SWD: Chapter 6

About thirty minutes passed by after Camilla took the shower that she needed along with cleaning the clothes she was wearing. Zoey gave her an old hoodie that she used to wear when she was younger. She also had a blanket covering her shoulders to help keep her warm. She had eaten some chicken noodle soup that Zoey's mother quickly made for her, which she politely thanked her for. The others waited for the girl to finish eating before introducing themselves or asking her any questions.

"Camilla, can you tell us why you were dressed like this while you were out in the snow?" Tina asked the girl, gesturing to her T-shirt, shorts, and lack of shoes.

Camilla was quiet for a second, "I, umm… I snuck into my father's car at the last minute before he drove off; it's been so long since I went anywhere with him and my dad, and I really wanted to go for a ride. When he stopped and parked his car, he left to go do something. I went after him so he would know I was there because I knew it was bad to try and stay sneaky. But I-I couldn't find him, so when I went back to his car, I saw that it was gone. He didn't know I was here; he left me behind by accident… S-So, umm, I went to go find help, but I was too scared to try and come over to you. I'm sorry if caused any trouble!"

Double D hummed a little to think, 'Nothing in her tone of voice suggests that she was being hurt or abused by whoever she was with,' he glanced to the girl's scar near her right wrist, 'But this scar speaks otherwise.'

"I see, so it was something you randomly decided to do at the moment?"

"Y-Yes ma'am…" Camilla replied to Tina, "I wanna find my father and daddy so they know I'm okay… U-Umm, but I don't want my grandpa to know. He's not nice to me or my parents, and I don't want them to get hurt again."

'… Her father and daddy?' Ed thought as he scratched his head in confusion, 'Does that mean she has two dads?'

'Her grandpa…' Kenneth began to frown a little when she mentioned her grandfather, "What is your dad's name? Maybe we can try and contact one of them."

Camilla stared at the group, "M-My father is Robbie, and my daddy is Luci."

"… And what is their last name?"

"Last name…?" Camilla echoed in confusion, "Oh, you mean like my family? Umm, I don't know if my family has one, but a lot of people have been taking care of me for a while. Does that count?"

The whole room fell silent when she mentioned that a lot of people looked after her; whoever her parents were, they were very protective of her.

"Well, if Camilla's father notices she's not home, I think we should split up around the neighborhood to see if he's nearby. He might try to retrace his steps and come back here," Kenneth stated as he turned to the group of teens, "Can you kids help us with that please?"

"Yes, Mr. Wheeler!" Serena replied with determination as most of the teens in the room left the house; the only teens who decided to stay behind were Zoey, Eddy, Matthew, and Marie.

After the group of teens left, Marie could feel a small tug on the sleeve of her leather jacket. She turned to see Camilla looking up at her, "Umm, Ms. Marie? Can I ask you a question?"

Marie made a confused face but masked it away, "Sure, what is it?"

Camilla paused for a second, "Your blue hair reminds me of my daddy Luci. Are you related to him?"

"… W-What?"

Matthew turned to Marie, who had a stunned expression on her face and in her eyes. Camilla tilted her head a little, waiting for her to answer.

Instead of responding, Marie began to walk away, "Sorry, I need to go outside."

Matthew stood there for a moment before going after her. He followed her outside, where he could see her standing near the curb of Zoey's driveway, "… Marie?"

Marie flinched a little before turning to see Matthew walking over to her, "What's wrong?" He asked.

Marie was silent for a moment before taking in a deep breath, "You remember when I told you that my sisters and I are half-sisters, right?"

Matthew nodded, "Yeah; same mom, different dads… right?"

"Yeah… the thing is, I never knew my dad; not even his real name," Marie began to explain, "Whenever I asked about him, my mom would always give me a different fake name every single time. It was really frustrating, and… Honestly, the only father figure I have is May's dad, since Lee's dad passed away before she was born. He's the only one who stuck around to help us sometimes, even after he divorced my mom. He's the one that Lee and May moved in with to get away from this place…"

"Why did you not go with them?" Matthew asked.

