***
Twelve years later
Sorting through the change in her hand, Cassie hastily picked out the nickels and dimes, and absently shoved aside the pennies. She glanced at the unattainable soda machine before digging into the pocket of her cutoffs once more. All she wanted was a cold drink, was that too much to ask? Apparently it was, as all she pulled out were a few pieces of lint, a gum wrapper, and dirt.
Cassie fought the urge to kick the machine in frustration; it wasn't its fault the price of soda had gone up fifteen cents. It was the stupid, greedy, owner of the store. Glancing past the machine, she peered into the dingy windows of the Five and Dime. Mr. Lester was watching to make sure she didn't do exactly that. She fought the urge to stick her tongue out at the man, but then she would be banned from the store, and he did have the best selection of baseball cards, candy, and comic books in town.
Glancing regretfully back at the bright red machine, Cassie shoved her change back into her pocket and turned away. She would just have to drink from the water fountain during baseball practice. She scrunched her nose, already dreading the taste of the metallic water fountain.
Grabbing her mitt from the store windowsill, she turned back to the main thoroughfare. She didn't make it one step before she was brought to an abrupt halt by a tall, thin man, with a hawkish nose, and pale, gray eyes that studied her. Cassie's hand clenched on her glove as she took a small, instinctive step back. She was not some five year-old who would wander away with a stranger, but she didn't know what the odd man's intentions were.
Glancing briefly over her shoulder she was relieved to find Mr. Lester still watching. Though he liked to squeeze as much money as possible out of the kids, he wouldn't allow anything bad to happen to her. She turned back to the strange man. His eyes were still fixed upon her, but she saw no ill will in his steady gaze. Instead, there was an odd sense of relief in his eyes.
A slender girl stepped beside him and slipped her hand into his. Cassie's tension eased at the sight of the black haired girl who was so trusting of the strange man. The girl studied Cassie from exotically slanted eyes the color of a gleaming onyx. Those eyes pierced Cassie, pinning her to the spot as they seemed to see straight into Cassie's soul.
A little unnerved by the girl's intense gaze and scrutiny, Cassie turned her attention back to the man. Though he seemed to be in his late thirties, maybe forties, and was old enough to be the girl's father, they looked nothing alike. His hair was a light brown that was going gray at the temples. His eyes were far from dark in color, and unlike the girls smooth olive complexion, he was very fair.
"Are you Cassandra Fairmont?" he inquired, the faint hint of an accent in his tone.
Cassie didn't understand how this man knew who she was, let alone her full name. Her stance shifted as she prepared to bolt into the Five and Dime. "Do I know you?" She was proud her voice didn't waver when she spoke.
"No, but I may have known your parents."
Cassie's heart leapt into her throat, her arm dropped limply to her side. Her fingers eased their grip on her glove to the point she nearly dropped it. Other than her grandmother, and Chris's mother, Cassie knew no one who had ever met her parents. Though Cassie often asked questions about her parents, her grandmother rarely spoke of them. Once in a while, she would share stories of Cassie's mother when she was a little girl, and her father, as her grandmother had also known him as a child.
However, Chris's mother never spoke of them; she hated any mention of Cassie's parents, or Chris's father. She used the mere mention of them as an excuse to retreat deeper into her drunken stupor, or to hit the bars in search of a new conquest. It used to bother Chris, but lately he’d taken to ignoring his mother as easily as she ignored him.
Now, this strange man was standing before her telling her he may have known her parents, and quite possibly, Chris's father. It was a lifeline, a level of hope she’d never experienced before. This man, this stranger, could be their one chance to get to know their parents better.
"My parents?" she managed to choke out.
The man's eyes were gentle as he nodded. "Yes, if they were Derek and Jessie Fairmont?"
The man blurred as Cassie's eyes filled with tears. She rarely heard their names spoken, rarely had the chance to acknowledge they’d ever even lived. It was as if everything about them had ceased to exist when they were killed in the car accident. Not just their bodies, but their memories, history, their entire lives had been buried forever.
Now, they were being openly acknowledged, openly conversed about, and it was by someone she didn't know. Cassie glanced at the slender girl, surprised by the wealth of caring and understanding in her warm onyx eyes. Swallowing heavily, Cassie rapidly blinked back her tears as she tried not to completely fall apart in front of the strange pair.
Taking a deep breath to steady her pounding heart, and raw nerves, she turned back to the man. "Yes," she answered. "They were my parents."
Relief filled him; his shoulders slumped as he broke into a brilliant grin. The girl squeezed his hand as she did an odd little jump step and beamed happily. "I told you," she said excitedly.
The man shook his head at her, but there was no censure in the gesture as he continued to smile. He thrust his hand out to Cassie. "My name is Luther Long; I've been looking for you for a long time Cassandra."
Cassie stared at his extended hand as confusion swirled through her. Though she sensed no ill will from them, they still scared her a little. Then again, the strange man did claim to know her parents, and best of all, he actually spoke about them. The temptation was more than she could stand.
Thrusting her hand out, she grasped hold of Luther's warm, well calloused one. His grin broadened as he shook her hand briskly.
In that moment, when their hands joined, her life was irrevocably changed. The course of her destiny forever altered. Over the following years, Cassie often wondered if she would have run screaming from him, and the changes he would bring to her life if she had known.
Eventually she came to realize there was no outrunning destiny. It was very much like the Reaper in that way, and like The Reaper, destiny could be cruel and indiscriminate. Though these were things Cassie later learned, she was still ill prepared for her life to be forever changed, her innocence to be shattered that day.
Nor was she prepared for the day when he walked into her life four years later, forever altering it, and her, once again.