woke. | II

hady

Once Mr. Everleigh rang, he told us he'd be sending a car round to the house and that Cam was safe.

mom, I wrote, struggling to find the words. Do I disappear without telling her? Would she worry when she came home to find me gone? What time would she and dad get home? I put the phone down and got into the car instead.

"I'm not sure what to tell my mom." I tell Alex, "What if she comes home and I'm not there?"

"One step at a time, Hady." She answered.

"I can't believe how stupid we were! How did things fall apart so quickly?! Do you think- do you think the ones who took us last night were distracting us so they could take Cam?!" I continued.

"Why would they do that? They could have easily overpowered us, couldn't they?" She turned to me and I couldn't lie to her trusting brown eyes.

I nodded.

"It just pisses me off that we were so close to a conclusion and look at where we are now!"

"I know, I know."

I ended up sending my mom a text about how I've gone out with Alex. It sounded insensitive, but I figured it was better than not sending anything at all and having her worry.

After we arrived at Mr. Everleigh's place, I found out his name is Jason and he insisted that we address him as such.

"Seeing as we will be partners in a sense, there is no need to stand on ceremony." He had said, raising a salt and pepper brow at Alex which broke a grin across her face.

"Sure thing, Jason!" She said joyfully before waltzing into his open door, brushing past him.

"I-I'll keep that in mind." I replied and he let me in.

"Your brother's waiting for you."

We went down to his computer room and I saw him hooked up to the same machine that keeps Dana alive.

"Tell me this does not look like the Matrix!" Alex said gleefully in my ear, taking stock of the machinery surrounding us. It is one of her favourite movies, although how she could stand to watch the obviously outdated and almost comical movie confounds me. She claims it's a classic, and had put me through a movie-marathon once which was one time too many. I did not appreciate the implications of artificial intelligence being sentient. It just wasn't possible.

"Cam," I said, looking down at his face smoothed by sleep. He was always ready to show off his dimples and his presence palpable with warmth... Almost like a golden retriever. Yet now, he was empty of all those things that made him who he was.

I place my forehead to his before planting a soft kiss on his brow and whispered, "I will find you, brother. I will wake you."

I turned to Jason and saw him standing there patiently, kindly allowing me my moment.