GENRE: Lesbian Mystery Romance
LENGTH: 53,712 words
RATING:

When Cameron Andrews awakens in a mental hospital, suffering from a traumatic brain injury, everyone seems to know all the things she can't remember. Time seems to be slipping by at an astonishing rate. Did she really sleep through Maggie's weekly visit, or is someone trying to make her pay for all the arrests she's made? Will the drugs she's given help her condition, or will they plunge her into an even worse situation?

Unfortunately, to the three people she loves the most, Cam seems to have suddenly disappeared. She must be found. Maggie, therapist Norma Brock, and Norma's granddaughter fight their way through trials and trails that arise while trying to find Cam. It's a race against time -- and death -- to find her.

EXCERPT:

The crowds seemed to be getting heavier. People pushed and jostled her from all sides. The sound of talking was almost overwhelming. Where did all these people come from? Cam wondered. It was packed shoulder to shoulder in the mall. Everyone pushing everyone else and everyone who was pushed pushed back.

"Hurry, Cam!" Maggie yelled after her. "We have to get out of here. Something's happening and I'm not sure what."

"Just another few minutes. It shouldn't take long. I'll rush!" Cam turned back to Maggie but the crowds had already pushed Maggie away from her. Within seconds she couldn't see Maggie at all.

The dress shop where she'd seen that blouse for her sister was closed. Turning around, she looked back through the mall. Something was definitely wrong. Everything looked closed. Some of the stores were boarded up. Others were being boarded up; construction workers toiling away at several of the stores.

Cam looked up and down the hallway. A part of this looked familiar but she couldn't figure out where she was. How would she get back to where she was supposed to meet Maggie?

Cam ran down the corridor which seemed to get longer and longer as she ran. She tried the door but the door at the end of the corridor was locked. She shook it violently several times but she couldn't get it to open. She had to get it to open! She knew she had to.

She turned and looked at the other end of the hallway. Someone was nailing the doors shut. All the boarding was being painted black. She had to get out of here!

She tried door after door as she ran back up the hallway. None of them would open for her. All the stores were locked. There didn't seem to be anyone in any of them. Very little light showed anywhere inside. They were all as black as the paint on the new boards.

Finally one of the doors opened. Cam stepped through into what looked like a tavern. Several people were gathered at tables, all looking at a blank screen above the bar.

"Can I get you a drink?" someone asked. Cam turned to face the bartender.

"What's happening out there?" she asked.

"Out there? Nothing much from what I can see," he answered, pushing a glass that she hadn't ordered across the bar to her. "There's never anything happening out there."

"Why are they boarding everything up?" she asked.

"Must be the end of the day. We never know in here. Haven't seen daylight in years."

Cam looked around the room. Everyone was staring intently at the screen. No one was talking. "What are they looking at?" she asked.

The bartender shook his head. "I don't know but they've been watching it for ages."

Cam turned to leave but the door she'd come in through was no longer there. She started to gasp, her breathing became forced as she tried to run to the other entrance.

There were no doors that she could find. Every window was boarded up. Panic started to surge through her. She couldn't understand what was happening. She had to get out of here!

She turned to run back the other way but she tripped. Something had hold of her feet. She kicked back, trying to get traction so she could get to the place where she had last seen Maggie.

"It's all right, Cameron," someone said to her.

"I have to get to the other end of the hallway!" Cam insisted. "I need to get out of here!'

"Calm down, Cameron."

"No! I have to get to the other end! I have to find Maggie! I told her I'd meet her." Cam struggled to get away.

"You'll get there, honey. You'll find her. Just relax a minute."

"No! I have to get out of here! I have to get out before they nail the doors shut!" Cam was frantic. "If I don't get there I'll be trapped! I need to get to Maggie!"

"Okay. You'll get there." Cam didn't know who was talking to her but she made no effort to find out.

The doors seemed to fade. Cam panicked even more. Everything seemed to be sliding away, pulsing strongly. It looked like everything was melting into itself, beginning to disappear. Before long, everything was encased in black.