CHAPTER 14: "SUNDAY DAWNING"
Sunday, June 22nd, 2008 – 04:29 a.m.
Burbank
The door to John's bedroom was slammed open.
"MORRIS IS IN TROUBLE!" Lauren shouted and breathed heavily, leaning on the doorframe.
She was exhausted and could barely stay upright. The way down the stairs must have taken all her strength. John stirred, opened his eyes and then suddenly startled and sat straight up, trying to cover his exposed privates. Next to him lay Cameron and Alison, also in their birthday suits. The blanket had somehow slipped to the ground during the night.
"Ooops…" Lauren said and put her hand before her eyes. "Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry…"
"Jeeez, Lauren," John exclaimed, "would you at least have the decency to knock?"
He quickly reached down to the floor and tried to pull up the blanket in order to cover himself and the girls with it.
"You should lock your door, you know," Lauren replied, peeking through her fingers, then flinched and covered her eyes again.
John looked at Alison. Alison looked at Cameron. Cameron looked at John.
"I thought you had locked it," they all stated in unison.
John groaned.
"Apparently not," he said. "What's this about, Lauren? At…" he glanced at the clock "… four-thirty in the morning?"
They heard bare feet, quickly running down the stairs.
"What's all the noise?" Sarah asked and entered the bedroom in her night gown, carrying a shotgun.
Derek followed right behind in his pajamas, and he was armed and ready with an AK-47.
"I heard loud voices. Everyone alright?" he asked.
John groaned in embarrassment as he finally managed to pull up the blanket and cover himself. Sarah and Derek gaped at them and quickly turned around.
"You should lock your door, young man" his mother said in an accusatory tone, looking back over her shoulder.
"You don't say!" John exclaimed.
In the meantime, Lauren had caught her breath.
"I received a text message from Morris," she said. "He asks me to meet him. Now."
"What?" Sarah asked. "At half past four in the morning?"
"He didn't write it! Somebody else must have used his phone!"
"Why don't you start at the beginning?" John said in a now calm voice. "And will you please give us some privacy while we get dressed first? Jeez…"
Five minutes later, they'd gathered in the living room and taken a seat on the sofas and in the armchairs. Woken up by the noise, Charley had joined them, too, yawning loudly.
"Morris started texting me right after he left us at the 'Food, Etc.' in Magic Mountain," Lauren said. "We've been sending text messages back and forth, and when I was about to go to bed, he wrote that something strange had happened."
"Did you tell him our address already?" Derek asked.
"No!" Lauren replied. "I wanted him to ask for it, but he didn't yet. I thought he should make the next move."
"Thank heavens for teenage pairing rituals," Derek said relieved.
"What did Morris write?" Sarah asked.
"Here, let me show you," Lauren answered and scrolled up the screen on her cellphone.
08:42 Morris: Still partying here, I mentioned that I met u at MM. Classmate said there was a guy at school yesterday, looking 4 u.
08:44 Lauren: 4 me?
08:48 Morris: No, 4 John and his sisters. Showed pics of them around. Classmate recognized Cam and John from school, also saw a redhead with a ponytail. I'd say Alison.
08:49 Lauren: What pics? Where were they taken?
08:52 Morris: Dunno. Didn't see them. Classmate said they looked like taken with a telephoto lens.
08:53 Lauren: Police?
08:55 Morris: No. Latino with tattoos. I'd say street gang. Left a phone number.
08:57 Lauren: Morris, this is important. Please talk with nobody about it, ok? I'll explain tomorrow.
08:58 Morris: Only if u agree to our date ;-)
09:00 Lauren: Yes, we'll go to the movies. Please tell no one.
09:02 Morris: Cool. And no, I won't.
There was a large gap in time, then another text message by Morris:
04:22 Morris: Hello Lauren, can u meet me at my place asap? It's urgent, you need to hurry. But come alone! It's about John and Cameron."
"That's it?" Sarah asked.
"Seems like a lot," Cameron commented.
"Redhead with a ponytail…" John said thoughtfully. "That means the pictures must have been taken Friday, on our little field trip. That's the only time we three were together since Alison arrived from the future."
"Yes," Alison agreed.
"How do you know the last message isn't from Morris?" Derek asked.
"Isn't it obvious? Morris knows that I'm in a wheel chair and can't come alone to meet him."
-0-
Sunday, June 22nd, 2008 – 04:46 a.m.
Burbank
Cameron and Alison put on jeans, tee shirts, combat boots and their beloved leather jackets. John dressed similar, but he also put on a bullet-proof vest, courtesy of Monday night's assassins.
"Are you sure you don't want us to come with you?" Sarah asked her son.
"Yes, mom, I'm sure. It'll be a quick in-and-out. It's probably those gang guys again. They invaded Morris' home and are probably holding him hostage. His only lead to us is Lauren because Morris has her number. That's probably why they texted her."
