The Super Jerk Trilogy (Now 3-in-1)

18. Hands To Myself

{Cameron}

My mind is sluggish when I wake up finally. I don't know where I am, but I can feel a soft surface under me, and a blanket covering me. When I crack my eyes open, I see a skylight in the ceiling. When I turn over with a surprising lack of pain, I'm faced with a black bedside table, with food on it. Some of it's half-eaten too. Either someone's been here or it's for me.

   I sit up, blinking. I have no idea what time it is, or what day. I just remember the claws ripping into my stomach as it grabbed me from behind. After that I'd gone to Sarah's house, and the exertion probably sped up that process with the poison. I'd seen it on the thing that attacked me, but I didn't think it would get me. Boy, was I wrong.

   My eyes land on a pair of sweatpants and a sweatshirt folded neatly on the corner of the bed. I pull them both on, take a bite of food from the tray, and go out, finding myself in a short hallway. I end up in a living room space that has a sunken area in the middle, filled with bean bag chairs with a television in one corner.

   In the chairs, lounging like this is the most normal thing in the world, are Trevor and an unfamiliar African-American guy. They're watching some cartoon, but I don't recognize it.

   "Trevor?"

   Trevor sits up, looking over at me. "Hey! Mr. A.I.! You're looking better."

   "I suppose." I shrug. My thoughts are still a little slow, and although I think I should recognize the Black guy, I don't.

   "I wanted to introduce you to Ellis Emory, otherwise known as Sunburst. I think you two know each other." Trevor sits back as I wander over. "Right?"

   "Yeah, man, we've met before." Ellis sticks his fist out, and I give his knuckles a bump. "How ya doing?"

   "Fine." I shrug, sitting down on the ledge. "A little sluggish."

   "That's a side effect of what we did to get the poison out of you," Trevor says. "Which, by the way, we're still running tests on. Weird stuff so far...not like anything we've ever seen."

   Ellis nods, taking a sip of his soda. "We're thinking it might be some sort of bio-weapon, or a poison of some kind."

   "Really?" I raise my eyebrows. "Whatever it was, it sure hurt like hell going in."

   "I can imagine. Especially getting a look at those wicked claw marks on you."

   I have to strain my brain, but I remember Sarah being there. Holding my hand, kissing my forehead, touching my hair. "What about Sarah?"

   "Relax, Mr. A.I. She's fine. Sunburst took her home."

   Ellis winks at me over the rim of his soda can.

   "Can I see her?" I stand up a little too quickly, and my head spins so much I find myself in the beanbag chair with Trevor.

   "Whoa, slow down, tiger." He sits up and helps me stand. "Not while you're like that. You need to rest."

   "How long was I out?" I ask, lowering myself to the one between them.

   He looks over at Ellis. "I'd say about...oh...a day and a half, maybe. Give or take."

   Ellis nods in agreement.

   "What have I missed?" I want to stand up, but Trevor restrains me.

   "Nothing that we couldn't deal with. Not that there's really been anything." Ellis says, crushing the can in his fist and throwing it over his shoulder, where it lands perfectly in the recycle bin. Not fair. He wasn't even looking.