He felt his body tense up, his fingers going slightly numb as his knuckle held on the blanket over his legs. He tried to not cower under the stares from both of the officers. He could only make out one of them, he introduced himself as Officer Terry, sitting down beside him while the other stood motionless on the other side.
The only thing that kept Cameron from freaking out was Susan sitting near the window, she was watching everything with keen eyes. The movements, the tight expression that forced its way on the young boy's face. Though he was able to power through it to allow the officers to begin questioning.
"Cameron? I first want to ask if what you are about to tell us is the truth."
The boy looked over to the officer, his face scrunching up in annoyance. "Yes. I have no reason to lie about any of this."
"Alright," the man motioned to the other who began to write things down as they turned all their attention to the injured boy. "Can you describe to us what the attacker looked like?"
"Well, he had a mask on. A skull mask from a wolf, I could somewhat make out his hair that was either red or auburn. His skin was dark, a bit tan.. he had a lot of scars, blood all over him…"
Susan watched closely, making sure to watch the heart monitor near him in case it spiked too much. It did so a little, but with a deep breath, Cameron steady himself.
"Alright, what did he wear?" The officer writing things down continued.
"It was like a cape, hood thing. I believe it was a hoodie that was ripped so it wasn't a hoodie? I don't know.. he had cut up jeans as well, like they were covered in dirt and grime…" He remembered seeing the dim light of it reflect, it matched well with his dirt covered skin and hood. It was all so dirty and ripped, stained blood on it from slicing Loire up..
A gentle hand touched his elbow, pulling him out of his thoughts. Susan gave him a reassuring look, allowing him to continue with a strong face. "He was tall. Very tall, about 6'5, was a man I think could be 35 or older." He turned to officer Terry, "I think he lived in the woods for a long time. He seemed to be.. a wild animal."
"Cameron," the officer writing things down, called for his focus. The young boy looked back at them, gulping slightly. "Can you tell us what exactly he did?"
What did he do?
"What did he do?" The boy scoffed slightly, "you guys must have seen what he did. They are all dead, all of my friends killed!" He slightly sat up, his heart skipping beats as his face grew hot with anger.
Susan pulled him back down, gently ruffling his hair while the officers tried to calm him down.
"Alright, we do know that yes. But what we want to know is the story. A record of what took place so we could put charges on him."
"Tch," he clicked his teeth, crossing his arms. "If you go into the forest I bet you would find his house there and all of their blood."
"House?" Officer Terry suddenly turned to him. "What do you mean house?"
"He had a small old cottage covered in trees where he took.. L-Loire back and.. cut her up…" He shivered slightly, remembering the imagery of it happening again. "That is all the evidence you need."
The officer looked to the other, suddenly sitting up and leaving the room while calling on the dispatch. The one writing things down, turned back to the teenager. "Alright, that is good evidence to help us catch him. But I still need your story, what happened to them."
"That-" An annoyed smile played with his lips. "Why do you need my words when I just told you where you could catch the bastard!"
"Your story is important and will be used in court Cameron." They shook their heads, "whether you like it or not, it's easier to tell us than in court the first time."
Cameron couldn't help but scoff again. He was annoyed, couldn't believe the officers being so stupid. Either way, he knew that it would be better to follow along and listen then to fight back. He was the one that asked for them.
Susan gently patted him, "don't think too much okay. If you don't want to say it, I could kick them out-"
"No.." He turned to her, "I want him to pay. If this is the only way, then I will do it."
She watched with undivided thoughts, she didn't like the idea, the emotion on the young boy's face. It didn't feel right.
But either way, all she could do was listen as Cameron started to explain the story, starting from how he and his friends escaped the teachers. He explained all the way until he got to his friend Loire, his face falling when mentioning what the man had done to her. Susan was about to grab him and stop the boy since his heart rate was too high, but he shook it off. His face was hard as stone as he continued. He talked about falling into a river, about falling off a cliff. He explained how he had been bitten by the killer, how they had found his other friend Vinh, dead.
He continued with his knuckles turning white while the officer wrote everything down. He continued, talking about Marie having a fever, how he had to leave her to go back for Kim Seo, his other friend. He talked about how they were about to be killed, that his teacher Mr. Tul had showed up to try and finish the job.
The officer stopped him at that, turning a confused eye at him. "Your teacher? He was with the attacker?"
"Yes.. he tried to kill Kim Seo…'' Cameron let out dejectedly. His knuckles had slowly relaxed, his voice slightly wobbly at the name of the boy. Susan watched his expression, feeling slightly angry at the officer for stopping him.
"Okay…" They wrote something down before turning back to him. "Sorry, you can continue."
"Well- the killer had actually killed Mr. Tul instead. He dragged him away, leaving me and Kim Seo who had uhm- ended up passing because of his injuries." Cameron looked down, fighting off the tears welling up in his eyes. Susan gave a gentle squeeze so he could calm down.
