Heart Pangs

Chapter 46 - Loyalty

She's on the couch when they find her.

The door bursts open and Camille barely flinches. She doesn't see, so much as sense, the group of people pushing their way into her house. She hears their footsteps thundering up the stairs and down the hall. She watches as one pair of shoes in particular walks up to her and she feels a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"Camille, dear," Arthur McMullen's voice says in her ear. "What happened here? Where are they?"

She looks up at him. Her knees are tucked up under her chin. Her eyes are dry from crying. Her throat is sore from gasping between sobs. They had left a little more than half an hour ago.

"I don't know," she answers honestly.

Arthur frowns. "Camille," he says slowly, "it's very important that you tell the truth right now. Where did Lux Feuerbach and your brother go?"

She shakes her head. "I don't know."

Someone else enters the sitting room and stands at Arthur's side.

"What's going on?" Oscar asks.

"Camille claims she doesn't know where her brother went," Arthur explains.

Oscar peers down at Camille. "You expect her to sell out her own brother?"

"I expect her loyalty."

Camille comes suddenly to life. She meets Arthur's eyes for the first time. "And you have it," she tells him. "You have all my loyalty."

Arthur's eyes narrow, but he says nothing.

"There's no one else here," Oscar says to break the silence. "We were too late. We should leave and figure out our next move."

A small twitch in the cheek is the only sign that betrays Arthur's anger. "Very well," he answers. "Camille, why don't you come with us? I have a few questions for you."

Camille nods but does not move.

Oscar steps forward and carefully grabs her arm. "Come on, Marotta," he tells her as he guides her off the couch. "Let's get you cleaned up."

It's only as she crosses the room to the front door that Camille finally looks about her own house. It's full of Oscar's favorite survivalist students, scavenging through every crevice as if they expect to find Lux Feuerbach or her brother tucked under the table or in the pantry.

"They're not here," she tells Oscar as he opens the front door for her.

"I know," he replies. "We're just being thorough."

She doesn't have time to protest further. The next thing she knows, she's stepping outside and being led to a car. Oscar pulls open the back door and she climbs in. A second later, Arthur slides into the passenger seat up front, followed closely by Oscar taking the driver's position.

They pull out of the driveway and head off. Camille watches out the window as her house disappears. She wonders what the neighbors think of the swarm of cars blocking the street.

As Oscar drives and Camille stares out the window, she expects to feel something. She's not sure exactly what. Maybe grief over the loss of Benji? She's sure his chances of coming back home alive are slim. Or maybe fear for her own life? She had just been outed for harboring one of Epomis' worst enemies. The consequence for that would surely be death. But she feels none of that. Only a strange emptiness, a sort of numbness to everything around her.

She recognizes the route, and sure enough, they eventually pull into Arthur's driveway. They all get out without a word. Camille walks to the front door of her own free will, but she does notice the way Arthur and Oscar hover near her, like she might bolt at any moment.