"You know it could be more than one person, John," Derek said. "There could be dozens of them there."
"That's why I'm taking both girls. But I doubt there'll be many of them. Morris lives in a quiet neighborhood in Van Nuys. Not exactly fancy but no gang territory. They'll be cautious to not stir up the whole street."
"Be careful anyway, ok?" Sarah said and kissed her son goodbye.
Charley just watched the whole situation and shook his head in disbelief. So much for dealing with the street gangs once and for all.
Their plan contained using two cars, so John and Cameron took the Dodge RAM while Alison took Lauren's Jeep Liberty. They were all connected via the head sets they'd also taken from the dead assassins. John was driving ahead, Alison followed. Estimated time of arrival according to Cameron, was in 22 minutes and 13 seconds.
"Any idea how they were able to know at which high school to look for us so quickly?" John asked.
"Parking ticket," Alison said.
"What?"
"Lauren had a parking ticket resting on her dashboard, just behind the windscreen of her Jeep. I'm holding it in my hand now. Two weeks ago, she parked at 15100 Bassett Street West in Van Nuys and received a ticket for it."
"If the pictures of us were taken with a telephoto lens as Morris wrote," Cameron said, "then whoever took the pictures, must have zoomed in on the Jeep from somewhere while we were stationary in order to be able to read the ticket."
"But where?" John asked. "The three of us were only stationary together at Chola's house and in front of the gang's headquarters. I don't like the thought that somebody saw us and took pictures. I don't like that at all."
"We'll know soon enough," Cameron said. "They probably checked all schools around Bassett Street in Van Nuys. It's what I'd have done. Eventually, they got lucky and came to the right school, where they remembered us vividly, with the house explosion and all."
John groaned.
"Did I ever mention that I hate bad karma?"
"You haven't," Alison said.
"At least not until now," Cameron added.
"All right. I hate bad karma."
It had already begun to dawn. Soon the streets would be flooded with cars, even on this Sunday morning. But right now they were still empty with almost no traffic. Most traffic lights were in night mode and only flashed their yellow lights. They didn't even need twenty minutes to reach Morris' home.
"Have you been at his house before?" Alison asked.
"No," John replied, "I wish I had, though. Would have loved to hang out with him. He repeatedly invited me and gave me his address, but we were always too busy. You know, with Andy Goode, his Turk, Derek, finding Sarkissian, and other stuff. And then we had to flee from the old house…"
"That must be it." Cameron said and pointed at a single-family house at the end of a cul-de-sac.
It looked a little like the house John, Sarah and Cameron had lived in before it had blown up. The front door was completely obscured by bushes and a wooden fence. It was ideal for the plan John had come up with.
"Alright, I'll drive by slowly first, and you two scan the house and the vicinity. Then we park further back on the street, call mom and give the signal."
"Yes, John," both girls confirmed in unison, which sounded strange with Alison speaking over the head set.
"Detecting anything?" John asked, as he slowly turned around at the end of the street.
"Not on the outside," Alison said. "But the insulation of the house is very bad. I can detect six different body heat signatures."
"Three upstairs in a room, apparently motionless, probably on a bed." Cameron added. "The other three downstairs, two of them pacing around."
John nodded.
"Morris has a younger sister," he said. "With his parents that's four people. That means the other two must be intruders, probably the ones that are pacing around. I reckon they locked his parents and his sister in a room upstairs and keep Morris with them in the living room."
"Only two…" Alison stated slowly, "that makes it more likely they watched us from across the street when we parked at Chola's house."
"How so?" John asked.
"Because if they'd seen us blow up the gang headquarters, they wouldn't be trying to lure us into a trap with just two people."
"Right."
John stopped the car a few houses down the street and Alison came to a halt behind them. He pointed at a black Lincoln Navigator with huge chrome rims that was parked in front of Morris' house.
"That thing doesn't fit in the neighborhood," he said. "Too bling and too expensive."
"Shall I put a tracking device on it?" Alison asked.
"Do it." John replied.
Alison left the Jeep and mounted a small black box inside the left rear wheel arch, then came to the open passenger window of the RAM.
"We have a signal," Cameron said as she looked at her iPhone.
"Good," John responded, pulled out his own phone and dialed Sarah's number.
"Mom? We're here."
-0-
Sarah nodded at Lauren. The girl pressed "send" on her cellphone.
05:09 Lauren: I'll be there in 30
Then she looked at Sarah, Derek and Charley who tried to look re-assuring. Nobody was worried for John or the two girls, but they were tense, nevertheless. It was clear that this was a critical situation. They had to keep it contained before the knowledge about John, the girls and Morris spread even more in gang circles, before it took on a life of its own, triggering a chain reaction they couldn't control anymore. Everyone knew this had to end, and it had to end now. Sarah looked at Charley and she could see he was uncomfortable, fearing there might be more deaths this morning. She knew he was probably right about that.
