“Will Chameleon Man and his friends be able to stop the evil Toad from commencing his evil plan? Or will the fate of the universe be at stake to this slimy salesman? Tune in next week to find out!”
The blaring yet catchy theme of The Adventures of Chameleon Man and Friends played over the overhead speakers as I walked out my office.
I looked up from a clipboard of paperwork at my next patient: a young boy named Oliver Hughes; he was having trouble sleeping, and so far I wasn’t sure how to help him. I greeted him with a smile and he waved half-heartedly, paying more attention to the television, feeling dismayed that he missed the Chameleon Man episode.
I was about to welcome him into my office when I remembered I’d forgotten my notes about Oliver in the filing room. I told him to wait, and he continued to stare at the screen.
I walked over to my files, assuming that Oliver’s father, who was currently reading the newspaper, and my assistant Glenn would keep an eye on him.
“Look!” Oliver shouted. “It’s Chameleon Man!”
“Alright bud!” I shouted back. “I’ll see him too just in one sec.”
I opened the O section of the filing cabinets and searched for his file.
“It’s just like on TV! You have to see this!” I heard a loud shushing from someone else in the room, probably from Glenn.
Confused, I shut the cabinet. The file wasn’t there but I caught a glimpse of it out of the corner of my eye. It was on the floor, half-opened amongst a handful of other files; almost as if someone had been going through it and dropped it. It was probably Glenn though my mind did jump to an intruder for a brief moment.
I heard Oliver again, this time badgering his father, “Can I go with Chameleon Man?”
“Chameleon Man is not real,” I could practically hear the eye-roll all the way here.
“But he’s–”
“I’ll not have another word.”
I finished returning the files back to the cabinet and walked out, back into the lobby. I scanned the room and something was wrong. Something I couldn’t exactly–
Oliver was gone.
His father was still engrossed in the news. He hadn’t noticed. I looked around, and Glenn wasn’t at the register; instead I eyed him walking down the toilet down the hall.
“Where’s Oliver?” I asked his father, confused.
“Isn’t he with you?” he replied, not looking up from the paper.
“No?” I puzzled. “I told him to stay here-he was just talking to you.”
“Maybe he went to the toilet or something,” he groaned.
I walked over to Glenn, just as he reached the lobby. “Did you see Oliver?”
“No?” Glenn shrugged. “I thought he was with his dad.”
“What the hell?” I swore. “Where is he?!” I began to panic now. I thought back on the spilled folder on the floor-could an intruder have gotten in? Did anyone see them? Surely someone would have seen something.
“Glenn-” I was about to call Oliver’s father, but I decided not to, “we need to find him NOW.”
I felt a brush of wind and noticed that someone had left the door a crack open. I pointed to it and nodded to Glenn.
We were on our feet before anyone could say another word. We ran outside, feeling the hellish summer heat. I searched the playground and the neighborhood while Glenn looked around the nearby shops. We needed to find Oliver.
But he wasn’t there. No matter how hard or where we looked he was nowhere to be seen.
I sighed in exhaustion, sweating profusely as we walked back to the clinic. “We need to call the cops. I don’t know what else to do.”
And then I noticed something odd. Something I couldn’t explain.
There was a handprint on the plexiglass door, and it was definitely not human. The fingers were longer than human fingers and there were five fingers though the groupings were wrong. Three fingers were on the right side, and two were on the left.
Right, and there were noticeable scrape marks on the glass.
Confused and defeated, we went back inside. I saw Oliver’s father, still reading as if nothing had happened. I sighed and reached for the phone.
It took a whole hour for the cops to arrive.
And when they did arrive, it didn’t seem like they cared at all. “High and mighty” Chief Pritchard was eating the last crumbs of a donut and ordering a young new-looking officer to go buy more from the shop across the street.
Equally defeated as me, the officer ran off into the distance.
“So how can I help you today?” Chief Pritchard said, licking the sprinkles off his lips.
“A boy named Oliver Hughes went missing at two,” I informed. “I called you an hour ago. Anything could have happened to him.”
