© Stephanie Anne and Dee Atkins
Chapter Fifteen
It’d been a couple of days since my run in with Daniel, but I couldn’t stop thinking about what he’d said. He knew. He knew what I was, and I knew he wouldn’t relent until I admitted it. Little did he know, I was the most stubborn person I know. And I wouldn’t be giving up what I was, or what I had gathered.
That didn’t stop me from worrying that the existence of my entire race may be lying in the palm of my hands. It didn’t stop me from worrying that it was only going to be a matter of time before Daniel came after me again. But Daniel wasn’t the only thing I was worried about. He was the least of my problems.
They will arise. Those three simple words rang through my head, dismembering my thoughts. I still didn’t know what to think about it. And frankly, I didn’t want to think about it. I didn’t want to wonder what it meant, what Winchester wanted from me. I just wanted to forget. And what better way than gaining Cameron’s trust. If I could gain the Major’s son’s trust perhaps I could gain more information about Ellasyna, about what he had planned for the Ceaelie.
Warm water ran down my aching body. The run I had just gone on through the forest was refreshing, distracting even. It helped me immensely, allowing me to escape my thoughts. But I was still worried. Samanya was still missing, and I remembered how yesterday police had shown up at the barn, inspecting it. I had stayed hidden, but it was obvious - they had no leads.
I turned off the tap and stood there, naked, running my hands through my hair. It was one thing to decide to get close to Cam, another to actually go through with it. I really had no way of getting in contact with him, and it was quite irritating.
I flung a towel around my body, another over my head to dry my hair and stepped out of the warm bathroom, humming a familiar tune to myself. I almost dropped my towel when I heard a cough.
Cameron stood there, eyes trailing my body briefly before he averted his gaze, ashamed. I let out a gasp and made sure to hold my towel securely. And when I spoke it sounded like I was a dying, sputtering engine.
“W-What are you doing here? W-Why are you in my room? Oh my God. This is so embarrassing.” I could feel my cheeks heating up in my embarrassment, and shock.
“I-I, uh, I came to ask if you wanted to grab a coffee, or something,” he said, clearing his throat, eyes still averted from me.
“You couldn’t have waited and knocked before entering?” I hissed, eyes wide.
He finally looked at me and smiled slightly. “I did. But you didn’t answer.”
“Well, usually, when nobody answers it means they’re not home, and you shouldn’t just come in. It's rude."
He smirked, but only slightly. "Well, I apologise for the inconvenience. Now get dressed. I'm taking you out."
I grumbled in annoyance, the only reply he was going to receive, and grabbed some clothes before going back into the bathroom and changing. This is exactly what you wanted, okay? Don’t screw it up. I shook out my wet hair, water droplets flying everywhere. Throwing my hair up into a bun, I walked out, watching Cam as he paced the room.
He stopped and stared, lips parted. It was almost like he was surprised that I left the bathroom, that this meant I was going to join him for coffee. So I smiled at him.
“Wasn’t there a promise for coffee?” He nodded, and without a single word, we left the inn.
I wasn’t sure if I was flirting, or if this was all a game. I knew I was tense, nervous. Cam had clarified that this wasn’t a date, but I had a sneaking suspicion that it was a lie. He seemed nervous though. It was obvious through the ‘nervous chatter’ that had started when we began walking into town. He had his hands in his pockets, but it didn’t stop me from noticing the slight twitch of his fingers when he held his hand out to let me into the cafe first.
It’s cute… No, no it wasn’t. I couldn’t think like that, allow myself to even contemplate it. It would put me at risk.
I accepted his offer and walked through the doors with him behind me. I’d been to this cafe so many times in the past couple of weeks that it felt normal to step inside again. The barista smiled kindly at us as we walked over, and Cameron ordered our drinks. He didn’t even have to ask to know I’d have the mint tea. The thought was flattering, yet I knew better than to think on it.
Stop it, Val. Get a grip. This is Cameron. Winchesters son. Do your job. I told myself this over and over, yet I couldn’t help but sneak subtle glances at him when he wasn’t looking. He was a very distracting human. Mainly because he was easy on the eyes. Ugh! Stop thinking like this, Val.
Cameron led us over to a table, oblivious to my thoughts, smiling nervously at me in what he probably hoped was a normal way. I sipped my tea cautiously, knowing it’d be hot, while he looked at me over his coffee. He watched with perplexed eyes, caution shadowing in the back.
I smiled and sat my tea down, eyeing his posture. He looked calm, relaxed all of a sudden, like he had mastered his nervousness. It was a normal sight, and made me less nervous.
“So what gave you the courage to come after me for tea?” I asked, sitting back in my seat. Cam coughed as if startled by the comment, and a wave of anxiety washed over him.
“I, uh, wanted to see how you were, after what happened the other day.” I stiffened, blinking a couple of times to gather my thoughts. He couldn’t have known about Daniel… there was no way. Maybe Sam? No… “After what that beast did, I was sure you’d pack up and leave.” The hellhound.
