Where was he? It was dark, very dark.
… He was faced with nothing. He felt something, he felt something cold in his hands. The sinking metal, it was metal from a gun.
He tried to move the gun so he could see it properly, though it was just all black, all dark around him. He moved his hands in front of him, only to see the shadow shell of his hands gripping a small handgun. If that is what it is, he could barely register what he was looking at or where he was.
At first, it felt like he was in the same forest he had been appearing every time he closed his eyes. The darkness felt different though, and the difference scared him..
He tried looking around, he tried moving but nothing came out from it. When he could step forward, nothing would change, it was like he was trapped in the same dark abyss that swallowed everything around him up. It was hurting his head, his body shaking with irritation and fear trembling his whole being.
His mind was swarming with endless possibilities of what was happening around him. Everytime he had this weird dream- nightmare, the man would show up. The shallow eyes of his black mask, the dry blood plastered on his chest and white bone. The boy was feeling frantic and desperate.
He knew he had to be there, he was hiding in the darkness, read to jump out at him. Cameron was tempted to scream out to him or something.
His mouth opened, although nothing came out. He felt like a fish out of water, his eyes popping out and limbs shaking with a crazed trembling. It made him feel so helpless, so weak when he was let alone in this dark abyss. But he shouldn't be the one afraid.
He had a weapon, he had the means to protect himself if he had to.
The small steps from in front of him forced his head up and in the direction. He knew what would come out with how hard and heavy the steps hit the ground, though he still flinched as the figure stepped out. Cameron quickly pulled the gun up, aiming it at the man.
The dream was still repeating itself, Cameron would shoot him all the time, allowing himself to sigh with relief when he put down the killer. He couldn't tell if it did make him feel better, but it made him feel something other than fear.
He would want to feel anything but fear.
He hated feeling that.
So, he allowed his hands to stop shaking, the tip of the gun directly pointed at the man's chest where his heart is. Cameron took deep breaths, his grip hard and tight. He was slowly relaxing, feeling the power the gun was giving him at just the mere feeling, it was enough to relax him.
He waited until he could fully see the man, it was dark, though with each passing step as he came closer. The man's figure came into view.
Cameron's breathing hitched slightly, having him tower over him at such a close distance. He couldn't allow himself to be fearful now, all he had to do was release the trigger and he could be gone. Cameron would be safe..
There was no guilt, only rage.
He deserved it. He had killed innocent people.
It wasn't fair..
As Cameron expected, the man slowly moved his hands up to cup the snout of his mask to lift it off. Cameron felt like pulling the trigger now, he didn't care to see what would happen next. But with his finger hovering over the trigger, he didn't do it. He didn't do anything, all he could do was allow himself to just watch.
He didn't have too. He could just end him right there, there was no use in having to just watch.
It is what he thought, but he could not do it just yet. Something inside him waited with anticipation. He knew he would find nothing behind the mask, just an empty slate of nothingness.
Maybe it would make it better to watch as he dies? Just like he had watched all of them die…
The mask was lifted, the stiff body of the man slowly lowering his head to move it completely. Cameron caught the sight of ginger hair, slightly auburn and peeking out from the opening of when the straps were released and the killer was out in the open.
The teenager immediately felt his body seize up. His eyes wide, shocked at the person in front of him.
Yes, a person.
It wasn't nothing, it was somebody.
Somebody stood in front of him, the same level. Face to face with a boy that looked almost identical to him.
He felt his hands lighten, all his focus completely absorbed by the same face in front of him. It felt so strange, the look and even the age of the boy in front of him.
It wasn't a man anymore. Just someone his age, the orange hair fluttering around in front of his hazel eyes. Cameron could slightly make out little freckles on his face, some scars traced his jaw, then his lip and all the way up to his eye. But the peaceful look in his eyes caught the other boy off guard.
He could just kill him now. He had seen his face, that shouldn't change anything.
He tightened his grip on the gun, forcing himself to just do it!
The boy stared back at him, his lashes slightly moving from above his look. He was expressionless, just staring back at the boy who had a gun to his face.
Cameron still wanted to do it. He still wanted to shoot him, to end and finally kill him!
The soft looking boy kept his eyes leveled with him, the hazel color shining ever so brightly in contrast to Cameron's dark brown. He looked almost.. pathetic…
The scars, the pale complexion, the messy hair, his tired and baggy eyes.
Cameron was looking in the mirror. A mirror of himself staring back at him with nothing to look for.
Has he always looked so pathetic? So pitiful..?
