

Suppressed

Elliett Earhart

Copyright © 2012 Elliett Earhart

Smashwords Edition

Suppressed is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the author.

Books by Elliett Earhart

~Bound Series~

Bound

Broken

Burned (Coming Soon)

~Suppressed Saga~

Suppressed

Smothered

Smoldering

Smashed (Coming Soon)

~Contemporary Romance~

Crazy Complicated (Coming Soon)

Every decision has a consequence.

Whether the consequence comes a minute, a week,

A month, or six years later, it always comes.

And if you aren't prepared for it, your whole life could be undone.
Chapter 1

The Lord works in mysterious ways. How many times have you heard that in your lifetime? Probably over a thousand. My life would be in that category – the mysterious one.

My life was actually pretty good – or so I thought.

As great as I thought my life was, thinking I was going in the right direction, it somehow went off course into a tail spin. I didn't know that one day would change my life forever. Just one small glance in the wrong direction would change it all...

It was Saturday morning. I just walked in my dorm room throwing a bakery bag on top of a huge lump across the room. That lump, believe it or not, was a person – my roommate, Ashley.

"Get up," I said just loud enough for her to hear.

She let out a groan as I went and sat down in my big, cushiony chair that was in the corner of our dorm. Sipping my steaming coffee I waited for her to pop her curly blonde head up.

"What time is it?" she groaned again.

"Ten."

She finally flipped her head over on the pillow to face me, showing small bags under her eyes. "It's Saturday. I need my beauty sleep if we're going to the party at Lowell house tonight."

"I want to go shopping and I told Lance I would meet him for lunch at Zia's." I poked out my bottom lip to hide the grin that wanted to surface at the mention of my brothers' name.

Just as I expected, she sat up like a bolt of lightning.

"Well you don't have to twist my arm about it!"

I laughed quietly to myself. Ashley was infatuated with my brother. But it was nothing more than that – an infatuation. He was her eye candy and all she wanted to do was sit there and ogle at him. She knew better than to try anything with him or else I would rip her hair out.

After throwing on some jeans and a t-shirt, she pulled her hair up in a messy bun and slid her huge sunglasses over her eyes. "Let's go!" She waved her hands frantically in the direction of the door.

I hopped up from my chair, sliding my sunglasses down all the while comically shaking my head.

A short walk later I was flipping through the racks of a boutique trying to decide if I wanted the dark purple dress or the black one. It really didn't matter to me what I wore, but felt like I needed something new.

Ashley piped up from the other side of the rack. "Rachel told me there was a new hottie in her Sociology class."

"Mmhhmm," I mumbled to myself, not really listening.

"Maybe he'll be at the party tonight."

I still wasn't paying much attention to her but replied anyway. "Maybe."

"Callie said she spotted him yesterday too."

I nodded again. All these people she was referring to were my friends, but secretly they all irritated me. I wasn't two faced and never expressed this opinion to anyone, but they were all just so snooty and judgmental. Ashley was the only friend I could actually tolerate. Sometimes whenever one of the girls would talk I would drown them out and act as if they didn't exist. I had a way of putting on a pretty face around other people so they couldn't tell what was really going through my mind.

That was another thing about me: I rarely ever showed or told my true emotions. I wasn't an open book. I was closed. Sewn shut. Nothing or no one could ever break through my strong outer exterior. And I didn't want them to. Nothing good ever came to bearing your soul to someone or letting them in. I always believed if you were vulnerable to someone it was like giving them the ammo to destroy you. Love was a waste. Even the strong ones got brought down by it. The people you would never expect to break would crumble before your eyes given the right reason. And for some unknown reason, it was always love.

So I made a vow that it would never be me. I would date but it would never last more than a few months. Long enough to have fun, short enough to not be serious.

Don't get me wrong, I had a good childhood and my parents were happily married. There was really no explainable reason to my strange beliefs. It was just the way I wired and dealt with the cards I was handed.

"Do you like the black or the purple?" I held up the two dresses for Ashley to see.

"Cam, you could wear a trash bag and still look good enough to eat." She paused and glanced between the dresses before coming to a decision. "The purple."

I already had a pair of black heels to go with the dress, so I didn't bother picking any out. Ashley got a bright yellow dress that made her blonde hair look washed out...I didn't tell her that though.

After leaving the store we headed over to Zia's. The second we stepped inside I started looking around for Lance. Eventually, I spotted him sitting at a booth in the corner with his neck craned back and his eyes closed. Coming up behind him, I lightly smacked him upside his dirty blonde head before taking my seat across from him.

"Hey!" he jumped up, giving me an evil but playful glare.

"How's it going?" I gave him a small grin. Ashley took the seat next to me and I noticed her nonchalantly her patting her hair to make sure it looked halfway decent. I had to fight the urge to roll my eyes.

"It was alright. I went to that new bar, Dagger, last night. It was pretty lame."

I cocked an eyebrow. "Is that why you're trying to fight a hangover right now?"

"Bite me." He took a sip of his water as he gave Ashley a nod hello. She smiled brightly in response.

The waiter came to take mine and Ashley's drink order. Minutes later she returned with our drinks and took our food order.

"So are you all coming tonight?"  
The party tonight was at Lowell house, the fraternity that Lance pledged two years ago. I cringed the day he told me he was joining. I had a lot of friends that were in Sororities and Fraternities, but never gave a second thought to joining one myself. That would make me way to close to the 'oh so fake' people of the world.

"Yeah, we're going. You know, I don't understand why you all have to have a party for every little thing. The start of second semester isn't what I would call a reason for celebration."

He waved his straw randomly in the air. "You know them. They like to have a reason to celebrate."

"Someone does laundry in that house and they find a way to celebrate about it."