Bloody hell. Do I try to play it off? Do I tell him I was fine and that it didn’t really hurt me? What do I say to that?
“You saved my life. And, it’s in the past. It doesn’t really matter now,” I replied hastily. I wanted to change the topic and fast. “So, do you have anything else planned for today?”
Cameron grinned, taking a swig of coffee. “Actually, I do.”
“Are we almost there?” I groaned, trudging after Cameron through the dense woods. I had no idea where he was taking me, and all my senses were on high alert. Was this a trap? Was it an ambush? I couldn’t help but think it. After all, Cameron had come to me for no reason to buy me tea and hang out because he was ‘concerned’ for my well-being.
All I’d learnt in training with Marceus and Samanya was coming through. I had to be ready just in case this was just a trap. What if Daniel had told Cam his suspicions of me being Ceaelie? What if Cam believed him? What if they were both going to fight me?
Calm down, Val. You’re faster, stronger and smarter than them, I told myself. Plus, you have the elements on your side.
Cameron chuckled at my lack of patience. “Almost. I promise.”
Just as he said it the trees came to an end and a clearing opened up in front of us. Tall, green grass popped up everywhere, the trees forming a circle and in the middle stood a treehouse. It was simple, yet I could sense it was important.
There was a different kind of energy coming off of the trees, their voices speaking to me through the wind. It was an odd sense, something I had only just picked up since being here. But I didn’t feel threatened; there was no warning in the wind, just a song.
“Wow.” I was surprised, too. I wasn’t expecting Cam to bring me to a treehouse of all places.
Cam seemed happy with my response, grabbing my hand to take me over to the fortress. A shock ran up my fingers, reaching my shoulder before disappearing. What the… We got to the base of one of the large trees that held up the structure, the branches crossing in the middle that was obviously the beginning of the tree house.
“Ladies first.” I shook my head at him, grabbing hold of the ladder that had been nailed to the tree. Another shock ran through my body.
The energy of the tree seemed to be pulsing through my body, becoming a part of me. The ladder was sturdy under my grip and I climbed until I reached the top, gasping when I did. The interior of the treehouse was beautiful. Papers upon papers were stuck to the walls - maps, newspaper articles, photographs. A maroon rug covered the wooden floor, a man made shelf nailed to the back wall filled with books upon books. And all of it concerned me - or, to be more precise, my race - the Ceaelie.
Cam soon climbed up behind me. “You’ve gotta promise me something, Valia,” he said, once he was sitting beside me. I looked at him, right in the eyes. “You can’t tell anyone about this place. It’s a secret.”
“I promise,” I whispered without hesitation. He continued to stare into my eyes to gauge whether I was being truthful or not. He then nodded, turning away.
I continued to stare at the maps, the coordinates. It was them. Cam and Daniel who were at the warding. It had to be. The night I left, it was them. By the looks of it, they were getting close. They must have already mapped out part of the boundaries by now.
My eyes wandered over the photos then stopped, resting on a photo of a girl with dark brown hair, braided with a blouse and jeans on. She was walking out of the library.
It was Kali.
We stayed in the treehouse for almost three hours, Cam explaining the Ceaelie to me in a different way, me asking dumb questions and him attempting to answer. It was surreal, almost like a dream. When we got back to the inn, and Cam kissed me on the cheek, I was in a daze. My mind had been fogged over with all this new information. I need to tell the commander. But I couldn’t. With the communicator smashed to pieces, I had no way of telling him any of the new evidence.
I need to go back. I need to gather more. I need to find out if they know anything about Ellasyna. That was one thing Cam failed to mention in his run down of my kind - the ultimate weapon. It hadn’t escaped me though. He knew something. He had to. One of those books, something in the pages had to be about that goddamned dagger. It was beginning to frustrate me, more than I thought it would.
There was nothing else I could do today. It would be useless. Tomorrow. I had to hope Cam or Daniel wouldn’t be there. I had to find something.
With that in mind, I left my room, seeking out something for dinner. I was starving and lacking energy. So I ate, and slept, awaiting the morning so I could return to the secret treehouse to gather more information.
My mind was set. I was going. Now.
The walk to the treehouse was familiar by now. I’d memorised the path easily, so getting there was no problem. The problem, however, awaited me.
Just as I was climbing up I heard voices, and froze. Someone’s here.
“-weapon is ready to use, Cameron,” a deep voice said, and I knew immediately it was Daniel. “Ellasyna will be the destruction of them all, you’ll see.”
“How can you be so sure? Have you seen the thing? It could just be some tacky knife that does little to no damage to them. Have you even thought about this logically?” Cam sounded frustrated, and tired, as if he hadn’t slept at all.
“I’m sure it will work, Cam. Why can’t you share my opinion? Why is everything so difficult with you? It will work. And I know just who to test it out on.”
“No,” Cam said immediately. “Dan, I don’t think she’s one of them. I’ve been spying on her for days now. She hasn’t done anything a Ceaelie would.”
