Chapter 10

Cam was just finishing her final Tai Chi routine when the bus carrying the new prisoners arrived. As usual, most of the older, hardcore prisoners lined up along the fence to get a look at the new "fish" and to choose their targets.

It was the usual practice for new women to be kept in a building separate from the general prison population for a short time. At least until they could be processed in and assigned to a cellblock and a cell. When Cam had come in just a little over two years ago the new fish were in separate quarters for three to four weeks, but because of over-crowding, and budget cuts the time was reduced to a week to a five days. The new prisoners had been evaluated at another facility before being transferred to their permanent "home" at CCC.

The women being unloaded from the big grey converted school bus with barred windows were seeing their first glimpse of the place they would call home, until the state believed they were reformed and no longer a danger to society.

There were several very young women getting off the bus that day. Even one or two returns that hadn't been able resist the temptations of the outside world, some of the women were sullen and angry, others were quiet and introspective, some were even crying and sobbing in terror, and all were under the intense scrutiny of the inmates lining the fence.

Some of the older prisoners were yelling suggestive remarks and phrases, others made thinly veiled threats.

Others watched with silent menace carefully selecting a victim from the twenty or so new arrivals. Unlike the majority of her fellow prisoners, Cam had no interest in the new arrivals, and the commotion did nothing to interrupt the slow graceful movements of the Oriental discipline.

As she concentrated on keeping her spiritual center, Cam began feeling something pulling at the edges of her consciousness, getting stronger with each heartbeat, drawing her attention toward the door of the big grey bus.

Her eyes focused on the door of the vehicle, Cam became aware of a presence stepping into the doorway. The small woman had a brightly glowing golden aura that nearly blinded Cam with its intensity, while still drawing and holding Cam's darkening blue eyes. She could see the woman's soulful compassionate emerald eyes even though she was actually too far away for anyone to discern the small blonde beauty's features.

Emerald locked onto Sapphire and the air between them seemed to crackle with the energy that passed between the two women, they both gasped as they felt the pull on each other souls.

Even Paula could feel the energy between the two women, she heard the little golden haired woman gasp, and following her gaze the guard recognized that the focus of her attention was the tall graceful form of Cam.

"It's her," Paula heard the woman whisper. Paula made it a point to check the records and find out whom this woman was; the Captain had the memories of the assaults on Cam too fresh in her mind to ignore the little blonde-haired woman's strange behavior and off hand remark.

This was the first time that Cam and Cheryl ever laid eyes on each other. Cam's intense gaze stayed on Cheryl until the gapping maw that was the door to the segregation building swallowed her up. For her part Cheryl could feel the tall woman's eyes on her, she too could feel the irresistible pull of destiny on her soul reaching all the way to her core drawing her toward the mysterious figure standing apart from the crowd.

Neither had ever met before, they'd never even heard of each other before, but they both had a feeling that they would never forget each other.

Once the guards had escorted the new women into the Segregation Building, they secured it behind them, leaving a confused Cam still staring at the closed doors where the diminutive blonde had left her sight. Cam was suddenly aware of an empty space deep inside her in a place she'd never felt before, leaving her with a feeling she couldn't explain and never knew existed before that moment.

The Captain of the guard wasn't the only one that picked up the unusual connection between the two women; a pair of beady black hate filled eyes followed the exchange from the shadows.

"Oh no my dear Camilla," an intense voice growled hoarsely "she will not have you either. You are mine, you just don't know it yet my beautiful one no one will have you but me."

The shadowy figure moved toward a side door, a hysterical cackle followed as the mysterious woman disappeared into the darkened maze of the cellblock.



After a couple of days, Cam had almost forgotten about the unusual occurrence with the new fish, filing it away as a fluke. The dark woman went on to her normal routine. A week passed and the only people who seemed to even remember the incident were Paula and the mysterious woman, they both kept track of the two other women, but for very different reasons.

In the mean time, Cheryl had been assigned a bunk on the second floor and after she was issued the usual two spare uniforms, towels bedding, soap, toothbrush, and various essentials she was led to her cell. After the little blonde prisoner had settled in, she asked for and received permission to use the showers, even though it was mid-day.

Cheryl was an innocent lamb among wolves and she was totally oblivious to the lurking dangers as she entered the shower area. She quickly stripped off the clothes she'd been wearing for the last week, without a shower, and quickly adjusted the temperature to just barely below scalding anxious to wash the smell from her skin. She stepped into the steaming stream of water, letting the relaxing needles of water flow over her soft, tired skin.

She let out a sigh of contentment as she felt herself relax for the first time since her arrest over six months ago. Cheryl was amazed how the little things she had always taken for granted when she was free had become such decadent luxuries now, as a hot shower in the middle of the day, closing her eyes Cheryl tilted her head back and let the water hit her face.

"Well, well, well," a sinister voice said from behind the temporarily blind woman "looky what we've found ladies."

Cheryl froze when she heard at least two other women giggling at the first one's joke, while the young woman didn't know much about prison she did know enough to be aware that she was in very deep, deep trouble.

"Looks to me like you've found yourself a new bitch, Val.," another woman said.

Cheryl jumped as she felt a rough hand grab her left butt cheek and squeeze hard causing the frightened young blonde to yelp in surprise and pain. Her bare feet slipped on the wet tile floor as she jumped and Cheryl fell to her knees.

"Oooo, looky Val," the third woman purred, "the bitch is already on her knees for you."

"P-please, don't h-hurt me." Cheryl pleaded as she opened her eyes and got a good look at her attackers.

The small woman trembled in terror as she saw what she was facing. The one called Val was a big hard looking heavily tattooed woman with short brown hair and cruel looking beady black eyes that gleamed evilly as she surveyed the magnificent attributes of the young woman she was about to claim.

