#long term goal of hitting Belos with a car: complete!

[sergeantsporks]

Full Circle

Rating: Teen, Gen

Part 17 of  Camila is Hunter's Mom Now

Chapter 3/5: Saved

Ch 1, Ch 2

Hunter never planned to tell his friends about his past.

But since when has anything ever gone the way he planned?

Ao3

CW: Physical and Mental Abuse/Manipulation, Blood

“Any of you guys get sleep?” Jade whispered as everyone loaded up in Jacob’s van.

Vee shook her head. “Didn’t hear a thing in school, either. School. As if I could focus.”

“Yeah,” Jade murmured, “Me either.”

Luz grabbed Jade’s hands. “Remember. Find Belos. Make sure he’s not with Hunter. Trip the alarms. Don’t try to fight Belos, don’t try to talk to him, don’t let him know you’re there if possible.”

“Got it.”

“I’m serious, Jade, he’s dangerous.”

“I got it, Luz.”

Jade hopped out, bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet. She took a deep breath. “Okay. Okay, we can do this.”

The house was… eerily silent as she approached it. Her heart thudded in her chest. Why is it so quiet?

And then, all of a sudden, she took a step and could suddenly hear a hissing sound, and growling.

Something to keep the sound in. Smart.

Jade skipped the door, opting to crawl in through the window instead. She landed with a small thump, and froze, waiting to see if anyone had heard before making her way towards the growling noises, wincing every time she stepped on a creaky floorboard that seemed to scream I’M HERE! I’M RIGHT HERE!!!

Something rushed past her with a whoosh, and she barely caught a glimpse of glowing blue eyes before it was gone. Jade shuddered, moving more quickly now. She pushed open the door the thing with the eyes had come from.

“Hunter?” she whispered.

He whirled to face her, his shoulders heaving, and his hands wrapped tightly around some staff thing. His magenta eyes were… dull. Blank.

It’s like he’s staring right through me.

“Hunter, it’s okay,” she said softly, moving towards him with her hands raised, “I’m here to help you.”

She swayed sideways in time to dodge a cackling bolt of red electricity that roared towards her from his staff, tears springing to her eyes

“Hunter, it’s me,” she pleaded, coming closer. “It’s Jade. Your friend!”

Recognition flickered in those dull eyes, and he lowered the staff. “Jade?” he whispered, voice cracking.

“Yeah. It’s me. You can put it down, Hunter. It’s okay.”

His hands remained clenched on the staff, his shoulders shaking. “I’m so tired,” he whispered, his voice laced with the same desperation that filled his eyes.

Hunter held out the staff, and Jade put her hands over his. “You can let go. I’ve got you.”

“I c-can’t,” he whispered, hands trembling, “I can’t let go!”

Jade gently pried at his fingers. “Okay. It’s okay, I’ll help you. I’ve got you.”

Xxx

Hunter slumped forward as Jade took the staff, and she caught him, lowering him to the floor and letting his head rest against her shoulder. Her arms circled around him. “Okay,” she said quietly, “Okay, I’ve got you. Okay.”

His whole body kept shaking, and his eyes almost closed as he clung to her.

You’re here.

You came for me.

You found me.

The smell of decay hit Hunter’s nostrils, and he let out a cry of despair, burying his head in Jade’s shoulder.

No

No, no, no, no

“I can’t,” he whispered. “I can’t!”

Xxx

“How strange.”

Jade extracted herself from Hunter’s grip, picking up his staff and moving to stand in front of him, facing the man in the door. “So much for not being seen,” she murmured.

The man—Hunter’s uncle, she assumed—tilted his head. “He surrendered the staff to you.”

“Back off,” Jade snapped, “I’m not letting you hurt him.”

He seemed to… melt, reforming behind her. “Me? Hurt my nephew?”

Jade whirled around, swinging the staff at him. He disappeared again as a blast of energy shot out, the staff seeming to reverberate in her hands. “Whoa,” she whispered.

“Put that down before you hurt yourself, young lady.”

The disappointed tone almost made her drop it before Jade shook herself. Eyes on Belos. Okay. She kicked her shoe off, throwing it at him. Belos leaned to the left to dodge, giving her an unimpressed look.

