Chapter 125

Dead Man's Curve

Allison wanted to find Cameron. She could not locate her. She spotted John and went to ask him.

"Hi, John." Allison said.

John smiled when he saw it was Allison.

"Hi, Allison." John said.

Allison thought John looked happy.

"I've been looking for Cameron and I can't find her." Allison said.

John did know where Cameron was at and he was pleased with what she was doing with Riley. He was aware that Riley did not get the same treatment or reception as everyone else did. He did not like it but felt he could not say or do much about that personally. Maybe that was what everyone thought and felt too. That not only created the 'problem', it seemed to compound it.

"Cameron and Riley went out." John said.

A look of concern came across Allison's face. She briefly wondered if Cameron took Riley somewhere to terminate her.

"She is not going to…?" Allison asked.

John laughed.

"No. Cameron was trying to make Riley feel more at 'home'." John said. "That is something we all need to work on around here."

Allison wondered if it would be like when Cameron went out with Vanna and her.

"Cameron took Riley for a girl's night out?" Allison asked.

"Yes." John said.

Allison figured there would be some 'excitement' later on.

"There are going to be a few 'busted up' people tonight." Allison said.

Now John looked a little concerned.

"Why?" John asked.

Allison was well acquainted with Cameron's 'style'.

"Whenever Cameron goes out with the girls, 'action' seems to find her." Allison said.

John heard that before. That happened even when his mother was with them.

"Why?" John asked again.

"She is like a 'trouble magnet'. First, because she always looks 'perfect'. Second, because she does everything perfect. It draws challenges and then she defeats everyone. That is when the trouble starts." Allison said. "People don't like being defeated so soundly by someone so beautiful and who does not look like she is even trying."

Allison knew Cameron always said that she was only using her 'natural ability'.

John thought about that for a few seconds. There was something else that'd been troubling him. Whenever he asked Cameron about it she would just smile at him and leave. The fact Cameron seemed happier lately added to his worry. He decided just to ask and find out, it was the best thing. He was pretty sure he was not going to like the answer.

"Allison, the other day when we all went out with Cameron, do you remember what happened?" John asked. "You know 'later on'?"

Allison knew what happened. She took a few seconds to respond.

She smiled. She needed to find the right words.

"If one of us is 'late', we will let you know." Allison said.

The look on John's face was priceless.

"Do you mean that we 'did something'?" John asked very worried.

Allison started laughing. She could not help herself.

"I have no idea." Allison said and left.

John could hear her laughing as she walked down the hall.

John was not sure if she was joking around and trying to 'prank' him or not.

Now John was more worried than ever….

Allison was sure she pulled one over on John. Maybe that was a little mean to do. She really did not know what actually happened the whole night. She was pretty sure Cameron leaned on Jesse to 'put out'. Cameron leaned on her some too but not on Vanna. There'd been a lot of kissing and touching. It was all sort of a blur in the end.

She never knew what happened to her underwear from that night. She knew she wore them when they left but they never turned up. She was with Jesse and Vanna later on. That was how they woke up anyway. She was sure John was with them too at one point. Maybe that was just what she wanted to happen.

She wondered what would happen if she did end up pregnant. Would Cameron 'take' the baby from her? There was a good chance she would. Vanna and her talked of starting a family before. What if they planned that and Cameron 'took' her child for herself?

Maybe that was better than the pressure Savannah was under. It appeared that as soon as she would be able to have a child, it was going to happen. There was a lot of speculation as to how that would happen.

She decided not to worry about this anymore.

It was time to find Vanna and seek some 'comfort'. She really needed some right now.

Riley was still 'amped' up about the encounter on the beach earlier. It had been such a 'rush'. She glanced over at Cameron as she drove. It didn't seem to have phased her in the slightest.

"That was really wild earlier." Riley said.

Cameron glanced over and smiled at Riley.

"It happens." Cameron said.

Cameron turned off of PCH onto Sunset Boulevard.

They drove east on Sunset up from the beach. It was a very curvy road in places. Riley changed the radio channel. 'Dead Man's Curve' by 'Jan and Dean', came over the airwaves. Cameron asked her to leave it on that channel and listen.

Riley took in the lyrics as Cameron took the twisty curves of Sunset.

Cameron glanced in her rear view mirror and rapidly moved over to the right.

A few seconds later two cars came flying by them at high speed. They were street racing. The exhaust thundered and the engines screamed as the cars raced past them. Each driver jockeyed for the lead. They often crossed over the center line in the road. It looked incredibly dangerous.

Riley was as surprised as she was impressed.

"Damn, they're fast." Riley said.

Cameron did not like the danger they'd put Riley in as they passed.

"They're fast but stupid." Cameron said. "Listen to that song. It is about this very street. It is about people doing the same thing."

Riley did listen. It was sort of a 'sad song'.

The girls shared some small talk as Cameron drove.

Riley was really surprised how much like a 'person' or a 'girl' that Cameron was like. Cameron was awesome! Riley could see why John loved her. In fact she could see why everyone loved Cameron. She was amazing and dynamic. This was not the 'same Cameron' that went out to fight Skynet. 'That Cameron' was a cold killing machine, a Terminator.

Cameron suddenly slowed.

Riley looked around quickly. She wondered what was wrong. She did not see anything.

