Cassandra

Decided to have some fun with this one. In this story will be found the titles of 28 songs by the group ABBA. See how many you can find. Good Luck!

Saturday September 13, 1986 10:17PM The day before you came.

After a long, hot shower and some food, and probably more beer than I'd like to admit, I crashed into bed. I'd spent the day helping a friend move into his new apartment, he didn't even feed me...typical! "You owe me one." I'd told him, yeah, that'll never happen. I flip on my stereo, clamping my head into a set of VERY expensive headphones and try to drown my loneliness and disappointment. I let the music speak, hoping to soothe my aching soul, even if only briefly. "She has to be out there somewhere." I thought to myself. "I can almost see her in my mind. Why can't I find her?" As usual, I fall asleep, alone, tears staining my cheeks.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not a bad guy. 28, reasonably attractive (so I've been told), good job, nice apartment, tons of friends. That's the problem, friends. Quite a few of them are female, attractive and available and I've asked them out, but I'm just good ol' Wil, their friend. Need a ride to work, call Wil. Moving, call Wil. Need something done that's really unpleasant and you don't want to do it, call Wil. You get the picture. I'm more of an appliance than a person. Sometimes I feel like the only reason I have any friends is because I never say no. They're not even aware of how I feel, I just smile and suck it up. I've kicked myself for years, vowing that this is the last time, but I cave whenever anyone asks. God, I hate myself sometimes.

I drag my ass out of bed around 9AM, make an attempt at breakfast and prepare myself for another stimulating day of doing absolutely nothing. Well, maybe not nothing, but whatever it is, there's a 100% chance I'll be doing it alone, unless one of my 'friends' needs something.

As the weather is still decent, I break out my bike and take a ride in a local park. I like the outdoors, and it does brighten my mood.

Just as the bike trail crosses a walking trail, a body appears ahead of me. There is no way I can avoid hitting them, so I swerve hard right and hope for the best. I clip the person, knocking them down and I crash in a heap, landing with a loud thud, the breath knocked out of me.

"Are you OK?" A nervous voice asks. "I'm so sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going."

"Yeah, I think so." I groan, mentally taking inventory.

As I sit on the ground, recovering, I notice the cause of the collision, a young woman. She's 5'5" or so, curvy, but not in a bad way. No doubt about it, she's cute, brilliant hazel/green eyes, but the most interesting thing is the look on her face. "Are YOU OK?" I ask, puzzled.

"I-I've never seen...It's you...I found...OH!" She sputters, blushing, then stands and runs back into the walking trail.

"Hey, wait!" I call after her, but she's gone before I can collect myself. "Well shit!" I mutter. She seemed to be uninjured, but I would have liked to make sure.

I finish my ride, then return home. After showering off the dust and grass stains from my little tumble, I decide to have dinner at my favorite Mexican place, Casa Fernando. I still can't shake the image of the woman I ran into and how she reacted. She was strange, but I feel like there's something more going on. Guess it's not worth losing sleep over, I'll probably never see her again anyway.

I'm a regular at the Mexican place, so everybody knows me. "Hey Wil." Gina, my favorite waitress says. "The usual?"

I nod, smiling. I like Gina, she reminds me of my favorite aunt.

My food appears shortly thereafter, and I dig in. As I'm chewing on an unusually large mouthful, someone slides into the booth next to me.

"Hello again." A familiar voice says. "Sorry I took off in such a hurry."

Swallowing hard to clear my mouth, I turn my head and see the girl I ran into earlier. "It's you..."

She grins. "That's the job I'm best qualified for."

I chuckle. "I didn't even get to ask if you were OK."

"Actually, you did." She giggled. "I ran away before I answered you. As good as new."

"I remember now." I admitted. "What was that all about?"

She frowned. "I'll tell you, but it'll freak you out. It freaks everybody out."

"I'm pretty hard to rattle." I said.

I saw her eyes twinkle and she smiled. "I saw your aura."

"Aura?" I questioned. "What...?"

"It's your inner light, if you will." She explained. "And yours is the brightest I've ever seen, it kinda shocked me."

"So what does this 'aura' mean?" I inquired, curiously.

"It means people will be drawn to you, you're a pure soul, kind and loving." She said. "But on the down side, people tend to take advantage of you because you can't say no."

I sat dumbfounded. How could she know?