“Maybe he just ran away,” the chief replied indifferently. “He’ll be back eventually.”
“No. He isn’t the type,” I sternly rebutted. “I’m his doctor. And what you need to do is-”
“Okay, okay,” he shrugged nonchalantly. “I’ll have them comb the area in an hour.”
“In an hour?! We have to find him now! Isn’t time of the essence because-”
The chief walked away, meeting the younger officer running towards him, panting and huffing. He smiled greedily as he snatched the box of donuts. His greedy smile quickly turned to frown.
“Buckley!” he hollered. “Are you deaf?! I asked for chocolate glazed donuts and you bought cream-filled donuts?!”
“I’m sorry, Chief, they ran out–” the young man stammered.
“Enough with the excuses!” The chief angrily stormed away with the box, pushing Officer Buckley to the side and he marched to buy donuts.
Officer Buckley sighed and sat, looking crushed. I went over to him and asked him, “What’s wrong with the chief?”
“Ever since the previous chief Edwards retired and Pritchard got put in charge, we haven’t been actual cops,” he replied in dismay. “But me and some of the good ones are here to help in any way possible.”
“Alright,” I responded, then proceeded to tell him everything I knew. In contrast to the chief, Officer Buckley was calm, collected, and took notes on everything I said.
“Listen,” he started, “Chief Pritchard is going to forget about all this by the time he has his next snack. But I’ll see what I can do about arranging a search party. I’ll call your office if we get any more info.”
“Thank you.”
Chief Pritchard was back now, a box of donuts in one hand and the other stuffing his face. How did this guy ever get promoted?
“Right,” he began, crumbs spilling out of his mouth as he talked. “What were we doing here, let’s go!”
With that, they sped away and almost crashed into a tree. And after that, there wasn’t anything else I could do. So I called it a day in the office.
I went over to the library, logging onto a computer and searching up for more information, to see if any other children had gone missing to no avail.
Feeling like nothing could be done about this, I dragged myself home taking a glance at a board, and to my horror I saw three missing children posters.
They all had descriptions of where they were last seen and what they were last seen wearing and a number to call. Oliver wasn’t the only kid to go missing and I was determined to get down to the bottom of this. If the cops weren’t gonna do it, I will.
I spent the rest of my day thinking about the case, trying to remember if anything had stuck out at me, anything that could be considered as foul play. But as hard as I thought, I couldn’t think of anything. Well, except the handprint on the door.
Officer Buckley had took a picture of it, though, and I was sure he was competent enough to find out what exactly it was.
I hung up the phone. I thought about going back to the library- maybe I’d missed something. I even got so far as to open my door when I noticed there was a storm raging outside.
Sighing, I finished my dinner, took a shower, brushed my teeth- all that, hopped into bed and closed my eyes. Sleep, at last.
And I dreamt of the strangest things. Chameleons and television. Starring Chief Pritchard as the evil toad. Chameleon Man, an alligator, a snake and a turtle were battling the Toad while children looked on, in anticipation of what happened next. And then-
I woke up, awakened from slumber by a terrible noise. I glanced at the clock. It was two in the morning.
The noise continued, a screeching kind of thing, like metal against metal. It continued for a second and then POP!
Screech… pop! And again. Screech… pop! And again.
I rubbed my eyes and put on my glasses, confused. The sound was coming from opposite the room, behind the closed curtains that I’d gotten to prevent a particularly bright street lamp from keeping me awake.
Screech……POP!
“What the hell?” Screech…………………POP!
I got up and walked towards the curtain as the sound continued. I heard the rain patter against the window as I neared.
I heard the pop louder this time and I threw open the curtains revealing-
I yelped in terror as I saw something that chilled me to the bone. It was Chameleon Man. It was Chameleon Man. In the flesh.
The uncanny bipedal thing stood outside my window, a single palm pressed up against the glass, fingers long and separated just like the handprint at the clinic. Its eyes were bulbous, glassy and black and it shimmered eerily against the rain.
It stuck out a long pink tongue and began to lick my window. It was a slow, delicate movement finished by what looked to be a single suction cup at the end of its tongue, which came off with a POP!
