A/N: Hello again! Hopefully, this quick update will help make up for my evil last chapter. First, I'd like to thank you all for the amazing reviews you left, I really appreciate them! Secondly, I'd like to say sorry for leaving you with such an evil cliffy - honestly I didn't even think anything of it until I read your reviews, haha. Ans sorry again, because this chapter won't exactly answer that many questions... but soon ;) Also - this is random, but this story is kind of based after the song 'Whispers In The Dark' by Skillet, I highly recommend you listen to it :D
Also, this is kind of random, but I was thinking about re-writing this story and making it Shane's P.O.V. (later on) & then posting that on here as well, since with Mitchie being blind, we've missed some key points in here. What do you guys think? I'm still considering it :) Review & let me know!
Enjoy, & don't forget to review! ;)
Disclaimer: Once again, I don't own Camp Rock :(
"I can't even think about what they did to you."
Shane seemed to catch himself as he spoke the words, cutting himself off as he drew a deep breath. I froze as the sentence he'd spoken sunk in. What they did to you? With a choked cry, I raised my hands up to cover my face as I tried my best to block out all the horrible thoughts running through my mind.
If I could gather what Shane was saying, someone had done this to me - made me blind. Hardly able to think, I curled my palm into a fist and slammed it against the car's door angrily. How could anyone be that cruel? Didn't they know how hard this was - if I wasn't blind, I might have some chance at having a slightly normal life.
"Whoa, Mitchie, please, I'll tell you what Dr. Collins said when we get to my apartment." Ignoring his pleading tone which told me that he was nervous about my reaction to what he'd let slip, and probably knowing Shane, was worried I was going to hurt myself. He had good reason to worry though, because that was exactly what I wanted to do.
With a loud grunt, I slammed my fist into my leg, enjoying the burning sensation that immediately came upon conduct. I knew Shane hadn't been expecting that reaction from me, because he gave a shout of surprise before I felt him grab both my hands in his own, holding them tightly so I couldn't hit myself again. Try as I did, I couldn't pull away, and I gave up a few moments later with a sob.
So, from what I could gather of Shane's small sentence, I was blind because of something that someone else did. I was horrified - as scary as the possibility was, I had kind of hoped that I had just been born blind, since that would probably be so much easier to accept. To know that somehow, this had been forced upon me was overwhelming.
"Mitchie." Shane's soothing, still upset tone broke into my racing thoughts, as I tried to calm myself, and think reasonably, before I went into a full-blown panic mode. "Listen - we're here, at my apartment, I mean. Let's go inside so we can talk in private -" I was so worked up, I'd almost forgotten that there was someone else in the car with us, driving. "Okay? I'll tell you what Dr. Collins said." I nodded, my hands still in Shane's firm grip, and followed him as he slid out of the seat, holding my hand firmly.
He was walking much faster than usual, and I had to hurry to keep up with him, glad that he was still holding onto me, because I probably would've tripped and fallen again if he hadn't. I was too wrapped up in my own thoughts - mostly, I was wondering what Dr. Collins had said to Shane, and if there was any way that - since the blindness was caused, and wasn't simply just something that had always been a part of me - maybe, it could be reversed. I didn't dare hope though, until I'd talked with Dr. Collins myself.
"There's more stairs." He warned briefly, although he didn't slow much, and I stumbled slightly as I tried to rush up, into the apartment. I didn't know why he was in such a hurry, but I was too preoccupied with my own problems to ask him.
There was the sound of a door being unlocked, and then a squeak as it was opened, and Shane pulled me forwards, dropping my hand as he shut the door firmly behind us. I stood still, waiting for him to tell me where to go, considering I didn't want to knock over, or trip over, something.
"Here, you can sit on the couch if you'd like -" Shane began, but I cut him off almost immediately. I'd waited long enough for his answer, and I wasn't going to let him delay in telling me anymore.
"No, I don't really want to sit right now, Shane, I'd really just like to know what's going on. What's so secretive that Dr. Collins couldn't even tell me to my face what was wrong with me?" I probably could've worded my sentence better, if I'd thought about it, but I was so stressed at the moment that I didn't care how harsh my words sounded. Shane, though, either didn't notice, or understood my stress.
