Chapter 43: Julian Aylmer Died In The Cold Snow.

Lucas spent probably half an hour trying to take his cousin upstairs. Meanwhile, I managed to spot Piper and Megan both. They were socializing--why torture yourself?--and wasting their time. Moreover, they included Cheryl...not me.

"Oh look, Sandy," Megan smiled when she saw me.

"Hey. I've been looking for you for a while," I said as I joined their group. The three of them stood near the stairway.

"Right," Piper said rolling her eyes. "You were busy with your boyfriend." The three of them shared a knowing smile and burst out laughing.

"Ha ha so not funny," I said sarcastically.

"I still don't know why you gave him a chance," Megan said shaking her head. She has always given her disapproval for Lucas Crowell. "Thought we were on the same team, Sandy."

"She most probably prefers lads like Lucas," Cheryl contributed.

"What're you trying to imply by that?" I asked.

She shrugged. "Lucas is an interesting fellow. You gave him a chance when knowing full well he had not broken up with his girlfriend earlier. Mind you, he is a popular boy in your school and state. Not to mention, the son of a Crowell. Your families aren't on fair terms, am I right? From what I gathered, he has also hurt you on multiple occassions. Why give that boy a chance?"

I looked at her and had only one thing to say: "It's my life, right?"

Cheryl gave me a small, forced smile and replied, "You're right. I was only stating my thoughts."

"Aw don't get angry over Lucas," Megan said. "Oh speak of the devil," she muttered, looking past me.

I turned to find Lucas coming over to us. Piper slightly laughed. Cheryl had an expressionless face as she observed us. I didn't know what was up with her or what she had against Lucas.

"Hello, ladies," Lucas grinned as he stopped next to me.

"Hi, Lucas," Piper grinned.

"Bye, Lucas," Megan said with a small wave. She was expecting him to go away which Lucas decided against.

"Rude much?" he asked. "I spent half an hour trying to drag Julian upstairs. Be more considerate to me."

"I don't think that can be possible. Look," Piper said, pointing behind us.

Everyone turned to find Julian stumbling down the steps. He was definitely not in his right mind. Julian Aylmer was singing something. I could only make out a bunch of words he kept repeating: "Happy clap along," "Can't nothing bring me down," or "Because I'm happy." I didn't know what song it was but it earned him many amused laughs.

"So much for spending half an hour," muttered Lucas as Julian joined our group.

"Hiya," he waved with a bright smile.

"He's drunk," Piper said surprised.

"Too drunk for his own sake," Cheryl said looking uneasy.

"Drinking is... is... fun!" Julian said as he almost fell. Cheryl helped him stabilize and kept a hold on his arm. Why couldn't he have stayed upstairs? "Thank you," he mumbled to his friend.

"Who got him drunk?" I asked.

Julian looked at me and widened his eyes. "You're still here? Please st- stay away from me," he pleaded and hid behind Cheryl. Everyone laughed.

"Himself," Cheryl answered my question. Julian was still standing behind his friend, avoiding me.

"Did you finally scare away my cousin?" Lucas asked amused.

"Seems like it," Megan grinned.

"He is being obnoxious for no reason!" I said defensively. "I did nothing, yet he acts like I'm some kind of a- a villain!"

"No, he is the villain!" Julian said pointing to Lucas. Piper and Megan burst out laughing as Lucas narrowed his eyes at his cousin.

"I suppose Julian isn't too happy with you. You know you dragged him upstairs," Cheryl explained. Julian rested his chin on her shoulder and stared intently at Lucas.

"He's mean," said Julian.

"The truth is revealed," Megan said dramatically. "What does Cassandra Evans have to say to that?" She acted like some reporter.

"Knock it off," I said solemnly. "Julian, why did you come downstairs?"

"To move on!" he grinned, showing a dimple. Cheryl immediately looked at him.

"Move on?" I asked confused.

"Yes." Julian bobbed his head up and down. "Too many things. Where's Laura? I want to see Laura," he said looking around. What was going on? What was he trying to move on from? Who was Laura? Another best friend from England?

Everyone seemed confused by Julian's blabbering. Cheryl however seemed to know. "He's been quite homesick, lately. Laura's Julian's younger sister. He has been trying to move on from all his homesickness."

"Oh," was all I said. It made a lot of sense. A feeling of surprising relief went over me. I tried my best to shake it off.

"Aw," said Piper.

Julian put his hand on Cheryl's shoulders and shifted his chin slighty forward. "I want more champagne," he said with a depressed look.