And it continued, almost hypnotically. I doubted that what I was seeing was real.
And in a flash, it was gone. Colours shifting and changing as Chameleon Man cloaked himself, becoming one with the rain. I heard a final pop against the window as I watched, entranced.
Confused and lacking judgement, I fell right back asleep.
When I woke up, I was sure that it was all a nightmare. And yet the curtains were open. I edged towards the window, now horrified to see a familiar handprint on the glass.
And the more I thought about the whole experience, the more it seemed all too familiar. It was almost as if I’d seen- no- heard it all before.
That was it! One of my patients, Rosa, had been talking about that Chameleon Man. One, almost coincidentally I was due for an appointment with her an hour from now.
Right, I still had to go to work.
I got my things ready, and poured a box of corn flakes sponsored by Chameleon Man himself. They tasted sour to my lips as I bit through them. Touched by the slimy claws of Chameleon Man. Or it was probably the fact that my milk was coagulated and spoiled.
I gotta buy more milk later, I thought as I began my walk to work. Once again I passed the board with all the missing children’s posters on it, which now included Oliver.
I heard a noise then, a rapid succession of clicking, right behind me. I whizzed around, seeing nothing.
I heard the noise again- the clicking now coming from a bush. I began to back now as the bushes began rustling. No wind could be felt, and no animal was hiding beneath- no, not all of them all at once.
And then I sighed in relief as a raccoon burst out of the bushes, a bug in hand. It paused, right in front of me and began to eat it.
That’s when it vanished. It was snatched away like a flash of lighting, swung to the side and into nothingness. I saw a silhouette of something other as I backed away faster. Blood appeared on the side walk and-
I ran. I ran before whatever invisible thing that was devouring the racoon could take me too. And before I knew it, I was safe in my office, 5 minutes before my next appointment.
Quickly, I headed to my files, opened it and took out the files I needed. Rosa Lopez. I saw what I feared there too- she had been talking about seeing Chameleon Man outside her window, licking and popping, and even in broad daylight, gesturing towards itself as if to invite her with it.
So it lured the children to come with it? I thought.
Glenn led Rosa and her mother into my clinic. I greeted the young girl, and we soon headed into my office. She too, was coming for sleep problems, just like Oliver. Perhaps- I thought, perhaps they both- and all the other missing people saw Chameleon Man.
“Hi, Rosa,” I greeted, sitting down on my rolling chair.
The poor girl was too flustered to speak until her mother nudged her. “Good morning, Dr. Howell,” she whispered.
After a bit of small talk with her mother, I finally decided to point the conversation into the direction I wanted.
“I want to know about Chameleon Man- not the show, but the one you see outside your window, licking your window,” I inquired.
Rosa’s expression changed from composed to fear. “He’s still there- but he didn’t come yesterday.”
“Alright,” I murmured. “Anything else?”
“But he doesn’t only come at night, you know,” she continued. This was new. “I saw him this morning, too! I was watching his show on TV and then he showed up outside the window- he looked nice in the daytime- but my mommy always says not to trust strangers.”
I sighed in relief. A question popped into my head. “This is going to sound weird, but has any of your friends seen Chameleon Man too?”
“Oliver was talking about seeing him all the time and wanting to go with him. I saw my two friends Cody and Ava going off with him.”
Cody. Ava. Those names stuck shivers down my spine. Some of the kids whose names were on the board at the library.
The rest of the session was devoid of any other information. Normal, even. But now I was more confused. What was this thing- the actor of Chameleon Man- they did film not too far away- or something else.
I would have to talk to Buckley about this, and before I knew it, I was at the police station.
“So you’re saying your patient saw him?” he questioned.
“Not just her,” I continued. “Her friends- and Oliver saw it too. She even saw one of her friends lured by him into the woods.” I paused, and then went on. “And I think I saw him too.” I explained that I’d seen him outside my window, watching me- although I didn’t say anything about the licking, or the fact that he vanished before my eyes.
