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"Two True Loves"
By: Jade Lightning, a.k.a. Inuyashas-hanyougirl
Chapter 6: A Dark and Chilling Snowstorm

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   That next morning, when Camille woke up, the happiness from last night was still lingering from her dreams.  Opening her eyes, she saw the roses, one from yesterday morning, the other from last evening, still in their vase, and the Valentine’s Queen tiara sitting next to them.  Her mind was again flooded with the romance of the night before, and letting out a happy sigh, she was comforted by the fact that all that love was real, and not just a dream.

   Still, she knew that by now Bill was in Richmond, Virginia, and knowing that he said he would call her that morning, she decided it was best not to fall asleep again.  Glancing at the answering machine by her phone, she saw she had not missed his call.

   Stretching her arms high, and letting out a yawn, she sat up, slipping her toes into a pair of lavender, fuzzy slippers, before standing, turning to one of her bedroom windows and opening the blinds.  Her eyes lit up as she saw a fresh blanket of snow covering the earth, save in the road and driveways where cars came and went on their way into the day.  This was the first good snowfall they had seen since Christmas, and it covered the cold earth under three inches of white, powdery snow.

   It was a winter wonderland outside, and seemed to be a fitting backdrop to follow the evening before.  The fairytale was just continuing for Camille, and it could only be better if Bill were still in town.  Still, even though he wasn’t Camille was determined to enjoy the day, and every good day started with her favorite breakfast; two strips of bacon with three eggs fried sunny side up.

   Downstairs in the kitchen, Camille began frying the strips of bacon while listening to the morning news that was on a small television set sitting on the counter.  She glanced at the clock on the microwave and saw that it was almost eight-thirty.  She had hoped that Bill would have called by now, but guessed that he was just sleeping in a little while after getting into his hotel late last night.

   However, before Camille could get her strips of bacon off the pan, the telephone sprung to life and finally rang.  Slightly surprised by it, Camille said, “Goodness Bill, you have some awkward timing don’t you?”  She let out a giggle, then as she placed the second bacon strip on her plate, she added, “Hee, hee, alright Bill, just hold on a second.  Better turn the burner down to low first.”

   She quickly turned the burner dial on the stove top down to low, sat down the tongs she was using, and quickly picked up the phone on its fourth ring.  As she expected, it was Bill on the other end of the line, and he sounded thrilled just to hear her voice again, and it was the same for Camille; the feelings of love and warmth just flooded over from the night before.

   Bill told her that he only got a little sleep on the flight over, but that they arrived in Richmond early that morning, and after getting settled into his hotel room, he passed out, dreaming happily just as she did.  When he woke up, his parents were already on their way, and now he was quickly getting bored, and only wished he hadn’t had to come along in the first place, so that he and Camille could spend the day together.

   After he had finished explaining this, Camille replied, “Aww Bill, I do too.  I wonder why you had to come along in the first place if you don’t have anything to do.”

   “Oh Camille, yes you do, think about it,” Bill started, “Last night was the Valentine’s Dance, and my parents knew I had a date with a girl I’m really serious about.  It wouldn’t be proper if they left me with the whole house to myself, and considering most of all that they would be gone yesterday evening, it would be irresponsible of them to leave me, or possibly us, alone, you get it?”

   Camille let out a laugh, then said, “Well, now that you mention it, that does kind of make sense.  Aww, I’m just sorry you’re so bored Bill.  You don’t even have your rental car do you?  You’re just stuck in the hotel aren’t you?”

   “Well, that’s true, but our hotel has a shuttle service and everything, and I can walk around town if I want to,” Bill said.

   There was a pause after he stopped speaking, and Camille, concerned when he didn’t speak, asked, “Are you okay Bill?  It sounded like you had more to say.”

   Bill let out a laugh and said, “I’m fine…and you’re right.”  Letting out a sigh he added, “I just…I wish you were here with me.  This would be a lot easier to deal with if that were so.  If my parents had let me stay home and trusted me a little it would be even better…I can’t stand them sometimes.”

   Getting a carton of eggs out from the refrigerator, Camille replied, “Oh Bill, don’t be upset with them.  They do love you after all…I mean, think about it.  There are plenty of kids out there who’s parents couldn’t care less about them, you’re so lucky you have them to love you and take care of you.”  She cringed softly, just fortunate he couldn’t see her face, for she knew she was one of those unfortunate kids she had just described.  Glancing around at that empty house, she felt like her heart was crying, and for a moment she didn’t feel hungry anymore, her happiness threatening to slip away from her.

   However, before she could begin to despair, she heard Bill’s voice on the phone, pulling her out of this cloud of misery, his love in her heart filling her with warmth and happiness again.  He laughed, then replied, “I guess you’re right Camille, and I do love them, even if we are at odds with each other sometimes, I know they’ll always be there for me.”  He paused, then continued, “Speaking of which, I want you to get to know them better when we get back; they already said it would be okay if you had dinner with us once in awhile, so we’ll see about that when I get home alright?”

   Camille laughed softly, leaning against the counter and said, “Alright, that sounds okay with me.  …You’ll be getting back on Sunday night, right?”

   “Mmm, yeah, sometime that evening, but I guess we won’t see each other until school on Monday.  Anyway, we’ll talk about it then…I’ll make a point to bring it up to my parents again…maybe some time next week will be alright, does that sound good?” Bill asked.

   “It sounds better than good to me Bill…I just wish Monday would hurry up and get here for once,” Camille said, “I miss you already.  I just wish last night never ended…it was so perfect, I’ll never forget it.”

   Bill let out a chuckle and said, “I’m with you on all counts.  Hmm, don’t worry, only reason last night was so wonderful, is because you’re simply amazing.  …I love you Camille.”

   Moving to a nearby chair, Camille hugged her knees with one arm, and replied, “Aww Bill…I love you too.  If I’m amazing then you’re just incredible, there’s not a doubt about that.”

   “You know, I think…that together we’re even better, and that’s what made last night so perfect…you and me.  I’ve never cared about anything or anyone more in my life than I do about you Camille.  You’re my girl, and you never forget that, alright?” Bill replied, on the verge of a whisper.

