SWD: Chapter 5

Content Warning: There's a direct mention of sexual assault/non-con in this chapter, but it happened many, MANY years before this story began. It's only fair to mention, just in case.

It was now 2 pm here in the little town of Peach Creek, which was only an hour after the meeting was held at the playground near the entrance of the neighborhood. Once the meeting with Phoenix and Miles was over, the two men drove back to the police department to report the news that they learned from the teens. It also started to snow, and there were more light snow flurries for the next few hours.

Since everyone was here, Felix and Ashley's parents decided to let their kids hang out here for the day before it became nighttime. The Peters were hanging out at the Johnsons' house while the other parents went back home.

We could see the kids and teens hanging around the area, either near the playground, the center parking lot, or at the Lane close by. Serena seemed to finally be awake after having no energy for most of the day; she was hanging out with Ed near the bench, they were both reading some comic books underneath a big umbrella that Ed brought over from his house to sit and read with. The comics he brought were in a cloth shopping bag so they would not get dirty or ruined from the snow flurries. Double D, Jennifer, and Felix were also here with Felix watching over Ashley, who was still playing around the swing sets with Sarah. Matthew and Marie were also here but sitting a little further away from everyone else.

Finally, Eddy and Zoey were walking towards the Lane to stand or sit underneath the lone tree that was planted there. The cold weather seemed to be getting colder to them, so they wanted a place to stay warm and to have a short moment of privacy for themselves. The two teens stood next to the big tree, which was now leafless and full of snow on the tree limbs this winter.

"Wow, snow can be really beautiful when it's not next to the ocean," Zoey stated as she and Eddy looked upward at the tree, "It's not sloshy at all like it was back in Sunflower Shoal… Always hated that the snow could never stick around like this."

"Yeah, I guess…"

Zoey turned to Eddy, who was still looking up at the snowy branches. He sounded very passive and depressed with that statement, and she already knew why.

"Eddy, I'm sorry that I didn't say anything about why I was pushing you away," Zoey stated in sadness, "It only seems to happen when we contact each other, a-and… I-I was so scared I was going to hurt you again."

There was silence between the two before Eddy took a deep breath, "Don't worry about it, I get it. Besides, if what Double D said is true, then it'll go away like last time, just like it will for the others."

"I-I get that, but—"

"Zoey," Eddy began to interject before she could say anything else, not even turning to look at her, "Remember that promise I made with you on the day before my birthday? Even if I can't reach out my hand to protect you right now, I still intend to keep my word on that; no matter what happens… Can you remember that for me too?"

Zoey was silent to her boyfriend before making a warm smile to him, "I will…" she closed her eyes, '…And I'll protect you too, Eddy, even if you don't want me to… I promise.'

The two teens stood there for a short moment underneath the tree with Eddy leaning his back against the tree to rest while Zoey stood close by. It was while they were there that Zoey could hear a bit of rustling coming from the bags of garbage sitting near the dumpster. She turned her head to see a young girl looking at them, her head peeking out from behind the side of the dumpster. The girl looked to be 12 years old and had chocolate brown eyes and a slightly tanned complexion to her skin, possibly of Hispanic heritage. She had medium-length, midnight-black hair that was pulled back into twin tails. Zoey noticed the girl was not wearing a coat or jacket of any kind, just a plain green T-shirt and white shorts. The girl had a nasty-looking scar on her right arm near her wrist… A very familiar-looking scar that Double D, Serena, and Matthew also had.

The girl noticed that Zoey was looking at her and immediately began to panic in fright, running off in the other direction like the wind; her speed felt unnatural. That's when Zoey noticed the girl was only wearing thin white socks and not any shoes.

Zoey widened her eyes, realizing the girl needed help. Eddy noticed Zoey's change in her expression, "Zoey? What's wrong?" he asked.

"I just saw a girl spying on us from over there," Zoey replied as she pointed to the dumpster, "She wasn't wearing any shoes or a jacket…"

Before explaining anything else, Zoey began to run after the girl she saw.

"H-Hey!" yelped Eddy before he went after Zoey.

The two teens ran in the direction the girl went off in, only to see that the girl had tripped and fallen to the ground. A long trail was left behind from when she slipped on the snow in the area to where she fell because she was running so fast. Before the girl could try and get back on her feet, both Zoey and Eddy were by her side, with Eddy reaching out to grab her left wrist and arm so she would not run away.

