Reversal (Camren/Norminah)

Chapter 23: A Link Between Worlds

XXIII. 

I had been told all my life that for a Cabello, bravery had never been in short supply. However never had I believed it until the moment my eyes closed to the world I knew, and opened to the Silent Hill.

"Camila."

I stretched, curling up and brushing away the hand on my shoulder. Much to my distain, it quickly returned.

"Camila."

"She's not home." I grumbled softly, squeezing my eyes closed.

"Hey, my new soccer ball!" A whine broke out on the other side of me, and my hit head the glass of my windshield painfully.

"Shawn, you can inflate it again." Lauren's voice was full of a lazy humour.

"Where's the little tab thing?"

"On the other side, turn it over."

"I don't see it."

I groaned, sitting up on the top of the car and rubbing my eyes. "I'm glad you guys are back. Talk about your rude awakenings."

"Let's head home Mila." Dinah was on my other side, pulling gently at my makeshift blanket. "We're all going to stay over at your place tonight, just as a little farewell get together."

I looked at her. "So you're okay with all this?"

"It's going to be hard." Dinah shrugged. "But yeah, if this is what you need to do then I want you to do it. I trust your judgement, just please don't get yourself killed."

I nodded, then turned to look at Shawn who was staring down at his deflated soccer ball like a kicked puppy. Lauren was in the process of turning it over in his hands, ferociously searching for the plastic stopper that I had torn out and lazily replaced. "Shawn?" I questioned, catching his attention.

"Soccer ball killer." Shawn muttered back, causing Lauren to giggle.

"Seriously." I swatted the ball out of his hand and Lauren scrambled to catch it before it hit the ground. While she continued to figure out how to inflate it, I reached over and gripped Shawn's arm.

"To be honest, I don't want you to go." Shawn shook his head, pressing his hands into his pockets and moving me away. "But I also know that I can't, and won't stop you. But I think Dinah spoke for both of us when she told you to not die."

"I won't." I replied with a sure nod, glancing over at Lauren for support. It was a lost cause, seeing as she was busy using the edge of her fingernail to pry the plastic cover out of the world's cheapest inflatable.

"When are you guys going to leave?" Dinah asked, drawing idle circles on the smooth metal of the car's hood. "Soon?"

"A few days." Lauren looked up. "There are some things I want to take care of before then, I need to make sure there are no more traces of them in the city."

"Them, you mean the big guys dressed all in black that we saw you castrate the other night?"

"Pretty much." Lauren handed the soccer ball back to Shawn, now perfectly inflated like it was new. The boy smiled big, snatching it back and dropping it to the ground before starting to kick it around like a ten year old.

"How are you going to do that?"

Lauren looked from Dinah to me. "You guys don't need to worry about how. I'll handle it."

"And when do you plan to come home?"

"She won't be gone for long Dinah, I promise." Lauren replied assuringly, half hopping, half floating up onto the hood of the car and settling in next to me, while Dinah did the same on the other side. I brought both arms out to encircle them, draping my wrists over their shoulders and pulling the girls against my chest.