"They'll do what is necessary," she said and touched his arm.
"That's what I'm worried about," Charley replied with a grim face, but then took her hand and attempted a smile. "While we wait, why don't you tell me more about Cameron? You mentioned there were situations when she seemed almost human to you. What exactly were those situations?"
Sarah sighed and thought for a moment.
"From the beginning, she made a girlie impression on me," she finally said. "She always wore that stoic Terminator mask but every now and then, I caught a glimpse behind that mask. The first time was when John gave her one of those diamonds we found. She seemed to be genuinely pleased about that."
"A diamond? Really?"
"Yes, funny, isn't it? John told her that 'diamonds are a girl's best friend'."
Charley chuckled.
"Then there were moments where she tried to be funny, making puns. What machine tries to make puns? It felt awkward but it was clear she'd gotten the hang of it quite quickly."
"Cameron's always been playing pranks on me," Derek added. "Probably was her way of getting back at me. I didn't exactly treat her nicely."
"You still don't," Lauren added.
"Yeah, whatever."
"There were moments when she seemed to be pleased about things she'd done well," Sarah continued, "I even caught her smiling or smirking in moments she thought she wasn't being watched. And after the car bomb, when John had reactivated her and we were hiding in Father Bonillo's church, she asked me if I believed in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. I mean, seriously, what question was that from a machine? Then she begged me to never let John activate her again if she should ever go bad again. I remember having goose bumps when she said that. It wasn't so much what she'd said but how she'd said it, with a pleading, desperate tone."
"Wow," Charley uttered.
"And while we dealt with the situation at Serrano Point, she had a few glitches. Afterwards, she made it pretty clear that she was immensely worried about 'going bad' again. She considered herself a time bomb and seemed to be genuinely worried about it. That's when she became obsessed with the idea of suicide."
"Suicide?" Charley asked with a doubtful face. "You gotta be kidding me."
"I know, it sounds weird. And at first I thought she was worried about John committing suicide, but it quickly became clear that it was really about herself."
"She gave John a switch," Derek added, "so he could blow up the chip in her skull, in case she ever turned against him again."
"Wow," Charley said again. "Does John still have that switch?"
"No, he destroyed it. Which is probably better because it would have killed them both now."
"I see."
"When Riley entered the stage," Sarah said, "it was apparent that Cameron was jealous of her from the moment she'd laid eyes on her. And when she finally developed that twitch, it should have been clear to me that there was a lot going on inside her, more than one could have guessed. I really thought she'd kill the girl. I'm glad she didn't."
"Maybe she felt that Riley was a victim, too," Derek remarked sourly.
"Maybe," Sarah agreed, then looked at Charley again. "When we got robbed, Cameron was extremely pissed about those guys stealing her beloved leather jacket. She killed three of the burglars, officially because they knew where we live. But if you ask me, it was also retribution for the theft. At least it seems like that in hindsight."
"Yeah, she was obsessed with her purple leather jacket," Derek agreed. "I mean, seriously, how can a machine be so materialistic?"
"I wish I would have been able to read the signs back then," Sarah stated with a sigh. "But I closed my eyes to them, deliberately ignored them. I should have seen that she had developed a personality, that she had grown beyond being just a machine. In hindsight, I feel kinda bad about treating her the way I did."
"Sarah," Charley said, "are you sure that's not why you're so vehemently defending their actions? Because you're feeling guilty about treating her badly in the past?"
Sarah didn't reply to that. She knew Charley might have a point, she knew she might have developed an unwanted weak spot for the girls, some kind of motherly feelings she didn't want to admit to herself.
-0-
While the three stood in front of Morris' home in Van Nuys, Cameron and Alison suddenly tensed.
"The two intruders have just stopped pacing and are standing close together now. Looks like Lauren's SMS was received."
"You have your targets," John said. "You know what to do."
Morris sat on the sofa, trembling with fear. They had come in the night, surprising him and his family in their sleep. He knew the type. The tattoos, the long hair and the mustachios, intended to make them look intimidating. Gang members. One of them over six feet tall, the other one a bit shorter and fatter but very muscular, like a wrestler. They carried guns with silencers.
He had lived in Westlake in his early childhood and knew what it meant to grow up in gang territory. The family moved to Van Nuys as soon as his father earned enough money to afford it. He cursed himself for the nth time for telling everyone at the birthday party about meeting John, Cameron and Lauren at Magic Mountain. Looks like the first thing his classmate did, was dialing the number on the card he was handed, probably hoping for a quick buck.
"Lauren," he thought. "I suppose this will be the end to my chances for dating her."