"L-Let me go!" The girl stuttered in fright; a few tears escaped her eyes while they began darting all over the place in a panic to see if there was a way for her to escape, "My father told me to not talk to strangers! B-But I…"

"Please calm down, we're not going to hurt you," Zoey stated to the girl in a calm tone of voice as Eddy loosened his grip on the young girl's wrist to show that he meant no harm, "Do you need some help? Your clothes are…"

The girl suddenly made a big sneeze before her whole body began to shiver from the cold and snow, they could also see she had skinned her knee very badly when she tripped earlier. The girl did not say anything back, but it was obvious that she needed help.

"Eddy, can you please tell the others about this?" Zoey asked Eddy in a serious tone as she began to take off her winter jacket, "I'm going to take her to my house."

Eddy looked at her before nodding his head, letting go of the girl for a moment, "Follow me, my mom can fix you some warm, hot soup if you want some," Zoey said to the girl as she helped put the jacket on her to help the girl keep warm.

The young girl seemed hesitant after Zoey helped her put the jacket on before they could hear her stomach begin to growl, "U-Umm… Is that okay to eat? Will I get in trouble if I follow you…?"

"Of course not! My mom can make as much soup as you want," Zoey replied to her as she gently took the girl's hand. Eddy noticed that nothing electrical happened when Zoey held the girl's hand, cementing the fact that it was only him she could not touch while her powers were active, "My name's Zoey. What's your name?"

The girl was silent before making a sniffle because of her runny nose, "C-Camilla," she stuttered in a quiet tone.

Both Zoey and Camilla walked off toward Zoey's house while Eddy went back to his friends, telling them about the young girl and for them to go to Zoey's house immediately. Ashley and Sarah were told to head to Sarah's room to play since they would have been left alone at the playground.

Zoey's mom and dad were shocked to see Zoey come home with this young girl; especially when she was in such awful condition.

"Oh, this poor dear! She must have been freezing for so long!" Tina stated in sadness before gesturing for Camilla to follow her, "You should take a warm shower and freshen up. That would certainly help you feel better."

Camilla slowly nodded her head as she followed Tina to the bathroom.

"… Alright you two, tell us what's going on," Kenneth asked Zoey and Eddy as he and their friends stood there, waiting for an answer.

"I found her hiding and watching us when we were both at the Lane," Zoey began to explain, "When I noticed she wasn't wearing many clothes, I wanted to help her out so she wouldn't get sick from the cold. But then she ran away until tripping over something, which is how we caught up to her. She ran extremely fast for a girl running in the snow with no shoes on, and…" Zoey placed her left hand around the lower area of her right arm around her wrist, "She has the same kind of scar that Double D and the twins have, right around here. It was sort of hard NOT to notice. Whatever kind of power she has, it makes her run very fast."

Everyone widened their eyes, "How's that possible?! Serena and I have never seen her before!" Matthew yelped.

Double D began to think about it more before making a small gasp, "D-Don't tell me… Was this girl being held in a different location?! In a place just like the lab?!"

Serena and Matthew grew pale in the face at the possibility of another lab, along with other kids being treated like they were in the past.

"That's so horrible…" Felix muttered in sadness. He heard from his dad about how Double D and the twins were being treated/tortured before finally being rescued/escaping from where they were being held.

Eddy could see the look on Zoey's face from the revelation Double D made, she was terrified. He wished there was a way to comfort her, but that was not possible right now.

"Did the girl ever say what her name was?" Kenneth asked Zoey and Eddy.

Zoey nodded, "She said her name was Camilla, but then nothing else after that. If she has a last name, she didn't mention it to us yet."

Jennifer stayed silent while the other conversed about the young girl and what to do, "Umm…"

Ed and Marie turned to Jennifer, "What's up?" Marie asked.

"If she needs a place to stay for a while, I-I still have a spare guest room! The police station might too be cold for her to stay at, but I'll have to ask my mom and dad if it's okay though…"

"Oh, is that what you're worried about?" Kenneth asked before making a small smile, "Don't worry, she can stay here with us or at your house, but we do need to contact Detective Wells about this to see what he has to say."

"I see…" Jennifer muttered.

She could feel Double D's hand land on her shoulder, trying to comfort her, "It's going to be alright," he said with a smile.

Meanwhile, back at the Martel Family's HQ, we could see the shady man from before, named Mr. Swanson, examining the pictures he took of the group, enchanting some of them through an image editor on his laptop so they could be clearer. Mr. Swanson noticed the blue-haired girl of the group once again, making a small frown while furrowing his eyes a little, "This girl… why does she remind me of Lucian?"

He shook that thought out of his head before getting back to work on what he was doing. Once he was finished with the final photo, he sent all of them as an email to someone before saving the updated images to his phone. He made a sigh to himself, combing through his dark brown hair to get it out of his eyes, 'I really need a haircut soon.'

