Cassie was finally home. The day had been long, full of reports to write and tense discussions with narrow-minded researchers. Her shoulder bag was cutting into her shoulder. All she wanted was to sit down, take a hot shower, and sleep.
As soon as she stepped through the door, a familiar scent of lavender greeted her. Grace was in the kitchen, smiling and composed.
_"You're home," Grace said without turning around, focused on her herbal tea.
_"Mom… Did Ana come back, in the end?"Cassie asked, setting her bag down near the couch. "I'm sorry I couldn't handle her. I really tried."
Grace turned to her with a wide smile.
_"I'm sorry for the tone I used earlier, sweetheart. It wasn't fair. You did your best, I know that. And yes… Ana came back. I took care of her, you don't need to worry anymore."
Cassie sighed in relief and sat down on the stool by the counter. Grace placed a steaming cup in front of her.
_"Here. You looked exhausted, so I made you something to help you sleep. Linden tea…"
Cassie hesitated, but exhaustion hit her all at once. She brought the cup to her lips.
_"Thank you," she murmured.
She didn't notice Grace's insistent gaze, nor the tension in her features—just as she hadn't noticed that Grace had slipped something into her tea.
She took the cup and drank a sip. The liquid slid gently over her tongue, warming her insides. For a moment, she felt calm, but then a strange dizziness overtook her, making it impossible to keep her eyes open. Her heart began to race, but she didn't have the strength to stand, to escape. Her eyelids slowly closed, and she eventually fell from the stool.
Grace knelt beside her, gently stroking her hair.
_"It's not your fault, Cassie. And I'm sorry again for the way I spoke to you. It's just that… you know, I'm trying to do what I can for everyone, but sometimes, it's too much."
Grace's voice was filled with tenderness, almost like a silent promise that she would never let her daughter fall. Reassured by her words, Cassie let herself fully surrender to the fatigue.
She closed her eyes, feeling the darkness closing in around her.
_"You're going to be okay, Cassie. Just relax and leave it all behind. I'm here now, you don't need to wear that mask of a lone, strong wolf anymore. I'll take care of you."
Grace stood up slowly, watching her daughter sink into a deep sleep. A faint smile crossed her lips before she disappeared into the shadows of the house.
(The next day, 8 a.m.)
Cassie blinked. A white light pierced through her eyelids. Her head was heavy, her tongue dry, and cold sweat clung to her skin. She sat up slowly, panicking. She wasn't at home. Cold sweat formed on her forehead as she looked around, wide-eyed. She wasn't in her bed. Not even in her room.
A dim light filtered through wooden planks roughly nailed together. The smell of ashes, earth, and melted plastic hit her nose, forcing her to cover her mouth with a trembling hand. She was in a shed—an old barn, maybe. The air was thick. Oppressive.
Her legs buckled as she stood up with difficulty. Her head was spinning, and a strange metallic taste lingered on her tongue. Her heart was pounding in her chest, but there was no explanation for why she was there.
She stumbled toward a car parked nearby. Hers. The door was ajar. In the back seat, a blanket soaked in a dark liquid lay in a heap. On the passenger seat: an empty gas canister. In the trunk… burned, blackened clothes. Matches. A melted hairbrush. And on her hands, traces of ash.
Cassie froze.
She searched her memory. Nothing. Absolutely nothing after that cup of tea. A complete blackout.
Farther away, a burnt tarp was still emitting a faint smoke. And on the ground, beneath her feet, dark circular marks—as if someone had tried to burn objects... or bodies.
Cassie took a step back, her breath quickening.
_"No... no no no..."
Something had happened that night. Something unspeakable. And she had no memory of it.
She took out her phone. No signal. She moved closer to a cracked window and tried again. Nothing. A sharp beep told her the battery was nearly dead.
That's when she felt a strange heat rise along the back of her neck. Her power. Not now. Her anxiety spiked.
_"Control it... control it," she murmured, clenching her fists. "Not now..."
But her body refused to obey. A sudden surge burst from her right hand, hitting the wooden wall, which shattered instantly. A violent, invisible wave rippled through the air, knocking over an old barrel and crashing a shelf to the ground. The barn groaned under the invisible force. The old structure exploded in a deafening crash, sending pieces of wood and metal flying in all directions.
Cassie collapsed to her knees. She breathed heavily, her face soaked in tears, her hands covered in ash.
_What's happening to me?..."
And for a second, a shiver ran down her spine. As if something deep inside her had awakened.
Cassie dropped to her knees, her heart on the verge of bursting, her eyes filled with tears.
She hadn't just lost her memory.
She had lost control of her powers.
(At the Decker manor: 10 a.m.)
Mel hadn't been sleeping well for a week. The nightmares came every night: her mother, bathed in blood on that car, her gaze frozen in death. She always woke up sweating, breathless, hands trembling.
That day, Sky had suggested they go out for some air. Mel had refused. As always.
_"You can't keep locking yourself up in this house, Mel. Mom would have wanted us to live—not to let ourselves die slowly," said Sky, slamming the bedroom door shut.
Mel clenched her jaw. Her throat tightened. She went down to the living room, alone. She was about to grab a glass of water when a strange noise echoed upstairs. A muffled scream.
_"Sky?"
Mel's heart clenched. She dropped the glass, which shattered on the floor. She ran up the stairs. Everything blurred in her mind. Too much noise. Too much tension. Too much fear. She was already imagining her sister—dead, like her mother.
_"SKY!" she shouted as she opened the bedroom door.
But Sky wasn't there.
The mirror trembled slightly. A shadow passed in the reflection—or was it just an illusion?
