5. I.O.U.

 

I woke up at the sound of a door slamming.  It was Stanley’s unusually angry face that first registered in my mind.  It did not quite fit him.  It took me a few more seconds before I realized that he was carrying me in his arms into what appeared to be the Rayvers’ rest house.

Of course, it was only rational for me to try and get out of his hold.  I hissed and instantly slumped back when a sharp pain suddenly came from my thigh.  Whether it was the right or the left, I couldn’t tell.

“Stop squirming or the cut will start bleeding again.”

True enough, there was a bloody cloth tied over my left thigh.  But how did I get injured in the first place?

My mind desperately put the pieces together – the car chase (if you could call it that), the “bear”, the sound of the windshield breaking, and then finally, Stanley’s warm body over mine.

I looked at his face again.  His brows were furrowed and his eyes were practically burning with fury.  There were just so many questions I wanted to ask him, but my intuition told me this wasn’t the time.

He looked down, though not at me.  “I’m sorry.”  I couldn’t see his eyes anymore as he carried me further into the house.  “I really am…”  He laid me down on a soft, red couch in front of a lit fireplace. 

Instinctively, I reached out and placed a hand on his dirty cheek.  I could feel his jaw unclenching.  I opened my mouth in attempt to say something – anything to assure him that I was okay.  I could tell that he was so worried.  Why?  I had no idea. 

When he finally looked up to meet my eyes, I smiled.  Right then, if there was anything I wanted to tell him, it would neither be the questions, nor an expression of anger or pain.  I could barely feel the cut and I wasn’t really furious. 

I was actually grateful. 

“Thank you.” 

He averted his eyes again.  I almost missed the sudden guilt in them.

He shook his head and sighed.  Slowly, he stood away from the couch and turned his back on me.  “Don’t try to move or the wound will bleed.  I’m going to get Sophie.”

I nodded.  It was the only thing I could do, really.  I was still as clueless as I was when he first drove passed the apartment I was living in with Andrea.  And besides, with the stabbing pain that came from the wound, I couldn’t really go anywhere either.

The cracking noise from the fireplace was soothing enough to clear my head.  I didn’t want to think about anything for now.  What would I call it?  Grogginess?  Perhaps.  It’s like waking up from a long sleep.  My brain was on idle mode.

Stanley came back after a minute or two with a girl only a few inches shorter than him at his side.  She had short, dark brown hair and smoky-gray eyes.  Somehow, she resembled him, especially the shape of the eyes and the pale complexion.  She was beautiful to say the least.

“How deep is the wound?” she asked Stanley as she knelt down beside me.  Her voice was calming.

Stanley looked thoughtful.  “Probably a quarter to half-an-inch.”

A quarter to half-an-inch deep?!  I could feel my nerves going on overdrive.  I wasn’t really the brave girl when I was a kid.  The smell of blood, I could tolerate.  What I couldn’t stand was seeing mutilated flesh.  It was just something that I hadn’t grown out of.

The girl grinned.  What could be amusing about sharp-stabbing-pain-causing injuries?  “It might need stitching then.”  Her slender fingers started undoing the bloody cloth.

God, no!  I paled.  Of course, I knew better than to voice out my fear.  Although, I was sure my pupils dilated.

“Scaring her isn’t really a good idea, Sophie.”  Stanley knelt down beside her, closer to my head.  He placed a hand over my head and smiled weakly.  “Don’t worry.  You won’t feel a thing, I promise.”  His voice was soothing.

Either way, I shut my eyes tight in preparation for the pain.  Let’s see… Cleaning, then stitching, and then that medicine thing that came with the first aid kit.  I didn’t want to go through any of it, actually.

The girl, Sophie, chuckled.  “Fine.  Fine.”  I felt her tap my knee.  “All done Camey.”

Slowly, I opened my eyes with hesitation.   Was she kidding me?  How could she be done?  I didn’t even feel a pinch!

I struggled to get up from the couch to see the cured wound.  It was amazing.  All that was left of it was the tear on my pants.  What happened?

“How…?”  I didn’t even know what to ask.

The girl named Sophie smiled.  She turned to look at Stanley, this time with a hint of worry on her beautiful features.  “I’m guessing that she still doesn’t remember?”

Stanley shook his head.  Remember what?

“Then I guess I should introduce myself.”  She stood up and extended a hand to me.  “Sophia Rayver.  I’m Stan’s cousin.”  Her face was pretty much glowing when she smiled at me again.  I had never seen anyone as beautiful as her.  Although, there was this kind of mischievousness in her eyes that I couldn’t quite comprehend.

“Cameron Krow.”  I took her hand and shook it.

She faced Stanley after letting go of my hand.  He was now standing beside her, his expression back to normal.  “I’m going to get the others.  I’m sure they’re all wondering how Camey’s doing – especially Haidee and Eliot.”  She turned to leave.

“Tell Eliot to take it easy for me,” he called after her.

I was completely lost during their conversation.  First, there was the “remembering” thing.  It seems that I had forgotten something, although it didn’t seem to be the result of having a short-term memory problem.  At least that was some kind of an assurance.  Second, it seemed that his family knows me.  How could they?  Maybe it was part of the memory I lost…

Before I could even bring myself to ask Stanley anything, Sophia was back together with four other people.  Boy was she fast!  It took her only, what?  Thirty seconds?

