Muted

Chapter 13

Back at Shawn's house, him and Daniel were screaming at Cam.

"Why would you leave?! Haven't I created a good enough life for you here?!" Shawn yelled.

Cam started to write on the whiteboard when Daniel ripped it out of her hands and snapped it in half. "You can talk" he said. "You don't need this stupid whiteboard!" He threw it behind his shoulder.

"What the hell, Daniel?!" Shawn said. He must have still thought that Cam couldn't speak and he was convinced Daniel was hearing things. "Now she can't communicate with us!"

Cam wanted to be here but not in this moment. She closed her eyes and covered her ears. She was brought back to her old house in California, with her mom and her mom's ex boyfriend.

"Why are you being like this?!"

"I'm not the one who hit my daughter!"

"She's my daughter too! I can do whatever the hell I want with her!"

"No! She's not your daughter! She's your step daughter and that doesn't give you a right to hurt her!"

Continuous muffled screaming and shouting went on as 12 year old Cam hid in her room wishing that her mom and dad would get back together. Cam looked in the mirror and saw a big, red handprint on the side of her face. Her mom had been with Micheal for a year now and nearly everyday he hit her then acted like an angel in front of people. He had gotten away with it for so long but this time Cam's mom came home early and saw the strike. She blew up and ordered Cam to her room.

Cam's thoughts were interrupted by the Amber Alert sound. She opened her eyes and they all looked at the tv.

"Amber Alert!" It said. A man at a news station showed on the screen. "We interrupt this program for an important message. We have gathered another report from a new person about Cam Hendrickson. Last seen with Rebecca Smith wearing a mint green shirt and black leggings. She-" the tv turned off.

"Shit!" Shawn yelled. "Who the fuck keeps sending out these reports?!"

"How should I know?!" Daniel replied.

Cam raised her hand. "You can't talk so stay out of this" Shawn said.

"I-i can talk though" she said quietly. The room went quiet. "Can I go home?" She asked, looking up and Shawn's shocked face and Daniel's 'see I was right' face.

"How can you talk?"

"I don't know i-" she was cut off by police cars rushing into the driveway and driving into the lawn. They burst into the door with guns in their hands and a woman in a suit with a badge emerged.

"Shawn Miller. You are under arrest for kidnapping and child abuse," she said as a man walked from behind her with handcuffs and put them around Shawn's wrists and led him out of the house. "Are you kids alright?" She asked.

"Yes. Thank you so much!" Daniel said putting his hand around Cam's waist. She pushed him off and ran toward Shawn.

"Don't leave!" She begged. "Don't take him! Please he did nothing wrong! Arrest his son! He's the one who's been sexually harassing me! Shawn didn't do anything to me!"

"He didn't take you?" The woman said.

"Yes he did but-"

"Did he hit you?"

"Only once or twice but I'm fi-"

"Cameron that is kidnapping and child abuse. We have to arrest him"

"Don't call me Cameron! I can't leave him!"

The officer exchanged a glance a fellow cop. "Stockholm syndrome?" She said in a low voice. The other cop nodded. "Think so"

"I do not have Stockholm syndrome!"

"Think about it like this Cameron"

"Cam"

"Cam" the officer sighed. "When you hear a song you don't hate but don't love and it's replayed over and over. What happens?"

"It tends to get more catchy and likeable" The officer looked at her in a you-get-it-now kind of way. "I'm not stupid" Cam said. "I know what it is and I know I don't have it. I've just grown fond of Shawn. He's kind. He makes me dinner sometimes, he doesn't judge me-"

"Let me stop you right there. That is the bare minimum sweetheart. Do your parents not do that?"

"Of course they do! They gave me a home, clothes, a warm bed, everything I could ever need but Shawn gives me what I want! Don't you understand?"

The officer looked at her blankly. "No" she said. "Do you ask for things you want?"

"No. Shawn just gives them to me"

"Right. So.. ask your parents to get those things or get a job to get it yourself"

"But-" Cam thought about it for a moment and realized that she was being foolish trying to get Shawn out. He kidnapped her and hurt her and that's now how anybody should treat anybody. "You're right" she said, looking down in defeat. "Take him away"

To be continued...

Hey sorry that this took so long. I didn't really know how to continue with the story and I might have to change the upload days for more time to brainstorm between each chapter. It's just that I have school, friends, family and a bunch of added stresses to my day and it gets difficult to find time to write. I will try harder but if I can't think of anything for the next chapter then I might need to change it to every other day or so. I'm sorry. Thanks for reading, have a great day, byeee