A sound broiled in her stomach, slowly erupting into a heartfelt laugh that made Cam wonder when was the last time she’d truly laughed. No, McDonald’s was likely the closest thing she’d get to a sit-down meal anytime soon, but it would be enough for now. What was more than enough was feeling Jack’s hand slowly slide away, no fast movements that decisively said that he regretted telling her or that he was going to leave her. No, for now, he seemed content to stay at her side. Cam took a deep sigh as she offered a quick nod, letting her lids fall shut softly and her breathing relax once more. Jack’s gentle words barely registered as she finally fell asleep.
///
Camilla awoke slowly, her eyes fluttering open as the oranges and pinks of dusk streamed into her window. She grimaced and adjusted herself, realizing that sat some point she’d managed to turn to her side. She’d always been a side-sleeper and time hadn’t seemed to change that, even if she was sleeping with someone in bed. How many times had Peter tried to tell her to sleep on her back, with her arms crossed over her chest so that she could wake up and strangle someone without thinking?
”That’s the Marine in me,” he’d said with a laugh, causing a teenage Cam to roll her eyes. “They taught it to us, I swear! Don’t you go all sulkin’ teen on me, Milly.” Warmth flooded the woman at the memory, knowing it was as close as she would be to Peter at the moment, or so she’d thought. He was sick – had been sick for a long time – and she’d started all this in order to cure him. Look where it had gotten them, Cam thought with an unhappy look, though it was before she realized Peter was in the same bed with her. Alive. Well.
Cam began blinking rapidly to clear her vision. Dark hair like her brother’s, but with a red tint Peter wouldn’t have been caught dead with. Features that were more pointed and rugged instead of the kind, softened face of her brother brought Cam back to the present. It wasn’t Peter that was with her but instead Jack. She wiped at her eyes, eager to banish away any thoughts of her family and with it any remnants of sleep. The nap had done her good, she thought, even if it had brought unsolicited reminiscences with it.
The clock read 5:49, and Cam groaned slightly. A few hours was better than nothing, she supposed, even if it wasn’t as much sleep as she wanted. The woman climbed from bed, scooching from where she’d laid to the foot of the bed. She stood quickly, pulling her hair up into a messy bun and affixing it to the top of her head, before moving to the refrigerator and grabbing a bottle of previously opened water. With a swig of that, and hoping it would be enough to refresh her, Cam moved to the desk she’d previously offered to Jack and opened the lid of her computer.
Cam quickly navigated to her email, deleting mostly spam that involved fast food rewards and clothing discounts, before finding herself staring at an all-too familiar search engine.
NOT
ghost OR
demon AND
vengeful Boolean phrases had never looked so unimpressive, Cam thought as she pulled her lower lip between her teeth, chewing on it lightly as she concentrated on what else to add to her search string. There wasn’t much and the hunter hoped that looking further would help her identify some new terms. After she got through the bogus Wikipedia links and when she started to get to the third or fourth page, Cam started to finally relax and delve into research.
…That was, until a ringing behind her made her visibly jump, turning around to the bed.
”Fuckin’ phone,” she managed, scrambling towards the mattress. The name flashing on the screen said Bobby, and vaguely Jack’s instructions returned to the forefront of her mind. Cam chose answer and quickly put it on speaker phone, sitting on the bed beside Jack before placing a hand on him to wake him.
”Bobby?”A grunt.
”This is Camilla Quinn. I’m with Jack…” Shit.
Shit. What was his last name?
”Dolson. Listen, we got a thing here and we were wonderin’ if you had any info. Jack got a call sayin’ that some boy was missing, then we go to the house and it stinks to high heaven. Smells like sulfur but doesn’t exactly fit the bill of demon, either. Jack… wake up!”