Cameron's Perspective
9:30 A.M
Ma tells me to help her carry boxes out of our very clean (and safe) basement. Some of the boxes are rather heavy, and she and I have to heave them up the stairs. Half the time, we are barely making it.
"Cameron," Ma starts. I glance up from opening a box, which I discover has the christmas lights in it.
"Yes?" The next box is so taped up, it requires scissors.
"Can you hand me the wreath?" She points behind me. I pick it up and toss it to her, and she narrowly catches it. "I'm going to put it on the door."
"That's a good idea." I turn to the box and try to pry it open with the black scissors. It doesn't work so well, and I have to grab a small kitchen knife to cut the tape.
Ma disappears down the hall, leaving me wrestling to open the most stubborn box in the world.
Anne Maria's Perspective
9:30 A.M
"Oh... my... GOSH!" I squeal. "Look at those shoes!"
Mama shakes her head. "I'm going to the bookstore next door. Meet me there when you're done here."
"That might take a while," I state. Mama shakes her head again and disappears. I'm still obsessing over the shoes when a cute blonde employer whose name tag reads "Jake" walks over. I smile and set my hands on my hips, batting my eyes.
"Hi," I say in a flirty way.
"Hi. Can I help you?" he asks. I point to the shoes.
"How much are those?"
When he tells me the price, I'm stunned. "What?!"
He shrugs apologetically. "They just came out. The price will go down in a few months, though."
"A few months? Are you serious? I don't got time for that!"
He shrugs again. "Is there anything else you need help with?"
"No! That's just crazy! I'm done here!" I snap, stomp my foot, and barge out of the store, causing a mother and her young toddler daughter to move quickly out of my way.
Stupid shoes. They're so out of style anyway.
Dawn's Perspective
10:00 A.M
I find myself back out on the porch a little while later. Mom is out doing errands, so she can't keep asking me what's wrong. I just can't believe I'd be so down over a boy, especially Scott. He got half the people voted off, everyone hates him, he was a dirty little liar, he got me voted off by tricking everyone... so why do I still like him?
I lie down on the hammock and swing for a while. I guess I drift off to sleep because suddenly, I'm back on the island.
"Here, Dawn. You forgot your bag. Oh, oops," Scott's voice from somewhere comes as the bag drops to the ground. I watch in horror as random objects tumble out of my bag. Jo's whistle, Anne Maria's hair brush, Scott's sharktooth...
Scott's sharktooth. His way of throwing everyone off guard.
Suddenly, I'm standing in the middle of the other campers, all glaring down at me. Anne Maria and Jo threatening me. Scott smirking. Brick's surprised face. Zoey and Mike's shocked faces. They all haunt me.
"I didn't do it!" I try to choke out. But before I can, someone grabs me, stuffs me in a bag in which I can hardly breathe, and everything goes silent. Then I am watching Cameron and Lightning battling. I'm in the first row, along with most other campers, rooting for Cameron. Scott is in a trauma machine, he looks absolutely dreadful, and he's on the ground in front of me. Occasionally, either a green button or a red button will go off. When someone asks what it means, Chris says no one cares. Everyone's laughing and I suddenly feel sick. Extremely dizzy. Red beams flying all over. Screams from everyone.
I jump up, my eyes wide. I look around to find myself safely in my hammock. I try to steady my breathing. I decide to go for a walk. There's a park not far from my house with walking trails. I crawl off the hammock and pull on my green sweatshirt over a purple tee-shirt I'm wearing. I leave a note on the counter so if Mom comes back, she knows where I went, and grab a house key. I step on the front porch, lock the door, and head off.
Out of nowhere, a squirrel runs up and halts in front of my feet. It's holding a piece of paper. I bend down.
"Is that for me?" I question. The squirrel says yes and holds it out. I take it. "Thank you."
The squirrel runs off. I stare at the note for several minutes, but I'm not reading it. It's for me? But from who?
I shake my head to clear the thoughts. I fold the note carefully and put it in my pocket, deciding to read it at the park, and continue walking.
When I reach the trails, I pick a random one and start up it. I look around, picking up rocks that look different or really pretty and putting them in a bag I brought with me. I finally reach the top where there is a big rock I usually sit on when I get there. So I step over and set myself down. I breathe in the air, feeling calm. Something falls out of my pocket. The note!
