Subj: Consequences of Falling ch. 48
Date: 8/5/01 7:58:56 PM Central Daylight Time
From: Nicole

Who says that it's by my desire,
This separation, this living so far from you?
-Emperor Wu-Ti, "People Hide Their Love"

November 2000, Somewhere in the Southeast, midnight

No one believed Cameron Stuart when he stated that he was from Maine. He did not blame them. His lush voice was flavored with a southern accent, making it sound calm, seductive. He would always explain that he had been born in Maine. He moved to Georgia when he was 3, following his mother as she trailed the man who would become his step-father. He could not remember Maine. It was not home.

But Cameron had no home except his van. The rusting gray beauty had been the only constant thing in his life for close to 7 years. He had bought it from a Southern Baptist Church in Mississippi, culling the money from pawned possessions and friendly donations. By this time, he had left home a full 6 months. Those had been such hard days, his time consumed by alternately trying to remember and then trying to forget what had happened. He only returned to Georgia once, a year long say to put a friend to rest and meet the love of his life. Cameron reluctantly left her behind. He could not tell her of his recurring dreams of awakening among the bodies and the bright crimson flood. Forgetting became Cameron's chief occupation and no one cold help him.

For most of the last 7 years, Cameron made his home on the open road, traveling across North America with gusto. Most of the time he would hold down in one city for a week or two, taking up odd jobs for gas money and living with either a good friend of in the van. He would eventually end up drinking to escape, hoping to push down the shattered memories that threatened to pop up from time to time. There were always two or three days a month that he could not remember. Cameron knew better than to blame the booze. He had been forgetting long before he took his first sip of vodka.

But where to go now? Cameron had been traveling through the American South for the past 6 months, enjoying the warm weather and easy smiles as best he could. But the winter chill had taken hold of his adopted home and he had to leave. He had checked his well worn map the previous day but it was no help. Cameron thought of going further south to Mexico, running from the cold as long as he could. He could only run for so long. It was time to head north even if it meant going into the freeze. He liked the Middle States but he wanted to go further north. With much hesitation, Cameron decided to head up to Maine. He did not want to go home, but he knew that it was time to return. There would be answers for him in Collinsport. Maybe he would find his father. Maybe he would find his past. Maybe he would find out why he so often forgot his nights.

Dark Shadows is a Dan Curtis Production.