11:09pm, April 15
The half moon hanging high in the night sky captured Cam's attention for a short while. He tried but failed to relax on top of the roof of the beach house. No, a beach villa. This place is absurdly extravagant, Cam thought. He'd seen better, but of course Luce was very impressed. The sound of the waves unceasingly crashing against the beach below the cliff did not help calm him down either. Luce wasn't the only one on edge today. Pulling the envelope out of his pocket, he took out the vile letter and read it again for maybe the hundredth time today. Supposedly, Luce would be safe as long as she stayed inside. But why hadn't he sent any clue? Was Cam wrong? Did Lucifer not have a trap planned for his victim's birthday after all?
The cold, strong wind tousled Cam's dark chocolate brown hair. He was glad he got a haircut recently, for no reason in particular. If not, he would have trouble seeing right now. Taking a bite of a cookie he stole from Luce earlier in the day, he thought about texting Roland to see how his search was going. He had walked her back to her room in the evening and she was packing for her overnight trip when he noticed the box that Daniel had given her that morning. Cam couldn't resist taking a cookie and hoping it would annoy Luce later when she found out. It was delicious, but mostly because of how satisfying it was to steal something that Daniel had given Luce.
Growing restless, Cam used an Announcer to reappear on the ground, behind one of the four brick columns of the patio. Daniel already showed her the backyard, so he felt like he could hide here. Daniel had soccer practice at night today and it took around one hour to drive here, so they didn't arrive until nine. Of course, Cam followed them here on his motorcycle. They only finished eating their takeout dinner recently and he was giving her a tour of the house. At least Cam did appreciate how the modern, ultra-chic place had a lot of large windows. It made it easy for him to keep an eye on Luce. They were walking around on the second floor.
Anxiously meddling with the fireplace by using his powers, Cam constantly put out the flames and then lit it again, as if it was a lighter. He almost hoped something bad would happen at midnight so that he didn't have to spend another whole day worrying about when Luce would be attacked. Let's just get this over with, Cam thought. His phone vibrated in his pocket and he took it out. Finally, a text from Roland. He hadn't replied to Cam's texts for almost two weeks.
Roland: Sorry for going AWOL. I had to spend some time investigating in the Amazon rainforest. Apparently, there's a secret bar for angels and demons there. I got lost several times before I was able to find it. Some friends of theirs told me they heard a rumor that Arriane and Annabelle got into some trouble and are being punished in Heaven.
Cam: Yeah, I know that place. Had a lot of good times, there... Damn it. They won't be of any help at all. What could they have done that was so bad? Arriane, I could see doing something reckless. But not Annabelle.
Roland: Apparently, they got into an argument with a few demons at a nightclub in a small town in Iceland. The fight moved into the parking lot, then into the air. They used their wings in the presence of humans, Cam. Luckily it was near closing time and most people already left. The few people that saw them had no credibility because they were too high or drunk. One guy did take some pictures of the fight and posted them online, but they were too blurry to prove anything.
Cam: Strange. It doesn't sound like something they would do.
Roland: I know. I don't get it. Because of their little stunt, they have to guard the gates of Heaven for a whole year.
Cam: That seems a bit excessive. But I suppose that's just how things work up there. I'm sure it's not as bad as guarding the gates of Hell, though. That was a rather unpleasant assignment.
Roland: Understatement of the year. Don't remind me,I'm still trying to forget. At least we'll never have to do that again. Our days of taking orders from the devil are long gone.
Cam: Despite that, he is still making my life miserable. I feel like I'm playing a game of chess with Satan and I have lost all my pieces, except for the King. I can keep going, but it's impossible to win.
Roland: But in that case, there's a chance of the game ending in a draw.
Cam: That's never going to happen, and you know it. The worse part of all this is I know he's enjoying tormenting Luce and me. And I can almost feel him pulling on the strings, manipulating me into doing what he wants. I just know he's going to try to trick me with his clues.
Roland: You're not his puppet, Cam. You are not under his control. Don't let him think he has all this power over you. We were able to defeat him last time. We can do it again.
Cam: But that was mostly because a lot of us worked together and God intervened in the end. I don't know if I can do this alone.
Roland: You're right...The same day that I first told you to go protect Luce, I did ask an angel to try to get a message to God for me, to tell Him that we need help. But I don't know if He got it. I asked her to try several more times but it seems like He has not been at the Throne for a long time now. No one knows when He will return.
