Cam Calloway did not have a fear of abandonment. Their therapist just wanted to find a reason for them to come back to seeing her week after week. It was nice that Cam’s adoptive parents got them into therapy after they took Cam into their care, but why did it have to be a therapist that acted like she knew everything about them when Cam hadn’t told her half of what they’re feeling? It was more exhausting to hear her countless theories than it was to hide the symptoms for the so-called issues that Cam had.

Sure, maybe it would have been nice for AJ and them to spend more time together than a single day. But they didn’t need labels for a relationship. And AJ did. Which was fine, but not for Cam. People hooked up. It was normal in high school.

Though, as Cam tapped the side of their phone they held up to their ear, they couldn’t stop thinking about what may have happened if they at least spoke about it before walking away. They also couldn’t stop thinking about why on Earth the Houston-Reids didn’t tell them that they were staying out until 1AM instead of the promised 10PM.

Sure, they could have just left at ten, but they weren’t the type of person to leave three young boys alone at home because they’re tired of babysitting. They did get compensation for their extra time, but they weren’t sure that it was even worth it.

Cam waited to hear their adoptive brother’s voice on the other side of the line, but the answering machine went straight to voicemail. Cam sighed, gripping their long flannel sleeves to keep away the wind chills. “Hey, Jamie, do you think you’ll be here soon? It’s getting really dark and my phone’s at fifteen percent.” It took everything in their power to act relaxed while speaking into the phone. “Okay, thanks, bye.”

They pressed the red button. They checked the texts from their brother, the latest one reading “i’ll be there in fifteen, ronny. send me your location,” with no proper capitalization.

It had been more than fifteen. It had been triple that time. They weren’t mad at Jamie, it wasn’t his job to get them, but Cam would be lying if they didn’t say they were fucking terrified.

It would’ve been pitch black if it weren’t for the dim streetlights by the houses and the dim glow coming from their screen. The neighborhood wasn’t exactly unsafe, but a fifteen year old androgynous person walking down the sidewalk at almost 2am was like screaming “hey! Come and get me!” They could have just stayed at the house or asked for a ride, but the one thing that Cam hated more than being alone in a vulnerable situation was asking their boss for help.

You’re a South Asian nonbinary Drew Barrymore, Cam thought. But they would be damned if they let themselves get killed by a pair of horny high schoolers.

Five minutes later, Cam was about a block closer to their house, and their brother was still nowhere in sight. They had gotten to the point where they were jogging instead of walking, but it was no use. Their house was almost an hour away in walking distance, and they were not going to be out late enough to make that entire trip on foot. There was no way.

Besides Jamie, Cam couldn’t think of too many other people who were within reasonable driving distance that would pick them up this late at night. Their adoptive parents were out of the picture–they were fast asleep by now, and even if they were awake, it was unlikely they would let them babysit again after picking them up at 2am on the side of the road. Their other brothers were either out of the house or too young to touch a steering wheel, which eliminated family from their options. And they weren’t the biggest on making friends in the neighborhood.

After searching their brain for anyone else, Cam let out a groan. She was certainly less than ideal, somewhere along the negative tens when it came to appeal level, but at that point, Cam would rather face them than die alone outside.

Cam clicked on their contact and brought the phone to their ear. They picked up their walking pace a bit, checking over their shoulder every few seconds. They were about to lose hope when the recipient answered.

“Cam?” the voice just broken from sleep asked from the phone. Great, first time they talk to AJ since they went to her house and they were asleep. Of course, anyone Cam could have called would’ve been exhausted or passed out at 2am.

“Hey,” they said, biting their tongue to keep from physically cringing.

“It’s 2am.”

“Yeah, I know.”

“Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, uh, you live on Quint Street, right?”

“I do.”

“So, my babysitting job ran late… like, really late. And I don’t think my brother is coming to pick me up, so is there, uh, any way you can drive me home? I have money, I can, uh, pay you.” Cam wanted to slap their vocal chords to get them to work properly without shaking or stuttering.

