Page 125 of Wicked Little Nightmare

I plastered on a smile, hoping it didn't look as fake as it felt. "Well, that was a trip," I said, aiming for nonchalance but landing somewhere closer to unhinged. "Got any more party tricks up your sleeve, Sarah?"

Sarah's brow furrowed; her eyes filled with a concern that made me want to strangle her until her eyes popped out of her skull. I didn't need her pity. I didn't need anyone's fucking pity.

"Lakey, are you alright?" she asked, her voice soft and gentle. That fucking tone grated on my nerves. "That seemed like an intense experience. Would you like to talk about what you saw?"

I forced my smile wider, feeling it stretch my face unnaturally. "Oh, you know, just the usual childhood trauma. Nothing I can't handle." I waved my hand dismissively, as if swatting away her concern like an annoying fly. "I'm peachy keen, jellybean."

My eyes darted around the room, desperate for a distraction from Sarah's probing gaze. That's when I spotted my anchor. The sigh that escaped me was nothing short of relief.

He was lurking in the corner, looking like he'd just stepped out of a slasher flick. Blood splattered his clothes and smeared across his rugged face – probably from killing some animal with Kyle, I assumed. But fuck if he didn't look hot as hell.

Our eyes met, and I felt a surge of love. Cam gave me a slight nod, his dark eyes conveying what words couldn't. He got it. He always did. I wanted to run to him, to bury my face in his blood-soaked chest and forget about everything else. But I couldn't. Couldn’t show that prissy therapist how deeply that session had affected me. I had to keep it together, had to maintain this facade of normalcy.

"So," I chirped, turning back to Sarah with renewed false cheer, "same time next week? Or should we skip straight to the exorcism?"

“Lakey… you’re not alright. Let me help you.”

I stood up, my legs feeling like they were made of lead. Every movement was a goddamn chore, like I was wading through quicksand. My mind was a fucking mess, a tornado of fragmented memories and unanswered questions.

"Thanks for the mind-fuck, Sarah," I said, trying to inject some levity into my voice. But it fell flat, even to my own ears. I sounded hollow, empty. Like someone had scooped out my insides and left me a shell of myself. “I’m going to go outside and get some air, that alright with you, Doc? Don’t worry I won’t go off the rails and shoot up the place.”

As I made my way to the door, I couldn't shake the image of that cold metal table, the doctor's words echoing in my head. "Implantation successful." What the fuck did that mean? And why did it make my skin crawl?

Cam fell into step beside me as we exited the room. His presence was a comfort, but also a reminder of the childhood we shared. Two broken pieces that somehow fit together in this jagged puzzle of life. No one but him would ever understand what the fuck we went through as kids.

We walked in silence, our footsteps syncing up naturally. I didn't need to look at him to know he was there, to feel the unspoken understanding between us. We were cut from the same cloth, Cam and I. Scarred, damaged, but somehow still standing.

I wanted to reach out, to grab his hand and anchor myself to something real. But I didn't. Couldn't. The memories from the session had left me raw, exposed. And I wasn't sure I was ready to let anyone, even Cam, see me like this. So, we walked, side by side, both of us lost in our thoughts. Each step felt like a battle,but with Cam beside me, I knew I could keep fighting. Even if I didn't know what the fuck I was fighting against.

The moment we stepped outside, the crisp evening air slapped me in the face like a wake-up call. I sucked in a deep breath, letting it fill my lungs and push out the stale, oppressive atmosphere of that suffocating room. The sky was a bruised purple, the sun barely clinging to the horizon. It felt like a goddamn metaphor for my life — caught between light and dark, never fully in either.

"Fuck," I muttered, running a hand through my hair. "That was... intense."

Cam grunted in agreement, his eyes scanning the area out of habit. “Yeah. I had quite the experience myself.”

As we walked towards the log bench around the fire pit, my mind was a fucking tornado of thoughts and emotions. Images flashed through my head: sterile labs, men in suits, that fucking doctor with his creepy smile. And that phrase, echoing like a broken record: "Emotion is weakness. Weakness is death."

I clenched my fists, nails digging into my palms. "I need answers, Cam," I said, my voice barely above a whisper. "What the hell did they do to us?"

He didn't respond right away, but I could feel the tension radiating off him. Finally, he spoke, his voice low and gravelly. "I don’t know, Lakes. I hate that it’s coming back. I want it to stop."

I nodded, a grim smile tugging at my lips. Fear coiled in my gut like a poisonous snake, but alongside it was a burning determination. Whatever clusterfuck of a past we had, I was going to unravel it.

"Yeah," I agreed, my eyes meeting Cam's. "But we need to know. We need to figure out what they did."

Cam's arm slid around my shoulders, pulling me close. The warmth of his body was a stark contrast to the chill that hadsettled in my bones. I leaned into him, breathing in his familiar scent, tinged with blood.

"Everything's falling apart," he murmured, his lips brushing against my hair. "But it's all coming together at the same time. I swear, Lakey, I won't let you suffer through this shit alone."

I looked up at him, feeling a tear slip down my cheek. My hand came up and touched it, bringing it down to eye level, I stared at it in shock. This feelings shit was so much worse than being on auto pilot.It fucking hurt. God, did it hurt.I wanted to go back to the simpler time, when we had coffee and bagels, and Cam fucked women so I could kill them. When we held the demons at bay just with the monotony of our fucked-up choices. But the memories, the fear, the confusion — it was all too much. "I need to know what happened to us, Cam," I whispered. “Something more is out there. Something big. It all started with us. I know it did.”

His dark eyes met mine, understanding and determination reflected in their depths. "I know," he said.

We stood there in silence, holding each other. It was fucked up, really. Two damaged, violent psychopaths finding comfort in each other's arms. But it worked. Don’t know why. It just did. I couldn’t get it out of my head, my mind just kept replaying that one memory. Implantation. I’d heard about that before, but that was in the context of birth control or…

I placed a hand on my stomach, a chill running through me.No, that couldn't be. Could it?

"We're going to dig deeper," I said, my voice steely with resolve. "Whatever darkness is waiting for us, whatever other insane shit they did — we're going to uncover it all."

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