They had taken his cellphone and forced him to tell them the code, threatening his sister, who had been sobbing uncontrollably. They found the message log with Lauren from the night before and moved his parents and sister to the bedroom where they tied them up and gagged them. However, they'd left him unconstrained in the living room, probably as a decoy.
Morris remembered the faces of his mom and dad and his little sister. They were terrified of course, with no idea what was going on. Morris also didn't have any idea what was going on. He only had the nagging feeling that he knew less about John and Cameron than he'd thought. What the hell did they have to do with a Latino street gang?
"Don't worry, amigo," they'd said, "we just want to lure your friend here. He owes us money. Then we'll leave and if you keep your mouths shut, nothing will happen to you or your family."
Suddenly, he heard the ringtone of his cellphone, indicating a new SMS.
"Finally!" the big one exclaimed and jumped up, the fat one following his motion, both staring at Morris' cellphone.
"She'll be here in 30 minutes. Excellent."
Morris frowned. Lauren was in a wheel chair, she couldn't come here alone, a fact he hadn't told them in the hope John would smell the trap. What was going on? Suddenly, a gentle knock on the front door pulled him out of his thoughts. The two villains drew their guns and gestured Morris to check who it was. While they positioned themselves to the left and the right of the door, leaning their backs against the wall, Morris carefully turned the knob, opening the door up just a little.
"John?" he asked confused.
"Morning, Morris. We thought you could use some help. And I'm sorry for the damage."
"Damage? What damage do you…"
Before he could finish his sentence, there was a loud crashing noise of splintering wood. Two pairs of arms broke through the outer wall of the house where the two thugs stood, each one grabbing one of them around the waist. In a quick motion, the two gangsters were pulled out of the house along with a big chunk of the wall, leaving two man-sized holes where they'd stood. Before Morris could react to that, John pushed the door open and entered the house.
"Don't panic," he said. "Everything's under control."
"Who? What?" Morris stammered in disbelief and stared at the two huge holes in the wall left and right of the front door.
The next thing he saw was Alison and Cameron carrying the two unconscious gangsters into the house. On their shoulders. As if they didn't weigh anything.
"Morning, Morris," Alison said.
"Morning, Morris," Cameron echoed her sister.
They threw their load unceremoniously to the ground with a loud thud and John closed the door – not that it made any difference anymore now. He took the bad guys' guns and handed them over to his girlfriends. Morris stood there for a moment, then a realization hit him.
"My parents! My sister! They're tied up in the bedroom, I gotta free them."
He turned around to run up the stairs, but Cameron caught his arm, holding him back.
"No," she said, and as much as Morris tried to, he couldn't free himself from her iron grip.
"Let me go, Cameron!" he exclaimed. "You're hurting me."
"They mustn't know what we're about to show and tell you," John explained. "Please, sit down and listen. We'll be gone again soon but please hear us out, okay?"
"What's going on, man?" Morris asked with a worried face. "What do these guys want from you? And what just happened?" He looked at the two unconscious gangsters and then at Cameron and Alison. "How the hell did you do that?"
"Please remain calm," Alison said. "Remember, we're your friends."
"Cam, please let Morris' go. We don't want to frighten him."
Cameron did as John had told her, and Morris tumbled back a few steps.
"Ouch," he yelped and rubbed his upper arm. "You didn't have to hurt me."
"Sorry," Cameron replied with an apologizing face and gently pushed Morris down onto the sofa.
Alison searched through the guys' pockets, found a remote car key and handed it to John. He pushed the button and through the holes in the wall they could see that the hazards of the Lincoln Navigator flashed.
"Yeah, as I suspected, that car belongs to them," he said.
"And these must be the pictures," Alison stated and held up four color photo prints. "Three of them show us and one shows the parking ticket behind the windscreen of Lauren's Jeep. Indeed all were taken while we were busy in Chola's yard."
The pictures showed them while they'd been loading the bags with money and the gold from the RAM into the Jeep. And by the angle they could tell they were taken from across the street, probably from the upper floor of a house or maybe an attic. Alison handed John the men's driver's licenses.
"Joaquín Suárez and Dario Castro."
Alison was looking at the fat one of the two gangsters, scanning his skeletal structure. "I've seen this guy. Dario."
"You did?"
"Yes. He was one of the men who guarded Carlos' house. He didn't wear a shirt and used to wear sunglasses."
"And the other guy?"
"Haven't seen him before."
"Do you think Chola could be involved in this?"
"I don't know. But I doubt she would be that stupid."
Morris couldn't contain himself anymore.
"How did you break through the wall?" he asked, looking at the two gaping holes that were left next to the front door. "And how could you have known those guys were standing there?"
"Infrared sensors," Cameron and Alison replied in synchrony and they both let their irises flash red for a moment.
"HOLY SHIT!" Morris attempted to climb over the backrest of the sofa in panic. "You're vampires!"