   Camille felt ready to cry, and to her surprise, tears fell silently from her eyes; “Oh Bill…I—I don’t know what to say…you’re just so incredibly sweet I—I’m so lucky that I have someone like you who really loves me.”  She did her best to hide her tears, but by the time she finished speaking, she had to sniff a couple times, and alerted Bill to her tears.

   “Aww sweetie…don’t cry.  Yes, I do love you with all my heart for all you are and ever will be…just, don’t forget that and you’ll be just fine.  No matter what, I will never stop loving you, okay?  I promise this from my bottom of my heart,” Bill said.

   Nodding gently, Camille dried up her tears and answered, “I promise I won’t forget, as long as you promise not to forget I return that same love to you with no less affection and warmth.”

   Laughing softly, Bill replied, “Alright, I promise I won’t forget.”  He paused, then said, “Oh snap…my parents are back already.  Heh, watch, they will have gone out to breakfast and brought something back for me before Dad goes to his business meeting.  Mom’s probably gonna take me out shopping or something.  …I gotta go Camille, but I’ll call you back this evening okay?  I love you.”

   Camille stood up, glancing at the frying pan on the stove.  As she reached over to turn the burner back up, she said, “Alright Bill…I’ll talk to you later.  Take care out in all that snow alright?  It’s beautiful but I don’t want you catching cold.”

   “Ha!  I know…and I will.  Bye Camille,” Bill answered.

   “Bye Bill, I love you too,” Camille replied.  They got off the phone after this, and she went back to preparing her breakfast.  She fried up three eggs, then let the pan soak in water while she sat down to eat, watching the news about the snowfall as she did so.  It then dawned on her that she had no plans for the day, so while she washed up the few dishes she used, she began to think of how she could spend that afternoon.

   She went upstairs to get dressed, and decided at last to call Katrina to see if she wanted to go out shopping or something.  She gave her a call, and the girls decided that they would go out for lunch, catch a movie, and then have dinner at her house that night.  Camille was just happy she would have a way to keep busy so she wouldn’t be focused solely on missing Bill.

   Katrina only lived two houses down from Camille, and was on the same side of the street as well, so shortly before noon, Camille walked down the road to Katrina’s house.  They were soon in Katrina’s car on their way to the mall.  As they pulled out of the driveway and down the road, however, they didn’t notice a blue truck with a missing hubcap on the front left tire, parked on the side of the road not far from her house.  Little did they know, this was Jeff parked in his truck.  He was watching Camille, waiting for his moment to strike, and saw her carefree walk down the road as a possible opportunity come that night.  For now however, he followed the girls to the mall so he could keep an eye on her.  Without Bill around, he had nothing to fear.

   At the mall, Camille used only one of her gift cards, wanting to save the others for another visit, but the girls still had a good time.  They went to all their favorite stores, stopping for lunch at the food court while they tried to choose what movie to see that afternoon.  Still, they were under the constant watch of Jeff Mitchell, hanging just out of their sight, but close enough to so he could keep track of Camille.  He knew he only had a limited window of opportunity to make his move.  If he didn’t sometime that weekend, he didn’t know if he’d have the chance to later, besides…his rage towards her had reached its climax.  He couldn’t wait any longer; he simply had to attack her that night.

   It was no longer just about Bill anymore.  As Jeff followed Katrina and Camille, his anger grew, but not towards his rival; instead, he was growing increasingly angry at Camille.  She had rejected him for Bill Hampton, the long blonde haired soccer and basketball star Jeff despised more than anyone, so in his mind, Camille was no better than Bill was for stealing her away from him.

   The more and more he thought about this, his hatred of Camille only grew.  He couldn’t stand it.  Everybody loved her…she was the perfect girl, and the one girl he could never have, and he hated her for it.  Sure, he was attacking her to get back at Bill at first, but now, it was more than just defeating his rival.  He was going to show Bill and everyone else that if he couldn’t have her, nobody could.  Hell, he wouldn’t even stand to let Camille be happy anymore.  He would destroy Bill’s happiness, as well as Camille’s happiness, in return for them destroying his own.

   Afternoon came, and Jeff followed the girls to the movie theater.  He unwillingly bought a ticket to the same movie they decided to see, disgusted that he would have to sit through the two hour movie that he hated.  Still, he had to keep Camille in his sight, and sat in the back row of the theater, not only so he had a good view of her in the front row, but also so he could grumble and groan without being heard.

   The movie finally ended, and while the torture was about to end for Jeff, the nightmare was only beginning for Camille.  She and Katrina went back to Katrina’s house for dinner while Jeff remained parked across the street from the house separating hers and Camille’s as night fell.  He knew that Camille would walk home alone that night, for she had done so many times before, and thus was lulled into a false sense of security about it whenever she did so.  He would use this to his advantage, and attack her as she walked home.  All he had to do now was wait, and as night fell, more storm clouds gathered overhead, threatening to dump another layer of fresh snow on the already blanketed earth.

   Once Camille and the Bradfords had finished dinner, Camille decided she was ready to go home.  Her main reason was that she was tired, but of course, as she and Katrina exchanged smiles and giggles, one could tell she was really eager to get home so she didn’t miss Bill’s phone call.  Since it was already eight thirty, she didn’t want to risk missing it by staying there any longer.

   She gathered up her shopping bags and got ready to leave.  This wasn’t anything new, for Camille had indeed walked home on her own many times in the past, and for that reason even Katrina’s parents felt secure enough in letting her do so.  Unfortunately, as goodbyes were exchanged, they had no idea that Camille was about to walk into the open arms of a night that threatened to shatter that security forever.

   Camille set off on what should have been a short, one minute tops, walk back to her house.  She glanced up at the now cloudy sky, and said to herself, “Wow, it looks like it’s going to snow again.  Boy, I wonder if they’re getting anymore snow in Richmond.”

   She paused, only steps away from her front door to find her keys, letting out a sweet, but sad sigh, and then whispered, “I only wish Monday would hurry up and get here.  It’s only been one day and I miss him like he’s been gone for months, or as if that’s how long he’s going to be gone.  I just…love him so much; I don’t know what I’d do without him.”

