Chapter 2

Adjusting the guitar strap on his shoulder, Cam's emerald eyes perused the crowded restaurant again. It was a restaurant and arcade combined. Too many colorful flashing lights, too loud, too many kids. But right now, it was a refuge for this dark angel. All the noise, games, and beer helped him forget about her and his unwanted mission. One week had passed since Luce demanded that he stay away from her. So, he did. Out of habit, he still found himself trailing behind her sometimes, but fortunately she never noticed. It was painful to know she hated him. But she should hate him. Even he hated himself.

The song Paint It, Black by The Rolling Stones was blaring from the Guitar Hero arcade game. Cam's fingers flew over the colored buttons of the guitar. The song suited his mood perfectly. I look inside myself and see my heart is black. I see a red door and I want it painted black. No colors any more, I want them to turn black. He pretended it was his electric guitar and got completely lost in the music, headbanging like a rock star. The vibrating phone in his jeans pocket interrupted his trance. He cursed and ignored it. There could be only one person who was calling him, the only person he was speaking to recently. But Cam did not want to talk to him right now. By the time he finished the song, his smartphone was still buzzing, as if a tenacious bee was trying to get his attention. The caller was an annoying, winged friend, indeed.

"What?" Cam said, as he put the guitar back in its place on the game machine. He walked over to a less noisy area, near the path to the restrooms.

"Finally decided to pick up the phone, huh? I've called you five times today. Where are you? Is she there?" Roland asked.

"Sorry, I forgot my phone in my room earlier, boss," he said sarcastically. "I'm at an arcade. And she's...around."

"What does that mean? What's wrong with you these days? There's no time for games. She's in danger, Cam. You need to stay close and protect her."

"You know how difficult it is for me to be close to her... Can't someone else take my place? Besides, except for that one incident around one month ago, nothing else has happened. Maybe you're wrong, maybe it was just an accident."

"I understand your doubts and why you are frustrated, but be patient, Cam. All I'm asking is that you be her temporary bodyguard until I can find an angel powerful enough who is willing to do it. And I would like to think it's just a rumor, but you know how he feels about revenge."

Cam groaned and nodded reluctantly. "Okay. I'll hold down the fort as long as I can. Don't worry... You still haven't been able to get in touch with Arriane or Annabelle? If a girl follows Luce around, at least she wouldn't get so paranoid. And maybe we could do like a day shift, night shift thing. I really need a break from all this creepy stalking that you're making me do."

"Not yet. But I'm going to try looking for them at their usual hangouts. Or they might not even be anywhere on Earth. If they're up there, then I'll have to ask someone to give them the message for me. That will take longer."

Cam sighed. "I understand..."

"And don't worry about following her around...doesn't the stalker get the girl in that book about hot, glittering vampires and that one about the kinky Grey guy with the Red Room? Or maybe you would prefer a black room?"

"What the hell, Roland! Are YOU stalking me? How did you know I was playing Paint It, Black?" Cam searched for his familiar face among the people playing games and eating dinner at their tables but could not find him.

Roland laughed. "That was just a lucky guess. I'm too busy to check up on you. You've always liked wearing black clothes. I just assumed if you had a room like that, it would be the Black Room of Pain."

"Don't even joke about it. I'm not going to try to break them up. Not this time. They deserve to have a long, happy, boring mortal life together. And it's been almost eighteen years since I last saw her. So much has changed. I don't feel that way about her anymore."

"I'm sorry, Cam. I was just trying to lighten the mood. I know that I can trust you. Daniel is like a brother to both me and you. I know you won't do anything to ruin his and Luce's relationship. Not after all they've had to go through to finally be together."

"I would never do that," Cam assured him. "And I don't wear black clothes all the time anymore. I do have different colored clothing, you know. I have to try to fit in with the students on campus. I can't do that if I look like I'm going to a funeral all the time."

"Really? That's good. We wouldn't want them to think you're 'fifty shades of fucked-up'."

"Screw you," Cam said. "I don't have time for your stupid jokes. I gotta go."

"Okay. Good luck, man." Roland couldn't help chuckling again.

Cam tapped on the screen, ending the call. He went into the men's bathroom. No one was there. He checked underneath the stall doors to make sure. Cam looked in the mirror for a moment, straightening his blue plaid shirt that he wore unbuttoned, over his grey t-shirt. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly, mentally preparing himself for what he was going to see. For some reason, it still made him very uncomfortable seeing Luce go on dates with Daniel. He refused to describe it as jealousy. It was just annoying to see them so deeply in love. Their heavy-handed public displays of affection would bother anyone.

