deal with that later.  Now to Charlie’s”

 

The trip lasted all but twenty minutes from the bakery.  Cassie was pulling into the parking lot just off the highway to Charlie’s bar, A small rundown, hole at the end of the Earth the Hurst family called their second home.  Charlie’s had been a trademark place for Hunter ever since his days in the Navy. 

Many good and bad memories alike came out of this little shit hole.  Cassie slowly pulls in, parking right beside a black limo parked out front.  She looks around and spots Charlie’s old, rusted Chevy pickup parked to the rear of the building on the left-hand side.  She looks to Lily a bit confused.  “I wonder who the hell is here, nobody comes out to this place.  It must be Mom and Dad.” 

Cassie opens the door quickly with an excited look upon her face.  Lily steps out, closes the door and notices someone in the driver’s seat.  She turns to Cassie and points him out.  “Someone is still sitting in the driver’s seat.  I don’t think your mom and dad would make them stay out here if they were gonna be a while, Cassie.” 

 

Cassie turned around looking back at the car.  “Ya, you’re right.  Let’s check this guy out.”  She walks over to the driver’s side of the limo and taps on the tinted glass. 

The driver rolls the window down, looking coldly at her.  She stands quietly for just a moment, she knows she has seen this man before, but is unable to remember how or where from. 

“Can I help you?” she asked, as the driver gave her a smirk.  “No.”  He replied.  Cassie gives him a confused look and proceeds to ask once again.  “Wrong answer.”  Cassie returned the same sarcastic tone.  “Let’s try this again. Can I help you?”  The driver rolls the window up, leaving Cassie to stand looking a bit aggravated. 

The door begins to open as Cassie steps back and the driver steps out of the car.  He is about six foot tall, not well-built, but the gut on him screams fast food.

 

Cassie squints her eyes trying to remember where she has seen him.  The man reaches into his pocket and pulls out his phone.  He makes a quick call as Cassie still stands beside the car.  Lily has walked closer to the front entrance and the man begins to shout at her.  “The place is closed little lady; I suggest you and your little friend here get back into that fancy can opener and get the hell out of here.” 

Lily’s eyes grow wide, she is not much of a confrontational kind of gal, she begins to step away from the door, not wanting to cause problems.  Cassie smiles at the man, walking back up towards the driver’s door with her hands upon her hips.

The man begins to speak as he puts the phone to his mouth.  “Boss, we have a situation out here.  There are 2 young females trying to get inside.  One looks a little intimidating. 

Right, Gotcha, Boss.”  The driver flips his phone down and slides it into his pocket.  He begins to step closer to Cassie, as she remains firm, holding her position.  “Like I said, the place is closed.”  He begins to grin as he looks down on Cassie.   

With a slight curl of her lip, Cassie rolls her eyes and begins to walk past the driver.  As she does, he grabs her arm and begins to pull her back.  This triggers her memory as she recognizes him as the driver that took her to the warehouse the night of Dominic’s attack.  She quickly jerks her arm out of his grasp and immediately looks to Lily. She motions for her to go inside. 

 

Lily makes it in as Cassie would follow, seconds later.  They began to look around as the bar was empty.  Loud crashing sounds were heard coming from the back office of the bar.  Yelling and fowl language would soon follow.   

Cassie listens closely to the man’s voice.  She recognizes it as Dominic Mikaelson’s.  She stands frozen for several minutes as Lily looks on nervously. 

The voice of Dominic was becoming louder and angrier.  “You call that Hurst Bitch, and you get her to send you the papers signed by midnight, or you will not wake up to see another day Mr. Logan.” 

A loud crashing thud and the sound of glass breaking was heard as he soon emerged from the back room.  Lily looked over to Cassie as her eyes were widening and she remained frozen in her place.  Lily calls out to her to get her attention as a scuffed up well-dressed man stepped from the back room, now behind the counter just in front of Cassie. 

Lily screams, startling Cassie as a wicked smile comes across her face.  She turned to Lily, then turned back, looking at Dominic as he noticed Cassie standing in front of him.

  “Well, well, well..who do we have here.”  Dominic’s smile was evil, more cunning and conceited than Cassie’s.  He turns his head to Lily with a wink, and a lick of his lip.  This upsets Lily a bit, as she returns an evil eye and a middle finger back in his direction.

 

  “Cassie let’s go!”  Lily tries to gain her attention.  Dominic snaps his attention over to Cassie remembering who she is.  “Oh, it’s you little Hurst.”  He begins to step closer to her as Lily keeps trying to call out her name. 

A loud crash of bottles is heard once again coming from the back room as Cassie snaps her attention to Lily.  “Go check on the old man.” 

 

Lily shakes her head.  “Come on Cassie.”  She turns her head once again to Lily, now with a sterner tone and an angry face.  “Go check on the old man, now! Lily.  I have some business to attend to.”

 

Lily shakes her head as she gives Cassie a stern look and walks to the back room to find Charlie unconscious on the floor.

 “Cassie!!  I need some help!”  She bends down trying to wipe the blood from Charlie’s face and notices Cassie not coming to his aid.  “Hold on Charlie, I’m going to call for help.”  She pulls out her cell phone, quickly calling for Colton.  “Babe..” She is slightly overstimulated on the phone. “Where are you?  We need you at Charlie’s He has been attacked by some guy and it looks bad.”  She drops the phone before Colton can speak and continues to aid Charlie. She worked with him for several minutes, trying to get him stable.