The two women that were her constant companions were tall painfully skinny women one with long stringy black hair that was obviously a bad dye job, she had watery yellowish eyes that never seemed to focus on any one thing for long and sharp unpleasant features. Her painfully thin body was covered with scars and bruises, as was her friends, evidence of Val's tendency toward violent sex. The other woman was probably once a very pretty young woman, the ghost of her beauty haunted her she too seemed unable to focus her striking indigo eyes, Val had a reliable connection on the outside and she always made sure that "her girls" always got plenty of whatever they wanted, one way she guaranteed their loyalty. Cheryl noticed that in the cleavage of both women's breasts there was the letter V burned deep into their flesh and shivered wondering why they had such scars. Even though she hadn't known at the time, that brand marked the two as Val's property.

Val licked her lips anticipating all the things she was going to do with the gorgeous piece of woman that was cowering on the floor in front of her, Val loved it when they begged, it made their screams sound sweeter somehow. The vicious sadist was so intent on the compact little woman on the floor that she didn't notice the tall dark shadowy figure that silently entered the showers behind her.

"Remind me to thank you later, Spook, for tellin' me about this little piece of eye candy." Val said laughing cruelly

"No need Val," the black haired quipped "always glad to be of serv..."

Val stopped laughing when she heard her sometimes almost sane lieutenant stopped talking in mid sentence and now both her companions were staring over her shoulder their faces masks of purest fear. The showers were silent except for the sounds of running water and the little golden haired woman's terrified sobs.

Cam had been headed to her cell on the third tier, when she felt a sudden overwhelming urge to go to the showers. She began to just shake off the feeling and go on about her business but her stomach was knotted up with tension, and she had a sudden ache in her chest that somehow was pulling at that place inside her again.

Surrendering to her instincts, as her uncles and Cutter had always taught her, Cam decided to wonder over by the showers curious to see what she might find there.

When she arrived at the entrance to the showers, Cam could hear voices but was unable to tell who was talking or what they were talking about, but when she heard the terrified yelp, she knew her honor wouldn't allow her to just walk away from whatever was going on in there. She let out a resigned sigh and cautiously entered the tiled rooms. Before Cam was through the dressing room even before she was able to see anyone in the showers, she could hear the conversation. The first voice she heard was a voice she didn't recognize pleading not to be hurt between terrified sobs, the next voice Cam knew all too well.

What she didn't know was how they had learned so quickly about a new fish being in the showers at this time of day.

Then she heard Val's voice mention the Spook and she knew that Val's pet psycho bitch had it in for the new woman for some unknown reason and as soon as she saw a chance to get rid of her, the Spook had jumped on it. The crazy bitch had tried to kill Cam a few times because she said she was in love with the tall dark beauty and was assuring that Cam would remain faithful to her. Cam had asked the crazed woman to please hate her in the future.

Sometimes Cam had to wonder about a system that lets an obviously insane homicidal maniac like the Spook wander around loose in the general population, but that's was the way things were and Cam had learned to deal with it then work on the things she could fix.

Cam felt a cold fear grip her heart and somehow she was sure that the new fish the Spook had led Val to had to be the beautiful golden haired woman that Cam had seen the day she'd arrived. This revelation was accompanied by an intense need to protect the small woman, Cam had no idea where all that had come from but she sure as hell wasn't going to let an innocent soul like that fall into the hands of a "chicken-hawk" like Val.

The tall blue-eyed woman slipped silently into the steam-filled room, Cam took in a deep breath and let it out slowly as she surveyed the scene unfolding in front of her.

Val and her two favorite anorexic stooges had caught one of the new women as the poor thing was trying to get herself clean after spending a week in seg without a change of clothes and the only way to get clean was a whore's bath. The aesthetics of the entire situation bothered Cam, not to mention the strange hold the little wet blonde huddling in the corner on the cold tile floor seemed to have on Cam's mind and soul. If nothing else Cam had to find out how someone she had never seen before could apparently have such a profound affect on her, so she knew she would have to step in and put an end to this now, and see to it that it didn't happen again.

"Is there a problem here ladies?" Cam asked, her low alto voice filling the air like a warm blanket.

Val spun around and came face to face with one of the few things in this life she truly feared. Cam's eyes never left Val's but she could feel those curious emerald eyes burning into her. Cam knew she had the full attention of every person in the room.

"C-Cam, why are you here?" the big appearance-challenged bleached-blonde asked, made very nervous by the dark dangerous woman's sudden appearance.

She had thought she had a clear shot at the pretty little golden haired woman. Val had already made plans on how she was going to break the obviously innocent woman, in Val's mind, she was already enjoying the victim's delightful screams as Val and her two stooges subjected that perfectly proportioned body to the most exquisite torments. Now all her carefully planned scenarios were crashing into a brick wall named Cam Brusard.

"A better question is why are you here, Val?" Cam asked her voice deceptively calm "Did someone order chicken-hawk extra ugly with a double side of sleaze?"

Val trembled uncontrollably, her eyes narrowed with rage every fiber of her primitive body wanted to lash out at the woman confronting her. She knew she had Cam outnumbered and normally that would be enough, but this was Cam and Val knew what the barely restrained woman facing her was capable of doing in a matter of seconds.

She knew that even with two more, they still wouldn't stand a chance; she had known and seen the two women that had stabbed Cam when she first got there, and Val had no intention of ending up like them.

"I think that's between us and the new little fish over there." Val answered with mock bravado in a last ditch to get her hands on the pretty blonde. "Why?"

Cam heard the frightened little woman gasp, fearing that her rescuer would bow out and leave at the dubious mercies of the three women that had trapped her in the showers.

"Please." Cheryl said softly, that one word held all her hopes and fears, it was almost a prayer to the dark goddess that had simply appeared unexpectedly, seemingly coming to her aid.

"Sorry Val, she's mine." Cam stated flatly, her ice blue eye boring into the bleach blonde's brain uncovering her deep seeded fear of the terrifying avenging angel facing her.

