School Lockdown

Chapter 11: The Trip

*5 weeks later*

We'd now been at the safe house for six weeks. We were due to leave in another two weeks. We hadn't heard anything from the police or on the news about Red, Cam or any of his other accomplices. There was still no word on where Cam was but we couldn't stay in hiding forever.

We'd had no visitors and no mail except a postcard from Casey's uncle saying he hopes we are enjoying the house. There was plenty of food in stores and anything else we might need so there was no reason to go out. Casey had been very reserved since the interaction with Jordan, the first week we came here. I'd tried starting conversations with him sometimes but he never kept it up.

We were getting bored being stuck in the house for so long though. There was only so many games of hide and seek we could play with Angel before it got boring.

On the Monday of the second to last week of our stay, Angel, Lauren, my parents, Casey and I were sitting in the lounge room flicking through the channels. We all had cabin fever and were looking forward to when we could leave.

Lauren sighed before facing us. "Look I know we still have to stay in hiding for another two weeks but I cannot stay cooped up in this house for another day. Couldn't we go for a trip to the mall for a couple of hours? I've been wearing the same three outfits for a month. Nothing suspicious has happened in the last six weeks." My mum and I agreed. It would be great to get out of the house, even if it was only for a few hours. However, my dad and Casey looked reluctant. "We are supposed to be in hiding. I don't think it would be wise to go out." My dad said. "Oh pleeease! Can we go somewhere?" Angel begged. She hadn't really understood why we weren't allowed to go outside. Every time she asked about it one or another of us would change the subject. Casey was also reluctant but seeing Angels puppy dog eyes silently begging him to say yes, he finally relented saying he would call the police and ask if there was any update and if everything seemed okay we could go to a mall a couple of hours away for a little while.

My Dad agreed to this but said if we saw anything suspicious we must leave immediately. Casey got up to phone the police. He'd got a spare phone on the way to the safe house six weeks ago that we could only use to make and receive calls from the police about the status of Red, Cam and the others.

In a few minutes Casey returned to the lounge and told us there had still been no sightings of Cam, it was as though he'd just disappeared off the face of the Earth. He had to tell them what mall we were going to and we must call them every hour on the hour to check in.

We all jumped up to get ready and Casey yelled to meet in the parking garage in 15 minutes.

In 20 minutes we were on the road heading north to a city a few hours from the safe house. My dad, Casey, Angel and I were in the first car. Lauren and my mum were in the second car together; they'd become very close over the past few weeks. In two hours we pulled off the main road and made our way to a mall in a town not far from San Diego. After we parked the cars we entered the mall and agreed to meet back up at the door in two hours. My mum, Angel and Lauren went off to a women's clothing store while my dad went to a jeweler to get a new battery for his watch. That left Casey and I. I headed towards a shoe store, I'd broken a strap on my jandals so I was planning to get a new pair. As I entered the store I felt a presence right behind me. I flipped around and smacked right into Casey. "Are you following me?" I asked. "No, not following. I want some new shoes too." He replied. I shrugged and headed towards the Women's shoe section. Once I'd decided on a pair I headed to the checkout with Casey right behind me. He held up a pair of Vans and a pair of Converse. I raised my eyes at him and he just shrugged with a smug smile. I paid for my shoes and decided I would go to a clothing store next as the summer seemed to be getting hotter by the day. I found a denim skirt, a dress, two tops and some shorts I liked. After trying them on I went to pay, but before I got to the counter I spotted Casey behind a rack on the men's side of the store. I paid for my items then made my way to the food court. I hadn't eaten since breakfast and decided on some McDonald's. We hadn't had fast food since the first week when we ordered pizza. I ordered nuggets, fries, a chocolate sundae and a Sprite. I can't stand Coke. I took a seat in one of the booths and began on the sundae first before it melted. As I was about to take a bite of my nuggets someone sat down across from me and took the nugget out of my hand. I looked up, my mouth still open expecting a delicious nugget and saw Casey chewing my nugget grinning. I punched him on the shoulder and dragged my tray of food closer to me. I took another nugget before asking him again "Are you following me?" "No." He said. "I was hungry too and thought your nuggets looked delicious." "So why not get some of your own?" I asked. "Well I kinda spend all the money I brought with me today on the shoes." He said sheepishly. "Well, serves you right for buying Vans AND Converse. Why do you need two new pairs anyway?" I asked him. He pulled the Converse bag onto the table and pushed it towards me. "These are for you." He said. "I saw your old ones in your room and thought you needed a new pair." I gasped. My old shoes were very worn out but with all the other events happening in the last few weeks, new shoes hadn't even been on my radar. I refused saying it was too expensive a gift. "Seriously, take them." He said. "Think of it as reimbursement for shooting you the other week." I chuckled and opened the box. They were my exact size and a dark navy colour. My old ones had turned a light blue from fading. I gave him a hug from across the table and said thank you. He seemed surprised at first but soon returned the hug. After I pulled back it looked as though he was going to say something but changed his mind. "What is it?" I asked. "Nothing." He quickly replied. He then looked at his watch and said we should be getting back to the main doors to meet up with the others as it was nearing two hours. I nodded and put my trash in the bin. I told Casey I was just going to run to the bathroom before the long drive back to the safe house and to meet me by the main doors. He took my bags from me and nodded. I walked down a little way in hopes of finding a bathroom. As I neared one, once again I got the feeling I was being followed so I whipped around planning to tell Casey I was perfectly capable of going to the bathroom by myself but got a surprise when it was Sam. I hadn't spoken to him, or any of the others since we went to the safe house. "Hey Sam!" I said smiling. He looked slightly shocked but recovered, replying "Hey.." I thought he would badger me with questions about why I haven't been answering any calls or texts from anyone but he just stood there looking at me curiously before asking what I was doing. I told him I was on a trip with my parents but had to go to the bathroom before meeting back up with them to leave. I looked at my watch and saw it was 5 minutes before I should be at the door. I told him I'll be in contact soon but really had to go now. He watched me enter the bathroom and I looked behind me waving as the door shut.

