Disclaimer: Nope, I don't own The Covenant

"The hardest thing to learn in life is which bridge to cross and which to burn." ~David Russell

Pogue POV

Cameron's words still rang in my ear as I walked down stairs and joined Tyler, Reid and Caleb in the living room. I had told them earlier that they should just go home considering the drama that had transpired within the past 24 hours didn't really concern them; I didn't want them to feel obligated to stay. Caleb had just opened his mouth and declared "No way man" before Tyler and Reid nodded in agreement and had refused to leave.

What was I suppose to tell them now? I mean, I should I just tell them right? Considering it wasn't just my safety on the line anymore, but the entire Covenant's. There was always the chance she was just making it up in some sick sort of attention seeking way. But the look on her face when she had told me, it was full of horror and guilt. Not exactly the normal composure of someone who was just doing something for attention.

"So what's up with her?" Caleb asked when I finally made it to the living room.

"Nothing really, just a stupid cold." I answered

"That's it?" Reid asked, and I knew now wasn't the time to say anything. I couldn't get rid of that sick feeling in my stomach, the one that told me it would be a good idea to spend a couple of days checking up on things before I said anything.

"Yeah, that's it."

Cameron POV

It took me a week and a half for my temperature to return to normal. During that annoyingly long time my aunt smothered me with attention, something I was not accustomed to. I wasn't allowed to leave my room; I guess Aunt Trixi was afraid I'd over exert myself or something. I occupied myself through crappy daytime television and various visits from the sons.

Not Pogue though, he never once checked in on me. After our little 'heart to heart' conversation he had disappeared pretty quickly. Still, my aunt hasn't called in a shrink yet so chances are he hasn't told anyone. But he was avoiding me; he didn't want to see me.

One thing became coherently clear during my time of forced relaxation; me staying probably wasn't the best idea. Pogue's silent was an indication of one thing; he probably thought I was certifiably insane. Just because he hadn't said anything yet, didn't mean he wouldn't. I've had people try to kill me when they found out about the whole 'future seeing' thingy, I seriously doubted Pogue would be one of them. But honestly, you never really know. Better for me to leave know when I had the chance then wait it out and end up in a mental hospital some place.

I had planned it all out; the only thing holding me back was my fever. For the duration of my sickness my aunt would randomly come into my room unannounced, even during the night, to check on me. Now that that was over she had no reason to, which gave me a good opportunity to leave without her discovering right away.

I'd wait till everyone went to bed then grab my already packed backpack and my spell book, then I'd go to the kitchen and cut through the plastic keeping the tracking bracelet on me. As soon as that was done I'd have a half hour tops to disappear, not a large amount of time but enough for me to get some distance between me and Ipswich. I decided to head to Boston, I'd stay at my friend's house for a week or so until my aunt and uncle gave up and realized I was a lost cause. After that I'd buy myself a bus ticket and get out of Mass for good.

The nine hour wait was the tensest thing I think I've ever been through. I spent it walking through the house, giving everyone the pretence that I was glad to finally be over my cold and that nothing out of the ordinary was going to happen. I casually gathered various things I thought I would need; a spare hair brush, a collection of PB&J sandwiches and some money that was discarded in the sofa.

I excused myself early from an awkwardly silent 'family dinner'. Pogue wasn't there; Aunt Trixi said something about him being with the other sons doing homework at the library. Yeah, 'cause everyone decided to do their summer homework sporadically at seven o'clock on a Sunday night. Both my aunt and uncle had work tomorrow, which would mean that they would both be in bed by midnight. Pogue wouldn't be home tonight, so I didn't even concern myself with thinking about how I'd avoid him.

At 12:15 I changed into a comfortable sweatshirt and jeans, knowing that the walk to Boston wasn't going to be fun anyway, let alone in a pair of shorts and a tank top. I waited another ten minutes before putting my backpack on and creeping down to the kitchen. I grabbed a sharp knife from a cabinet drawer and started sawing through the plastic. It took me longer than I would have liked, but eventually it broke.

I grabbed a pad of paper and a pen, scribbling down a quick message before placing it on the kitchen counter next to the now broken bracelet. The alarm system would be simple enough to deal with; I walked over to the little box hanging on the wall and placed a hand on it. I racked my mind for any sort of rhyme that would help me.

"Box that keeps me shielded in, faultier now and let my journey begin. Door open now and set me free, let me discover who I'm meant to be." I whispered into the night.

Granted, the rhyme was incredibly lame, but it didn't need to make perfect sense. Just enough so that I could get what I wanted out of it, and it worked anyway, the alarm disarmed and the door swung open.

