Chapter 12
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Cameo numbly unlocked the car and climbed out. His face was blotched with tears and his eyes were red and puffy. Infinity was leaning against the car, looking worried. As soon as Cameo saw her, he burst back into tears. He collapsed to the ground next to her. She pulled him over so he rested his head on her shoulder. She wrapped her arms around him as he shook and shuddered.
“Cameo, please don’t cry. It’ll all be okay,” Infinity consoled.
“No, no,” he moaned. “Nothing will be okay! I’m sorry, Infinity, I am so sorry.”
“What are you talking about?” Infinity asked, bewildered, but Cameo was in hysterics and unable to answer.
“Colton!” He screamed and fought against Infinity’s embrace. The visions engulfed him and he couldn’t see the reality when his mind was so twisted. “Colton!!!” He howled his brother's name. He shoved Infinity off of him and leapt to his feet. In his mind he was back in that house, watching his parents die and his brother being kidnapped. He tore through the streets, ripped doors off hinges, bashed car doors in his frantic, futile search for his brother. He could barely breathe. He tripped on a crack in the pavement and fell, scraping his knees, hands, and cheek. Infinity gasped and dashed to his side. She dropped to her knees and lifted his head. She brushed gravel off his cheek and laid his head in her lap. She gingerly fingered his forehead, sweeping his muddied hair off his forehead. His breathing was heavy and intense and he thrashed on the ground. “Let me go! I have to help him!”
“Cameo, stop it! You can’t save him like this, not here, not now,” Infinity reprimanded.
“Colton,” he whimpered, defeated and exhausted.
Charisma walked over nonchalantly. “I’m sorry, but you never answered me. Do we have a deal?” She smiled demurely.
Cameo rocketed to his feet. He grabbed Charisma around the neck and pinned her to the nearest wall, feet dangling just above the ground. His fingers tightened around her throat.
“Please,” she pleaded, eyes watering, breathing impossible. “Unhand me! I apologize for mentioning your brother!” He squeezed for another heart-pounding second before dropping her to the dirt.
“Where are the other kids, and if they’re as insulting as you, they're all dead,” he growled at the girl on the ground, deadly serious in his tone.
“The kitchen,” Charisma choked out.
Cameo strode toward Infinity and reached out to her, grasping her hands and pulling her into him.
“I love you,” he whispered, voice hoarse. He then pushed her away and stumbled up the marble stairs. He crashed through the open door, holding his breath as he once more viewed Charisma’s slain parents. He continued on to the room in which he found Charisma, and, pushing open yet another door, nearly choked as he saw over a hundred teenagers sitting on counters, lying on the floor, crying, fighting, hugging, kissing, playing cards, fixing what must have been lunch that day. He cleared his throat, trying to wipe his face clean of tears, knowing it was useless.
Hundreds of eyes turned to him. A few of the older males stood up and advanced a few steps, protecting the girls they had been sitting with.
“Hi,” Cameo said lamely. “I’m here to get you out of this place.” One of the boys who had stood up walked over to him. Cameo recognized him as the boy who had been kissing the petite auburn-haired girl when he walked in
“How do we know we can trust you?” He asked with a light Canadian accent. Cameo took a deep breath.
“Because my parents, Eli and Lizzie Hunt, were murdered and my brother, Colton Hunt, was kidnapped by the same corporation that killed your parents and took your siblings. I know it’s hard to accept, but me and my friend outside are going to do everything we can to get your sibs back.”
The boy in front of Cameo smiled and stuck out his hand. “Tanner Brady Thorne, age eighteen, at your service.”
“Cameo Zachary Hunt, sixteen, sent by that little wretch Charisma to save you guys,” Cameo half-smiled tiredly, accepting the extended hand.
“Wretch?”
“Let’s talk outside,” he said to Tanner. To the rest of the room, he shouted, “Come on, guys, let’s get you out of here!” The large kitchen erupted with cheers. Tanner walked to the back of the room and helped his girl up. The crowd followed Cameo out into the wrecked main hall. A few of the younger teens and and some of the girls cried out when they saw the bodies on the floor, but most just passed stoically by. Breaking into the sunlight, the teenagers laughed for joy. Tanner had tears in his eyes when he spoke.
“Most of us thought we would never see the sunlight again. Emma here,” he gestured to the girl at his side, “was one the one who kept me going. We were there for two weeks, not knowing if we were going to be taken next.” His breath hitched and he paused. “It just feels so good to be free."
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