The other side of the line was silent. Then, they heard some noises on the other hand that they couldn’t make out, and a voice that replied, “Where are you right now?”

AJ said that they would be there in about five minutes, but not before scolding them for leaving the house. Which was fair. However, in their defense, they were under the impression that their brother was going to be arriving in the next three minutes. And Cam was stubborn, which wasn’t exactly a great defense, but was a fact nonetheless.

Cam was partially surprised that AJ had agreed to the task, but based on what they had seen from AJ before, they didn’t seem like the kind of person to leave you in the dark. They took a deep breath, their hand beginning to steady as they put their phone in their pocket.

The one good thing about their situation was being able to see the night sky. Living on the bottom floor of a two-story house, Cam wasn’t looking up at the stars on the daily. But that particular street that Cam was on had a way of order that gave Cam an uneasy sense of comfort, despite the anxiety stirring in their gut. The moon stood out so sharply against the black sky that it appeared more of a pure white glow than one stained yellow. There were a couple birds passing by the moonlight, hopping from thin tree branch to thin tree branch, and, once they landed, their feet stuck onto the bark as sturdy as Legos with no hints of wind tipping them down. Cam didn’t see anybody in the windows–most of them emitted no light anymore–but Cam could almost feel their presence, walking along beside them.

That was the part that Cam wasn’t too comforted by.

The first sign of life on the ground rather than the sky that Cam had seen on their walk so far finally showed itself a few feet in front of them. A gray-looking slug crawled along the pavement, as if taking a stroll in the opposite direction from Cam. They hadn’t seen slugs around their neighborhood as anything but bird or snake food, and they couldn’t recall the last time they saw one moving so close to them. Not wanting to hurt the animal, but also not wanting to interact with it, Cam stepped into the grass and tiptoed their way around it. The slug continued on its path, not even noticing Cam’s separation.

Cam brushed their hand through their hair. They hated being alone, but a mollusk was not much better.

Come on, AJ, come on, they pleaded internally.

Whenever Cam was left home alone by their birth mom, they had a few activities they could play with themselves as a way of trying to stay entertained. Some they had outgrown, but the tried and true Alphabet game had never let them down to that day.

They decided on the theme “comedy movies.” A: Austin Powers. Not Cam’s personal favorite, but Jamie had a strange fascination with it that Cam didn’t want to think too much about.

Cam flinched as they stepped on a treebranch. B: Baby Driver. Cam saw it in theaters at an age that warrented a CPS report from a concerned witness. Their babysitters always took them to see the coolest things.

The faint sound of a TV passed by Cam’s ear as they neared a small one story house. C: Clue. A movie that they could quote fifty lines from, give or take. They saw a staged production of it at a local community theater a year ago. It wasn’t good.

The temperature dropped a degree. D: Despicable Me. Two. They decided on the sequel because when they played the game last week as their adoptive parents left the house to go to the post office, they said the original movie, and they do not like to do repeats.

One of the birds fell off their branch.

Cam’s head shot towards the sky, then back down at the pavement. Their eyes adjusted and focused on what was in front of them. Cam must have been blind for the past 4 years, because crawling there was another slug, on the exact same path as the previous one. They checked to see if their phone was in their pocket, and right as they did so, they felt it buzz against their palm.

Cam yanked it out of their pocket and typed in their password, reading what was shown on the screen. “Almost there,” the text said. They let out a sigh. They owed them a three course meal at the Cheesecake Factory after that night.

As Cam went to put their phone back into their pocket, something caught their peripheral vision that almost made it fall from their grasp and shatter on the cement. The slug was still there, but it seemed to have grown a few inches. It was no longer the size of their index finger, but the size of their entire hand. The moonlight shined on the slug's back, revealing its red and green posterior that reminded Cam of throw up mixed with blood.

Hell. The fuck. No

Cam picked up their pace, jogging along where they believed AJ's route to be. Maybe they were just being paranoid, but even if they weren't, a slug couldn't catch up with them at that pace. It just couldn't.

Cam skidded to a stop. An identical slug, now twice as big, slithered its way towards them. Cam felt themselves lose control of their breaths, letting out air so deep that they felt like puking at any moment.