"Please sit down, I have to go do something real fast, and then we'll talk, okay?" He sounded somewhat rushed, and I heard him take a step closer to me before taking my hand again and pulling me forwards gently. I followed, knowing that obviously he wasn't going to talk until he'd done... whatever it was he wanted to do, and so I didn't argue, but instead allowed him to lead me over to the plush couch.
"I will be right back in just a second." Shane told me, once again, and I nodded slightly to let him know I'd heard. He took a deep breath, before I could hear his footsteps running the other direction.
I should've been afraid, as I was before, but after Shane had made it clear to me that he didn't intend to leave me, somehow the fear of him abandoning me had lessened considerably. Maybe it was because I could hear the truth in his tone when he'd told me that he wasn't going to just leave me by myself, or that I had other things to worry about.
Everything was so quiet, it was hard to believe. Even Shane's footsteps had faded away into the distance, which made me question just how big this "apartment" was, and I was left in complete, utter silence. The silence only gave my mind more of a chance to panic, though, as I tried to block out the terrible thoughts that were torturing me. Someone, or maybe something, had caused me to become blind...
With a groan, I shoved my head into my hands, tugging at my long hair as I tried to remember, tried to force myself to remember what had happened. Nothing. I was pathetic - as I've already pointed out many times - I ran my fingers over my lips, realizing with a jolt that I didn't even know what I looked like. Did I have blonde hair, or brown? What color were my eyes?
I let out a groan of frustration as I tried to resist the urge to pick up the nearest item and throw it, telling myself that I shouldn't go around breaking Shane's things, or he might change his mind about helping me.
My thoughts were distracted, though, when I heard footsteps again. My head shot up, as I waited impatiently for Shane to speak up and tell me what Dr. Collins had said, when I realized that it wasn't Shane, after all. Shane's footsteps were much louder, and spaced out much differently than this person's.
And just as fast as they'd started, they stopped, and for a second, I wondered if the whole thing had just been in my head. A moment later though, I realized I hadn't just imagined it, after all.
"Who the heck are you?" I couldn't help the scream that escaped from my lips as I jumped up, stumbling away from the voice, my hands held out behind me as I tried to avoid crashing into anything. I didn't far, though, before I felt a hand grab hold of my arm, stopping me in my tracks.
Maybe, if I hadn't almost been kidnapped, almost been run over, or had a gun held up to my head by a crazy taxi driver, maybe I wouldn't have reacted so badly. However, I couldn't stop myself from curling my palm into a fist and swinging in the direction of where I thought the stranger was.
I knew I'd hit my target when there was a grunt of pain, although the grip on my arm only tightened. The stranger stumbled back, dragging me with them, and I let out another cry, hoping that Shane was at least somewhere within hearing distance of me. The stranger's grip loosened slightly, although why I wasn't certain, but I didn't hesitate to take advantage of the distraction. With a sharp tug, I jerked away, managing to free my wrist from his grasp.
My arms flailing out for what felt like the thousandth time, as I attempted to stop myself from falling, reaching out for anything that might help break my fall. Unfortunately, I found nothing, and since the stranger didn't attempt to catch me, I landed on the ground with a thud, my head snapping back as I hit the floor.
I groaned, feeling the pain that racketed through my body, as I attempted to roll onto my stomach, ignoring the excessive dizziness I was feeling, and tried to push myself to my feet. I didn't get very far.
I was shoved back onto the ground, a foot placed squarely in the middle of my back, while the stranger shouted something about calling the police, and made sure to pinned me against the ground despite my efforts to get up.
A shout, which didn't come from the stranger, caught my attention above the other noise. Shane. Finally, he must have heard the screaming and come to my rescue - because I know that last sentence didn't sound dramatic at all.
"What are you doing?" He yelled, and as the stranger broke off with his shouts, I could hear Shane's footsteps rushing towards us, and suddenly, the pressure on my back was released. Shaking, my body trembling, I tried to push myself up. I didn't have to, though, because before I had the chance to try to get up, Shane's hands were on my arms, pulling me up, while I gripped onto him desperately, wondering where the stranger had gone.
"Who is she?" The stranger spoke up once again, and I realized with a shock how close he was to us - probably close enough to reach out and grab me again, if he wanted to. Swallowing nervously, I pushed myself closer to Shane, my hand clinging to his arm. Shane seemed to be ignoring the stranger, though, as I felt his hand run over my head.