I bend over quickly and snatch it up before it can blow away and unfold it. My eyes skim it.
I guess he got really angry because I set fire to an old building and the police caught me and threatened to send me to prison. So he pulled out the belt and hit me as hard as he possibly could. I bit my lip so hard it started bleeding. He didn't see. When he finally dropped me on the ground, I stayed curled in a ball until he left. I heard him getting a beer out of the fridge and couldn't believe he was getting drunk while he was still this angry. I had the sense to get up and run before he could get a hold of me again. He says the reason Ellen and he got divoriced was because she hated me and couldn't take me anymore and left. I don't know where she is anymore, and I wonder what would happen even if she was here. Would she beat me, too, or would she stop him, or would she get drunk, too, after beating me? My back hurts really bad. I'll probably have back pain forever. And scars, too.
I fold the note up and place it carefully back in my pocket. There was a reason I got this note. I think it was by accident, but I'm not sure. I wonder who wrote it.
I look up at the sun, its position telling me just how late it has gotten. I leap up, and jog back home, throwing myself through the front door the minute it's unlocked.
"Sorry I'm home late," I apologize when Mom glances at me. She's fixing dinner.
"Those trails must have been interesting today," she teases.
I smile. "Oh, Mom, they're always interesting. I picked up some really neat looking rocks, too."
Mom grins. "Maybe later, dear," she promises before turning back to chopping onions like a professional, quickly and cleanly.
I hug my bag and carry it to my room, then place the bag on my bed. I tug a big bin out from under my bed and open it. It's full of all kinds of rocks and crystals and shells. I pick up a shell I had gathered from the islands, a pink seashell. I remember that's what I was doing when I found Zoey looking heartbroken that one day. I gently place the shell back in the box and spread out on my bed, completely exhausted and not really wanting to do anything. I reach down and pick up a book that had all kinds of fairy tales in it. Before I start reading, I reach into my pocket, slip out the note, and place it on the table next to my bed. I'll find out who it belongs to. There was a reason I found it. I don't think it was a coincidence. I don't really believe in coincidences.
Scott's Perspective
9:15 P.M
I've been lying in the bed, restlessly turning all night. When I can no longer stand it and feel like I'm drowning in sheets, I drag myself out of bed. A few minutes pass, and since I still feel groggy, I take a really quick shower and get dressed in jeans and a black and red tee-shirt.
The house is silent, I notice, as I cautiously creep out into the hallway. I don't know where Pappy is, and as I sneak through the house, I'm hoping I don't run into him. Fortunately, he's not here, so I make a bowl of Coco Puffs and plant myself down in front of the television. There's nothing exciting but old cartoons on, so I settle on watching Looney Tunes and feeling very much like an overgrown five-year old.
I sit like that for a good 30 minutes before I feel my rear end growing numb (as well as my legs) and wait until the feeling returns and my body stops tingling before standing back up. I still have a slight dizzy feeling, so I lean against a couch before taking my bowl to the kitchen and dumping it in the sink. I am exhausted, but I don't want to go back to bed. So I tough it out and sit on the couch to watch more T.V.
I open my eyes. Even in the fogginess, I see a beautiful angel with soft blue eyes and bleach blonde hair down to her waist. After my head stops spinning and the fog goes away, I get a better look at the girl.
"Dawn?" Why the heck is Dawn in my living room? She just gives me a small smile and waves.
"Hi, Scott," she whispers softly.
"What are you doing here?" I ask. I try to get up, but my body feels heavy and I can't move at all. Dawn doesn't answer, but she stands there staring at me, and as we stare at eachother, her eyes get colder and her hands clench into fists, and then she fades out. When I come to, I'm in a huge white room. I'm lying on a bed (also all white), and there's nothing else in the room. There aren't any windows, but there is a narrow door. I slowly crawl off the bed, and my eyes widen as I find that I'm wearing white pants and a white shirt. I tug on the doorknob, but the door refuses to open. I tug harder.
