Black Mask [formerly known as The Street Fighter]- BOOK I

TWENTY-FOUR: TURMOIL

TWENTY-four hours.

The next day rolled in without either of the two making any movement. Riley has hardly slept. Twisting, turning, fighting inside her dreams as they kept coming toward her. Her mother's words stuck with her. She now knew that her mother hated her. She knew nothing was going to be the same again.

You know that feeling where you don't feel like doing anything? The feeling that you're just done with everything pertaining to life? Riley sat in their shared room, at the corner of the bed, staring at the floor. A million thoughts ran through her mind. That doubtful voice in her head saying the words she has consistently heard in her face throughout her time in the warehouse and outside of it from people she considered family. Her own mother blamed her for her father's condition. Zayn, the family's bodyguard, looked at her as nothing but an enemy. Marcus, however, still saw the good in her. He still saw her as family even though her life was a conflict within itself.

Even in the midst of her inner conflict, She was pleased to see the truth being told as it should be. Raw, uncut. Everything served on a platter. But, even as everything was going well for her. In truth, it wasn't. Even with a smile on her face, she wasn't happy. That smile was a lie. But her love for Cameron will always be the truth. It will be her truth.

Cameron walked in to see Riley sitting there even after he woke up earlier for his morning workout. "Baby, are you alright?"

She didn't respond to him. Instead, she looked at him with tears in her eyes. Broken. "Why?"

"What do you mean?"

"Why did you stay?" she asked.

The question caught him off guard. "I stayed because I love you. Why do you ask?"

She sighed, fighting back tears. "Because you don't deserve this, Cameron. You don't need someone who can't give you what you deserve. You don't need me."

He nodded disagreeing with her. "I need you way more than you know, Riley."

"No, you don't, Cameron. All I do is cause everyone pain. All I do is make everyone's lives. My father's in the hospital because of me. All of this, everything happened because I went to see him. I shouldn't have gone to see him. I should've never gone back. I should've stayed. I should've stayed where I was," her tears were falling. "The only reason that you're protecting me is because of this. We wouldn't be here right now if I wasn't so stupid. Hell, why do you bother with me? I'm only holding back. What's the point of loving someone who can't even show you the affection you deserve to get? There's so much better for you out there. How can you love someone so broken and weak?"

Cameron stayed quiet, not knowing what to say.

"Cameron, you don't need someone like me. All you're doing is carrying unnecessary baggage. Why would you love an assault victim? Why love someone so worthless? I can't be the girlfriend you really want. I'm not the same as I was before. I can hardly be close to you without reverting. It's selfish of me to hang onto you knowing that you deserve so much than this. You deserve happiness. You deserve those things. But I can't give you those things. Why be in a relationship with me knowing that I can't love you the way you would want? I know you want things between us to go further, but why would you want trash?" she silently cried, heartbroken and in pain. With her head hung low in shame, she couldn't bear to look him in the eye knowing that he's ashamed of her.

However, Cameron did something that she wasn't expecting. Cameron cupped her face and pressed his lips against hers, meeting her in a painful bliss. Pulling away, he wiped her tears and smiled at her. "Baby, you're more than an assault victim. You're not worthless or even trash. Everything about you is beautiful. I told you. It doesn't matter how long it'll take for you to get better, I'll wait. I don't need perfection. Perfection is overrated. You're everything I could ask for."

"But, you have needs too. I can't tend to them without his image jarring in my head." she expressed. "I'm only holding you back."

Without another word, he kissed her again, throwing her off a little. However, she responded to him. It was different from earlier. There was more passion and love. She felt different. As his arms went around her, she felt safe. For the first time, she genuinely felt safe. Although she was comfortable with him, she still kept her guard up. She still refrained from going any further with him. The subtle kisses he gave her, the hugs were all the affection she would be limited to. But today was different, she decided to let go. Really let go.

***

"The chairman has officially resigned from his position within the FBI. However, the founder has filed a lawsuit against the media for defamation of character." was what the report declared to the world. What a way to spike a debate. "What do you guys think about this?"

"What I want to know is who is really behind all of this and how did they manage to get such controversial information like that? In fact, how did they know about the Stealth branch?" another reporter asked.

In the midst of watching the discussion between all of the reporters, Cameron lied on the bed hugging Riley close. Her head on his chest, her arms around his waist and her leg wrapped around one of his.

"Better yet, why didn't the founder fire the chairman? It seems he knew about the Stealth program all along. In fact, since all of this information went out, Agent West is nowhere to be found. Where could she have gone? Wasn't she involved as well? And how did they allow Nathan Castro to take control so easily?"

So many questions and little to no answers. Cameron smiled a little seeing as how afraid the chairman may be considering his "sudden" resignation. He took a glance at Riley just before he grabbed his phone off the night table. "You alright, love?"

"I'm fine. It's just...I'm worried about my parents. How is my dad going to return to the spotlight after this knowing that his daughter has been trained and working for a criminal organization? Especially my mother, there's no way she'll get a job after this. This affects her too." Riley expressed.

"Even after how she treated you. You still care for her?" Cameron asked, genuinely.

"I have no reason to keep a grudge against her. She's still my mother at the end of the day. However, purgatory will find her."

"I envy you sometimes, you know? I couldn't be this considerate to my parents if I was in your shoes. I'd be the one to hold the hatred for them no matter how many chances they deserve." he praised. "You're amazing."

She gave him a small smile. "Thank you. What's next on this plan of yours?"

"Now that the chairman has resigned, we beat them at their own game. Use the system against them."

"How is that going to work?" she asked.

"Remember when Eli told us to get ready for a trial?"

Her eyes widened a little when realization hit her. "He meant this trial. This was the trial he was talking about?"

"Exactly. Get ready, baby. We're going to finally get the justice we all deserve."