<div class="floatright">(http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p121/Mab_faerie/Elliquiy/Fatal%20Frame%20RP/3d87bccc-3262-498c-9304-e5ce4bd1ac06_zps54265354.jpg)</div>At first, Cassandra had actually heralded the appearance of that strange diary as a boon, as that seemed to mark the moment when her nightmares had finally stopped. It still didn't make any sense how the small platinum tome had gotten there in the first place, but if she didn't have to face Renault anymore, she almost didn't even care. Her sleep had become more regular, even her roommate seemed happy that she hadn't woken up in the middle of the night for over a week now. Things were finally starting to look up, she was finally able to concentrate on her studies(although she had still failed that last research paper) and she was even thinking about maybe joining her school's photography club. But it wasn't too long before things started to get even stranger.<br/><br/>One night, about a week since finding the diary, she was hanging out with Elaine, her roommate, in the common area where they both watched TV and played videogames together. Cassie was wearing her favorite teddy, made of silk and the same color as her hair(and the book), while the pretty and petite, dark-haired girl was lounging back, wearing only a tee shirt and her silky white panties, with a Dual Shock 3 in her hands as she stared intently at the screen. Suddenly she turned to Cassie and tilted her head, "You know, maybe it<em>was</em>really some evil spirit and not Malcolm that forced his way inside you," she remarked as casually as if she might have been imparting some tip regarding her admittedly poor Tekken skills.<br/><br/>"Wha?..." Cassie's eyes widened, "what the hell? Where the fuck did that come from?!?" she glared angrily at Elaine. Never mind the fact that she hadn't even mentioned anything about that night to another living soul. "How the hell did you..."<br/><br/>But Elaine seemed to persist, taken only slightly aback by the intensity of the other girl's response. "What do you mean, where did it come from? You fall for that throw every time I come up and do it. I don't even have to chicken it, because you've never learned to escape it. It's fairly simple to do..." she nodded sagely.<br/><br/>Cassandra's eyes widened, a perplexed expression on her slightly rounded features, "Wait no, that's not what you were..." she shook her head as Elaine looked at her like she was crazy. "Didn't you just... wait you were telling me about Tekken?"<br/><br/>The other girl nodded, "Yup. Just trying to give you a few hints so you can put up a better fight. If you don't mind me saying..."<br/><br/>The Canadienne just giggled nervously, now that she wasn't even sure she hadn't just been hearing things. "Oh I don't mind. I just... well... ah its nothing. Thanks for the advice, Elaine."<br/><br/>"Oh sure, not a problem. Anytime, really. You know, I've got another piece of advice for you, while I'm in the mood to hand out sage wisdom," she smiled almost smugly. Cassie just nodded for the other girl to continue, which she did. "You know how you kind of bombed that last research paper? Well... if you were to spend half the time studying as you did scribbling in that new journal of yours, maybe you could pass the next one."<br/><br/>Cassie did another double take, now actively wondering if she was hearing things again. "Wait... was that another piece of advice about Tekken?"<br/><br/>"No, I was talking about your obsession with that diary. What is it with that thing, anyway?"<br/><br/>Cassandra was flabbergasted, "I've never even opened the thing since it... erm... since I got it. I'm not sure what you are... fine, I'll go get it and show you. It doesn't even have a single word in it." Without letting her roommate reply, she hopped up to her feet and ran into her room, grabbing the diary and bringing it back out into the living room.<br/><br/>She set it in front of Elaine and opened it up. "See...?"<br/><br/>"Mhmm I sure do. I see that you have spent way too much time writing in that thing."<br/><br/>"What do you...!" she glanced down, and sure enough there was page after page of furious scribbling, in penmanship that definitely seemed to be Cassie's own, but... how? She couldn't remember having written a single word in there? But it was all there, everything from her time in the coven, that horrible night with her high priest and then all the effort she had put into getting as far away from that moment in both real space and in head space as well, to varying degrees of success and/or failure. "This doesn't make any sense!"<br/><br/>Elaine just nodded, "You're telling me. And no, before you ask, I didn't actually read it. I just opened it because I was worried about you, but I couldn't bring myself to actually spy on your personal life. That's some really fierce handwriting, though. Some real pain and emotion behind it, I would be willing to guess. If you ever wanted to talk about it..."<br/><br/>Cassie snatched up the diary and clutched it possessively, "No! I don't want to talk about anything!" she was shaking like a leaf, trying to make sense of everything that seemed to be happening. "Just... leave me the fuck alone!" she blurted out, trying to hold off the tears as she stormed off and shut herself in her room for the rest of the evening. Sleep came sooner or later, once again nightmare free, although she was starting to feel like the waking world was becoming even more of one.