Nothing left to lose.
Austen, in general, was usually as quiet as one expected a cat to be. He should have known something was wrong the moment Austen's demanding yowls disturbed his sleep. He'd slept more deeply over the past few weeks--using his free time the lack of the Catscratch Club gave him to tire himself out, and spending the rest of it taking care of Carolyn--but he hadn't slept especially long. Today was no exception.
The sun hadn't yet filtered through the trees ringing New Atlantis, but Carolyn had already risen. Cameron forcibly suppressed the sudden surge of dread that initially charged through his mind at her absence, and scooped up Austen in his arms, before wandering out of the bed. The cat seemed uncharacteristically restless, even when he carried it around Carolyn's hut for a bit.
When his mind cleared, his gaze fell on a strangely familiar blue chair, which most certainly hadn't been there the evening before. Cameron chewed his lip, as he approached the chair, and pluced up the ring he'd given Carolyn the month before.
There'd been some sort of island emergency, and she'd forgotten to take it with her to surgery--or more likely felt it might be unsanitary.
There'd been some sort of emergency that he'd managed to sleep through. After the hugging zombies, why not?
He grabbed up the ring, and marched out of the hut faster than strictly necessary. Sleeping was not an option. Not until he saw Carolyn, until he shook the unreasonable dread that had nagged at him all month--all of October, even. His relationship with Carolyn, this situation? It wasn't anything like the year before. There was no reason to expect anything even similar to happen. The strange Halloween was sign enough of that.
Max almost tripped him up, as the great wolf-dog circled his feet as he walked, whining incesssantly.
He'd broken into a run before he'd realized it. There were three clinics. He didn't bother to calculate which one she might have gone to--a year and a half of running across the island made the distance a moot point.
By the time he'd stopped running, the colors of the sky long since settled into blue. His legs ached, and his chest burned from the exertion. He barely registered either, as he gripped his knees and fought for breath. Austen mewled up at him, blue eyes demanding an explanation for the lack of her favorite family member.
Cameron leaned back against the wall of the Compound--when he'd gotten to the building, he didn't know. There wasn't an explanation. There wasn't an answer.
He slid down to sit next to the wall, to preempt his legs buckling, and scooped Austen up wordlessly. "M'sorry."
Max laid his head down on his paws, and gave a low howl. It didn't seem particularly long, but time meant nothing on the island. His ears were ringing by the time there was silence...but perhaps they already had been before. The weight on his ribcage could have been from the run. It could have been from the wire-wrapped ring in his hand.
He leaned his head back against the cement wall of the Compound, and drew in a harsh breath. Once upon a time, he might have wept for the loss of the woman he'd come to love--the one he'd only just a month before accepted the possibility of remaining on the island indefinitely for--and the loss of his child. For the fact that his child had never been allowed to be anything but the plaything of the island.
Now? He had nothing left to give. There was nothing left to take.
[OOC: Carolyn Lam vanished early this morning, right after her item, the blue chair from an earlier assignment of hers, appeared. This is the post to find out about it. While Cam is clearly quite distraught, he will tell anyone who asks, or anyone whom he knows knew Lam. Those who are personal friends of Carolyn or he would know of their engagement prior to this. Anyone could know of the pregnancy.]
The sun hadn't yet filtered through the trees ringing New Atlantis, but Carolyn had already risen. Cameron forcibly suppressed the sudden surge of dread that initially charged through his mind at her absence, and scooped up Austen in his arms, before wandering out of the bed. The cat seemed uncharacteristically restless, even when he carried it around Carolyn's hut for a bit.
When his mind cleared, his gaze fell on a strangely familiar blue chair, which most certainly hadn't been there the evening before. Cameron chewed his lip, as he approached the chair, and pluced up the ring he'd given Carolyn the month before.
There'd been some sort of island emergency, and she'd forgotten to take it with her to surgery--or more likely felt it might be unsanitary.
There'd been some sort of emergency that he'd managed to sleep through. After the hugging zombies, why not?
He grabbed up the ring, and marched out of the hut faster than strictly necessary. Sleeping was not an option. Not until he saw Carolyn, until he shook the unreasonable dread that had nagged at him all month--all of October, even. His relationship with Carolyn, this situation? It wasn't anything like the year before. There was no reason to expect anything even similar to happen. The strange Halloween was sign enough of that.
Max almost tripped him up, as the great wolf-dog circled his feet as he walked, whining incesssantly.
He'd broken into a run before he'd realized it. There were three clinics. He didn't bother to calculate which one she might have gone to--a year and a half of running across the island made the distance a moot point.
By the time he'd stopped running, the colors of the sky long since settled into blue. His legs ached, and his chest burned from the exertion. He barely registered either, as he gripped his knees and fought for breath. Austen mewled up at him, blue eyes demanding an explanation for the lack of her favorite family member.
Cameron leaned back against the wall of the Compound--when he'd gotten to the building, he didn't know. There wasn't an explanation. There wasn't an answer.
He slid down to sit next to the wall, to preempt his legs buckling, and scooped Austen up wordlessly. "M'sorry."
Max laid his head down on his paws, and gave a low howl. It didn't seem particularly long, but time meant nothing on the island. His ears were ringing by the time there was silence...but perhaps they already had been before. The weight on his ribcage could have been from the run. It could have been from the wire-wrapped ring in his hand.
He leaned his head back against the cement wall of the Compound, and drew in a harsh breath. Once upon a time, he might have wept for the loss of the woman he'd come to love--the one he'd only just a month before accepted the possibility of remaining on the island indefinitely for--and the loss of his child. For the fact that his child had never been allowed to be anything but the plaything of the island.
Now? He had nothing left to give. There was nothing left to take.
[OOC: Carolyn Lam vanished early this morning, right after her item, the blue chair from an earlier assignment of hers, appeared. This is the post to find out about it. While Cam is clearly quite distraught, he will tell anyone who asks, or anyone whom he knows knew Lam. Those who are personal friends of Carolyn or he would know of their engagement prior to this. Anyone could know of the pregnancy.]