They ran into the street, eyes fixated on the street across from them. The house lights weren't on, but somebody was sure to be there. This neighborhood was relatively safe. Anything would be better than being all alone with a creepy fucking slug stalking them.

Before they could land their destination on the sidewalk, a sharp shove of air threw them to the hard pavement. Cam felt the sting of gravel digging through their knee, exposing their inner layers of skin to the frosty air. They let out a cry, clutching the outside of their knee with their dirt-covered hands. They heard the engine of the car that had sped by them revving, their headlights off even after the encounter they had just had.

They hadn't broken their leg, but it was going to be hell to walk on it after that.

"AJ?" Cam yelled, pushing back tears. "Jamie? Anyone "

If somebody was there, they could've come out to help them as soon as the fall had made them scream. Any attempt at steadying their breathing was futile at that point. They let themselves cry: they let themselves express the emotions that they tried so hard to bury down inside of them. Even though they were surrounded by houses, they never felt more truly alone.

Even after Cam felt the slimy touch on their ankle, they didn't look. They felt the touch slowly grow, expanding to their entire leg until they felt it engulfed in a mucus mess. They forced their eyes shut, finally taking a true slow, deep breath before they heard the first crack.

♣

AJ brushed the steering wheel of their father's Toyota, scanning the sides of the streets with their eyes. They had their phone hooked up to the car audio, the dial tone that had sounded for two minutes still continuing its tune. Cam had not been overly specific with where they were, so until they picked up their damn phone, AJ had no clue.

When Cam had called, AJ had just managed to fall asleep, so of course they had no plans of falling back asleep that night. They had asked their step dad if they could drive, but Mr. King had not managed to stay awake for more than ten seconds, so despite not having their license, AJ took his car out to get them.

At first, she wanted to just leave Cam's phone call unanswered. After all, what good could come from picking it up? AJ didn't despise them by any means, but it was impossible for it not to be awkward between the two. But then again, something had to be messed up if Cam was calling in the middle of the night.

The voicemail sound played, and AJ rolled her eyes, shutting off her phone audio again. She squinted, thinking maybe it was too dark to see Cam and she just missed them.

Maybe they got a ride from their brother?

Even AJ didn't believe herself.

After a few more minutes, AJ came to a complete stop a bit too close to the curb. She wasn't sure exactly what it was, but there seemed to be something in the middle of the road blocking their path. They would have assumed it to be some wild animal like a deer-if they weren't in the middle of the suburbs.

AJ put their car in park and stepped out of their car, leaving it open behind them in case they needed a quick run away. They turned on their phone flash, the lights from the car not illuminating far enough for them to see the incident.

As AJ got a few steps closer, her phone fell to the concrete, the light disappearing as the lense shattered into a thousand pieces.

In front of her was not a deer, not even an animal, but a person in the most horrendous position she had ever seen. Their head was laid upon the curve as if it were their pillow, if the pillow were drenched in crimson liquid. Their body was full of scraps and cuts that one may get from falling off a bike, but that's not what stood out most about them. It was their legs that had been snapped like glowsticks, oozing out blood instead of neon juice.

AJ clutched her stomach. She felt every part of her body go excruciatingly numb, her intestines juggling everything that has passed by in the past few days until AJ could not help but fall to the pavement.

Cam didn't even look human anymore. The way they were contorted reminded them of the Barbie dolls with adjustable legs that they used to play with, whose legs snapped back into impossibly painful-looking positions. They never thought they would see it played out in front of them.

AJ dialed the police on their cracked phone, but that wasn't necessarily, since they had bellowed loud enough for the entire neighborhood to hear, drawing a circle to form around them. The witnesses stared at their center point, the parents covering the children's eyes, and the adults internally wishing that they had their parents there to cover their eyes as well. The blood spilled closer to the outer-rim, as if a small snail were leaving the residue in its track as it slithered away.

---

after chapter note

happy halloween update :)

things are really starting to get...

real

-nicholas