"Stubborn door," I grunt. I yank on the handle so hard I'm surprised it doesn't come off in my hand. The door is locked for sure. I raise my fist and am about to start banging as loud as I possibly can, but I retract my arm just barely before it hits the door. I hear voices on the other side of the door. I press my ear roughly to the door to hear what they are saying, but the door must be thicker than I thought, because all I can hear are muffled noises. A bang comes, and then louder muffled noises. I assume that someone hit something and then started shouting. I scrunch my eyebrows.
I can hear them. But can they hear me?
I raise my fist and knock it on the door as loud as I can. No one answers and the yelling endures. I bang harder. Still nothing. I bang and bang until my fists sting. I uncurl my fists; my hands are bright red and still stinging.
Realizing that no one is going to help me, or free me, I slump defeatedly against the door. I guess I fell asleep, because the next thing I know, I'm lying on the floor, staring up at the ceiling. An unfamiliar man with brown hair and scary gray eyes steps up and stares down upon me, and it frightens me, but I try my best to keep a completely straight, unrevealing face so he can't tell.
"What do you think you are doing?" He questions in a gruff voice. I can't answer, so I just swallow and don't move. He reaches down, grabs my shirt and hauls me up and shoves me roughly back in the room. Before he can close the door, I hear a girl's voice.
"Wait!" My head jerks up.
"Dawn?" I say hopefully. But my face falls when a brunette wearing a nurse's outfit runs up.
"I need to take him to the office," she tells the man. "I'll bring him back afterwards, Philip."
She gestures me to follow and I stand very slowly and cautiously. As I follow her down the hall, I notice how pretty she is. Her dark hair is pulled up in a short ponytail and she is thin and has a cheerful personality. But she isn't prettier than Dawn.
"Dawn..." I sigh, watching the ground.
"We're here."
I glance up. In front of me is a small and of course, white room and another woman, this one with reddish hair, who waves me over to a table, which I sit on. I sit quietly while they do weird tests on me. They tell me they're testing my brain. So I stay still. Dawn drifts through my mind. Suddenly, I remember Dawn was there when I passed out. I jump up, ripping out some tube thing they stuck to my arm. It burns when I rip it out, and I flinch.
"Where's Dawn?!" I cry. The nurse and doctor jump back, startled.
"Who's Dawn?"
"She's a beautiful blonde girl! She was there when I passed out! Where is she?"
The doctor shakes her head calmly. "There is no Dawn. You have gone crazy. That's why you're here now, Scott."
"No! Dawn was here! I know it!" I feel a pinch on my arm and spin to find that the nurse has just stabbed me with a needle. I feel everything starting to spin again.
"There. Now you should be feeling calm," the doctor says innocently.
"No!" I am getting very sleepy, but they can't know that. "I want Dawn! Now!" Now I feel extremely weak. "Please go find her! I want her!"
"There is no Dawn. There never has been. and there never will be."
My words are starting to get slurred. "Nah! She... she... was... she wa' he-yah. I swear it!" I can't fight it anymore. I feel myself hit the ground and...
I scream. I twist and turn like a tornado until I'm certain there are no nurses or doctors. I'm breathing heavily. Finally, after five minutes or so, my breath is steady enough for me to open my eyes again and look around. And when I do... I'm in my living room, on the floor. No Dawn. No creepy white rooms. No lying doctors or nurses. Just me, my house, and...
"Scott! Where are you, you useless boy?!"
Pappy. I push myself up and run to him. I consider telling him about the creepy dream, but he most likely wouldn't care. So I instead say, "Yes?"
"Help me unload the car! I got bunch o' wood." He stomps off.
I chase after obediently. Pappy and I move several planks of wood from the car all the way down to the basement. I'm not sure what Pappy is building, nor do I care. The minute we drop the last board, I take off. I'm out the front door for fresh air, still spooked from that nightmare. Well, daymare, I guess, as I discover it's still light out.
I walk around for a little while, but when it starts getting dark, I run home. Pappy is downstairs working, I can hear the saw going. I am too tired to eat anything, so I lie on my bed, thinking about that dream. They kept saying I was messed up, mental... They told me Dawn didn't exist. Strangely enough, my arm still hurts where the nurse in the dream stabbed me with the needle to put me out. I rub it away and stare up at my ceiling. I finally fall asleep after several hours, and I am terrified to see the brunette nurse's face return.
Author's Note: What do you guys think? Sorry this chapter was a little short, but I'll have more chapters ready soon.