“Camey!”  The guy with dark, spiked hair and green eyes practically crushed me in his arms.  His eyes were a darker shade of green than that of Stanley.  He was also a few inches taller than him and his body was bulky and muscular.  His voice was booming when he shouted my name.  He looked scary at first, but something about him told me that he was a warm and friendly person.

“H-Hey…” I choked out the words.  “C-Can’t breathe… L-L-Lungs c-crushed…”

Stanley pulled me free without any effort.  He shot the guy a glare.  “Didn’t Sophie tell you that she still doesn’t remember anything?”

The guy shook his head in a slow rhythm.

This time, Stanley gave Sophia a glare.

She grinned.  “Sorry…  I guess I forgot.  Besides, he got over-excited when I mentioned Cameron.  I wouldn’t have had the chance anyway.”

“Um…”  I opened my mouth in attempt to say something but Stanley cut me off.

“You can’t give me that excuse, Sophie.  You and I both know you could make anyone listen to you if you wanted to.”

Sophie stuck her tongue out like a child.  “I can’t make anyone listen to me you know.  I can’t make Cameron, at least.  And it would be impolite to force everybody all the time.  That’s abuse of power.  Do you even know what it means to be ‘impolite’, Stan?”

I swear, I tried more than a few times to interject, but they were both arguing away that they wouldn’t have even noticed.  I had to catch their attention somehow....

“Excuse me!” I shouted.  Even I was shocked at how loud my voice was.  Well, at least I got what I wanted because now, they were all looking at me.

I cleared my throat.  “I uh…  Could you… It’s…”  Pathetic.  I didn’t even know how to start.  I sighed.

The woman standing behind the huge, muscular guy stepped forward.  She resembled Stanley the most, in my opinion.  The shape of their face was the same, their lips, and most especially their hair – hers was only longer, of course, way down her back.  She was like the girl version him.  The only difference I could tell at a glance was the shape and color of her eyes.  Her eyes were dark – almost black.

“Go ahead, Cameron.  What do you want to say?”  She sat down beside me on the couch and caressed my head.

I took a deep breath before even attempting to open my mouth again.  “I…  I just want to know what’s going on.  I mean, Rayver…  I mean, he practically kidnapped me after school.  And then there was that huge thing that attacked…  I don’t know what to make of anything anymore.  I’m just so confused right now…”  I rubbed my temples.

“You kidnapped her?” the woman’s voice suddenly changed from soothing to threatening.  She glared at Stanley in a way that even I would’ve cowered in fear.

“I didn’t have a choice!  She doesn’t remember anything.  How was I supposed to take her here?”  I nearly laughed at the way he looked.  He was scared of the woman, I was sure of that.

The woman sighed.  “I’m sorry dear.  We will explain everything, I promise.”  She smiled.

I nodded and smiled back.

“Okay, so first, my name is Raymond Rayver, Jr.”  A man with dark hair and green eyes extended a hand towards me.  He was the splitting image of the bulky guy, though he wasn’t muscular in a bit, and he was also older.  He had glasses and his expression was the mix of wittiness and playfulness.

I took his hand and shook it.  I didn’t bother introducing myself anymore because they all seemed to know who I was.

“This is my wife, Caroline, and our son, Eliot.”  He mentioned towards the woman and then to the muscular guy.  It didn’t surprise me that he happened to be their son.  “Of course, you know our other son, Stanley.”  I wasn’t surprised about that either.

A little girl, probably only about six years of age, walked out from behind him, a shy smile on her small lips.  She had curly, dark hair, and dark eyes that were sparkling with innocence.  Her cheeks looked like soft, fluffy pillows and were tinted pink.  She was hugging a stuffed, black bear against her chest tightly.

“And this…”  The little girl approached me and tugged at my pants.  “Is Haidee, our youngest.”

I smiled at her.  “Hello, Haidee.”

“You don’t remember me?”  There was a hint of sadness in her voice.  I didn’t know how to answer.

“She was waiting for you every day – sitting by the window so that she would be the first one to see you when you come.”  Eliot smiled at me warmly.  “Of course, I was waiting with her.”  His smile turned into a wide grin.

I was speechless.

“It’s okay Camey.  At least you’re here now.”  Haidee sat on the couch beside me.

I looked from her bubbly face to Caroline’s assuring one.  They were all smiling at me.  And what was I supposed to do now?  I sighed.  I still had no idea.

“So, Camey.”  Sophia clapped her hands together.  “You hungry?”

“Yes.  Food would be great.”  I smiled, glad that I could get out of an awkward moment.  Besides, I was feeling hungry again.

Caroline and Haidee stood up from the couch and followed Sophia’s lead out of the room like everybody else.  I followed them and Stanley walked beside me, keeping up with my pace.

“So.”  He grinned and placed an arm around me.  “You’re not going to insist that I take you back anymore?”

I shook my head.  “Nope.”  For the first time in two days, I felt like I fitted in, somehow.  “Although…”  I removed his arm from my shoulders and whacked his firm stomach.  I grinned when he jerked at the impact of my taekwondo-trained fist on the abs under his dirty shirt.  “You still owe me an explanation.  And you are so not going to hear the end of my nagging until you give me that.”

He looked thoughtful.  “I kinda like your nagging though.”  He grinned like a dog.

I whacked him again.  He deserved it.