Last Resort(3)

She slowly opened the bag and took a bite of the sandwich. It was good. So good, she quickly ate every crumb. When Lilly opened the bag of chips for her, she ate every last one of those. Then she heard a noise she hadn’t heard before and jumped.

“Would you like to try this?” Lilly held out the Coke can. Cassandra nodded and took the soda. She took a sip and her eyes slid closed. The bubbles ticked her nose and made her throat feel funny. She looked over at Lilly. Lilly had a smile on her face. “It’s good, huh?”

Lilly opened her own soda and drank from it. “Oh!” Lilly said, making Cassandra jump, spilling a little Coke on her clothes.

“I’m sorry.” She started frantically wiping the dark liquid off her dirty clothes.

“Honey, it’s okay. Don’t worry about it.” Lilly smiled at her. “I’m sorry for scaring you. I was just going to give you this.” She pulled out a package from the white bag. “They’re cupcakes.”

There were two circles in a clear package. Cassandra had never seen anything like it. They had white swirly lines across them. Reaching over, Cassandra took them from Lilly’s waiting hands.

“Thank you,” Cassandra said and sat them on her lap before taking another drink from her soda.

“Well, aren’t you going to eat them?” Lilly asked.

“They’re awful pretty,” Cassandra said.

Lilly laughed. “Yes, I suppose they are. Here, let me help you open the package.”

Lilly opened the bag and handed one circle to her. When Cassandra bit into it, the richness sank into every pore of her little body. She felt goose bumps rise on her arms and legs. The little hairs on her entire body stood straight up.

“What is this?” Cassandra asked, a smile on her face for the first time.

“Chocolate,” Lilly said, smiling back.

The rest of the car trip, Cassandra looked out the dark window and thought about chocolate. How could she get more? Where would she get more? Was it something everyone had?

Her little mind finally ran out of questions, and she rested her head against the car door again. She woke when the car stopped suddenly. This time, the sun was just rising.

“Here we are,” Lilly said in a cheerful voice. “Your new home.”

The place was huge. Cassandra looked out the front window and instantly was afraid. It had three stories and was cleaner than anything she’d ever imagined.

“There are four other kids around your age living here now, but others come and go. You’ll enjoy it here.” Lilly got out of the car after honking the horn several times. She walked around and opened Cassandra’s door, smiling the entire time.

Cassandra shrunk herself back into the car seat, holding the empty cupcake package tightly to her chest. She shook her head, no.

“I don’t wanna stay here.”

Lilly knelt down beside her. “It’s okay, honey. No one is going to hurt you here. I promise you.”

Shaking her head again, she watched as three boys her age came running out the front door. Their clothes were clean and they had new shoes on their feet. Two had dark hair, one with blue eyes and one with dark brown eyes. The last boy had blond hair like Lilly.

Cassandra didn’t know much about boys, but she knew they looked tough, and she didn’t want to deal with them. She shook her head from side to side, faster.

“Look, here comes Marissa. She’s your age and just arrived here last month.”

Cassandra looked over just in time to see a girl around her age walk out the front door. She had a small kitty in her hands and was wearing a white dress and sandals. Her blonde hair was pulled back in short braids.

Cassandra looked at Lilly. “I know they have some chocolate in there and if you don’t like it here, you can come home with me. Okay?”

Finally, Cassandra nodded and got out of the car, holding onto Lilly’s hand as they walked up the front steps under the watchful eye of the four kids and four adults.

Cassandra didn’t pay much attention to the kids since she knew the adults were the ones in charge. There were two women and an older man who looked frail. She knew she could outrun him if she had to. One of the women looked strong and capable; the other looked overweight and older. Cassandra knew that didn’t mean she couldn’t run fast since Kimberly had been pudgy and fast.

“Hi, everyone, this is Cassey.” Lilly looked down and winked at her. Cassandra liked the shorter name; she’d always thought her name was too long and too big for her.

“Hi, Cassey,” everyone said together.

“Cassey,” Lilly said, smiling down at her, “this is Mr. and Mrs. Grayton. They own this house. And these are their daughters, Julie and Karen. Julie teaches school and will be responsible for you.”