Mel stepped back, her hand over her chest.
_"Stop... stop it..."
And suddenly, everything changed.
The air thickened. A deep humming filled her ears. The sounds stopped abruptly. The ticking clock downstairs fell silent. The birds outside were frozen in the sky.
Mel stood motionless, eyes wide open.
Then, footsteps behind her.
_"Mel?!" called Sky, appearing in the doorway, a worried expression on her face.
Mel jumped. Sky… wasn't frozen. She seemed fully aware of everything.
_"You… you hear me?" Mel asked, her hands trembling.
_"Yeah. Why are you screaming like that? Did you see something? You scared me," Sky replied, frowning.
Mel looked around her. Everything was still. No wind. No movement in the trees.
Everything... except Sky.
She had frozen the world. But not her sister.
— I… I don't know what just happened, stammered Mel, stepping back. I… screamed and then… everything stopped. But you… you weren't frozen…
Sky approached slowly.
— Mel, are you okay? You still haven't slept, huh?
Mel shook her head. She didn't understand anything.
— I think… I froze time.
A silence fell between them.
Sky widened her eyes.
— Wait, you're joking, right? Sky asked, furrowing her brows. Freezing time? Like in the movies?
Mel didn't respond. Her gaze darted from one object to another, each detail of the scene screaming unrealism. The curtains were frozen in the breath of wind that no longer blew. The neighbor's child's scooter, left in the middle of the sidewalk, was motionless, even the neighbor's dog that barked every morning was frozen in a strange pose through the window.
— I swear, Sky… It's like everything just stopped all of a sudden. I screamed… and bam. Nothing.
— And do you know how to "un-bam" it? Sky asked, trying to lighten the mood, even though her tone betrayed worry.
Mel shook her head, out of breath.
— No. I panicked, I screamed… I was scared. It just came out on its own. Now… I don't know how to undo this.
— Okay. Okay… breathe, we'll handle it. Let's go outside and see how far it goes.
They went downstairs together. Outside, everything seemed bathed in an almost unreal light. The sun wasn't moving anymore, suspended on the horizon. The wind wasn't blowing. Cars were stopped dead, pedestrians frozen in their gestures.
— It's not just the house, murmured Sky. It's the whole neighborhood…
They walked slowly along the sidewalk, passing an old woman frozen in the middle of a crosswalk, a bag of vegetables in hand. A car was stopped a few inches from her. The driver, frozen in a gesture of stress, his hand on the horn.
— This is creepy… said Sky, looking around her.
Mel turned to her.
— Why aren't you frozen?
Sky opened her mouth, then closed it.
— I don't know. Maybe because we're… connected? Sisters? Were you thinking of me when you screamed?
Mel thought about it.
— I think… I thought you were in danger. I panicked for you. Maybe that's why you're still moving.
— Well, panic for the city now, Sky said with a nervous smile.
But Mel couldn't laugh.
— I think I have a real power, Sky.
Sky stared at her for a long time.
— What if it's related to mom? To her death? To… something she knew about us but could never tell us?
Mel looked away.
— Maybe. But right now, the most important thing is to get everything and everyone moving again.
Mel turned around in the middle of the street, gripped by panic.
— I can't leave things like this! If it stays frozen, will they all… stay stuck? Die? I don't even know!
Sky placed a hand on her shoulder.
— Calm down. You froze time by screaming, okay? Maybe you just need to do the same thing… in reverse?
Mel nodded, though she didn't believe it much. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and thought about her mother. About the emptiness since her death. About this frozen world, which seemed too much like absence.
— Come back… she whispered. I want everything to go back to normal. Please.
Nothing.
She opened her eyes, but the silence still hung in the air.
Then, she raised her arms, gathered all that she felt—fear, doubt, anger—and screamed with all her might:
— UNFREEZE!
A shiver shook the air. An invisible gust passed between the houses. Then, slowly, a bird resumed its flight. A car horn sounded. The curtains started to move. The world took a breath.
Sky's eyes widened.
— You did it…
But Mel didn't smile. She was trembling. She had no idea how she had done it.
— I think I'm becoming a monster.
As Mel, frightened by her awakening power, barely caught her breath, elsewhere, another storm was about to strike.
While these discoveries and sisterly tensions were unfolding at the other end of the continent, Cassie had just been escorted to the police station.
Cassie blinked slowly under the blinding lights. Her head was still spinning, memories blurry, her heart pounding fast. She was sitting at the back of a police car. In front of her, two officers were speaking quietly into the radio.
— Are you sure she's been missing for over twenty-four hours? one of the officers asked into the radio.
A female voice replied:
— Yes. I'm her mother. She's never done this before. I got worried. Thank you for finding her.
Cassie furrowed her brow. Her mother? Missing? Why would Grace say that?
The car stopped abruptly. One of the officers opened the door.
— Miss Carter, you'll have to come with us. This isn't just a simple fainting. You were found at a crime scene. There's been… a murder.
Cassie felt all the air leave her lungs.
— A… what?
— We'll explain at the station. There are some details we need to clarify with you. Including the gasoline and matches used to burn those bodies found nearby… in your car. And the fact that you were alone at the scene.
The door slammed. The car started again.
And Cassie, helpless, stared at the window, her own blurry reflection showing an image she no longer recognized.
Quiz
(I suggest a little quiz to see what you think of the story's development...)
In your opinion:
Does Cassie have a connection with the other two girls? (Sky and Mel) What is it, according to you?
And why did Grace save her daughter Ana, the rebellious one, by putting everything on Cassie, the perfect, wise, and intelligent daughter?