Mr. Swanson got up from his chair to exit his office, walking down the hallway before arriving at the shared office for the head of the Martel Family. He knocked on the door, "Lucian?"

"You can come in, Robert," stated the man as Mr. Swanson walked inside the office. The man was in his late 30s and had blue hair and dark brown eyes; he was not the same guy from before, but this man and the man from yesterday shared the same office, "I assume you did as my father asked?"

"Yes," Mr. Swanson replied, "I sent you an email of the photos, and I plan on sending them to Mr. Martel in a moment… But I suggest you look at them first before your father does."

"Thank you, Robbie," Lucian casually stated to him before turning to his computer screen to look at the email.

"… Lucian."

Lucian perked up at Robert's voice, "What is it?"

"I need to confirm something with you," Robert stated to say to his partner, "I remember you saying this a long time ago, but you are bisexual, correct?"

"Yes… you know this already. You are my husband, after all," Lucian stated before making a furrowed brow, "Why do you ask?"

"While I was taking pictures of these kids, I noticed one of them looked strikingly similar to you," Robert said as he handed his phone to him, after pulling up the picture of the said kid, "She looks to be 15 years old if I had to guess her age."

A heavy silence fell over the two men as Lucian stared at the girl in the photo.

"I remember you telling me that you were a big party animal for many years before you finally settled down with me," Robert continued, "Please don't tell me you had a one-night stand with some random woman back then."

Lucian stayed silent to his partner's words before making a sigh, "I think I know who it could be, but I didn't know she had a child afterward," he stated before closing his eyes in pain; recalling what happened, "That night, we were both drunk and out of our minds, but that one-night stand was VERY one-sided. She was so forceful even when I asked her to stop, and she didn't stop until she had her way with me. She never even told me her name."

"… I see, so that woman—"

"Yes, and I rather not bring her up ever again. I just want to forget it happened, so I never reported it; not to mention that it would bring unnecessary attention and problems to my family," Lucian interjected before looking back at the blue-haired girl in the photo, "It does make me wonder how this girl is doing. Is she living in a good place? Is she happy where she is at?" He narrowed his eyes, "If she's still living with her mother, I feel like I should do everything I can to help this girl get away from her."

"You wish for her to live with you instead?" Robert questioned before making a small smile, "I guess this girl will also be my daughter alongside Camilla, but she's a kid made by you and not me. Isn't that something?"

Lucian nodded his head, "Yes. I'm counting on you to bring her to me so I can explain things to her in detail."

"Of course," Robert replied, "I'll drive back there once I can set things up for her to come with us, along with those other kids," his mood began to falter slightly, "Honestly, I wish your father would leave those kids alone, but we can't exactly ignore his orders. Guess that comes with the territory for the mafia."

"M-Mr. Martel! Mr. Swanson!"

The two men jumped a little at the sudden noise as a lowly grunt came barging into the room, "I went to check on Camilla, but she's not in her room or anywhere that she should be! She's gone!"

Robert could only stand there in disbelief as Lucian started to be angry because of the news, "Are you positive she's not here?"

"Y-Yes sir! Everyone is still searching the place, but she's nowhere to be found!"

Lucian loudly slammed both his hands to his desk as he stood up from where he sat in anger, "Then don't just stand there! Our daughter could have snuck out of the building! Go find Camilla before someone else does! NOW!"

The lowly grunt nervously nodded his head before dashing out of the room, leaving behind the two angry men.

Lucian looked to Robert, who began to curl his hand into a fist; he was beyond distraught, "Don't tell me… Did she really sneak into my car when I went to Peach Creek…?!" he asked himself.

"Robbie…"

"I don't wanna hear it, Lucian!" Robert yelled to his partner, not even turning to look at him, "Unlike you, I CARE about my daughter's wellbeing!"

Lucian glared at Robert, "That's not true! I—"

"If you really DID care, then you wouldn't have used her to test that wind serum those scientists made!"

"That was NOT my fault! You know my asshole father forced me to…"

That was when Robert went over to Lucian, slapping him across the face, "Then stop sniveling about it and own up for your mistake; we need to find Camilla! She is OUR daughter!"

Lucian rubbed where Robert slapped him before nodding his head, "I know. I'll give the order to everyone to find her before my father or Mr. Carson gets word she escaped. You should retrace your steps from earlier, just in case she did sneak into your car."

Robert began to dash out of the office, much to Lucian's sadness, "What an absolute mess."

Author's Note (August 9th, 2024): Hey, I haven't been feeling well lately. Just thought you guys should know. Also, who said the only gay couple in this story had to be Phoenix and Miles? :P