The Kamkamchera Chapter 4

TKKC chp4 Dustin Smith

       After getting back from their little trip around the city, Lyell immediately went straight to his room, and had stayed there the rest of the night. The next morning, after a shower and getting dressed, he plopped himself down onto his bed. He just lied there and contemplated what he had been told the previous day.
       Vladimir was just crazy, off his rocker, gone 'round the bend, bonkers, had a screw loose...Lyell could go on and on about how crazy he thought Vladimir was...But he seemed to be a good guy- other than his persisting intrusions on Lyell's personal space. If what he had said was really all true, and he was really- something else, was it all some sort of charade then? It wasn't until something was said that Lyell noticed someone had been standing in the doorway.
       "Over thinking somethings like that will ruin your mind." Lyell jumped in surprise, it was Vladimir.
       "Vlad! You scared me, how long were you standing there for?" Lyell asked as he stood up from the bed and patted his pockets.
       Vlad shrugged, "What are you looking for?"
       "My cell phone." Vlad pointed past Lyell and there it was sitting on the bedside table, Lyell retrieved it with relief.
       "Would you like to join me for breakfast down in the lobby?" Vlad asked, he was unusually casually dressed, with a grey pull over hoodie and bright blue jeans... an odd choice for a business man. He is pretty young though, Lyell thought, to be a wealthy hotel owner.
       Lyell looked at his watch, noon, "Wouldn't we have missed breakfast?"
       Vlad laughed, "I own this place, we could have breakfast whenever."
       Lyell tried to hide it as best he could, but he was very uneasy as they made their way to the elevator, down, and to a counter in the lobby. They sat down on some fancy stools and order breakfast from the menu, even though breakfast had ended two hours earlier. "Anythin for the boss!" said the waitress with a smile.
       Vlad grinned, "Excellent!" Lyell watched the waitress write down what they had ordered and walk away, into the kitchen. She certainly had a nice and happy tone when speaking to Vlad- he can't be bad... "You seem out of it today, are you feeling ill, or are you usually this way?" spoke Vlad, Lyell snapped back to reality.
       "Sorry, um...where is Uncle Byron?" Lyell asked. Vlad seemed perplexed by his question for a moment but then looked back at Lyell with his usual grin.
       "I believe he went to research some more at the local library, maybe ask some historians some stuff."
       Lyell saw the waitress come back out and she placed the two plates of eggs, bacon, and toast in front of the two of them. "Enjoy!" she said before walking away again.
       Lyell sighed and looked Vladimir straight in the eyes, "What is going on here, Vladimir?" At first Vlad seemed surprised, but then as he went to answer his face turned grim.
       Right before anything could be said, there was... quite the interruption. "Hey! Chattin it up wit the big guy eh?!" came a very unfamiliar, and shall we say 'overconfident' voice. A guy around Lyell's age came up between Vlad and Lyell and snatched a piece of bacon from Lyell's plate and immediately stuffed it in his mouth, "Sup!?" Lyell looked at his plate with dismay, devoid of his bacon.
       Vladimir had a loom on his face that made it easy to tell that he was annoyed. "We were having an important discussion."
       "Oh yeah?" asked the stranger.
       "Yes."
       There was an awkward silence as the two just stared at each other. Vlad scowled, "GTFO."
       The stranger just ignored Vlad completely and turned to Lyell with a fist out, "Name's Dustin Smith, and you are?"
       "Lyell Kimmal." answered Lyell as he did the expected fist bump.
       Dustin Smith was about half a foot taller than Lyell, had dirty blonde hair with black tips, and had blue eyes. He was wearing a blue 'V' neck T-shirt, grey skinnies, a purple scarf, and white shutter shades.
       "Lyell? That's a pretty rad name, bro!" said Dustin with a big grin. Who the hell says 'rad' anymore?
       "Thanks..?"
       "No probs man!"
       "Are you done?" asked Vladimir, his patience wearing thin. Dustin just smiled and said nothing. "Good! Lyell, this is my son."
       "Uh..." is all Lyell could spit out, he was completely dumbfounded. How old was Vladimir...23? How could Vlad have a 16 year old son at that age? Plus they looked nothing alike. It wasn't much, but Lyell finally got out a couple words, "Vladimir Smith?"
       "I'm adopted, Vlad let me keep my last name." said Dustin with a laugh. Well that explains it. Lyell saw this as more evidence that Vladimir could not be evil in any sort of way.
       Vlad exasperated, "Anyway, as I was about to say, the riddle."
       "What about the riddle?" asked Lyell.
       "Y'know," began Dustin, "The Kamkamchera."
       Vladimir took a bite out of his toast, "We think it has something to do with the recent disappearances around here."
       Lyell looked at the both of them and chuckled nervously, "But, it isn't real."
       Vladimir shrugged, "If you don't think any of it exists, why do you keep that book with you?" Lyell looked at his shoulder bag with the book nestled inside thoughtfully. Why did he keep it around with him all the time? Was it because it was a gift from Byron? It's kind of ridiculous, hauling around a big book like that everywhere you go... Was Vladimir right? Did Lyell believe in the ridiculous notion that everything written in that book was true? Lyell couldn't believe it, he told himself he wouldn't, but easier said than done after that has happened.
       "You're still sticking to what you said about not being human...?" asked Lyell slowly.
       "Yes."
       Dustin smiled, "He told you, eh?" Lyell nodded.
       "Then, what are you?" Lyell asked.
       Vladimir tilted his head as though confused, "What do you mean? I already told you, I'm Fantazian."
       "Fantazia is a place, not a species..." replied Lyell.
       Vladimir grinned, "You're so clever. Fine then, I am a true demon."
       Lyell retorted in surprise, "You're a demon!?"
       "No, a true demon, there is a difference."
       "And that is?"
       "A true demon is a living soul who has a choice to be evil or not and only has one life, a regular Fantazian demon is created from a dead corrupted soul, it has no choice in most cases but to be evil and after death will respawn in Hell once again unless killed under certain circumstances." answered Vladimir.
       Lyell nodded, "Okay...Certain circumstances?"
       "A true demon or a higher ranked demon can kill a demon permanently."
       Byron walked in the front entrance doors and spotted the three at the counter. "What are you all up to?" he asked as he came and joined them. Lyell took a bite of his toast and looked over at Vlad's plate, he hadn't noticed until then that Vlad had finished his meal well before him. Lyell also noticed that Dustin had eaten his last piece of bacon.
       "We just finished a conversation about demons." said Lyell bluntly.
       Byron looked over to Vladimir with a raised brow, "Is that so?"