None of this was right. He shouldn't feel remorse for him, he was a killer! He had killed his friends!
Cameron knew that, of course he did.
The finger on the trigger didn't move an inch. Even though he knew it!
His teeth clenched down tightly, his eyes watering at the force he held the gun. The hard metal sinking into his flesh, eyes watering without restraint.
It wasn't fair..
It wasn't fair!
"IT'S NOT FAIR!"
His head was low, no longer staring at the face that wasn't his own. He was pointing a gun at himself, ready to shoot and end his misery. That is what he wanted to do, but he didn't.
Because no matter how much he wanted to die..
Cameron slowly lifted his head, the lost look in the poor boy's eyes making him cry even harder.
He couldn't kill someone.
He couldn't kill himself..
The tears in his eyes fell, hitting the paper that he had scrunched up in his fingers below. The information was loud, it was painful and it hurt his ears. He still believed that it wasn't fair, to just drop the hatred he had for the man that ruined him, but as he looked at the boy's face. He felt nothing but pain for him.
Mr. Tul was a monster.. he had taken another group of kids back in the day in the same forest. But this time, he had forced one of the kids out of the group and he had gotten lost. His name was Clay Dair, a small boy with a tired and angry expression.
The teacher hated the boy, hated how he made him feel so useless and helpless. So he forced him into the wild, and the boy ended up getting lost. He was in that forest for years, learning how to survive, killing wolves that tried to attack him and using the same clothes he got lost in as a cover from the cold.
Scars tainted his skin, years of fear and pain worried about his expression. He couldn't speak, he was just isolated alone in the forest at the age of 16 all the way until he was close to 36. By a teacher that wanted him to be hurt, he used his damaged mind to try and do his own work. The teacher hated Kim Seo, the man was downright ready to kill him himself.
But he didn't, finding the damaged boy to infect his mind. He had succeeded, Clay had gone and done what he was told. Killing the helpless teens, dragging their bodies back to his old home that fell apart.
There was no image, but the description of the bodies that INCLUDED Mr. Tul made his stomach turn. Clay was eating them, eating his victims that steamed from Loire and to the teacher before he was found. He was found in the forest in the small home, sitting over the teacher's lifeless body, his hands dug deep into his lifeless chest.
He was eating the man when the police caught him, searching the home where they found the bodies of Loire and Vinh. Kim Seo was half way towards the home, his body also proving a way for the police to actually track down the man.
Cameron should feel happy. It was over, it was all done.
He knew he should feel like this, but he didn't. He sat in the bed, dropping the newspaper down into his lap with tears in his eyes. No matter how nice it felt to have the killer caught and Mr. Tul meeting his demise. Cameron couldn't allow himself to feel happy.. yes, the man who killed his friends was gone and probably serving sentences, but he was just like him. A helpless kid alone in the forest..
Cameron wasn't alone…
The soft click from the door didn't even disturb Cameron's racing thoughts. He stayed staring down at his lap, the door opening for the doctor to come in. She stopped, spotting the newspaper on the boy's lap, she read his expression immediately. The plate in her hand was set down, along with her sitting next to the boy on the bed.
Cameron still didn't look up, he felt her, he knew she was there but he could do anything about it.
"I'm sorry. I was gonna wait and tell you when you had something to eat.."
The boy finally looked up, his eyes felt heavy and body was suddenly very sluggish. "Did- did they..?"
"Yes, he has been caught and is ready to be prosecuted.." Susan lightly rubbed his shoulder, trying to ease his tense muscles. "The officers are going to come again later today to ask you a few things. They want you to be at the sentencing to supply more evidence."
"Do I have to go?"
Susan gave a gentle smile, shaking her head. "No, no you don't. They have enough evidence to give him a good sentence." She looked up, catching Cameron's tears falling down almost unnoticed by the boy. She quickly closed her arms around him, holding him tightly to her chest.
Cameron hugged her back, his eyes closed with almost a sense of ease on his face. "I regret it.."
"Hm?" Susan stroked his hair, silently questioning him.
Cameron's face was in her neck, a soft sigh from his lips allowed the older woman to relax. "I regret being mad at him.. he was like me. He was me.. he was just like all of us. It wasn't really his fault, he was forced into it by the.."
"The man Mr. Tul. Yes I know," she pulled back, looking at the soft and tired expression from the teary boy. "He was a child. Taken advantage of, but you have to remember that he is of age. So the judge will just see him as of age in his sentencing. He made his own decisions.."