“I’m not going to hurt you. But that staff will.” Belos gestured to Hunter. “Don’t you see how it’s hurt him? Look, he can’t even stand because of the toll it took on him, because he was too stubborn to let it go. Magic will leave you an empty husk, a shell of your former self.”

Xxx

Hunter pressed his hands to his ears as Belos’ voice seemed to slither into his head.

“Oh, for the love of God,” Jade’s voice snapped in the same way she’d yelled at their classmates, breaking into Belos’ spell, “Shut up. The staff didn’t do this to him, magic didn’t do this to him, you did this to him. You. Own up to your own stupid actions.”

Hunter felt like he could barely breathe, looking up at Jade. She glared at Belos, several feet shorter, but somehow seeming much, much bigger.

“You can try to blame magic, or the staff, or—or you can try to blame Hunter, but it is your fault.”

Belos’ eyes flashed a glowing blue, and Hunter shook his head. “Jade,” he whispered, “You’re making him angry—”

“You’re the reason he’s hurt.”

Hunter saw the attack coming just before Belos released it, and he leapt forward, tackling Jade. “LOOK OUT!”

Belos’ arm blade caught him in the face, the blow sending him backwards. Jade screamed as Hunter curled onto his side, pressing his hands to his face as his head erupted in agony.

“Hngh—ah—”

“Hunter! Hunter, oh my god, oh my god, I’m sorry, Hunter, I’m sorry—” a hand tugged at his. “Can you see?!”

Hunter tried to open his eye, but his whole face screamed in pain, and he groaned in response, clamping his hand down tighter, squinting through his good eye.

“Agh,” Belos groaned, “Why—you set off the curse, I could have killed him!”

“I’m sorry,” Jade whispered, “I’m sorry, Hunter, I’m sorry, please be okay, please be okay—” her hands added to the pressure. “Please be okay… You have to let him go!” she cried, “You have to let him get help!”

“Hmmm…”

Before Belos could respond, Hunter heard an engine roaring, a splintering, crunching noise from the house, and then a white van slammed into Belos, throwing him over the hood and all the way over the top before screeching to a halt.

The door opened, and suddenly Jacob was there, shaking him by the shoulders. “Where’s Thomas?!”

“Got… separated…” Hunter managed, and then Camila was climbing out of the driver’s seat, pushing Jacob away, holding Hunter’s face gently in her hands while Flapjack fluttered around her head, chirping frantically.

Camila swatted at Jacob. “Leave him alone, can’t you see he’s hurt?! It’s not a huge house, go find your brother!”

Xxx

Jacob ran off, and Camila tilted Hunter’s head, her heart pounding in her chest. “Madre de dios,” she murmured, “Lo siento, mi carino, I should have been here faster.”

“Mom,” he whimpered, trembling, “I th-thought you weren’t c-coming…”

Camila let him lean forward on her shoulder, picking him up. “I’ll always come for you,” she murmured, “Always, always, always.”

Camila heard a groan from behind the van, and then it went into reverse, presumedly ramming into Belos again. “Let’s go!” Vee yelped from the driver’s seat.

Luz helped Jade up. “You okay?”

“I almost died,” she said in a daze.

“Haha… welcome to the club.” Luz retrieved Jade’s shoe from the circle of motion detectors. “Wouldn’t want to leave that behind. JACOB,” she yelled, “HAVE YOU FOUND HIM?!”

Jacob appeared at the top of the stairs, arm around Thomas. He hopped over the gap in the stairs, then held his arms out, helping Thomas over. “Coming!”

Camila carried Hunter to the back of the van, and Vee helped Thomas and Jade in. Jacob clambered into the driver’s seat, and Luz into the passenger, and then the van backed out of the giant hole it had made in the house, screeching onto the road.

Camila tugged out the first aid kit she’d packed in the morning, pressing a gauze patch to Hunter’s forehead. She could see a flash of white bone, and her stomach roiled. Hunter yelped, and she loosened her grip just a little. “Sorry! I’m sorry.”

“That’s… a lot of blood,” Jade said quietly.

“It’s a head wound. They bleed a lot.” Camila checked. The bleeding had slowed down, so she dabbed some alcohol on another gauze pad, cleaning the wound.

Hunter cringed away, his good eye filled with fear.

