Vindicated (Camren)

Chapter 17: Prisoner

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The ride from the Jauregui Manor to Pandemonium was rather too eerily quiet Stan could feel his sanity slipping away from him. He secretly wished he could have had the removed communication device, reconnect it, and then Dinah could have kept him company as always. What actually happened was he awkwardly sat on the passenger seat releasing what seemed to be a hundred sighs of discomfort while his sister drove the car as if trying to win either a NASCAR or a Formula One race. Truth be told, it wasn't a race against anybody or anything. She was simply running away. Just run away, get lost if possible, until the road back to Lauren Jauregui could no longer be traced.

One glance at that poker look on her face, that most ridiculously emotionless expression, and anybody could have recognized the return of the horrible monster, the daunting beast, the callous cold-blooded killer. Camila Cabregui had died, but unexpectedly left an irreparably broken Camila Cabello. One glance at the pair of dark brown eyes which used to be the sharpest and scariest of them all, and Stan knew that his sister was left with a hole in her metal heart - a hole that nobody else could have ever filled but one certain green-eyed beauty.

Finally, Camila pulled the car over as soon as they reached the parking lot. She switched off the engine, but instead of climbing out, she remained frozen on the driver's seat just staring into space.

"Welcome back, kiddo!" Stan exclaimed in a forced enthusiasm as he made the full effort of putting on a big grin in the hopes of changing the mood. "You are the worst person to be around with, but Pandemonium has surely missed your permanent appearance. Yes, you must be touched."

The younger Cabello though made no response - not even a small nod or a quick scoff or a blank stare. Just plain nothing.

"Your baby also missed you," he added referring to the gray Aston Martin Volante, running his eyes over the interior design for effect.

Camila retrieved the set of communication device to be surrendered later on, grabbed her keys, and moved out of the car. Before, this was recognized to be a normal thing, but then suddenly it was totally awkward. Her brother followed closely behind as she entered the building through the backdoor. Stan was making the conscious effort of pitching in stupid jokes along the stroll from the No Unauthorized Person Allowed door down to the secret passageway. Camila was about to step into the elevator when she felt her brother's tight grip on her arm.

"What?" Camila turned around to give him a blank stare - it wasn't threatening, but it also wasn't accommodating. Although, it was a better response than being completely ignored.

"Give me your keys," Stan demanded.

"I have no time for this," she replied then shrugged off the hand from her arm.

Stan quickly grabbed her arm once again, "Just give me your damn keys!"

"What the fuck do you want, Stan?"

The tall young man reached out to snatch the keys from her hand only to be snatched back by his sister. Still, not giving up, Stan tried to snatch it again, but even before his hands could reach the coveted item, he received a hard punch right on his nose; blood soon trickled out from his nostrils.

"I am not in the mood to play games with you," muttered Camila as she mercilessly watched her brother attend to his injury pressing his hands tight to stop further bleeding.

"Well, I'm sorry if I'm trying to be a good brother here," he managed to speak out in spite of the great discomfort. "I'm sorry that I actually want to see you happy, Camila. Now if you think I deserve a lot of punches for that, then fire away."