Haunted chapter thirteen
Author´s note: I don´t own House. I just play a little.
I´m so sorry that it took me two weeks to finally post this chapter! Im just hoping that I haven´t lost too much readers because of this! Is just that the motherboard of my computer said goodbye, and it took me a while to get a new one. And then, I had to write this chapter again, almost all of my data is gone. So I hope that this chapter, (including the cliff-hanger, he he), will be worth the long wait! Please comment on this one, I really want to hear what you all think, especially now, cause with this chapter, the story goes into a race of new happenings that will lead to the big final. So please, tell me your thoughts!
And, I can´t say that often enough, a big THANK YOU to my Beta Katie. You´re just...amazing girl.
"No. There is no way that he's still alive." Cameron surprises both House and Cuddy with her calm and steady voice.
"And you know this because…?" House looks over to Cameron who still seems shocked, but he´s not sure if this was because of his statement or the earlier events. Probably both.
"Because I know. He´s dead, trust me." She looks him right in the eyes, her facial expression unreadable to him.
"Yeah, I get that now. You´re sure that he is dead. But let me ask you again; what makes you sure of that?" House had almost forgotten about Cuddy´s presence and he jumps a little as her voice resonates around the living-room, answering his question.
"Cameron is right House. Jared can´t be alive. But…I don´t know. Something isn´t right here. You have to admit that, Cameron."
"I never denied that. But maybe…maybe we're overacting a little." If only I could believe that myself.
House gives her the evil eye while snorting aloud.
"You know what? It´s about time that we do something. And we are going to do it right now." Cuddy grabs her coat while pointing a finger at Cameron. "You pack some things." Turning around to House, she is silent for a brief moment, studying him closely. "Maybe you can stay here while I´m gone. I´ll be back in an hour. Can you do that?" House nods, his eyes watching her suspiciously as she walks toward the door.
"I will. But where're you going?" The only answer is the sound of the door closing. He turns around to Cameron who looked as puzzled as he did. "What´s she up to?"
"If only I knew."
The two of them sat, just looking at each other, neither of them speaking for several minutes. House finally breaks the silence with a demand. "I think it´s time that you tell me what happened. To tell me what's going on here. And don´t try to give me a fake story again. I want the truth, Cameron. I have the right to know what I´m in now."
"If you would have listened in the beginning, you wouldn´t be involved right now."
Cameron turns away from him, trying to escape him by going into her bedroom, but she finds herself being followed by House, who is grimacing behind her back.
"Nuh-uh, don´t get nasty Cameron. "
"You are the nasty one here, but that´s nothing new. In fact, the being nasty thing is what you do best. Oh, beside the nosing-around-habit." Cameron opens her wardrobe, searching for a travel bag while sighing, obviously peeved at House.
"Whoa! Words can hurt, you know that, right? But, you know, I´m fine with it. Go on; send little stakes at me, my tortured heart can stand that. But it won't stop me from getting my answers. Not this time."
Cameron stops her search for the bag and walks to her bed, sitting down at it. "So there´s nothing I can do to make you go the hell away?" Her question surprises him a little, but he tries not to show it. "No. Nothing you can do."
"You´re a bastard, House."
"That´s what people say about me."
"Fine then. I´ll tell you. But not here. How about a walk?" She stands up again, looking at him.
"I don´t think that you should walk around, you know? Could be dangerous. I mean with all the little cats roaming around the streets."
"Funny."
No, no! Where are they going? Jared slams his fist on his desk while watching Cameron and this cripple leaving the apartment. This was not going like he had planned. He had to think over his plans. He couldn't wait any longer. This cripple was more a threat than he had thought. He grabs the gun that lies in his desk drawer, making sure that she's loaded and ready to be used.
House looks at Cameron as the two of them walk down the street, moving away from her apartment. "So, any reason why you can´t tell me the story in your private place?"
"Yeah. Because I want to keep my place as free as possible from bad memories. It may sound foolish, but I don´t want to…speak that things out loud there."
"You´re right. It sounds foolish. But maybe that´s because I don´t know all the meanings behind your behavior. So, you want to enlighten me before Cuddy comes back and finds out that we´re gone?"
"Listen, House. I´m not going to tell you everything. Just…the important things. But I can´t give you any more than that."
"Are you going to start telling me eventually?"
"Alright, how's this: I was 22 years old and my husband had just died. My life was…empty. Then there came this class reunion invitation. At first I didn´t want to go, but then I thought that a little fun couldn't be bad, so I went to the reunion. And there I met…Jared. We…had a thing back in High-School. So we met there, left the reunion and spend the evening together. Well, one thing led to another, and we became a couple. Was good for almost a year, than things got bad. I…"
"No. I will not let you keep doing the same thing as Cuddy. First of all, you tell me exactly what "things got bad" means!" He is about to grab Cameron´s arm when he stops himself, remembering her avoidance of being touched.
"It means that one day I became aware that he was a drug dealer, and he caught me. He abducted me…"
"…So that you couldn´t go to the police." He again resists the urge to touch her as her answer surprises him.
"If it were only that easy." He looks at her puzzled, trying to understand her reply.
"What do you mean?"
"Hey! Do you want to hear my story or do you want to play therapist?" House doesn't answer her, so Cameron begins to speak again.