“Oh… shshshshshhhh, it’s okay, mijo. It’s me. It’s okay. Shshshshhhhhhhhhhh…” He slowly relaxed, bracing himself and biting his lip as Camila cleaned the wound. With the blood gone, she could see that the gash extended from his left eyebrow out across a small section of his forehead and stopped at his hairline. She heaved a sigh of relief. At least his eye is okay. She winced, gingerly pushing the edges of the gap together and securing them with butterfly bandages. Or at least it will be when the swelling goes down.

“Any other injuries, do you know?”

He opened his mouth, then shrugged, burying his face in her shoulder again. Flapjack settled into his hands, and he clutched the bird tightly (but not too tight), stroking it gently.

“Okay. Okay, we’ll check once we get safe.” She turned to Thomas. “Are you hurt?”

“Just a couple of bruises,” he whispered, voice hoarse, “And…” he rubbed his wrists, and Vee gently took his hands.

“Oh, ow,” she murmured, scrambling in the first aid kit for an antibacterial ointment, “Those hurt, I know. Here, let me see.”

Even in the dim light of the van, Camila could see sores on Thomas’ wrist, and she hugged Hunter just a little closer. “I’m sorry,” she murmured, “You never should have been dragged into this.”

Thomas sniffed, drawing his knees up to his chest and burying his head in his arms, shivering. Vee draped a blanket around his shoulders. Luz’s head poked back. “Jacob needs to know if we’re going to the museum or Jade’s house. And if it’s Jade’s house, he doesn’t know how to get there.”

“My house,” Jade said immediately, climbing in the front seat.

Luz scrambled into the backseat. Usually, Camila would have scolded the two for moving around in a moving vehicle.

Picking battles today, she thought blearily, giving Hunter a squeeze. He didn’t respond to the pressure except to snuggle closer, shoulders hunched.

“How’s he doing?” Luz murmured.

“I think he’s asleep? Or possibly unconscious. He’s not awake.” Camila winced as they screeched to a stop. “That man does not know how to drive.”

“In his defense, we may have wrecked his car just a bit.”

Camila scooped Hunter up, carrying him inside the house. “Thank you, Jade,” she sighed again, “We’ll be out of here before your parents get back.”

“Jade?” Thomas said in a small voice, “Ms. Noceda? Can I… stay here?”

Camila twisted to look at Jacob, who suddenly got very interested in polishing his glasses. “I’m… taking the van away back to my place,” he mumbled, “So that he won’t track it here to you guys. So… it’s probably safer for him to be here. If that’s alright with you.”

“Oh.”

Jade slung an arm around Thomas’ shoulders. “Yeah! Of course you can.” She grinned, but it looked a little forced compared to her usual smile. “You know, when I said we should hang out more, this isn’t quite what I had in mind.”

Jacob reached out, gently whacking the top of Thomas’ head. “Hey, not to say I told you so, but…”

A tiny smile crossed Thomas’ face. “Okay, okay, yeah. Witches are real and my friend is one of them.” Thomas rubbed his arm. “Thanks for… coming for me.”

“Yeah. Of course I was going to come for you.” Jacob ruffled his hair, then swung his keys around his finger. “I’ll come back later, probably. Please don’t immediately clock me with a shoe.”

He left, and Jade tapped Camila’s arm. “Hunter can go in the guest bedroom until he wakes up, I’ll show you.”

Camila followed her upstairs, settling Hunter in bed. He curled up in a ball, and she pulled the blankets over him, gently brushing hair out of his face. Flapjack settled on the bedpost, watching over its witch.

“Are you okay, Jade?”

Jade sat down on the bed next to her with a whump. “I’m sorry,” she said in a wobbly voice, “You guys said not to engage, not to try to fight Belos, or talk to him, but I… I don’t know, I saw Hunter, and he was scared, and exhausted, and Belos started talking, and I lost it, I just couldn’t stand the way he was talking, blaming magic, and Hunter, and everything but himself, and…” she swiped at her eyes. “I set him off, I made him hurt Hunter—well, he was trying to hurt me, but Hunter jumped in the way, and… I got him hurt. I wanted to help, but… I just hurt him.”

“Oh—Jade—look at me. Look at me, sweetheart.” Camila put one hand on her cheek, brushing away a tear with her thumb. “Belos is the one who hurt him. Not you. Yes, you may have… exacerbated… the situation, but Belos…” She sighed. “It isn’t the first time he’s hurt Hunter. And he would have hurt him again.”

