Slaves of the Moon

It seemed like forever before the whole process with the police was over. I was exhausted. I just wanted to take Cassie home, curl up in a ball, and sleep for the next twenty-four hours. Unfortunately, that wasn't likely to happen. Cassie and I still had school tomorrow...or rather this morning. As I stepped out of the police station with Cassie, Cassie started swaying. We were both dead on our feet. That was also about the time that I remembered that my car was back at the diner with no gas. I groaned, unable to stop the sound from escaping.

"Do you guys need a ride home?" Kayne asked from directly behind me. Had I been even a little more awake, I probably would have jumped at the sound of his voice so close to me.

"Please," I whispered not caring that I was begging. "We're both exhausted and my car's back at the diner with no gas."

Kayne came around to my side smiling. "It's no problem Emma."

Xavier came up next to me and picked Cassie up. "Come on little one. You're too tired to be standing."

"And so are you," Kayne whispered in my ear picking me up.

"You don't have to carry me. I can walk on my own," I said, but I didn't struggle either.

Kayne chuckled softly. "I have no doubt that you can walk when you're awake Emma, but right now...you're not awake. Now go to sleep and me and my brothers will take you and Cassie home."

I should have resisted sleep, but the temptation was too great. I feel asleep cradled against Kayne's chest, something in me telling me that that was the safest place in all of the world.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

I woke up to my alarm clock beeping loudly. I smacked the annoying contraption. It was 6:08. If last night wasn't a really weird dream, then I had gotten all of three hours of sleep. You see, I would love to still be sleeping, but I had too much to do for that. I had to make sure that the laundry was done, the dishes were washed, lunches were made, blah, blah, blah. Plus, with the car our of commission, I would have to walk Cassie to school before going back to the other side of town to the high school.

I pulled myself out of bed and took a shower. It felt good to be clean. I had been too tired last night for it. I threw on a pair of sweatpants and a baggy shirt as I began to clean around the house. I knew I probably wouldn't have time to change before I walked Cassie to school and went to school myself, but that didn't matter. I didn't care how I looked. I had other things on my mind. I wanted to know how Kayne Volkov had caught me so quickly in the restaurant. I wanted to know how all three Volkov brothers had magically appeared to save me and Cassie. I wanted to know how the Volkov brothers had been able to defeat three obviously professional men. I really wanted to know why I had dreamed about Kayne Volkov and wolves.

Of course, the answers weren't coming, but it got everything really clean as I attacked everything with a new determination. As I finished scrubbing the dirty kitchen sink and I sat and leaned up against the cabinets. I was exhausted still. I wanted to curl up in bed and die. I had things to do though. I couldn't let Cassie down. She was depending on me. Our parents had let her down, I could not.

I stood up and stretched my aching muscles and looked at the clock. It was time to wake up Cassie, get her dressed and ready for school, and make sure the lunches were done. Cassie is wonderful when it comes to waking her up in the morning. Unlike most children, Cassie is a morning person. It only takes one shake and she's out of bed. It was the same this morning as it was every morning.

I went into the kitchen, opened the fridge and groaned softly. I was supposed to go grocery shopping yesterday. We only had enough food to make one lunch. My luck was just getting worse day after day. I sighed and took out the stuff for Cassie's lunch. I would have to ask Susan to take me to the store after I picked up Cassie from school. I only hoped that I had enough money to give her for gas, pay for groceries, and put gas in my tank.

It was already almost seven-thirty when I looked at the clock again. "Are you ready Cassie?" I called.

"I'm coming! I'm coming!" Cassie said sprinting out of her bedroom with her backpack and her jacket. "Why are we leaving so early?" She asked.

"I forgot to put gas in the car yesterday," I confessed. "We'll have to walk this morning. I promise I'll get gas this afternoon after school, even if I have to walk all the way down to the gas station." I assured Cassie as we began the walk to her school.

The walk was all of twenty minutes meaning that Cassie was on time. She still had another thirty minutes until the bell would ring. "Cassie, I want you to stay inside with the teachers today. Unless you see me or Susan, you don't go with anyone. Is that understood?"

"Well, duh," Cassie said.

"Alright, I'll pick you up after school. I love you sis." I kissed her cheek, ruffled her hair and watched her walk inside the school. It's hard work trying to raise your little sister from infancy. Sometimes, I tried to resent Cassie for it, but I never really could. I love my little sister too much. I would do almost anything for her. That's why I go through all of this.

Now it was my turn to walk to school.