Cam: Well, it's been months! Looks like we're on our own this time. I don't know how long I can keep Luce safe. I try not to think about it or worry too much, but sometimes it just seems hopeless. When he gets tired of the game, we are going to lose her again, but this time forever...
Roland: Don't lose hope, maybe God will get our message or return soon. And I'll come back. You are not alone. I just want to ask a few more friends, see if they could help us out. Though I doubt anyone would want to be involved in something like this. Who is foolish enough to challenge the devil himself, except for us?
Cam: Curse our loyalty and righteousness. But this is Luce we're talking about. We just have to save her. Thank you, Roland. I don't think I can do this without you.
Roland: Don't worry, Cam. A knight is coming to help your king fight this battle.
11:55pm, April 15
Hugging the soft throw pillow, Luce watched as Daniel poured some champagne into two wine glasses. She couldn't help staring at her surroundings again. They were in the huge living room. This beach house...beach mansion is amazing, she thought. Never had she been to a place so luxurious. It had a very sleek, modern look. Mostly everything was white, from the couch, to the tables, to the walls. The black wood flooring perfectly contrasted all of the white. This beautiful glass house must have wonderful views of the sea during the day from most of the rooms of its three floors, even the bathrooms and the indoors pool. But right now all she could see was darkness surrounding them on all sides, which made her a little uneasy. She wondered where Cam was. Should I let him inside later, while Daniel was sleeping? That seemed a bit too risky, and she wasn't sure if she remembered the alarm code correctly, the numbers Daniel pressed on the control panel to disarm the alarm system after they entered the house. But it was quite cold outside. And as her bodyguard, he should be near her at all times.
Luce felt someone watching her and glanced towards the dark patio. She saw him for only a moment before he disappeared behind one of the brick columns again. It made her uncomfortable to know that Cam could see everything they were doing, in most of the rooms. But he kind of needed to know what was going on inside. Still, she made a mental note to remind herself to not do anything with Daniel she wouldn't want Cam to see. Or at least ask him to draw the curtains before they did anything intimate.
Daniel checked his watch as he came back from the kitchen with a lighter, a sparkler, and a gourmet cupcake with pink frosting and a slice of strawberry on top. He stuck the sparkler in the cupcake, as one would do with a candle, and smiled at her.
"This is just your midnight cupcake. You'll get your real birthday cake tomorrow."
"It's lovely, Daniel." She smiled back at him. "And this beach house is incredible. It's too nice, though. Are you sure your parents are okay with us having a party here? There will be a lot of people coming and I'm worried about them breaking or taking things."
Daniel sat down beside her. "Yes, I'm sure. It's okay. I will put away the more expensive figurines, paintings, et cetera. And I'll lock all of the rooms, except for the bathrooms on the first floor. You know what? My family spent a lot of summer vacations here when I was younger. I wonder if we ever met on the beach when we were kids?"
"We might have met, Daniel! I did go to this beach sometimes with my family." Luce placed the pillow on his lap and laid down, resting her head on the pillow. "But why do you guys have a beach house in Connecticut, not in California, where you lived?"
Daniel looked down at her and stroked her hair. "We do have another one in California. But my father grew up in Connecticut. He went to college in Los Angeles and ended up living and working there. But he still likes to go back here sometimes and reminisce. He also sometimes visits some family members and old friends that he has in this area. This beach house is the reason why I decided to go to college here, by the way. I had a lot of happy memories with my family here, and I prefer living on the East Coast. I like the people here and how there's actually four seasons. But most of all, I like the slower-paced way of life."
A loud beeping alarm went off, frightening Luce. She bolted up from the couch.
"Sorry, it's just my watch alarm. One minute left until midnight! I thought you might want to count down to it." Daniel said.
"Yes, I do!" Luce said.
They both stared at his digital watch and started counting down when there were fifteen seconds left. "Fifteen, fourteen, thirteen, twelve, eleven, ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one!"
"Happy birthday, Luce!" Daniel hugged Luce tightly.
"I'm eighteen!" Luce said. "I'm finally eighteen..."
For some reason, she felt like crying. It felt like this was a very important, life-changing moment for her and she didn't understand why. It was just another birthday. Maybe it was because it was her first time celebrating a birthday with Daniel. Tears welled in her eyes. She was shocked to see Cam standing very close to the glass patio door. He gave her a warm, sincere smile and mouthed "Happy birthday" to her. She nodded and smiled back at him. Cam quickly slipped back behind one of the columns as Daniel released her.