My body felt instantly weaker after the use of the magic. Spells I made up myself were the most difficult to control and use. I wasn't sure why they needed to rhyme, they just did I guess. Whenever I used them it was uncomfortable, but it was bearable. This particular Use didn't leave me as drained as it could have. It just left me with that annoying tugging sensation that you got whenever you were tiered but refused to go to sleep. Dealing with it wasn't an issue; I shut the door behind me as I made my way down the driveway toward the road that lay beyond.

I was walking for about a half hour before a Honda Civic drove by. I stuck out my thumb and the slowed down, stopping as it passed me.

"Where are you heading?"A voice asked.

"Boston." I answered; letting out a wave of energy to sense weather these people were dangerous. I breathed a sigh of relief when I felt no hint of hostility.

"You're in luck, that's where we're heading. Get in." I opened the back door and buckled my seatbelt as the car took off.

"What are you doing out here this late by yourself?" A woman who I judged to be in her mid twenties asked from the passenger seat. A man who I presumed to be her husband sat in the driver's seat, a look of confusion on his face.

"My bus just got in." I lied, praying these people didn't know that Ipswich didn't actually have a bus station. "There weren't any motel rooms available so I figured I'd get an early start on making my way to Boston."

"You look a little young to be traveling by yourself." The man said, giving me a skeptical look.

"I'm nineteen." My face didn't even faultier as I let the lie out.

The man just nodded before turning his attention back to the road. His wife turned around to face me and began a polite small talkie conversation with me. I complied, ever so thankful that I didn't actually have to walk the whole thirty miles.

When we got to the city I had them drop me off on a random street corner about a mile away from where I actually had to be."Are you sure?" The women asked. I merely nodded and thanked them once more before they drove away.

I wasn't overly thrilled with walking alone in a rather run down part of the city at two in the morning, but I could deal. I concentrated on the environment around me, focusing on the energy in an effort to get a heads up if anyone that passed me was planning on trying something.

When it did happen, I was ready for it. As he passed, a middle age man tried to grab my arm. I didn't give him the chance, I dogged out of the grab, using my foot to kick the legs out underneath the man. He fell to the ground with a 'humph' getting up almost instantly, a knife now in his hand.

"Bitch." He growled "Now you're really going to get it."

I rolled my eyes "Please, what do you want? My wallet?"

He grinned maliciously "Among other things."

Greeeat, a pervert and a thief.

"Now, be a good girl and I won't have to hurt that pretty little face of yours."

"I'm good."I said. He brought up his knife, intending to strike.

I let my mind glimpse the future, I watched as the vision passed over me.

The man lashed out with the knife, stabbing me once in the stomach, I was defenseless. I grabbed my wound and felt the warm trickle of blood flowing through cut. He just stood there, laughing mythically.

'You should have just listen to me.' He said, bringing the knife up once again.

The vision snapped to a close and, knowing what was about to happen, I used the time I had to doge the knife as it lunged toward my stomach. He missed and as he was unbalanced I grabbed his arm and twist it painfully, bringing up a fist and breaking the man's nose with one swift hit. I hit him again, this time in the stomach, he doubled over and I kicked him as hard as I could where it really counted. He fell to the ground, head hitting the concrete hard enough to render him unconscious.

Pathetic, that was the only word I could think of to describe him. On the street corner there was a pay phone, I picked it up and dialed 9-1-1, waiting till the operator to pick up before simply saying, "There's a man here unconscious, he tried to hurt me." Before hanging up.

Honestly, I've had people do much worse to me during my life time, but it pissed me off when they thought they could get away with it. I didn't care if this man didn't actually do anything to me, he tried to, and he was going to pay for it by facing the legal system. Chances were he was probably wanted for something else anyway.

As soon as I hung up I left quickly, not wanting to be around when the cops showed up. I ran the rest of the way to Gale's apartment, knocking on the door loudly. I knew he was going to be up. The guy was a frekin' night owl. "Cammie?" He asked upon opening the door. I nodded and he gestured for me to come in.

I flopped down on the couch and Gale sat down next to me, handing me a water bottle from the mini fridge next to the couch. I eagerly accepted it, chugging it down in three gulps. "What the heck happened to you?" He asked eyes wide.

"Some frekin' loser tried to mug me." I said, throwing the empty bottle towards the trash can. It missed, bouncing off the rim and hitting the floor with a clunk.

"Are you ok?" He asked, taking in my messy hair and red cheeks.

"Yeah, the whole 'seeing the future' thing comes in handy during fights."

