Resurrection- Fallen (Cam)

XII - In Her Shadow

Maybe it was her troubled mind but Victoria did not sleep well that night, constantly flitting between nightmares and thoughts of despair. Even with Cam at her side, soothing her every so often, she was unable to escape the dream, no matter how hard she tried.  

She'd had plenty of nightmares before, but this was different. There was no fire, no Conrad and whoever she was in the dream she was not herself. No, Victoria was seeing events unfold as though she were an audience member in a grand auditorium. Part of her fractured mind wondered if the visions were brought on by the old black and white film Mr Cole had put on in the Library earlier that night, as part of the 'Wednesday Night Social', but the images were too visceral to be born of something so innocent.   No, there hadn't been shadowy, hooded figures in the film, nor had there been quick hissing whispers.

Victoria tried to hone in on what they were saying but it was no use. There were simply too many people, all trying to speak at once, leaving her lost and confused in the wake of the commotion. She tried to make sense of where the dream was taking place, but all Victoria could really discern from her surroundings was that it was dark and cold, frighteningly cold.   Every so often, she caught snippets of the conversation. Names mostly, names that sent a chill down her spine.

'Victoria,'

'Cambriel.'

'Daniel.'

'Lucinda'

Unfortunately the only other word Victoria could make out left her with more questions than answers.

'Apple.'

'Apple.'

'Apple.'

Again and again, the hooded figures spoke of apples, so much so, that the mere thought of fruit had Victoria spiralling into an inescapable dreamy panic. Little did she know that Cam was desperately trying to rouse her from the panic, but it was to no avail. Countless times he tried shaking her shoulders firmly, he tried calling her name but it was no use.   Despair and panic gripped Cam. His chest felt tight, his heart was racing and the back of his neck, right where the sunburst mark was, burned. In a last ditch effort, he gave the wall beside the bed a series of ground-shaking thumps.

Soon, a dazed and confused Daniel came hurrying into the room, closing the door behind him, Daniel's face quickly shifted from irritation to concern as he drank in the scene before him.   Victoria was slumped against Cam's chest, there was a great deal of sweat dripping from her brow and clinging to her arms and chest. Daniel couldn't be sure if it was from Victoria's erratic breathing and strange twitchy movement or Cam's constant attempts to rouse her. Cam's face was ashen as he silently pleaded with him, Daniel felt his heart begin to race. It was clear Cam needed his help, that he was asking for it, but Daniel wasn't sure that he could help.

'How long has she been like this?' He started, his voice low and filled with panic but it was no match for Cam's, which was positively feral by comparison, with a broken Demonic air to boot.

'Two, three minutes at most but something was wrong before that.'  Daniel made to take her pulse but Cam was quick to swat his hand away.

'Mid two hundreds, you think I didn't already check?' 

'Breathing?' 

'Sixty, seventy hard to say.' 

'Lie her down.' Cam's expression was pained. 

'Lie her-' Daniel started again but Cam was quick to follow his direction this time.

'We need to cool her down.' Cam turned to Daniel, but Daniel was already a step ahead of him and was leaning over the desk to pry the window open.