Zach POV
'What about Abby?' Cammie's voice cracked. Bex shot a quick glance at me before turning back to Cam.
'She's awake' She said, Cam's shoulders relaxed, she closed her eyes for a moment and when she opened them, tears began to spill out.
'Go' Bex smiled at her. Cam left the room, disappearing through the passageway.
Bex watched Cammie disappear, she then began to pick up Cam's stuff.
'Here, let me help' I offered
'I think you've done enough' She hissed. I stopped dead mid-step.
'Excuse me?' I asked. Bex whirled on me, thunder in her eyes.
'Whatever you're doing to Cammie needs to stop'
'I'm not doing anything. To me, it seemed pretty mutual'
'You don't get it' She hissed, taking a step forward 'Cam is going through a lot. You're just a distraction, one that she afford right now'
'I think you should mind your own business' I squared up to her. She laughed
'Trust me, you don't want to go there'
'Or what?' I raised an eyebrow 'You Gallagher Girls seem to be a lot of talk and not enough action'
Bex narrowed her eyes.
'She'll hurt you'
I remained silent. As much as I wanted to disagree, I knew it was true because everyone hurts me eventually. Bex took a step forward
'She'll hurt you before you hurt her, because you will. It's written all over you. A trail of broken hearts and lies. Cammie doesn't need that'
'I think it should be her decision' I pushed passed her, grabbing my shirt.
'No doubt that it is. What I'm saying is that you need to be smart enough to not mess her about or lie to her. Because if you do, I will kill you'
I paused for a moment, turning back to Bex.
'I'm not lying'
'You better not be' She hissed. Bex then strolled across the room, disappearing the same way Cammie did.
I clicked my jaw, punching the punching bag with such force that it fell off the hook.
…
Cammie POV
Everything felt like a blur around me. There was a constant ringing in my ears. A hum that wouldn't die down. My vision felt blurred at the corners, trying to give me tunnel vision of what's in front of me.
My legs felt like jelly, ready to give in at any moment, but somehow I managed to get to the infirmary.
Buckingham, Townsend, Macey & Liz were all crowded around the bed at the end of the room. I froze, completely terrified.
Everyone looked up at me.
'Squirt?' A croaky voice came from behind them.
Everyone moved, like parting the seas until I was staring at a face I had seen so many times before.
'Abby?' My voice was barely a whisper, tears stung my eyes. I took several steps forward. My body is just working on it's own. I came round to Abby's bedside, taking her hand in mine & pressing it to my lips. I shut my eyes to stop the tears from falling.
'We'll leave you both alone' Professor Buckingham smiled at us and ushering everyone out of the room.
'I'm so glad you're alive' I opened my eyes, the tears falling freely.
'Me too' Abby was crying too. I sat up, giving her a hug. Abby held onto me tightly.
We sobbed into each other's shoulders for a long time. I soaked in her scent. It was different to what it had been before. Abby always smelt like vanilla but now she smells like disinfectant and medicine. But she was breathing & this was the main thing.
Abby pulled me back, she placed her hands on my cheeks and jaw, looking at me carefully.
'What happened to you?' She asked, her voice barely a whisper
'Me?' I gave a quick laugh 'Abby you're the one in the hospital bed'
'But you've lost your spark, Squirt. That little glint in your eyes, it's gone' She stroked my cheek 'You grew up, didn't you?'
'Abby…' I croaked.
'You're brave' She said 'So, so, so brave. Whatever happened, it's okay. You're safe. I promise you're safe'
'You should get some rest' I pulled back, wiping my eyes.
'Where's your parents? And Joe?'
'Abby, you need to rest' I began to stand up but Abby grabbed my arm
'Cameron Ann Morgan, tell me where they are right this minute'
'That's the thing Abby...I don't know'
Abby's grip on my arm loosened.
'They got out' Abby muttered, her voice broke & her eyes clouded over. 'They got out, I know they did' Abby banged her fist on the bed, and tried to sit up. I grabbed her arms, holding her in place. Abby fought against me, screaming and crying out, but she was too weak. I wrapped my arms around her, holding her close until she eventually ended up drifting off to sleep.
.
'How is she?' I looked up to see Townsend hovering in the doorway, unsure if he should enter or not. It had been a few hours since everyone had left me alone with Abby, which means it's close to two am.
'Resting'
'And you? How are you feeling?' Townsend came to stand on the opposite side of Abby's bed. Just like we were in London.
'Relieved'
'Is that all?' He raised an eyebrow. I looked at Abby and then turned to Edward
'She said that they got out'
'But you don't think that's true?'
