Chapter 9
CAM
CHAPTER NINE
Ihaven’t even been back for one whole day, yet here I am, hopping on my bike and riding to Nick’s house, hoping Shelby will let me in.
Dad wasn’t thrilled when I left, but I warned him that the second she was found, I was heading back.
If I turn the wrong way, my side still hurts, but the stitches are out. I can move without too much pain. I haven’t even told the guys I’m back. I got tired of Nick and Cin telling me Shelby didn’t want to talk to me. She won’t be able to send me away once I’m there, so I hopped on the first plane I could and came home.
I knock on the front door, and to my surprise, Peter opens it, his mouth dropping open.
“Cam, come in. It’s good to see you.” Peter steps back from the door, letting me in. “You just missed Nick.”
“Thank you, Mr. Tate.” I walk into the house. “I was hoping to talk to Shelby, if she’ll let me?”
In the living room, Patty sits on the couch, sniffling loudly.
Peter jogs over and wraps his arms around her.
Whatever he whispers in her ear is personal, so I suddenly find the floor very interesting.
“I’m sorry, Cam. She’s not here.”
My head whips toward Peter. “What do you mean, she’s not here?”
“She left in the middle of the night to who knows where,” Patty cries out, sounding angrier than upset, her face red, eyes scowling at me with a definite lack of puffiness.
Is she even crying?
My stomach sinks. Shelby left.
“Did someone go with her? Does Nick know where she is? When is she coming back?” I voice grows louder toward the end.
“I’m sorry, Cam.” Peter gestures for me to calm down while looking back at Patty. “Frank took her to one of the Knight vacation homes, and she’s safe.”
I rub my forehead. “I don’t mean to yell. I’m sorry. Where did Nick go?”
Patty sniffs. “Cin and he took Hannah and Luke over to the Knights’.”
“Thank you both.” I run out of the house, jump on my bike, and take off to Dom and Mav’s. I don’t understand why Shelby would leave without telling anyone where she was going.
Whatever happened to her after I was taken out of that basement must have been bad.
When I pull up to the back of Knights’ place, Frank stands outside, a little away from Nick, Cin, Luke, and Hannah. He’s talking to a chunky guy with balding gray hair, wearing what has to be the world’s ugliest sweater vest. I turn my bike off.
Nick walks over to me and gives me a side hug. “Why didn’t you tell me you were coming home? It’s good to see you. You look good.”
I swing my leg over my bike. “I just landed a few hours ago. I stopped by your house. Peter told me about Shelby.”
As he and the bald sweater vest dude walk closer, I square up with Frank. “I want to talk to you. How could you let Shelby leave without telling us?”
I’m so angry my whole body shakes, and I have to clench my hand not to punch him.
Frank glances over Nick’s shoulder, taking in Luke and Hannah, who are both talking to Cin, before he looks me square in the eyes. “She asked me not to.”
He lowers his voice even more. “I’m sorry, Cam, but we need to put this on pause and talk about it later. This is Louis Scott. He’ll undo the hypnosis that Roger put the guys and Hannah under.”
Frank turns away to walk inside but stops just at the doorway.
Louis falls into step with Nick and me as we follow behind Frank, collecting Cin, Luke, and Hannah as we go. “Gentleman, Ladies, good afternoon.”
We stop in front of Frank.
“Hello, I’m Nick, my sister Hannah, and this is my girlfriend, Cin. This is Luke, and the blonde is Cam.” Nick points to each of us as he introduces everyone.
“The other two are inside,” Frank says.
“Before I arrived, Frank filled me in on most of what happened. I’ve been able to go over the music and some words, but do any of you have more to add?” Louis asks us all.
Luke and Hannah wince at the mention of it. They both step a little away, so it’s harder for them to hear, but they still stay close enough to talk and listen if need be.
“Yes, I made a list of the words I heard on each person’s iPod.” Nick pulls a stack of papers out of his backpack. “The top paper shows the words said at the Black and White Ball. Each person’s iPod has a separate list.”
Mr. Scott takes the items from Nick. “You’re one organized person, aren’t you?”
“You have no idea.” Cin rolls her eyes, chuckling, causing Nick to blush.
“So, Luke, Dom, and Mav are the ones that need to be deprogrammed?” Louis asks.
“I think he also hypnotized my sister, but I’m not sure how, since she doesn’t have an iPod,” Nick pipes up.
“All right, I can work with this.” Louis looks over the papers.
“Let me show you to the boys’ living room. Then I’ll fetch them. Unlike Luke and Hannah, they don’t believe they’re hypnotized. But they were under the influence of the hypnosis trigger for a longer, more constant period. We only recently figured out how it was happening to them.” Frank leads us to the living room.
