Cam Valdez and the Lost Origins: The Unkown Twin

I Make Some Friends. Great, Socialization.

 
     The world came back into view. I was crouching in a dark room with Nico’s hand still on my wrist. He finally let go and I shook my hand, trying to get the feeling back into it. Nico had a tight grip for someone so small. 

      Nico stood up and started pacing back and forth, constantly turning back to look at me. Maybe he thought I'd try to run away. Yes, run through a dark room filled with who knows what, fall, hit my elbow, and die.

     Nico stopped pacing long enough to turn on a lamp and the dim light flooded the dark room. I realized it must be his cabin. Compared to Will’s cabin, this one was ultimately depressing.  The beds had maghony frames, brass railings, and blood-red velvet blankets and pillows which reminded me of a coffin. There were minimum windows in the cabin that did not provide light since the curtains were all drawn. This meant the only light source was the single lamp that Nico had turned on, which cast a gloomy look over the place.

     There were two mahogany dressers, one on the right side of the room and the other on the left. The cabin was empty of personal items except for a collection of photos on one of the dressers and a small black figure that I recognized as a Mythomagic figure. 

     I brought my attention back to Nico, who was zoned out, sitting on the edge of a bed and staring at an invisible spot on the floor. 

     My stomach growled. I remembered how hungry I was and was surprised to see that I still had the Ziploc bag in my hand. I opened it and took out three lemon bars and was about to take a bite out of one when Nico came over to me and ripped it out of my hand.

     “Don’t eat that! You could get yourself disintegrated!” He took the bag and placed the three lemon bars back in then set it on his bed. 

     "Oh good, I love being disintegrated," I said sarcastically. 

    “Wow, you actually care,” Nico said as he turned around to glare at me. I guess he couldn’t handle my humor as well as Will could. 

     Will. He was so going to kill me!

     “You have to take me back! Will is going to be so mad!” I was expecting Nico’s eyes to widen and for him to take me back, but he didn’t. He just shrugged, acting as if an ant was shouting at him. Like, come on! We were the same size, and even then we weren't that short!

     "I forgot how idiotically stubborn you could be." I muttered as I stood and leaned on a bedpost.

     Nico sighed and started pacing, every once in a while glancing at me. I watched him for a while, before deciding to head for the door so I could exit the gloomy cabin. I was thankful when no headache followed me. "Thanks for teleporting me into your immensely creepy cabin and stealing my spicy lemon bars and everything, but I'm gonna go find Will and beg him for a hot dog. Or a large bag of Taco Bell."

     Nico stopped pacing and crossed his arms, giving a glaring resemblance to the way Bianca looked that one time Daniel and I replaced all her pens with disappearing ink. I know, an old trick but not old enough for Bianca. Ha! We even pulled off the oldest trick in the book, when we--

      Arh! Stupid ADD. Cam, pay attention! 

     Nico narrowed his eyes and before I could take more than five steps he stopped me in my tracks. "Do you know who Leo Valdez is?"

     Immediately my mind pulled up all the times I'd met or someone had mentioned a 'Leo', but only one memory shined more brightly than the other dozens. It was just a mention in a dream I had in the Walmart of Doom's parking lot, when the guy with the leg brace had said something about a Leo, he'd also said Leo was my brother.
   
     "Um… there are probably thousands of people named 'Leo'. You need to be a bit more pesific." I pointed out. 
  
     Nico sighed as if I were being the most annoying person in the room. It's not like he practically kidnapped me, asked a bunch of very confusing questions, and worst of all; deprived me of glorious food.  
 
     "Look," Nico said, rubbing his dark eyes. "I know you were eavesdropping on our conversation this morning, so you know that I'm suspicious of you. You also know that I'm trying to find out more about you, so if you don't know who Leo is--which I say is a blessing from the gods--then do you know if you've been claimed by your godly parent?"
 
     I was surprised by the sudden amount of words. He'd hardly spoken to me since I had tripped over him and his boyfriend and tried to chop him in half with Liquid Metal. But my earlier friendship with him and his sister overpowered my annoyance about the spicy lemon bars, compelling me to answer.