Chapter 6: We Are Carnage! (No, We're Not!)

In which Cameron makes a new friend (and would really like them to pick a better name).

Cameron woke up to see darkness above him. There was no ceiling, so he wasn't at home. And yet, it didn't look like the night sky either.

There was just darkness, stretching into infinity.

Cameron slowly sat up and looked around with mounting horror. He was on an island of cracked desert land the color of dried blood. It was only a few dozen feet across and surrounded on all sides by black nothingness. There was no source of light around, yet somehow, he could see everything perfectly.

There was a gnarled black tree right in the center of the island. There were no leaves on it and its dead branches curled like claws. The tree had a deep crack running down its middle from the very top of its trunk to the base of its exposed roots. And it was bleeding, forming a blood-red stream that wound its way through the dry ground.

It was– It was impossible! A place like this couldn't exist on Earth! It just couldn't!

How did he even get here? The last thing he remembered was–

Cameron gasped and looked down at his stomach. He had been stabbed! And yet, he couldn't see any trace of the wound. How–

Oh god… He– he was dead, wasn't he?

He was dead and in hell.

Cameron looked at the bleeding tree and the surrounding darkness. What else could this place be? He certainly couldn't see any clouds or angels with harps!

He choked back a sob. Why? Why did this happen? He– he hadn't been a bad person, had he? He had tried to help others… This was how he got here in the first place!

It wasn't fair…

"Do you like it?" a voice asked suddenly, making him flinch.

It was… definitely not human. It spoke English, but it was high-pitched and so heavily distorted, it was impossible to tell whether it was male or female.

"Who's there?" Cameron whispered fearfully.

The stream of blood moved.

The liquid rose into the air in countless writhing tendrils that changed their color from blood-red to dark crimson to inky black and back again. Then those tendrils twisted together into a mockery of human shape.

It was tall, taller than Cameron, but even thinner than he was. Its spindly arms and legs ended with massive sharp claws. Its head resembled some kind of predatory beast: blank white eyes and a maw full of black fangs open in a shark-like grin.

Was this a demon sent to torment him?

Cameron scrambled back in fear, but there was nowhere to run. There was only this tiny island and the endless sea of darkness.

The demon crouched down on all fours and crawled closer, trapping Cameron between its long arms.

"Do you like it?" it repeated and gestured around with one clawed hand. "I made this all for you."

What.

"I found this place in your memories," the demon continued. "You liked it then. But you don't like it now… Did I do it wrong?"

Its voice sounded… distressed.

Cameron didn't understand. What reason did this monstrous thing have to be distressed?

The demon whined and lowered itself down, right on top of Cameron, resting its head on his chest, "…I did it wrong. I'm sorry."

Cameron stared at it, uncomprehending. Why was this monster acting like a kicked puppy?

"You're scared. Please, don't be scared."

It sounded so earnest…

Cameron carefully raised a shaking hand and put it on top of the demon's head. Its skin glistened like it was wet, but it was actually dry and very soft to the touch.

The demon nudged his hand cat-like, and Cameron slowly stroked its warm red skin. He knew that petting a monster that could bite his arm off if he made a wrong move was probably a bad idea, but somehow he could tell that the demon wouldn't attack him.

"Listen, I– I'm scared because I have no idea what's going on. Where am I? What are you? Am I dead?"

The demon jerked up, "You're not dead! I would never let that happen! I fixed you!"

Then it lowered itself back down and shoved its thankfully closed maw right under Cameron's chin.

"Then what happened? I remember being stabbed–"

"I fixed you," the demon insisted.

"And there was–"

And there was a monster, black and tar-like, but startlingly resembling this one.

"That was my parent," the demon said, its voice rising into something… cheerful? Happy?

"You can hear my thoughts?!" Cameron yelped.

The monster (probably not a demon though) whined again, "You don't like it? I'm sorry. But we're in your head, we can only talk with thoughts."

Cameron froze. "Uh… Can you repeat that? We're in my head?!"

"Your mindscape. You are unconscious now, but I thought we could talk here while your body is healing. I– I tried to make it into something you'd like. I took it from your memories, but I did it wrong. I'm sorry."

Cameron raised himself on his elbows and incredulously looked around. He was pretty sure that he had never seen a place like this before!

…At least, not in real life.

"Oh my god…" he whispered in sudden realization.

Was– was this the Blood River? The homebrew location that his friend Brian had made for their next D&D session?! Brian had showed him some notes and sketches when he was still working out the details and–

And this place looked exactly like it!

"You made the Blood River in my head," Cameron said incredulously. A slightly hysterical giggle escaped him.

"You liked it," the monster mumbled into his neck. Despite its countless fangs, it didn't even scratch him. "I didn't want to scare you, so I thought it would make you more comfortable. But I made it wrong and you got scared more."

Cameron couldn't help it: he laughed. He wrapped his arms around the monster, holding it close, and laughed until he cried.

