Supernormal (10 page)

“Haven’t really figured that one out,” she said, and then rushed on, “It’s okay.  We don’t have to talk.  Really.  At all.  We can just sit here.  Watch the sunset.  Or not.  You don’t have to stay, I’m fine now.”

“Oh, well, when you put it that way.”  Cam stretched out, leaning back on his elbows to watch the sky.  Ashley fought the urge to stretch out and relax just the same.  She hugged her knees to her chest.

He was right.  It was nice here.

Ashley came to, heart pounding in her ears, goose bumps prickling under a hot flush that made her stomach tremble.  She hated being jolted out of dreams that way, but that’s the way it happened.  She didn’t get to sleep in anymore.  Not even if she wanted to.  It was one of the more annoying things she’d gotten from her stint in the facility; once her necessary sleep requirements were filled, she was awake.  She missed it, missed the slow steady climb into consciousness, cocooned in her blankets and pillows.  And she hated the way it made her feel like a machine, switched on and off at Proom’s convenience.

She rolled over, trying to cling to the last sleepy traces that weren’t there.  For a moment she was almost confused about the scritch of sand against her skin.  Sand.  Beach.  Not there, not back there.  Relief poured in, almost choking her.  Here.  Sugar Beach.

Cam.

Her eyes shot open.  And then slammed closed again, plastering her hands over them, at the sudden silver-gilt flash of light, bright and sharp as wasp stings.  No clouds tonight, then, just that goddamn moon, pouring down like a spotlight.  Ashley felt out blindly, wondering if she could smell the plastic of her sunglasses amid all this sand and seaweed.

A hand closed over hers and wrapped her fingers around the knobby lines of her sunglasses.  Ashley jammed them on.  Tears were already streaking down her cheeks.

“Are you all right?” Cam asked.

Ashley nodded.  She was.  She would be.  She just needed a minute.  There was the crinkle of plastic, and this time Cam pressed something soft and thin into her hand.  A tissue.  She smiled through the pulling, itching pain of the synapses sealing back into place.  “I bet you were a Boy Scout.”

She shifted carefully, so that she didn’t pull any tight muscles, and tucked her legs under her.  They were cold.  Of course.  Temperature dropped here at night, she knew that.  She hadn’t felt cold like this—real cold—since she’d been at the facility.  Since that last brutal night. 

She must’ve been dreaming about that, though she didn’t remember.  Only sensations.  The hard, frozen earth against her bare feet.  The brutal, bone-deep cold that cut through their clothes like a scalpel, the sound of Jase’s breathing—raspy, faltering—and the stomach-churning realization that she hadn’t caused that.  That he was sick, and that he’d started the fight on purpose.

Ashley closed her eyes.  Tried to focus on the feel of the cool air against her skin.  It was her own damn fault for thinking about it.  She’d been watching the setting sun turn the sky pink and orange and thinking she’d never seen a sunset like this—there’d been too many trees around the facility, and anyway she’d rarely been allowed outside.  In the beginning some of the time, but never for very long.  They didn’t want to risk any of the subjects figuring out exactly where they were; Proom took the secret part of
secret facility
very seriously.  Towards the end they’d kept them locked up, for the most part.

She wasn’t there anymore.  She wasn’t.  Maybe she’d get better and have to go back, or maybe she wouldn’t and they’d just put a bullet in her head.  Today she was here, and she’d be here tomorrow.  That had to mean something.

“Bad dreams?  You were tossing around,” Cam explained.

“Always.”

He nodded and didn’t say anything.  Didn’t ask her to talk about it, or what it was about.  He’d probably put it on the list.  And he hadn’t left.  Why didn’t he leave?  Ashley didn’t care.  She only felt grateful.  “About earlier.  Thanks.  For…” 
Rescuing me.
  It sounded stupid, so she didn’t say it.

He shrugged.  “That’s what I do.”

“Saving damsels in distress?”

“Technically I think Troy would’ve been the one in distress.”

She shut her eyes against that thought, the might-have-been.

“Don’t,” Cam said.  “If I hadn’t been there, you wouldn’t—it wouldn’t have been—”  He tried again.  “Ian would’ve stopped you.”

She looked at him.

“He’s your friend.  You would have listened to him.” 

“Liar.”  But she wanted it to be true.

“I don’t lie,” Cam said, and the edge in his voice was serrated.  Then he paused and forced a smile.  “I just butt in because…well, Dr. Carlyle liked to say that I have an over-inflated sense of responsibility.”

“Who’s Dr. Carlyle?”

“He was my fourteenth therapist—no, sorry, fifteenth,” he amended.  “I was forgetting Dr. Shu.”

“You’ve had fifteen—”

“Thirty-two.”

