by J. McSpadden
"I killed them," Camille said as Theo gathered her close, pulling her head to him to inspect the damage. Her knees buckled, and she fell against the solidity of his frame, horrified with the pool of blood billowing out from the soldiers' lifeless corpses.
The ground was littered with dead bodies, many more than the two soldiers she'd just murdered. A flood of memories invaded her consciousness, dismembered and harsh, vividly bright and unrelenting. "Oh Ma'Nada; I killed them, didn't I?" Camille moaned as the edges of her vision blurred. She was no longer in Romeo Village, but somewhere much different, somewhere full of fire and screaming. She was surrounded by death.
"Camille?" Theo asked, his voice a world away.
"I killed them," she repeated, clinging to Theo and trembling all over. "I killed them all."
Chapter Nine
Romeo Village
Pinpricks stabbed unrelentingly into Camille's left shoulder, and it felt like her arm had been severed directly at the socket. Her eyes snapped open, wild with attention as images crashed together in front of her. It was worse than waking in Sierra Village because now she remembered.
Camille took in her surroundings with quick and swift calculation. She was alone in a simple, unfamiliar bedroom, with Neeko stoically perched on the window ledge above her head. She breathed a heavy sigh of relief in the comfort of otherwise complete solitude.
Her head ached and she reached up to assess the delicate new skin and auburn hair sprouting where it had been torn out. She pulled down her loose cotton shirt to see a smear of fading yellow bruises traveling over her chest and down her arms, many in the outlines of a man's hand.
Blinking away the stinging sleep from her eyes, Camille took in the paneled wood roof above her. The room smelled both earthy and metallic, which was very strange. Fluttering light twitched and danced across the ceiling, moving with the tempo of the wind whipping through the trees outside her window. Squeezing her eyes shut in a moment of hope and desperation, she begged for darkness. Everything hurt within her, down to the marrow of her bones.
Stifling a yawn, Camille pressed the palms of her hands abrasively against her eyelids, trying to will good thoughts back into her mind. When she stared around the room once more, Camille noticed a shadowed figure in the corner and her heart launched into her throat.
"Cam?" it said, sleepy and barely audible. "You okay?"
"Holy crap, Theo! I thought you were an intruder!" Camille collapsed against the feather pillows, eyes fluttering with unwelcome weariness.
He came over to sit on the edge of her bed. "I'd never attack you," he said with intense seriousness before a gentle smile curved his prominent lips, and a glimmer of humor sparkled in his expression. "Not unless you asked me to." His eyebrows wiggled suggestively over his twinkling blue eyes, and it was difficult for Camille to keep a smile from finding its way onto her lips.
"Lurking in the dark watching someone sleep is nearly as bad as attacking them."
Theo's smirk bloomed into a full smile. "My sincerest apologies, my dearest lady."
Camille snorted as his genial tone, aware of a sudden flutter in the depths of her belly.
"How's the head?" he asked.
She felt around the tender area with her fingertips. "It's healing."
"I should've been there for you," he said, reaching out but stopping when Camille flinched backward into her pillow.
She drew a deep breath, feeling immediate guilt at the hurt in Theo's eyes. But she didn't know him; there was no reason to feel bad for an automatic reaction. She had every right to be uncomfortable, and yet the only emotion bubbling through her system was a growing heat in the pit of her stomach.
Wiggling her toes and readjusting her propped up position, Camille’s line of sight slid over the shadowed room to keep from drowning in Theo’s blue gaze.
“I handled it,” Camille replied, pressing her palms down on the sheets and comforter to make them as smooth as possible.
"That's no excuse. I can't tell you how sorry I am." His head hung, shoulders slumping as he scratched at the back of his neck. “You shouldn’t have had to deal with this. It wasn’t fair. I’m sorry, Cam.”
Camille had no retort; he seemed genuine, despite his previously sarcastic nature. This version of Theo clearly cared about her, maybe even liked her. She grew nervous under his intense gaze but found it was incredibly difficult to keep her eyes averted for any extended period.
