Jesus this is bad.
I am really screwed.
Like really screwed.
God damn it where the hell is she?
To say I was on the verge of totally freaking out would be a lie. No we had gone beyond that point a long time ago. Now we were at a point past that, which I had discovered was a kind of numb, heavy feeling, where you know your heart should be pounding but it’s too tired or sore or whatever.
I had been looking for Carla for the better part of...well...of a long time. The sun had gone down a while ago, and I could barely walk but I had to find her.
She hadn’t gone home, her house was the first place I checked, but they said she had phoned them from a friend’s house so at least she was okay. Didn’t help that I had no idea who her friends were though. So I kinda wandered aimlessly, feeling really stupid and trying not to die of...well of whatever it was I was feeling.
By the time I had finally made my way back to my place, the sky was pitch black. Maybe that crazy guy had figured something out? He said he’d be waiting for me.
Oh good; of all the people to pin my hopes on.
But then I got to my place and man did my heart soar.
There was Carla, crouched over helping the homeless guy who was leaning on the steps. Wait...he didn’t look so good...oh god.
“What happened?” I asked running towards them. “Are you guys okay?”
Carla shot me easily the most terrifying look I have ever or will ever see in my life, but my eyes quickly returned to the homeless guy. He was bleeding. A lot.
“Hey punk,” he said, his voice soft, “Look who I found, crazy huh?”
“Are you alright?” I asked, somewhat foolishly but I couldn’t really help it.
“He went inside,” Carla said, not looking at me. “I told him it was a bad idea but he went anyway. He came out really roughed up.”
He laughed at that. “Roughed up? Nah this isn’t so bad, I can still breathe and all that. I was just careless. I never thought that the thing down there would be...well like me."
“Wait what?” I stared at him. “How the hell is that thing at all like you?”
“It’s what I could become,” he said. “If I lose myself to... death.”
“So not following you,” I muttered.
“Wait a minute,” Carla said, “Are you saying that you...that you’re dead?” Didn’t sound like she believed him. Not a surprise there.
“Sure am, and so is that monster under the stairs. Me and him, we used to be regular people, except we stuck around. Whoever that was died with extreme hatred, and fear. Those feelings changed him. Now he’s something else entirely. But we’re tied to something. There’s something that keeps us here, makes it so we don’t just fade away.”
“How is that even possible?” I asked. This guy got crazier and crazier. Still though, I couldn’t help but find myself trusting him. The guy just had a way about him.
“Look, this is really just the cliff notes version here but kid, there are a lot of freaky things out there, me and him; we’re just a small part. The tip of the iceberg so to speak.”
“So how do we kill something that’s already dead?” Carla asked, and I couldn’t help but look at her. She still wanted to help me.
God I suck.
“Well I tried shooting it in the face,” the man laughed, “That didn’t work so hot. You need to find out what it’s anchored to and destroy it. That’ll get it gone.”
Carla looked like she was gonna reply, but stopped. She gave the man a look then said, “You’re bleeding has stopped. How...?”
“I heal up pretty quick,” he said. “Seeing as what anchors me makes sure I stay here, no matter the damage.”
“So how do we figure out what anchors this creature?” I asked.
“I dunno,” he said, very unhelpfully. “You’re the kids who have dealt with this thing, got any ideas?”
“The locket,” Carla said quickly. “It’s tied to the locket.”
“Good,” he said, “So where’s that?”
“It has it,” I said, suddenly realizing what that meant.
“You guys like to do things the hard way huh? Look I’m still pretty banged up, I can’t fight, but the good news is that so is that thing. If you’re up to it, now is your best chance to get in there and smash that locket.”
“Us?” I asked. “You really think...?”
“If you quit your bickering and make up, yeah I do,” he said. “You kids are made of good stuff; you have what it takes to make it in this kind of world.”
If we make up...
Carla nodded, and I felt a surge of hope that maybe things could go back to the way they were.
Then she stood up, dusted herself off, walked over, and punched me across the face.
I fell flat on my ass in a very unmanly way. That really hurt.
“That’s for breaking my heart, jerk.” She held her hand out for me, “But Cam explained what you were trying to do for me so...”
I rubbed my jaw as I took her hand and she helped me up.
“I just wanted to keep you safe,” I said. “But rather than protect you I tried to get rid of you. I’ll always regret that.”
“It’s okay,” she said smiling. “I feel much better about it all now.”
Yeah I bet, wonder if her hand hurt half as much as my face.
“So...you’ll stick by me then?”
“Always.”
I smiled, ear to ear, and pulled her close. Or eyes met briefly before I couldn’t keep my lips away from hers any longer and kissed her with all I had left. She returned in kind.
“Um...still right here.”
I decided to pretend to care as I pulled away from her, still smiling. “So your name is Cam, then?” I asked him. “I thought it wasn’t important.”
“Yeah well, she saw through my mysterious bad boy charm. Now hurry up, the longer you dilly dally the more the monster recovers, and the more likely you two are to start jumping each other.”
“Thank you for everything,” Carla said. “You’ve helped us so much.”
He just nodded. “Here kid,” he said, motioning to me, “This is for you.”
He reached into his coat and pulled out a small double barrel, sawn off shotgun, I was hesitant to take it; I had never handled a gun before.
“You can use it with one hand but given your size I’d recommend two,” he said. “This is my own custom design; I’ve killed a lot of baddies with it so I want it back.”
I nodded and took it. “I’m not sure I...”
“Just point and shoot kid, real simple. Oh you only have two, so make them count. Use it to keep the monster off of you while you get that locket.”
I nodded again. “Thank you.”
“Whatever, hurry up and go, and try not to die yeah?”
“Try our best,” I said. I looked at Carla who nodded, eyes shining with the strength that had come to characterize her.
With one last look back at Cam, we entered the house.