"Not happening," Lucas said shaking his head. "It'll be a nice hangover. Just wait till tomorrow morning."

"Hangover? Nah, I'll be- be- be jolly good!" Julian said and burst out laughing.

"Jolly good?" Cheryl asked. Wasn't that a British thing to say?

"Must follow stereotypes," Julian said in a loud whisper. "Americans fancy hearing those things. You- You should start using them as well. It's quite funny." Cheryl laughed along with Julian while the rest of us stood there staring at them. The both of them then started spitting out stereotypical British words and had laughs at that.

Oh great.

"You know, we got the point," I said in frustration.

Cheryl and Julian stopped laughing and looked at me. "No. No one gets the point. You never get the point," Julian said shaking his head with a disappointed look. Everyone looked at me for some sort of an answer.

"Whatya do now, Sandy?" Lucas asked, sliding his arm around me.

"I didn't do anything. I don't know what his problem is!"

"Relax," Lucas said calmly and pulled me slightly closer to him. Piper made an awe face and I threw her a glare. Megan seemed to be enjoying the show. I tried my best to not fumble away. Being so close to people wasn't something I was used to. "Julian's drunk."

"I'm not drunk. And I want to go home," Julian said randomly. He walked away from our group, stumbling over to the window. I rolled my eyes at his state. He began singing some song in Spanish. I only formed a couple of words he was saying "sin tu amor." My AP Spanish translation for that was: "Without your love." There was something seriously wrong with Julian. First, he was all "Happy clap along" and now, he changed his mood to some sad "without your love?"

"Something's wrong with your cousin," I told Lucas.

"Tell me about it."

"It's snowing!" Julian suddenly shouted. He caught everyone's attention, now. We all ran to the window to check for ourselves. Julian was indeed right about the snow. "It's the middle of March! This is not possible!" said the foreigner with a look of disbelief.

"Global warming," Megan pointed out.

"Global climate change, actually," Lucas corrected. Everyone looked at him surprised...including Julian.

"You finally said something intelligent," I said giving him an impressed look.

"Thank you complimenting and insulting me at the same time," he said flatly.

"Anytime," I shrugged. "Now, I don't know how much it's supposed to know, so..."

"So?" Julian asked.

"Time to leave," Megan answered for me. "Other people are already leaving. Nice party." She was correct indeed about some people making moves to leave. No one wanted to drive down the snowed road. I was more concerned about having to clean the snow off my car.

"I have to leave ASAP. I'll see you guys later," I said as I turned to go.

"I'll escort you, C.C.," Lucas said behind me. Now, everyone was looking at him for an explanation.

"What's C. C.? Her last name is 'Evans,'" Piper said sharing a baffled look with everyone.

"Cassandra Crowell." Julian decided to answer for both Lucas and I. He was still looking out the window. The drunk guy knew but the sober ones didn't, surprisingly. The three girls--Megan, Piper, and Cheryl--stared at Lucas and I with surprised looks.

"That is so cute! It has a nice ring to it, too!" Piper exclaimed.

"No, it doesn't. Stop calling me that, Lucas," I said serious. This wasn't something to joke about, to be honest.

"Yeah yeah. Come on," Lucas said, putting his hand on my back and pushing me along. "Bye guys." Most annoyed, I walked faster and away from him.

It took me a couple of minutes to find my sister and tell her to come to the car pronto. She whined like a baby and wanted to stay. My only incentive for her was to walk home. Upon hearing that, it didn't take long for Cate to listen to me.

If only people could understand everything the first time.

Lucas did end up catching up with me.

"We're meeting Brandon tomorrow," he whispered as we walked towards my car.

"Yup. That reminds me: don't you dare bring up anything about us two," I warned.

He gave me a baffled look and asked, "why not?"

"Because-" Because Brandon would bring up the whole four years of crush drama. "Because he'll tease me around." That was the bulk of the truth...without the details.

"You don't give a damn about how the people in our school behave towards you but you care about how my brother will treat ya?" Lucas said appalled.

"Lucas, Brandon is one of the really few people who knows a lot. Too much. About me. There are some things that need to kept just between us," I said calmly.

"Sandy, are you embarrassed of me?" I stopped in my tracks as the snow kept falling. Upon seeing Lucas's dead serious expression, I burst out laughing. It took me a long time to settle down. Truly, I hadn't had a good laugh in a while. "This isn't funny, Evans. I am serious."

"Okay," I said as I took deep breaths. "Lucas, why would I even be near you if I was embarrassed of you? Do you not know me? I still can't believe you asked that question." Another fit of laughs escaped me. Lucas rolled his eyes at me.