"Relax, buddy," John said and held him back, sitting down next to him. "They're not vampires. I'll explain everything to you, okay? If you let me."
"But... they… what… how…?"
"Cam, would you please show Morris your shotgun wound?"
Cameron placed her gun on the table and took off her tee shirt. Morris gulped, seeing her only in a bra for the first time. Then she removed the patch on her belly and immediately Morris started hyperventilating as he saw the wound and the shiny metal parts underneath it.
"HOLY SHIT!"
"Please remain calm," Cameron said. "I'm not in pain, it's only superficial."
"Fucking hell!" Morris exclaimed. "Who are you? What are you?"
"The most important fact first," John stated. "Cameron and Alison are not my sisters..."
"No shit, man!"
"... they're my girlfriends."
"WHAT!?"
"It's a long story," John said. "But I'll try to be brief."
-0-
Sunday, June 22nd, 2008 – 05:47 a.m.
Van Nuys
"We're not finished here yet," John said to his mother on the phone from inside Morris' home. "We still need to find out if these two acted on their own or if there are more people involved. Alison will clarify that."
"Did you guys bring Morris into it already?"
"Uh… yeah, just finished explaining, well… everything to him actually."
"How did he take it?"
"Uh… quite well," John said, turning to look at Morris who sat on the sofa apathetically, staring into the distance with a blank face. "Though I'd say it was a little overwhelming for him."
"Lauren would like to talk to him. Can you hand him your phone?"
"Sure. Hey, buddy…"
Morris didn't react. John snapped his fingers in front of his face.
"Huh?" Morris uttered and slowly looked up at John.
"Telephone for you."
Almost in slow motion, Morris took the phone and held it to his ear, still staring blankly ahead.
"Yeah?"
"Morris? It's me, Lauren. How are you? Are you okay?"
"Uh-huh."
"Just to inform you, our date is still on," she said cheerfully.
"Uh-huh."
"Are you sure you're okay?"
"Yeah…"
"Ooo-kay… see you later then, at the barbecue, right?"
"Uh-huh."
"Bye."
John took his phone back from Morris.
"John?" Sarah asked, "If there's a problem, please call, okay?"
"Sure, mom. But frankly you can all go back to sleep now."
"Will do. Love you."
"Love you too, mom."
John put away his phone.
"Cam, you can put your tee shirt back on again now. And then wake these idiots up."
"Yes, John."
After Cameron was fully dressed again, she and Alison stepped towards the two unconscious men, grabbed them by their throats and lifted them up with one arm. Morris gasped loudly.
"That's one of their signature moves," John said smiling while sitting next to him, trying to calm his friend down. "Only with bad guys of course. It's very effective."
"No shit."
With their free hands, both girls slapped the villains' cheeks. Slowly they stirred to life, recognized their current predicament and reacted by desperately trying to struggle free, which was of course in vain. John stood up and stepped behind Cameron and Alison. The two Latinos focused on him.
"You really have no idea what mess you've gotten yourself into, haven't you?" he asked, then handed each of the girls one of the guys' guns. "Show them."
Cameron and Alison took the guns, held them in front of the panicking men's faces, then let their eyes glow in a deep red and squashed the pistols into an unshapely piece of metal with their fingers.
"You should know," John said, "that these two beautiful girls here have a knack for killing scum like you."
Both girls smiled in pride. John had called them beautiful.
"So, here's the deal," John continued. "I wanna know how you got your hands on these pictures, who took them, who keeps the original files, and who else is behind your ludicrous attempt to lure us into a trap." He paused for a moment. "First one to answer will live."
"It's just us and Pablo Morales!" Dario stated quickly.
"Pablo took the pictures!" Joaquín said at almost the same moment.
"He's a lookout for the gang. He saw that the garbage bags you were loading onto the Jeep, were full of cash. And he saw you loading the gold as well. He informed us and we thought we could get a piece of the cake without informing the gang leaders."
"So, nobody except the two of you and Pablo know about it?"
"No, nobody!"
John looked at Cameron.
"Dario was point one of a second faster to answer," she stated. "Should I kill Joaquín now?"
"No, please no! Por favor!" Joaquín whined.
"Nah, I'd say it's a draw," John said, enjoying the situation immensely. "Both can live. Under one condition: I never want to see your sorry asses again and if you ever tell anyone what happened here tonight, I'll send my two girls after you and soon after you will be dead. Comprende?"
"¡Si, señor!"
"¡Si, señor!"
"Okay," John said, "let them down."
The girls let them drop to the floor like where they gasped for air, then struggled back on their feet. John handed them their deformed guns.
"Keep these as a souvenir," he remarked with a smirk.
They took them wordlessly, gave the girls one more frightened look and stumbled out of the house, ran to their car and drove away with screeching tires.
