The sound of frantic footsteps down the hallway in the middle of the night woke Cassie. She lifted her head up drowsily, hearing what could only sound like Cherie walking down the hall, speaking on the phone loudly. Cassie slowly sat up, pushing her bedcovers aside as Marc stirred beside her.

"Hm...what's matter?" he mumbled groggily.

"I don't know," Cassie murmured. "Cherie's out in the hall and—"

Lights flickered on in the hallway, and a few more voices joined Cherie. She could hear Wyatt and Lillian now, joined by what sounded like Irene in the distance. Cassie stood up, Marc joining her. They approached the door of their bedroom and stepped outside, finding the whole hall awake and speaking frantically with each other.

"Well, did you call Dr. Bradford?" Lillian asked, her hands on her hips.

"He's coming as fast as he can, and I tried CPR, but—"

"What's going on?!" Cassie gasped. All eyes suddenly turned toward her.

"Francesco's unresponsive," Cherie said. "I need to go back upstairs and—" She quickly rushed back up the steps, her phone still in her hand.

Cassie's heart was beating rapidly. The others looked just as terrified, if not more. Mitsuki and Wyatt had gone deathly silent. Another door creaked open, and Cassie turned, finding Elijah trying to creep out of his room.

"Mommy? Why everyone up?" he asked, rubbing his tired eyes.

Cassie quickly rushed to the child. The last thing she wanted was for him to get caught up in this business. She brought him into his room and sat him down on the bed. "You go back to sleep, okay?" she said, gently touching his cheek.

"But what happen?" Elijah asked.

"Francesco is very sick, so we needed to call the doctor. You don't need to worry about it. Just go back to bed, okay?" Cassie said, though she doubted Elijah would be able to fall asleep with all the incessant chatter.

His door creaked open again, and Irene popped her head in.

"I can watch him," Irene offered. "I haven't known Francesco that long. You take care of Francesco. I'll make sure Elijah falls back asleep."

Cassie breathed in relief. "Okay, thank you," she said, quickly leaving the child behind to his own mother. She rushed back out of the hall, running toward the others. Her heart was beating rapidly, and her limbs were beginning to shake out of fear.

"What happened?" Cassie asked. "When did this start?"

"Francesco has been acting off for a while now," Lillian muttered. "I was going to tell Cherie tonight to schedule a doctor appointment but I forgot!"

"This isn't your fault," Conny offered for comfort. "I thought something was up too."

"Apparently Cherie was going to bed late, as she normally does, when she found Francesco slumped over on his desk. That's when she started calling Dr. Bradford and performing CPR and..."

"No luck?" Cassie asked.

"I think I need to go lay down for a little bit," Mitsuki murmured, heading back to her bedroom. She watched Lillian extend her hand, as if to comfort her, but she pulled back at the last moment, letting Mitsuki go off.

The doorbell suddenly rang. Marc quickly left Cassie's side to bolt down the steps. She had a feeling this was going to be a long night.

...

Cassie awoke around noon the next day, feeling groggy and exhausted. Her eyes felt weak and crusted over with dried tears. Despite Dr. Bradford's efforts, it was too late. Francesco had gone without a heartbeat for far too long. Without an autopsy, it was difficult to wonder what exactly had caused the old man's demise, but Dr. Bradford's best guess was that it had been a heart attack based on the symptoms the others were bringing up to the doctor.

The man that had so kindly taken Cassie in and had given her the ability to be trained was now gone. He had always been such a gentle soul and brought so much livelihood to the cabin. Cassie feared what was next, what his death meant for the future of the cabin, and for the future of their siege.

Marc shifted in his sleep slightly, his arm slowly tucking around Cassie's body. He must have heard her tossing just now. Despite Cassie's wish to stay in bed all day, she knew she had to face the others eventually. She gently grasped Marc's arm as a light signal she was awake.

His eyes fluttered open. Normally he would open his mouth to say "good morning," but Cassie wasn't so sure that was appropriate for today. Instead, he gave her a small kiss and sat up, rubbing his eyes. She was still laying down, turning her body to look at the ceiling.

"We should get up," Marc said quietly.

"I know," Cassie murmured, trying to hold back a few more tears. Slowly, she sat and dragged her body out of the bedroom, deciding to find out if Elijah was still asleep. Her body felt heavy and ached with sadness. She walked down the hall slowly and opened up Elijah's door. Her eyes widened at the sight.

Elijah was up, wandering around his bedroom and quietly playing with his toys. Collapsed on his floor was Irene, and it appeared the child had carefully placed a blanket on her body and shoved some stuffed animals near her.