“Okay,” he murmured. “It might be someone from the show. I think I can convince Pritchard this is a big enough case to deal with- he’ll think it’ll make him get promoted some more or something.”
“Good,” I nodded. “Call me if you know more.”
“Will do–”
“BUCKLEY!” the chief interrupted. “What are you doing talking to that man?! Get back to work!”
Buckley sighed and went back to work and I too returned to the office to see a few more patients. Before I knew it, it was seven o’clock, the time I closed the clinic, and on my way home, I passed by a small grocery store, bought the milk I needed.
Very soon, I was home. I turned on the TV, just as the phone started ringing. I rushed to my phone, picking up Buckley’s call.
“Hello? Officer Buckley, anything?”
“I don’t know if it is,” he began, “but look at the news. We do have a suspect.”
I focused on the news. The Chameleon Man actor David Montgomery had been arrested over suspicions of being linked to a slew of missing children statewide.
The TV promptly played a leaked clip of the incident. Some officers were fighting with the actors, who were attempting to stop them. The chief was there too, patting himself on the back, although he seemed content not doing anything.
Although Montgomery, still in costume, yelled that he was innocent, he was forced into a police car in handcuffs anyway. The director protested but the cops shoved him away.
“So is it him?” I asked.
“Chief thinks it is,” Buckley replied. “But not me. The others who were on set with him are his alibi.”
“Could it be someone working with him? Or another actor kidnapping kids?” I theorized.
“We’re looking into that,” Buckley assured. “Some of the other actors have a criminal record, but nothing including children. But I found something weirder, though.”
“Wha-” I coughed, a plume of dust falling onto my head. “Sorry, what?”
“It’s not just our town,” he continued. I heard a thumping on the ceiling, and several more dust clouds began to fall. “It’s been happening statewide. Children seeing Chameleon Man and disappearing a few days later.”
“Really?” I asked. “So its not just–” I stopped halfway when I heard a thud on my TV. It fell over, falling onto the carpet. I heard a clicking sound next, a rapid succession of clicks and clacks that was eerily familiar.
And then the thing appeared out of nowhere, right on the fallen TV set, lips laced with blood and bulbous glassy eyes that stared into my soul.
“Chameleon Man,” I said, right before the thing charged, and pounced.
“Wha-” I heard Buckley say, right before I haphazardly threw the phone at the monster. It hissed, and I backed only to trip on a pillow.
The thing snarled in anger and now I was throwing anything I could find at it, pillows, blankets, anything. Nothing seemed to work so I ran for my life, opening the door and slamming it shut. I sighed in relief as I locked it shut, trapping the thing inside my house.
As I backed away, the knocking stopped. I heard a familiar click and then- CRASH!
The humanoid lizard burst through a window, eyes on me and bits of glass on its skin. I ran for my life, hoping that someone would see me. But no matter what, nobody was there- everyone was fast asleep.
And the thing was fast on my trail- just as I saw a familiar place- the police station. I thanked the universe that I lived close to the station.
Suddenly, I felt a sharp pain in my leg and fell over. The thing had sunk its sharp teeth into and tore at it, but I kicked it on the head all my might, briefly slowing it down. With the rest of my strength, I dashed to the police station, seeing a very confused Buckley welcome me in.
“Close the door!” I shouted. “Chameleon Man is out there!”
“What?” Buckley gasped. His nincompoop of a boss was there having a nap.
“Close the door!” I repeated.
“The actor?” he asked. “We arrested him- he got sent to one of the larger stations a few cities away.”
“No-” I pointed at the monster that was rapidly approaching. “That!”
Officer Buckley’s face turned pale white from horror and shut the doors and locked it, just as Chameleon Man slammed into it, waking the sleeping beast- Chief Pritchard from his slumber.
BANG!
Chameleon Man slammed in once more. BANG!
“The hell’s making that noise?” Chief Pritchard demanded. The banging continued. “Open the door!”
“That thing is no man,” Buckley murmured. “Something unnatural.”
Chief Pritchard ignored him and lazily walked towards the door. Chameleon Man slammed in once more and began to tear at it- and suddenly, a piece of the wooden door shattered.
