The wind lifts her hair, fair and golden and floating like Ophelia's in the water, blows so hard that Cassie could swear it lifts her, too
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A lot of shit's happened on that roof. I feel like a lot of it happened in another life, another part of me that I cut free months ago. All this baggage that isn't weighting me down so much anymore. Seeing the girl there is a strange kind of deja vu, dragging up memories of another person standing there, just like that, cheating death and cursing his whole fucking life... the life I thought we'd built together.
I blink against the sun, holding up a hand to shield my eyes, and in the glare, the fall of blond hair around her face looks like a glowing halo. She's a slip of a girl, pale and almost transparent, and from the look of it, fucked up outta her head.
"It's a pretty nasty fall, you know," I call up to her, thinking inevitably about Logan's broken leg, almost two years ago.
"Oh." Cassie opens her eyes and stares down the neat, hard lines of concrete wall to the boy below. His hair is loose and lovely like Sid's, but he isn't him. They never are, and Cassie's high enough that she can't remember whether or not she wants them to be.
"Sure," Cassie says easily. She follows him with her eyes for as long as she can, turning until he disappears and she's left alone at the edge. She starts a little when his head appears, beaming at him in genuine delight.
"Oh wow!" she says. "You've come back. That's so lovely."
"You are so tweaked out," I say with a laugh, pulling myself over the edge and moving over toward her with a crooked grin, still a little nervous at how goddamn close she is to the edge.
It's possible she's totally sober, maybe she's just fucking weird, I've got no way of knowing, but if her blown out pupils mean anything... "What did you take?"
"Oh, loads of things," says Cassie. She reaches down, trusting her napsack to be there. It is, and she lifts it into her arms, opening it wide enough for them both to peer inside. "I think, the red one. Yes. Would you like one?"
That's an impressive fucking pharmacy she's got there. Brow arching, I say, "Maybe later, okay?" I'm sure as hell not a stranger to that kind of shit, but it's been a while, and I've got this voice in my head that sounds scarily like Eostre... You're a parent now, you fool.
Taking her gently by the elbow, I urge her a little further away from the edge. "I'm Neil."
"Oh wow, Cassie," she says, letting him lead her. "I'm not sure I'm meant to be here." It's troubling - Cassie's done many foolish things in her time, but almost always on purpose. "I was running, and then poof." She looks around. "Here. It's very warm, isn't it?"
"I'm pretty sure none of us are really meant to be here," I admit with a cough of laughter, wondering if she'll even remember any explanation I give to her once she comes down off the red pill and whatever else she took.
"We're on an island. There are a whole bunch of us, we all ended up here, same as you did," I say, and after almost four years, I'm no better at making any sense out of this. "You wanna go inside?" I ask, tapping my foot on the roof of the building below us.
"I think," says Cassie, looking all around them. There's so much green, a different, more vibrant green than even can be found in England, and the sight distracts her for a moment. "I'd like some water, please. Are you quite sure this isn't..." She turns to him then, wondering just what he's coaxing her towards. She won't mind if it's bad, not really, but if the building beneath them is a hospital she'd like to know straight away.
"It's, uh... It's kinda like a dorm, I guess. Bedrooms, and a kitchen. A rec room with a TV," I say with a shrug, letting her go and waiting for her to decide whether or not she thinks I'm leading her off to be murdered and dumped in a ditch or whatever.
"Whole lotta people live here, but there are huts and houses out there, too," I say, pointing out toward the trees.
"And I can come and go as I please?" Cassie studies him for the lie, but there isn't any to be found. "Oh wow. And where do you live?" She plucks a stray hair away from his forehead, so like Sid's but not. "Lovely Neil."
"Nobody's really figured out how to leave. Whenever the island's done with you, you'll go back home the way you came, I guess. But yeah, here you can come and go whenever the fuck you want. Shit's pretty laid back."
A question like that makes me wonder where she came from, but I don't ask. Not yet.
"Couple miles down the path, that way," I say, pointing in the general direction, "It's uh... The house is sorta built around this huge tree. It's kinda crazy."
"Like Swiss Family Robinson," says Cassie happily. "On a proper deserted island." She looks around, already ready to get away from the roof, too flat and white and clinical for her liking. "But where will I live?"
"Anywhere you want. There's the compound dorms, empty huts out there, or you could get somebody to help you build your own," I say, leading her toward the ladder and then looking down.
"I think there's still an empty hut near my place," I add with shrug, "You think you can make it down the ladder?"
I blink against the sun, holding up a hand to shield my eyes, and in the glare, the fall of blond hair around her face looks like a glowing halo. She's a slip of a girl, pale and almost transparent, and from the look of it, fucked up outta her head.
"It's a pretty nasty fall, you know," I call up to her, thinking inevitably about Logan's broken leg, almost two years ago.
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"It wasn't so tall before," she says.
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Finally, I breathe out a sigh, moving to go around the building where the ladder is.
"Stay there, okay?"
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"Oh wow!" she says. "You've come back. That's so lovely."
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It's possible she's totally sober, maybe she's just fucking weird, I've got no way of knowing, but if her blown out pupils mean anything...
"What did you take?"
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Taking her gently by the elbow, I urge her a little further away from the edge. "I'm Neil."
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"We're on an island. There are a whole bunch of us, we all ended up here, same as you did," I say, and after almost four years, I'm no better at making any sense out of this. "You wanna go inside?" I ask, tapping my foot on the roof of the building below us.
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"What's down there?"
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"Whole lotta people live here, but there are huts and houses out there, too," I say, pointing out toward the trees.
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A question like that makes me wonder where she came from, but I don't ask. Not yet.
"Couple miles down the path, that way," I say, pointing in the general direction, "It's uh... The house is sorta built around this huge tree. It's kinda crazy."
Reply
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"I think there's still an empty hut near my place," I add with shrug, "You think you can make it down the ladder?"
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