Daniel wiped away one of the tears that rolled down her cheek with his thumb. "Silly...why are you crying?"
"I don't know...I'm just so happy, Daniel."
"Me too, Luce. But don't cry. Here, make a wish." He lit the sparkler on the cupcake and handed it to her.
Luce took the cupcake and they both admired the bright bursts of light moving down the stick. She closed her eyes just before it burned out and made her wish.
"What did you wish for?" Daniel asked, removing the sparkler and walking to the kitchen to soak it in the sink before throwing it away.
"I can't tell you, Daniel," Luce replied. "It won't come true if you say it out loud." Daniel came back and looked at her curiously but decided to let it go and picked up the two champagne glasses. I'm sorry, Daniel. I really can't tell you. At least, not yet. If my wish comes true, I won't have to tell you at all, she thought.
He gave her one glass and held his own up. "Happy birthday, Luce! Cheers!"
"Cheers! Thank you, Daniel." They happily clinked their glasses together.
Luce took a sip of the sweet champagne and set the glass on the glass coffee table. She picked up the cupcake and took a bite. "Mm...this cupcake is delicious, Daniel. Try it." She broke off a piece and popped it in his mouth.
"Mm..." He grabbed the cupcake from her hand and jokingly hid it behind his back. "It's mine now."
Luce laughed. "Give it back! I'll give you half."
"I'm just kidding, eat it all. I bought it for you." Daniel grinned and returned the cupcake.
Luce ate the rest of the cupcake as Daniel pushed a few buttons on a remote which simultaneously dimmed all the lights and drew all the white, semi-transparent curtains shut. She swallowed nervously as the atmosphere unexpectedly became much more romantic and private.
Surprisingly, Daniel also seemed nervous, which made her even more anxious. He slowly pulled a small, white box out of his pocket and placed it in her hands.
"This is for you, Luce," he quietly said. "I have been thinking about what to give you for a whole month, now. I finally got this. I really hope you like it."
"Daniel... Thank you," she softly said.
Luce opened the lid and saw that it was a silver necklace. She lifted it in her fingers and three charms hung off the end. A silver "L", "D", and a small circle pendant, also silver, engraved with the number eighteen.
She felt like crying again. "I love it, Daniel! Put it on for me?"
Daniel smiled and leaned close to her, putting it around her neck. He paused near her face after closing the clasp of the necklace and their eyes locked. He reached for her hands and held them as he kissed her gently on her cheek. Drawing back so he could face her properly, Daniel paused again before he spoke.
"I love you, Luce." His grey eyes focused on hers, waiting for her reaction.
They had never said "I love you" to each other before. Though she knew she loved him from early on in their relationship, she was waiting for him to say it first. She tried to stay as calm as he was, but In her mind, she was screaming with joy.
"I love you too, Daniel," she whispered.
Daniel gave her a dazzling smile as he pulled her into his arms. "I've wanted to tell you for the longest time, but I didn't want you to scare you away."
"Me too, Daniel! I've wanted to tell you since one week after we started going out."
"I've wanted to tell you since a few days after we met," Daniel whispered.
"Daniel..." Luce didn't know what to say in response. He was so sweet. She had no idea he had fallen for her so soon.
He pulled away just enough to look at her lovingly before he leaned in to give her a few tender, long kisses. Just as the kisses were getting more sensual, Daniel drew back. But he kept his face close to hers so that his warm breath mingled with hers and their lips brushed against each other as he spoke. "Luce...will you let me show you how much I love you? Words are not enough. I need to touch you, taste you, be inside you... I want to make love to you."
"Daniel, I want to, but..." Her heart was racing and her body was on fire. Daniel. Wants. To. Have. Sex. With. Me. She found herself blissfully repeating it over and over in her mind.
Daniel immediately moved away from her, afraid that he had upset her. "I'm sorry. It's okay if you're not ready. I was just-"
"No, no, Daniel. It's not that I'm not ready," she interrupted. "I am so ready to consummate our relationship. Really, I am. But...I just got my period this afternoon."
"You're kidding! Today, of all days?" Daniel sighed and ran both hands through his blond hair. "I guess I should have asked you about when you might have your period ahead of time, but that would just be too weird and I didn't want to be presumptuous."
"I know. Bad timing." Luce also let out a sigh. "Yes, that is a weird thing to ask."