"I invited a robot to the prom…" Morris stammered.
"Cyborg!" John, Cameron and Alison corrected him in unison, then the three looked at each other and chuckled.
Morris looked at them befuddled, wondering what was funny about the whole situation.
"Remember, I warned you about Cameron back then," John said with a smile.
"I get it now," Morris replied, "She's never been your sister, she's a killer cyborg. No wonder she's been so dark all the time. Have you been together already... back then in school, I mean?"
John and Cameron looked at each other.
"We weren't officially together back then," John stated, "and of course there was only one Cameron then. But we're officially together now, all three of us. We share a room."
"Far out man," Morris said, still a little foggy.
"Anything else you wanna know?" Alison asked.
"The day before you disappeared," Morris began and looked at Cameron, "I caught up with you on the parking lot, remember?"
"Of course," Cameron said. "I remember everything."
"You said you put a man in the trunk of that fancy Merc, a man who you just killed. That wasn't a joke, was it?"
"No," Cameron replied. "He had been following us all day and was a threat to John."
Morris scoffed.
"And I thought you just had a very dark sense of humor."
John handed Morris a glass of water which he gladly took and emptied in one gulp.
"Feeling better now? You look a little pale, buddy."
Morris gave John and exasperated look.
"How would you feel if your best friend discloses to you that the girl you had the hots for, is a murderous cyborg from the future?"
"Pretty bad, I guess," John replied and sat down next to him. "But they're not murderous. Maybe a little kill-happy, that's all."
Morris looked at his friend, not sure if John was joking or not.
"I need to go now," Alison said and went over to the back wall of the living room, removing a picture from the wall, uncovering a safe behind it.
"How did you know there was a safe behind the...?" Morris asked, then reconsidered. "Never mind. Sensors, right?"
"Correct," Alison confirmed. "I wouldn't have been able to detect it if the walls would be made of stone or concrete, but wood in general doesn't offer much of a resistance for our scanners. We can easily spot heat signatures through wooden walls and also detect metal."
"Of course you do," the boy replied and laughed out hysterically and began breathing heavily again. "Everybody knows that cyborgs can do that, right?"
"Don't freak out, okay?" John said. "Try to keep calm. There, that's better. Do you know the safe's combination?"
"Who, me? No. Why?"
"Never mind then," Alison stated and ripped the whole safe out of the wall.
"What is she doing, man!?" Morris asked flabbergasted.
"It will be needed as evidence." Alison explained. "We have to create a cover story, giving the police and your family an explanation of what has happened. A robbery is the most believable scenario."
Alison prepared to leave, the safe tucked under her arm.
"Be careful," John said to her. "Stick to the plan."
"Of course, John. Kiss me?" she asked.
He smiled, kissed her tenderly and then she left the house.
"Where's she going, man?" Morris asked. "All of my mom's jewelry is in that safe."
"She's following those idiots. We put a tracking device on their car. Don't worry, you'll get the jewelry back."
"Following them? She's not going to... is she?"
"She'll be retrieving the original files with the pictures, place the evidence for the police and then will end it once and for all before the three idiots can spread their knowledge. It's necessary, believe me. There's too much money involved for them to remain silent. Eventually, they'll seek help from their gang. We cannot allow that to happen."
Morris gulped.
"You're freaking me out, dude."
John sighed.
"I know," he said. "You have to make a choice now, Morris. Either we stay friends and you come to the barbecue this afternoon, hook up with Lauren, have fun and go on a date with her, or…"
"Or what?"
"Or you stay away from us," Cameron replied. "Which means going on with your life. No more seeing John, not getting a date with Lauren and no more seeing me again as well. We'd have to keep an eye on you, though, just in case."
"What if someone asks me about you?"
"Nobody will ask you about us," John said. "We're quite sure of that. If you keep your mouth shut, you and your family are safe. But if the highly unlikely should happen and someone should ask you about us, you can always contact us. We will get back to you as soon as possible - just like today."
"Lauren would be really disappointed if you kept your distance," Cameron added. "She likes you very much."
"She does?" Morris said, his face brightening a bit.
"Yes, buddy. If it weren't for her, we wouldn't be here now."
"I didn't have a girlfriend yet," Morris stated. "All the girls think I'm a loner, a nerd, a loser."
"I never thought about you like that," Cameron said empathically. "And neither does Lauren. High school isn't life."
Morris frowned and looked at her.
"You've changed since last year," he observed. "You became… less cold. Less... autistic."
"Thanks," she replied. "I've been improving. I guess I'm making progress."
"Can I ask you a question?"
"Sure."
"Suppose your house wouldn't have blown up and you wouldn't have disappeared," Morris said and looked at Cameron with a sly smile. "Would I have had a chance of getting together with you?"
"No."
"Figures."