A misunderstanding. It was all just one big, awkward misunderstanding.

And Cameron might not know anything about this monster, but he could somehow feel its honesty. All it wanted was for Cameron to like it.

All it wanted was to be accepted.

"You did great," he said finally. "It was just… really unexpected."

The monster perked up, "So you like it?"

Cameron smiled, "I love it."

Cameron leaned against the black trunk of the dead tree, brushing his hand over it curiously. It didn't feel like bark: instead it was smooth like glass.

The monster curled on his lap and rested its head on his shoulder. It wound its red tendrils around him, as if it couldn't quite get enough physical contact.

Cameron slowly stroked its back and felt smaller tendrils curl over his fingers. "Alright… Glad we got that out of the way. But I still have no idea what's going on. Just… What are you?"

"I'm an alien. My species are called Klyntar, and we are symbiotic. We need a host to live."

Oh, great… Cameron was just an ordinary guy. How the hell did he go from going to a video game store to getting involved in a freaking alien invasion?!

"It's not an invasion. It's just my parent and I."

"Okay, that's… nice to know. So… why did you come to Earth?"

The monster, alien, whined miserably, "My parent was exiled long before I was born just because they were different. The rest of our species… They don't care about their hosts. I– I don't get it. How can they just… take over and control and not care?!"

Cameron stroked the symbiote's spindly neck and silently thanked his lucky stars that if he had to be possessed by an alien, at least he got a nice one.

"Well, maybe some of them just don't know any better," Cameron suggested. "But some people are just jerks, no matter the species."

The alien hummed in thought, "Maybe you're right… But I'm glad the others aren't here. I don't think I would've liked them."

"Well, at least you still have your… parent. You guys don't have genders?"

The alien shook their head, "Not really. Some pick a gender for themselves or choose a host with a specific body type, but most don't care. And any Klyntar can split off a child, just like my parent did right now."

"Wait, what do you mean right now? You're a newborn?!" Cameron yelped.

"Mmm-hm. And you're my first ever host!"

…This was a baby. An alien baby!

Cameron had no idea how to take care of babies, much less alien ones! Oh god… He was going to screw everything up and probably give them issues for the rest of their life!

"You're– uh– you're pretty smart for a newborn," Cameron said lamely, desperately trying to quell his rising panic.

"Klyntar are supposed to be self-sufficient from the moment we're born, and my parent has shared some of their memories with me. And I'm also learning from you."

"Hopefully, nothing child-inappropriate," Cameron joked weakly.

"Like sex?" the symbiote asked innocently, and Cameron promptly choked on thin air. "But why is it inappropriate? It's just how your species reproduce."

Well, at least he wouldn't have to explain the birds and the bees to an alien? Silver lining, look at silver lining…

"For humans, there are some things that are just… very personal," Cameron tried to explain. "So it can be very awkward to talk about them. And some stuff is private and should stay private, because it's really no one's business."

The alien meekly lowered their head, "Oh… I didn't know that. I'm sorry if I saw something private in your memories."

Cameron patted their back, "It's okay, you didn't know any better. Just don't go around telling anyone without permission, and we're good."

"I won't, I swear!" the alien promised.

It was starting to get awkward to call them just 'the alien' in his head. "You know, you still haven't told me your name. I'm Cameron, but you probably already knew that."

"I don't have a name yet," the alien replied. "Humans get their names from their parents, but Klyntar usually choose names for themselves."

"Then why don't you pick one now?"

The alien fell silent. Cameron could feel they were deep in thought. Then they perked up, "I know! Carnage."

"Wait. Wait-wait-wait! You can't call yourself Carnage!" Cameron protested.

"Why not?" the symbiote asked. "It's a good name for a Klyntar. And it's a name you've been using yourself for years. It's perfect!"

Oh boy…

Cameron raised his hands, "Listen, internet handles are one thing. No one is using their real name on the internet, so you can just call yourself whatever you want and no one will blink an eye. But it's different in real life! You can't just come up to someone and say 'Hi, my name is Carnage'! You'll look like a psychopath!"

The symbiote visibly pouted, "But I like it…"

Cameron tried not to feel too guilty about upsetting a baby. Unless he wanted them to be stuck with a name more fit for a serial killer, he had to nip this in the bud.

"Okay, how about…"

He looked around the mindscape, hoping to find some inspiration for a better name. A nerdy fantasy name would still be better than this. Though the river of blood made his surroundings look more like something out of Stephen King than D&D…

…Oh!

"How about Carrie?" Cameron suggested, remembering the classic horror movie. Even if the symbiote insisted on the name Carnage, he could at least use this as a nickname.

"Carrie…" the alien said slowly, rolling the name on their tongue. Then they grinned widely, "I like it!"

Cameron quietly sighed in relief. Crisis averted!

"And Carnage will be the name of our form together!" the newly-named Carrie added cheerfully.

Cameron silently slapped his forehead. This was what he got for still using the same username that his thirteen-year-old self had considered cool.