"Hi, good morning," Cassie said.

He held his finger up to his mouth. "Sh...Irene sleeping," he said.

Cassie quietly chuckled. She wasn't sure laughter was possible given the night's past events, but Elijah still managed to put a smile on her face.

"Why don't you wake Irene up so we can all eat something?" Cassie suggested.

Elijah nodded and carefully crept down next to Irene, poking her face slightly. She let out a small groan and stretched slightly, her eyes opening.

"Irene, time to get up!" Elijah exclaimed, his quiet tone quickly gone.

Irene yawned and slowly sat up, noticing Cassie standing in the doorway.

"Sorry. I crashed in here by accident," Irene said as she sat up.

"Elijah made sure you were extra comfortable, it seems," Cassie said, staring at the array of soft blankets and stuffed animals close to her. She watched Irene's face slowly curl into a smile before she stood up, her face growing grim again.

"Francesco is...not with us, correct?" Irene asked quietly.

Cassie shook her head. "Come downstairs when you're ready. We need to—" She glanced at Elijah and back at Irene, signaling they were going to have to tell him the news eventually. Irene somberly nodded, staring back at her own son.

As Cassie exited the bedroom, she interlaced hands with Marc and slowly walked down the steps. The entire kitchen and adjoining living room was mostly quiet save for the sound of food being prepared and utensils clacking against dishes. Cherie was nowhere in sight.

"Is Cherie upstairs?" Cassie asked.

"She's making funeral preparations," Wyatt murmured, taking a bite of scrambled egg. "Also looking into his will..."

Cassie nodded and took a seat at the kitchen table. Conny and Lillian were also nibbling on some food, though both appeared to not have any appetite. Cassie frankly didn't have one either, but Marc made her some toast anyway and took a seat next to her.

"Where's Irene?" Conny wondered.

"She just woke up. She took care of Elijah last night. I...I think she might be telling him about what happened, though I offered to tell him together with her," Cassie shared.

"Where's Mitsuki?" Marc asked.

Lillian was quiet as she took a sip of hot soup.

"She's not taking it well," Lillian said. "Not that any of us are, but...I can't get her to leave her room right now. Francesco took her in after her last mentor died, and I think that meant a lot to her. I'm sure the same goes for you, Wyatt."

Wyatt nodded quietly. His eyes looked just as red, if not more than, the others from a night of tears.

"Have you tried talking to her?" Cassie asked.

"A little bit. Don't worry. I'm still making sure she eats and all that. I'm going to bring her up some soup after I'm done eating and see if we can talk a little bit. If she doesn't want to, then that's fine, but I'll make sure she eats at least," Lillian explained. "How are you two holding up?"

"Okay," Cassie stated, though it was hard to believe she would never see Francesco's jolly face again. He'd quite literally saved them after Irene's betrayal. She owed everyone's well-being to him while she was away with her family. It would feel wrong not seeing him sitting in his favorite chair, reading the newspaper or drinking some hot coffee in the morning. She felt guilty knowing he'd never get to see them take down the Preservers. They needed to succeed now more than ever, for his sake.

Cassie hadn't even realized she'd been crying until Marc placed his hand over hers. She sniffed quietly, gratefully accepting a spare tissue that Wyatt pushed her way. She blew her nose into it and quietly continued eating.

"Well, I'm off," Lillian said as she grabbed another bowl of soup. "Wish me luck."

Cassie opened her mouth to wish her good luck, but her throat had gone chalky again. Marc continued rubbing his thumb over her hand, slowly comforting her. She had no idea how he was acting so strong, though when she glanced up, she could see his eyes appeared glossy too.

"Okay, let's eat something," Irene called enthusiastically, stepping into the kitchen. Elijah was following, cuddling a purple hippo stuffed animal close to him. It was just then that Cassie realized that stuffed animal had been a present from Francesco for his birthday.

"Mommy," Elijah said, shuffling over to Cassie. "Irene says 'Cisco not coming back. That true?"

The whole table had gone deathly quiet.

"N-No," Cassie said, reaching down to stroke his cheek. "He's not coming back. But he's going to be a lot happier now. He won't be tired all the time anymore."

"I going to miss him," Elijah said, squeezing the plushy closer.

"We all are," Marc said.

"Mommy, don't cry," Elijah said, squeezing her hand. "You said he happy now, right?"

Cassie slowly nodded, holding back tears again. She squeezed his tiny hand back and smiled weakly at him. She knew Elijah didn't completely understand. Death was a very new thing to him. She only wished she could possess his level of optimism though when it came to such tragedy.