He mumbled something like, "I hate Stacey." I just rolled my eyes.

We started walking again and reached my car soon. Lucas was the one who broke the silence. "Me keeping my mouth shut will cost you."

"Lucas," I said in a warning tone. I had an idea about what was coming.

"Sandy, you don't even know the cost!" Of course, I knew the cost. I had been saying no to it so many times to him this week.

"No kissing. There're so many people out here. It's cold and snowy." I made a motion to head towards my car.

"So you do know what I'm talking about," he said taking a step closer to me. "And those reasons aren't valid." He extended his hand to my hair and brushed off snowflakes. His own hair was full of snow.

"How about if you keep your promise tomorrow then I'll pay the cost?" I offered.

"How about an advance?" he smirked.

"How about no?" I retorted leaning back.

"Then I say no to keeping my promise," he shrugged, knowing full well he had the upper hand.

"I hate you."

"What do you have against kissing me?"

"It's not you. I just- just- I'm not used to it." Communication was after all the root of all good relationships. I might as well tell him the truth.

Lucas put his hand under my chin and gently pushed my head up to make me face him. "I'll take it as my duty to help you get over it."

"Gee thanks." He let out a small chuckle at my comment before leaning in to close the gap between us. Our lips had barely even touched when a loud voice called my name.

"Sandy!" Lucas and I pulled away from each other quickly. Cate stood a couple of feet away with a huge smile on her face. "Did I interrupt something?" she innocently asked.

"No no. Of course not," Lucas said running a hand through his hair. "She couldn't have waited another minute?" he muttered low enough to keep it between us two.

I rolled my eyes. "I'll see you tomorrow, Lucas." Then, turning to Cate, I said, "Get in the car...Brat." Cate stuck her tongue out at me and got inside the passenger seat. I opened the door of the driver's seat and got in.

"Drive safely, C. C.," Lucas said behind me.

I gave him an annoyed look and slammed the door shut. Lucas was grinning like an idiot as I drove away.

What a night.

¤》¤《¤

"Cass!" Brandon stood waiting by the cemetery entrance.

He enveloped me in a hug to which I responded with a "get off." Lucas laughed behind us, knowing how much I hated physical contact.

"It's been so long! You guys didn't show up last Sunday!" Brandon said releasing his grip on me. I stood next to him and Lucas a little bit away. I had told him to watch his distance from me.

"Camping trip." Neither Lucas nor I had replied rather Julian did. He had tagged along with Lucas, apparently. Not even once did he exchange a single word with me.

"Thanks for the memo," Brandon said flatly.

"Thanks for the way of communication you have with us: meeting you at the closed asylum every Sunday at five," I retorted.

"Just blame the nice guy," he said playfully. "You know it's dangerous, so don't bring it up. By the way, can we go inside the asylum, today?"

"Why?" Lucas and I asked simultaneously.

"It's all snowed over. I don't want to stand out in the cold for three hours," shrugged Brandon. "Getting a cold isn't my cup of tea."

The boys made a motion towards the closed building but I stood my ground. "It's private property. We can get in so much trouble..."

"Oh come on, Evans," Lucas said taking my arm and dragging me along. Brandon chuckled at us and just shook his head. Julian didn't say anything rather he got into a conversation with Brandon. I wondered what they were up to.

Once we were inside the place, a new chill went through me. Darkness never bothered me, but being in a place where people were tortured was a little...disturbing.

"This place is so cool," Brandon said as he walked past me.

"Why don't you try going down the hallway and check out the morgue? See how cool that is," I recommended.

"Are there dead people there?" Lucas slowly asked.

"Why don't you go check for yourself?" Julian replied. He sounded really grumpy.

"Someone's hangover hasn't fully disappeared," Lucas said next to my ear. Well, that explained a lot about Julian's behavior. "Oh you know what I should do?" Lucas asked himself, I think. "Make a horror movie here." He fumbled around in his pockets and pulled out his cell phone. Then, he began taking a video. At least, the phone provided some light for the rest of us to see.

"Check this painting out, guys," Brandon said, his voice echoing through the room. We all made our way towards whatever Brandon was pointing at.

"Welcome to Pennhurst Asylum, Part Two," Lucas began his documentary. "Our leader has just spotted a painting of a-- damn, what the heck is that?" Lucas said out of his reporter character.

"It's a man torturing a woman. She has been brutally hit over and over again with that whip in his hand," Julian said closely inspecting the painting. I simply walked away from the painting. Paintings of torturous events should never be made, honestly.

