The Uprisen

Chapter 26

Cold salty ocean air blows through his black hair and sticks on his face with small flecks of water. He digs his feet deeper into the rocky shore and breaths in the Pacific, hoping that the wind will carry him into the sky on an incredibly peaceful trip.

Unfortunately for Cameron, a peaceful trip is exactly the opposite of what he's gotten from California. It seems like everywhere he goes, he's constantly checking every face that so much as glances at him. After the fifth close call for his own life, and the seventh for Joseph, he'd grown tired of letting the Seekers get the upper-hand. He started keeping a dagger on his at all times, rather than having to conjure it through the air, and he'd keep his head down in crowded places.

After about the tenth dead elemental, he started going for morning jogs anywhere near the water. Somewhere in the middle of every run, he'd find himself staring into the blue and grey ocean hoping that he'd really just been dreaming this whole time. When the death count raised to fifteen, he'd start jogging when he'd wake up from his recurring nightmares. When the death count became too high to keep track of, for his own sanity and time, he began hitting things: walls, tables, car hoods, until eventually he'd find a gym to box in.

As he stares into the ocean now, he finds it hard to believe that so much has changed in only a few weeks. He stopped looking at his picture of homecoming with Waverly, because even the thought of her was enough to drive him mad. Anger, terror, guilt, and survival instincts kicked in soon after he came to California, and now he feels like his own stranger.

"Hey, Liam called. Said he thinks he found it," Joseph shouts from the grass.

Cameron turns his head slightly and nods. "Where at?"

Joseph runs over with Cameron's phone in hand. "Crescent City. Said he has a friend who might be able to help us find it."

"Great. Let's go," he says.

Joseph hesitates. "If we find it, can we go back to Boston?"

Cameron turns to face his friend. He doesn't have to read his face to know that the kid has seen and done too much. With as much hope as he can muster, he answers, "Joseph, we'll be on the next flight out. No delays."

Relieved, Joseph follows Cameron to a car they borrowed earlier, and they drive to Crescent City in silence.

——-

 Dude definitely likes his abandoned buildings, Jake thinks as he watches James walk into an empty gas station from his car parked down the street.

"Quinn, you see Riley?" Jake whispers into his phone.

"Nope. So far, the back entrance is still clear."

Jake watches the side of the building for any sign of Riley, but James appears to be alone.

"What do you think?" Jake asks Quinn.

"I'm ready to take this guy down."

Without taking his eyes off of the building, Jake waves his hand through the air and grabs a dagger. "Alright, I'll be there in ten seconds circling from the right to the front. You go around to the back."

"Got it."

He ends the call, and places his phone in his pocket as he quietly gets out of the car and jogs over to the building. Before picking the lock on the door, he looks around for any bystanders or cars driving by, but the street seems empty.

 This is it. He takes a deep breath, and carefully pops the lock open. He crouches through the isles of empty shelves that used to hold cheap road trip food, and circles around until he reaches the closed office door.