Echo My Love~
Black wings; the first thing that Cameron had noticed about that odd boy, who happened to be asleep, in the grass of a secluded garden in the incredibly small wooded area near her mother's apartment. She crept up slowly and glanced around, this place is practically invisible, how did he find it? Cameron's dark brown eyes that she hated so much, fluttered over his figure. His face was serene, as if this had been the only time to rest during a difficult day. The clothes he wore clung loosely to his form. Normal clothes. Faded, ripped jeans and a white T-shirt that had red splatters over it,blood?! She flickered over his wings, dark and leathery, much like the ones she had tried so hard to draw. Cameron picked up a snapped twig and poked him lightly, repeatedly. She waited.
"…Would you mind stopping?" An obviously British accent rang with annoyance. His eyes remained shut as he raised an arm then dropped it over his angular features, blocking the sun rays from his lids.
"What are you doing here?" Cameron questioned, placing her hands on her hips. The boy growled slightly.
"I'm hurt! I decided to take a nap until I got better," So it was blood, "But clearly, I can't find peace and quiet!" With an irritated huff he sat up and glared at her. His eyes were beautiful, Cameron gasped lightly. The boy stared at her with brilliant crystal eyes, bright and icy, they pierced her to the core.
She corrected herself immediately. "Well, this is my space! So you can find somewhere else. Who are you anyway?" He smirked slightly shrugging.
"I guess we have to share because I can't really move…I think I broke something...," he splayed himself back down and winced softly, "My name's Lester, Daniel Lester and yourself?" Daniel nodded towards Cameron's awkwardly standing state.
"Cameron Howell…Are you okay?" Well that was a stupid question, she'd thought. He looked at her with a face that said,really? I'm covered in my own blood, obviously I'm fantastic.
"Not really, no," he paused, "I fell from a tree…" Daniel admitted, hating himself for it.
Cameron thought quickly, "I have a first aid kit at home! Its close by, I could ju-"
"It wouldn't work…" he cut her off shortly, she opened her mouth to object but he explained more, "human medicine won't work on me."
Human? Cameron's eyes widened.
"I thought you were just in some weird costume! W-what are you?" She knelt down beside him and touched her finger tips to his wings…They were warm, part of him, real. "I thought…," she looked as if she was going to faint.
"Costume? Hardly... I'm called a Fallen...They aren't particularly written about in your books," he took a slow breath, pausing. "The Fallen are demons that were once Guardian Angels... Who had sadly failed their duty," his British ring soothed her nerves.
Cameron stood in silence, an obvious question stung at the tip of her tongue. "...Why did you turn?" It was like the whole world had its breath held, a summer breeze shifted through the leaves. Daniel had settled back into his sleeping position with his arm propped over his eyes. Clearly he wasn't really into telling his life story. Her eyes flickered over him worriedly once more.
"Let me at least get you some bandages," with that she ran out of the trees, sprinting up the stairs to the 2 bedroom apartment that she shared. Cameron threw open the door and dug around her medical supplies. She flung wraps; painkillers; and bottled water into a backpack and slung it over her shoulder, she took off running again. Cameron burst through the leaves, finding Daniel in a sitting position pulling up grass and making a pile.
"I brought supplies," Cameron panted, out of breath. She padded over softly, folding her legs under her beside him, Daniel stilled, hyper-aware of her closeness. "Can I help, please?" She stared up into his features, waiting for a reply; she expected a snarky reply that never came.
He looked at her briefly before stripping off the blood splattered fabric. The wounds were worse than he had originally thought...
"The medicine isn't going to aid me", he sighed allowing Cameron the access she needed.
Cameron worked silently, she had done this before. Her mother was a nurse and sometimes she would go to the hospital with her and do the jobs that her mom was too busy for, like X-raying broken arms and threading stitches. Every so often Daniel would complain about how it wasn't going to work and how she was wasting her time on a failure like him. She gave him a tiny tablet of medication and a bottle of cold water, Cameron insisted he took it. He obliged but frowned and took it anyway. As soon as the pill was sent down his throat, Daniel's body rejected it, causing a battle of coughs and nausea. He laid down once she was done, feeling more sick than anything.
"I still feel bad," he complained lightly, "I told you it wasn't going to work, I'm not human anymore, I can't just take these and get better…," He looked to her, a clear confliction playing behind his icy pupils "Creatures like me…To get stronger, healthier…We need something different. When I was an angel I could never get hurt, so it never really mattered but now I'm not," he took another elongated pause. "Fallen need blood in order to survive, to heal wounds," he looked down in disgrace, Daniel hated what he had become, he had tried many times to kill himself only to have the pain turn out worse. Fallen can't die, but they can feel pain.
"My mom works at a hospital! I can just get some from there! Or there are some animals around…My grandfather hunts, he could-" Cameron rambled on, all solutions that wouldn't work; he stopped her short once again.
