Title: Spare Key, pt.2/3
Author: Ritaann
Characters: House/Cameron
Rating: M, beware swearing and dead bodies (although the latter was requested)… if you thought pt.1 was scary, then well, this kinda gets worse (although I don't see where the horror is … despite intending it to be a horror/thriller type fic)
Beta: lj userlynettinspaghet
Summary: Whilst House and Cameron find friendship and perhaps a little something more, Ossel comes closer to the truth he seeks…
Notes: written for lj usersarahkrisjen see part one
09:30
5TH MARCH
DIAGNOSTIC DEPARTMENT
PRINCETON PLAINSBORO TEACHING HOSPITAL
"Are you sure, Ma'am that you can't remember anything else, or haven't seen anything suspicious?" the police officer asks Cameron for the millionth time.
Wrapping her lab coat tightly around her and glancing into the hallway where Dr. Cuddy and a team of hospital security guards and police stood discussing the situation, Cameron shook her head in response.
The only other person who had stayed in the room with her had been House, who was seated at the other end by the whiteboard pretending to ignore the proceedings even after he himself had been questioned about noticing anything suspicious which he hadn't, thumping his cane gently on the carpeted floor as he stared into nothing.
He stood up suddenly, and clearing his throat limped to where they stood in the alcove by her desk.
"I'm sure Officer Davis, that if Dr. Cameron remembers anything, that she'll be sure to give you a ring," he asserted looking down at her for confirmation.
"Of course," she agrees with a nod, looking back at House in confusion at his sudden chivalry. Despite wanting to have this morning over and done with, Cameron felt as though she didn't have the strength to will the kindly police officer away.
Glancing at House for a moment, and then at Cameron, Officer Davis pulled out a card from his left pocket and handed it to her, "We'll keep in touch." His eyes met hers in understanding before taking leave through the glass doors of the department to join the group outside.
House moved over to the sink and taking a glass, filled it with water, "Take the day off." He stated quietly in a manner that lead Cameron to believe that despite his word choice, she was being given an option.
"No," she replied firmly, "I'm fine, I-"
House handed her the glass of water and she took it, noticing a slight tremble in her hands she put it down on the table quickly, "I need to work." She said firmly, her eyes meeting his in a silent duel.
He nodded his acceptance of her answer, and not wanting to cause an argument, let the matter drop in favor of picking up the white board markers on the table and beginning the case that had been put on hold.
"We're still on for tonight?" she asked quietly.
"Sure." He turned away from the whiteboard to take note of her expression. "Page Chase and Foreman- we need to get started on this."
12:00
AISLE 2
PRINCETON 24 HR GROCERY MART
42 ALEXANDRIA DRIVE
After delivering such an important message early that morning, Ossel knew he should lay low preferably away from the hospital, deciding to hang out at the store Allison frequented most, albeit out of necessity.
Before having met Allison, he had never come to this particular store. However in recent times he had come to favour it. Wandering the aisles, clutching a basket containing only a few minor items so as not to seem suspicious, his hand wandering over brands which he knew she preferred, Ossel couldn't help but feel a little closer to his neighbor.
Aisle two contained hair products and was by far, the aisle he knew best. For whatever hair type, he could reel off the best products and their instructions of use. 'Came with the territory' he grinned and prided himself on the knowledge that he was one of the best in the wig industry.
When on the hunt, Ossel felt little need to add to his small business of wigs and hair pieces which he sold directly to buyers. It was a humble profession and he enjoyed the ambiguity wigs could provide their owners, a fact that he himself had enjoyed on more than one occasion.
A bottle blonde chose this moment to enter aisle two from the left.
From his position behind a display of Sunlite hair products, Ossel watched as her eyes roamed over the endless possibilities, her hand coming to settle on a chocolaty/ caramel brown selection. After a few moments she settled on a dark brown, tossing the medium sized box into her basket before moving further into the aisle.
Ossel saw red and fingering the sharp knife in his pocket, pulled his mouth into a determined smile.
He had found his next sacrifice.
12:30
DR WILSON'S OFFICE
LEVEL FOUR
PRINCETON PLAINSBORO TEACHING HOSPITAL
"So how many of those letters had she received before today?" Wilson asked, tossing the wrapping of his lunch into the waste basket by the door.
"Two," House replied, taking another bite out of his Ruben and noisily slurping out of a can of root beer.
"And she didn't think it was important enough to tell somebody about them?"
"Well… the first few sounded kinda harmless." House shrugged, thinking back to the days he now knew Cameron had received her first hand delivered letters and remembering that she had been a little jumpy those days for which he had chalked up as being due to too many late night horror flicks.
"Now she has some kind of stalker- you sure it's not an ex-patient?"
"No idea who it might be."
They sat contemplating their own thoughts for a while, with only the sounds of Wilson crunching his way through a packet of chips breaking the silence.
"Hey- what did you do with those jazz tickets you scored online?" he asked House abruptly.