The officer nodded their head as Cameron finished his story with that he passed out and forgot what he had done until ending up at the hospital. The officer finished writing things down as they tapped the pen on the paper, sitting up to exit. They thanked Cameron and wished him good luck in his recovery.
The boy didn't respond, his head hung low and thoughts in a jumbled mess. He shook his head after a few minutes of silence with the two in the room. Susan noticed his behavior, slowly making herself known in front of him. Cameron gave her a look, wiping his eyes to try and hide the tears.
"You seemed very close to Kim Seo.." She silently said, trying to ease the tension in the room.
Cameron let out a choked sound, hiding his tears with a head turn. "Yeah.. I really liked him.."
She looked at him, reading the boy's expression, she noticed his face slowly falling. He seemed to be on the verge of a panic attack. Susan silently recalled what Ms. Chirp instructed her to help Cameron when he was panicking.
"What was he like?" The boy turned to her, confused about the interest. "What was Kim Seo like? What did he wear, was he a close friend, was he nice?"
Cameron let a smile on his lips. "No- not really nice."
They gave a look to him, a quirk in the eye and Cameron knew he had to explain himself. "Well- I didn't like him at first. He was a jerk, and a bully…" Susan made a face, already not understanding where this was going. "But.. after all we had witnessed together while out there and fighting for our lives… I started to like him, I started to understand him."
Susan watched as his face slightly warmed red. She silently gave a knowing smile, allowing him to continue. "He was actually nice. He protected me, kept me safe the best way he could. He.. risked his life for me and- and… Lost it.."
"Lost it?" The doctor questioned with interest.
"Lost his life." Cameron looked up to them, somewhat glaring at her. "He died for me.."
"..." Susan was looking at Cameron's face. His hand felt hot and cold, his face was slowly draining in color. Susan could notice that his heart was spiking, the look in his eyes looked like he was about to faint. "Cameron," she gently pulled him over to her.
The boy closed his eyes, breathing in harshly. She pushed his head into her shoulder, patting his back with slow movements. Cameron began to sob silently, the heart monitor slowly going down while he sobbed into her shoulder.
"It… It's not fair…!" He clutched onto her shirt with weak force. "Why did he have to die…!? Why did- why was it them? -Not me..!?"
"Cameron," she pulled his face up, cupping his face in her warm hands. "It is a gift that you are here right now." She gave the sweetest and most genuine smile the boy had ever seen. He looked up at her in awe.
He never felt this better, he had never been told anything so comforting that actually made him believe it. That he actually believed that she was.. right?
She held him just as tightly as he did. The warm and gentle embrace gave both of them a sense of comfort. It lasted like that until the doctor soon pulled away with a few stray tears gliding down her cheek. She pushed them away before Cameron could catch them, sniffing away her own cries.
"I'm gonna go get your medication." She sat up, watching the dropping eyes of the teenager. "What do you want to drink while taking them?"
"Oh-" He wiped his own tears, trying to put on a strong face. "Uh- orange juice."
"Got it," she rubbed his head before heading to the door to leave Cameron alone again.
The slight panic he felt when seeing the door close spiked. He feared she wouldn't come back, watching the door with sharp eyes and his hearing sharp for her incoming footsteps.
He watched, and waited.
Soon, Susan came back with a tray with a cup of orange juice and a small sandwich. She sat next to Cameron again, handing him the tray for him to eat while she opened the cap of the bottle of juice then held his medication. Cameron took a few bites from the sandwich, his stomach wanting to throw it back up.
"Here." She handed him the two pills, allowing him to take it and chug it down with the orange juice. He gulped, wiping his face with shaking hands. The doctor looked at the forgotten sandwich. "Can you take a few more bites before falling asleep?"
Cameron made a slow grumble, following her orders by downing a few more bites. The tray was soon taken away when he started to slowly drop onto the pillow. The medication worked, making him feel numb and drowsy. Susan watched while petting his head affectionately, nodding to the new medication that was taking effect instantly.
She waited, sitting beside his bed until he was snoring silently before moving away. She watched until the door was pushed open.
She turned to see Officer Terry by the door, she hissed at him. Moving over to push him out of the room while closing the door. "He's sleeping. What do you want?"
"The boy.." He gulped slightly, scratching his head. Susan raised an eyebrow at him. "I still had a few things to ask him."
"He is asleep, and you left. How do you expect to continue the interview after you ran out like that?"
"Alright-" He shook his head, "you don't have the right to question me like that. I had business that was actually in favor of him."
"Really?"
"Yes, with his help we can find the person who did this and give him the closure he needs."
Susan scowled at him, "you don't know anything about patients." She tried to shoo him away, pushing him away from the door.
