30. Thirty Lakey
Thirty: Lakey
T he girl needed some fresh air, poor thing. Stuck in this dingy apartment for days, nothing but weird vibes and shadows. I couldn't stand it anymore. And if I was bored, Rose was probably dying.
"Come on, Cam," I wheedled, batting my eyelashes at him. "We gotta take Rose out. Let her see the sun before she withers away in here."
Cam's jaw clenched, those dark eyes narrowing. God, he was sexy when he got all broody. "It's not safe," he growled.
I sidled up to him, running a finger all the way down his chest before cupping his cock for a hot second before letting go. "Aw, don't be such a buzzkill. We'll be careful. In and out, quick as you please." I winked. "I promise to make it worth your while later."
His resolve was cracking. I could see it in the way his lips twitched, fighting a smirk.
"Please?" I breathed, standing on tiptoe to nip at his earlobe. "For me?"
Cam groaned, shoulders sagging in defeat. "Fine. But we stay alert, got it? First sign of trouble and we're out."
I squealed, throwing my arms around his neck. "You're the best, you know that?"
As I bounced over to Rose, I caught sight of Cam's face. The playfulness had vanished, replaced by that watchfulness he always had when he didn’t know if something was concrete. He liked Rose enough. Was curious about her at least, but he was definitely still unsure about the whole thing.
It should have bothered me, I guess. All that paranoia. But honestly? It just made me feel safe. Protected. Like nothing could touch us as long as we had each other's backs. Just like we did back in the homes.
I grabbed Rose's hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. "Ready for an adventure?"
Her eyes lit up, a tentative smile blooming on her face. My heart did a funny little flip. Damn, I was getting soft . But looking at Rose — so small, so vulnerable — I knew I'd do whatever it took to keep her safe. To give her the life neither Cam nor I ever had.
"Let's go," Cam rumbled, ushering us towards the door.
As we stepped out into the grimy hallway, I felt a thrill of excitement. A day in the sun with my favorite person and my almost second favorite in the world. What could possibly go wrong?
The city was a fucking mess, as usual. Trash piled up on street corners, the stench of piss and rot hanging heavy in the air. But today, I didn't give a shit. Today was about Rose. In the last few days, she’d opened up more and more. She estimated she was probably around 20 or 21. Couldn’t remember her birthday, but at least they taught her to read and write. They’d done a ton of fucked up things to her and the other girls with her until she was the only one that was left. Kinda like my life, I guess. Only she remembered everything, and I didn’t.
She had no explanation for that, but her scars told me her story was true. I asked her about the little girl, and she said she had no idea. She was kept mostly in the lab. Said one of the doctors was nice to her sometimes and gave her cake every now and then. Of course, that would be before they cut pieces of her skin off and sewed it back on to see if she could tolerate the pain. Or, as she put it, “to see if my pain tolerance had risen since the last time.”
We piled into the shit-box Camry we’d kept after Skeets jacked it, the engine coughing to life like a grandpa with emphysema. I turned to Rose in the backseat, flashing her my biggest smile. "We're going somewhere special. You're gonna love it."
As we crawled through traffic, I kept up a steady stream of chatter, pointing out all the sights. Not that there was much to see in this shithole. But Rose's wide-eyed wonder made even the graffiti-covered walls seem magical.
"Look, Rose! See that building? Rumor has it, a serial killer used to live there. Fascinating, right?"
Cam shot me a look as he struggled not to laugh. “She’s literally bumpin’ around with us, why would she find that fascinating?”
Rolling my eyes at his jab, I switched gears.
"Oh, and over there - that's where they film those cheesy soap operas. Maybe we'll spot a celebrity!"
Rose pressed her face against the window, drinking it all in. Poor kid probably hadn't ever seen the sun. At least not in a long time judging from how pale her skin was. The thought made something twist in my gut. At least we got out. We got to play in the sun at the homes. Besides all the trauma, we still got to make mud pies every now and then. It made me feel kinda shitty, to be honest. I just chalked it up to indigestion from last night's questionable takeout.
Finally, we pulled up to our destination — an abandoned amusement park on the outskirts of town. Nature had started reclaiming it, weeds poking through cracked asphalt, vines crawling up rusted rides. Abandoned places held a certain charm and I was somewhat obsessed with them. Cam had wanted to be a cop, while I wanted to explore all those abandoned cities dotted around the states. The obsession started after some documentary talking about how people just up and left their homes if they couldn’t sell, and it spiraled from there. When we found this place, I was in heaven.
"Ta-da!" I sang out, throwing my arms wide. "Our own private playground!"
Rose's eyes were as big as saucers as she climbed out of the car. She took a hesitant step forward, then another. I watched, holding my breath, as she reached out to touch a nearby carousel horse. Its paint was chipped and faded, but to Rose, it might as well have been made of gold.
A warm breeze ruffled her hair, carrying the faint sound of a distant ice cream truck. She tilted her face up to the sun, eyes closed, a look of pure bliss spreading across her features.
And then, it happened. A sound I'd never heard before, but one I knew I'd kill to hear again. Rose laughed. Not a nervous giggle or a forced chuckle, but a real, honest-to-God laugh of pure joy. We’d never heard it before, and it was beautiful. A little raspy, but full of life.
