Chapter 4 - Echoes in the Dark

Zack’s POV

The fire was already everywhere.

Heat pressed against my face as smoke swallowed the room, thick and suffocating, turning every breath into a struggle. I couldn't see the walls anymore, couldn't tell where the doorway was, and every attempt to move only seemed to take me deeper into the smoke.

Somewhere nearby, a child was crying.

“Help!”

I turned toward the voice, coughing as I tried to see through the flames. “Where are you?”

A small figure emerged from the haze, barely more than a shadow against the fire.

She was coughing too, but she kept moving toward me.

“Come with me!”

Before I could ask who she was, her tiny hand closed around mine.

I stumbled after her, too terrified to think about anything except getting out. The flames were closing in around us, crackling overhead and crawling across the walls. I could hear something collapsing somewhere behind us.

“Don't let go!”

“I won't!”

Her fingers tightened around mine, small and trembling.

Then something crashed between us.

Her hand slipped from mine.

“No!”

I reached for her blindly, but smoke filled my lungs as flames erupted between us.

“Wait!”

I lunged toward her—

I woke with a violent gasp.

For several seconds, I couldn't tell where I was.

My chest heaved as I sat upright, sweat running down my temples and soaking the back of my shirt. My heart pounded so hard it hurt, and I gripped the sheets beneath me while I forced myself to breathe.

Bedroom.

Bed.

Night.

I was home.

My eyes moved to the clock.

3:38 a.m.

I shut my eyes and dragged a trembling hand over my face.

The nightmare had returned.

It always did.

Sometimes it stayed away for weeks. Sometimes it came back after only a few nights, but it always found me eventually, dragging me into that burning room and leaving me with the same helplessness I had carried since I was a child.

I could never remember her face.

Only her hand.

Those small fingers wrapped tightly around mine. The sound of her frightened voice telling me to follow her. The desperate certainty in the way she pulled me toward safety.

And then the moment I lost her.

My jaw tightened as I pushed the memory away.

There was no point lying there pretending I could sleep again.

Not tonight.

Not after Cameron had come home.

I got out of bed, pulled on a shirt, and headed downstairs.

The house was quiet when I reached the living room, but a low conversation caught my attention.

Cameron was sitting near the window in her wheelchair, with her caregiver standing beside her. He had a small bag open and appeared to be checking its contents while speaking to her in a calm, ordinary voice.

I didn't think much of it.

She had been through a long journey. Maybe she needed something.

Cameron noticed me first.

The moment her eyes met mine, her hand rose to her temple, and her expression tightened.

“Zack…”

I crossed the room immediately. “What happened?”

“My head is hurting again.”

The concern that had already been sitting heavily in my chest sharpened. I crouched in front of her, studying her face. “How bad is it?”

She tried to wave it off, but the faint wince that crossed her features gave her away. “It's just a headache. I'll be fine.”

“You don't look fine.”

“I promise, it's nothing.”

“Cameron, you're shaking.”

She glanced down at her hands as though she hadn't noticed until I pointed it out. A tired smile touched her lips.

“I'm exhausted, Zack. That's all.”

“Did you take your medication?”

“Not yet.”

Her caregiver immediately handed me the medication and a glass of water. I helped Cameron take it, then remained beside her, watching until she settled back against the chair.

“You should have told me the moment you felt sick.”

She gave me a faint, almost apologetic smile. “I didn't want to wake anyone.”

“You could wake the entire house if you needed to.”

That earned a soft laugh from her, though she still looked pale.

“You don't have to look so worried,” she murmured.

I exhaled, rubbing a hand over the back of my neck. “I've spent years wondering if I'd ever see you again. Forgive me if I'm having a little trouble acting normal now that you're finally sitting in front of me.”

Her smile faded, replaced by something softer.

“I didn't mean to make you worry.”

“You disappeared.”

The words came out sharper than I intended.

Cameron's eyes dropped.

I immediately regretted the harshness in my voice, but the hurt behind it had been waiting too long.

“You disappeared for years, Cameron.” I leaned back slightly, struggling to keep my voice steady. “Do you have any idea how many times I wondered where you were? How many times I thought someone was going to call and tell me something had happened to you?”

Her eyes glistened.

“I know.”

“No.” I shook my head, my throat tightening. “I don't think you do. I kept hoping I'd open the door one day and find you standing there. I kept thinking maybe you'd walk back into our lives as if all those years had never happened.”

A tear slipped down her cheek.

“And now you are,” I whispered.

She wiped it away quickly, but her fingers were trembling.

“I'm sorry.”

“Don't apologize tonight.” My voice softened. “Just... don't.”

She looked at me helplessly. “Then what do you want me to do?”

“Stay.”

The word left me before I could stop it.

Her lips parted slightly, and for a moment neither of us spoke.

Then she nodded.

“I plan to.”

Something inside my chest loosened.

I reached for her hand, closing my fingers around hers. “I missed you.”

She squeezed my hand gently. “I missed you too.”

I looked at her, unable to hide the emotion that rose in my chest.

“No, Cameron. I need you to understand something.” My thumb moved absently across her knuckles. “I never stopped missing you. Not once.”

Her eyes filled again.

“I thought you would eventually.”

“How could I?”

“Life moves on.”

“Not everything does.”

She looked back at me, and whatever she saw in my face made her lower her gaze.

“You were my family before everything happened,” I continued quietly. “You still are.”

A tear slipped down her cheek.

“I was scared to come back.”

“Of me?”

She shook her head. “Of everything.”

I wanted to ask what she meant. There were years between us that I couldn't account for, questions I had carried for too long, but she looked exhausted enough already.

So I swallowed them.

“You don't have to tell me tonight,” I said. “But someday, you're going to tell me where you've been.”

She hesitated before nodding. “I will.”

“And why you stayed away.”

Her fingers tightened around mine..

“I'll tell you.”

“Promise?”

She lifted her eyes to mine.

“I promise.”

I held her gaze for another second before finally nodding.

“That’s enough for tonight.”

I rose and glanced toward the caregiver. “She needs to rest.”

“I'll take her upstairs,” he said.

I stepped aside as he moved behind the wheelchair.

Cameron looked up at me. “Goodnight, Zack.”

“Goodnight, Cam.”

I bent down and pressed a kiss to her forehead.

Her eyes closed.

For one brief moment, I was a boy again, sitting beside the girl who had always been there for me, before everything changed.

Then the moment passed.

The caregiver wheeled her toward the hallway, and I watched until they disappeared from sight.

I remained in the living room long after they were gone.

My mind drifted back to the nightmare.

The hand. That tiny voice. The flames.

I had spent years trying to bury that night, but some memories didn't stay buried. They waited quietly until something stirred them awake.

Tonight, it had been Cameron.

Maybe seeing her again had dragged something old back to the surface.

I rubbed my eyes and finally turned toward the stairs.

Then I heard the soft roll of wheels behind me.

I turned.

Cameron had stopped near the entrance to the hallway, her caregiver beside her.

My brows drew together. “Did you forget something?”

She looked at me for a moment before shaking her head.

“No.”

“Then what is it?”

Her expression changed.

The faint smile disappeared, leaving something almost vulnerable behind.

“Can I ask you something?”

I nodded slowly. “Of course.”

She hesitated, her fingers curling around

the armrest.

“It's just…” Her voice faltered, and she looked away before forcing herself to meet my eyes again.

I waited.

She drew in a slow breath.

“Zack…”

Something about the way she said my name made me straighten.

“What?”

Her eyes held mine.

“Are you happy with her?”