"I, um, well, something strange happened when the men attacked, and I don't quite know..." Camille started but felt the words lodging thickly in her throat. The Equestrians had aggressively attacked her, and her Praetorian abilities had failed her. Theo seemed to understand the words burning in her throat by the look of empathy in his expression. His hand slowly moved toward hers, a gentle and silent question, waiting to see if she would pull away from his intention to touch her. She didn't. Linking his fingers with hers, his lips quirked upward for a slight moment before they drew down in apparent distaste. His expression glazed over, his body present but his mind far away in a long-ago memory.
"Being a Praetorian isn't easy Cam. Sometimes it's downright horrible. We experience a constant, wild surge of emotion in every direction. It can feel incredibly impossible, but we trained for years to learn how to restrain it. Fear is just as debilitating as anger can be empowering. If you let the emotion overtake you, you will lose control."
As much as she didn't want to relive or think about what had happened in the forest, she knew precisely what Theo was talking about. She hadn't just felt fear as the Equestrians descended on her, she had been wholly paralyzed with terror. Having spent most of her energy on diffusing the raging monster screaming through her blood in times of anger or frustration while living with Peter, Camille hadn't realized the monster would abandon her in times of absolute terror. Like a blind person relying only on sound, she had put too much stock in what she had no control over. To manage the beast within, she would need to learn how to manipulate it, and not allow the inner monster to manipulate her.
"Where's Vesyon and how long have I been sleeping?" She asked casually, gently pulling her fingers from Theo's grasp and straightening the wild tumbling disarray of her hair. She combed her fingers through the thick strands, untangling and patting down the frizzy curls into a semblance of order and feeling more than a bit self-conscious of her bedraggled state.
"No need to rush, Ace," he said with a pat on her knee covered in a mountain of blankets. "Now that you're awake, things are significantly better. We're in Romeo Village. Vesyon is taking care of a few things up top, and you are to stay in bed and rest. His orders." Something about the way his eyes flitted away from hers felt off.
"You're keeping something from me."
Theo appeared shocked as well as annoyed at her deduction. "No!"
"I'm going to find Vesyon," she said in a matter-of-fact tone.
Theo's eyebrows rose. "Of course, you are. Why would you stay put?"
"I've slept long enough," Camille retorted, shrugging off his clipped annoyance.
"It's not about sleeping, Cam. You've been through a lot, and you should take it easy."
"I said I'm fine. Now drop it!" She could feel the rush of blood fill the veins around her eyes, threatening to break free, and there was no doubt the whites of her eyes had begun to darken before she regained control.
Theo huffed, pinching his lips together. Perhaps he was right about her having been through a lot but lying in bed wasn't going to help matters.
Pulling back the covers to prove her strength and determination, Camille instantly regretted her decision when she realized she wore nothing but an over-sized linen shirt and undergarments.
Camille snatched up the crisply folded pants at the foot of her bed and hastily dragged them up her goose fleshed legs. Once she was a little more presentable, she turned her attention back toward Theo, who had occupied himself by attempting to pet Neeko. The black cat wasn't having it and kept moving out of Theo's reach furth
er along the windowsill.
"Fine. Stay there like a grouchy porcupine."
Neeko hissed in response to Theo's verbal barbs.
"Watch it! I have no qualms roasting you for dinner one night."
Neeko didn't seem bothered by the threat and turned to begin grooming his hindquarters as Camille went to a side table where a bowl of water sat. She splashed some of the warm liquid on her face, hoping it would help to soothe her fraying nerves. Lifting her eyes up to the small mirror above the water bowl, Camille leaped back in shock at her gruesome reflection. Her face dripped with blackish gore and blood, and her eyes were no longer a vibrant emerald but a deep, obsidian black that bled across the whites of her eye sockets. She looked like a demon from another world.
"Camille?" Theo said softly from behind her, his concern racing through her senses like a cold rush of water.
She dried her face with a rag and shook her head, willing the image to flee. Her complexion had been perfectly clean just a moment before: she had imagined it. It wasn't exactly a calming thought.
