Cammies pov
Townsend was standing at the door. We had been doing this for weeks. I would wake up groggy, and examine my ever growing collection of bruises and cuts. He would shove some food into my hand, and my mind would go blank for the rest of the day.
I dont know why they would drug me every day. But I was tired of it. If they wanted to get something from me, just have me stay awake and I talk. Maybe there were the bruises because I wouldn't talk. I needed to figure out what they wanted me to say.
The next morning, Abby was there to pick me up. She didn't hand me anything to eat. I was actually mentally there. This was my time to figure some shit out. Maybe Abby was a good guy. I still didn't trust her. Before we went into the room, she whispered into my ear.
"Stay strong." she knew what she was doing. I decided to trust her a little bit. Apparently, she thought I knew what to do. I guess I would just remain silent.
Zachs pov
Bex called me 18 times that day. I responded 7 times because she asked the same question. I would respond with the same answer as last time.
No, I don't know where Cammie is.
I don't know why she left.
I don't know if she's safe.
I don't know when she'll be back.
Macey was the only one who asked if I was ok.
God, I don't know what question terrified me the most.
Cammie had been gone for weeks. My mom had offered to help look for her, but i needed to do this by myself. And only Joe would know what to do. So as the house emptied out that chilly November morning, I drove to the cabin instead of the school, but first, I left a note
Out cold - Z
Joe sat there like he had nowhere else in the world to be. I pulled up a chair and he threw me a passport and a fake ID. I was going to find my girl.
Cammies pov
He hit me over and over again. I tried to block some blows, but this was a routine he had gotten down. He kept yelling, wanting me to talk, but I didn't let a word slip.
I was thrown to the ground and he turned to Abby. She stiffened like a rock. Did she really care for me? She had a really fucking weird way of showing it.
"We're gonna show her what happens to people when they dont talk." he basically growled out the words. Abby nodded and he stormed away. But before he was gone, someone stopped to chat. "And I guess we could do her the pleasure of showing her where her father is." I, I didn't know how to react. He saw and smiled with satisfaction.
I hesitated to start talking. Maybe I was afraid of the answer I would get. "Has that really been going on for all this time?" her eyes said everything. And as I looked at her, I did see my aunt. She was nothing like my mother. I wanted to hug her, but there was still too much anger.
"Cammie, I know you're strong. I've seen it before. You just need to keep your guard up." she sounded like she cared. But Zach had told me that one of the best things a spy can do is lie. She seemed like one hell of a spy. So I would still be angry until I got an answer. "And I can't tell you anything right now. Believe me, I want to, but it will have to wait." she reached out to help me but I cut her a look to kill. She yanked her hand back and I got back.
"Ready to travel?"
I was blindfolded this time, and happy that they were switching some things up. I was still wearing my practice outfit. It was filthy. And tiny. The cold air hit me in blasts. I began shivering. My frail arms didn't do much for me. I was practically a stick.
We flew for hours. I drifted in and out of sleep. I had no idea what time of day it was. I had no idea what day it was.
Someone led me off the plane. The weather wasn't much better from wherever we left. But the man tore the blindfold off of my eyes. I hissed at the sunlight. Like an actual vampire. I hadn't seen it in weeks. But I couldn't feel it on my skin like at home. It was like an entirely different thing.
Once I could actually see again, I took in my surroundings. To my left, there was Abby with three other men whose names I didn't care to learn. To my right was an old stone shack. And everywhere else, there was ruthless snow and brutal wind. We were in a winter wasteland. Nothing was alive. I looked back to Abby. She seemed terrified. Neither of us wanted to see what was here.
You know, the mind is an insane thing. At that moment, I disconnected from the hushed conversation twenty feet away and the numbness in my toes. I was whisked back to the circus ten years ago.
We were walking around. In my left hand, I had a package of peanut m&ms. My dad held my right hand. And my aunt Abby was telling us a joke. We all laughed. I walked away from the circus to a family dinner a couple of years before that. My mom wasn't the neighborhood rent-a-slut. We were all a family. We were gathered around a table having a nice dinner. Then it was Christmas morning, and Abby was right there with us, opening gifts. Laughing.
They made life good. And then they disappeared and life fell to shit. It really was her. And she had loved my dad as much as I had.
This is where he was. He was dead. He hadn't disappeared. He was here. The man walked us to the side of the broken down shack. Abby was fidgeting with her earing. Something rumbled in the distance. We walked down a hill. There was a small stone that broke the white field. Not just a stone. A gravestone. Everything dropped to the ground. Abby began to shriek. She bolted to the stone as fast as her feet carried her. I broke free from the men's arms and followed. We stumbled in the snow but didn't stop.
Matthew Morgan
It was him. There was my father. Lying in the cold, unforgiving ground.
Had she known he was here? Bring the girl to her father. It's the least we could do. She had figured it out.
We fell to the stone and started clawing at the ground. I wasn't going to cry. Abby screamed enough for both of us. I wrapped my arms around her. It was the only way I would stay in the moment. I tried focusing on the quiet. The rumbling was louder. The ground had started to shake. Someone was here.
Abby's breathing evened out. Tears froze to her face. But the man wasn't moving to help her up. He had a gun in his hands, aiming at my head.
"CAMMIE!" Abby shouted to me in desperation. She pulled out a gun from her pants and began to fire. I threw myself at the ground. Snow began to fly around me. A helicopter had landed. Rachel ran out.
Rachel was here.
Was Zach?
Rachel through me a gun. Some force took over and I knew exactly what to do. I had never shot a gun before. But I aimed it at the man that I hated as much as my mother. And pulled the trigger.
Shots stopped ringing out. The men didn't move. Abby stood there in shock and Rachel was running towards me with open arms. I fell into them. And for the first time in a while, I let the tears fall.
I killed a man.
Those men had tortured me.
I found my fathers grave.
My father might have been a bad man.
My aunt was back.
Zach's mom was here. I had no idea where Zach was.
The flight home was… interesting. I didn't know whether to be mad at Abby or to hug her again. I didn't know how to feel about finding my fathers grave. I didn't know how to feel about Rachel finding me. I didn't want to feel anymore.
I could tell we weren't in California when the helicopter touched the ground. I didn't even need to look.
Rachel led me into a building. It felt safe.
"Welcome to Blackthorne, Cammie." people walked around in yellow jumpsuits. It was a peaceful chaos. There was so much going on all the time but people just knew what to do. "I'm sorry, but there's gonna be more questions." she held a sympathetic look. "But this time, you'll get more answers." I wanted to say ok but something else escaped.
"Is this where Zach was trained?" her eyes said yes.
"Sorry dear, I'm going to let him tell you that story. We're gonna go now, ok?"
"Ok." and with that, I walked into another interrogation room. Willingly.
I sat back to watch them start. They didn't hook me up to a lie detector or any other machine. No man came in to interrogate us. Maybe the movies hyped it up more.
"This will be more like a debriefing." Abby began. I nodded and pretended to know what that meant. "Where do you want us to begin?"
"The beginning please."
"It all started five years ago…
Zachs pov
We stood in a peak looking over some random mountain range of Austria. Cammie was… I still didn't know where Cammie was. I was trying to follow my gut because most of the time it was right. But right now, I was lost and confused. I had tracked down some of the best thieves in the world. But I couldn't find my own girlfriend. What did that make me? I looked at Solomon with my foggy goggles and shook my head. We began the climb back down.
Sorry if this chapter seems unorganized. I knew what I wanted to get out of it, but didn't know how to write the words if that makes sense. Eventually, there will be some of my favorite quotes from the series. Try to guess them and leave a review. Next chapter will be out soon.