'No' I shook my head 'My parents would come back to me. Whatever it takes'
'I completely agree' Townsend scratched his jaw. 'There's been no sign of them at all. No one even closely matching their descriptions have appeared on the radar'
'Which means that if they did escape, they're still in danger' I said. Townsend simply nodded.
We stayed silent for a while. Both of us just watching the steady rise and fall of Abby's heartbeat. The beeping of the machine echoing off the wall.
'How long are you staying?' Townsend asked
'At Gallagher or in this room?' I raised an eyebrow.
'You should get some sleep' He noted. I rolled my eyes.
'Don't you start. I've had that from everyone'
'Then maybe you should listen to everyone. Rule 73'
'A tired agent is not a reliable agent' I sighed 'I know'
Now that it was mentioned, I could feel the tiredness beginning to seep into my bones. I stifled a yawn. I gave Abby's hand a squeeze & kissed her forehead.
'Can you-'
'-let you know if anything in her condition changes? Of course' He gave me a single nod. I returned it and exited the room.
I made my way down the sublevels to the room I share with the girls. It wasn't quite as nice as our old room with the little nooks and caved in areas that I loved so much, but it was still homely.
'How is she?' Liz asked as soon as I came in.
'Tired' I said 'But she's alive which is the main thing'
'Did she tell you any information?' Macey asked, looking up from her magazine.
'Nothing concrete. Abby thought that everyone escaped with her but…' I let the sentence trail off. I didn't have to say exactly what I was thinking, the girls knew.
'I had a look in the library to see if any books we had mentioned the Circle of Cavan but nothing' Liz sighed deflated 'They're not on any terror network'
'Thank you for looking Liz. I'll talk to Buckingham in the morning, see if she knows anything...Where's Bex?' I asked, noticing that her bed was empty.
'She came back and brought your stuff, then said something about going to the library or the common room to catch up with some of the girls. She hasn't been back since'
I nodded, knowing that I'd have to talk to Bex about what happened in the barn at some point.
As soon as my head hit the pillow I fell asleep.
.
My dream was dark and foggy. It felt as though my arms were restrained at my side, my wrists clamped, refusing to move. I tried to kick but there was a weight on top of me, putting pressure on my chest. My lungs felt on fire.
'CAMMIE! WAKE UP'
Suddenly I felt a cold rush of air and my eyes opened. Bex had me pinned down, the moon illuminating her features.
'Cammie, wake up!' She ordered, her grip on my wrists tightening.
'I'm awake' I muttered, trying to catch my breath. Bex sighed, relieved. She clambered off of me, laying down at my side catching her breath too.
I stayed still looking up at the stars, allowing the cold wet grass to seep into my skin, cooling me down.
'How did I get out here?' I asked after a while.
'I don't know. Buckingham asked me to do a perimeter check and I found you just standing out here. Then when I got close, something switched and you attached me' Bex was rubbing her arm, I noticed she had a few scratches down it, one was bleeding.
'I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you'
'You didn't hurt me Cam' She looked at me 'You worried me. You've never done this before'
'I know' I sat up, hugging my knees to my chest. 'Since seeing those polaroids and Abby being back...it's brought back a lot of things' I looked up at the sky.
'There was a seperate room for when they...There were no windows and the walls were tiled so it was always cold and the tiles meant that the blood could easily be washed away…'
'Cammie…' Bex's voice was small, barely a whisper causing it to get lost in the slight wind.
'Whoever did this to me stopped at nothing to get what they wanted'
'Well, you're alive' Bex sighed 'So they did stop...or...they're not finished'
The words hung in the air around us, feeling stale & sticky.
'Josh is engaged'
'Seriously?' Bex sat up 'Please tell me it's not to DeeDee?'
I shot a look to Bex. She placed her hand on my shoulder, giving it a light squeeze.
'I'm sorry Cam'
'It's fine. We never would have worked anyway. It just sucks that I can't have that'
'Is that why you & Zach…'
'No. Yes. I don't know' I shook my head, looking back at the stars. 'I just don't have to think when I'm around him. I don't know if that's a brilliant or a terrifying thing' I paused for a moment 'History's going to repeat itself, isn't it?' My voice cracked 'This is going to be another Josh situation but it won't end in memory loss tea, It'll end with one of us being hurt. And it's going to be me, right?'
Bex didn't say anything, she just wrapped her arms around me, holding me tight.
Bex and I didn't talk. We just sat there in silence until the first flicker of sunlight peppered the sky.
'I think it's time we head inside' Bex sighed, brushing off the grass as she stood up.
'Yeah you're right' I gratefully took her outstretched hand as she helped me up. We began to make our way back to the main entrance when I had the strange feeling that I was being watched.
I quickly spun around, my eyes drawn to the line of thick trees at the far end of the grounds.
