Cammie POV:
After walking for what felt like days, which was only a couple of hours, my stomach began to grumble louder and my whole body ached even more. My feet were covered in a thick layer of dust and new cuts had joined the ones kindly given to me by The Circle, blisters upon blisters piled on top of each other. I hadn't even realised that tears had begun falling down my cheeks as the night became colder and darker and my old life was beginning to feel like a distant memory.
Seeing that the dusty sands wouldn't end for hours or I would end up lost I decided to was time to call it a night, as I realised I wouldn't be doing myself any favours tracking through the dark deserts without having a clue where to go. Letting my feet stop I sat down crossed legged in the icy cold ground I curled myself up into a tight ball hugged my knees to my chest. My hands graced across the scared and bloody stained skin over my chest when my tips touched a chain.
My numb fingers fumbled over the fastening of the necklace but I finally managed to undo it and it fell to the sand I was lying on. I picked up the necklace by the jewel hanging off of it and then I realised it was the one Zach gave me for the night of the ball. One of the silver jewels that surrounded the red ruby had fallen off but other than that it was in good condition just need a bit of a clean-up.
Holding the ruby in a tight fist and pressing it against my chest as my eyes became heavier and heavier as they began to close and I fell into a cold uncomfortable sleep.
Feeling a heavy weight on my chest I felt my heart rate speed up with panic but peaked through my eye lashes to be, at first, blinded by the orange sun to the see a silhouette of a bird resting on my chest. I don't know what it is with birds but they freak me out big style the way their beady little eyes follow your every move and hover above you eyeing you like a piece of prey. So you would completely understand my terror as a bod saw on my chest their mildly sharp claws prodding into my fragile skin and their dark black eyes looked down at me with their neck slightly crooked to the left.
"Erm… hello?" It came out as I question and I mentally slapped myself for talking to a bird but my croaky hoarse voice startled it and it then flew off of my chest, and then before the other four birds circling above me decided to use me as the ground, I got off my back and to my feet.
I looked around me and my feet felt even more painful today and my whole body ached and I wanted nothing better than to crawl into my bed back at Gallagher. Using my hands as a sun shield I stopped the sun from pouring into my vision and I looked around and saw that north lead to the direction I am running from, east towards more vast sands, south towards even more vast sands and then west seemed to lead to some sort of civilization as I saw a couple of small buildings and a road ran through it. So I put my necklace back on my neck that was resting on the floor from my sleep and began my journey home.
Soon enough my predictions were correct and I ended up standing next to what seemed like a small corner shop, busy people ran through the small town and they looked at me with disgust. Looking down to my clothing I felt my neck flush a shade of red showing my embarrassment and I then hurried inside of the shop to try and find out where I exactly was.
Walking up to the till a young looking woman probably in her mid-twenties as nodding away with her headphones in and you could hear she was listening to some upbeat music. Feeling my presence as I placed my fingers on the desk she looked at me through her thickly covered, with mascara, eye lashes with an appalled glare.
"Yes?" She snapped out her cheap blood red lipstick lips frowning at me waiting for my response.
"Hello, I was wondering if you could tell me where exactly I was and what the date and time is?" I said and she looked completely confused at my question and she then glanced at her computer as she held one headphone on her right hand.
"You are in California it is the third of March and ten past nine in the morning, why exactly don't you know this if you don't mind me asking?" Her sandy blonde curly hair fell from across her shoulders as she edged closer eager to know what my answer was.
"I don't really know." I was telling the truth but she didn't know that and scoffed at me thinking I was being rude and then I walked off trying to come up with a way to get out of everyone's eyes as the scruffy girl wandering around covered in blood and dirt.
Making my way through the streets I then disappeared down a shadowed alley and waited for the perfect moment, the same young man that just drew out twenty dollars from the bank. He had black hair finger combed to the right of his head. He was quite tall probably about 5"11 and have dark brown eyes with thick black eye lashed surrounding his eyes. His skin was lightly tanned from the California sun and he had on a pair of light blue surf shorts and a grey shirt that hugged his lightly built body. Then as he passed the alley I stepped out and fell to the floor him on top of me and then reached into the pocket taking out one of the ten dollar notes and then scrunched it into a ball in my fist.
"Oh sorry I am so sorry I didn't see you there." He said his voice quite deep and gravely but I just stood up nodded without making eye contact my eyes burning with guilt.