Cameron handed Riley a phone.

"Use this burner and call 911. Tell them there is a car over the side of the road." Cameron said.

Cameron told Riley the name of the last cross street they'd passed on Sunset.

Riley saw where Cameron was looking. The guard rail was shattered and a section of it was missing on the curve in front of them. There were two dark lines in the road leading into the void. Those looked like skid marks from someone laying down hard on the brake peddle.

Smoke started to rise from below the shattered guard rail.

"Tell them to send a fire truck and an ambulance." Cameron said.

Cameron left the SUV. She headed for the smashed guardrail and disappeared over the side of the hill in an instant.

Riley placed the call and then ran to see where Cameron went. She reached the shattered guard rail and was surprised at what she saw.

Riley took in the scene below.

Cameron was about a hundred feet down the side of the hill at a wrecked car. It was upside down and had started to burn.

Riley watched as Cameron flipped the car over so it was upright. It almost seemed effortlessly for her. Cameron then ripped the door off the driver's side and pushed the collapsed roof up. The front end of the car was really starting to burn fiercely at this point.

Cameron scanned the driver for neck or back injuries and carried him from the flaming wreck. In seconds she was standing next to Riley. She gently laid the man on the side of the road. She checked his vitals.

Riley saw it was a steep climb. Even carrying the man, Cameron made it all seem effortless for her.

Cameron and Riley waited a few minutes to make sure the man did not need CPR.

They could hear the sirens in the distance. The emergency response crew was almost there.

"Let's go, help is here." Cameron said.

They returned to the SUV and lingered until they saw the ambulance pull up behind them and then Cameron drove off.

Riley felt her heart pounding again. This was another adrenaline rush. This was a scary event for her too. She worried about Cameron and the driver of the wrecked car. She briefly pictured being trapped in a burning car and not be able to get out of it. It was not a pleasant thought.

"You saved that man from burning to death." Riley said. "He was still alive. He would have burnt to death."

Cameron did not see it as a big deal.

"Sometimes it's nice to have help." Cameron said.

Riley knew Cameron could have passed by the wreck and kept going. She never would have known. Instead Cameron stopped to help a stranger.

She was in total awe of Cameron.

'She is incredible'. Riley thought. 'She is invincible.'

"Is there anything you can't do?" Riley asked.

Cameron smiled but felt a stab of pain inside her.

'There is ONE thing I can't do but YOU can.' Cameron sadly reflected.

Cameron did not want to go there in her mind right now. This night was about Riley.

"There are a few things." Cameron said. "The night is still young and we haven't even started drinking yet."

Riley wondered what further adventures awaited her.

Wait.

Did Cameron say drinking? She wondered if Cameron actually consumed alcohol.

As they traveled eastward on Sunset, Cameron pointed out the locations from the song 'Dead Man's Curve' in the reverse order they happened in the song.

She pointed as they passed each one.

"Here is Dead Man's Curve. This is Doheny. This is Crescent Heights and Schwab's was located there. La Brea is here and this Vine." Cameron said.

Riley took it all in.

"You know, Riley, the sad part is that one of the singers was hurt near Dead Man's Curve a few years after they recorded that song." Cameron said. "It was very similar to what the song was about. Even the type of car that he drove was nearly identical."

Riley thought back on the accident they stopped to assist at. She really wondered why Cameron stopped to help. She needed to ask.

"Cameron, why did you stop to help the driver?" Riley asked. "You didn't have to."

The soft smile on Cameron's face evaporated. The question hit close to home with her. The events surrounding that still troubled her.

"Once when I was with John in school, I prevented him from helping someone. He did not have enough time it turned out to make a difference but I should have let him try. I 'hurt' him by not allowing him to try to help. I must atone for that transgression. It did not bother me then but it bothers me now. A lot of things do."

Cameron thought of 'the Russian' and his sister, the dance instructor. She knew she could have stopped the men that came to kill them. She did nothing but walk by them. Those two people died because she did nothing. She still felt remorse about that. The dance instructor did not deserve to die for her brother's sins. She did not share that story with Riley.

Riley thought it said a lot about Cameron if she helped others that she did not need to help.

"You like to help people don't you?" Riley asked.

Cameron glanced over at Riley.

"Sometimes it is nice to have help." Cameron said again.

"Yes it is. Thank you, Cameron." Riley said.

Cameron smiled at Riley.

"Are you ready for some fun? The night is just getting started." Cameron said.

Riley wondered what else could happen to top this eventful night.

Cameron took Riley to a few more places she liked to take the girls to.

Cameron almost got into a few more small scrapes but decided to not escalate them as she normally would. Cameron thought she'd shown Riley 'enough' for one night.

If Riley still felt any apprehension for Cameron, it was gone after tonight. Cameron was the greatest person ever to Riley. It was just that simple.

Riley could feel something happening inside of her as well, she did nothing to stop it….

You Should Know That By Now

Many days come
Many days go
Some go by faster
Some go by slow

It is what we do
With each passing day
How we act and behave
What we do and say

We can feel love
We can feel hate
One is not good
The other is great

We may not know
Who they really are
One thing for sure
You better check the radar

I say what I mean
Even make a vow
I mean what I say
You should know that by now

Nobody