He’s been spying on me? How could he? Why? I thought.
You know why, the little voice in the back of my head muttered. You’re no better than him, Val. You’ve been using him too.
“She’s skilled. She’s just pretending to be human, Cameron! Can’t you see that?” Daniel exclaimed. “She’s dangerous. If you can’t see that you’re blind!”
“Hey, don’t tell me off,” Cameron yelled back. “You were just the same! You didn’t want to believe she was one of them! Nobody suspected Kali. Nobody. So don’t you go telling me off.”
Kali?
I gasped accidentally, which made them both stop talking abruptly. Dammit. I jumped from the ladder, landing swiftly on my feet. Then I ran, dodging trees, jumping over logs. I could hear their pursuing footsteps and shouts, could hear them gaining on me.
A stream. I turned again, jumping into the icy water of the stream, letting the water wash away any evidence of me being there. It was easy to move through, the water shallow enough. But their shouts were still audible.
I’m not moving fast enough. They were gaining on me. I was close enough to a large bank of rocks to hide, but they wouldn’t cover me for long.
I jumped out of the water, manoeuvring around the rocks, slipping through a hole that opened up into what had be a cave, and I waited.
For two hours, I sat there, in the dark with a sick sense that they were going to discover me, find my hiding place and kill me right there and then. They weren’t going to hesitate, and it was obvious that they knew it was me. They had to have seen my face at some point, seen my hair or maybe what I was wearing. But they now know. They knew I knew Kali.
It took me another hour to find the inn again. It had grown dark with the promise of a storm, and for some reason that calmed me.
Daniel and Cam both knew Kali. Daniel had… Had what, loved her? Maybe cared for her at some stage? Maybe that was the mistake she made, but it had side-effects. Daniel had some sort of feeling for her, but the hatred was obvious. And he was putting it all on me.
Oh God, Kali, what have you done?
I need to leave, go somewhere else. I’m not safe here anymore. I had to get my hands on that weapon. It was now or never. There was no way I was going to get it out of Cameron now, so the only way to do what I promised was to sneak into the base and find it myself.
That night, I planned and packed, gathering my belongings and my weapons, stashing them by the window, ready for a quick escape. Everything had just gone downhill. And I thought everything was finally getting better; I was finally gathering the information I needed.
But not now. Now everything was screwed up, messed around and thrown out the window. Now I needed a plan of attack and perhaps a plan of defence too, in case they came after me - which the no doubt would.
But we'd have to wait and see.
I didn't sleep. I couldn't. Not with two soldiers after me; not when they'd no doubt notified higher authorities about me. Cameron had probably told his father about me. And now they were most likely all on the lookout for me. It would've been smart to move, to go camp out somewhere they'd never suspect.
And that thought was on my mind when there was a knock on the door. I froze in fear and anticipation. Just waiting.
“Valia, I know you’re in there!” Cameron knocked again, his fist pounding on the door. I’m going to die. “Just let me in! We need to talk!” My voice was stuck in my throat, fear coursing through my veins. No, this can’t be it! “Valia!” Another series of knocks.
I swallowed my fear and walked up to the door, hand on the handle. “What do you want, Cameron?” My voice broke and I could feel myself shattering.
“Valia…” There was something in his voice, maybe the way he said my name that made me rethink him. But… no, don’t do this to yourself. Don’t let this happen.
“I’m not going to let you in, not until you give me a reason.” I wanted to cry; cry in frustration and in anger and in overall sadness because I had actually, somewhere within me, begun to trust him. And it was gone.
“Valia, please…” This time, his voice broke, and so did my resolve.
I twisted the door handle and swung the door open, eyeing the dishevelled figure in front of me. He stood there, watching me, taking in my crumpled shirt and smudged jeans, to my frizzy hair and baggy eyes. I was a mess, and so was he.
We stood in silence for what felt like an eternity. There was laughter in the room next door and the sound of the shower turning on down the hall. But that was nothing compared to the silence between us, the sudden chasm that had begun to grow. It was deeper, and I had a feeling it had just reached the core of the earth in a matter of days.
“You lied to me,” I finally whispered, taking small, shuffled steps back until I was half way across the room. Cam shook his head, entering my room, shutting the door behind him. This is it.
“I’m not the only one. C’mon, Valia. I know, okay. You can’t hide forever!” He yelled the last part and it echoed in my head, ringing in my ears. He was right. I can’t just blame him. I shouldn’t have grown close to him, shouldn’t have had anything to do with him. You’re just like Kali. I was, and now I know that.
“You don’t understand, Cam. You have no idea what you have done!” And I was right, he didn’t. He didn’t know what Ellasyna meant. He didn’t know what the consequences would be, there was no way.
“So… you really are one of them.”
__________________________________
So, yes, it is friday, and kinda early. Just decided that if I did it now, I wouldn't forget XD
We hope you enjoy, and please don't forget to drop a comment!
-Dee and Steph