   As she walked up to her front porch, she paused, for she could have sworn she heard a car door shut somewhere, and yet she couldn’t see anyone.  As she sat her shopping bags down on the porch, she paused and looked around, and yet all she could see was the dark neighborhood around her…and some blue truck with a missing hubcap that shouldn’t be there…and yet was so…familiar.

   “Who’s there?” Camille cried out softly.  She suddenly felt afraid, and took two steps back onto her front stoop, trying to find the key to her front door as she did so and at the same time unwilling to take her eyes off the uncertain darkness.  Finally, she paused, looking down to her hands to find the right key and added, “I know someone is out there…I recognize your truck.  Where are you?  Stay away from me, I’m warning you!”

   Camille had a strong spirit and an even stronger will to fight, but couldn’t begin to prepare for what was about to happen.  Having found her house key at last, she turned around to face the door, only to find a bulky figure now separating her from it, and escape.  As the figure’s arms shot out of the darkness to grab her, a voice came cold from the person, and said, “What are you warning me from…a terrified scream?”

   The person cupped his gloved hand over her mouth, and as he stepped into what little moonlight shone down on them, his face became visible to her, and she was finally able to match the truck…and the voice, with her attacker.  It was indeed Jeff Mitchell, and now that he had her in a vice-like grip, trapped between two football player arms, which were still weaker than Bill’s but no less powerful, it appeared that there was infact no escape from this terror that now had her tightly woven in its grasp.

   As he pushed her a few steps back into her yard, slowly heading towards the street, she let out a cry, fighting to get away, even though her struggling was in vain.  She dropped her keys in the snow, and she knew with Jeff’s hand covering her mouth, her only other option, screaming for help, could not be managed.

   Yet as they reached the curb of the street, slowly backing up to Jeff’s truck, he continued to glower at her, hatred pouring from the depths of his heart and focused into this paralyzing glare that Camille tried in vain to keep from looking at.  Finally, he slammed her hard into the side of his truck, and continuing from his earlier thought, he cupped her chin with the hand he held over her mouth, forcing her to look him in the eyes, and whispered, “Oh baby…I want you to scream.  I want this to be the most terrifying and frightening night of your life.  I’ll teach you and Bill both a lesson.  He thinks he’s so great getting to date you, I’ll show you both who’s boss.  So yes…go ahead and scream…just…make sure the neighbors don’t hear you.  That would really put a damper on my victory party.”

   If she didn’t know what was going to happen before, Camille was now all too aware of what Jeff was about to do.  He wasn’t going to be satisfied by simply beating her up.  He had to go for a deeper blow; he was going to shove her into the back of his truck, and rape her.

   Instead of letting out a scream of fear and rage, Camille let out a cry of sorrow and dread.  Though she still tried to fight him off until the very end, she was already crying inside.  She only wished Bill was there to help her, but he wasn’t, and now that she was alone, she could only pray for God to send his angels to see her through until the end.  She wished now that she hadn’t walked home alone every night, even for such a short walk, of course now, there was no turning back.

   Jeff’s truck was much smaller than Bill’s, Bill having the biggest truck model available, and Jeff’s truck barely had room for two side facing seats in the back.  Still he shoved her roughly into the back of it, scratching and bruising her in places and on top of a pile of plastic bottles, other trash, and even the occasional beer bottle as well.

   After pulling his truck door closed behind him, the nightmare began.  Instead of knocking her out, Jeff simply gagged Camille, allowing him to fulfill his words from before.  He wanted to hear her scream; he wanted to feel her terror; he wanted to see her pain…it was all part of the satisfaction of revenge.  He was finally defeating Bill by hurting the one person he cared about most in his life, and at the same time, he was crushing Camille, breaking her strong spirit, and threatening to destroy any glimmer of happiness and hope she had left in the absence of a loving family and a normal life.

   Camille kept her eyes closed through most of it.  Occasionally Jeff would shout for her to cry out, resorting to cutting her with a pocket knife in order to make her scream in pain.  It was total hell; her muffled screams were unable to be heard by anyone, but were just loud and close enough for Jeff to let out a laugh as he carried on with this merciless act.  Still, he made such light of what he was doing; he was actually enjoying himself.  He enjoyed raping Camille; he enjoyed cutting her soft, tan skin; he enjoyed threatening to choke her, forcing his hands onto her neck and tightening them until she let out another cry.  He would run his finger up and down her skin, smearing the blood from these fresh cuts into letters and streaks.  This really was just a victory party for him, and yet, with each cry, Camille began to express something different.  She went from being afraid, angry, and fighting to get away, to begging for mercy, ready to submit to him just so the pain could go away…and after so much time passed, she fell limp beneath him, barely conscious.  Whether she was going weak from the loss of blood, fatigue, or fear, it didn’t matter…she was ready to give in.  She just didn’t want to hurt anymore, no matter what, even if death was her only escape.

   She had never felt so alone, scared, and hurt in her life, and felt that even God had abandoned her, and yet, as she started to grow weak, she opened her left eye just enough for her to see, but not enough for Jeff to see it open.  As he continued to laugh happily to himself, ranting about how he was the victor over both her and Bill Hampton, she looked out the window of his truck and could see it was snowing heavily outside.  She felt a shiver run through her, and a tear finally fell from her eyes, for while she would scream and cry in pain, it wasn’t until now that tears fell from her eyes, and they stung them, and offered no hope or consolation for peace.

   Closing her eyes, she continue to silently weep.  For whatever reason, Jeff finally stopped cutting her, though he would scratch at her wounds with his fingernails on occasion.  Still, as the rape continued, Camille prayed, “God, why did this happen?  Why do you bring me such happiness and joy, and then shove me into a never ending pit of despair?  What’s worse is I’m falling into this pit all alone…why have you left me alone to suffer?  You’ve always been there for me…on the nights when my father came home so drunk he was barely conscious; you were there when my sister was killed and hardly anyone cared; you were there every night I was alone and left to cry in a dark closet that slowly became more comforting than that lonely bed of mine.  Every time I’ve needed you, you’ve been there…why have you left me now?  Why, when I need to feel you and your son Jesus the most have you deserted me?  I’m weak Lord, I can’t make it without your guiding spirit, please, don’t leave me now…please…”

   Her thoughts fell short when she heard Jeff speak, about something other than his “victory.”  He muttered, “Dammit, where’d that knife go?  What a time for it to get lost in this pile of crap.  Humph.”