"S-s-sorry Cam, we didn't know." Val stuttered as she began cautiously backing out of the showers signaling her two cronies to join her in her retreat. "We'll get out of here and leave the two of you alone."

"Good idea Val," Cam growled softly, her eyes transmitting messages of deadly retribution. "I'd hate to think you are trying to cut my time Val. Now would I?"

"Uh huh, no problem Cam," all three said in unison then they were gone.

Leaving Cam and their intended victim alone in the showers, just as Cam figured she was going to have to try to clean up Val's mess before anyone found out about this face off.

Cam only hoped this frightened little bunny was going to be worth her time and worry.

After the face off with the extremely ugly chicken hawk named Val and Val's two anorexic stooges Cam was left with an empty shower and a badly frightened young woman who was facing the cruelest sections of the world she had lived her sheltered life in.

The poor woman was huddled in a corner completely naked, in a fetal position on the cold tile floor.

Sensing her distress Cam took a few moments to try to figure out the best way to handle this woman without causing her to think that Cam was just as bad as the slime that the tall quietly dangerous woman had just sent away.

Cam got a spare towel from a shelf and went to the woman huddled in the corner. The tall woman's heart ached for the obviously terrified newcomer, she knelt down and held the towel to the still wet, and trembling woman.

"Hey, sorry about the welcoming committee little one." Cam said softly trying to sooth the insecure young woman. "You know you really shouldn't come in here alone, a pretty one like you could get in a lot of trouble."

The little blonde looked up at the familiar stranger, and her eyes grew wide with surprise at her savior's words.

"G-get in trouble!" Cheryl blurted out confused by the now friendly woman offering her a towel.

The little emerald-eyed blonde took the towel and thanked her for it with a nod of her head. Cam stood up and turned to leave.

"What do you mean by that?" Cheryl asked trying to reconcile this beautiful smiling woman with the tall dark angry Goddess that had oozed death and destruction, just minutes before.

"Haven't you heard?" Cam quipped in answer to her astonished audience," some of the people here ain't very nice."

The echo of Cam's deep rich laughter at her own joke echoed after her as she left the showers, leaving a very confused young woman watching the retreating broad-shouldered back.

Cheryl knelt there on the floor clutching the towel to her chest, until a cold chill reminded her that she was still wet and naked. She quickly dried herself and got dressed. As she was dressing, Cheryl found a small folded up piece of paper, but she waited until she was dressed before checking it out. She was surprised that it was a note from her rescuer.



Little One...If you would like to talk and maybe even learn something, come to my bunk this afternoon. Just ask for Cam, they all know where to find me. Cam



Cheryl studied the note for a few moments, then put it in her pocket, and returned to her cell. She spent the rest of the morning through to lunch trying to find out about the enigmatic woman that had saved her from gods only knew what, at the very least serious hurt, earlier that morning. Prison being the hot bed of rumors that it is it was no surprise that almost everybody knew her rescue from Val.

The fact that Cam had stopped the attack wasn't unusual, but the part where Cam claimed the green-eyed woman as 'hers', had all the tongues wagging. By telling Val and her two lackeys that Cheryl was hers, Cam had let everyone know that if anyone touched the beautiful little blonde they would soon be facing the tall dark and deadly woman's wrath.

Truth be told, Cam herself had no idea why she'd done it either, but that morning when she was facing Val, the idea of those beautiful trusting emerald eyes looking into anyone's eyes but Cam's or the thought of anyone else's hands on that body sent an icy pain through Cam's chest as if her heart were bursting into a million pieces.

In that moment of near panic, the tall muscular woman found herself telling the bleach blonde chicken-hawk that the little newbie was hers. Cam was lying on her bunk listening to her boom box and pretending to read. She didn't even know what book she was supposed to be reading, her mind was in a whirl of confusion as she tried to figure out what it was about the stunningly beautiful woman with the golden hair with the reddish highlights that only show in the sun light and those innocent emerald eyes that affected her so much.

Huh? Cam suddenly wondered just where in the hell did that come from?

Cam's only problem was every time Cam pictured that Angelic face, it filled her mind, wiping out all other thoughts.

All she could think of was spending time with this woman, getting to know her. Sure she had sexual thoughts about Cheryl even now the vision of that compact shapely little body underneath her making her writhe and squirm with desire, making her scream out Cam's name in ecstasy, was making Cam wet right now.

She groaned in frustration. How could this woman do this to me when Cam had only seen her two times for only a few moments at a time?

Suddenly Cam felt a tingling sensation on the back of her neck as if all the tiny hairs there were standing on end and she knew that the little blonde was on her way.

Cheryl wasn't going to meet with the tall, incredibly beautiful woman after hearing all the stories she'd heard about her. Sure Cam had saved Cheryl from a horrible fate at the hands of the three women that had cornered her in the showers that morning, and from what was said, it wasn't the first time the woman and her friends had gone to the aid of a weaker prisoner. The rumors said that the group that revolved around Cam made a habit of it.

This was fine, but there were other stories about the mysterious woman, stories that told of darkness and death, stories that quite frankly, scared the hell out of Cheryl.

Then there was this "claiming" thing. From what Cheryl could understood, by letting those women believe that she was claiming Cheryl, the woman everybody called Cam was telling the whole prison that Cheryl was hers to do with whatever she wanted. According to Cheryl's cell mate if Cam decided to take her in the middle of the cellblock day room no one would lift a finger to stop the tall dark woman.

She essentially had announced to the world that Cheryl was her property. When Cheryl heard this, she was livid, she ranted and raved, she was furious that this woman she had never met before felt she had the right to just take her as property without even asking first. She was angry that the woman had just decided it was her right to own another person.

