A Graduation Gift

Chapter 258 A Dreadful Memory (Part One)

"I honestly have no idea why this occurs. She seldom relapses into that state, to be completely honest. Moreover, she appears to fear her own cat whenever her disease attacks recently, which I might add, has never happened before,"

Whitney answered, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"That's weird, I thought she loved her cat," Cassandra wondered out loud. Her face indicated that she too, was quite puzzled.

She could still picture in her mind how Courtney was holding her cat in her arms when they met for the first time. It was a white bi-eyed Persian cat that left a strong impression on Cassandra.

"She does. She has always loved animals ever since she was little. She did develop some fear awhile back, but gradually grew to adore them as she grew older. It's just odd to see her sudden bouts of fear for them every once in a while. I tried asking her the reason, but she outright refused to tell me..."

Whitney sighed with despair clear as day in her eyes. She had always thought of herself as a capable woman. But when it came to her daughter and her ailment, she would become so worried and helpless like any other ordinary mother in an instant.

They kept talking about Courtney's current condition, and failed to notice that Cloris was staring at them with a weird look on her face.

Staring straight ahead, she anxiously bit her lip as if she wanted to get away from something as fast as possible. © 2024 Nôv/el/Dram/a.Org.

Tears formed in Whitney's eyes as she spoke. Cassandra quickly grabbed a tissue from the table and handed it to her. It pained her to see the tears of a poor mother.

'If only Courtney could recover, ' Cassandra sadly thought, 'Whitney wouldn't suffer so much.'

At that moment, the bedroom door swung open. A long figure with a look of terror on her face appeared in the doorway—it was Courtney.

"Mom, the bunny... the bunny is dead!"

Courtney uttered in a shaking voice, her face contorted in agony and distress. She stood there like a dear caught in a car's headlights, looking at the three of them in extreme panic.

In her surprise, Cassandra noticed Cloris wince as if something Courtney said had struck her.

But she had no time to think more on it, since Courtney had taken a turn for the worse.

The girl fell to her knees and covered her head with her arms, wailing.

Whitney was terrified. She was too shocked to move for a brief second, then immediately rushed to her daughter's side and gathered her in her arms.

"Don't be afraid, my dear," she whispered over and over to the frightened girl for comfort. "Mother's here now. There's no bunny, not even one. Don't worry..."

she kept repeating the words as she rocked her daughter's head in their embrace, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"You think we should take her to the doctor, Whitney?"

Cassandra suggested in a soft voice. Courtney's current condition was worrying, and Whitney's comforting didn't seem to work.

But Whitney merely shook her head slowly without a word. Cassandra could only sigh deeply and watch the pair.

Whitney probably didn't trust any of the doctors here. As for Courtney, proper bed rest without disturbance might be the best for now since Smithers wasn't around yet.

"Take it easy, Courtney. Tell me, do you want to go home now? Or do you want to lie down and rest first?"

Whitney asked her daughter while gently stroking her back, trying to calm her down completely.

"It was her, mom. She killed the bunny. It was her!"

Courtney blurted out as she burst into tears. She wailed like a heart-broken child.

"It will be alright, dear. Did you have a nightmare, you poor thing?" Whitney asked in a soft voice. "It's okay. It's all over now. I'm here with you, hon. You are not alone. You will never be alone,"

said Whitney in a choked voice. She hugged her daughter tighter.

"It was her!" Courtney screamed. "Mother, believe me, I know it was her! Cloris killed the bunny!"

Courtney raised her head as she pointed at Cloris who had been watching from the nearby corner, wordless the whole ordeal. There were innocence and wide-eyed terror on Courtney's face.

The other three were all stunned to silence upon hearing her accusation. Whitney and Cassandra looked at Cloris, both at the same time with astonishment clearly written on their expressions.

There was a flash of nervousness in Cloris's eyes. She felt like there was a lump in her throat as she swallowed. As she met their gaze, she gradually became breathless. She finally opened her mouth after a few seconds, "You're talking nonsense!" she shouted. "I didn't!"

Cassandra frowned at this, shooting Cloris a confused look.

"What are you doing, Cloris?" she warned in an agitated whisper. "Calm down! Courtney is ill, stop agitating her!"

Cloris was acting weird. Cassandra wondered why she would be affected by Courtney's words so much when she knew Courtney wasn't quite right in the head.

"I'm telling the truth, mother! I didn't kill the bunny. It wasn't Cassandra, either. It was her! Cloris killed the bunny!"

Courtney rose and became more frantic by the minute, she pointed at Cloris like an angry child. Tears streamed down her face.

At this point, Cassandra's head was throbbing in pain. Courtney's words and Cloris's defensive reaction seemed to have triggered a repressed memory.

She felt lightheaded and was about to lose her balance. She shook her head vigoriously in an attempt to clear her mind as she swayed back and forth.

A bunny? A bunny was killed?

Her mind was in chaos as the words kept flashing over and over.

She found herself picturing a particular memory. When she tried to focuse on the details, however, the images became more blurred and simply faded away. She pushed herself to remember, but every time she was close to getting an answer, it slipped away. The darkness took her, and she fell to the ground unconscious.

The first thing that Cassandra saw when she opened her eyes was Rufus's concerned yet tender gaze. Then she saw the relief wash over him.

"Thank God you're awake," he said in a sigh of relief.

His hand reached out to stroke her soft cheeks, it was warm and he was smiling.

"The doctor said that you were probably fatigued. You ought to stay at home and get proper rest for today. Just leave the company affairs to the others," he said in a soothing voice, which still betrayed the worry he had for her.