"Are you okay?" He asked instead, his tone sounding worried, and I nodded to reassure him that I was fine. At the moment, I only wanted to find out who this stranger was, and why he'd mentioned 'calling the police'. "And you - what's wrong with you?" Shane's sentence was directed towards the stranger, who I heard take a small step back at the anger in Shane's voice.
"Who is she?" He repeated, and I heard Shane give a frustrated sigh. "Look, you can't blame me - what would you have done if you'd walked out and some strange girl was sitting in the living room? You would've reacted much worse than I did."
"Her name is Mitchie." Shane seemed slightly distracted, although I wasn't sure why, as he responded to the stranger's earlier question. "And I brought her here, if you're wondering how she got inside."
"Well, in that case, it's nice to meet you, Mitchie. I'm Nate." The stranger's tone had changed completely, and I offered a smile in the direction of his voice, although I still couldn't help but feel wary after how he'd tackled me to the ground earlier. There was a moment's pause before I felt Shane shift uncomfortably from beside me, and clear his throat rather loudly.
"She's... blind." He choked on the last word, which made me snap my eyes shut, my mind travelling back to Shane's earlier words - "they did this to you." I heard a slight gasp from Nate, and I flinched at the way he'd reacted, even though I knew it was only logical. What did I expect from people - that they simply smile and nod when they heard words like that? I ducked my head, trying to ignore how uncomfortable I felt at the moment.
"I'm sorry." Nate's soft tone broke through my thoughts, although it wasn't his fault at all. He wasn't the one who'd done this to me. Trying to hold back my tears at that thought, I stepped away from Shane slightly and tried my best to smile through the pain I was feeling. I jumped in surprise when I felt someone - who was obviously not Shane - touch my arm, hesitantly, and almost immediately, Nate drew back, almost as if he was scared of how I'd reacted.
It was silly, really - it bothered me that Nate had gasped at the fact I was blind, and it bothered him that I was afraid of him. If I hadn't been preoccupied with... otherthings, maybe I would've taken a moment to reassure him I wasn't angry at him, at least not anymore.
"Shane." I spoke softly, hoping Nate wasn't within hearing distance. "Can we please talk now?" I asked, although in truth, I was somewhat afraid of hearing what he was going to say, since it only made this whole situation more... realistic for myself. In some ways, I still was wishing this was all just a bad dream that I would soon wake up from. Somehow, knowing what Dr. Collins had said, only made everything seem more undeniable, and less like a dream. Swallowing harshly, I could feel Shane tense, before he took my hand, leading me forwards.
"First, I think Shane and I need to have our own talk." Nate's tone held an emotion I couldn't understand, but his tone implied that they were going to be having that talk right at this moment. I felt Shane's grip loosen slightly on my hand, and I heard him sigh at Nate's words, as if he had just been thinking the same thing.
"Just two minutes." He snapped at Nate, before direction his attention to me. "Stay right here?" He asked, and I nodded, although I had no intentions of doing so. There was something strange about the way that both Shane and Nate were acting, and I figured I might as well figure out what it was.
Shane let go of my hand, stepping away from me, and I resisted the urge to follow him until they both were a little farther away. I didn't want to get caught before I'd even taken a step forwards, after all, which was going to be rather hard to do, considering I had absolutely no idea where they were headed, or how Shane's house was set up. The last thing I wanted was to trip and fall flat on my face, again, considering by that time, Shane and Nate would already know I was trying to eavesdrop.
Once their footsteps had faded slightly, I made my way towards the sound of their hushed voices, my arms held out in front of me as I tried to avoid any furniture, breakables, or anything else that could possibly be in my way. My hand hit a wall, and I found myself travelling along side, following Shane and Nate's voices in the distance, although I was still too far away to be able to make out what they were saying.
I slowed, tilting my head as I listened to their hushed tones, and took a deep breath, wondering if I was far away enough that they couldn't see me. Closing my eyes and focusing just on their voices, I waited.
"What were you thinking?" Nate asked, sounding somewhat worked up, and I could hear as Shane sighed.