Cameron wanted to say more, to try and protect the killer. But he couldn't, Susan was right and the police, people would not care to see him on his side. The man was unstable, unable to speak and defend himself.
They would give justice to the teens he had killed. Even though they knew his "story" and what he was put through, he was a grown man who slaughtered and ate his victims.
The answer to this story was already set.
"Here," Susan moved the plate and placed it on the tray in front of the boy. Cameron mumbled a thank you, placing the crackers together with the cheese and silently ate. Susan turned, she knew right now was not the best time, but she wanted to ask him.. to be sure of her plan into taking care of him.
The anxiety she felt was through the roof, thousands of questions concerned her train of thought until she became too silent for the boy to grow concerned. Cameron took a bite of the cheese, looking up to see Susan turned from the bed, away from him.
"Susan..?" Cameron gulped, seeing her shift slightly over to him.
"Cameron, how would you feel about leaving?" She finally turned to him, a gentle smile plastered on her face. The boy looked back at her, a bit confused at the words. "You have been in this room for a long time, almost a month. How about, next session when Ms. Chirp comes, we take it outside to the park?"
"There's a park?" Cameron's eyes lit up slightly, making the doctor feel warm.
"Yes, it's down by the back where the garden is." She smiled lightly, crossing one of her legs on the bed. "Do you like gardens?"
"I mean, they are kinda boring, depending on what is growing." He shrugged his shoulders, snacking on the crackers.
Susan giggled at him, "well the garden has more than just vegetables. It grows some strawberries, some flowers like sunflowers and roses."
"Do they have raspberries?" The boy smiled brightly, his eyes lighting up even more.
"Yeah actually," she noticed his happiness brighten even more. "We can pick some and maybe make smoothies if you like?"
"That sounds fun..!" His smile was big, but it slowly lowered. "But- where would we make them? Does the hospital let you pick them and make food-"
"Don't worry about it right now," she ruffled his head, giving a comforting look to his racing heart. Cameron subtly nodded, finishing up the food while the doctor traveled off the bed in search of the teens medication.
She came back, sitting down right where she was with the glass of water in one hand and the 2 pills in the other. Cameron groaned with annoyance, "I don't like taking those, they make me tired."
"They will help you with your pain, come on." She handed them to him, watching him begrudgingly pop the pills in his mouth to swallow. She knew that Cameron could tell she wasn't telling him the whole truth. The pills didn't just help with the pain, it helped medicate him. His anxiety from the trauma was numbed into sleep so he couldn't stress himself to death.
Susan set the water down, tucking Cameron back in. The boy moved over, handing the book he had forgotten over to the doctor. She took it, eyeing it then back to the teenager who snuggled up to the blankets. His big eyes told her what he wanted.
With a slight chuckle, she crossed her legs once again before reading. She read a bit, continuing the story while the boy in the bed let his eyes slowly drift close, it took about 10 minutes of reading before the teen finally managed to fully fall asleep. Susan kept reading just in case, her words fumbling together until she stopped to look at him.
He looked at peace, the soft thrilling from the monitors connected let out soft sounds. It was nice to see the stressed child closely relax next to her. The bandages wrapped around his body were now crystal white. He is no longer bleeding.
His broken bones were healing perfectly on each check up Susan had with him. The boy was thriving, healing quickly with a strong heart.
He still couldn't walk too much so as not to strain his stitches, his ankle was still healing very slowly. Other than that, the only thing that Susan possibly had to worry about was his mental health. She could talk with Ms. Chirp more to see how he is doing, though she could see that he was generally healing.
It might not have everything to do with his new medication, maybe it's the talks he is having with Ms. Chirp or not. She did know that she had to stay on alert for their next session, the last time Cameron had been out, it was when he was in the forest.
She had to take it slow, slow and easy.
Her hand gently stroked his head, a soft smile on her lisp while watching his snore. She had panicked and not asked him, instead of informing about the outing. She knew that if she really wanted to adopt him, she would have to actually ask him about it.
Everytime she got to it, she would panic and end up forgetting about it. She let it go, ignoring the sinking feeling she had. She may lose her opportunity to do it..
The boy is getting better, he will soon be discharged from the hospital in a few more weeks. By that time, he will be placed in foster care or something, a place where she won't be able to see him again. Susan didn't want to admit it, but she was scared. Worried and frightened at the thought of losing him.
The doctor let out a hard sigh, turning over as gently as she could so Cameron didn't wake up. Susan shut the lights off, watching the boy before she closed the door behind her.