   Camille winced when he said that; right when she couldn’t stand the thought of being cut again, and Jeff threatened to bring this to be, he lost his knife.  It was almost as if this was an immediate answer to her prayer.  She opened her left eye again, and saw the snow storm had quieted down to a soft flurry, allowing for moonlight to pour down from the sky; she could even see stars in the sky, and for some reason, she felt a warm presence beside her, almost as if an angel had taken its place beside her after all that time.  She didn’t know if this was the truth, but whatever had taken place, it brought her comfort, and her faith was restored; she knew she wasn’t alone anymore.

   She inhaled deeply, exhaled slowly, and prayed, “Thank you Lord…I—I know you have never left me.  Please, see me through this as you have seen me through the troubles of the past.  Lead me in your way Lord, as you will it to be done.”

   Her tears subsided, and though she was still scared, she tried her best to relax through the pain, and before much more time passed, the nightmare ended.  He pulled the gag off her mouth, and after that he threw her clothes at her, giving her a cold glare as he put his own clothes back on.  She did the same, slowly, the two of them not taking their eyes off each other, Jeff continuing to stare at her fiercely, while Camille gave him a look of both anger and fear.

   He pushed her onto the street once she was dressed, jumping out after her, picking her up roughly and pushing her once more into her snow covered front yard.  As she curled up from the pain, trying to recover and look at him, he muttered, “There you go Bill Hampton…now she’s all yours, hope she was worth all the false hope and love.”

   Finally, Camille struggled to her knees, turning around, her arms wrapped around her bloodstained shirt as she glared at him.  She said, “You…you only did this because you’re too much of a coward to face Bill.”

   Jeff was ready to walk away, but turned around once more, cackling softly as he knelt down and said, “No girly, I did it for more than just getting back at him.  I did it to get you down off your high horse too.  Hell, everyone in the freaking school loves you, even all those so-called jocks who I am disgusted to know treat you like Homecoming Queen.  I couldn’t stand to see that everyone liked you…now you know…somebody out there does hate you…this is just a testament to that, and you never forget it, you filthy bitch.”

   He stood up walking back to his truck, got into it, started it up, and drove off without another word.  Once his truck was out of sight, Camille began to cry again, pawing around in the snow helplessly to find her keys.  The snow continued to fall softly on the ground around her, and as it melted it soothed the cuts and bruises underneath her clothes.  She continued to cry, unsure of what to think, or do, or say in reaction to what Jeff had said and done to her in a course of a couple hours that night.  She felt as though she was shattered into a million pieces and tossed into the wind.  She felt lost, helpless, and unloved; she couldn’t imagine any worse feeling in the world.

   She finally found her keys, and slowly rose to her feet, her legs going weak beneath her.  She stumbled to her knees when she got to the front door, the shopping bags still where she sat them before Jeff attacked her.  Taking hold of the door handle, she pulled herself to her feet, opened the outer glass door and managed to slip the key into the locked front door.  Once she opened it, she grabbed the shopping bags off the porch, sliding them inside, before falling to her knees and crawling in after them.

   The house was dark, and she kicked the door closed behind her.  She looked up, pushing the shopping bags up to the couch, before crawling over to it and getting onto it.  She laid down on it, clutching one of the pillows on it and crying some more.  After a few more minutes, she found she was too tired to cry anymore, and slowly calmed down, on the verge of falling asleep.

   However, before she could fall asleep, she caught sight of something.  A red light was flashing on the kitchen counter.  Intrigued by it, she managed to stand up and stumble weakly over to it.  Resting against the counter, she turned on the light above the stove, and saw that someone had left a message on the answering machine.  After all that pain and misery, Bill hadn’t weighed too heavily on her mind, but now she realized that he must have called right when all of this was happening and left her a message.

   Her heart sank, and though she was almost unwilling to listen to it for whatever reason, she was desperate to have Bill there to hold her and comfort her through all this, and figured hearing his voice was the best she could do.  She pressed the button, continuing to lean on the counter, about ready to faint from fatigue and pain.

   “Hey Camille…where are you?  You silly girl, you knew I was going to call you tonight.  What, did you and Katrina go and spend those gift cards without me?  Ah, I’m just kidding.  I’m sure you just lost track of time having fun…that’s okay.  I had quite a whirlwind of a day too.  Mom and I went shopping together…I got you a present…okay, two presents.  I couldn’t help it…I love buying you things.  Anyway, you’ll love them I’m sure.  I’m awfully tired right now, but, yeah, couldn’t go to sleep without calling the woman I love right?  Hmm, well, I love you Camille.  That’s one day out of the way, one day closer to Monday.  Can’t wait to see you, but, you take care until then alright?  Have nothing but sweet dreams and a good night okay?  I’ll call you tomorrow, just, make sure you’re here this time…heh, kidding, anyway, love you, and goodnight.”

   By the end of the message, Camille had slid down to the floor, leaning up against the cabinet, and was crying again.  Bill had no idea what had just happened that night; how was she going to tell him?  She was beginning to feel like the filthy wretch that Jeff had made her out to be.  Maybe…that was what Jeff wanted; he did this so when Bill found out he wouldn’t want anything to do with her.  Camille suddenly felt sick; did this mean she would have to let her one true love go?

   She crawled up the stairs, managed to make it into her bed, before lying down, desperate for sleep.  Only yesterday evening was she the happiest she had ever been, and now, she felt more alone and grief stricken than she dreamed she ever would be.

   “I love you Bill, but, how far can that love take us?  Is it really over before it got the chance to begin?  Why God, why couldn’t Bill and I have our chance?  What is your plan for us?  What’s supposed to happen now?” Camille prayed.

   As that snow storm ridden night came to an end, it seemed that it led up to the beginning of more than just a new day.  Instead, a new road opened up before both Camille and Bill, one they would end up facing together, no matter what came their way, even if so many uncertainties were still left to come.