Humiliated that the entire prison knew about it, and a little ashamed because deep down a small part of her was thrilled over the idea that the beautiful enigmatic woman with the crystal clear blue eyes could, if she wanted, take Cheryl's body and ravage her, making Cheryl beg for her touch. Cheryl knew she would be powerless to stop her because Cheryl secretly admitted to herself she wanted Cam to just that. Curiosity made Cheryl climb those steel stairs to the third tier, which was another thing that bothered Cheryl.

When she was in orientation, she was told that on D-block the most dangerous prisoners were kept on the third tier. They were kept on third tier in single cells, even with the overcrowded conditions, because the prison officials were concerned of what these women were capable of doing to their fellow prisoners, and usually the other prisoners were afraid of them too.

From what Cheryl had learned Cam was among the most feared women there, only the true psychos weren't afraid of her. While all of this scared Cheryl, it also intrigued her. The dark stories of violence and amoral behavior just didn't fit with the woman that had appeared out of nowhere to save her from three predators that morning.

Cheryl felt she just had to know more about her. But now, as she climbed the stairs that led up to the woman's lair, Cheryl was wondering about the intelligence of her hasty decision as every step brought her closer to the woman that casually announced her ownership of Cheryl, and the woman who even the most vicious murderers here feared.

Cheryl had just one more problem ever since she heard about the owner thing she had visions flashing through her mind, disturbing visions, things she'd never thought of before. She saw scenes of Cam walking into the showers instead of Val; she would take Cheryl and kiss her so hard her lips bled. Then the Cam in her dreams forced Cheryl to the floor where she would take Cheryl over and over no matter what Cheryl said, driving her to orgasm after mind-blowing orgasm, as she screamed out her lover's name.

Cheryl stopped at the top step and shook her head, trying desperately to force the erotic visions from her head.

"Jesus Christ Killian get a grip." she muttered to herself "it's not like you've never seen a beautiful woman. But by the gods she IS beautiful."

Cheryl laughed at herself quietly, as she turned left and headed down the catwalk to the furthest cell. She could hear music coming from the far end of the row of cells. She tried to remember the name of the old blues song that was playing. She had heard of it before but never this version, by this female singer. The slow sultry singer was doing little to help Cheryl dispel her erotic visions, she groaned with frustration, as she felt the slow burning, pressure building in her groin.

Cheryl old girl she thought wryly sure hope you can find some quality time with yourself very, very soon or you're going to go nuts.

She felt more nervous than erotic by the time she reached her destination. Cheryl looked into the cell and saw Cam stretched out on her bunk her incredibly long perfectly shaped legs crossed at the ankles, all she was wearing was an old threadbare tank top that was at least two sizes too small, and a pair of boxers. Cheryl could see the woman's work shirt and jeans neatly folded on her desk that stuck out from the wall of her cell.

She knows I'm here Cheryl thought I don't know how she knows but I'm sure that she does

"Hey, Come on in." Cam said not looking up "have a seat", Cam indicated a small chair beside the cell door.

She sat up and pulled on her jeans then she sat back down on the edge of the bed.

"I guess I ought to introduce myself," the black haired beauty said holding her hand out to the diminutive blonde "Just call me Cam everybody does."

"Cam is short for?" the suddenly much more relieved blonde asked as she reached out and took the offered hand.

Cam gave the young woman a curious look but saw none of the usual malice in those mesmerizing emerald eyes, so she decided to go ahead and answer.

"Camilla" Cam answered, "Cam is short for Camilla."

"Camilla that is a lovely name," Cheryl said still holding the large hand admiring the long graceful fingers. "My name is Cheryl by the way."

"Yeah I heard." Cam answered briskly something about this gorgeous little blonde made Cam nervous.

"I imagine you should know your property!" Cheryl said more than a little bitterly.

"What the hell?" Cam inquired incredulously "Where the hell did you get that altitude, and why the hell am I getting hit with it?"

"You told those women you were claiming me." Cheryl snapped angrily "Now everyone knows. They think you own me and most of them are afraid to even talk to me."

Cam's laugh at the young woman's reaction to her statement further fuelling her mounting outrage.

"You think slavery is funny?" Cheryl sniped her eyes flashing, "I don't know how you were raised, but I me...urp."

Moving faster than Cheryl could follow Cam launched herself from the bunk and grabbed a handful of the angry woman's shirt. She yanked the young woman from the chair and using the collar lifted the now very frightened woman off the floor. Cheryl could feel the wall against her back and between her terror and the tightening of the shirt collar Cheryl was beginning to have trouble breathing.

"You know nothing about the way I was raised, bitch," Cam growled looking as if she was about to rip Cheryl's head off "don't you ever presume to lecture me on proper behavior or to critique my childhood."

Cheryl sputtered but was unable to speak, Cam noticed for the first time how she was holding the small woman and the fear she saw in those beautiful green eyes. Instantly she felt a pang of regret wrench her gut. She gently sat the short golden haired woman back on her own feet, and released her shirt and began slowly backing away.

"I huh...you know...I didn't...its just that. well" Cam muttered as she backed away toward her bunk "I'm just I'm huh sorry I didn't mean to I mean I'd never really hurt you, it's just you caught me off guard talking about my family I don't like anyone talking about my family."

Cheryl wasn't sure this woman was the same one she thought was about to kill her just seconds ago and was now trying to sputter out an apology. Cheryl didn't know if it was the pitiful sincerity of the apology or the horrified stricken look in Cam's eyes but she suddenly felt an irresistible urge to comfort her.

She sat down on the bunk and taking Cam's quivering chin in her tiny hand Cheryl gently pulled the frightened and contrite woman's face around so that their eyes locked onto each other.

"I-I'm really sorry," Cam whispered just barely able to be heard "I w-wouldn't really hurt you. It's just you surprised me, I'd never hurt you on purpose really."

"I know" Cheryl's answer surprised even herself, "I don't know how I know but I do. I know deep down in myself that you would never take a hand to me in anger or purposely harm me in any way."

