"Get out." 

"B-but you promised we would stay t-.."

"Don't look at me, talk to me, or think about me. I want out of this relationship." 

***

Cassandra harboured a bitter memory. In the process of trying to forget, it would always come back ten times harsher to haunt her more. Whenever the scenes played out in her head again, it only got worse from there. Her scars - internal and external, would bleed again. As if it was only yesterday when the verbal and physical torture started. 

And she was still so young too. A sweet, beautiful and naive girl, dispossessed of the qualities that would make one dislike her. Cassandra was everything that most girls wanted to be. Ask Mrs Vilmont for proof. Don't think anyone could though. In a few days it would be her mother's death anniversary. 

Cassandra hated those words put together. 

Death anniversary? What was there to celebrate?

Commemorating a day, filled with such sorrow that Cassandra truly believed that the rest of her life would be filled with gloom. One of Cassandra's biggest fears superseded her reality. It was a pretty normal fear though: A fear of abandonment. People usually knew what that lead to. Broken relationships. Disturbing thought patterns. The feeling that Cassandra would never be worthy of love, which was the emotional battle underlying this fear of hers. 

It was a bit selfish though, wasn't it? Cassandra's mother passing and the main thing that popped in her mind was her fear of being left alone. As if her mother had a choice to revive herself. Then apologize for leaving Cassandra all alone like that. Pfft. As if. Anyways, she still had to move on and make her mother proud. So she continued living normally. But that fear - it was just getting too much to her head and she had to figure out a way to overcome it. Cassandra thought this was a no-brainer. Just fall in love with someone. That would solve all her problems - obviously!

That's how this story goes. And trust me, you're not going to like it. One bit. 

***

To this day, Cassandra regrets not realizing the red flags soon enough. It wasn't real love. Unbeknownst to her, he really was just one of her methods to see if she could overcome her fear of abandonment. Her mother was gone. No one to take care of her anymore. Connect the pieces of the puzzle. There was one particular point in their relationship where she -should- have taken it as her cue to leave. 

She remembers lightly tracing her finger tips on the grooves along her arm that one night. They were ruddied. It was the night when her boyfriend at the time did not allow her to sleep with him anymore, and could only come out of the basement when she needed to pee. The livid bruises were so bad that they didn't fade until months later since the incident. The welts along her legs too, were an awful bluish-grey colour. Not to mention her ribs could be so easily seen, and her cold flesh was sticky against the damp floor.

Cassandra could forget the bruises. But not the coldness. She couldn't forget it. Sitting on the grimy, wet floor and watching her bruises turn from blue to purple and finally to yellow. You'd think that would finally make her end the relationship. But remember - she has a fear of abandonment. In her eyes, her boyfriend was the caretaker. The provider. But no one could replace her mother. 

This was way different. 

The things he used to say to her was even worse. He pushed his misogynistic viewpoints on her, but still that did nothing to wake her up from her love-sick slumber. And as time went on, the marks along her body began to feel... somewhat pleasurable. Cassandra acted like they were supposed to be admired. Fossilized.

Eventually she grew older to enjoy the violence. There was now a vast gulf in her journey of independence. From being the girl everyone wanted to be, to being the girl that everyone looked down on. She turned sadistic AND masochistic. In the end, she escaped. But this time - her boyfriend was willing to go. Can you imagine? The guy starting off as the one to break all her bones, spit on her and call her every degrading adjective in the book, and he was the one wanting to leave her. 

Cassandra became too much. 

***

"You like the way I scream? Yeah, you like that?" 

A vicious giggle escaped Cassandra's vile mouth as her pale flesh rested against the rough surface of a thick tree. Her legs bound together by a rope as well as her arms, which were tied behind her around the trunk.

The rope cut into her skin, but the sensation pleased her nonetheless. She didn't have any means to escape, but she was afraid to end it all. She enjoyed this too much. The idea of tormenting her tormenter - showing him that her limits were far too high and nothing fazed her. This, to her - was simply torture at a mediocre level. 

Even with a gun at his side, and a few whips and chains in his other hand, it was her captor that had a confused look on his face. "What's the matter?" She was genuinely wondering why he looked so upset, like he had failed an important mission. But she just sat back happily even while being restrained, like the disturbed beauty she was. 

His uncomfortable silence was her favourite sound. 

***

The only happy ending here was that her ex boyfriend was able to leave. 

But that was the past. Cassandra wanted to bury it, and do what she was told to do in the first place. Don't think about him.

And plus, she now had a great family in Chicago. Even though she didn't have her mother by her side and could never find anyone to be like her, she still felt all the love that each of her fellow members had to give. Cassandra even treated @Nikolai almost like her dad. 

Things have changed now obviously since her last relationship. Not major changes, but just enough so she she's not as savage as before. In a final ploy to stop the madness, she promised to herself that she would never ever fall in love again.

She's much better on her own.