Marie glanced away to look at Jennifer's house to her right, "… I had a reason to stay behind. I wanted to try and fix the damage that my sisters and I did to someone. I thought that if I stayed, I could have a fresh start and be with them as their girlfriend, but…"

"… But?"

"That didn't exactly work out for me," Marie replied, "At least, not in the way I wanted at the time."

Matthew stared at Marie; she had never mentioned this before, so it took him by surprise that she did have feelings for someone else. However, it seems like Marie was not interested in said person anymore, whoever they were. He was not jealous, but it did make him wonder who she was referring to…

"… Anyway, sorry for saying all that," Marie stated before making a laugh, "When that little girl said I looked like her dad, it kind of made me wonder who my real dad is again, so…"

"I get it," Matthew replied with a smile, "Maybe you can find something out if one of her dads comes back to pick her up. Then you can know for sure!"

"… You know, you're right!" Marie stated with a big smile, "Let's go try and find them!"

About thirty minutes passed by in Peach Creek. Everyone in the neighborhood was still searching for Camilla's dad, whoever he could be. Eventually, they decided to meet back up at Zoey's house due to how cold it was becoming.

Eddy made a grumble to himself as he and Zoey were walking back to her house; he did not want to stay out in the cold for this long. He glanced over to Zoey, who he could see was shivering slightly. Against his better judgment, he reached out his hand to touch her shoulder, only for him to be zapped by her powers as soon as he did. It was a very quick and powerful spark, making him quickly retract his hand.

"AH!" Zoey yelled in horror when she realized what happened. She turned to Eddy, who was holding onto his hand and wrist, hissing in pain as he did. She could see his hand and wrist twitching slightly from the contact he made with her, "Eddy!"

"I-It's okay!" Eddy quickly replied with a smile, trying to hide his pain, "I was only tryin' to…"

Eddy trailed off from what he was saying, looking off to the road behind Zoey. He could see an unfamiliar car driving down the road before slowing down to turn into the neighborhood. That was when the car parked near the playground; they could see a man with brown hair exit the car…

"… You think that's Camilla's dad?" Zoey asked.

"Could be…" Eddy replied before turning to Zoey, "You should tell the others that he might be here. I'll go talk to him first and see if it is him."

"But Eddy…"

"I'll be fine!" Eddy smirked as he gave her a thumbs-up and a wink. He then ran off towards the man, leaving Zoey behind. She could see that the shock he suffered from a second ago had passed, much to her relief, "Please be careful…" Zoey whispered before walking toward her house.

Eddy ran over to the man before slowing down, "Uh…"

The man turned to see Eddy approach him. The man was Mr. Swanson, who already knew who Eddy was, but Eddy did not know this. He had to act like he did not know him, "Excuse me, kid… have you seen a little girl around here? She's 12 years old and has long black hair; sort of a tan complexion…"

Eddy narrowed his eyes slightly; he could tell the man was worried about the girl but something about his tone still seemed suspicious to him; it was like he was trying to avoid looking at him, "Do you mean Camilla?"

Mr. Swanson widened his eyes, "Yes! That's my daughter. She had sneaked into my car earlier without me knowing, and I didn't know until I arrived back home. Is she okay?!"

"Yeah, she's good now," Eddy replied, gesturing to Zoey's house, "She's at my girlfriend's house. Her mom gave Camilla some soup too when she said she was hungry."

Mr. Swanson made a sigh of relief, "Oh, thank God… I was so worried."

Mr. Swanson began to walk off to Zoey's house, but not before being stopped by Eddy, "Hey, hold up a sec! I got some questions to ask you!"

The man stared at Eddy, realizing that he was probably suspicious of him because of the branded scar Camilla has on her wrist, relating it to the incident with Vergil and Rita months ago, 'He must know about it because of his friends.'

"Sorry, can you save your questions after I see my daughter?" Mr. Swanson asked, "I promise to answer them when I do, okay?"

Eddy continued to glare at him before making a small growl, "Okay, but I'll be watching you! If you do anything fishy…"

"Thanks, kid," Mr. Swanson stated as he walked past Eddy, trying to ignore his harsh tone.