He nodded "I've seen how you fight, I know it must be."

I had met Gale and his brother Ben right before I had first run away. He was 19 at the time, Ben had been 15 and I was only 13, but he had taken me under his wing, offering me a place to stay and an introduction on how to deal with the crap someone living on the streets faced. We had instantly become friends, and it didn't take him long to figure out that my 'hunches' that I sometimes got were so much more than that. Unlike most people he hadn't expected me to update him frequently on upcoming wins and losses in sports games or lottery numbers.

After he figured it out he had simply looked at me and said 'cool', before continuing our original conversation like me seeing the future wasn't something abnormal. I had spent a good part of the last three years living on his couch and he had been happy to let me. He was one of my best friends.

"Where the heck have you been? You went out for the day and you didn't come back. I was getting worried." I gave him an apologetic smile.

"I ran into some trouble with the cops." I looked at me in mock shock.

"You? You ran into some trouble with the cops? Noooo." He said sarcastically. I laughed and shook my head.

"I know. But they sent me to live with my aunt and uncle. I left as soon as I got the chance."

"No shit?" He asked as I nodded "Didn't you say your family was loaded though?"

"Well yeah, but money isn't everything."

"Yeah, but it has to be better than this place." He said, gesturing around the warn down messy apartment, indicating the door less cabinets, the peeling orange walls, the puke green rug and the poorly maintained furniture. It wasn't much, but it was much more homely than the mansion my aunt and uncle lived in.

"There's no comparison. This place is a million times better."

"Sure it is Camera." He said using a nickname I hadn't heard in a while. "Why'd you leave?"

"I couldn't stand the lies anymore, I mean, after everything that happened they kept acting like everything was ok."

Gale knew why I left in the first place; he knew pretty much everything about me and my powers. Mainly because he had figured it out on his own, he was an M.I.T drop out, a computer geek, and much smarter than most people would ever realize. "Did it ever occur to you that your family's death might not have been your fault?"

I rolled my eyes, "We're been over this before G."

"Yeah we have," he admitted "but you still refuse to even consider the idea."

"That's because it's a stupid idea." I retaliated.

"Whatever you say Camera." He said shaking his head slightly. "As always you're welcome to stay here for as long as you want." He stood up and stretched "You might want to call Ben though. He's been looking for you and I have no idea where he is."

"He's your brother." I teased "Shouldn't you know where he is?"

"He has his own place." Gale defended "I'm not going to smother the kid."

"He's only 17."

"And you're only 15. I don't stop you from gallivanting all across the country by yourself."

"True." I muttered "I'll call him tomorrow."

"I'm going to bed. Have fun sleeping on the sofa." He said, getting up and walking into the only bedroom in the small apartment.

As I lay there in the darkness of the apartment, my mind went over everything that had happened to me in the past week. I was scared, so scared. I felt childish for it, but I couldn't help it. I had loved seeing everyone again, but being with Gale and Ben, they felt just as much a part of my family as everyone in Ipswich. Before I saw everyone again, I was certain this was where I belonged. But now, now I felt like I had lost a large part of myself and who I was supposed to be when I left Ipswich for the second time.

It's hard, knowing who you are and who you're supposed to be are two entirely different people.

I woke up the next morning to an obnoxiously loud Gale getting ready for work. "Come on Camera!" He yelled. "Don't sleep the day away! It's already eight!"

"Oh joy!" I said as I got up and went into the bathroom to make myself presentable for the day.

"Look at you!" He said as I came out of the bathroom in a pair of jeans and a t-shirt that hugged my every curve. My brown hair was pulled back into a pony tail and for once I wasn't so self conscious about the way I looked. It was a good day. "You gained weight, good, now you don't look like a frekin' tooth pick. I don't like the clothes though. Teenage guys are gonna get the wrong idea."He was always so protective of me, kind of an older brother, but at the same time not at all. I could never actually imagine him as my older brother. "Just try not to break Ben's heart. The kids got it bad for you."

I rolled my eyes "The only thing that Ben's got for me, is a completely platonic relationship. We're just friends."

"Whatever you say Cammie. Food's in the fridge, help thyself."

"You're so weird…" I couldn't help but say as he left. The only response I got was a slight hand wave.

I grabbed an apple from the kitchen before I left the apartment, not even bothering to lock the door behind me. If someone was going to break in, a lock wouldn't stop them.

I spent the morning trying to track down Ben. I went to his usual spots, none of which he was at, before giving up and heading to a convenient store to pick up a couple of things. I figured if I was staying at Gale's place I might as well stock up his fridge. I grabbed a gallon of milk, some cereal, some cans of soup and eggs before grabbing minutes for the useless cell phone I was carrying around with me.