"And in case that's not enough, I know things about you, little things." She frowned again. "Things I shouldn't, and I don't know why, but I do."

"Like?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. At this point I wasn't sure if she was serious or crazy, or maybe seriously crazy.

"Your name is...Wil...Will something, maybe William, I'm not completely sure." She nearly whispered. "And you are desperately lonely despite being surrounded by friends."

I wasn't sure whether to be impressed or scared. My name, well she could have asked anyone here, they all know me, but the lonely part. Maybe I'm just easy to read. My momma said she always knew how I felt just by looking at me. Lucky guess?

"I see you don't believe me." She sighed. "How would you feel if I told you you already know my name?"

"Skeptical." I replied.

She started singing softly.

Down in the street, they're all singing and shouting

Staying alive though the city is dead

Hiding their shame behind hollow laughter

While you are crying alone on your bed.

"I have no idea what the song is or who sang it." She explained. "I just hear it in my head. Tell me what it is."

My mouth fell open. I knew the song she was singing. It was obscure. I'd never heard it on the radio, but I own the album that it's on and listen to it frequently, as well as every other album done by the group. ABBA.

"'Cassandra'." I answered. "Is that your name?"

She nodded. Just for added proof, she held up her drivers license. Cassandra Phillips. A cold chill ran up my spine and I shivered.

"Freaked out yet?" She sighed. "Most people run by now."

"I'm getting there." I answered honestly. "How...?"

"All the women in my family can do this to some degree or another." She admitted. "It's just something we do, we generally don't talk about it, but when I saw your aura, I thought maybe, just maybe, I'd found someone I could talk to. This is an awful burden sometimes. Being able to share who I am with someone..." She started crying softly.

*****************************************

In another time, people like Cassandra Phillips were feared, even reviled by other, less capable humans. Eons ago, this ability, coded in their DNA was a useful survival mechanism. Over the millennia, as humans learned to communicate by other methods, the ability became a liability. Those without it were frightened and seeking to alleviate that fear, persecuted the gifted. If they were lucky, they were exiled, forced to live on the edges of society. The unlucky ones were captured and usually killed. Remember the Salem witch trials? Now, in a new millennium, they were no longer in fear of their lives. They were generally seen as 'crazy but harmless' and left to their own devices.

*****************************************

While I'd never encountered someone like Cassandra before and honestly, she scared the shit out of me. I believed her. She had no reason to lie to me and even if she did, why choose something so outrageous and improbable?

I put my arm around her, hugging her carefully as she regained her composure. "I don't know what to think right now, but I'm not going anywhere." I reassured.

"Really?" She smiled weakly.

I nodded. "I have to ask, how did your Dad take the news when your Mom told him, I assume she told him?"

"She did." Cassandra frowned again. "I've never met him, Mom won't even tell me his name. He ran."

"I'm so sorry." I said. "I didn't mean to..."

"It's OK." She assured. "Can't really miss what you never had."

"Look, I don't have your...whatever you want to call it." I chided. "But even I know that's bullshit."

"Busted." She blushed, burying her face in my chest. "It hurts, but it's beyond my control."

"Still a dick move if you ask me." I growled.

Just then, Gina appeared. "Wil, does your friend want to order anything?"

Cassandra nodded and placed an order. We sat and ate as I stared into her eyes.

"What?" She grinned.

"You have the most beautiful eyes I've ever seen, Angeleyes." I observed. "I find myself getting a bit lost in them."

She blushed. "Mom always told me the eyes would tell you everything you needed to know about someone, if you knew how to read them. What do you see in mine?"

I studied her for a bit before I spoke. Not because I couldn't see anything, but because I could and I wanted to make sure I understood what I saw. "Sorrow, hope, humor, longing, some anger, but not much, but what I see most is love, not giving, but wanting, yearning for unconditional love and the fear you will never find it."

Her face went blank and tears welled in her eyes. She had to look away. "You're better than you know. She said you'd be able to read me like a book."

"Who?" I asked.

"Mom." Cassandra admitted. "She told me one day I'd meet a guy that shined like a beacon. That I'd be drawn to him. That he'd be able to do exactly what you are doing right now. And..."

"And?" I prodded.

"Are you sure you want to hear this part?" She asked, uncertainly.

"You mean the part where she told you that you'd marry him?" I answered, even though I don't really know how I knew it. "Still not running."

"Why?" She asked.