Once Mr. Swanson and Eddy arrived at Zoey's house, Eddy walked inside first before the man did. Mr. Swanson could see almost every teen from earlier was here doing various things around the room. He could see Camilla was sitting on the couch in the living room; she looked very cozy with the blanket around her shoulders, smiling a little and enjoying the company around her. It warmed his heart to see that she was enjoying herself as well as being okay with what happened.

Camilla turned to see Eddy had returned before noticing her dad was standing next to him. She widened her eyes in shock before making a big smile, "Father!" Camilla cried with joy as she hopped up from where she was sitting before running over to Mr. Swanson, hugging him tightly, "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm so sorry…!"

Camilla could feel her father hug her back tightly, "It's okay, sweetie! I'm just happy you're safe!" He stated.

Everyone looked at the scene with relief for the young girl and her dad.

"You're Camilla's father?" Zoey's dad asked as he and his wife came forward to talk to him.

"Yes, I am," Mr. Swanson stated as he let his daughter out of the hug, "My name is Robert Swanson. I traveled to Peach Creek earlier today for an assignment of some kind, but I didn't realize my daughter had snuck into my car with me. She's never done something like this before…"

"She told us she did this because she had not been anywhere for a long time and wanted to go somewhere with you," Kenneth stated before making a small glare, "I'd rather not assume the worst with this kind of stuff, but…"

Robert stared at him before sighing, "Don't worry, I get it," he looked down at Camilla, "It's true, it's been some time since I took her anywhere with me in town. I should have considered if she was getting tired of being cooped up."

"I-It's okay, Father! Daddy has been giving me a lot of movies and stuff to watch, so staying in my room wasn't that boring!" Camilla said to him before making a big smile, "But it's neat to hang out and meet new friends! They're so cool!"

Robert chuckled at his daughter, "Is that so? Well, that's nice to hear you had fun," he teased before patting her on the back a little, gesturing for her to walk back over to the teens, "You can hang out with them for a little longer, okay? I want to talk with the other adults about something before meeting up with Luci about this."

Camilla made a big smile to him, "Really? I can?!"

Robert nodded his head.

"Yaaay!" Camilla cheered as she ran back over to the teens, hugging the first person she could see in front of her. Felix widened his eyes in shock, "I have friends now! Awesome!" Camilla stated happily.

"U-Uh…" Felix froze a little in fright as his eyes began to dart around in a panic, not exactly knowing what to do in this situation.

"Whoa there!" Marie chuckled as Camilla let Felix out of the hug, "No need to be that clingy."

Robert made a smile to both Camilla and Marie before turning to Kenneth and Tina, "Is there a room we can talk in private?"

"Yeah," Tina replied as she and her husband began to walk up the stairs. Before he followed them, Robert turned back to the group, "Sorry if this sounds weird to you kids, but I also need to talk to four of you."

Robert raised his right hand, gesturing to the branded scar that Camilla had in that location. He did not say this out loud, but that was his way of telling the teens with the same scar to follow him. Most of the teens began to glare at him, slowly realizing where this could lead.

"I'm not here to hurt any of you kids, you have my word," Robert stated, "I've only come to talk and to see if my daughter was safe. That's it."

The group glanced at each other before the four teens he mentioned came forward to follow him upstairs; Double D, Serena, Matthew, and Zoey cautiously walked up the stairs, much to the worry of their friends.

Camilla seemed a little confused by the sudden change in tonal shift coming from everyone in the room, "U-Umm… Did something happen? Why are you angry?"

Ed gasped slightly, "Oh, it's nothing to worry about!" he replied before making a big smile at her, gesturing to the comics that he still had with him, "Wanna read a comic book? This one is awesome, a real classic!"

Camilla stared at Ed before making a big smile, "Ooo… that sounds cool!" Camilla cheered as she walked over to Ed, sitting with him on the couch.

The others sighed with relief, realizing that Ed was using his comics to distract Camilla from the tense and awkward situation, "Dodged a bullet there," Eddy stated.