Of course, Cam knew where they were. It was the first day of spring break and they were celebrating by going to a Paramore concert. The amphitheatre was nearby, but he didn't have a ticket, so he would just have to use an Announcer to get inside. Cam grasped at a shadow behind the sink and easily formed it into a large, floating rectangular shape and stepped inside the black void.

Seconds later, Cam emerged from the Announcer and it vanished behind him. The cool night air and darkness greeted him as he stood in an empty row of seats at the back of the venue. The first thing to assault his senses was the roar of the cheering audience as an upbeat, infectious drum groove started. He checked his watch and guessed that this was the last song, Brick By Boring Brick. Cam gave himself a mental pat on the back for his good timing. He liked this song. Hayley Williams was sporting a glowing, electric blue, messy short haircut tonight. She fervently shouted out "One, two...one, two, three, four!" and the band brought the song to life. The booming, pulsating music took over the stadium, flooding it with a rebellious, fiery energy. She started to sing as Cam made his way to the long set of stairs in between two big sections of hyper, screaming fans.

Oh, she lives in a fairy tale. Somewhere too far for us to find. Forgotten the taste and smell. Of a world that she's left behind.

Cam strode down the stairs towards the stage, which was now lit up by pyrotechnics. Bright orange flames shot upwards out of several torches at the front of the stage and streams of dazzlingfireworks burst from both sides of the stage. He could sense that Luce and Daniel were among the people with the best seats at the concert. Even though they were now mortals, their exceptionalsouls glowed brighter than their fellow humans and it was easy to spot them in a crowd. Soon, he reached the stage and found Luce and Daniel in the group of frenzied fans. Cam was careful to keep his distance as he watched her dance with wreckless abandon. It reminded him of Taylor Swift's Shake It Off music video that he kept seeing on the TV in the food court at the university. She was definitely not a good dancer, but he found it amusing, nonetheless.

Meanwhile, Daniel was more low-key, his hands in his jeans pockets, only slightly jerking his head and tapping his foot to the rhythm of the music. The smooth and unaffected Mr. Cool, as always. His eyes were drawn to Luce again, which was when he noticed her odd outfit. She was wearing a mint green, ruffled camisole with a black denim jacket that looked a few sizes too big for her, and light blue jeans. Daniel was wearing a thin burgundy hoodie and dark jeans. Cam rolled his eyes and folded his arms. Of course. It's a little chilly, and Daniel lends her his jacket. What a gentleman. Still sticking with the tired red and black combination, I see. Irritated by their intimacy, he ignored them.

As expected, near the end of the song, the confetti cannons went off with two loud thumps. Countless sparkling, fluttering paper floated down from the night sky. Cam watched them falling and slowly realized they were not confetti. They were millions of small, gold feathers. His body immediately grew tense and his heart raced. The band and concert goers only seemed slightly surprised to see feathers instead of confetti. But Cam knew that this was his calling card. This was what he was afraid of. A clear sign that Lucifer was after Luce. This was his brazen message for Cam, a warning of who he was up against...none other than Satan himself. The prince of darkness, evil incarnate. Except he most likely was not here, only sending one of his minions to carry out his orders. Cam quickly scanned the crowd and the sky, but did not see anybody suspicious. He moved closer to Luce and Daniel, who, like the rest of the audience, were still enjoying the music, oblivious to what the golden feathers meant. They had no idea that this arena was about to turn into a death trap. But no matter what, he would protect Luce. He supposed he would also have to save Daniel, but if he could only keep one of them safe, it would have to be her. Daniel could probably take care of himself, anyway.

"Round two. Bring it on." Cam cracked his knuckles, flexed his shoulders, and stretched his neck side to side.

Kate's Notes:

OMG. FINALLY DONE. I'm sorry for taking forever, everyone. I hope you didn't think I had stopped writing. If I ever decide to stop, I'll definitely leave a note here to tell you, instead of just leaving you wondering what happened and if I'll continue (though I hope I don't ever have to do that...I have so many ideas for this story! I want to finish it, not stop halfway!). I had some major laptop problems, RL problems, writer's block, etc., so that's why it took me so long. I can't promise that the next chapters will come out faster, but I hope they will. Lol.

I hope you like reading Cam's perspective! I love reading books with both the MC's perspectives, so I'm going to have dual POV's for this fanfiction. Probably just Luce and Cam. Sorry, no Daniel POV, it's too much work for me if I have to write out all his thoughts too. Well, possibly there might be some Daniel POV, but I doubt it.

By the way, Camp Nano is so much fun! My cabin mates are nice and our cabin is not too quiet or too active. And the forum is so awesome. A lot of helpful writing/Camp Nano tips and lots of interesting people, interesting threads, interesting stories being written. A lot of fantasy writers there, much kinda makes me want to make this fanfiction more "magical", but we'll see. Hmm... Because I'm not very good at fantasy/supernatural stuff...