Centre of the Storm

Chapter Twenty: Revenge

A/N: heyyy guys, hope you all enjoyed the cliffhanger in the last chapter! This chapter is going to be from Cashlin's POV, which I'm very exited about writing. After this, it's most likely only going to be Damira's POV for the rest of the book. This is going to take place at the time Alyssa's body was found. Also, we're nearing the end of the book!

Cashlin wondered if she should go downstairs for lunch. She was hungry, after all. But she didn't know if it was worth it. Every time she left her room she was greeted with whispers and stares. You'd think she would be numb to it by now, but it was hard to get used to. But not as hard to get used as the fact that her last family member was gone.

She had pretty much given up hope that she would see Alyssa again. Cashlin liked to think that she had met some travelling circus or something, like the ones their parents had taken them to when they were little, and had gone with them. It made sense. She was such a free spirit, with a love for performance art.

The only flaw in that idea was that she hadn't taken her sister with her.

Many people said she had been kidnapped or murdered. Or both. But Cashlin didn't like to think of that. And she couldn't really imagine Alyssa as being dead. She had so much light inside her, so much life. She just couldn't imagine it

Cashlin tugged at the sleeves of her hoodie, barely realizing shenwas doing it. That happened a lot. She would start picking at her sleeves, or tugging at the strings, or tapping her fingers or something like that, and it would take a few minutes before she even noticed it. She was lost in her head.

She sighed and leaned back in her chair, looking out the window of her room. Light rain hit the window in a steady pitter-patter. It was calming, in a way. She heard a knock on her door, and ignored it. She really didn't want to deal with Maggie.

"Cashlin?" A voice said, not Maggie. "I know you're in there. Can I come in?"

She recognized the voice to be Thomas's. Why was he here? It must be for something serious.

"Just a sec!" she called. She stood up and grabbed her comb, brushing her hair away from her face. Then she poured some makeup remover on a tissue and rubbed her eyelids with it, washing away the remains of three day old eyeliner.

"Come in," she said, and he opened the door and stepped inside her room. "What's up?" Cashlin asked, hopping up on the windowsill.

Thomas sighed, looking worried. She felt my stomach flip over and I swallowed hard. She could tell something had happened.

"Alyssa has been found," Thomas told her.

For a few seconds, Cashlin didn't feel anything, as she processed the information. Then she felt relief and joy start to rise in her. She felt a smile slowly form on her face, until she saw Thomas's expression. He didn't look happy at all. Cashlin felt dread replace the relief.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

He looked at her with pity. "I mean they found her body."

She just stared at him. She couldn't understand what I had heard. He was lying, he had to be. Alyssa couldn't be dead. She was only fifteen. Or she had been, when she disappeared. Their birthday had been soon after. DDid that mean only one of them had had their birthday? Alyssa was supposed to be alive. They had promised each other they would die together, after all.

"What?" she whispered.

 "I'm so sorry Cashlin," he said quietly.

"I don't understand? How- how can she be-" Her voice shook dangerously and I couldn't finish. It had to be Tristan. Even though the police had cleared him, everyone was sure he'd had something to do with it. Had he hurt her, raped her? Had he hid her somewhere?