Cassie

I let out a shriek as I saw her coming towards me.

“No! Cassie stop! Please!,” I yelled frantically.

I was backed in a corner. My little sister Cassie had a knife.

My eyes darted from her to my mom lying dead on the floor then back to her. She came in close and whispered in my ear, “you should have loved me while you had the chance.”

She pulled the knife back. It came close to me.

Then I heard beeping. I sat up straight in my bed. I was sweating all over. It was the third time I’d had that dream in the last week.

Cassie is my little sister. She’s 6 years old and has childhood schizophrenia. Most of the time she’s locked in her room to keep us all safe. This didn’t start until what our family calls “The Accident of 2009” happened. it was a few years ago when me, my twin brother and my mom were sleeping. So was Cassie.

Or at least we thought she was sleeping.

She injured herself trying to get away from a man she thought she saw chasing her with a gun.

Anyway, when I woke up I looked at my alarm clock.

5:45

Friday

May 31

Last day of me being a junior in high school.

I quickly got ready and grabbed a small breakfast before driving off to my best friends house.

“Girl you’re 2 minutes off schedule,” she says as she climbs into the passenger seat.

“Oh, shut up Tess,” I say.

“Reagan, that is no way to talk to the girl that helped pay for this car!,” I knew she was just joking.

She couldn’t pay for a gumball at the Walmart vending machine thingies.

After school I come home to see Cassie on the couch watching Dora. I put my stuff on the counter as quietly as possible.

“I know you’re there, Reagan. And I know what you say about me behind my back.”

“How,” is the only thing I can manage to squeeze out of my mouth.

“Sarah told me.”

“Who’s Sarah?”

“My best friend. Other than, Taylor, and Ty, and Megan, and Phill, and Geoff, and Luke, and JoJo, and Marty. I also have 30 cat friends. Do you want me to tell you their names too?”

“No. That’s fine Cassie.”

“Well, one thing I can tell you is that Sarah doesn’t like you. Or mom. Not even Tyler.”

Tyler was my twin brother.

“And another thing I know is that you don’t like me. Which creates problems. Sarah keeps telling me to hurt you. She says she’ll do something bad to me if i don’t do something to you. So could you just hand me that knife that’s by your left hand?”

She hadn’t even turned around from the tv since I walked into the house.

I casually took the knife and chucked it out the window.

“You really shouldn’t have done that,” she says.

Her voice sounds stressed.

“You’d rather me get hurt. You want Sarah to kill me! She told me!”

All I can think about is my dream.

I watch helplessly as Cassie runs out of the house to find the knife.

I pull out my phone and dial 911

“911, what’s your emergency?”

“My little sister, Cassie, she’s got childhood schizophrenia. I think she’s going to try to kill me! She has a knife!”

“Ok I have your location just stay on the line until paramedics and police can get to you.”

“Ok…..I will!” I’m breathing so hard.

I was wishing Tyler was home. He was so good at calming Cassie. But he was hanging out with friends.

That’s when I started sobbing. The images of moms limp body on the floor kept flashing in my brain.

Cassie’s icy words were there too.

“You should’ve loved me while you had the chance.”

Suddenly Cassie was back in the doorway. Knife in hand.

I screamed. I ran. I kept my cellphone securely to my ear.

I locked myself in my room and tried to shove open my window. The only result I got was a large cut on my right hand.

I heard Cassie scream.

“SARAH! STOP! I’LL GET HER! I PROMISE! I PROMISE SARAH! STOP HITTING ME! LET ME STAND UP!”

Another scream.

I decided since she was having a battle with “Sarah” I could attempt to get through the hallway and outside.

I burst through the door. But Cassies knife skid across my ankle. I looked behind me for just a second to see Cassie on the ground crying like someone had just beat her up. But she had no actual marks on her.

That’s when the pain kicked in. The cut was deep. It felt like someone had set my ankle on fire. But I had just ran out the door.

“Are you still there?” I cry frantically through my cellphone.

“Yes I’m here sweetie, you need to stay relaxed. That’s the most important thing right now.”

Then I heard the sirens. One cop car. That’s all they sent. I kept running though. I ran until I reached the tree that me and Tyler used to climb all the time when we were little.