"It needs to be fresh," Daniel said flatly, gazing into the shadows of the forest. How long have they been out here? It has to be close to midnight.
Cameron was silent, a tiny "oh," escaped her lips.
"And human, I'm sorry…" He closed his eyes feeling weaker every second, great. "It's getting late, you really need to get home"
"But..What about you? I can't just leave you here all night," I can't really bring him home either, she thought.
"I'll be fine, I don't get cold and I can't move much anyway. I'm okay... Really," Cameron looked back the way she came hesitantly, she slowly got up and gathered her things, leaving a few plastic bottles of water.
"I'll be back tomorrow...Just stay here," with that she left through the small opening in the leaves.
Cameron came back everyday for two months, She had come to learn a lot about this strange boy. His mannerisms, his thoughts and conflicts, everything that made him the Fallen. He had also revealed the one thing that made him stand out from the Fallen... He had never taken someones blood. Fallen needed it to survive, but he had been finding ways out of it, starving himself just to keep his purity.
Day after day, Daniel kept getting more ill, she conflicted with herself daily. Should she just force him take her blood? What if this was just a trick...he was a demon after all.
One day she came back to find him sleeping, just like that day they first met.
"Hey Dan, I'm back," Cameron smiled and sat beside him, stroking his hair lightly. Over the weeks of visiting she'd discovered that this simple action calmed him. He coughed, waking himself up.
"good morning beautiful," he sat up to stretch only to find that he only had enough energy to barely open his eye lids, this wasn't good...
"Cameron, I feel weaker. I get weaker everyday...I never told you but, there is only one way to truly kill a Fallen..." His voice wavered, closing his eyes once again, a tear fell. From all this visiting Daniel had grown to adore Cameron, her subtle touches, the way she smiled, she made him feel human again. But, everyday he got closer to the darkness, it was too soon. He could never be human for her, it wasn't possible...It just wasn't.
She held him as his breathing slowed to nothing, she cried at the words that were never said. Daniel's frozen body sifted away leaving no remains; just like a breeze of the wind; like he had never existed. Cameron stayed there for many hours, counting the memories. The air was cold, she had to go.
She scrambled up, a mess of wet tears and shuddering shoulders. Cameron stumbled through the oranging leaves. Fall was approaching swiftly, wiping away the warm thoughts. She wrapped herself tightly in her sweater, looking down with sadness, the tears still pouring from her face. The pain consumed her deeply, a heart wretching pain that physically hurt. Her chest felt as if it was pulling in on itself, like a void had ripped through her heart and consumed her from the inside. As she turned a corner she felt her body strike something solid and warm, Cameron mumbled an apology and stumbled on. Determined to get home, away from all the noise and memories. Every little thing turned into a reminder of her Daniel.
A quiet British voice called out to her. "Cameron?" She continued walking with a brisk pace, shaking her head. A soft hand grasped her shoulder, causing her to come to a stop. Cameron turned with annoyance in her veins, she just wanted to be able to sulk in her own room is that so hard to do?!
"I really need to get home, could you just let me g-..." Her eyes came to focus, a recognizable face smiled back at her.
"Well, you're feisty as ever," the familiar stranger joked.
Shock overcame her...How? It can't...Please, don't let this just be my imagination, She thought. Icy, crystal eyes glazed over her.
"D-Dan?" Cameron wracked with tears.
"I'm not really sure what happened...There was darkness, then I just...Woke up," Daniel, wrapped his arms around her, embracing his love tightly.
"I-I love you..." Cameron whispered repeatedly into his chest, shaking her head trying to make sense of it all. His breathy laugh tickled her hair.
"I thought you were dead!" She reached her shaking arms around him and froze, "Dan? You don't have wings...They're gone?" He smiled down at her, flashing a knowing look.
"You made me feel human again, well actually turns out you made me human again," Daniel laughed, a sound like bells to tired ears, he voice quickly changed to a more serious tone. "Cameron, will you stay with me forever?"
She smiled through her tears and sighed, "As long as I can,"
Some kind of unexplainable emotion had somehow given Daniel another chance at humanity: for a life he had never experienced. He gazed down into Cameron's brown eyes, he knew that she hated them but there in that moment there was a gold tinge that made them even more astonishing.
"I have loved you," he whispered, softly brushing his finger tips through her hair before pulling her in tighter, "I do love you," she glanced up and moved in closer, "and guess what?" Cameron broke out a faultless smile, it could have lit up the darkest parts of the world.
"What?" She replied, her eyes shining. The tears had finally stopped only a feeling of peace spread through them both. It felt as if gravity had disappeared, they floated within the clouds, unable to come down.
"I will always be in love with you Cameron Howell, my little angel," Dan swiftly closed the space between them and met his lips with hers. The sparks ignited and fluttered. To Cameron, Daniel tasted of safety and sanctuary. That was all that she needed~
Never give up on something you love, even when the outcome seems inevitable.
* clearly not finished~ this just a very rough draft/outline for a deeper story*