Not much happening in this chapter - just needed to tie up a loose end, mainly. Stay tuned, for the fun is just getting started! For you readers, I mean. Not for Cameron. Oh no.

By the way... Whoever guesses one or both of the movies which inspired this fic gets a cookie! Oh yeah, 'cookie' stands for 'chapter nine dedication'. And Belmont Bellamy isn't allowed to enter, because I may have told her already. But Belmont Bellamy's been mentioned before in my A/Ns, for being such a great Beta! Let's hear it for Belmont Bellamy! There, now that I've made her all embarrassed she'll forget about not being able to enter my competition .:smiles innocently:.

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The rest of Cameron's day passed by without incident. She spent the rest of the morning and all afternoon cleaning, as she usually did when something was on her mind. Actually, to say something was on her mind would be an understatement. Thoughts raced through her head so frequently she often dropped whatever she was doing and stood in a silent stupor until they had sorted themselves out. Even having her stereo speakers turned to full volume didn't distract her from the events of the past few days.

Still, despite her constant preoccupation, her apartment was positively gleaming come evening. Cameron poured herself a glass of white wine and ran a hot bath. While the water was running she set about lighting scented candles. This wasn't something she did normally, but a friend had given her an aromatherapy kit and she decided now was a good time to use it. When the bath was full she slipped her clothes off and glided into the water, her intentions to try and relax.

Cameron inhaled deeply, feeling her tense muscles loosen in the hot water. She held her breath and slid under the surface, letting all thoughts disappear from her head as her hair made lazy spiral patterns before her eyes. She rose a few seconds later and took another sip of her wine.

Some hours, and half a bottle of wine, later Cameron was feeling quite sleepy. The surrounding candles had been reduced to stubs and the light coming from them was dimming. She emptied the bath and began to dry herself.

Now that she was relaxed, Cameron could think of nothing but her bed. She'd stripped and washed the sheets earlier that evening, and was looking forward to slipping between them and letting sleep take over. 'That aromatherapy kit certainly did its job' she thought contentedly as she staggered down the hallway to her bedroom.

-----------HOUSE MD----------

Cameron woke at around ten o'clock the next morning with only one thing on her mind: The jacket. She got dressed straightaway, and tied her hair up in a quick ponytail on the way to the kitchen for breakfast.

When she'd eaten and brushed her teeth she wandered into the laundry to fetch her bloodstained jacket. Taking care not to smudge the stains she carried it out to the car and draped it over the back seat.

The roads were quiet, which was nothing unusual on a Sunday morning. She reached the hospital in no time, and pulled into a space near the entrance. Once she'd turned off the ignition Cameron sat back to think. She wasn't even sure what she was testing the jacket for. Something abnormal? 'Well, it's bound to be abnormal, considering the events of the past few days.' She told herself. She was certain no one was standing behind her in the cinema when she'd felt the tapping. She'd thought it was Chase the first time, but he was definitely in front of her the second time. Cameron picked up the jacket and peered at the shoulder to inspect the stain once more.

'Where is it?' She wondered. There was nothing on the right shoulder, where she'd felt the tapping. 'Maybe it was the other shoulder.' She thought with a frown. Again, there was nothing there. The fabric was as clean as it was the day she's bought it. She searched her back seat in case the blood rubbed off during the car ride, but she couldn't see anything. Cameron checked the clothes she was wearing with the same results.

She was sitting in a stunned silence when something collided with her window. "What the…?" she cursed.

It was House. He was standing outside the car, leaning over to peer at her through the glass. He was saying something. "What?" Cameron asked, winding the window down.

"I said, why are you here on a Sunday?" He said exasperatedly. Cameron froze. She had to think fast if she were to get out of this one without making him suspicious.

"I thought I left my jacket here on Friday, but obviously I didn't." She shrugged, holding the previously bloodstained jacket up for clarification. "Why are you here?" That wasn't a cover up. She actually was puzzled as to why House was at work on a Sunday. He was reluctant to go to work on a weekday, let alone his day off.

"Cuddy." He answered shortly, scowling. When she continued to look puzzled he continued. "She says it's for clinic duty, but everyone knows she just wants an excuse to get me alone and have her wicked way with me." He said nonchalantly, inspecting his fingernails as he did so. Cameron rolled her eyes.