Cheryl put her arm loosely around the silently weeping woman's shoulders. She was confused it was the first time she had ever had these kind of feelings for anyone, man or woman, foster sibling, anyone. Every time this familiar dark stranger sobbed, it tore at Cheryl's heart. Why she would suddenly feel them now was beyond comprehension to the small blonde.

Cam could feel the small woman's arms and the sudden connection between them. She didn't understand it, but with just a touch this person made her heart pound like a jackhammer and swell in her chest filling with the presence of this woman, her soul lost the terrible loneliness that had been weighting it down and it suddenly soared to the heavens singing Cheryl's praises, as tears streamed down her face.

From that moment both women knew that somehow they belonged together, they spent the rest of that first afternoon getting to know each other better. Not an easy task, considering that both were such painfully private people and they seldom allowed anyone to see their true selves.

After that they were virtually inseparable, they ate together, showered together, (Cheryl had learned her lesson well and she never entered the showers alone again), they spent their yard time together. In the evenings they would sit in one or the others cell and drink tea made on a small hot plate Cam had gotten as a gift from the Captain of the guard when the older woman learned it was Cam's birthday last year.

Not once did they have sex, Cheryl flirted outrageously, but Cam seemingly ignored her advances. Cam had made up her mind and resolved that no matter how badly she wanted and needed the little blonde dynamo she was determined that this woman was not meant for a tawdry affair behind a dumpster or to be used then thrown away, like the others.

In fact, Cam was ignoring all advances; the only woman Cam desired was the little green-eyed blonde that had somehow wormed her way through Cam's carefully constructed defenses, no other could appeal to her any more.

Cam denied herself fearing that if she slept with the young ethereal beauty she might lose the woman that had quickly become more important to Cam than the air she breathed.

After a little over a week, Cheryl told Cam the full story of her arrest and conviction. Something about the story bothered Cam; she'd had a lot of dealings with the so-called justice system and had an idea about how things worked. There was something about the innocent young woman's story that set off alarms in Cam's head.

The next day, when Cheryl was out taking a class, Cam got to the phone and using one of the "safe" numbers her attorney had given her, for the first time the tall blue eyed beauty was about to ask for legal help and it was for someone else. Cam made sure the lawyers understood that they were to spare no expense in their investigation into the case of Killian v State of Missouri. Just as the rest of her family, something Cam would never ask others to do for her; she wouldn't hesitate to ask done for someone she cared about.

There was no doubt in her mind; she cared deeply for Cheryl Killian.

Chapter 11

Two days after Cam made the call, two attorneys from the firm that represented both Cam, and her family showed up, along with their lead investigator, requesting a conference with their client. Cam met with them in a small unmonitored room, set aside for lawyer/client conferences, and after a little over an hour of sometimes heated discussion, the three men hurried out of the prison heading toward Columbia Mo. to carry out their unusual client's request.

From then on Cam made sure that Cheryl was never out of sight. Whenever she wasn't with Cam, one of the tall woman's associates was very near by. The only thing Cam told them was that she wanted her naive friend protected 24/7, if they failed the consequences would be dire. No one wanted to find out what she meant by dire, Cheryl noticed that two of the women had enrolled in her classes. Cheryl was even transferred from her original cell, to one on the first tier. To her surprise, her new cellmates were the nurse Maria, and her lover Melinda. Maria was the closest to Cam of any of the women that associated with the tall dark and dangerous biker.

One of the advantages of having these two as cellmates was that Cheryl finally heard the entire true story, behind some of the disturbingly dark tales she had heard about Cam. Mostly they were telling her things Cam wouldn't.

"Let me tell you something niña." Maria told her one night after the curious woman asked about one of the more disturbing stories. "I was with the tall one in the infirmary after she was stabbed. We almost lost her, but she never cried out, or complained about the pain. I have been a nurse for fifteen years, and I have never seen anything like her. Two days after she came out from under the anesthetic, she refused any more pain medication. She was living in fear, and she was sure that the two that stabbed her would find a way to get into the infirmary, to finish the job on her, and she didn't want her instincts dulled by the powerful narcotics. It is a scary thing to suddenly realize you are not immune to being killed by anyone that can get their hands on a weapon. She began right after that working on regaining her abilities, strengthening herself, she started out slowly at first, like the doctor told her, but it wasn't unusual to find her sitting up like an Indian at night. She looked asleep, but Peligrosa knew everything and everyone that came near her."

Cheryl was hanging on every word, she had heard Maria call Cam, Peligrosa before, and finally got Cam to tell her what it meant. Hanging her head ashamed, she told Cheryl that Maria was calling her a dangerous woman. It was not something Cam was proud of, but it seemed appropriate.

"Then when she was released from the infirmary, she really fought against her ahhh...." Maria turned to their other cellmate and her lover Melinda for help "Help me here mi Amada, how do you say alma oscura?"

"Dark soul," the big redhead answered, "talkin' about Cam again huh?"

"Yes that's it she fought the dark soul and didn't seek venganza like everyone thought she would." Maria continued "but she didn't remember ley de sobrevivencia, and everyone thought her weak, so she was a target, then those stupid puercas threatened her. Instead of waiting for them to come after her, she went after them. The rest of the story is basically true, except she felt bad about killing the one that died. Cam told me that she woke up when Cam came into her cell, and tried to fight. Cam fought back the only way she knew, unfortunately for that ramera, Cam knows only to fight to kill, it is the way of her world."

Cheryl thought for a moment then shuddered thinking of how casually, Maria spoke of killing, Cheryl didn't understand how a nurse, a woman dedicated to saving lives, could accept the taking of a life so easily. So she asked.

"You forget chica, I killed my cuñado," Maria reminded the naive young woman "for abusing mi hermana hermosa and mi dulce sobrina pequeña. Bastardo!"