Description
"Two True Loves"
By: Jade Lightning, a.k.a. Inuyashas-hanyougirl
Chapter 6: A Dark and Chilling Snowstorm

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   That next morning, when Camille woke up, the happiness from last night was still lingering from her dreams.  Opening her eyes, she saw the roses, one from yesterday morning, the other from last evening, still in their vase, and the Valentine’s Queen tiara sitting next to them.  Her mind was again flooded with the romance of the night before, and letting out a happy sigh, she was comforted by the fact that all that love was real, and not just a dream.

   Still, she knew that by now Bill was in Richmond, Virginia, and knowing that he said he would call her that morning, she decided it was best not to fall asleep again.  Glancing at the answering machine by her phone, she saw she had not missed his call.

   Stretching her arms high, and letting out a yawn, she sat up, slipping her toes into a pair of lavender, fuzzy slippers, before standing, turning to one of her bedroom windows and opening the blinds.  Her eyes lit up as she saw a fresh blanket of snow covering the earth, save in the road and driveways where cars came and went on their way into the day.  This was the first good snowfall they had seen since Christmas, and it covered the cold earth under three inches of white, powdery snow.

   It was a winter wonderland outside, and seemed to be a fitting backdrop to follow the evening before.  The fairytale was just continuing for Camille, and it could only be better if Bill were still in town.  Still, even though he wasn’t Camille was determined to enjoy the day, and every good day started with her favorite breakfast; two strips of bacon with three eggs fried sunny side up.

   Downstairs in the kitchen, Camille began frying the strips of bacon while listening to the morning news that was on a small television set sitting on the counter.  She glanced at the clock on the microwave and saw that it was almost eight-thirty.  She had hoped that Bill would have called by now, but guessed that he was just sleeping in a little while after getting into his hotel late last night.

   However, before Camille could get her strips of bacon off the pan, the telephone sprung to life and finally rang.  Slightly surprised by it, Camille said, “Goodness Bill, you have some awkward timing don’t you?”  She let out a giggle, then as she placed the second bacon strip on her plate, she added, “Hee, hee, alright Bill, just hold on a second.  Better turn the burner down to low first.”

   She quickly turned the burner dial on the stove top down to low, sat down the tongs she was using, and quickly picked up the phone on its fourth ring.  As she expected, it was Bill on the other end of the line, and he sounded thrilled just to hear her voice again, and it was the same for Camille; the feelings of love and warmth just flooded over from the night before.

   Bill told her that he only got a little sleep on the flight over, but that they arrived in Richmond early that morning, and after getting settled into his hotel room, he passed out, dreaming happily just as she did.  When he woke up, his parents were already on their way, and now he was quickly getting bored, and only wished he hadn’t had to come along in the first place, so that he and Camille could spend the day together.

   After he had finished explaining this, Camille replied, “Aww Bill, I do too.  I wonder why you had to come along in the first place if you don’t have anything to do.”

   “Oh Camille, yes you do, think about it,” Bill started, “Last night was the Valentine’s Dance, and my parents knew I had a date with a girl I’m really serious about.  It wouldn’t be proper if they left me with the whole house to myself, and considering most of all that they would be gone yesterday evening, it would be irresponsible of them to leave me, or possibly us, alone, you get it?”

   Camille let out a laugh, then said, “Well, now that you mention it, that does kind of make sense.  Aww, I’m just sorry you’re so bored Bill.  You don’t even have your rental car do you?  You’re just stuck in the hotel aren’t you?”

   “Well, that’s true, but our hotel has a shuttle service and everything, and I can walk around town if I want to,” Bill said.

   There was a pause after he stopped speaking, and Camille, concerned when he didn’t speak, asked, “Are you okay Bill?  It sounded like you had more to say.”

   Bill let out a laugh and said, “I’m fine…and you’re right.”  Letting out a sigh he added, “I just…I wish you were here with me.  This would be a lot easier to deal with if that were so.  If my parents had let me stay home and trusted me a little it would be even better…I can’t stand them sometimes.”

   Getting a carton of eggs out from the refrigerator, Camille replied, “Oh Bill, don’t be upset with them.  They do love you after all…I mean, think about it.  There are plenty of kids out there who’s parents couldn’t care less about them, you’re so lucky you have them to love you and take care of you.”  She cringed softly, just fortunate he couldn’t see her face, for she knew she was one of those unfortunate kids she had just described.  Glancing around at that empty house, she felt like her heart was crying, and for a moment she didn’t feel hungry anymore, her happiness threatening to slip away from her.

   However, before she could begin to despair, she heard Bill’s voice on the phone, pulling her out of this cloud of misery, his love in her heart filling her with warmth and happiness again.  He laughed, then replied, “I guess you’re right Camille, and I do love them, even if we are at odds with each other sometimes, I know they’ll always be there for me.”  He paused, then continued, “Speaking of which, I want you to get to know them better when we get back; they already said it would be okay if you had dinner with us once in awhile, so we’ll see about that when I get home alright?”

   Camille laughed softly, leaning against the counter and said, “Alright, that sounds okay with me.  …You’ll be getting back on Sunday night, right?”

   “Mmm, yeah, sometime that evening, but I guess we won’t see each other until school on Monday.  Anyway, we’ll talk about it then…I’ll make a point to bring it up to my parents again…maybe some time next week will be alright, does that sound good?” Bill asked.

   “It sounds better than good to me Bill…I just wish Monday would hurry up and get here for once,” Camille said, “I miss you already.  I just wish last night never ended…it was so perfect, I’ll never forget it.”

   Bill let out a chuckle and said, “I’m with you on all counts.  Hmm, don’t worry, only reason last night was so wonderful, is because you’re simply amazing.  …I love you Camille.”

   Moving to a nearby chair, Camille hugged her knees with one arm, and replied, “Aww Bill…I love you too.  If I’m amazing then you’re just incredible, there’s not a doubt about that.”

   “You know, I think…that together we’re even better, and that’s what made last night so perfect…you and me.  I’ve never cared about anything or anyone more in my life than I do about you Camille.  You’re my girl, and you never forget that, alright?” Bill replied, on the verge of a whisper.