"Well, as I said, he abducted me. First I…we…we were on his boat. He had to deliver another package. After that, he…moved me to an old house in the woods, near New Jersey. After a few days, he dragged me to New York. He had a house there that I didn´t know about. After a week, I managed to escape him." Cameron sighs, seeing her last encounter with Jared before her eyes.
This may be her last chance. No, it definitely was her last chance. Now or never. Holding her right arm close to her body, trying to reduce the burning pain the fabric of her shirt causes when it rubs over her wounded shoulder, she moves toward the door. Her heart beats loud in her chest, the blood in her veins rushes through her body, filling her ears with the sound of it. She can hear his footsteps.
Horror fills her body at the very thought that this attempt to get away could fail. No, she can´t loose this upcoming fight. If she were to lose, she'd find herself in another country by tomorrow. The door opens and Jared walks in, his eyes searching for her. He holds a white cloth in his hand and she knows that he's planning to drug her again. The grip of the lamp in her left hand tightens as she rises up behind him. She lifts the lamp, ready to hit him on the head with it, but at the very second Jared turns around, absorbing the hard whack with his arm. But he is about to loose his balance and she strikes another blow, this one sending him to the ground. She turns around; trying to leave the room, but suddenly his hand grabs her ankle, causing her to fall. NO, NO!
She feels the weight of his body on her own as she tries to crawl away from him, when a terrible wave of pain slices through takes possession of her shoulder as Jared places his arm on it, applying pressure to the tender wound. Against her will, a small cry escapes her throat. "Having any pain, honey?" He smiles at her and presses his arm deeper onto her shoulder while he reaches for the cloth with his other hand. She tries to move her shoulder to another place, but the pain and Jared´s grip on her is too strong. But she can´t let him win. She has to try to escape him, at any costs. by all means.
Of the corner of her eyes she can see his hand with the cloth coming down to her face, ready to press it onto her mouth. She struggles and tries to kick him with her legs, but fails. Think, Cameron, think! And as the cloth covers her mouth and nose, she comes up with an idea. It's a lousy one, but it´s her last chance.
Within seconds, her body goes limp and Jared watches as her eyes are closing slowly, her breathing becoming calm. Jared moves a little and removes the cloth from her face and suddenly her hand comes up, striking him. It is then that she sees the gun, plunging into the waistband of his pants. Without thinking she grabs the gun, pointing it at him and pulling the trigger as he once again comes down at her, attempting to strike her. trying to hit her. Blood covers her body.
"Heelloo! Anybody there?" House´s voice brings her out of her memory and back to the present.
"What did you say?"
"I asked how you know that he´s dead."
"Because I… shot him. And because the doctors in the hospital said so." Cameron waits for a reaction. A reply, a disgusted expression on his face, but she doesn´t find what she is searching for. House looks at her, fully aware of her observation of him.
"What? Are you waiting to see me run away from you?"
"Actually, yes." Give the truth a run.
"Aha. Because you killed that son of a bitch that held you captive for weeks."
Cameron didn't know how to reply to that. She turns her face away from him, but House isn´t about to let it go that easily. "There´s no need in feeling guilty, you know? You only protected yourself. He deserved his death."
"How can you say that? You never met him." What are you talking about, girl? Shut your mouth!
"Because people like him deserve death. I don´t have to know him to see the truth in my words, and you know that Cameron." His finger touches her cheek as he speaks and he is happy to see that Cameron isn´t afraid of being touched. "You know…" A sound behind him catches his attention and he turns around.
But he sees it to late. The fist comes to fast, his cane taken away from him immediately. Pain rushes through his cheekbone as he loses his balance, falling to the hard sidewalk ground, leaving him there helpless. A brown shoe suddenly appears before his face, immediately before it smashes into him. He lifts his head back up and looks into the barrel of a gun as he hears a click at the same time.
"No!" He hears Cameron screaming, followed by a moan from the stranger and than the gun leaves his field of vision. The brown shoe shows up one last time, landing in his face. Before loosing consciousness, he hears a last scream from Cameron, but this one sounds different. It was full of terror, not of shock. As darkness overcomes him, he hears one last word coming from Cameron. "Jared."
Cameron steps backward, unable to take her eyes off the man before her. RUN! JUST RUN!
"You…you…" With wide eyes she sees him coming nearer toward her, smiling.
"Have you lost your ability to speak in full sentences, darling?" His hand with the gun in it points at her before suddenly turning down to House's still form.
"NO! JARED!"
He smiles at her, almost warmly. "It´s okay, Cameron. I´m not going to kill him. Not if you come over here to me." He's still smiling and it makes Cameron sick. She still can´t believe what she sees. Angst fills her, knowing angst. But looking over to House, she knows that it´s up to her to save his life. And there was only one way to save it. In order to save House, she had to give herself up to Jared. Slowly she walks over to him, her whole body shaking.
When she is just a step away from him, Jared reaches out to her, grabbing her forearm.
"Jared, please…"
"No please. Not this time." As he fires the gun, Cameron screams and drops down, clutching House´s body, trying to find the bullet wound. "No no no no no…"
"Uups!"
"You…you little bastard. You…" A single prick stops her words and, shocked and surprised, she turns her head to the side, looking at her arm where the needle is still stuck. Falling to the side she lands in Jared's arms as he smiles broadly at her before her vision goes black.