The normally friendly Mexican woman spat on the floor, at the thought of her drunken abusive brother-in-law. According to Melinda, Maria's family had tried to get her sister and niece away from him, but because they were in Mexico, their pleas to the local law went unheeded. So Maria had come up to see if her sister was alright. When she got there everything was fine at first, but one night, she went by their house unexpectedly, and walked in on a horrible sight. Her brother-in-law had already beaten her sister nearly to death, and she was laying unconscious on the floor, and her husband was beating on her little three-year-old niece. Maria had a buck knife that she carried for protection, and in a fit of rage she pulled out the knife, and stabbed him four times then slit his throat. Instead of allowing the case to go to trial Maria, had plead guilty to first-degree murder, in order to save her sister and niece from the humiliation of a messy public trial.

Her sister moved herself and her daughter back to Mexico where her family is caring for them. Maria had gone from the family's shame, an outcast lesbian, to being their hero and her sister's savior. They wrote to her constantly, and were always making sure there was money in her account. She was something of a family martyr to them, for saving not only her sister and niece's lives, but saving them, mentally as well when she plead out. Her sister and niece, write her regularly, she became something of an avenging angel to her sister, and almost a super hero to her niece.

Melinda, a tall muscular redhead with broad shoulders, had been a truck driver on the outside. Like many in her profession, she fell into the trap of the "on time bonus" syndrome. The companies that she hauled freight for paid their independent drivers a bonus for having their loads delivered on time or early. The trick was often there was no way to keep to their schedules without driving long hours without rest and very few breaks between loads.

After figuring that out, Melinda had begun keeping two sets of logs, one to be shown if the state troopers pulled her over, the trucker could show them that she was taking the proper amount of down time as the law required, when in truth, she wasn't, she was relying on drugs to help her remain alert enough to drive. Eventually it all caught up with her, and one night after several days of driving Melinda fell asleep at the wheel, lost control of her rig, and ran over a Honda Acura killing both passengers. When she was examined after the accident, her blood work showed massive amounts of amphetamines, and when the DOT inspectors checked her logbooks, they found all the discrepancies easily.

When it was all said and done, Melinda was convicted of Vehicular Homicide, and sentenced to life. She always felt she deserved the death penalty, and suffered horrible recurring nightmares of the wreck and the two innocent people she had killed. From what Cheryl had seen, she felt the woman had suffered enough. She along with everyone else that knew them acknowledged that the big quiet, sensitive woman would have probably committed suicide, if not for Maria. In fact, that's how they met. One night when the nightmares became more than Melinda could bare any longer, the big soft hearted redhead had broken a glass and slashed her wrists so deeply that she severed the tendons of her right hand.

The guards found her just in time, and she was taken to the infirmary, this all happened not long after Cam had been stabbed. Maria had fallen in love with her, the minute she saw her. Not long after Cam's release from the infirmary she and Maria had convinced the doctor, that they would take care of the big woman, and being the self-appointed cupid of D-block, Cam arranged to have Melinda put in the cell with Maria. Then she sat back and let nature and the gods take their course. Now using the prison over crowding as an excuse, they arranged for a third bunk to be put in their cell, and had Cheryl transferred to their cell. Cheryl was more than a little suspicious of all the changes, so she asked Cam about it, and Cam's answer was all Cam. As few syllables as possible and as cryptic as possible. All she'd say was;

"We take care of our own, always."

Leaving the rest for the little blonde-haired woman to figure out on her own. Cam soon had the normally demure woman out in the yard with everybody lifting weights with her working as hard as Cam, and following Cam's training schedule. Mondays, Wednesday, Fridays, they worked on their upper body strength and Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturdays they worked on their lower bodies. They ran five miles on everyday except Sunday when they ran ten miles. Shortly after they began working, Cheryl asked Cam to teach her some of the martial arts that Cam practiced everyday. At first Cam refused, she had never taught anyone the deadly arts she had learned from the day she moved in with Cutter and her uncles. They had insisted that she learned them not only to protect herself but they also wanted her to learn the self discipline, and piece of mind the martial arts could give her.

Cam remembered all the times that her training had stopped her from doing things she would have regretted later, and how they helped her to appreciate the little beauties that life bestowed on her even in prison. So wanting to give that to the woman she loved above all else, she consented to take Cheryl as a student. The feisty little blonde took to the skills and fluid movements as if born to them. One day Cheryl got permission for the Captain of the guard to have a pair of staffs made available to her during her yard time.

Shortly after that, Cam went out early, she found all her friends standing around watching something. Curious Cam elbowed her way to the front of the crowd, and was amazed to find Cheryl, completely oblivious to all the attention, calmly practicing with a staff. Cam watched as the woman went through an intricate set of movements going smoothly and apparently effortlessly from one move to the next with all the grace and skill of a master of the weapon.

"Damn Cam," one of the woman said, "Did you know she could do that?"

All Cam was able to do as she stood there watching the shy young woman she loved, work out, mesermerized by the blonde's erotically fluid movements. Cam licked her suddenly very dry lips as she looked over the sweat soaked workout clothes (shorts and a thin cotton tank top) sticking to the blonde, and becoming nearly transparent to the point where Cam could clearly see the muscles move and flex with Cheryl's movements. The sight was hot, incredibly hot, and all that shot straight to the tall woman's groin, building an unbearable inferno in her belly.

"Looks like more cold showers tonight." the aroused muttered under her breath, "I swear the woman's going to be the death of me."

Savoring the thought for a moment, Cam sighed and added,

"But, what a wonderful way to go."

Chapter 12

Slowly Cheryl felt a familiar tingle run down her spine; instinctively she was aware that Cam was watching her. A slow sexy smirk came to her lips, and on a sudden impulse, the incredibly talented blonde went into a series of showy, and very impressive moves, that not only required staff work but also some kicks, jumps, and somersaults, that brought her audience to a cacophony of shouts whistles and applause.