Camille peeked through her lashes, absolutely terrified of what she might see. Clean skin, green eyes, and pale cheeks greeted her.
"Everything all right?"
Her eyes narrowed as they met Theo's in the mirror. "I'm fine."
"You just jumped three feet in the air for no reason. I think 'fine' is grossly inaccurate."
"I said I'm—"
"Fine? In my opinion—"
"Nobody asked for your opinion, Theo!" Camille shouted, whipping around to face him. The silence that followed filled the void between them. It was deafening. She could hear the heavy thud of her heart pounding out a quick tempo against her ribs, but neither one of them seemed to know what to say next.
"Camille, I..." Theo started as Neeko jumped down from the windowsill to rub against her ankles, purring loudly.
"Let's go," she barked, bending to scratch the cat between the ears before pulling on her boots with rushed, erratic motions. Her hands shook with weariness and embarrassment over her outburst, but she wasn't going to let either of those things distract her. Vesyon was her only source for answers, and she had a mountain of questions to throw in his face.
"Good luck getting up top on your own. It's kind of a maze down here," Theo smirked, all pearly white teeth and sexy bravado. The thin, pinkish scar running from his temple down to his cheekbone stood out against the tanned complexion of his skin. Despite the perceived flaw—it only enhanced his rugged demeanor, which irritated Camille further.
"Neeko will show me the way, won't you sweetheart?" Camille cooed. The cat meowed in response, confirming that his loyalties always lay with Camille. "See, I don't need you."
She grabbed her vest and fur-lined coat from on top of the dresser, yanking them on as she headed for the bedroom door.
Theo didn't attempt to stop her but followed quickly on her heels. She jerked open the wooden door and stopped immediately when harsh white light flared brightly against her eyes. She stared down an endless hallway from right to left. Gleaming steel plates lined the walls, clinical, white tiles blanketed the floor, and yellow fluorescent bulbs dotted the ceiling every five feet. The thick mahogany door she'd walked through was metal on the other side.
Bizarre, she thought as she stared critically at the sterile-looking hallway. It smelled even more heavily of earth, and the air was dense, as though they were miles underground.
Camille studied the small window just above the bed she'd been sleeping on. Soft dusk light filtered through the glass, and there appeared to be a copse of thick evergreens, ashy aspen trunks bare of leaves, browning bushes and snow-dusted mountains in the distance. "That's not..." Camille stared openly at the window in shock. "Is that fake?"
"It's a reflection panel. It takes the temperature and light refraction from above and transitions that information through the microchip placed in the wall sensor. The panel recreates a similar scene so that it still feels like you are above ground," Theo said smartly, sounding the way Peter had during one of his lessons. Most of his words were nonsense to her, but she understood the concept. It was crazy to see such progressive technology in Romeo Village when Sierra Village had been so minimal in its growth and mechanics. They were opposites.
Camille reentered the bedroom and examined it, beginning to see where her first impressions had been completely off. She couldn't smell the pine needles through the seemingly thin pane of glass; she only smelled the sharpness of fertile soil. And the heat she'd felt wasn't emanating from the sun outside, but from the reflection panel across the room. "So, we're under the village?"
"Exactly. The reflection panel is here, so we feel more at home buried underground like gophers. It was Vesyon's idea."
"Fascinating," Camille said moving past him and back into the sterile hallway. "Look—I don't mean to be rude, but I want explanations as to why I'm here, not about whatever 'fancy' stuff Vesyon's come up with in his spare time."
Theo's full lips pulled into a frown at her demeanor. Perhaps she could've been more delicate, but her patience was rapidly dwindling. She turned around, taking his silence as either an inability or lack of desire to help her, and strode down the metal lined hallway.
"You don't even know where you're going," Theo said sharply after her.
Her pace quickened, and she rounded a sharp corner, one that led to a hallway identical to the one she'd just walked down. In fewer seconds than she cared to admit, she was lost. Every hall looked the same. Metal floors and walls with buzzing fluorescents baked bright spots of color into her pupils. The visions wouldn't stop, either—every few minutes she'd peer down at her hands and see blood everywhere, and the next minute they'd be clean. She was losing her mind.