“
Thirty-two
—”

“Including Dr. MacNamara.  She’s not too bad.  Considering.”

“I wouldn’t know,” Ashley said.  “She’s my first.”  The social workers at the group homes she’d been at didn’t count.

Cam grinned at her.  It set her back for a second.  Cam didn’t seem like the type of guy you expected smiles from.  Or dimples.  “Will you take my word for it?”

Ashley nodded before she realized what she was doing.  Then it came, the realization that she would.  She did.

“You can’t tell?  When it gets too bad,” he added.  “When you’re going to do something.”

“Sometimes.”  But only sometimes.  “It all feels the same after a while.  The doc gave me some pills, but I don’t like them.  I don’t want to get to the point—I don’t want to rely on them.  Not like that.”  She held up her hand.  “Surgeries.”

“Quite a few of them, it looks like.”

“You said you wouldn’t ask.”  It wasn’t a plea, but it was close enough.  She didn’t want to talk about it.  She didn’t want to remember.  Not now, not ever.

“I won’t.  I will say that it seems like you have trouble with blood.”

“It’s because I’m a vampire.”

“Really.”  His tone was cautious, and Ashley realized that his visions, he’d have seen her…attacking.  Using her teeth.

“No, no,” she said quickly.  “Not like that.  It’s, um, bad memories.”

She could
feel
him looking at the scars on her arms, legs.  “With blood.”

“Yes.”

He was still staring.  She followed his gaze to one particular knot of scars on her leg.  She wondered if he could make any sense out of that knotwork.  Brody’d pegged it for the bite marks it was, but that was Brody, and Jase had just latched on and taken out a chunk, so it didn’t look like much more than a mess.  She fought the urge to cover it with her hand.  “Cam?”

His gaze snapped back up.  “Yes?”

“I wanted to ask you.”  Ashley let out a hard breath.  Her stomach was jumping.  “I was…I was thinking.  About you being psychic.”

“Yes.”

“I thought that you could, maybe, hang out with me.  You know, let me know when it gets too bad, so I can get out, so I don’t hurt anyone.  Not like a friend, you know, a job.  I could pay you.”  Maybe.  Somehow.  Maybe Brody would give her a don’t-fuck-up allowance.

“I already am.”

“No, I meant professionally.  A job.  We’re not friends, I don’t expect—”

He put a hand on her arm.  Touches.  Meg was big on touches, too.  His hand seemed so steady and strong against her arm.  She was stronger, she knew that.  She was stronger than everyone here.  She could break him if she wanted, bit by bit.  But it didn’t feel that way.  “I am.  I will.  I promise.”  He took his hand away from her arm and held it out for her.  “Deal.”

Ashley stared at his hand like it was a weapon.  Her heart was sprinting, a quicksilver of fear and elation racing through her veins.  Hope, she realized.  This is hope.

Don’t trust it. 

“I don’t even know you,” she said.

Cam was silent for a moment.  “I don’t think it matters,” he said finally.  “I’ll see something whether you trust me or not.”

“And if you see something, you stop it.”

“Yes.”

“And if you can’t?”

“I try,” he said shortly.

She shook his hand quickly, and quickly let go.  “Deal.”

Ch. 10

The baseball soared up, white against the clear blue sky.  The arc of it was high and fast and smooth.  It was distracting, actually; Cam wondered if Liz knew that and exploited it.  There were some people who got so good at something that they made it look easy.  And then there were some people that got so good it went beyond a simple “easy,” the ones with that combination of talent and precision and beauty that it made you want to sit back and watch because, holy shit. Liz playing baseball was like that.  It was distracting, especially if you were playing in the team against her, and especially if you were playing outfield and were supposed to make a concerted effort to catch the ball that was spearing towards the ground.

Cam didn’t manage to catch it, but he saw it start to roll away and managed to dive on it like a grenade.

Danny jogged up to him, struggling not to smile.  “Okay, so just as an FYI, that’s not how you’re supposed to do it.”

“Really.”  Cam pushed himself up, clapping the dirt off his pants.

“No, man, but I appreciate that you were willing to sacrifice yourself and save the rest of us from the ball.  Real noble of you.” He grabbed an arm and hauled Cam to his feet.

Tyler headed over to them, grabbing the baseball and lobbing it over to Liz. “So, uh, your parents not believe in real-people games either?”

“They did, actually,” Cam told him.  “I’m just terrible at them.”

“Seriously.  Maybe we should switch you to Liz’s team.  Might even things up.  And you won’t need to try so hard.  She’s doing all the work.”

