CHAPTER 3 #2
Cam jumped violently and, because my hand was sweaty for some ungodly reason, his fingers slipped from my grasp.
“Shit, Cam, you okay?” I asked the darkness that once again fell over us.
When no answer came, I spun around as if that would reveal Cam hiding huddled in some corner. Even though I couldn’t see shit.
Fuck this, I thought and pulled out my phone, flicking on the flashlight. All it managed to show me was the empty narrow walkway that veered off in three directions and the cheap zombie decoration hanging from the wall, fake rubbery flesh peeling back from its mottled, snarling face.
“Cam?” I called, but again there was no response
I picked a direction and, after going back through the entire maze, which wasn’t actually that big, I was certain I’d scoured every corner and couldn’t find him anywhere.
He wasn’t waiting for me back at the doorway we had entered through and when I reached the exit on the other side, he was nowhere in sight.
Cam had disappeared.
***
Don’t freak out. Don’t freak out. Don’t freak out.
I repeated those three words like my new life mantra as I speed-walked miming a parent who’d lost their kid.
I strongly resisted the urge to bellow Cam’s name in my search. I didn’t want to draw any unnecessary attention to my contraband companion.
After what felt like forever but was in all likelihood only a couple of minutes, I managed to make it to the large open area of the mall court.
The giant circular space was lined with shops and little food courts of empty tables and benches with a few hallways branching off to other parts of the mall.
Only a handful of people were milling about, and in the center was a recessed floor surrounding a massive stone fountain.
As I approached, I could see the thousands of coins glittering below the water’s blue surface.
The scent of chlorine assaulted my nose and I could just make out a muffled voice through the sounds of rushing water coming from the other side.
I spotted the black leather jacket first. Quickly followed by his tall frame, tight dark jeans, and raven hair. He was standing next to what appeared to be a refurbished hotdog stand with the sign “Lost it was damn cute.
“I need get your room ready and new clothes washed up. Do you, um, need my help showering?”
I added the last question only because maybe he genuinely did need my help. It was hard to tell what he remembered about being alive. Some things he showed familiarity with while others seemed entirely new to him. And I didn’t want to insult his intelligence by assuming.
Like when he rode with me in my car to the mall.
He had seemed completely terrified as he clutched the oh shit handle above the door and white-knuckled the center console.
By the end, he had relaxed enough to not leave permanent dents in my car’s upholstery but had still been visibly tense.
It had left me extremely tempted to hold his hand, but I’d managed to refrain, not knowing if it would have made him even more uncomfortable.