“But not like this! I set his—his whatever it was off!”

“That’s a lie.” Luz stood in the doorway, a bag of ice wrapped in a towel clutched in her hands. “He controls that, Jade, he uses it to fight, to scare people like Hunter, like you.” Her fists clenched. “He’s a manipulative tyrant who will play any card he can to get people to feel sorry for him. He knew Hunter would jump to save you, he knew when he lashed out that it was Hunter who would get hurt. He wanted to make you doubt yourself, or, I don’t know, make Hunter hate you, or maybe he just wanted an excuse to hurt him more. Hurt him worse. He was always going to hurt Hunter, whether you were there or not, you just… gave him an excuse.”

“Thanks,” Jade said softly, rubbing her arms, “I… thanks, Luz.” She rubbed her eyes. “Okay. I should… get everyone else settled in. Yeah. I’m going to do that. Okay.”

She thumped down the stairs, and Camila took the ice from Luz. “Thanks, mija. Go help? I’ll take care of him.”

Luz nodded, closing the door behind her. Camila gingerly put the ice to the swelling on Hunter’s face. He flinched at the contact, shivering.

“Ay, poor baby,” Camila murmured. She looked up at Flapjack. “Could you make sure the ice stays on for about ten minutes? I’m going to see about getting something to eat, he and Thomas are both probably starving.”

Flapjack chirped an affirmation, fluttering down and landing on the ice bundle.

“Thank you.”

Camila headed back down the stairs. The girls had already set up sleeping bags in the living room, and Thomas was curled up on the couch wrapped in a blanket, watching them. Camila sat down next to him.

“Hey. How’re you holding up?”

Thomas scratched at his bandaged wrists. “Okay,” he mumbled, “Looking a whole lot better than Hunter, anyway.”

“Hey. I don’t just mean physically.”

Thomas shook his head wordlessly, burying his head in the blanket. “I don’t know,” he mumbled, “How am I supposed to be holding up?”

Camila put a hand on his back. “It’s okay to be scared. I’m scared. Do you need something to do, or do you just need to sit?”

“Just sit.”

“Okay. I’m going to see if I can make something to eat, are you hungry?”

“Little bit. But… also no.”

Sounds about right. “Okay.”

Camila wandered into the kitchen. “Jade, is it okay if I…”

“Oh, yeah, go ahead, if you need to know where something is, just ask.”

Camila opened all of the cabinets to check where everything was. Something simple. Pasta? There was a jar of sauce in the pantry, and a couple boxes of pasta on the shelves. She set the ingredients on the counter and started filling the pot with water. She heard a shuffling noise, and turned around to see Hunter in the doorway to the kitchen. He took the pot and put it on the stove, turning it on high.

“Oh—mijo—you don’t have to—”

Hunter leaned against the counter, pressing his arms close to himself. “S-so, uh. My day was… pretty bad. I uh…” his shoulders started to shake, and he bit his lip. “I…”

Camila opened her arms, and he launched himself into them, clinging tightly to her. “Oooookay. Okay. Okay.”

“I couldn’t stop fighting,” he whispered, “He wouldn’t let me stop fighting, and it just kept going and going and going, and I didn’t know where Thomas was, or if he was okay, and I was so, so tired—”

Camila squeezed him tight. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I should have come sooner, I’m so, so sorry.”

“He’s here,” Hunter whispered.

“I know. I know, mijo. But we know now, and I’m not letting him get to you. Never, ever again.”

“He killed everyone,” Hunter whispered.

“What?”

“Everyone on the isles, Mom, he… I helped him, I helped him find wild witches, I—”

“They’re okay.” Luz grabbed Hunter’s hand. “Hunter, they’re okay, he didn’t succeed. They’re all okay.”

“They’re all okay?” he whispered.

“We stopped it. The day of unity failed, Belos failed, they’re okay.”

Hunter sagged against Camila, and she kissed the top of his head, giving him another squeeze. “No more fighting. You can rest now.”

He let her sit him down on the couch next to Thomas, and she gave the top of his head one more kiss before going back to the kitchen.

Aye, these poor kids.

What am I going to do?