She hadn't realized how many people were watching, and gradually turned a particularly vivid shade of red. As always, Cam couldn't help but think how unbelievably cute, the now embarrassed blonde was when she turned that shade. Trying to recover whatever dignity she still possessed Cheryl turned, and bowed to the crowd who as a group broke out laughing at her antics. Sensing the show was over, the crowd dispersed, leaving only Cam still staring at the compact and perfectly proportioned woman, she admitted to herself that this younger woman had a very real power over her that made Cam want to do a million things she'd never done before.

"Well now care to tell me where you learned to handle a "bo" so well?" Cam asked with mock severity. "You do know it is bad manners not to inform your teacher that you possess such skill."

"Well...I...uh...my...OH SHOOT!" Cheryl was getting annoyed with herself, she couldn't figure out why, every time she tried to talk to Cam about herself, the words just wouldn't come out right. "My ah foster mothers decided since I was so small and so hard headed, with a big mouth, that I should find some way to defend myself, so the bigger kids wouldn't always be beating me up."

Cam chuckled at the young woman's frustration at being unable to express herself as well as she wished. Then a thought came to her.

"Excuse me but did you say foster mothers?" Cam asked curious about this part of Cheryl's life, Cam had never had any dealings with the infamous, Missouri. Division of Family Services, thanks to the care and resourcefulness of her family, Cam had never been forced into the system. "Mothers as in plural" Cam clarified "How did that happen?"

"Ok now if I can talk without making a complete ass of myself, I'll try to explain." Cheryl said, her frustration at herself clearly showing in her voice "I know I told you my parents died when I was nine, right?"

She waited for her friend's nod before she continued.

"While I was going through all that the pain of the operations, the physical therapy, and everything else I began having nightmares, where I was once again, hearing my parents death screams again and again. It got to the point where I couldn't sleep or eat, I guess I was sort of wasting away right in front of them, so in keeping with the DFS answer to everything, they set me up with their psychiatrist, instead of finding one that knew how to handle problems like mine."

Cheryl stopped for a moment to get the events organized in her head, and to take a drink from the bottle of water Cam offered her. By this time, they had reached a shaded area that had several picnic tables, Cam sat on one of the tables, and Cheryl sat on the bench, between Cams long legs leaning back into the powerfully built woman. Cheryl loved the safe and secure feeling she got whenever she was able to sit with her Camilla like this.

"Anyway," the orphan continued as she leaned back into the well muscled body "the foster family I had then was an older couple, it worked out pretty well for all of us, they were retired with pretty much nothing to do all day and no kids. The reason it worked was I had to be at the hospital every day, between doctors, therapists, and that damn shrink by the time I got home all I wanted to do was sleep, and with the nightmares, sleeping wasn't very appealing either. Since I had no energy, they would sit up with me all night, playing board games and cards, but it was starting to bother them after a while. Actually to give credit where it's due this covers time until I was close to thirteen, then came the day when I was talking to that idiot shrink, who unknown to me was telling my foster family everything I said in our sessions, the bastard was betraying my trust and I had no idea. I just thought the Williams were really intuitive whenever they were able to do just the right thing all the time."

Taking a deep breath Cheryl tried to calm herself and not get upset over ancient history that she'd already blown up over years ago.

"Those bastards," Cam blurted out in outrage at the callous way the three adults had betrayed the young hurt vulnerable girl that had trusted them. "How could they do that to you? I mean forget the law; it's just simple human compassion that should tell a person that it isn't right."

Cheryl could read her friend well enough by now to be able to know she was getting angry over the shoddy way she had been treated.

"It's alright honey," Cheryl told her companion as she patted her defender's thigh trying to reassure her, "they paid for their transgressions, the shrink lost his license over it. Anyway to get back to my story. I'm not very sure how the subject came up but it came down to it and he asked me if I had a boy friend, and I laughed in his face. I went off on a tangent all about how I thought all the boys I ever met were inconsiderate pigs, and that after seeing the sex Ed tapes and seeing what was involved (at which I had to leave the room and throw up), I wasn't interested in any boy. Then he got me started talking about the girls I knew at school, a couple in particular. One was my age, her name was Missy Madeux, and she was so pretty, and always nice to me, even when the others made fun of her for spending so much time with me. I didn't know it then, but I had a terrible crush on her, of course, I didn't realize it then, but I guess you could say she was my first love. The other was, oh Goddess!!!, this is so embarrassing and so over done, the other was Miss Jackson, my. Oh goddess, alright I'll just say it, but don't you dare laugh, she was my…gym teacher."

Cam tried, she really did, but it was just too much, she almost choked to death fighting the laughter. She finally let it escape which earned her a hard slap across the abdomen, which led to the beautiful blue-eyed woman to attempt to pout, while laughing hysterically. Soon both women were unable to stop laughing until they were gasping for air before they finally settled down enough for Cheryl to continue her story.

"Alright now that you've had your fun at my expense, may I continue."

Cam was still chuckling as she nodded Cheryl to go ahead with her story.

"Anyway I had an epiphany right there in his office. We must have talked for hours, me being finally sure of what had been wrong with every boy who asked me out, they were boys, and that idiot narrow-minded shrink, trying to tell me how I was wrong, that I shouldn't make such a hasty choice. I finally told him there was no choice to it. I left his office that day knowing I would never return to see that idiot. I guess he was on the phone, as soon as I walked out of his office, because when I got home, I found all my things packed, and sitting by the front door. I was broken hearted, I asked them why and they said the doctor told them I was gay, and they couldn't live in the same house as someone that was an abomination in the eyes of God."

"They had already called my case worker and to their credit, they didn't tell her I was gay," Cheryl continued, her friend's undivided attention to her story fuelled, Cheryl's thoughts "All they said was that I had too many problems for them to handle, and they were just overwhelmed."

