Charlie stood in the doorway of his bedroom. He wasn't sure how he had managed to get here. Come to think of it, he couldn't remember walking up the stairs to his bedroom. He wasn't exactly sure what was going on. He had woken up only hours ago in some ally; that he could remember. He remembered being terrified when he woke to find his hands covered in blood. He had looked for his injuries, and found none. The blood wasn't his. The incredibly bad feeling in the pit of Charlie's stomach faded when he saw Cammy. She was lying on his bed, soaking wet, crying softly.
"Go away Guile, I don't want to talk to you."
Guile? Charlie felt dizzy as he body began to grow weak. He had to grab the doorframe to support himself. He clenched his eyes closed and put his hands to his throbbing head, until he could think straight again. Just then Cammy turned to face him as she spoke.
"Just leave…me…"
He watched, as her eyes grew wide with a mixture of hope and disbelief. His body ached to hold her. Why couldn't he move to her?
"Dad?!"
She stood, slowly walking towards him, and reached her arm out tentatively to touch him. As soon as her skin met his, she let out her breath and ran the remaining distance between them. Charlie's heart sang. He held her close to his chest, only pulling her away from his tight embrace to kiss her face all over. She was still crying, but now was smiling too. Running his fingers through her hair, Charlie thanked God and held her close again. How long had it been since he had seen her last? Charlie wished he could remember. She was holding on to him like he was the only solid thing in her world. They stood embracing each other for a long while. Charlie broke the silence, having to struggle to speak.
"I...love…you...so much…babygirl."
Cammy sighed and held her father even tighter.
"I love you too Dad."
She then reached up, grabbed his face, and looked into his eyes. They were his, hers, theirs. He looked extremely happy yet so tired at the same time.
"Dad? What happened to you?"
He breathed deeply and released her from his comforting grip. He walked to the bed and sat on the edge, placing his head in his hands. He seemed to be struggling to speak.
"I honestly don't know. I woke up in some ally and all I could think of was finding you."
"An ally?"
Cammy looked more closely at her father. He appeared haggard. His hair had grown quite a bit and was dirty and strewn all about. He was very pale and though he seemed tired and weak, she could tell by the tightness of his body that he had grown stronger. And his eyes, they were haunted. That was probably the most disturbing thing about his appearance. Cammy walked to him and laid her head in his lap.
Charlie stroked her hair gently. He said weakly.
"Who cares what happened. I'm here with you now. Nothing else matters."
"I was so scared that you were gone forever. That you wouldn't come back."
"I promised you didn't I?"
"Yeah, but when Guile told me you had been captured, I…I thought that was it."
Charlie stopped stroking Cammy's hair. He had to place his hands over his eyes to try and cover the horrible things he was seeing. He saw people; they were screaming and dying. He saw himself; he was laughing. These images were telling him to be ruthless, savage, to kill, and most importantly to be obedient.
"Dad…"
Cammy's voice brought him back.
"…what was that?"
Charlie opened his eyes to see that he was now standing on the bed. Cammy was across the room, staring at him with wide eyes.
"I…I don't know."
He fell to his knees on the bed. He felt so tired now. A part of his head was telling him to let the darkness come, the other was saying fight it. Cammy ran to him and grabbed his shoulders.
"Dad! You need help. I'm going to find Guile so he can help me get you somewhere where you can be checked out by a doctor."
Charlie grabbed his head to keep from screaming. There were two voices inside his head. One was his, the other wasn't. It was demanding him to kill. KILL NOW! KILL WHAT? JUST KILL. NO! NOW! He fell on the floor on hi hands and knees. He spoke carefully between clenched teeth. It was even harder to speak now than before.
"Cammy, you have to leave right now. Get far away from me."
She spoke on the brink of tears.
"No I'm not leaving you like this. Let me help you."
He yelled, he had never yelled at her before in his life.
"GET OUT! JUST LEAVE FOR GOD'S SAKE. YOU HAVE TO!"
Cammy felt her heart being mangled. What was going on? Why was this happening? Just then Cammy heard someone enter the house and start to ascend the stairs. Hopefully it was Guile and he could help her help her father. He seemed to be struggling to breathe.
"Dad, Guile is coming right now to help, hang in there."
Cammy watched as her father grabbed his head and held it between his legs. His entire body was convulsing and shaking violently. Guile walked in the room and his breath caught.
"Charlie?!"
He began to move towards him but Cammy stopped him. There were fresh tears running down her face from her frightened eyes.
"Something's wrong Guile, you have to help him. Please."
"Alright…Charlie try and listen to me. I'm going to help you. It's me Guile, William. Remember?"
In a fraction of a second her father stopped moving. In the next he had stood in one graceful, fluid movement. His head was facing down looking at the ground. He began to stride towards the door, towards Guile. Cammy stood between them.
"Dad? Are you alright now?"
He stopped walking yet remained looking down.
"Dad? Can you hear me?"
He began to shake his head, still looking down. Guile spoke next.
"Come on Charlie, Lets go."
He stopped shaking his head, but snapped it up quickly to give Guile a wicked glare. He spoke in a monotone voice.
"It's you!"
He began to saunter toward Guile once again. It seemed as if he had muscles where normal people didn't; muscles that allowed him to walk with such a menacing grace. When he got to where Cammy stood he reached his arm out and wrapped one of his large hands around her diminutive neck. He lifted her withering body off of the ground. She heard Guile's and Ken's voices simultaneously call out to her. She couldn't believe what was happening right now. She couldn't breathe. He held her there, squirming like a worm on a hook for a short moment, yet it seemed an eternity to Cammy. He spoke coldly, in the same robotic voice as before.
"Move."
He released he neck as he swung her small frame to the side. Before she crashed into what she hoped would be the bed, Cammy's skeptical eyes met her father's. Not her father. It wasn't him anymore. It was the man from her dream.