   Camille felt ready to cry, and to her surprise, tears fell silently from her eyes; “Oh Bill…I—I don’t know what to say…you’re just so incredibly sweet I—I’m so lucky that I have someone like you who really loves me.”  She did her best to hide her tears, but by the time she finished speaking, she had to sniff a couple times, and alerted Bill to her tears.

   “Aww sweetie…don’t cry.  Yes, I do love you with all my heart for all you are and ever will be…just, don’t forget that and you’ll be just fine.  No matter what, I will never stop loving you, okay?  I promise this from my bottom of my heart,” Bill said.

   Nodding gently, Camille dried up her tears and answered, “I promise I won’t forget, as long as you promise not to forget I return that same love to you with no less affection and warmth.”

   Laughing softly, Bill replied, “Alright, I promise I won’t forget.”  He paused, then said, “Oh snap…my parents are back already.  Heh, watch, they will have gone out to breakfast and brought something back for me before Dad goes to his business meeting.  Mom’s probably gonna take me out shopping or something.  …I gotta go Camille, but I’ll call you back this evening okay?  I love you.”

   Camille stood up, glancing at the frying pan on the stove.  As she reached over to turn the burner back up, she said, “Alright Bill…I’ll talk to you later.  Take care out in all that snow alright?  It’s beautiful but I don’t want you catching cold.”

   “Ha!  I know…and I will.  Bye Camille,” Bill answered.

   “Bye Bill, I love you too,” Camille replied.  They got off the phone after this, and she went back to preparing her breakfast.  She fried up three eggs, then let the pan soak in water while she sat down to eat, watching the news about the snowfall as she did so.  It then dawned on her that she had no plans for the day, so while she washed up the few dishes she used, she began to think of how she could spend that afternoon.

   She went upstairs to get dressed, and decided at last to call Katrina to see if she wanted to go out shopping or something.  She gave her a call, and the girls decided that they would go out for lunch, catch a movie, and then have dinner at her house that night.  Camille was just happy she would have a way to keep busy so she wouldn’t be focused solely on missing Bill.

   Katrina only lived two houses down from Camille, and was on the same side of the street as well, so shortly before noon, Camille walked down the road to Katrina’s house.  They were soon in Katrina’s car on their way to the mall.  As they pulled out of the driveway and down the road, however, they didn’t notice a blue truck with a missing hubcap on the front left tire, parked on the side of the road not far from her house.  Little did they know, this was Jeff parked in his truck.  He was watching Camille, waiting for his moment to strike, and saw her carefree walk down the road as a possible opportunity come that night.  For now however, he followed the girls to the mall so he could keep an eye on her.  Without Bill around, he had nothing to fear.

   At the mall, Camille used only one of her gift cards, wanting to save the others for another visit, but the girls still had a good time.  They went to all their favorite stores, stopping for lunch at the food court while they tried to choose what movie to see that afternoon.  Still, they were under the constant watch of Jeff Mitchell, hanging just out of their sight, but close enough to so he could keep track of Camille.  He knew he only had a limited window of opportunity to make his move.  If he didn’t sometime that weekend, he didn’t know if he’d have the chance to later, besides…his rage towards her had reached its climax.  He couldn’t wait any longer; he simply had to attack her that night.

   It was no longer just about Bill anymore.  As Jeff followed Katrina and Camille, his anger grew, but not towards his rival; instead, he was growing increasingly angry at Camille.  She had rejected him for Bill Hampton, the long blonde haired soccer and basketball star Jeff despised more than anyone, so in his mind, Camille was no better than Bill was for stealing her away from him.

   The more and more he thought about this, his hatred of Camille only grew.  He couldn’t stand it.  Everybody loved her…she was the perfect girl, and the one girl he could never have, and he hated her for it.  Sure, he was attacking her to get back at Bill at first, but now, it was more than just defeating his rival.  He was going to show Bill and everyone else that if he couldn’t have her, nobody could.  Hell, he wouldn’t even stand to let Camille be happy anymore.  He would destroy Bill’s happiness, as well as Camille’s happiness, in return for them destroying his own.

   Afternoon came, and Jeff followed the girls to the movie theater.  He unwillingly bought a ticket to the same movie they decided to see, disgusted that he would have to sit through the two hour movie that he hated.  Still, he had to keep Camille in his sight, and sat in the back row of the theater, not only so he had a good view of her in the front row, but also so he could grumble and groan without being heard.

   The movie finally ended, and while the torture was about to end for Jeff, the nightmare was only beginning for Camille.  She and Katrina went back to Katrina’s house for dinner while Jeff remained parked across the street from the house separating hers and Camille’s as night fell.  He knew that Camille would walk home alone that night, for she had done so many times before, and thus was lulled into a false sense of security about it whenever she did so.  He would use this to his advantage, and attack her as she walked home.  All he had to do now was wait, and as night fell, more storm clouds gathered overhead, threatening to dump another layer of fresh snow on the already blanketed earth.

   Once Camille and the Bradfords had finished dinner, Camille decided she was ready to go home.  Her main reason was that she was tired, but of course, as she and Katrina exchanged smiles and giggles, one could tell she was really eager to get home so she didn’t miss Bill’s phone call.  Since it was already eight thirty, she didn’t want to risk missing it by staying there any longer.

   She gathered up her shopping bags and got ready to leave.  This wasn’t anything new, for Camille had indeed walked home on her own many times in the past, and for that reason even Katrina’s parents felt secure enough in letting her do so.  Unfortunately, as goodbyes were exchanged, they had no idea that Camille was about to walk into the open arms of a night that threatened to shatter that security forever.

   Camille set off on what should have been a short, one minute tops, walk back to her house.  She glanced up at the now cloudy sky, and said to herself, “Wow, it looks like it’s going to snow again.  Boy, I wonder if they’re getting anymore snow in Richmond.”

   She paused, only steps away from her front door to find her keys, letting out a sweet, but sad sigh, and then whispered, “I only wish Monday would hurry up and get here.  It’s only been one day and I miss him like he’s been gone for months, or as if that’s how long he’s going to be gone.  I just…love him so much; I don’t know what I’d do without him.”