'What is it?' Bex asked, her gaze following mine. I kept looking at the trees. The wind was blowing lightly causing the trees to dance which made it hard for me to distinguish what could be there. I narrowed my eyes.
'I thought I saw something' I muttered. We paused for a while just watching but nothing happened so we headed back inside.
.
Bex and I managed to get a few hours sleep before the other two girls had woken up. Judging by their calm deminers, neither of them noticed me missing last night which makes me glad that Bex was in the right place at the right time.
We got dressed and began to make our way towards the dining room. Thankfully the young Gallagher Girls didn't attack me this morning but were rather more fixated on the boys.
'Alright ladies' Grant said 'I'm trying to eat here'
But that didn't deter the girls, their stares nor their whispers.
I whistled sharply causing everyone to jump & face me.
'Girls…' I warned. It might have been my tone, the look Bex, Macey, Liz and I were giving them or a combination of both but all the girls dispersed very very quickly.
'Thank you' Jonas sighed looking up at us, adjusting his glasses 'There were just so many'
'Don't worry about them' Grant scoffed
'Oh you should' Macey sat down opposite him, taking a strawberry off his plate 'Our bite is worse than our bark'
'Isn't it the bark is worse than the bite?' Jonas asked
'Not for Gallagher Girls' Macey winked at him causing Jonas to gulp.
'How's your Aunt?' Zach asked as I took a seat next to Bex opposite him
'She's okay. If she's up for it, I'm going to ask her some questions, see if we can get any leads on where the others are'
'And you? How are you?' Was it just me or had his eyes magically become greener over night?
'Ladies' Before I could respond to Zach, Professor Buckingham approached the table '...and Gentlemen, did any of you have a late night excursion in the grounds?'
'That would be my bad Professor' I owned up 'I was sleepwalking and Bex came to grab me'
'You were sleepwalking?' Zach asked. I gave him a not-now look.
'Well that explains it. We had a alarm triggered in the woods'
'The woods?' Bex and I said in unison, glancing at each other with wide fearful eyes before turning back to Buckingham.
'Is there a problem?' Buckingham asked
'Professor, I stopped Cammie before she went into the woods. We were nowhere near them'
The atmosphere at the table changed. Buckingham checked her surroundings making sure there were no prying eyes or ears.
She then turned back to us four girls.
'You know what to do' And with that, Patricia Buckingham turned on her heels abruptly, making her way across to the teacher's table.
'You were sleepwalking?' Zach asked again.
'Not now' I hissed, standing up and heading towards the door. Whilst we were in the hallway I turned to everyone.
'Bookworm'
'I'll look through the CCTV and the thermal cameras'
'Peacock'
'I'll comb through the grounds'
'Duchess'
'I'm going wherever you're going'
'Alright' I nodded then turned to the boys 'Can you help Macey scan the grounds. There's too much for her to cover on her own'
'Where are you going?' Zach asked, his gaze intense and burning.
'To find whoever did this'
Author's note: Hello lovely people! Hope you are doing well! I can't WAIT to share where this story is going (I saw that all the time but AHHHH I'm excited!) xxx
GallagherGirlsEmbassyRowFan: This story will have so many references to the books which I absolutely love. That Zammie kiss is just the beginning...I'm super excited with where everything is going to go with this story - more drama and action and romance than I've ever had before xxx
gymnast1150: Ahahaha I'm glad that you like the Zammie moment, it was my favourite scene to write by far (though my favourite scenes change all the time. Lol). Cammie left a long-lasting impression on Zach and I think from his first interaction it was love at first sight, Cammie's been heartbroken before so I believe it was love at first sight for her too but not completely as she needs to trust in order to love. Cammie has her guard up when it's her personal life, but Zach seems to have edged his way in. Aww thank you so much, and yes, Amy's storyline is significant in this story. Keep a close eye on the details I've mentioned mwhahahaa. xxx
Covertoperative456: A lot of that chapter was taken directly from the books and then reworded slightly so all credit goes to Ally Carter. Thank you so much! I'm so glad you've enjoyed that moment xxx
Dutchess12: Loved that little Abby pun at the beginning of your review. It put a smile on my face :D. A little hot is what I wanted *wink wink*. Zach is really infatuated by Cammie and he's obviously been so since their first meeting. I'm better now, thank you for asking, just something I've dealt with for a few years that flares up every now & then and just knocks all the energy out of me for a day. But I'm good :) xxx
Alecks454: Basically, yeah. xxx
Archer5210: I missed Zammie too, although I love when they're fighting xxx
Fanfix2.0: Abby is okay! Thank goodness. xxx
allycarterfan101: ahaha Thank you. Who do you think the villain in HSM is? xxx