Morris was tied up loosely and gagged by Cameron, so that he could free himself after a couple of minutes and then free his family as well. They made sure that Morris memorized the license plate of the Lincoln Navigator to give it to the police. John had also deleted all text messages between Morris and Lauren from his cellphone, just in case.
With the input they were given, Morris' family and the police could only believe what seemed to be obvious: two Latino gangsters had invaded their home, tied everyone up, forced Morris to tell them where the safe was, then stole it because they couldn't get it open. Out of pure vandalism, they broke two large holes in the outside wall of the house before driving away, not without Morris being able to spot their vehicle through the holes. If Alison fulfilled her part of the plan as well, nobody would have a reason to doubt the story, and the truth would forever remain unknown.
To explain why the two gangsters had come to their house in the first place, Morris was willing to tell his family and the police a fake story in which he'd bragged about his mother's valuable jewelry in front of strangers. John knew that Morris would stammer and hum and err, which would make it even more believable. And if the police would later compare the fingerprints and find out who owned the Lincoln Navigator, they'd conclude that Joaquín Suárez and Dario Castro were the two culprits. But by then, they'd be dead already.
It was half past six in the morning when John and Cameron entered the driveway of their home again. All curtains were closed, the house silent. Before they had left, everyone had agreed that they'd have a brunch at 11 a.m. That way, no lunch was needed before the barbecue would start in the late afternoon.
John was in a strangely euphoric mood when they entered the house. Maybe it was the adrenaline surge, maybe the joy and pride that his plan had worked out so perfectly. So, as soon as they'd entered their bedroom and closed the door, he grabbed Cameron, swung her around against the wall and kissed her hard and passionately without saying a word. She immediately reacted with kissing him back in the same manner, plunging her tongue into his mouth in wild passion.
They quickly undressed each other, being rougher and more wanton than normal. As soon as they were naked, John whirled her around again and threw her on the bed. She landed on her back, smiling seductively, and slowly spread her legs as wide as possible, juices already seeping out of her vulva.
"Fuck me, John," she begged in a sultry tone.
John looked at her for a couple of seconds, then climbed onto the bed, grabbed her by the legs and inserted his hard member into her pussy in one swift move. As he started to hump her, she wrapped her legs around his back and pulled him as deep as possible. She was so wet that it made squelching noises as he fucked her hard and fast. With loud slapping sounds, he rammed his loins against the underside of her thighs. She pulled him close and licked his mouth, his nose, his cheeks, his closed eyelids. It was wild, rough sex and it was the first time for both of them.
After only ten minutes, John came hard in her and groaned loudly. Shortly after, Cameron orgasmed as well. Then he collapsed on top of her. His breathing slowed down as they kissed long and passionately.
"We made a mess," he said exhausted.
"Yes," she agreed blissfully. "A mess."
"I have no idea what got into me, I suddenly just wanted to fuck you so badly."
She put her finger over his mouth.
"Shh, it's okay, I also wanted you badly."
"So, uh… you didn't mind me being a bit rough?"
"I loved it. You cannot hurt me, remember? Rough doesn't bother me, you can fuck me like that whenever you want."
She stroked through his hair and kissed him again.
"And Alison will love it, too."
John tried to loosen himself from her but somehow he couldn't get free.
"Say, are you clamping my penis down there?" he asked grinning.
"Yessss… I want to keep you inside me," she said with a wicked smile and licked his earlobe. "Your dick is now where it belongs, where it always should be. I want you to get hard again while you're inside of me, and then fuck me some more."
"Mmmh, kinky… I like your thinking, Cam."
"But this time," she said and threw him around on his back, "I want to be the one on top, John. I want to fuck you."
John didn't object. He felt how she started to play with his dick with her vaginal muscles. For a second or so, John asked himself if she really had muscles inside there or if it was something else. He quickly discarded the thought, though, and enjoyed what she was doing to him. Because it felt great, as if a soft, velvet hand was slowly stroking his cock while it was inside her vagina.
It didn't take long for him to get hard again. Then Cameron started riding him, slowly at first, then faster and faster, never letting his penis slip out of her. She leaned back and he could see his member gliding in and out of her sopping wet pussy.
When he came again, she kept leaning back, eyes closed, her body jerking in pleasure as she climaxed as well. Then she bent down and kissed him again. They rolled to their sides and pulled each other as close as possible, his cock still inside her pussy. John felt her hard nipples pressing against his chest. They were kissing each other for many minutes, full of unconditional love, their bodies entwined, trying to touch and feel the maximum of each other's skin. In that moment, they felt like they were one.
"I love you, John," she breathed between two kisses.
"I love you more," he replied.
"Impossible," she said. "I'm a machine, my love is absolute and unable to weaken, ever."
John chuckled and she smiled back at him.