"I don't know." I said. "This is all very strange, and to be honest, a lot unnerving, but there is something in the background, a peace, an acceptance. Almost like it was supposed to happen. I mean, you told me your Mom foresaw it, but I feel like I did too, even if I never knew it until this very moment."

Cassandra smiled, visibly relaxing as she realized I believed her. For the first time in her life, someone believed her.

We finished eating and I paid the bill. She attempted to protest, but I managed to win the argument. Walking out into the cool night air, we paused, uncertain what to do.

"Can we go somewhere and talk?" I asked. "I'd really like to get to know you better."

"I'd like that." She smiled. "But could we go somewhere private. Being around too many people is uncomfortable for me. I can't turn this off. It can be a bit overwhelming."

"My place is close." I offered. "If you trust me this quickly?"

"I do." She giggled, looking up and kissing me softly. "Hope you don't mind, I kinda needed that."

Do men swoon? If so I did, If not, I did the male equivalent. This little minx was already taking over my thoughts. All I wanted was to be with her, to see her, to touch her.

"Where is your car?" I asked. "You can follow me."

"I'm gonna freak you out again." She sighed. "I don't have one."

"How did you get here?" I inquired.

"Can I tell you once we get there?" She frowned. "It's complicated."

"Sure." I said.

We drove in relative silence, making it to my place in 10 minutes or so. I opened the door and ushered her in. "Can I get you something?"

"A beer would be nice." She smiled. "It helps quiet my mind."

I handed her a beer, cracked one for myself, then sat on the couch next to her. She snuggled into my side, then looked up at me.

"Ready?" She asked.

I nodded.

"A few days ago, I have a dream." She started. "I dream of a light, bright, warm. It was calling me. I had to find it. Somehow, I knew where it was, I just had to get there. Easier said than done. I actually live with my Mom in a town about 6 hours away. Yesterday, I hopped a bus and came here looking for the light. This morning a city bus took me to the park. It was where I had to go, so I could find the source of the light. I wasn't paying attention and stepped onto the bike trail. I was stunned by the impact, so I didn't see you at first. When I saw you, I knew I'd found the light, but it startled me. After I ran off, I kicked myself because I'd lost you. It took me so long, several hours, to quiet my mind and allow the light to find me again, then I called a taxi and followed it to the restaurant, where I found you. Now that I'm here, the pull has stopped. Every fiber of my being tells me this is exactly where I'm supposed to be. Honestly, I'm scared shitless. I'm just a girl, nothing like this has ever happened to me before. I've seen things about nearly everyone I've ever met, but I've never been driven like this. I feel so out of control. I..."

"You're babbling beautiful." I chided. "That was a HUGH leap of faith on your part. I understand that you're scared. I know I should be scared as well, but I'm not. I don't know why, but somehow, I know it's all going to work out, whatever it is and all we need to do is let it happen."

We sat and talked for hours, learning about each other. Finally, about 4AM, too tired to continue we stopped.

"Where do I need to take you?" I asked. "It's WAY past my bedtime."

Cassandra frowned and looked at her feet. "Can I stay here? I don't have anywhere else to go, I didn't book a room, stupid me."

"You can have my bed." I chuckled. "I'll take the couch."

Cassandra grabbed my hand and towed me to my bedroom. "Not likely buster." She grinned. "I didn't come all this way to sleep alone. Move it."

I loaned her one of my longer tee shirts and she retreated to the bathroom to change while I stripped to my boxers and slid into bed. She joined me shortly, backing into me as I spooned her into my arms. She sighed deeply as I cuddled her and fell asleep almost instantly.

I awoke just before my alarm, shut it off then carefully rolled out of bed, snuck into the kitchen and called in sick. Task completed, I went back to bed. Cassandra sighed, rolled over and plastered herself into my side as I drifted back to sleep.

Movement in the bed made me wake up. I opened my eyes just in time to see Cassandra trot across the bedroom heading for the bathroom. After relieving herself, she returned to bed, lying next to me.

"Shouldn't you be at work or something?" She chided.

"Called out." I groaned. I'm not the best in the mornings, but waking up next to Cassandra could change that pretty quickly. "Figured I'd need to take you home today."

Cassandra sat up, tears running down her face. "You don't want me here?" She bawled.

OK, I'm awake now, shit! "What?! Where did that come from? You don't have any clothes, or anything else, for that matter, here. If we get moving, we can be there and back before it gets too late."

