Cael: A Short Story

Maybe the voice in Cael’s head was his own.
Wake up, kid.
And he did jerk awake upon hearing this echo through his mind. For a moment he forgot where he was, even though he was at home in his own bed. Faint laughter from a corner startled him back to reality and cleared his thoughts. Other voices surrounded him. Pleading, weeping, screaming. A voice whispered directly into his ear, sending chills down his spine. Anyone else might go to a doctor, and Cael had in the past, but no amount of medicine or therapy made it stop. Problems can’t be solved by ignoring them, he’d learned that. But he still ignored the voices, making his situation worse. He’d ignored the fact that Pyxis was dead for six months (it wasn’t easy). He’d ignored the fact that
Sound seemed distant to Cael, who was keeping his eyes on the large building in the near distance. “This’ll be a fun adventure,” Polaris said. “We’re going to have so much fun. Prepare yourself, my friend.” The building in the distance was Walmart. Cael glanced sideways at him, unamused. “That was anticlimactic.” Warm air hit them as they stepped inside the store. It was surprisingly empty for a Friday night, the lights were dim and flickering slightly. The only people in sight were cashiers and a particularly grumpy-looking greeter sitting against the side of a shelf. Grumpy greeter looked at them and sighed, then stood and stretched.
“Welcome to Walmart. I’m Liam. Is there anything I can help you find?” He spoke in a monotone voice, shoulders hunched.
“Nope,” said Polaris in a cheerful tone. “We know exactly what we’re looking for.”
“Actually,” Cael said to Polaris, “I was never told what we’re here for.” “Whatever,” Liam grumbled. “It’s time for my break and I’m hungry.” He trudged off into what Cael assumed to be the break
Aris grabbed three flashlights, two spare lightbulbs, and a headlamp. Then he proceeded to drag Cael to the electronics section and told him to pick out a camera. Cael wondered how the hell Polaris was going to afford a brand new camera, but he didn’t question it. He’d learned that questioning Polaris’ decisions was pointless. After grabbing the first camera he saw that looked relatively cheap, Cael found Polaris walking to Annemarie, who stood in customer service holding her phone. He quickly followed, almost dropping the camera.
“─told you the employees are all vampires,” Anne was saying. Vampires? “And I-” She stopped as soon as she saw them and cleared her throat. “I’ll have to call you back.”
She slipped the phone into her pocket and smiled at them sheepishly, avoiding eye contact. Cael narrowed his eyes and studied her. Anne’s hair was a mess, sticking up where she kept nervously running her hand through it. Her eyeliner was smeared across her temples. It was hard to tell whether the dark bags under her eyes were from makeup or lack of sleep. Blood stained her torn