"What did you do?" Cam asked her mind trying to comprehend how hard it must have been for a teenager to go through that kind of rejection in her already sensitive state of mind. "Did you tell the case worker about it, and how your shrink violated the doctor/patient confidentiality?"

Cheryl smiled at the obviously concerned woman, and again she was amazed how she lived without this amazingly caring and supportive woman in her life. Silently vowing to never live without this devotion in her life again.

"I didn't have to.," the little blonde told her friend, a smirk crossing her lips making Cam even more curious. "That idiot shrink had already called to tell her of my crippling mental problem. She had already contacted a lawyer on my behalf and all she needed was my ok to begin not only a lawsuit against him, but also to contact the state medical review board to start proceedings to have his license revoked. I followed her advice, and gave her permission to go ahead. And man did she go ahead. By the time that little woman was done the guy was broke and out of a job."

Cam laughed her sense of justice satisfied, if there was one thing Cam disliked, it was someone that violated a trust, and to her mind the doctor had gotten the bare minimum of what he deserved.

"I love hearing about your past, love," Cam said after she stopped laughing "but how does this explain your mothers?"

"I'm getting to it, just be patient my anxious little girl." Cheryl said as she patted her tall lover's thigh "I enjoy telling you stories, you are such a wonderful audience."

She leaned back more into her friend and sighed content, she often wondered why she was more comfortable with supposedly the deadliest prisoner in the prison, than she ever had on the outside with any of the "normal" women she'd dated.

"Besides you're such a marvelous easy chair.," she commented shyly smiling up at Cam who took the opportunity to stroke the woman's silky soft golden hair "Ummmm...that feels good. So back to the story of how I got two moms. There I was nearly thirteen, deep in a clinical depression, just thrown out of the only home I'd had since I got out of the hospital, and outed by the one person that I was supposed to be able to talk to openly, and trust to keep my confidences. That's when that marvelous woman that was my caseworker really came through for me, and proved to me that some people in the system are really there for the kids, and not just to draw a state check. Knowing that there were a lot of gay kids out there, and if they were outed for whatever reason, they might have problems relating with the typical set of foster parents. So she was talking about the problem with a gay couple that she and her husband bowled with, and after some discussion and some serious soul searching, the couple had volunteered to become foster parents, but only for kids that were going through the problems they had discussed. She had personally pushed their application to become foster parents through the treacherous waters that is the Division of Family Services bureaucracy and helped cut through a mountain of red tape and they finally received their credentials to be foster parents. It had been almost three years, and I was the second one to need their understanding and support. She had already called them and when they heard my background, they were happy to have me and actually anxious to meet me. I'll tell you what the first time I met Karen and Tina I was so scared I forgot I was a troubled teen."

Once Cheryl's sneaky sense of humor had Cam laughing so hard, her sides hurt.

"Really Tina was this short sweet woman, the moment you met her, and looked into her big light brown eyes you just knew she was your friend for life, someone you could tell anything, without worrying that she would ever be judgmental or betray your trust." Cheryl couldn't help but smile, as she recalled the two women that had been there for her through everything from the day they met, "yeah Tina's the best with the sensitive chats over tea at the kitchen table. I spent many nights there pouring out my problems to the tiny woman, and listening to her sage advice. She helped me a lot, but it was Karen that really pulled me through the hardest part of my life. She was like you, big quiet but very protective of those she loved. She knew all about my parents, but I was too afraid of her to say anything when she was around. She was just so big; it was intimidating just standing by her. I'm not kidding, Tina and I got out the tape measure and a stepladder and checked one day, and the woman was almost six feet five, and weighed around three hundred pounds and not an ounce of excess fat on her. She found out about the family trailer being repossessed and searched through my records until she found out who had it and that the company had actually followed the law and had stored all my family's personal belongings that had been left in that dilapidated trailer. I don't know how she did it, but she was able to get the stuff released without me knowing. She surprised me one afternoon, by loading Tina and I into her big old four wheel drive pickup truck, and drove three hundred miles to where the stuff was warehoused.

Then while she made us watch as she loaded all of it into her truck and wouldn't let either of us help. She brought it home, and Karen even gave up her precious workshop for the boxes of stuff, so I could go through it when I needed to feel close to my parents. It was as if she gave me back my life. I've always believed that Karen was the reason I was able to come out of the depression, cause within six months of her helping me get back my parents' things, I was off the damn mood elevators, and all the rest of the drugs, back in school making As and Bs again. I always swore I wasn't going to get into a serious relationship until I found someone that could make me light up, the way Tina does, every time Karen walks into a room. They have always been my example of what a loving, committed couple should be. They still act like teenagers in love and they can't keep their hands off each other, and it gets better with every minute of every day. I don't want to settle for any thing less than that."

"I know what you mean," Cam said thoughtfully, "I've seen so many of my friends go through one relationship after another becoming more and more cynical with every failure. I've promised my family and myself that I wouldn't do that. I thought I'd found the one this last time, only to find out she wasn't exactly who or what she said she was, she played me for a fool. That's not going to happen again. I'm going to wait this time around, I want to sure, and not give myself to anyone until I feel the way you were just talking about. My uncle Mountain says that it's finding your soul mate, and that if you get lucky enough to find them you'll know from the get go, and that you'll know as soon as the first meeting ends. He said he thought he'd found it once, but it turned out it wasn't the real thing, Daddy had it, but she died, Mountain said he'll never give his heart away again because it's buried with her. I'm not settling until I find the one woman that was made for me."

The two women sat there in silence letting the warm comfortable feelings of the moment soak into their tired and abused souls reveling in the feeling of warmth and both thinking that quite probably they had found their long awaited life mate in this most unlikely place. They just couldn't figure out how to tell one another what they felt in their hearts from the moment their eyes met across the prison yard the very first time.


Continued in Part 5