"Ooh seems like the only girl in the group got scared away by the painting," Lucas's voice boomed next to me. He began taking a recording of me but I pushed him away in annoyance. "Sweetheart, it's okay. It's just a painting," Lucas said softly, now. "Want to take a selfie with it?"

"Luke, a selfie? Seriously?" Brandon said behind us.

"Yeah, bro. But then again, that might ruin the horror movie theme. Maybe I'll add it in the bloopers," he replied thoughtfully.

"Yeah yeah. Let's see what's over there," Brandon said pointing to another door in the room.

Lucas walked faster than us, adding his commentary and continuing his movie making.

"So Brandon, how is life outside of here?" I casually asked, though both of us knew it still pissed me off to have him be so far away.

"It's pretty well, actually. People love me so much especially the ladies. I've gotten five marriage proposals already," he replied joking.

"How many did you accept?" Julian asked from his other side.

"All of them, though I am taking more requests. Cass, you still have time," Brandon said putting his arm around my shoulder as we walked.

"I'm not sure if L--" Julian began. Oh boy.

"Oh be quiet. I won't marry you, Brandon, after all you did to me. Remember four years," I said trying to shift the subject. I shrugged Brandon's arm and walked ahead a little quickly.

Lucas hadn't told Julian about the plan?

"Cass, don't get mad at me for no reason," Brandon said from behind.

"She has the tendency to do that often," Julian said.

I turned around at his comment and glared at the foreigner. "I get mad for no reason? Julian, you're the one who keeps getting pissed off at me for no clear reason! Giving me space is one thing and avoiding me another!" I snapped.

"Well, you two have issues to solve. Excuse me," Brandon said and quickly hurried away.

Julian stood quietly and tried to walk away, but I blocked his way. "You better explain, Julian."

"Cassie, there's nothing to explain. I'm homesick and not in my right mind."

"You're lying."

"Then, what's the truth?" he asked in a challenging tone. The intensity of his gaze actually scared me.

I looked away and shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe you're ignoring the new friends for the old one."

"I'm ignoring anyone for Cheryl, Cassie."

"Yes, because walking away from me with Cheryl to go to the same class was definitely not ignoring." That incident had hit a nerve.

"Jealous?" He was slightly smiling.

"I'm not good at sharing friends, Julian. Especially the ones I trust a lot. So, when I have to share, it's not easy. Call me jealous if you must." I was surprised at myself for being so honest. Julian seemed to have a similar expression.

"I'm sorry," he said softly. "I must say that I don't do well sharing my friends either. Now that you have Lucas--"

"I will legitimately hit you if you use that as a reason to stop talking to me."

"In that case, how about we forget anything ever happened?" he suggested.

"Including Cheryl?"

"Including Lucas?" he retorted.

"You wish," I said rolling my eyes. "But I'm willing to forget all the ignoring drama."

"Brilliant. Let's go ahead then, darling. I'm sure they're waiting for us to catch up," he said with a small smile. For some reason, it looked slightly forced.

"You still forgot the 'r' in dar-ling," I said as we walked. That statement earned me a real smile. He seemed to waiting for something.

Upon seeing my bewildered look, he said, "What? Not going to ask me to not call you that?"

"One thing at a time, Aylmer."

He didn't say anything else as we walked over to where Brandon and Lucas stood. Both of them watching something on Lucas's cell phone. Julian and I exchanged a look upon seeing the two brothers looking...almost scared.

"What's wrong?" Julian asked concerned.

"Watch the whole thing. The last part, especially," Brandon said handing over the phone.

Julian held the cell phone for the both of us. Lucas's horror movie began with a shot of the entire room we had been in earlier and his voiceover.

"...like the only girl in the group..." I threw Lucas a glare as a shot my annoyed face came on his cell phone. The conversation continued between us. Then, it moved to Lucas walking down the hallway. "The Pennhurst Asylum at its best. There's an empty lantern hanging with spider webs. A small window looks down below at the graveyard. Once made of marbe floors are now falling apart. Ooh, I see a door with an unclear sign on it. I wonder what's in there..."

"You went in the morgue?" I asked Lucas with wide eyes.

He winced and nodded. "Keep watching."

"Ooh this place stinks," he said in the video. A wide, wavering shot of the room was taken. He was panning his camera around when something weird appeared. Lucas seemed to have gone past it and realized late that a figure had been standing there. He panned back to the same spot but it was empty.

"Julian, rewind it," I said slowly. We saw the part again and it really scared me, now. I looked up at Lucas. "Please tell me you saw a reflection of yourself."