Full of potential.
I felt my chest tighten. Fuck. Was this what it felt like to care about someone other than Cam? To want to protect them, make them happy? It was terrifying. Exhilarating.
I glanced at him, seeing my own conflicted emotions mirrored in his eyes. We were in deep shit now. But as I watched Rose twirl in a patch of sunlight, her laughter echoing through the abandoned park, I knew there was no way we’d leave her now.
A grin split my cheeks, my heart doing this weird fluttery thing I'd never felt before. "Look at you! You're a natural spinner," I called out, clapping my hands like some proud soccer mom. It felt weird, but right. We all needed a cheerleader once in a while. I was lucky enough to have my other half. She’d had no one.
Cam stood next to me, arms crossed, but I caught the tiniest hint of a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. He might act all tough and broody, but even he wasn't immune to Rose's infectious joy.
"You enjoying the show, big guy?" I elbowed him playfully, earning a grunt in response.
"It's... not terrible," he admitted, his voice low.
I rolled my eyes. "High praise from the king of understatement."
Rose stumbled over to us, cheeks flushed and eyes sparkling. "Did you see? I was spinning so fast!" She grabbed my hands, pulling me towards the rusty Merry-Go-Round. "Come on, Lakey! Spin with me!"
As I let her drag me along, laughing despite myself, I caught Cam's eye. There was something different there, something that had been developing over the past week since she’d been around. He was becoming more tender, dare I say, almost sentimental, but in the best of ways.
We were… changing.
We spun until we were dizzy, Rose's giggles mixing with my own breathless laughter. For a moment, I could almost pretend we were normal. Just a normal little family on a day out.
But as the sun started to dip, reality came crashing back. Cam's posture suddenly stiffened, his eyes scanning the treeline. "We need to go," he said, voice tight.
I felt it too – that prickle on the back of my neck. We were being watched.
"Aw, five more minutes?" Rose pleaded, but I was already steering her towards the car.
"Sorry. Time to jet," I said, trying to keep my tone light. "But hey, we'll come back soon, yeah?"
As we piled into the car, Cam's knuckles white on the steering wheel, I couldn't shake the feeling that our little slice of happiness was about to come crashing down. But fuck it – I'd kill anyone who tried to take this away from us.
The drive home was tense, but as soon as we stumbled through the front door, I felt some of that unease melt away. Our shitty little apartment might've been a dump, but it was ours. Safe. I flopped onto the ratty couch, pulling Rose down with me.
"Well, that was fun as fuck," I said, grinning at her. "We should do it more often."
Cam grunted, still on edge as he double-checked the locks. I watched him, my mind drifting. It hit me then, how fucking weird this all was. Me, the psycho bitch. Cam, the manipulative bastard. And Rose, this sweet little thing who'd somehow wormed her way into our otherwise routine lives. I hadn’t planned on keeping her. I just… wanted to help her. Then I realized it had been a week since we’d gone out hunting and it was weird to know that I didn’t regret the wasted time.
Until I thought about my daughter out there, alone. With no one to protect her. My gut twisted until I took a breath, pushing the thought away. I’d get her when I could. I’d made that promise and I’d keep it. Just right now, I had to help someone else.
Goddamn. Since when did I become… this? That ball of darkness that normally sat heavily in my chest had loosened to an almost manageable level. Instead of acting on my impulses, I was creating memories that any other person would. Somehow, that knowledge made me feel guilty. Particularly knowing what they did to me, to Rose, and not being able to find my daughter. What if something was happening to her while I was playing house here?
"You know," I mused, "we're kind of like a weird little family now, aren't we?"
Cam's head snapped up, his dark eyes narrowing. "The fuck are you on about, Lakey?"
I shrugged, running my fingers through Rose's hair. "Just saying. It's kinda nice, having someone to look after. Makes me feel almost... normal."
Cam scoffed, but I saw the way his jaw tightened. He was fighting it, but I knew him better than anyone. The idea had taken root.
"We're not normal," he growled. "We're fucking monsters, remember? And she’s a fucking adult, Lakey. She’s not your child."
I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, yeah. Big bad wolf and all that shit. But come on, admit it. This is... different."
For a moment, I thought he might argue. But then his shoulders sagged, just a little. "Maybe," he muttered, so quiet I almost missed it. He was coming around, I knew he was. I think he was just scared of what it all meant. The closer we got to Rose, the closer we became to admitting that things were changing inside us. That fight mode we’d been in for years had eased and we were enjoying the lack of internal strife. He just wasn’t quite ready to admit it, at least not out loud, and not to me.
As the night settled in, Rose curled up next to me on the couch. Her voice was soft, sleepy. "Thank you," she murmured. "Both of you. I... I haven’t had anyone care about me like that in a very long time.”
I felt my throat tighten. Fuck. But I couldn't help the warmth spreading through my chest.
"Right, well. Sure," Cam said gruffly. But I saw the way his eyes softened, just for a second.
I caught his gaze over Rose's head, and in that moment, I knew we were both thinking the same thing. We needed to hunt before our savage instincts melted into a pile of mush at the first fleeting feelings of having a real family.