They laughed and Daniel exhaled and sank back against the sofa. "It's okay. I can wait another week. Or longer, if you want, Luce."
"I just need one week, Daniel," she reassured.
"Oh, thank God!" he grabbed her, kissing her hard. "It feels like I've been waiting forever."
Luce blushed even more. "You could have said something sooner. You didn't have to wait until my birthday. Wait...were you waiting on purpose? For me to not be a minor anymore?"
Daniel's eyes widened. "I never really thought of that, actually. I was just waiting for the right moment. But now you've made me feel guilty for lusting after an underage girl." He looked down awkwardly.
"Don't be silly, you are only two years older than me and I'm not too young for sex. Even if you were six or seven years older, I wouldn't mind. Age doesn't matter when you're in love, right?"
"You're right, of course." He gave her a mischievous smile and held her by the waist, pulling her closer. "What should we do now? I didn't have anything else special planned for the night. I was hoping that we would only be doing one thing for the rest of the night, over and over..." His eyes raked over Luce's body.
"I guess we'll just have to make out over and over instead," Luce said, winking at him.
"Mm... sounds good to me." Daniel bent down to kiss her again.
But that was when Luce yawned.
"Wow. Is kissing me really that boring?" he jokingly asked.
Luce yawned again. "I'm sorry, Daniel. I barely got any sleep last night."
"I know. It's okay, Luce. I'm exhausted too. Maybe we should just go to sleep."
Luce nodded and yawned for the third time. They went upstairs to the second floor, where Daniel's room was. After they got in bed, Daniel planted a soft kiss on the side of her head and cuddled with her. Luce quickly fell into a deep sleep, feeling perfectly content and loved in his arms.
Kate's Notes:
Hey... Just around one day late, though I was close to making it on time for Wednesday, this time! Happy reading! I'm going to write some more because I need around 2,000 more words to reach 10K by tomorrow, the last day of Camp Nano!
-Cam's hair... I know it's supposed to be long-ish in the book and movie, but since I've been thinking of Cam as looking kinda like Matthew Daddario, I thought his hair should be like him, too. Btw, I hate Cam's hairstyle in the movie. I usually don't like guys who have such long hair they have to tie it up like that. ACTUALLY, FOR THE UNFORGIVEN BOOK, THE GUY THAT'S SUPPOSED TO BE CAM ON THE COVER, HIS HAIR IS NOT LONG! LOL. So I don't feel bad for making his hair not long.
-I loved looking up pretty pictures of luxury beach houses for this scene! Take a look at my livejournal page ("link" in my profile!) to see the pics and better picture Daniel's parents' beach villa.
-We finally know what happened to Arriane and Annabelle! Took me a long time to think of that. I randomly thought up the secret club in the rainforest. Partly inspired by a Wizards of Waverly Place episode I watched a long time ago and that nightclub in The Mortal Instruments movie. Lol. I might use that location again later...
-We get some info about what some kinds of angel or demon "work" that they have to do. Lol. I have thought about that kind of stuff a lot! More will be revealed gradually, so you'll know what Cam used to have to do when he's not partying or flirting with girls. Haha.
-I really didn't like how God was referred to as the Throne and was female. Don't get me wrong, I love the idea of a female God, but I just feel like going with the traditional male God. I hope you don't mind. It's just something i'm more used to.
-Oh, it turns out that the college soccer season only lasts 3 months during the fall! Though they do train a little during the spring. Well, for my story, let's just pretend it's a 10 month long season like other college sports. there is an article about how some people are trying to make it a year-long thing instead of just three months, actually. so it might become a reality sometime later...
-I'm not sure why I wrote about her being a minor and now she's legal. I don't feel like it's creepy for Daniel to want to sleep with her when she's seventeen but some people might. Hmm. Really...it's so arbitrary that at eighteen it's not creepy, but at 17 it's totally creepy, just because the law says it's not okay if you're under eighteen. Maybe 15 seems a bit too young, but I think 16 or 17 seems okay.
-Sorry to tease you all like that. Lol. I just feel like I need more buildup to Daniel and Luce's first time. I don't know about these kissing/sexy scenes... I feel like I keep repeating myself or saying these generic things, the more I write them. I'm really not looking forward to the sex scenes, which I might just gloss over or make it kind of implied. Hmm.
-LUCE FINALLY TURNED EIGHTEEN! :D