"Cass, that's a spirit or a ghost of a girl! It disappeared when he moved the camera back to that spot!" Brandon said pale.

"Someone please give me a more rational answer than a ghost," I said almost desperately. There had to be some scientific reasoning. That figure in the video was beyond creepy and disturbing.

No one said anything.

"What if there are more ghosts and we just don't see them? My lucky phone caught one..."

"Lucas, don't. It's not funny," I said. Honestly, I was expecting him to deny seeing a ghost and say that it was a prank. But Lucas was actually looking pale.

"Maybe we should sit inside our cars outside," Julian recommended.

"Geez. Knuckleheads," I muttered as I stormed off. They couldn't have listened to me the first time to not come in here. I walked down the hallway with the boys slowly making their way behind.

As I made my way down the front steps of the asylum, I noticed a figure standing there. It looked like the girl from the video Lucas made. My face paled and I stopped dead in my tracks, waiting for the boys to catch up. The short girl stood there with her hands down by her sides. Dark hair hid her face from me.

Where were the guys?

"Cassie."

Relief flooded through me as Julian came to stand next to me. "Look," I said pointing to the spot where the girl stood.

But there was nothing there, now.

"Where?" Julian asked confused.

I was way more confused than he was. "I swear there was a girl standing at the end of these steps!"

"It was that video. I'm sure there's scientific reasoning behind it," he said. "For now, we should head on. Lucas and Brandon wanted to inspect the morgue again."

"Idiots," I mumbled as Julian and I walked down the steps. We had only gone down two when the girl popped up again. "Look!"

Julian saw it this time and his facial expression was un-readable. "This is absurd." He made a motion to go farther but I stopped him by grabbing his arm.

"Why the hell are you going after...that?" I hissed.

He looked at my hand first which I immediately pulled back. Then, he met my eyes. "Darling, what can that little girl possibly do to me?"

He had a point. "I don't want to go near it."

"Wait here, then, Darling," he said with a small smile and walked down. "Nothing will happen."

"Julian, don't you go near it," I called after him. I swear all the boys around me never did anything rational.

Julian kept on walking down to the girl in worn out clothes. The top of her head probably reached Julian's elbow. He didn't seem bothered at all as he approached the creepy being.

"Hello," he said to her. Who the hell said hello to a ghost? "Who are you?"

"Julian!" I said from near the top of the steps. He ignored me.

"I'm Julian. May I ask what you're doing here?" This time, the girl made a motion of shaking her head. It was beyond creepy in the dark. "Do you live here?" She nodded this time.

"Julian, get away from her!" I yelled at him. He was so calm and kind and ridiculous.

"Are you a spirit?" Julian carefully asked. Damn this boy.

"Yes." Her voice was so loud and so high-pitched that it scared a bird away nearby. Julian even took a step back from her in shock.

"Why are you here?" he asked.

"Must...take...revenge!" she cried, pulling out a knife. I didn't know what to do. Where were Brandon and Lucas? Their ghost was standing out here while they searched the damn morgue. I fumbled around my pockets for my cell phone. It was in the car because I never got service in this area.

Great.

"Revenge for what?" Julian cautiously took another step back. Taking a deep breath, I slowly started making my way down. In horror movies, this wasn't that great of an idea, but I couldn't just stand there like an idiot. Julian didn't seem like he was in a good position. I knew for a fact that if I were in his situation, he wouldn't just stand still and watch me.

"Revenge...for...making...this...place!" she screamed. "All...of...you...will...die!" In one motion, she flung the knife at Julian hitting him straight in the chest.

My eyes widened, and so did Julian's as he clutched the knife.

I ran down as fast as I possibly could to Julian's side. He was taking the knife out, showing a great deal of pain on his face. By the time I reached him, he was on the ground with blood all over his chest. The knife laid on the ground next to him.

"No, no, no, no. Julian!" I panicked. For a second, my brain blanked out. This couldn't be possible. No, no, no, no, no! "I have to call the ambulance!" I was ready to run to my car.

"Cassie," Julian's weak voice called behind me. "Co- come here."

"No, I have to call the damn ambulance!" I said, my body shaking at what I had just witnessed.

"Too late. Co- come h- here, dar-ling," he pleaded and then winced at the blood on his chest. He had even said the "r."

Quickly, I hurried to his side. "Julian, I- I-"

He grabbed one of my hands tightly. "I wo- won't make it. Ple- please forgive me for ever- everything wrong I did."

I never got the chance to say anything as his grip loosened and his sky blue eyes shut.

Julian Aylmer died in the cold snow.

¤》¤《¤

A/N

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