Cin and Nick sit on the stools at the counter. Hannah and Luke take seats on opposite ends of one couch. I stand near the living room entrance.
Frank disappears into Mav’s room first.
A low conversation can be heard before Mav slinks out.
Frank crosses the living room, going into Dom’s room next.
Mav’s eyes scan who is in the room, and when he comes to me, his whole face lights up, and he jogs toward me. “Cam!”
I can’t help but smile at the goofball. When he gets closer, I open my arms, and he crashes into them.
I must have let out a groan, because he backs away quickly. “What’s wrong?” His eyes are scanning my face to see if I show any pain. “Did you wreck your bike riding with your dad again?”
I cup his face in my palm. “No, I’ll tell you in a minute. But for now, give me a kiss.”
His head dips toward mine, and I close my eyes. I’ve missed him so damn much. Our lips touch, and I almost feel complete again. He pulls me closer, the tightness of his embrace showing just how much he missed me.
We both get lost in the kiss until someone clears their throat, and we reluctantly separate.
“Have a seat, Mr. Knight.” Louis gestures to the couch where Luke and Hannah sit.
Mav sits down on the cushion closest to Hannah. “Sure, what’s going on?”
The conversation in Dom’s room isn’t as quiet as what happened in Mav’s. Frank comes out, followed by Dom, who scowls.
Frank points to the couch cushion between Mav and Luke. “Sit down.”
Louis steps in front of the couch where his four subjects sit. “My name is Louis Scott. Frank told me what has been going on with you, and I’ll help.”
“How do we know you won’t screw us up more?” Luke asks hesitantly.
“I understand you would have difficulty trusting people who can do what I can,” he acknowledges. “I can tell you I don’t get my jollies by hurting people.”
“I’ve been researching this since I found out what happened to you. When I heard about Mr. Scott, I did a deep dive, and he’s legit,” Frank adds.
“I’m not hypnotized,” Dom states with conviction.
“If that is the case, then it won’t hurt for you to listen, will it?” Louis tilts his head, a smile on his lips.
Dom says nothing but sits with a scowl on his chiseled face. Mr. Scott listens to the music Nick gives him.
While he’s doing that, I head over to Nick. “What do you know about Shelby?”
“She left in the middle of the night the day before yesterday. I found a note on the kitchen counter the following morning.” He sighs. “Things haven’t been good for her since she escaped from Roger. She won’t let anyone touch her, and she was barely eating or sleeping. She screams during her nightmares.”
Nick glances at Cin, who looks guilty for some reason.
“And it didn’t help that Cin, but especially Patty, pushed her to do things she didn’t want to do,” Nick continues. “Patty wanted to have a family Christmas now that Shelby was with us. She pushed a little too much.”
I take a deep breath and stare at Cin. “Why? You understand her better than anyone.”
Cin looks genuinely upset, making me feel a little bad, but I’m more upset for Shelby.
“I honestly thought I was doing the right thing.” She stares at the floor. “I can just remember what she was like the last time she left Roger?—”
I interrupt her. “That is the problem, Cin. She didn’t leave Roger. This wasn’t some breakup like the last time. He held her captive after kidnapping her, and she escaped from him. This is a different situation. From what you told me on the phone, he beat the shit out of her! Did she look like that the last time she ‘left’ Roger?”
Her eyes widen in understanding. “Oh, what have I done?”
Nick wraps his arms around her shoulders as she cries silently.
Knowing she finally understands, I look at Nick. He shares the same sadness and anger at what happened to Shelby at the hands of her own family that I do. I take a deep breath. It’s time to move on from that part of the conversation.
Nick pulls out his phone, opens it to his text messages, and hands it to me. It’s open to his and Cin’s conversation with Shelby. “Cin asked for Proof of Life.”
I read through the messages and stop on the photo she sent them.
God, even days later, she still looks beat to hell. She’s not getting enough sleep. Her eyes have black rings under them. Damn, she’s lost weight.
“Make sure you look closely at the photo,” Nick presses.
I take my eyes off Shelby to study her surroundings, and I swallow down a shocked breath. I recognize the view behind her.
When I glance up at Nick, he nods. He figured it out, too, but he doesn’t want to say anything.
“What are you doing about school?” Nick asks.
I narrow my eyes on him at the purposeful change of subject.
“You missed a lot, but you could catch up and continue with us. Summer school is also an option.”
“Summer school is out.” I run my fingers through my blond hair. “Honestly, I haven’t thought about it at all.”