The three had taken Cam’s acceptance to the movie marathon last week as a green light, apparently, and they’d started dragging him along for everything.  Well, it was—Cam chided himself to be fair—not so much dragging as extending invitations, and Cam, to his surprise, didn’t turn them down very often.  He found he was beginning to enjoy the company.  Today they were at the baseball field beside the high school, doing their part with a pick-up game Liz and the other Sandies counselors had organized.

He had debated calling Ashley and asking her to come.  The first week of their arrangement had passed without incident, though there had been a few “almosts.”  Today was the first day he hadn’t seen her so far.  Usually there was a glimpse of her at Paco’s at lunch, and he and Meg had eaten at Brody’s three times this week; Aunt Meg had latched onto the idea of him and Ashley being friends with a vengeance, and in fact there’d been mention of Brody and Ashley coming over to Meg’s tonight—

Maybe it was because he was thinking about it.  Later, he would hate the idea that he’d willed it into existence.  But Cam straightened abruptly and said, “Excuse me, I—need some water,” and hurried off the field, fishing his cell out of his pocket.  She was number four on his speed dial.

It rang eight times, and then went to voice mail.  Cam hung up and dialed again.  This time she picked up on the second ring.  “Red light—”

“I know,” she snapped. 

He knew it wasn’t at him, but something about her voice set his teeth on edge, and he snapped back.  “You didn’t pick up.”

“Excuse me,
Dad
.  You call me, there’s only one reason, right?  I figured it was better to get the fuck out of there.”

“Fine, get the fuck out of there.  But pick up the phone.  You’re—” he tried to catch himself, but it was already out “—my responsibility—”

“
Responsibility
?”

“—I need to know you’re okay.”

Silence.  Then, calmer, “You could text, you know.”

He knew it.  But he didn’t like texting.  He…liked hearing her voice.  “Please.  Pick up if I call again.”

“When,” she corrected him bitterly.

“You’re right, we should be optimistic about this.  Can’t hurt.”

A pause.  “Don’t…”

“Don’t what?”

“Don’t do that.”  But he could hear the smile.  She took a deep breath, let it out in a harsh rush.  “Bad?”

Cam hesitated.  “Not as bad as last time,” he said, and the silence on the other end made his stomach clench.  “Maybe you should stay away from Paco’s.”

“I like tacos.”

Cam fought the impulse to say that sometimes you had to give up on what you liked, but it made him think of Naomi, and he didn’t want to consider why that was.  Besides, it was just him being mean, and bitter, and it wasn’t fair to take it out on Ashley.  “Just so happens I am starting a taco delivery service.  You can be my first customer.”  It was lame, but she laughed, and there, that was why he called.  “Okay, not Paco’s.  Just that one guy.”

“Brody says I need to get used to people.  Build up a tolerance.”

“Tolerate doesn’t mean you have to stay in the same room.  Especially if they like to pick fights with everyone.  Why does Paco allow him back?”

“I have no idea.  I thought…you were coming here,” she added quietly.

“Oh.”  What?

“I mean, I’m not—it’s just that you—Danny and you guys usually come here for lunch, and I…forget it.”  He heard air against the handset, and the crash of the ocean, and a muttered, “God, Ashley.”

“We’re at the high school,” Cam said, not exactly sure how to proceed.  “Liz asked us to help them practice.  The Sandies counselors are playing against another camp in Morro Bay.”

“That sounds like fun.  Thanks,” she added awkwardly.  “For calling.”

“Ashley, wait.  Why don’t you come?” he pushed forward before she could hang up.  “Here.  I’m terrible at this, and you’re fast.  There’s a bu—a group of us here.  Danny, and Sneaky Pete, too.  You could still work on building up a tolerance.”

She was silent for so long he thought she might’ve gone.  “I…I don’t think that’s a good idea.  I think I should run this out.  I—sorry.”  She hung up.

When he turned back, Tyler was staring at him.  “What the hell was that?”

“Nothing.  I had to call a friend,” Cam said.

“A friend?” Tyler repeated.  “Dude, that was Ashley.  You called Ashley.”

“Yes.”

“You’re friends with Ashley Garrett.”

Cam met Tyler’s disbelieving stare head on, thinking, Friends.  “Yes.  Are we playing?  Got to get back out there?”

“Mercy rule, man, game’s over.  We’re going to go again, though, if you want.  Is she coming over?  Ashley?” Danny asked, rubbing a towel over his face.

Cam shook his head.  “She has something to do.”

Tyler snorted.  “Yeah, killing people.”

“Don’t say that,” Cam snarled.  The part of him that was always in the back, watching, realized that had probably been harsher than the situation called for.  The rest of him didn’t care.

“Yeah,” Liz said.  She reached over and swatted Tyler easily, though she kept her eyes on Cam.  “Shut up, Ty.”