"Listen, Nate, what did you expect me to do? She was about to get kidnapped, or worse!" Shane's tone rose slightly towards the end, and I flinched at the terrible memories that his words had brought up. I didn't want to think back to earlier that day, and how utterly helpless I had not only felt, but been, and I could only imagine what had happened if Shane hadn't shown up. I tried my best to block out the unwanted thoughts, and focused instead on what Shane and Nate were saying. Nate gave an aggravated sigh before responding.
"What if it had been a trick, Shane? You know the media's crazy and would do pracitically anything to get dirt on us." At this I frowned, wondering what in the world they were talking about.
"It's not like that... you should've been there, and you would've done the exact same thing I had." Shane shot back, his tone sounding somewhat angry at what Nate had just said. I didn't know exactly what they meant, but I knew that one thing was certain: the situation I had been in earlier had been real.
"Does she know..." Nate trailed off, but it was obvious that Shane knew what he meant, because he replied almost instantly.
"No, of course not. She's blind, Nate, and of course I didn't mention that." His words sounded forced, as if he was annoyed at what Nate had suggested, "I'm not careless, you know, and it's kind of nice to have someone treat me normal, like I'm just another kid, and not the Shane Gray."
At his words, I froze, my heart skipping a beat. Suddenly, the way he'd cut off the nurse before she'd said his last name, the way he'd sounded so confident when he told me he could get a hospital room without waiting, and the way he'd been so hurried most of the day all fell together and made sense. At least I'd solved part of the puzzle - I now knew why Shane was so careful not to give me any personal information about himself.
And suddenly, I frowned, because I realized that despite that fact I couldn't remember anything from before today, I knew who Shane Gray was. I could picture his face, and - Nate, who I now realized was a part of the pop band known as Connect 3, along with the third oldest brother, Jason. My head reeled from this newly processed information, and the fact that I had no idea how I'd known all of this.
Nothing was making much sense. So far, I'd discovered that this memory loss appeared to be selective, my last name was supposedly Torres, and that this kind stranger who'd rescued me and then helped me out in such a major way was actually the world-famous Shane Gray. When would my little, messed up world start to connect the dots and make sense?
I groaned, probably a little louder than I should have, because both Nate and Shane immediately stopped talking. I heard their footsteps coming towards me, but I could only stare blankly, shocked from this newly processed information.
"Mitchie?" Shane sounded slightly surprised that I was standing here, and I knew he was probably wondering if I'd overheard him. I clenched my jaw, hesitating a moment before replying.
"I'm blind, not deaf, Shane." I replied softly, and I heard a sigh escape from Shane, and I could feel as Nate tensed, even from where I was standing. "Why didn't you tell me?" I whispered, not bothering to hide the slight hurt in my voice, and waited as Shane stood there, motionless, before answering me.
"I'm sorry. It's just... for once, I had the chance to be normal. I wasn't going to pass that up. Every day, I deal with paparazzi and screaming fans and all the other crap the media throws at me. I was afraid if I told you, then you would treat me differently - like everyone else does." I sighed - with what Shane had said, I couldn't be mad, since I did know how cruel and ruthless the press was, and in a way, I couldn't blame him. If I had been in his position, I might have reacted rather similarly.
"Plus, it's kind of scary, to have hundreds of girls screaming in your face, trying to grab onto you, and such. Fans can be crazy - we never really know what do expect." Nate added, and I nodded in response. Sometimes, Connect 3 fans did take it a bit too far.
"So, wait, you know who I am then?" Shane sounded confused, as if the thought had just hit him, and I couldn't help but frown in response as I nodded.
"I don't know why. Nothing's making much sense, though. Everything is so frustrating. I can remember who you guys are, randomly, but I can't even remember my own address." Groaning, I moved my hands up, running them through my hair. When would things begin to start making sense?
"Let's go sit down, okay?" Shane's tone was gentle, and I felt him take my hand, leading me back towards the couch, presumably. I sat when he told me, and leaned back, taking a moment to try to gather my overwhelming thoughts together. Everything was spinning - such as why I could remember Connect 3, but nothing before today, or why someone had purposely caused me to become blind. The thought sickened me - that anyone could be so cruel, so heartless... how could they even do such a thing?
"I'll tell you what Dr. Collins said, but please... don't panic until I've finished. If it's what Dr. Collins thinks, then it might be reversible."