Caleum Davis was someone anyone would describe as unremarkable. He was athletic, took care of himself, and was honestly pretty smart.
But that was where it began and ended with him.
He never excelled in anything. He was content just coasting through life and letting things happen as they came along.
He didn't have some devastatingly tragic backstory or anything. His birth parents had died early in a car accident and after a few uneventful years in a decent orphanage he was adopted by a pretty decent couple.
While he was grateful to them, they could not be called close. They both held pretty prestigious jobs, and seeing Caleum's lack of drive and ambition, they were content with him just staying out of trouble and getting his degree.
So for the fifteen years since he had been adopted, Caleum had always maintained a subtle distance from them. Neither hot, nor too cold either.
And besides a few of his close friends from his orphanage days, he had kept this same polite distance from anyone he had ever interacted with.
Minerva had been the first person in a long time that he had felt…something, towards.
And now, as he stared at the truck barreling towards him. An eerie sense of calm settled over him.
He felt almost relieved.
As the truck grew closer, a random thought crossed his mind.
'Ah, I was supposed to get V that coffee. Hope she doesn't blame me.'
Just as the tensed muscles in his body relaxed, a sudden, violent force yanked him back.
"YOU FUCKING CRAZY KID!?"
HONKKKKK
Caleum collapsed onto his ass, hard. The truck whizzing passed as the driver's muted curses went unheard.
He lay uncomfortably on his back. His backpack and all its contents probably crushed to oblivion by the rough fall.
Caleum's gaze was locked toward the sky, the japanese vocals still blaring in his ears yet the ringing in his ears made it feel as if the world was silent.
An angered face suddenly appeared above his head. The man, whom Caleum assumed was the one who pulled him out of danger, was red-faced and yelling something he couldn't hear over the music.
As the man continued to scream, Caleum tilted his head and stared back at him in a daze.
He wasn't sure how much time passed, but eventually the man had walked away. Probably cursing his luck at running into such a weirdo.
Caleum slowly rose off the ground, his movements stiff and somewhat unsteady as he watched the people around him walk toward their destinations, completely unbothered by his close encounter with the grim reaper.
He was suddenly struck by a strange feeling of absurdity.
'That…that really just happened.'
The next 30 minutes were a blur. One minute he was swiping his subway pass and seated on the train toward his apartment.
The next he was in the same bodega close to his home getting his and Minerva's coffee. The entire time the same song played on repeat as he forgot to take it off loop.
By the time he came back to himself, he was standing outside of his apartment. He numbly turned the key and crossed the threshold inside.
The apartment wasn't anything grand, but it was pretty decent by all standards. As he set his things down on the small table, he surveyed the sparsely furnished room.
Besides the tv and the small fern his adoptive mother had left him when she had visited last, the walls were empty. The entire apartment was empty, and today, standing here he felt that emptiness even clearer.
He suddenly felt as if his mind had sobered up from the twenty some years of aimless drifting he had been doing.
'I almost died…that really just happened. Just like that?'
As the reality of what he had just been through hit him, a shiver traveled up his spine as he finally took notice of the fact that he was drenched in sweat.
Looking down at his shaking hands, he came to a realization of the fragility of life.
Before he could fully sink into his existential crisis, the ding of a text notification woke him from his stupor.
Clicking on the notification, his group chat with his old friends popped open.
[Raging Lameos]
Eddy: 'Oye! Whose hopping on Rust tn??'
Chloe: 'Bro screw that noise! Ain't no one tryna play that dogshit.'
Eddy: 'Fuck you Chloe. Your bitchass just afraid of getting worked and losing all your shit.'
Chloe: 'Why do I even associate with you again?'
Eddy: 'Bc you're an orphan just like the rest of us fuckface (smiley emoji).'
Eddy: 'Now hop.'
Eddy: 'The fuck.'
Eddy: 'ON!'
Chloe: 'Legit have never hated a living human being more than you.'
Seeing the chat full of their daily banner, Caleum broke out into manic laughter.