"I'm not gonna win this competition, am I?" he asked.
"Nope, John Connor," she replied in her stoic Terminator tone. "Admit that you have no chance against the power of my love and surrender yourself to me."
"All right, all right, I surrender," he said chuckling. "What are the conditions?"
"Only one condition," she stated with a wicked smile, "I want you to fuck me and Alison as much as possible and in as many ways as possible."
"I think I can arrange that."
"We're always at your disposal, John. Anytime, anywhere, any place, any situation."
"Sounds like you're planning on making yourselves indispensable," he replied grinning.
"You bet," she confirmed and kissed him again. "And John?"
"Yes?"
"I really love it when you're rough and hard with me. It makes me feel even more alive."
He gulped upon hearing that statement.
When Alison came home about two hours later, she found John sleeping, with Cameron hugging him tight.
"Did everything go as planned?" she whispered not to wake him.
"Yes," Alison whispered back and held up an SD card in her hand.
Then she locked the door, undressed and lay down on John's other side.
"You had sex?" she asked.
"Yes, rough sex," Cameron replied. "Let's talk about it later. I have an idea, I think there's something John might like very much."
-0-
Sunday, June 22nd, 2008 – 11:17 a.m.
Burbank
They watched the local news while having breakfast. There was a report of a house that had burned down in Inglewood due to an electrical failure. Three male occupants of the house were found dead. Two of them in their beds, the third one in the bathroom. They had died from smoke poisoning.
"That is the house opposite of Chola's," Sarah stated in surprise. She looked at Alison and Cameron. "Did you…?"
John held up the SD card.
"Not before securing this," he said. "And I hope this time we have really seen the last of those gangsters."
Charley sat at the table in silence, pushing his fork into his food without eating anything.
"Something wrong, Charley?" Sarah asked.
He looked up and into her face.
"I'm still not sure if I can cope with your lifestyle," he said, "treating death and killing like normal daily rituals."
"We had to help Morris and his family," Sarah replied, "you know firsthand what it means to be a target, you once sought our help as well, knowing it could have dire consequences."
Charley put down his fork and covered his face with his hands.
"I don't disagree with helping Morris," he said, "but the way you dismiss all those killings has nothing to do with defending yourself against those cyborgs anymore."
"Charley…" John started but Charley didn't let him finish.
"I can understand Derek. He's a soldier, he's been in battle, I've seen his scars. But seeing you, Johnny, and you, Sarah, so unconcerned about killing humans, I… it really breaks my heart."
John looked Charley directly into the eyes.
"Don't even think for a moment I'm unconcerned," he said in a stern voice. "Do you have any idea what it's like to know all your life what will happen when you grow up? I've had nightmares ever since I was twelve years old. Nightmares about killer cyborgs following me, nightmares about the nuclear holocaust, nightmares about the world being a radioactive wasteland, nightmares about me fighting the machines in the rubble of what used to be America. I know that mom has had similar dreams. The both of us hadn't had a good night's sleep for years, I have been so close to becoming insane in the past months. And finally, after all those years, after losing almost all hope, there's a silver lining. Suddenly, there's a chance of defeating Skynet once and for all. I'm not going to allow anything to happen that could take away that silver lining, Charley. Absolutely nothing."
"No, of course not… but I'm quite sure that doesn't include killing uninvolved people," Charley replied.
"Of course it doesn't. But for the first time, we have a real chance of winning this war before it really starts. That's why we can't allow those petty criminals to thwart us. We must at all costs avoid fighting on two fronts. There was a real danger those gangsters would have found us here. And what then, huh? What would you have done then, Charley? What would you have done if they'd come here and threatened us in our home, if they'd taken Lauren, mom or you hostage?"
Charley lowered his head and didn't reply.
"Tomorrow we'll drive to Oregon," Cameron said. "We'll have a whole week to relax and talk things over. I'm sure that everything will be fine after that."
Charley scoffed.
"I'm getting a pep-talk from a cyborg while at the same time becoming disillusioned by humans. When did my life become so screwed up?"
He stood up and went upstairs. Sarah was about to follow him, but Derek held her back.
"Let him go. He needs to be alone with his thoughts for a while, sort out his feelings and priorities."
"But what if he decides to leave?" Sarah asked, apparently dreading that.
"He won't, mom." John replied. "His love for you is stronger. He'll come around."
"He was right about one thing, though," Lauren said.
"And what was that?" Derek asked.
"You should be careful with who's getting killed and if they really deserve it. We're supposed to be the good ones, right? We're supposed to be better than the enemy, aren't we?"
Nobody replied to that. They knew she was right and that they were walking a very fine line.
-0-0-0-
Author's note:
The vision of a rough sex scene came to my mind while being in bed with a cold at around 3 a.m. in the morning. My body was filled with drugs and herbal tea, so…