   As she walked up to her front porch, she paused, for she could have sworn she heard a car door shut somewhere, and yet she couldn’t see anyone.  As she sat her shopping bags down on the porch, she paused and looked around, and yet all she could see was the dark neighborhood around her…and some blue truck with a missing hubcap that shouldn’t be there…and yet was so…familiar.

   “Who’s there?” Camille cried out softly.  She suddenly felt afraid, and took two steps back onto her front stoop, trying to find the key to her front door as she did so and at the same time unwilling to take her eyes off the uncertain darkness.  Finally, she paused, looking down to her hands to find the right key and added, “I know someone is out there…I recognize your truck.  Where are you?  Stay away from me, I’m warning you!”

   Camille had a strong spirit and an even stronger will to fight, but couldn’t begin to prepare for what was about to happen.  Having found her house key at last, she turned around to face the door, only to find a bulky figure now separating her from it, and escape.  As the figure’s arms shot out of the darkness to grab her, a voice came cold from the person, and said, “What are you warning me from…a terrified scream?”

   The person cupped his gloved hand over her mouth, and as he stepped into what little moonlight shone down on them, his face became visible to her, and she was finally able to match the truck…and the voice, with her attacker.  It was indeed Jeff Mitchell, and now that he had her in a vice-like grip, trapped between two football player arms, which were still weaker than Bill’s but no less powerful, it appeared that there was infact no escape from this terror that now had her tightly woven in its grasp.

   As he pushed her a few steps back into her yard, slowly heading towards the street, she let out a cry, fighting to get away, even though her struggling was in vain.  She dropped her keys in the snow, and she knew with Jeff’s hand covering her mouth, her only other option, screaming for help, could not be managed.

   Yet as they reached the curb of the street, slowly backing up to Jeff’s truck, he continued to glower at her, hatred pouring from the depths of his heart and focused into this paralyzing glare that Camille tried in vain to keep from looking at.  Finally, he slammed her hard into the side of his truck, and continuing from his earlier thought, he cupped her chin with the hand he held over her mouth, forcing her to look him in the eyes, and whispered, “Oh baby…I want you to scream.  I want this to be the most terrifying and frightening night of your life.  I’ll teach you and Bill both a lesson.  He thinks he’s so great getting to date you, I’ll show you both who’s boss.  So yes…go ahead and scream…just…make sure the neighbors don’t hear you.  That would really put a damper on my victory party.”

   If she didn’t know what was going to happen before, Camille was now all too aware of what Jeff was about to do.  He wasn’t going to be satisfied by simply beating her up.  He had to go for a deeper blow; he was going to shove her into the back of his truck, and rape her.

   Instead of letting out a scream of fear and rage, Camille let out a cry of sorrow and dread.  Though she still tried to fight him off until the very end, she was already crying inside.  She only wished Bill was there to help her, but he wasn’t, and now that she was alone, she could only pray for God to send his angels to see her through until the end.  She wished now that she hadn’t walked home alone every night, even for such a short walk, of course now, there was no turning back.

   Jeff’s truck was much smaller than Bill’s, Bill having the biggest truck model available, and Jeff’s truck barely had room for two side facing seats in the back.  Still he shoved her roughly into the back of it, scratching and bruising her in places and on top of a pile of plastic bottles, other trash, and even the occasional beer bottle as well.

   After pulling his truck door closed behind him, the nightmare began.  Instead of knocking her out, Jeff simply gagged Camille, allowing him to fulfill his words from before.  He wanted to hear her scream; he wanted to feel her terror; he wanted to see her pain…it was all part of the satisfaction of revenge.  He was finally defeating Bill by hurting the one person he cared about most in his life, and at the same time, he was crushing Camille, breaking her strong spirit, and threatening to destroy any glimmer of happiness and hope she had left in the absence of a loving family and a normal life.

   Camille kept her eyes closed through most of it.  Occasionally Jeff would shout for her to cry out, resorting to cutting her with a pocket knife in order to make her scream in pain.  It was total hell; her muffled screams were unable to be heard by anyone, but were just loud and close enough for Jeff to let out a laugh as he carried on with this merciless act.  Still, he made such light of what he was doing; he was actually enjoying himself.  He enjoyed raping Camille; he enjoyed cutting her soft, tan skin; he enjoyed threatening to choke her, forcing his hands onto her neck and tightening them until she let out another cry.  He would run his finger up and down her skin, smearing the blood from these fresh cuts into letters and streaks.  This really was just a victory party for him, and yet, with each cry, Camille began to express something different.  She went from being afraid, angry, and fighting to get away, to begging for mercy, ready to submit to him just so the pain could go away…and after so much time passed, she fell limp beneath him, barely conscious.  Whether she was going weak from the loss of blood, fatigue, or fear, it didn’t matter…she was ready to give in.  She just didn’t want to hurt anymore, no matter what, even if death was her only escape.

   She had never felt so alone, scared, and hurt in her life, and felt that even God had abandoned her, and yet, as she started to grow weak, she opened her left eye just enough for her to see, but not enough for Jeff to see it open.  As he continued to laugh happily to himself, ranting about how he was the victor over both her and Bill Hampton, she looked out the window of his truck and could see it was snowing heavily outside.  She felt a shiver run through her, and a tear finally fell from her eyes, for while she would scream and cry in pain, it wasn’t until now that tears fell from her eyes, and they stung them, and offered no hope or consolation for peace.

   Closing her eyes, she continue to silently weep.  For whatever reason, Jeff finally stopped cutting her, though he would scratch at her wounds with his fingernails on occasion.  Still, as the rape continued, Camille prayed, “God, why did this happen?  Why do you bring me such happiness and joy, and then shove me into a never ending pit of despair?  What’s worse is I’m falling into this pit all alone…why have you left me alone to suffer?  You’ve always been there for me…on the nights when my father came home so drunk he was barely conscious; you were there when my sister was killed and hardly anyone cared; you were there every night I was alone and left to cry in a dark closet that slowly became more comforting than that lonely bed of mine.  Every time I’ve needed you, you’ve been there…why have you left me now?  Why, when I need to feel you and your son Jesus the most have you deserted me?  I’m weak Lord, I can’t make it without your guiding spirit, please, don’t leave me now…please…”

   Her thoughts fell short when she heard Jeff speak, about something other than his “victory.”  He muttered, “Dammit, where’d that knife go?  What a time for it to get lost in this pile of crap.  Humph.”