"This is insane! I almost died…Literally almost died! And the world just–just…"
The emotional high began to wear off as his nerves finally began to settle.
He stared at the still rolling messages before finally breaking into the conversation.
Big Daddy: 'Boys.'
The chat stalled for a second before it began to blow up with notifications.
Eddy: 'There you are, my favorite chocolatite! Where have you been?'
Chloe: 'Cal, I'm begging you. Get him to stfu. I'm tryna work out.'
Eddy: 'Gargle my sack buddy.'
Ignoring their venomous banter, Caleum continued unimpeded. His gaze brighter than ever before.
Big Daddy: 'I'm gonna change my routine. I ain't gonna waste my life anymore.'
His text was met with a solid two minutes of silence.
Big Daddy: 'And I'm gonna confess my feelings to Minerva.'
This time the chat exploded.
Chloe: 'Okay, now you need to stfu.'
Eddy: 'Bro's gone crazy.'
Chloe: 'If this is a cry for help then message received loud and clear.'
Eddy: '(laughing wolves gif)'
Chloe: '*Liked an image*'
Seeing the unanimous 'support' of his two closest friends. Caleum felt a vein throb on his forehead.
"They're right, you know. Anyone who suddenly decides to 'turn themselves around', has historically failed after about an average of three days."
The air in the living room seemed to freeze.
Caleum stopped mid-text. His gaze lifted to the still empty room, his head swiveling left and right in a pathetic attempt to soothe his anxiety.
"Yup, just hearing things. Probably survivor's guilt or something."
Letting out a humorless laugh, he turned his head back to the phone screen.
"I don't believe that was the right way to use that term. But whatever helps you cope I guess."
Caleum fully stiffened this time.
'Cal my man. You're better than this. Don't turn around. Don't pull a white guy, just go to your room and lock the door.'
The disembodied voice resounded through the space once again.
"Is that gonna help? My child, I am already inside. Going to your room and locking the door would do little at this point."
Caleum's body was rigid. Every muscle, every bone, and every cell in his body screaming at him to run.
But a part of him. A silent part of his mind knew…running was useless, resistance was futile.
"You can turn around, child. I am not here to harm you."
Somehow, that didn't ease Caleum's skyrocketing blood pressure at all. But due to reasons that he could not explain, he turned.
Slowly.
His eyes watering under the tension and anxiety of the situation. When he had turned the full 180 degrees, his mind stalled out.
Sitting in the plastic lawn chair by the dining table was what appeared to be a man in a pristine white suit and winged tipped shoes. A cane rested by its side, the pommel holding a strange black cube.
And while seeing a complete stranger in his house would be enough cause for alarm. There was one very obvious, very glaring issue about the whole situation.
"Uhh, your umm…your face is missing…sir?"
The intruder didn't seem bothered by the lack of a nose or mouth…or eyes for that matter.
"Don't worry about it! I just took on a form that your psyche could handle without shattering. Come take a seat child."
It was at this exact moment that Caleum felt he should have fainted, and yet far from that, he felt…relaxed. Even his earlier anxiety had eased considerably after laying eyes on the man.
"Don't mind it. I'm just dulling your body's natural panic response to keep you calm. Now come, sit! Sit! We have much to discuss."
Facing this bizarre situation, Caleum had a very natural reaction.
"No."
"..."
"Ever heard of stranger danger? I'm not sitting with you."
The stranger still didn't lash out. Instead it relaxed further into its seat, crossing one leg over the other. Though Caleum couldn't see any expression on its face, or the lack there of, he could feel that the thing in front of him was smiling at him.
"Stranger danger? Really Caleum?"
With a wave of its hand, another chair materialized next to the table. Caleum stood frozen the whole time, his palms sweating as his mind struggled to keep up with the escalating absurdity of the situation.
"Are you…an alien?"
The stranger tilted its head slightly as if pondering the question.
"No. I am…much more than that my dear child. Let's just say, I'm a genie. In this case, I'm your genie."
It was now official. Caleum was most definitely not in Kansas anymore.