“I’m sorry,” Cam told Liz, looking away from Tyler.  “I should’ve asked you before inviting her.”

Liz shrugged.  “You should invite her.  She’s fast and she has good eye-hand coordination.”

“Yeah, she might almost make up for you,” Tyler grinned.

“Like Errol Flynn says,” Danny offered, “‘more the merrier.’”

“He doesn’t say that, actually,” Sneaky Pete said, appearing beside Cam with a cooler.  He poured and handed round plastic cups of water.  “Errol Flynn.  He never says that in the movie.”

Danny shook his head.  “Dude, next Robin Hood marathon, I am going to prove you wrong.”

“It’s a common misconception,” Sneaky Pete began, but Tyler cut him off. 

“Holy fucking shit, do you like her?”

“‘Him,’” Danny corrected.  “Errol Flynn’s a guy.”

“I meant Ashley.”

“She seems nice,” Sneaky Pete replied, and Tyler rolled his eyes.

“Not you, him.”  Tyler jabbed a finger at Cam.

“‘Course he likes her.  She’s hot,” Danny said.

“No, she’s not,” Tyler protested.

“Dude, you need glasses.”

“Dude,” Tyler returned, “she weighs ten pounds.”

“Okay, fine,” Danny gave in.  “She could be hot.  If she ate something.”

Tyler turned to Liz.  “Don’t you have anything to say about this?”

She shrugged and finished downing her water before responding.  “He can look at other girls if he wants.”

“Yeah.  But just because I’ve already ordered doesn’t mean I can’t check out the menu,” Danny said.  He turned to Cam, rubbing his hands.  “Okay, dish, girlfriend.  You have to tell us everything.  Like how you met, and what she said, and what you said, and if she passed you any notes in class—”

“We know how they met,” Tyler said.  “Meg and Brody are…”  He looked at Cam, and then Danny.

Danny shrugged, holding up his hands.  “Friends?”

“Is that what they call it?”  Tyler grinned at Liz.  “We’re friends, right?”

Liz laughed.  “Not like that.”

“C’mon, Cam,” Danny said, punching his arm.  “I mean, we don’t really know a whole lot.  She’s Brody’s Dick Grayson.  Came out here last summer, right before school started.  We didn’t even see her the first couple months she was out here ‘cause Brody home-schooled her.  Asked her to hang a couple times, but she always said she wasn’t interested.”

“Told us to fuck off,” Tyler said.

“We dragged her along with us a couple of times.  You know, when she didn’t see us coming and run in the opposite direction.”

“She’s really fast,” Liz said.  “Which is why she should be here.”

“We still drag her along sometimes,” Danny said.  “When we can catch her.”

“I thought she told you to fuck off,” Cam said.

“Yeah, but that doesn’t, like, stop us,” Danny replied.  “Fair warning, by the way.”

Cam stared down at the plastic cup of water in his hand without really seeing anything.  Part of him understood why Ashley would run.  “That’s kind of you,” he said finally.  “She seems like she could use friends.  She seems lonely.”

Tyler suggested he try “psycho,” and then Liz wacked Tyler and told him to stop being a dick, which, Danny laughed, was impossible.  Cam watched them, and he wondered how long they had been friends.  Since middle school?  Kindergarten?  He wondered if they’d ever been lonely.  Not just now and again, but every day lonely, until it felt wrong trying to be anything else.  He wondered if they even knew what it was.

“Bring her along next time,” Danny said.  “Liz and you against her and us.  Should be pretty even that way.  Or, if she wants movies, we can do a Batman run, just for her.”

He waited for her on the beach.  It was dark out, and the beach was abandoned.  Back at his aunt’s, Meg and Brody were playing Spit.  But she, Brody had told him, had been a little jittery today and was still out running.  So after Cam washed the dishes and put them away, he slipped out the back door and headed to the sand.

He didn’t have to wait long.  Danny was right—she was fast.  But she slowed when she saw him.  Stopped.  For him.  Cam got to his feet and went to her without thinking about it.  “Nice night.”

Ashley shrugged.  It was a cloudy night; no moon, no stars, no sunglasses.  She made no move to put them on, either.  He knew he was smiling, and couldn’t help it.  It was like being let in on a secret.  “How was the game?”

It took him a second to get past those big gray eyes.  That punch in the gut.  When he did, he wondered why, here, now, with this angry, violent, frightened girl, he felt comfortable. “Take a walk with me, and I’ll tell you.  Here.”  He handed her a paper bag.  She didn’t take it right away, and when she did she took care their fingers didn’t touch.  “Snickerdoodles.  Meg’s been baking.”

“I thought only Girl Scouts did cookies.”  But she was smiling now, and as he turned to head down the beach, she went with him.