Once the group was in the master bedroom, they closed the door behind them and locked it as they did, much to the nervousness of the four teens.

Robert made a deep sigh, "I wanted to personally apologize to you for all this awful mess," he began to say, "As you might have guessed, I work for the mafia that killed Vergil and Rita Bishop. I was not the one who gave them those pills, but it might as well have been me. The mafia family I work for is the Martel family, and my husband is Mr. Martel's only son, Lucian. He took up my last name when we got married six years ago to try and distance ourselves from his family, but we were forced back in not that long ago."

The others in the room were silent to the man; they could tell he felt guilty about the things that his father-in-law had done.

"Camilla was born twelve years ago; I had a wife I loved dearly at the time, but then she passed away from a sudden illness when Camilla was only two…" Robert continued to explain, "And then I met Lucian two years later. The two of us sort of clicked and eventually got married two years after we met."

"T-That's honestly lovely to hear, sir. To find another person even when your wife passed on… It must have been tough. I think my father would understand how you felt," Double D stated, trying to make a small bit of conversation with Robert to make things less awkward, despite knowing the current occupation of the man, "It seems like the two of you never wanted to be a part of this either."

"Of course not!" Robert replied, curling his hand into a fist in anger, "I had no idea you kids were going through any of this until the news broke out of Vergil and Rita's arrest. Mr. Martel was the one who funded their experiments along with that black-market drug company located in London. I asked Lucian if he knew that his father was doing this to you… He didn't even look at me when I asked; I could tell he knew. He only found out about it shortly before I did; he was just as upset as me."

"… But your daughter also has a scar, just like the ones that my three friends have," Zoey stated to Robert before making a harsh glare at him, "Why would she even HAVE something like that if you—!"

"Zoey, please!" her mother gasped a little, "You shouldn't raise your voice so loud…"

"… No, you're right."

Everyone looked at Robert when he spoke.

"Two weeks ago, Mr. Martel took Camilla without us knowing and injected her with one of the serums left behind by Vergil and Rita, even giving her that branded scar on her arm. It was one of the two serums that they had recently finished making before being arrested. They had these hidden away in a secret compartment back in the old lab. The element was wind, and the other element was a spare serum of lightning; Camilla was injected with the wind serum."

"Oh god…" Serena muttered in sadness. Zoey stayed quiet when he mentioned the spare lightning serum; she knew that was the same kind they injected her with that day, but to know there was one serum of it left… It horrified her that someone else could go through the same pain she did.

"Once we heard about what he had done to Camilla, Lucian and I tried to confront Mr. Martel. That's when he threatened us, saying he would kill our daughter if we said anything about her being injected with the serum… Using his granddaughter as leverage to keep us in his grasp."

The whole room fell silent.

"I don't expect any of you to forgive Lucian and me for being a part of this. I just want to keep Camilla safe, now that she has similar powers to the four of you," Robert stated before making another sigh, "And since you guys already know so much, I can tell you that I was tasked with taking you four back to Mr. Martel; to be used again like Camilla."

Robert made an angry expression, "But now, I've made up my mind! Lucian and I need to move away from the Martel family once and for all!" He declared out loud, trying to give himself some confidence.

"… The construction folks finished building a new house a few months ago; it's right across the street from here."

Everyone turned to Matthew, "I don't know how well it would work out, but maybe you should try to buy and move into that house… And maybe go into witness protection?"

Robert was silent at Matthew's suggestion before making a small smile, "You're right, it's probably for the best to do just that. Thank you."

Robert went over to the door to unlock it so everyone could leave, "I'll also try to contact Detective Wells and that prosecutor from California. I don't want to immediately tell the police where the family is located, but I do want to take down my father-in-law for his crimes."

"Good to hear," Kenneth stated, "If you need a temporary place to stay or hide, feel free to ask us or some of the other neighbors. I'm sure they would be happy to help your family out."

Robert looked at the man with surprise before making a smile of relief, "Thank you. I'll contact Lucian as soon as I can and explain things to him."

Author's Note (August 31st, 2024): Dang, things are getting heated again! Phoenix and Miles will be in the next chapter, promise!