Through the large hole we saw the face of Chameleon Man, grinning with blood-laced lips. Chief Pritchard shouted and ran, just as the monster burst in.
The chief instantly made it to a small holding cell and locked himself in- oh, the ONLY holding cell.
I followed Buckley out to an emergency exit. We heard Chief Pritchard’s screams of terror- though we later learned he was fine, and that the monster merely tried to break the metal bars.
“Car!” Buckley shouted, just as I heard the lizard’s hiss behind us.
Buckley took the driver’s seat and I took his handgun. Chameleon Man slammed into the side, and he hit the pedal, slamming us right into Chameleon Man. We heard a slight hiss and then silence.
“Is it dead?” I whispered, thinking aloud.
And then we saw a headless shape rise up in front of us. It was just the suit. Its insides were nothing but black nothingness. It was a living, breathing costume.
The thing jumped onto the car roof, and Buckley hit the gas, knocking off and into the side of the road. And then we drove from there, trying to get away from the Chameleon Man- which had set its head back onto its body.
We saw the thing chase after us through the side mirrors, but soon, it was gone from sight.
“Did we lose it?” Buckley asked, eyes on the road.
“I…” I turned around and saw nothing, “I think so.”
“Good, that’s-”
Chameleon Man erupted from the forest like a rabid dog and slammed into the side of the car. With hooked claws it began to climb, obscuring the glass and we crashed into a tree, but the force was enough to fling the living suit a distance away. But it was regaining itself now, despite the rips and tears into the fabric.
“Get out!” Buckley shouted, kicking open the door.
I tried, but I was stuck- the seatbelt was too tangled. Buckley found a pocket knife in his belt and cut me loose and with some difficulty, we climbed out of the fallen car and out into the open. Rain fell as we fumbled on the grass. Thunder and lightning shook the skies.
And Chameleon Man was nearby too, rising up to his full height and snarling- no- roaring into the air.
We were at an abandoned military warehouse in the forest. Officer Buckley opened the door and pulled me inside, switching on his flashlight. Old-fashioned guns and some explosives sat on the shelves. Chameleon Man smashed through a shelf with ease, being hit on the head with several rifles.
It snarled and leapt at me, scratching and tearing at me as Buckley began firing shots at it, yet nothing seemed to be able to stop it. The horror then dropped me and was about to kill me when the young officer grabbed shined his flashlight, luring the monster to him.
“Come over here, you slimy reptile!” he shouted. Chameleon Man turned away from me and crawled towards him. Buckley ran to me and dragged me away, running out of the shed, just before closing the door, he threw a hand grenade at it.
KABOOM!
The blast destroyed the whole shed, with Chameleon Man inside it. I stumbled down on the grass.
“What was that?!” Buckley cried, panting, trying to bandage my arm.
“Whatever it is, I just hope that that’s the last we see of it,” I shrugged.
Though we didn’t know, miles away on the set of Chameleon Man, all in the dead of night, all the missing kids appeared out of thin air. Being at night, nobody saw them appear. When asked where they were, none could truly explain- at least nothing believable.
They told stories of another world, fighting the forces of evil with their favorite, though now feared character- Chameleon Man.
And since the suit had been destroyed, nobody saw that wretched reptile ever again. The show’s ratings plummeted and it was eventually cancelled. Not long after, kids were all caught up in the latest new fad.
But sometimes I wondered, even now, decades after I’d last seen the thing. What exactly was it- a possessed suit- a demon? Was it alive? I didn’t know, but nevertheless still found myself trying to piece it all together. But that was the least of my concerns as the kids were back safe.
I ended up moving to Oregon, but I kept regular contact with Buckley (whose first name is apparently Shannon), him updating me on the ongoings every once in a while, and I’d visit every so often.
But now, more than thirty years after the horrors, I’m hearing talks about starting a reboot of The Adventures of Chameleon Man and Friends.
The reason? A man by the name of Jeremy Pritchard (no doubt related to the chief) had found the suit.