Attempter Murder

Vlad, Alex and I head out for the computer room. The epicenter of the safehouse. It'll be a snap from there.

Alex was in the middle of a self aimed rant at himself.

"Okay, if she isn't in any of the rooms and she isn't here..." he trails off as he sees the tunnel entrance.

It's open for one thing. About fifteen pills are spilled by the entrance, and the cap's next to them. A clear film is all around the entrance and inside the tunnel itself, for another. Sitting casually on top of the film was a small but sharp knife.

"She didn't...she couldn't have..." Vlad's already entering the tunnel. Alex and I simply watch as he descends into the tunnel.

About two minutes later, we hear him.
"Oh my God." I hear Vlad say. "Guys, she's here. She looks okay...wait...oh no. Guys, I'm coming up."

Vlad emerges from the tunnel with a practically skeletal Cameo. Well, more skeletal than normal, anyway. He's carrying her over his shoulder.

She looks like herself, save for the small wound on her arm next to her left wrist, which explains the small knife covered in red. Her paper complexion looks tinged with green. That explains the spilled pills and the empty bottle in her hands. And she appears covered in the same filmy clear stuff.

"Cameo? Wake up, please? Please?" Vlad sounds almost tearful as he lays her on the floor, her head in his lap. "Please be okay. Please?"

Alex is just sitting there next to Vlad, doing nothing. Which isn't like him. He feels helpless. Which is really really not like him. He's at a loss. He's not just that guy who knows everything. He's that guy who sometimes feels insecure.

He's finally shown me that he can...

Cameo bolts right up, breathing really hard.

"Get out, get out get out of my head!" she starts screaming. By now the whole Inside is there, sitting around us. Lily and Anna are observing, Izzy's grabbing a glass of water for her, the five thirteen year olds are just watching, Michael's inching toward me, which I can't protest right now, as one of my best friends is currently incapacitated. Daniel is closing the tunnel door, and Serena and the pseudo triplets are running up to us.

Cameo's eyes finally register. She sees me first.

"Delaina...I'm sorry. I really am."
"For what?" I ask. She's the sick one here.
"Because I couldn't protect them..."
"Protect who?" Vlad interjects. Cameo turns around to look at him. And promptly bursts into tears.

This is nuts. I've never seen Cameo so much as sniffle, and now she's in hysterics?

Vlad simply hugs her and waits for her to calm down. Ah, the life of a guy who's falling in love with the enemy's weapon.
"What happened?" Alex asks, but not as forcefully.

She sniffles a couple of times, then speaks.

"They came for me. They came a few hours ago."
"What came?" I ask. Cameo's storytelling skills aren't the best.

"He came. He woke me up and tried to take me. I tried waking you up, but he said it was useless, because you were dead if I did." Cameo told Vlad this. "So I freak out and run for my life to Alex's room, because I knew he'd believe me."
"I would hav e believe you..." Vlad sounds a little indignant.
"But he told me if I called you, he'd kill you. That's why I ran to Alex. So I'm running down to Alex's room and I slam the door, but that didn't wake him. And then he comes through the locked door. And im trying to tell him to help but you couldn't see me, Alex..."

"Then he jumps inside my head and makes me walk toward the kitchen. He makes me grab a bottle of Xanax and a steak knife, and..."
"Alex, we have Xanax here?" I interject. What the fuck? That's retarded.
"It's Lindsay's. I never asked. Cameo, what happened?" Alex closes the subject.

Cameo looks like she'll never be able to talk about this again.
"He keeps telling me that you guys will never be safe unless I kill myself. If you guys have nothing to protect, then you guys can just stay here and be happy. Then he asked me if I wanted you guys to be happy. If I did, I would have done it by now."
Vlad looks shocked, and I probably look the same. So what if spirits keep attacking her. She's the closest thing I've had to a sister, and a guy that's been a brother to me is insanely in love with her. I see no reason for her to die.

"I tell him no, and he makes me take the knife and cut the living crap out of my arm...which I can't really feel..."
"Shit." Alex runs to the first aid kit, grabs some bandages, and has me help patch up her arm.
"...and I drop the knife, and he starts shrieking bloody murder in my head and tries to make me swallow the bottle. He manages to get me to knock back three or four before I drop the bottle. I try t get away, so I open the tunnel door and try to get away. Suddenly he just leaves, and I'm three feet away from a speeding A train. I run back in and I fall and after that I remember Vlad looking over me and thinking thank god he isn't dead.." She looks up at Vlad, who's hanging on to her like white on rice. "You're not dead, are you Vlad?"

I can't help but laugh at this. She laughs too. Thank God.

Alex jumps back into all knowing mode. Which sucks. Just when I was beginning to be drawn to him, he tries to be God again. Damn you, Alex. Damn you.

"Okay, everyone. Here's what we've got to do." Everyone's listening to him now, even Serena. Lives are at stake now.

"We've got to research. Find out everything you can about every kind of specter alive. Find out what their turnoffs are. Then execute any and all plans you have. Lily and Anna are the experts, so go to them if you have questions. I know about as much as you all do, so I'll be learning with you. You've got your cell phones and laptops, and even these computers. Gather all you can." They comply.

"Okay, Vlad, Delaina. She knows you two best, so I want you guys to watch her, whatever that means. For now, make sure she stays away from sharp objects and mind altering drugs."

"Hold on there, Alex." Cameo interjects. "I'm not a little girl. I don't need anybody watching me. If I need a moment, I need a moment. You don't get to decide if I can't guard myself or not. I can handle myself."

Wow. Somebody's grown a spine over the last few days. Or maybe she always had it.

Alex relents. Another first. He's just changing before my eyes, isn't he? "Okay, maybe not every moment of the day. But these...things...want you. Just you. So you're worth protecting. And please, if anything tells you that you have to die to keep us safe, don't listen to it. You've got friends here. They'd probably kill it before they let it kill you."

Cameo smiles. "Okay, that's fair." She looks up at Vlad, who looks tired but happier than he was ten minutes ago when he'd found her in the exit tunnel, delirious and bleeding. "Can I talk to you for a second?"

He nods yes. The two of them get up and head for our room. He shuts the door behind them.

Aw. How cute. Young love.

I'm snapped out of my reflective reverie by Michael, who's taken my hand. Damn you, Michael. Damn you. I very coldly rip my hand from his, get up, and stalk over to the kitchen. Overbearing friends with benefits give me the munchies.