"I really don't think this is a good idea," he said, shaking his head and crossing his arms. "You seriously need to rest."
Camille snorted. "Rest is the last thing I need or want, and I'm doing this whether you help me or not. Though without it, it will take longer." Peter had taught her plenty of useful things, but nothing to do with flirting or using her feminine wiles to manipulate a situation. She'd seen the girls in Sierra Village bat their eyelashes and toss their hair over their shoulders enough to know that it worked if executed successfully.
Trying her best to seem frail, Camille fluttered her lashes as she looked up at Theo.
"Do you have something in your eye?"
"Oh, for Ma'Nada sake!" She turned on her heel and stormed down a new hallway, one that twisted and turned to end in front of an elevator. A small circular button blinked green to the right of the doorway. She pushed it and was instantly rewarded by a rush of cold air as the metal doors slid apart.
Camille charged inside and pressed another glowing button labeled "one" inside the small space, waving at Theo as he rounded a corner and advanced toward her.
"Camille, wait, you don't know where you're going—"
The doors closed, effectively cutting the handsome man off and sending her vaulting upwards. Camille grinned with genuine glee, watching the panel of numbers light up in rapid order from fifteen to one.
Her blurry reflection split apart as the doors soundlessly opened, giving way to a quiet side alley sprinkled with early autumn snow. Crisp air swirled inside the tiny confines of her metal cage, teasing Camille's senses with the promise of home and reminding her of how far away she was from everything she loved. She set out, her boots crunching across the frost-covered ground while her eyes roved the quiet side street.
Stopping suddenly, surveying her immediate surroundings with a scrutinizing eye, she realized her predicament. She was alone in a strange village, without a clue of where to find Vesyon.
"Damn it," she cursed under her breath. Perhaps Theo had been right; she had no idea where she was or where to go.
She poked her head around a building at the end of the alleyway and saw a decrepit-looking village square and a frayed black banner boasting the three interlocking gold circles of the Romeo Village cre
st. A broken fountain stood in the center, one with a life-sized cement statue of a woman bathing. Snow dusted her upturned face and shoulder, but her right arm was completely missing, and she had deep gouges running up her legs that looked like bullet holes.
There was a light dusting of snow littered across the cobblestone square and a well-worn path of foot traffic from the entrances of the closest buildings, but for the most part, the village appeared almost vacant. There couldn't have been more than twenty people milling about; a blacksmith in the smoky confines of a thatched roof dwelling, a baker covered in flour rolling out fresh dough to rise, a herd of chattering women bundled up in thick shawls and coats, their full dresses and petticoats dancing in the chilly wind. It was strange and didn't fit with the sharp fluorescent hallways and stark white walls of the underground.
Camille stood out like a sore thumb, dressed in green fitted pants, a loose linen shirt, and well-worn leather vest and jacket. She wasn't dressed appropriately to be above ground, and it would only be a matter of time before someone noticed the stranger amongst the village norm.
Two men in green and white uniforms noticed Camille and began heading across the courtyard in her direction. They weren't the High King's Equestrians, and, though they didn't fit into the Romeo Village appearance either, she got the feeling they weren't exactly friendly.
The guards picked up their speed when Camille wheeled back to flee, but she wasn't going to let them catch her. She sprinted down the opposite end of the alleyway and took a sharp right onto another side street, wondering why Vesyon had even brought her here. Every building appeared to be deserted; the pathways were lined with broken bits of brick, wood, and piles of gathered rocks and dust.
The frozen ground recently hit with rain turned the walkway into a mush of muddied snow, making it impossible for Camille to camouflage her path. Who were these men, and why were they chasing her? She needed to get back to the elevator to disappear back within the compound.
She banked right, ducking between two cabins and angling back toward the wreckage of the main square. A large group of the townsfolk was just up ahead, and she need only slip between them—but it was too late. Another guard near the group had already spotted her and was pointing her out to his fellow comrades. She immediately spun on her heel, only to find the larger of the two earlier soldiers coming up the pathway toward her.