I entered the bathroom thinking it was weird how Sam hadn't asked me anything despite not hearing from me in six weeks. That's when I realized he looked slightly different. He was shorter than I remembered and had a different hairstyle. As I was washing my hands my heart dropped. That must have been Cam. Sam's twin brother. I hadn't met him before so at first glance it looked like Sam. I remembered Sam saying something in the lockdown about Him and Cam being twins but not identical.

I hurriedly dried my hands looking at my watch knowing the others would be waiting by now. I pulled open the door and screamed.

Cam grabbed my hand and pulled me around a corner into a less populated area of the mall. I struggled to free my hand but Cam hand an iron grip. Just as he was opening a door into what I assumed was the back entrance of the store, generally used by employees who come in straight from the underground carpark, someone grabbed my other hand and pulled me back. I turned and came face to face with Casey. He looked at my wrist which was enclosed in Cam's hand. I saw the look of fury on his face as he easily ripped Cam's hand off my wrist and shoved him down the stairs leading to the carpark.

That brought back memories of the lockdown. Casey grabbed my hand and said "Hurry we might have a few minutes to get back to the cars without being followed. I think he's knocked out."

We ran back to the main entrance and the others didn't question us until we made it back to the cars panting. "What happened?" Lauren finally asked. "She was nearly kidnapped by Cam." Casey replied. "WHAT?" the others yelled in unison.

"We'll explain properly back at the house. We don't have long until I suspect Cam will try to find and follow us.

After the two-hour drive we arrived back at Casey's uncles house. After parking the cars in the garage we all made our way to the living room where I explained what had happened, then learned Casey had gone back to wait for me outside the bathroom when I didn't return after ten minutes, as he got to the bathroom door he only just saw me being pulled around a corner. That's when he saw me being dragged into the underground parking lot.

Casey came into the living room at this moment after phoning the police telling them we found Cam in the mall. They said they would send the local units there to try and find him and would call us back with the update.

I looked at the fingernail marks Cam had left on my wrist and thought to myself, how could Sam be so nice yet have such a terrible twin brother? 

A/N: 

So after the last few chapters which were only around 1000-1400 words I nearly doubled the length in this chapter. It's at exactly 2000 words. 

So they found Cam... or should I say, Cam found them. 

Find out what happens next in Chapter 12...