"It is my fault, sorry." Then I disappeared before he had even managed to comprehend what was going on. Then I made my way to a small clothes shop that I saw didn't have an expensive set of clothing but at least I would be able to escape the bloody stained clothes I currently had on, and I would be able to put some shoes on.
Walking into the shop a small bell rung above my head making all of the people in the shop, four middle aged women and the shop assistant so I bowed my head and then went to the back of the room. I picked up a pair of washed out grey skinny shorts and a long sleeved back top with a white heart on the chest. They weren't the nicest of clothes but they were the cheapest and they would cover all of my cuts and bruises. Then as I walked to the till I grabbed a pair of grey flip slops and then handed them to the women.
"Will you not get hot in these clothes sweetie?" She asked and then I just shrugged at her kind and caring voice, "I don't mean to be rude but what has happened to you, who did this to you?" She then slashed the things through the till while I explained.
"I fell off my… bike while I was riding down some steps?" It came out as a question and the lady just nodded not believing my lame story and then she handed me my stuff after I handed her the ten dollar note and she gave me three dollars back. "Thanks." Then I scurried out of the shop towards a small run down café I saw earlier.
Once I was in the café I walked straight to the bathroom at the back and then slipped into the bathroom that had a toilet and a small grubby sink with a layering of black grin around the silver taps. The mirror was dirty and my face was no better. I grimaced at my reflection which had blood all over my face along with cuts and my eye was badly bruised and my neck from my fight with Aaron was still badly bruised. The makeup Liz concocted up in the lab was now a distant memory for my skin.
Running the tap to see a small trickle of cold water to come out of it and then I put in the plug and watched, tightly holding onto the edge of the sink, the water fill up in the sink. Finally it was filled with cold water and then sighing I wiped my face cleaned with the water and some hand soap from the dispenser. All of the blood was gone and I took my elastic band out of my hair and then combed out of the knots to the best of my ability with my fingers and then leaned over the sink and began washing it with the hand soap and the water in the sink.
I defiantly didn't feel cleansed at the end of my little bath inside of the grimy bathroom in a slime covered sink in the back of a rundown café. Then I sat on the ground underneath the hand dryer and let the dryer dry most of my hair and once it was done it did feel considerably nicer without the sweat, blood and sand embedded into it.
Then I ordered a small coffee from the café and left to try and find out how I was going to get back home.
As I walked down the streets of California sipping my coffee trying to think of a way I could get more money, as I really didn't want to steal anymore. Then absentmindedly I brought my hand to my chest where I came across the necklace Zach gave me. I couldn't exactly sell that could I? Of course I couldn't this was the only thing I had left that reminded me of my old life, of Zach of the good part of the ball.
No I can't sell it, Zach would hate me.
Therefore I sat down on the bench and I put my elbows on my knee trying to rack my brain of ways to get home, I had to be careful I didn't run into The Circle as they will know whereabouts I am and if they find me they will not stop at killing me. So with that in mind I decided it was time to move so seeing I had a few quarters in my pocket I made my way to the pay phone outside of the railway station.
My fingers were shivering with the fear of what was going to happen to me, but also the excitement of getting home after what I think was over two weeks since I was last there. I typed in the numbers for Zach's emergency mobile phone that he only ever had on if he needed to make any calls.
There were three rings until I heard a deep familiar groggy voice, "Hello?" I could tell he had just gotten up from a sleep, maybe a nap?
"Zach, is that you?" I asked my voice barely even a whisper but I knew he heard me as I heard his voice catch on his throat and he stumble of his words.
"Cammie, where are you? Are you okay?" He rambled out and it felt nice to hear him say my name, it sent some sort of chills down my spine as his soft voice travelled into my ear.
"Zach I am fine, well as fine as anyone would be after what has happened; I am in California near the west side of the deserts I am outside of the railway station but I have no money. Please come and get me but do not bring anyone else just yourself." I said and I heard him nodding and the tapping of a keyboard in the background of the conversation. "Zach I am running out of minutes, I need you to promise you will come I can only stay here until sundown after that I need to leave here as The Circle will come and fine me." I waited for him to answer.
"I promise, Gallagher Girl I love you." Then the line went dead with my heart fluttering and a small smile gracing my lips ignoring the niggling thought at the back of my mind that this was working out a little too easily.
Please review, I do not really love the ending but I wanted to get a chapter on now because I am busy for most nights this week so don't really know when I will be able to update again.
A little challenge for you guys, give me a fun fact about you and whichever on I like the most will get a shout out! Not a big prize but I want to know more about my reader!
Fun fact about me: I am a twin and I have an older brother!