Return to Me

Chapter 5

~~~Rebecca Baxter~~~

After the rifle accident, Cammie ran away. I took off to run after her, but stopped myself in time. She wouldn’t venture outside alone, she’d be back soon. Adding that I was supposedly mad at her for leaving and to not talking, shutting us out.

I felt horrible, but Cammie just doesn’t acknowledge us. It’s hard to pretend that we are mad at her. Liz eventually gave up, being the sweetest person, and Macey gave up too. Zach, Liz and Macey all tried to get Cammie to talk, but she wouldn’t open up. She was a living zombie, never appearing for meals, never talking, her face pale, lifeless. Sometimes, I caught Zach looking at her, his face emotionless.

Once, Zach took some food and said he’s not hungry. Then, he went. He said he was headed to his room. Me, Macey and Liz exchanged a gaze. We all knew that Zach probably went in search of Cammie, who’s I guess roaming the halls.

From then on, he just grabs things to eat, and then he’s off. Well, he grabs a lot of things, then they often appears in his room, then after class, in recess, it miraclely disappears. He had never gotten thiner and skinnier like Cammie, so I guess he ate them.

Although I was still a teeny bit mad at Cammie, I couldn’t stop the pang in my stomach, thinking that I should’ve gone after her.

After class, I went back into the room, expecting to find Cammie there. However, she isn’t there. ‘Bex, where’s Cammie?’ Liz asked. ‘She pointed a rifle at the door, then she went away out the door and was gone. I thought she’ll be in her room. Maybe she’s still roaming the halls.’

‘Yeah, sure.’ Liz said, but her voice seemed to be convincing herself.

Then, Macey barged in. ‘Have you seen Cammie?’ Liz asked. Macey shook her head. No, I haven’t. Suddenly, I heard an announcement. ‘Rebecca Baxter, Elizabeth Sutton, Macey McHenry, Zachary Goode, please go to the Principal Office.’ The Headmistress’s defeated voice came on the intercom. We exchanged a glance. ‘Cammie.’ We all whispered as we ran out of out room, and sped to the Principal’s Office.’

‘Yes, Ms. Morgan.’ We all reported to the Principal’s Office. ‘Where’s Zach?’ She asked. I answered her. ‘Zach ran after Cammie.’

‘Oh.’ She plunged down on the chair, exhaling. ‘At least Zach ran after her. He’ll take care of her.’

‘What?’ We’re all confused.

‘Cammie ran away after class. She ran out of the Academy.’ I sucked in a breath. No wonder I felt a pang in my stomach. Something isn’t right, and this something is that Cammie didn’t just roam the halls, she escaped, possibly in the hands of the COC. I broke down.

‘Sorry, I saw her ran out, I just thought it’s normal and so I didn’t follow her… I’m so sorry…’

Then, Ms. Morgan did the most unexpected thing. She hugged me. ‘I’m sure Cammie would be alright. Zach’s there to protect her.’ I shrugged. ‘But I think Cammie shut everyone out, including Zach.’ ‘I know, Bex, I know. Let’s hope she opens up soon.’ She sooths me in a motherly voice. Liz and Macey were sobbing too.

I felt bad for not going after her. For not comforting her when I had a chance. She was most likely outside, feely hunted by the Circle of Cavan. We wanted to find her, but it’s impossible.

We then head to class. Again. Tina Walters saw our tear-streaked faces, and asked the one question we are avoiding. ‘What’s happening?’

Macey replied. ‘Why don’t you mind your own business, Tina?’ Tina shut up, and turned back. She looked defeated. She had never failed in getting a rumour before. I’m sure she would start another about what happened, why we’re crying so hard.

Let’s hope Cammie and Zach could return, safe and sound.

The next day is unbearable. Before, we knew the fact that Cammie’s here, safe, and we’re all waiting for her to come back to reality. That is relatively easier than knowing that Cammie may never come back. Knowing that Cammie may be taken by the Circle, and being tortured now. Knowing that we may never see her again. It’s unbearable. EVerytime I thought about it, I’ll cry. Luckily, Liz and Macey are here, going thorugh the same thing I am, so we kept each others’ sanity. We try to believe that Cammie’s there somewhere, she just ran away. It’s better than thinking she’s dead, or worse, tortured.

After all classes, we all piled in the room. Sobbing. Suddenly, Rachel Morgan’s voice rang in the intercom again. ‘Elizabeth Sutton, Rebecca Baxter, Macey McHenry, please report to the Principal’s Office.’ I could hear the defeated, worry tone in her voice. The depressing tone. I could tell that Cammie’s in danger.

We all looked at each other, and sped down to the office the second time in two days. We bursted in the office, finding Abby, Rachel Morgan sitting in the office, crying while trying to discuss things.

‘Hey, girls. Zach just phoned. Rome, Colosseum Street, no. 6124. Zach said he followed her to a coffee shop, and thirty men barged in and attacked her. Zach helped her, but was outnumbered. He was hurt and unconscious, and when he woke up, he found Cammie being taken. He then phoned me.’

‘What are we waiting for?’ I asked, as we all sped into a waiting helicopter, and flew all the way to Rome.

We then found the location Zach described. WE saw Zach lying there, in a pool of blood. He was resting, thank god.

‘Do you have a bandage?’ Zach asked Rachel as she got out a bandage. ‘Yes.’ I saw Zach’s cut still bleeding. It’s horrible.

‘Okay. Let’s go find Cammie.’ He stood up after treating his wound. I could tell he really loved her.

‘Do you know where they took her, Zach?’ He thought hard for a moment, and then shrugged.

‘There’s four headquarters. One in New York, one in Toronto, one in Bangkok, one in Italy. I think she’s at the Italy headquarters, but I couldn’t be sure. There’s four possibilities. Italy, then Toronto, then New York, then Bangkok. Let’s try them all.’

We all sprang into action. We all piled in the waiting helicopter, and headed to Italy.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Please comment and vote! Let me know what you think! This time, I'll not upload till the result is satisfactory. And my target is low...