"Egg benedict...just how you like it. With Parma Ham."
Cassandra couldn't stop the smile on her face when she looked at the various foods on the table. All her favorites. Some were things that only existed in Zealandia.
"Grandfather… I don't think I can eat all of these," she said. "Jetlag." She found a reason to leave the dining table. Honestly, she was really sleepy, she could feel her eyes closing any minute.
"I told you, she won't like to eat now."
Cassandra's head turned toward the entrance of the patio. "Almera…"
The smile on her face vanished when she saw the woman.
"You look thinner."
Cassandra wondered why that woman was still there despite all the things she had done to the La Roche Family.
"And you look older. How was London?" Almera La Roche beamed at her. "Perhaps, the place was too bad, I could see a pimple just… on your chin."
Cassandra smirked in response. "I could… travel to a surgeon and have it removed. But I hated to alter my appearance just for the sake of beauty. I am not that shallow."
"You— " The blonde woman narrowed her phoenix eyes at her. "Why did you come back?"
"Surely, that's none of your business." Cassandra stood and turned her attention to her grandfather. "I will eat after waking up. I have a really terrible headache."
The headaches… the effects of seeing something that would happen in the future. It was the consequence and she hated it.
"See you later, cousin!" Almera smiled at her.
Cassandra smirked in response. "I hope your nose doesn't get screwed on your next surgery," she said before she sauntered out of the patio and into the twenty-five-bedroom mansion of the La Roche Family.
"Grandfather! Did you hear what she just said?"
Cassandra heard Almera say the moment she left them. She chuckled and went straight to the carpeted stairs. She held the nude golden railings as memories of the past flowed inside her head.
She grew up in this house. Just like more members of the La Roche Family.
The only way that they would leave their household mansion was if they married into another family. At twenty-four, women of her age should have been married. Some already have kids. However, she was still single. Boasting four failed engagements under her belt, Cassandra wasn't really planning to tie herself to a man.
Especially not when she could see their future the moment she touched them. Her heavy footsteps soon took her to her own room.
She looked at the muted colors of the room. Everything about it was still the same. The lighting, the carpet, even her sheets and linens on the canopy of her bed was still the same.
The small piece of notepads that she had left on the wooden bedside table when she left was still there, caught her attention. Everything about the place was the same—well almost everything.
The only difference was the smell.
It smelled clean. It smelled just like her apartment in London. She smiled and plopped into her bed, the squeaking sound echoed inside her room. Then she closed her eyes. The moment her consciousness left, the dreams that she dreaded the most started.
This time, she wasn't running.
The cold gust of wind made her skin prickle. She frowned, brows furrowed at the darkness that surrounded her.
"Hello?" Despite knowing this was all a dream, her voice quivered. "Can you hear me?" she asked.
Again, no one responded.
Goosebumps stayed on her skin as she started walking. The feeling of being watched made her cautious.
This was all a dream, she chanted inwardly. A dream. Something that always happens to her in Zealandia. A dream, nothing more. She consoled herself inwardly, knowing that she would wake up soon. The same peculiar feeling soon clouded her senses... this time she could feel it. She knew... she knew she wasn't alone.
And whoever was watching her... was near.
"Hello?" This time, she heard her voice echo. She squinted, trying to see what was in the darkness but failed. A frustrated sigh escaped her lips. She wanted to wake up.
Almost immediately, Cassandra's eyes flew open. She took a mouthful of air as relief flashed on her face. It had been two years since she last saw the dreams and it still had the same exhausting effect on her.
She sat on her bed and eyed the alarm clock on her bedside table. It was already six. She enjoyed the light that seeped through the gaps on her black-out curtains. She actually slept for almost twenty-four hours?
Still, the exhaustion that she felt from her dream was real. After stifling a yawn, she walked toward her bathroom to clean up and change her clothes. She wondered when the nightmares would stop.
Considering that she had been having nightmares since she could remember, Cassandra could say that she was actually used to it. However, living outside of this magical continent had changed her. In London, Cassandra realized that the dreams never happen, the horrific future of the people that she touched didn't just appear in her head.
Unless of course, the person that she was touching was already a close friend. However, she only had one friend in London and that was Macy, her book agent.
The thought of Macy made her recall her phone. At least, phones still work in this place.
Another curse left her lips as she opened her phone into three missed calls, all from her agent. She quickly dialed her number and smiled when she answered her phone.
After a quick, how are you and a reminder of her deadline, Cassandra ended the call. Rather, the grumbling in her stomach, made her end the call.
She could only blame it on sleep.
Wearing her pale pink pajamas, she walked toward the dining room only to realize that the room was actually full of women, people that she used to know.
"Ah, here she is… Cassie dear! Come! Have some breakfast. We thought of having a surprising dinner when we realized that you hate surprises, so we agreed to have an early breakfast and hope that you would join us." Of course, the speaker was none other than Almera.
She was wearing a blue knee-length dress. She flipped her perfectly curled blond hair as she sent Cassandra a provoking smile. "Oh my… it seems that you have actually forgotten that I informed you about this breakfast yesterday. This is my fault. I shouldn't have just invited everyone without receiving your confirmation first."