"How're you today?" He asked her, staring intently at her. This caught Cameron off guard. Was that genuine concern in his voice?

"I take it the exorcism went well. You're looking a little more human than you were Friday." He added, peering at her.

Cameron smirked. "Goodbye, House." She told him, winding the window up. As she started the ignition once more Cameron watched through her rear-vision mirror as Cuddy came storming through the hospital doors. She chuckled as the Dean of Medicine scolded the diagnostician, before dragging him towards the clinic by his ear. He turned and gave Cameron a thumbs-up before disappearing inside.

Once he was gone Cameron's face fell slack. Why was the blood gone? She pulled out of the hospital parking lot with a million thoughts racing through her head once more.

----------HOUSE MD-----------

That night, after stressing over the jacket throughout the day, Cameron shoved it as far back into her closet as possible. She couldn't bring herself to wear it anymore, at least until this whole 'Isabelle' ordeal was over.

Thunder rumbled outside her bedroom window, making her body tense. She didn't mind storms, but in her current state of mind Cameron was afraid of the images her brain was capable of conjuring up in the stressful atmosphere. She felt as though she were the lead in a horror movie; the helpless victim who remains blissfully unaware of the gruesome demise which lay in store for her. She felt as though an audience were watching her, waiting for her to open a window or take the garbage out so she could fall prey to whatever horror lay in waiting.

"Stop it," Cameron scolded herself. "The more you think about it, the more it'll frighten you."

Despite trying to be brave, Cameron set about switching all the lights on in her apartment. Dreading the sum of her next electricity bill, she also turned the TV on, just as she had the night Isabelle 'visited' her. Pretending the bright atmosphere comforted her troubling nerves, Cameron poured herself another glass of wine and sat back on the couch. She hadn't consumed this much wine over a period of twenty-four hours since her college days. It was always her drink of choice.

Unfortunately the soothing liquid didn't soothe her at all. She sipped it gently at first, waiting for the warmth to radiate from her throat. When nothing happened she took larger sips. Then she tried gulping the drink down. Eventually she impatiently emptied her (refilled) glass in one mouthful, desperate to relax. Although she felt the familiar light-headed sensation approach, it was doing nothing to calm her.

Rather than ease her mind, visions of the past few days threw themselves at her more and more violently until she threw her head in her hands and gave a strangled cry. Her head was swimming, her heart was pounding and her stomach was lurching.

"Why me?" She breathed. Behind her closed eyelids the scene from her bedroom two nights ago played out in a series of disjointed images and thoughts. Isabelle was staring into her face in the kitchen, Isabelle was reaching out for her in the bedroom, and Cameron was slicing herself to pieces trying to get away. She could still feel the glass slide neatly through her skin; she could still feel the hot tears running down her cheeks.

"Why me?" she repeated. She ran her fingers through her hair, scrunching the loose strands between them, almost as if she intended to pull the wayward thoughts from her head.

'I need to sleep.' She decided suddenly. Jumping up from the couch, she wandered into the bathroom. 'I need some help. I need something to help me sleep." She babbled desperately as she wrenched the medicine cabinet open and peered at the assortment of over-the-counter medications. She rummaged through them, searching for anything that would knock her out if she took a high enough dose. The doctor in her had taken flight, apparently. She was just reaching for some aspirin when a loud rapping sounded through her living room. She paused, trying to figure out whether the noise had come from the television or not.

Eventually she dropped the aspirin in the sink and staggered out to the living room. There it was again – a knock on her front door. She swayed slightly, debating whether or not to answer it. She decided to take a peek, in case it was someone important, like the mailman. Not really caring that the mailman wouldn't be knocking on her door at eight-thirty on a Sunday evening, Cameron made her way over to the door. She opened it a crack, stopping when the security chain was stretched taught. She wedged her face through the gap, and took a look around.

The hallway was empty. Cameron stared into it for a few seconds, before huffing "Fine, be that way," and shutting the door with a bang.

As she spun around to head back to the bathroom, Cameron's shin connected with her coffee table, sending her flying. Her last thought as she plummeted towards the carpet and into unconsciousness was 'I don't remember putting the coffee table there.'

As Cameron lay spread-eagled on the floor, the steady 'clink' of aspirin tablets falling one by one down the drain could be heard clearly throughout her apartment.

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