   Camille winced when he said that; right when she couldn’t stand the thought of being cut again, and Jeff threatened to bring this to be, he lost his knife.  It was almost as if this was an immediate answer to her prayer.  She opened her left eye again, and saw the snow storm had quieted down to a soft flurry, allowing for moonlight to pour down from the sky; she could even see stars in the sky, and for some reason, she felt a warm presence beside her, almost as if an angel had taken its place beside her after all that time.  She didn’t know if this was the truth, but whatever had taken place, it brought her comfort, and her faith was restored; she knew she wasn’t alone anymore.

   She inhaled deeply, exhaled slowly, and prayed, “Thank you Lord…I—I know you have never left me.  Please, see me through this as you have seen me through the troubles of the past.  Lead me in your way Lord, as you will it to be done.”

   Her tears subsided, and though she was still scared, she tried her best to relax through the pain, and before much more time passed, the nightmare ended.  He pulled the gag off her mouth, and after that he threw her clothes at her, giving her a cold glare as he put his own clothes back on.  She did the same, slowly, the two of them not taking their eyes off each other, Jeff continuing to stare at her fiercely, while Camille gave him a look of both anger and fear.

   He pushed her onto the street once she was dressed, jumping out after her, picking her up roughly and pushing her once more into her snow covered front yard.  As she curled up from the pain, trying to recover and look at him, he muttered, “There you go Bill Hampton…now she’s all yours, hope she was worth all the false hope and love.”

   Finally, Camille struggled to her knees, turning around, her arms wrapped around her bloodstained shirt as she glared at him.  She said, “You…you only did this because you’re too much of a coward to face Bill.”

   Jeff was ready to walk away, but turned around once more, cackling softly as he knelt down and said, “No girly, I did it for more than just getting back at him.  I did it to get you down off your high horse too.  Hell, everyone in the freaking school loves you, even all those so-called jocks who I am disgusted to know treat you like Homecoming Queen.  I couldn’t stand to see that everyone liked you…now you know…somebody out there does hate you…this is just a testament to that, and you never forget it, you filthy bitch.”

   He stood up walking back to his truck, got into it, started it up, and drove off without another word.  Once his truck was out of sight, Camille began to cry again, pawing around in the snow helplessly to find her keys.  The snow continued to fall softly on the ground around her, and as it melted it soothed the cuts and bruises underneath her clothes.  She continued to cry, unsure of what to think, or do, or say in reaction to what Jeff had said and done to her in a course of a couple hours that night.  She felt as though she was shattered into a million pieces and tossed into the wind.  She felt lost, helpless, and unloved; she couldn’t imagine any worse feeling in the world.

   She finally found her keys, and slowly rose to her feet, her legs going weak beneath her.  She stumbled to her knees when she got to the front door, the shopping bags still where she sat them before Jeff attacked her.  Taking hold of the door handle, she pulled herself to her feet, opened the outer glass door and managed to slip the key into the locked front door.  Once she opened it, she grabbed the shopping bags off the porch, sliding them inside, before falling to her knees and crawling in after them.

   The house was dark, and she kicked the door closed behind her.  She looked up, pushing the shopping bags up to the couch, before crawling over to it and getting onto it.  She laid down on it, clutching one of the pillows on it and crying some more.  After a few more minutes, she found she was too tired to cry anymore, and slowly calmed down, on the verge of falling asleep.

   However, before she could fall asleep, she caught sight of something.  A red light was flashing on the kitchen counter.  Intrigued by it, she managed to stand up and stumble weakly over to it.  Resting against the counter, she turned on the light above the stove, and saw that someone had left a message on the answering machine.  After all that pain and misery, Bill hadn’t weighed too heavily on her mind, but now she realized that he must have called right when all of this was happening and left her a message.

   Her heart sank, and though she was almost unwilling to listen to it for whatever reason, she was desperate to have Bill there to hold her and comfort her through all this, and figured hearing his voice was the best she could do.  She pressed the button, continuing to lean on the counter, about ready to faint from fatigue and pain.

   “Hey Camille…where are you?  You silly girl, you knew I was going to call you tonight.  What, did you and Katrina go and spend those gift cards without me?  Ah, I’m just kidding.  I’m sure you just lost track of time having fun…that’s okay.  I had quite a whirlwind of a day too.  Mom and I went shopping together…I got you a present…okay, two presents.  I couldn’t help it…I love buying you things.  Anyway, you’ll love them I’m sure.  I’m awfully tired right now, but, yeah, couldn’t go to sleep without calling the woman I love right?  Hmm, well, I love you Camille.  That’s one day out of the way, one day closer to Monday.  Can’t wait to see you, but, you take care until then alright?  Have nothing but sweet dreams and a good night okay?  I’ll call you tomorrow, just, make sure you’re here this time…heh, kidding, anyway, love you, and goodnight.”

   By the end of the message, Camille had slid down to the floor, leaning up against the cabinet, and was crying again.  Bill had no idea what had just happened that night; how was she going to tell him?  She was beginning to feel like the filthy wretch that Jeff had made her out to be.  Maybe…that was what Jeff wanted; he did this so when Bill found out he wouldn’t want anything to do with her.  Camille suddenly felt sick; did this mean she would have to let her one true love go?

   She crawled up the stairs, managed to make it into her bed, before lying down, desperate for sleep.  Only yesterday evening was she the happiest she had ever been, and now, she felt more alone and grief stricken than she dreamed she ever would be.

   “I love you Bill, but, how far can that love take us?  Is it really over before it got the chance to begin?  Why God, why couldn’t Bill and I have our chance?  What is your plan for us?  What’s supposed to happen now?” Camille prayed.

   As that snow storm ridden night came to an end, it seemed that it led up to the beginning of more than just a new day.  Instead, a new road opened up before both Camille and Bill, one they would end up facing together, no matter what came their way, even if so many uncertainties were still left to come.