Cassandra laid her head on my chest, still sniffling a bit. "OK, sorry I panicked. Actually I have a duffel in a locker at the bus station with everything I need for a while. You can take me home Saturday, we'll know by then if this is going to work."

I kissed the top of her head. "Afraid to take a chance on me?." I teased.

She looked up at me and tried to look pissed, then laughed. "Neither one of us has ever had a relationship that worked out for very long, forgive me if I'm a bit worried."

"Forgiven." I sighed, hugging her. I wasn't even going to ask how she knew.

The drive to the bus station and back took about an hour, then Cassandra took a shower and dressed in flannel pajamas and we made breakfast and talked some more.

"You didn't listen to your song last night." She said. "I hear it in my head."

"I guess, by now, I shouldn't be surprised you know that." I admitted. "Let me play it for you, then I think you'll understand."

I played 'I've Been Waiting For You' again by ABBA. A song of yearning for and finally finding love. It always moves me to tears. We were both crying by the time the song ended. The final line said it all.

And finally it seems my lonely days are through.

I've been waiting for you.

Cassandra hugged me and looked into my eyes. "I feel the same."

We spent the rest of that day back at the park, walking and talking. Occasionally, we'd sit for a while, under a tree or next to the creek that ran through it. She knew a lot about me, but most of it was rather random and didn't tell her much about who I really was. We talked of past loves and the heartbreak that those failures brought us. Hers were because they couldn't handle her abilities, mine however, usually ended because I ended up being more like a brother to them. By the late afternoon, we felt like we'd known each other for years. I was very comfortable talking to her about anything, even my deepest, darkest secrets were exposed. Being able to talk about them lifted a heavy burden from me and for the first time in my life, I felt...something. I wasn't sure exactly what, but I liked it. I was happy, but there was more to it. Something deeper, more meaningful. Looking in Cassandra's eyes, I'd seen it there as well.

"Cassie, can I ask you something?" I said, as we relaxed by the creek.

She sat up, startled. "What did you call me?"

"Cassie." I answered. "That's OK isn't it?"

She buried her head in my chest and sniffled. "Yes, my Mom calls me that. What did you want to ask?"

"Well, let me explain something first." I said. "Then tell me if I'm on the right track. Over the course of the day, I've seen something, a brightness or light, surrounding you. It gets stronger almost by the minute. What am I seeing?"

Cassie smiled. "I'm not surprised. You're probably thinking it's my aura, and you're not completely wrong, but let me explain. If you can see auras, you see them all the time. They might dim and brighten, they may even change colors, but they are always there. I think what you are seeing is happiness, even joy in me. Mom tells me I shine like the sun when I'm happy. She calls it 'lovelight'. It's related, but different, if that makes sense."

"Not even a little bit." I grinned. "But then again, so much of this doesn't. I'll just have to take your word for it."

"If it means anything." She smiled. "You are the first person, besides family, to ever see it."

"Why have I never seen it before?" I asked.

"Again, I'm guessing, but you may be feeding off my abilities." She pondered. "But you could have some latent skill on your own. It's uncommon in men, but not unheard of."

I wasn't completely satisfied with her answer, but I knew she was just as confused as I was. Maybe, in time, we'd figure it out.

Back at the apartment, Cassie made dinner. Turns out she's at least as good a cook as I am, probably better. After we were done and everything was cleaned up, we sat on the couch and continued our conversation.

"Back to work tomorrow?" She asked.

"Yeah, I need to." I sighed. "Rather stay here with you."

She smiled and kissed me. "Me too, but I don't want to get you in trouble."

"Will you be OK here alone?" I wondered.

"Lonely, but I'll make it." She frowned. "I'll keep myself busy. Mind if I poke through your record collection?"

"Help yourself." I grinned. Music was a HUGH part of my life and probably the only reason I'd managed to hold on to my sanity over these last few years. I could escape into the beauty and wonder of the songs, losing myself, even if only briefly, in the emotions they evoked. "I'm sure you'll find something you like."

That night, as we prepared for bed, Cassie borrowed my tee shirt again. "I like it." She purred, then winked slyly.

We spooned, just as we had the night before, except Cassie took my hand in hers and placed it on her breast as we snuggled. She sighed and fell asleep quickly, her nipple poking into he palm of my hand. I fell asleep not long after, nuzzling her hair, soothed by the scent of her shampoo.