“Well, if it were me, I would find out about remote learning. That way, I could travel some while my friends finish school,” Nick suggests with a nonchalant shrug.
Oh, now I understand. He wants me to go to Shelby and stay with her until summer.
“That sounds like a great plan,” I say.
“Okay.” Louis looks at Frank, Nick, Cin, and me. “I need you four to stand back here.” He points to the kitchen island. “And I need you to be quiet, no matter what.”
Cin, Nick, and I take our seats while Frank leans against the bar.
“Obliviscatur Haec est mea,” Louis repeats the exact words Carrie said at the Black-and-White Ball.
Luke, Mav, and Dom straighten up and stare out into space. Hannah doesn’t react and looks over at the guys on the couch. Well, I guess that answers the questions about her being hypnotized.
“Obliviscatur. Haec. Est. Mea.” He goes over each word repeatedly, saying them with a pause between them. “These words will not hold any meaning to you other than what is written in the dictionary.”
Louis intones, “Obliviscatur. This word will not hold any meaning to you other than what is written in the dictionary.”
He does the same for each of the other words. He then presses play on one of the iPods. Only it isn’t music we hear coming out of the speaker. It’s Latin words being said in a song-like fashion, like those weird chanting priests.
Hannah jerks and stares out, just like the guys. I guess she was hypnotized, too.
“These words will not hold any meaning to you other than what is written in the dictionary.” He repeats this process with the other iPod.
“When I count back from five, you will remember everything that has happened to you, and no one will ever have the power to hypnotize you again. Your mind will forever be yours. Five. Four. Three. Two. One.” Louis slaps his hands together in a single clap.
Luke, Mav, Hannah, and Dom grab their heads and moan.
“They’ll be out of it for a second. They’ll remember, but it’ll come back in pieces. It’s up to you to fill them in or wait for them to remember it all. Please call me if you have any other problems.” Louis shakes Frank’s hand.
Luke’s head shoots up, and he looks around the room. “Oh, God, Shelby.”
“Where is she?” Dom groans.
Mav moans, and when he looks at me, sadness fills his eyes. “No…”
“Nick, why don’t you fill the guys in while I walk Mr. Scott out?” Frank suggests.
Nick looks at me. “This should be good.”
Nick, Cin, and I move to sit on the couch opposite Hannah and the guys.
“Do you guys remember how Carrie went up to accept her crown and gave a little speech?” Nick asks the guys.
“Yes,” Mav says.
“I remember,” Dom adds, while Hannah nods.
“Well, at the end, she said this phrase in Latin. Obliviscatur Haec est mea. Which is Latin for Forget it. She is mine.” Nick waits to discover if the words are out of their system.
When the guys don’t react or turn into lifeless robots, Nick, Cin, Hannah, and I release a sigh of relief.
“We were cruel to Shelby. How could we do that to her?” Mav holds his head.
Dom looks at Luke. “Why aren’t you in pain like we are?”
“When Hannah first vanished, Shelby came to ask me if I saw her. I was listening to my iPod. She took it off me. That’s how he kept me under, and with it gone, my memory returned.”
“We couldn’t find out how he was keeping you under. It turns out it was a maid, so Luke has more of a clear head.” Nick puts his arm behind the couch.
“Continue telling us what happened at the ball.” Dom waves his hand for us to continue.
“Mav, you danced with her but sneered at her the whole time. The second the music stopped, you pushed her away and joined the cheerleader table. Dom, Carrie was all over you like you never broke up. She has something to do with this, but I don’t know how.”
“She said those words,” Cin reminds us.
“Yeah, but Hannah gave them to her,” Nick counters.
All eyes swivel toward Hannah.
“I would like to apologize for my part in this. What I did was so wrong. Luke, we’ve already talked about what happened in the bathroom. Do you remember?”
Luke glances at Hannah before looking away and nodding.
“What Shelby thought she saw didn’t happen. I just made it appear that way,” she says for Mav, Dom, and me, since we weren’t privy to this information.
“Just before Shelby walked in, Luke cried out that his head was hurting and dropped to his knees on the floor. I heard her coming, so I lifted my skirt and wrapped my legs around Luke’s head, pulling him toward me. But the truth is, Luke wanted nothing to do with me. Even kissing hurt him.” Hannah sniffs, but doesn’t cry.
“After Shelby stormed out and Luke left, Carrie and I got into a big fight. I ordered a ride from a car share, not knowing it was Roger who was driving. He stopped the car about a mile away from the Ball and put a rag over my mouth. When I woke up, I was in a moldy, disgusting basement with Cam.” She shivers at the memory.