The walk back to the apartment wasn't difficult. Ascending four flights of stairs and trying to open a door while your hands full of groceries, was. I stood in front of Gale's apartment, glaring at the stupid doorknob as if looking at it long enough would make it open. It didn't. The best part about the situation was that my arms were so wrapped around the bags that I'd risk breaking the eggs if I even tried to put them down.

"Ok," I told the door knob, not caring if it couldn't actually talk back "want to be nice and open the door for me?"

"You do know it can't hear you right?" A voice behind me asked. I jumped slightly and whipped around to come face to face with the boy I had spent the day looking for. Ben looked just as surprised to see me, as I was to see him. My mouth hung open slightly and I didn't know what to say.

"Cameron?" He asked and I nodded. "What are you doing here?"

"It's good to see you too." I snapped. "Can you open the door?"

"Yeah, yeah I got it." He said, taking a bag from me and opening the door. "You're still staying with my brother?"

"Of course, don't I always?" I couldn't help the stupid grin that crossed my face. It was so good to see him.

"I'd like to think it's because you have such a natural connection to me." He said attempting to act all conceited. I knew he wasn't though, he couldn't fool me.

"Yeah." I snorted as we started to put the groceries away "That must be it."

"So what happened exactly?"He looked away and whispered so quietly I almost didn't hear it "I was worried about you."

"I was pulling a job." I admitted, even though I knew it would make him mad.

"A job? Jesus Cameron, you have all these amazing abilities and you use them for petty thefts?" I bit my lip, I hated making him angry.

"Yeah, because you know what being a freak is like?" I snapped.

"Yeah, I do know what it's like to be a freak." He retaliated and I instantly felt ashamed. He did know what it was like. When he was seven he had died briefly during a surgical procedure and since then he had always been able to see the shadows of death following people it was about to claim. He couldn't do anything to help those people though, and I knew it killed him a little on the inside.

I opened my mouth to apologies but he just shook his head "What happened?"

"We got caught. Well, not we specifically. I ran, I made it pretty far too. That was, until I got cornered in an alley." He looked at me like he didn't believe me "I know, I have no idea why I couldn't see what was going to happen. An officer chased me into the alleyway and I thought I was in the clear until a police car pulled up on the other side. After that it was pretty much a game of pickle. I ended up getting grabbed but I put up one hell of a fight. It took three of them to shove me into the back of a car. They took me to the station and I was informed that, though no charges were being pressed, they had to call my parents."

"Ouch." Ben said, winching slightly at the thought of what must have happened next. "Annoying about the powers not working though."

"Yeah," I nodded in agreement "they had already taken my figure prints and ran them through the system. Imagine their surprise when they got a hit on a missing persons report. They called my aunt and uncle after that and I had to wait there until they got there. Anyway, that's where I've been." I shrugged and looked at me sympathetically.

"I'm sure it wasn't that bad." He soothed.

"No, it wasn't. That's the issue." I whined and he just looked at me like I was crazy. "I loved it there, they were so nice, but they were so normal. I felt out of place. I told my cousin what happened, everything, the visions, the car crash... Do you know what he said?" I asked, Ben didn't respond but I hadn't expected him to "He didn't say anything, he just stared at me. I had to get out, didn't I?" I asked again.

Ben crossed the Kitchen and pulled me into a tight hug "Don't worry Camera. I've got you."

A laugh escaped my lips. Regardless of the pain I was feeling, the nickname he had given me when we had first met always made me laugh. I let him hold me for a while, just me and him. It felt so right, like nothing had changed. Eventually I calmed down and we spent the remainder of our alone time just talking about random crap. Nothing and everything at the same time. Around three Gale came home for a late lunch and after spending an adequate amount of time with his older brother, Ben admitted he had somewhere else to be.

"I'll see you later!" I called after him as he left. Gale laughed slightly and just shook his head at my statement. "What?" I asked but the only response I got was laugh.

A knock sounded before he got the chance to respond. "Ben probably forgot something." Gale mumbled as he stood up to get the door.

'That's odd; I didn't think he brought anything with him'

But when Gale opened the door it wasn't Ben who stood there, not at all. Instead it was my cousin who looked angry as hell and relieved at the same time to see me sitting in this stranger's kitchen. Even though I knew at that moment that I was royally screwed, the thoughts in my mind had nothing to do with self preservation.

'How the hell did he find me?' I couldn't help but think as Pogue, Tyler and Caleb stare me down.