It is a dreary December night and James is packing his things. James attends Endicott college in Massachusetts at the age of twenty. He is a very carefree person and spends most of his time at parties leaving little time for school work. Ironically he attains grades of a very studious and dedicated student. The credit for his grades entirely belongs to his room mate, Leo. One would consider Leo and James polar opposites. While James is out partying, Leo is in dorm completing his homework along with James’. You may wonder why Leo takes the burden of another’s work, it is because Leo idolizes James. James is everything Leo aspires to be, loved by many and respected by all. Leo would do anything to gain James’ approval and friendship. Most would characterize Leo as obsessive and almost portrays “stalkerish” behavior towards James. He’s quite disturbed by the fact that James and him will be apart for some time over Christmas Break. As James prepares for departure from Endicott, Leo attentively watches and attempts to mentally prepare himself for their temporary separation.

James grew up in the city of Malden along with his two older sisters. He lives with his mother in her very old house. Although he grew up in the city his closest neighbor is a mere three miles away. James had to bike five miles every day just to meet up with friends. When he returns home his mother greets him as soon as he walks in the door. His mother was a very caring and social person who was loved by all. He does not stay at his house too long before heading out to take a walk. Due to the fact he lives in a secluded area surrounded by miles of woods, outside to him seems peaceful and relaxing. The night is very dark and peaceful, the only sounds are those made by the various animals that are scurrying around in the woods. James stops for a moment and gazes upon the peacefulness and innocence of nature. His trance is disrupted by the violent vibration of his cell phone. The caller-id reads blocked so James answers it with a puzzling “Hello”.  No one responds leaving James confused, but it does not concern him much at the time and he proceeds on his walk.  He cuts his walk short because he is exhausted and needs rest. When he approaches his house he searches his pocket for his key but cannot seem to find it. James come to the conclusion that he must of accidently dropped his key when he searched his pockets to answer his phone earlier and rings the doorbell several times to alert his family that he has locked himself out. His mom always waits for him to return home and is right there to let him inside.

James awakes late in the afternoon and walks down stairs to see his two sisters dressed in green and red as if they were attending a Christmas gathering.

His oldest sister explains, “ James we are heading out to a Christmas party across town and need you to watch Cameron tonight. Can you do that for me?”

James responds, “ Yeah I was planning on staying in anyways, I wouldn't mind watching him at all.”

Cameron and James are extremely close and he loves watching him. Cam’s mom is young and works so she is always out which means when James is home he is stuck watching his nephew. Cameron a very quiet and easy-going six year old. He is very shy and only seems to be chatty around James. The only thing Cameron loves more than James is television. All James has to do is turn on an appropriate channel and Cam will sit there for hours until he gradually falls asleep.

It will be dark in no more than an hour which means it is almost Cameron’s bedtime. Before  putting Cam to sleep James remembers to go outside and look for his key. James peers out the wind and notices it is completely pouring outside. The rain is hitting the ground with hard thuds. The sky is completely engulfed in intimidating and disturbingly dark clouds. Once stepping outside he feels the wind hit him like a wall but continues on the pursuit of  his lost object. He retraces his steps and notices askewed footprints in the muddy ground around where he assumes he dropped it. James assumes one of his sisters probably came across it and picked it up for him. He looks around for a little while longer before losing interest and heading back inside. On his journey back to his house, James feels the violent vibration of his phone once again. Once again the caller-id reads blocked and no one responds when James says “Hello”. He ponders over the strange recurring incident and wonders who is calling him. After he contemplates the incident for several moments, he remembers he left his little nephew inside alone and bolts back to the house.  Everything is fine when he returns so James goes and flicks on the television, and positions Cameron right in front of it. Both boys are comfortable in no time and turn their full attention to the TV.  After about two hours both James and Cameron have fallen asleep.

James awakes to find he has fallen asleep for what seemed to be a brief half hour. He assumes the power went out because the house is completely dark and the television has been turned off. He stumbles to find the light switch. After turning the lights on he finds his nephew to be missing. Panic overwhelms him because Cameron is not known to wander off in the dark and it seems extremely suspicious that the child would not have turned any lights on. Suddenly the lights go out and the house is once again completely dark. As James struggles to see in the darkness, he feels a presence in the room. He struggles to turn the lights on but when he does he finds Leo standing in front of him.

James shouts in a concerned but confused tone, “ Leo why the heck are you in my house?”

“Well I did not have any plans this Christmas break so I decided to follow my best friend home. I did not ask you because I was afraid you might say no.” Leo mumbles his words in a disturbing tone.

“How did you get in here, I locked all the doors.”

“Last night when you took a walk I was in the woods watching you, and I noticed you dropped something so I picked it up and it turns out it was your key.”

“Why didn’t you confront me, stalking me in the darkness of the night is really strange Leo.”
Leo is silent and seems to be hurt by James’ comment on his irregular behavior. James then remembers his missing nephew and asks Leo if he has seen him.

“Have you seen my nephew, Cameron”

“Um...Uh...I might have”
“Leo where is he, this is not funny at all”

Leo erupts with anger, “Why do you give him so much attention, he gives you nothing in return! I saw you playing with him and caring for him all night. Why? What makes him entitled to your approval and friendship. That is all I ever wanted. Do you think I do all your school work out of the goodness of my heart! I do it so you will like me and let me hang out with you. We have shared a dorm for a while now and not once have you asked me to go with you to one of your parties!”

“ Leo I’m truly sorry, but where is Cameron?”

“Why does it matter he does not know you like I do. I have studied you and followed you around to learn your behavior so I can fit in with you. All your pathetic cousin does it laugh and watch TV and you give him all over your attention! I deserve it more than anyone does!”

“He’s only six, he is probably scared to death right now, please tell me where he is!”

“No need to look for him, as he is no longer among us”

James now disturbed and enraged, darts towards and lunges at him. But Leo, being surprisingly swift, dodges James. Causing James to hit his head extremely hard off the wall and then he passes out.

When James awakes from his incapacitated state he abruptly gets up in panic. Only to find Cameron watching TV right where he had previously left him. James is now extremely confused but at the same time relieved that his nephew is safe and sound. He concludes that he had an awful nightmare, and ponders at why he dreamt a such a disturbing thought. James believes it might be a sign alerting him to appreciate what Leo does for him and decides to contact Leo in the morning.  Once he returns from his deep thoughts he realizes there is a sound almost like tapping on the window. James cannot see through the window because of the glare provided by the living-room’s light.  He believes it is the rain and decides to ignore it for the time being. Not to long after that Cameron falls asleep and James now needs to take him upstairs to bed. James carries his peacefully sleeping nephew upstairs to bed. After he successfully puts Cameron to bed, James’ phone erupts from his pocket and falls to the floor. James picks it up and squints to read the caller-id, which reads blocked. He decides not to answer it and  returns downstairs to turn off the television and the lights. As James shuts of the light he gazes out the window as it now becomes transparent once again, only he is alarmed to see a young man with his face up close to the window staring back at him with a disturbing grin. James is extremely frightened and reaches for his phone to dial 911. But when he opens his phone there is a texted from a blocked number reading, “James I see you”.