“I remember getting a text from you saying you were with your father,” Dom says to me.
I shake my head. “I was the first one Roger kidnapped. He had my phone. I was so stupid! If I had paid a little more attention to my surroundings, I wouldn’t have gotten taken.”
Mav rises from where he sits and kneels in front of me. “Babe, you were home in your safe spot, the one place where we all thought we were safe. Don’t beat yourself up. What happened when you came to?”
As Mav sits by my feet, I run my fingers through his hair. “When I woke up at the house he took me to, he came to the basement every day and tried to hypnotize me. But it never worked on me. He was pissed that he couldn’t put me under. I was alone for a few days before he brought Hannah down.”
“Why couldn’t he put you under when we went so easily?” Mav asks.
I lock my eyes on Mav’s before speaking clearly. “I didn’t have any doubts for him to prey on.”
“And we did, so we were easy pickings.” Luke curses. “What did he do to you, Cam?”
“Well, he beat me after each failed attempt. When Hannah showed up, I was already black and blue. He started talking about Shelby and how he was her first. I’m not going to go through all of it, but I pissed him off, and he stabbed me.” I lift my shirt to show them my healing cut.
Mav reaches out and touches it. “Babe.”
I put my hand on top of his. “I’m fine now, but it was infected in the basement. I was struggling to hang on when he brought Shelby down. I think it was a day after Hannah arrived?”
“No two.” Hannah corrected me.
“Two days, and I don’t remember what happened.” I pound my fist into my thigh. I should have been stronger for her.
Hannah takes over again. “Shelby realized Cam was in bad shape, and if he didn’t escape, he wouldn’t make it. She bargained with Roger to release him. Roger unchained me and told me to carry Cam, but I couldn’t pick him up. It pissed Roger off, and he backhanded me.” She cups the side of her cheek.
Nick stands and walks over to his sister, settling in Mav’s abandoned seat to take her hand in his.
She glances at her brother and then continues. “He threw Cam over his shoulder and left. That’s when Shelby noticed he didn’t chain me back up. She broke out the window and made me leave. I promised to bring help back, but I got lost.”
Hannah covers her face and cries. “By the time Nick and Frank found the place where we were held, Roger and Shelby were gone. What did that monster do to her?”
Luke leans forward and reaches over Nick to touch her knee. “You did your best. That’s all that matters.”
“The day Roger took her, I gave Shelby my jacket with a tracker in it. But we found it in the basement of the house Cam and Hannah were kept in,” Nick adds. “The tracker never registered as active, so Roger had a jammer on him. Do you remember Shelby breaking into your house?”
“A little.” Dom scratches the back of his head. “I remember being pissed that Frank let her go.”
“I didn’t let her go.” Frank walks back into the room. “I figured out what she was trying to tell us. You two were in danger if she didn’t meet with Roger. He would have killed you. I was able to place a new tracker in Shelby’s hair.”
“Why would you try if Nick’s jacket tracker didn’t work?” Cin asks.
“He couldn’t keep the jammer on all the time. It was a long shot, but it was a backup plan,” Frank answers.
“So, what happened? Where is she?” The color drains from Mav’s face. “She’s dead, isn’t she?”
“No, Mav, she isn’t dead.” I grab him and hug him.
Dom sits down on the arm of the chair. “Continue.”
“It was three weeks before Frank’s tracker was activated.” Nick takes in a shaky breath. “I found Shelby naked, covered in dirt, blood, and God knows what else, buried under a pile of leaves in the woods.”
“Naked?” I swallow the bile that rises in my throat.
The last time I saw her, she had clothes on. So many emotions course through me right now. Horror at what happened to her. Guilt that I couldn’t save her. But mostly love. I’ll stand by her no matter what.
“I’m sorry to interrupt you. Go ahead.” I wipe a tear away.
“It’s all right. He beat her so badly that every inch of her skin was mottled with bruises or covered in cuts and scrapes. She had several broken ribs, a nasty concussion, and a fractured orbital bone. And those were just the obvious injuries. The nurse at the hospital wanted to do a rape kit, but Shelby refused.”
Mav turns white. “I’m going to be sick.”
He takes off for his room, leaving the subject of the rape kit floating in the air.
Dom jumps up and paces. “After what we did… After everything she endured… She has to hate us.”
“She’s hurt because you had doubts and didn’t talk about it, but I’m sure she doesn’t blame you for anything,” Cin explains. “You weren’t in control of your actions.”
“If that’s the truth, why isn’t she here?” Dom groans.
It’s quiet for a minute as Mav shuffles into the room, wiping his hand across his mouth.