"Why- you find a way to get out of the marriage counselling session that Julie's making you go to?"
"She's not making me do anything," Wilson threw his hands up in the air and looked at the ceiling despite knowing that he could never convince House otherwise, he would ask for help from above anyway.
"Whatever."
"You wouldn't happen to be taking the same friend you asked to the monster trucks, would you?" Wilson suggested coyly.
"And if it was?" House stopped chewing and with a glance, dared Wilson to give his opinion.
"Nothing, I'm just happy for you that's all."
"It's not a date." House replied firmly.
"I didn't say it was."
And that was the end of their lunch time discussion as House got up and limped out of the room with not so much as a backward glance at his lunch time buddy, knowing that somewhere in that discussion, he had been had.
18:45
15 PLAINVIEW ROAD, APARTMENT 2A
Looking down at her choice of wardrobe for that evening, low rider jeans she could never forget his comment and a simple black shirt, Cameron wondered for the third time that afternoon as to the nature of House's invitation.
If it had been anyone else, anyone else she was remotely interested that asked her for a night out after a day she'd rather forget, Cameron would have accepted it without second thought, just glad for the possibility to perhaps have even a minute's rest from her minds eye's continual search through the past weeks.
i Who was O/i
But House wasn't just another person she was interested in, no mater how desperately she wanted to think of this evening as having no strings attached, Cameron knew House never did anything without some ulterior motive, simple or otherwise.
Just as she finished putting on her earrings a knock came at the door, wood against wood, and despite knowing that it would be him at the other side, she couldn't help but feel anxiety rise up in her chest.
Looking through the peep hole she had just installed less than a week ago, she was unnerved at her timing in choosing to install the device.
Her eyes settled upon House, leaning against her doorframe for the third time that month.
Letting out a breath she didn't know she had been holding, Cameron unlocked the dead bolt and pushed back the latch before pulling the door towards her.
"You ready?" was his only greeting, and grabbing her purse from the side table by the door and the keys that sat beside it, she stepped out to stand next to him, locking the door firmly behind her.
"I see you've been listening to my advice," he quipped glancing very obviously at her ass as they made their way down to the elevator.
"Gotta give cripples a little something in this world," Cameron shrugged, leading the way into the empty elevator.
"Har har."
The drive down was deceptively quiet, the sounds of The Rolling Stones playing quietly against the rain that had begun to patter against the windows of the corvette which Cameron couldn't help but admire before stepping into his car.
"So where are we going?" she asked, pulling on her seatbelt.
"Atlantic City,"
"I got that, I meant where in Atlantic City."
"Oh you know, some jazz dive Wilson and I dug up on one of our drunken rampages. It's not well known – you'll like it." House glanced at her
Cameron sighed at his cryptic response which really didn't answer her question at all settling further into the leather seats.
"While they have the best single malt whiskey this side of the U.S, I can't say too much for their menu, so I thought we'd stop here and get some food first." House said, pulling into a small alcove which boasted several drive thru's in a row.
"IHOP or Pizza Hut?" he asked, turning towards her and smirking at her raised eyebrows.
20:00
THE BLUE DOG BAR AND GRILL
ATLANTIC CITY
"I can see why you and Wilson would enjoy this place," Cameron smirked coyly as House led her to the ancient elevator system and the upstairs section of the 'ye olde brewery styled bar and grill he had parked his corvette outside of and unceremoniously informed her that they were late. Despite the tall, busty bar staff and waitresses taking orders dressed as though they were on the set of the next FHM special rather than the 'family fun' its entrance promoted, House didn't bat an eye whilst they waited for the creaky platform to arrive, tapping his cane on the wood block impatiently.
"Oh you know, it keeps the nagging wives at bay if they think their husbands are off to a family joint after a hard day at work rather than Moe's Tavern."
From the noise that was the 'family fun' downstairs, upstairs boasted a more relaxed atmosphere provided by a small, low stage surrounded by bean bags of different sizes, with couples flanking the oversized bags for two and friends huddled together in small groups of normal sized bags,
Cameron then realized why House had been in such a hurry to get there early as most of the single bags had been taken and only two oversized bags were left, the other to be taken with the couple they had ridden up the elevator with. That left her and House to share the last bag.
Before he could ask the attendant if there were any spare single bags available, the lights had begun to dim and the musicians were walking onto the stage.
Cameron plopped down and tugging at his arm, said "I don't mind if you don't mind,"
To this, House found he had no answer and with a smirk lowered himself beside her, "This band's good."
After only a few minuets, a cryptic smile came across Cameron's face and she leaned in to whisper in his ear, "You've been listening through my mp3 player, haven't you?"
House smirked in recognition, "Who? Me?" he feigned before shushing her and pointing towards the stage.
Later that night, after the show and some truly great alcohol and a slight buzz between them, Cameron stood on her doorstep, House behind her. Fiddling with her keys and looking down at her shoes, she thanked him for sharing a great evening with her. In that moment, House threw all cautiousness to the wind. She looked so sweet that all he could do in return was place a small kiss on her cheek and hold, for the tiniest barest of a moment before she responded, by placing her lips upon his for a kiss that was not passionate nor deep, but chaste.