"Let me speak with him when he is awake then-"
"Ok- you need to listen to me." She stopped the pushing, letting him swipe his head towards her. "That boy has gone through trauma. With you and your officers pestering him while he is supposed to HEAL won't help. You got your answers, know if you care for that child's wellbeing, you will leave him alone to heal."
The officer looked at her, his eyebrows knitted together with an unreadable expression. Silence passed through them until the officer let out a long sigh. "Fine. Alright," he turned away, stepping away from the doctor. But before he left from her view he casted an eye towards her. "But some people heal when their attackers are punished."
"Respectfully fuck off." She responded with.
He walked off with a low gruff, leaving the small hallway and out the woman's view.
. . .
Cameron found it hard to breathe, desperately running as fast he could. He was in the stupid forest again. The stupid dark forest, the only thing he could see was the trees that he passed over and over again.
Everything was the same, he was getting nowhere while running. He gripped his hair in frustration yelling out pained and exhausted breaths. It felt like he was running in circles, always ending up in the same place no matter how fast he ran. It was a mindless loop, pushing him back into the why of where he tried to escape from, he tried to escape out of his own mind.
Why was he still bothered even while in his own dreams? The same man with the same stupid mask following him.
He couldn't see him, but he could hear him. He could hear the loud pounding steps against the dirt that was hidden in the darkness right behind him.
He felt so fed up. So angry at all of this, he was angry at him for so many reasons.
Cameron stopped fully, turning his head around and faced the darkness behind him. He was breathing hard, his pants coming up short and distant. The sound was blasted off the trees, hitting his surroundings in a mocking way. He was being mocked, he felt the laughs, the stares coming from the darkness just feet in front of him.
"LEAVE ME ALONE!" He screamed into the distance. His eyes shut and tears welling up into his vision.
He continued to stare off, his body trembling hard as his vision swayed back and forth. Until he finally stepped out.
The man came back out, staring off into the little boy's soul. Cameron felt his heart spike up, fear piling up into his pit. No, he didn't want to be afraid, there was no reason to be afraid!
He wanted to stare at him. He wanted to scream at everything around him. To yell out his desperate thoughts, he made himself believe that he wasn't afraid.
But his voice was trapped in his throat. Unable to scream at the top of his lungs. The masked man tilted his head, mocking the silent, shivering boy. Cameron wanted to yell at him. To do anything but shiver at the mere sight of him.
Light suddenly glinted from below him, making him look to the floor. To his shock, it was a gun. It looked to be the same gun that he had the first time he was faced with the killer. He still felt frozen, he still felt the overpowering sense of fear keeping him in place without his will. He didn't want to stay like this, he refused to allow it to keep him still.
The anger that was harboring his mind, wanting to be released.
And he wanted to let it go.
He reached for it, feeling the hard, cold metal hit his senses. He pulled it up, facing the barrel right at the frozen killer. He started off at the boy, his head slowly moving back into a forward facing position.
Cameron felt powerful, he felt strong and willed to actually fight back. The anger, rage overtaking his mind as he looked at the stupid wolf skull with the equally stupid man under it.
"Go to hell!"
He fired the gun, the loud popping sound suddenly waking him up in a cold sweat. He shot up, eyes wide and body a sweaty, panting mess. A hand came over to steady him from the side, he was faced with Susan who wore a concerned look. Cameron looked around, taking in his surroundings.
It was bright outside, it must be morning…
He gulped, his breathing feeling stunted and throat dry. He was tired, he was scared with a racing heart.
"Cameron? It's okay," Susan pulled his attention over to her. He looked at her, his eyes slightly watering. "It's okay, Cameron it's okay…" Her soothing voice, her soothing hand that crossed over his own.
Cameron found his voice. Letting in deep breaths that calmed his heart. He allowed the doctor to whisper soothing words. Allowed her to hold him close like a mother would her child.
"Another bad dream?" She asked after a few beats of silence. Cameron nodded, not understanding how she knew right away.
Though, she could guess since this was not the first time..
"It's alright. I'm here."
Cameron wanted to respond, to thank her or say anything to her. But, he was silent, his lips feeling trapped together through sheer force. She pulled away, brushing away the sweaty hair that was stuck to his head. She asked a few things until Cameron finally responded with a low mumble. She gave a smile, nodding her head to the boy.
"Are you hungry?"
"I.. guess."
She rubbed his shoulder one more time before standing up, when she headed to the door, it was pushed open. They watched with wide eyes as a pair walked in, it seemed to be a young couple.
Cameron winced, sensing the eyes that immediately fell to him as they entered. Susan walked back, trying to block their line of sight.
"Sorry, who are you guys?"
The man looked over to her, lightly squeezing the woman's shoulder. "We.. we are Marie's parents." He looked over to the shocked boy, "we want to ask Cameron a few things…"