Cin looks down at the floor. “Long story short, Patty and I fucked up. She had no patience when it came to Shelby getting better. She wanted everything perfect for the family’s first Christmas together, especially since she was still upset when we didn’t celebrate Thanksgiving because we were looking for Shelby.”
Cin swallows and wipes away a few tears. “As for myself, I was too caught up in remembering how quickly she recovered the last time she was with Roger. In my head, I equated the two situations as the same thing, despite being able to see how bad off she was this time.”
She turns to look at Hannah, then me. “Hannah and Cam both made me understand how fucked up that was. But it was too little too late. Nobody was listening or was willing to understand what she went through. She apologized, said she didn’t want to ruin Christmas and that we’d be better off if she wasn’t there. But she let us know she’s safe. And, while she won’t tell us where she’s staying, she reached out to let us know she’s okay.”
Hannah straightens up. “None of you understand what it was like in that basement. Cam and I were only there for a couple of weeks at most. She was there for over a month. Based on what she looked like, we still only know the tip of the iceberg of what he did to her this time. Roger is a complete and utter psycho. He would hold entire conversations with himself or a wall.”
Luke, Mav, and Dom look confused.
“When he took Shelby, he said his name was Randell, Roger’s twin brother,” Nick says.
“But he didn’t have a brother,” Luke says, as if it’s the obvious answer.
“You’re right.” Nick pushes up his glasses. “At first, I did some research on dissociative identity disorder or DID. Those with DID have multiple, distinct personalities. Various identities control a person’s behavior at different times. They act and think independently of each other. The more I researched, the more I knew it wasn’t what he had. I believe it was a red herring to stop me from looking for him.”
“Makes sense.” Luke rubs his temples.
“I still don’t understand how he pulled this off by himself,” Mav says.
Frank gives the guys and Hannah drinks. “He wasn’t by himself. We found Evan’s body in the cabin Shelby escaped from. He was naked and stabbed with a worn-down stick.”
Nick lowers his head like he can’t look at us.
It’s like the world’s most silent pin drops at the bomb Frank just released. We understand what he’s implying. The rape kit.
“Why haven’t you said anything until now?” Cin demands angrily, tears springing to her eyes.
“I was hoping Shelby would bring it up.” Nick shrugs. “And without proof one way or the other, either by a test or her word, I wasn’t going to push it.”
Mav swallows thickly, asking the question the rest of us are too scared to. “Are you saying Evan might have done something to her?”
“I’m not sure, but it appears that way,” Nick says.
Dom punches the wall. “Why was Evan there in the first place?”
“Evan is—was—Roger’s cousin. Remember, we found that out from Carrie at the pool party at my house,” Nick reminds us.
“Why didn’t you force him to tell you where Roger was keeping her?” Dom yells as he paces the room.
“Dom, you’re angry, but a lot was going on,” Frank says.
“Shit, I’m sorry.” Dom hangs his head. “I’m worried about Shelby. We need to find her.”
“She doesn’t want to be found,” Cin says, “Believe me, I tried.”
Luke looks at Frank. “Tell us where you took her, please. We need to talk to her and tell her how sorry we are.”
Dom steps toward Frank, violence evident in his body language.
“Don’t tell them!” Cin jumps up, stepping in Dom’s path. “I’m sorry, guys, but she needs this time to put herself back together.”
Mav jumps up from the floor. “We’ll be there to help her.” He glances at each of us. “Right guys?”
Cin walks over to Mav and puts her hand on his shoulder. “Her mom and I weren’t listening when Shelby told us she needed time. I thought I was doing what was right by trying to convince her to do things. That helped her the last time, but not this time. Every time someone tries to hug her, she cringes.”
“You love her,” Hannah says, “but she needs time.”
Mav’s body deflates. “How much time?”
Nick shrugs. “We can’t leave anyway when we have school.”
“Fuck school! Shelby is more important,” Mav snaps.
“Your father would disown you,” Nick states.
“I figured out where she is,” I say.
“You did?” Frank says.
“Good, then tell us, Cam,” Dom demands.
I shake my head. “I won’t betray her like that. I’m going to switch to online schooling and go to where she is. That way, you don’t have to worry that she’s alone. I’ll tell her you’re not hypnotized anymore and want to talk to her, but I won’t force her to contact you.”
Dom comes over and sits down. “I don’t like it, especially since that asshole is still out there.”
“Roger doesn’t know where she is. If everyone disappears, it would be easy to track all of us,” Nick points out.
“Do you always have to be right?” Mav sighs.
He smirks. “I try to be.”