Moving back, his whispered "Goodnight," watching as she entered her apartment with a smile.
"Are you sure you won't come in?"
House shook his head in reply, and what seemed to be a lopsided grin on his face, "Maybe next time."
The night ending in a promise, he moved away from her door step towards the elevator. Cameron watched from her second floor window as he got into his corvette and drove away.
18:00
MONDAY 8TH MARCH
15 PLAINVIEW ROAD, APARTMENT 2A
Due to the disaster that was the end of last week, the beginning of the next didn't seem quite so bad at all despite their new patient turning out to be nothing more than a depressed and desperate housewife seeking attention that her husband could never seem to give her.
It had begun as a presentation of some intriguing symptoms yet by mid afternoon House had gotten bored, had figured it out and it took all of Wilson's argumentative powers to keep him from making more than a pissed off phone call to the referring doctor, whom he had called a schmuck, among other things.
Walking out of the elevator and towards her door, Cameron reached into her purse and dug around, looking for her keys. The telephone in her apartment began to ring, fuelling her search. Cameron squatted down and emptied the contents of her purse out onto the wood grain.
"Crap," she whispered to herself at finding nothing but her small make up bag, cell phone and wallet. She had taken the bus to work that day. Glancing at the door and the phone which was ringing incessantly behind it she scooped up the contents of her bag and threw it in before jogging over to the portable fire hydrant in the corner, searching for the spare key she normally kept hidden there.
It was missing.
A shiver ran up her spine.
The phone had stopped ringing and Cameron was left with only the quickening pace of her heart as she fumbled once more into her bag for her phone and found the number for the diagnostic department, hoping that someone was still there.
She glanced back at the apartment door and wondered if her next call should be to the police.
It was after six when the phone oh his desk began to ring and House wondered if he should bother answering it, however his curiosity as to whom might be calling after hours got the better of his inner devils and he reached forward to pick up the handset.
"Hello?"
"House?" Cameron's breathy tones came through the speaker.
"Cameron, can't get enough of the office huh?"
"Thank God your there- did I leave my keys in the break room?"
"One moment I'll go check," Placing the receiver down on his desk, House limped over to the glass door that lead to the break room and looking through it towards the break table and kitchen counter spotted Cameron's key chain which incidentally had a small toy cat dangling from the ring.
Picking up the phone again, House leaned heavily against his cane as his mind recalled her address, "Yeah- I found it. I'll drive it right over." And without giving her a chance to thank him, he put the phone down quickly, ending all conversation between them.
When he arrived at her apartment, he had barely put the corvette into park before Cameron walked out to meet him, glancing around suspiciously she approached the drivers side of his car.
"You really should have a spare key hidden somewhere you know that?" House mocked as he picked up the keys from the passenger seat beside him and handed them to her.
"I did," she answered biting her lip and glancing once more at the empty street as she took his keys, turning away from his car.
House's expression turned grave and he turned off the corvette, "I think I better come up with you."
"House- you don't have to, I've already called Officer Davis," she pleaded despite being grateful at his offer.
"You could offer me some coffee or something for driving all the way out to hand you keys." He muttered as he got out of his car following her into her building.
Plunging the key into her lock, Cameron hoped that she wouldn't find anything more than what had been there this morning when she had left.
"How long did the officer say he'd be?" House asked, leaning against her door frame.
"Twenty minuets from when I called, so about another ten or so," with a final tug, the door sprung open and three flies quickly escaped.
"You forget to put your left overs in the fridge?" House questioned, stepping in behind her and closing the door.
Walking towards the kitchen Cameron's answer "No," could be heard as House looked around her small, neat living room. Despite having visited her apartment on more than three separate occasions, this was the first time he had actually been allowed into her sanctuary and he stood there for a moment, taking it all in.
His eye fell upon an envelope that had been left on her coffee table, identical to that had been left in the break room only a week prior with the same block letters announcing for whom it was written.
"Oh my God!"
Her screech sent needles down his spine and House turned his head to see Cameron back out of a room down the hall, grasping at the wall for support. Limping over as fast as possible to stand beside her, curling one arm around her back House looked into the room to see a body lying haphazardly on the queen sized bed, the word Sacrifice written in blood red above the wooden head board against a background of pale yellow paint.
What was truly disgusting however, was what was hanging from the fan that was situated above the bed.
A full head of hair, half blonde half brown as though a dye job gone wrong had become entangled within the blades of the fan which were still turning, slowly, the metal creaking sickeningly as what held the hair together swung beneath.
A face
Detached from it's body it was a real, human mask. Devoid of shape and flesh it hung limply, blood still dripping from its edges, eyeless, it stared out at whoever chose to enter the room.
Leading Cameron back into the living room, House sat her down on the couch to hear a knock at the door.
"New Jersey Police, open up!"