Lance reached forward and tapped my hand playfully. "Well, you don't seem to have a problem with coming to any of the parties, so quit complaining."

I leaned back and let out a yawn at the same time Ashley leaned forward. "So have you seen the new guy yet?"

"You mean Eric? Yeah, I have Bio with him. He's pretty cool. I invited him tonight so he'll be there. Why, do you want me to introduce you?" He jumped his eyebrows up and down with a sly grin.

Her face reddened immediately. The fact that my brother was attempting to fix her up with someone was probably more than she could handle.

She tried to shrug it off unsuccessfully. "Oh, no, I was just wondering if you met him yet."

The waiter came over with our food and we ate while having random chit chat. My brother didn't like when people told him he was a looker. He had an athletic build and dirty blonde hair. His eyes were a light blue and he had these little dimples when he smiled. Girls swooned over him and I couldn't help but laugh sometimes when they tried so hard to get his attention. The only thing we had in common looks-wise was our skin color. We both had an almost olive skin tone. It wasn't too tan but it wasn't too fair either.

My hair was a weird shade of brown. Sometimes it looked darker than others. My eyes were green and had a hint of brown. The only real obsession I had with myself was my teeth. I was blessed with perfectly straight teeth and felt like they could never be whiter. I couldn't stand people who didn't take care of their teeth.

After we were done eating, I generously paid for the bill and they both thanked me profusely.

"So are you coming with me back home for mom's birthday?" Lance asked randomly.

"I guess." I was secretly trying to remember when it was. After about thirty seconds, I gave up and asked, "When is it exactly?" I felt like a horrible daughter. What kind of person was I that I couldn't even remember my own mother's birthday?

He shook his head disapprovingly as he stood up. "Two weeks."

"What? I have a lot going on," I explained to his disappointed glare. Ashley was taking her merry old time getting out of the booth. I waited patiently till she got out so I could get up.

My head reached just above his chin but I could still see him roll his eyes. "Yeah, yeah. So I'll see you tonight?"

I gave him a nod before standing on my toes to kiss him on the cheek.

"God, your brother is so hot." Ashley started gushing the second we were headed down the street and out of earshot of Lance.

I let out a casual laugh as we stopped at the crosswalk. There was no reason to comment. She told me this constantly and if replied it would just open the door for her to tell me how gorgeous his smile was or how amazing his hair looked today.

The streets were busy as always on a Saturday afternoon. Boston was amazing. I loved how everything was within walking distance and the people roamed the streets freely. It almost reminded me of New York except less crowded. If I had the money I would definitely go to New York. Maybe Chicago. They were both places that I knew I would fit in perfectly. The consistent moving and hustling was like a rush for me. Maybe I would look into it when I graduated in the spring...

Ashley nudged my arm as I felt her head come closer to mine. "Cam, that guy is staring at you." She nodded not so discretely across the street.

I brushed my windblown hair out of my face and glanced up. It only took my eyes one sweep of the street to see who she had pointed out. Hell, it was hard not to see who she was talking about.

Even from this far away I could see his bright green eyes staring straight into mine. Everything inside of me froze and all I could do was stare back stupidly. It was only a few seconds, but in those few seconds something got me, something I wasn't expecting...and it was something I hated.

I drew my eyes away from his and raked over the rest of him. He had short black hair that lay flat but messily on his head. He was tall and muscular, every curve in his face perfect. Hell, everything was perfect. But it was his eyes. Something about them was different. I was momentarily transfixed on those amazing, sea green eyes. When I realized how hard I was staring I quickly came to my senses and slid down my sunglasses to cover my eyes.

The pedestrian light blinked to inform us it was safe to walk. Just as we were passing the random guy, I furtively cut my eyes over to him behind my sunglasses. I saw him shove his hands into his pockets with a smug grin like he knew I was looking.

Pompous Ass...

"Wow," Ashley mouthed beside me.

"Yeah," I said with my eyes now directed back to the front. "He wasn't bad looking. Seems like a jerk, though."

"Are you kidding me? You just walked by him. How can you tell he's a jerk?"

"I have a sixth sense for these types of things. Trust me. He's an ass."

Her head shook in disbelief. "You're crazy."

We stopped into one more store for Ashley to find a pair of shoes. I told her she could just borrow a pair of mine but she said she didn't like mooching off my stuff. In truth, she was afraid she might mess them up and suffer my wrath. I'll admit I was a tad territorial about my things.

I was sitting down in a chair beside the shoe rack waiting patiently for Ashley to pick out a pair of shoes. She eventually walked out with a pair of white strappy heels on and I gave her my nod of approval.

"You're not even paying attention. Are you still thinking about that sexy Greek God that was undressing you with his eyes earlier?" She twisted her ankle in the tiny mirror on the floor inspecting her foot.

"No, why would I be thinking about him? I'm just tired. I want to take a nap before tonight. If I don't, I'll be passed out by eleven o'clock." I added a yawn to emphasize my point.

She agreed on the nap and paid for her ridiculously expensive pair of shoes. When we got back to the dorm, I threw my exhausted body on the bed. Ashley lay down too and I heard her lightly snoring in no time. If I didn't know any better I would think she had narcolepsy. The girl slept constantly. I lit up my phone, looking at the time. As the light in my phone went out, so did I.

I woke up to a pounding noise that was constantly pulsating in my head. I tried to drown it out but it finally got to the point where I could no longer stand it.

"What in God's name are you doing?" I sat up and groaned at the noise that was still continuing.

Ashley threw me a small smile as she hung halfway out the window. "My running shoes were dirty so I was beating them out the window."

I fell back into the bed, glancing at my phone. "It's six o'clock at night. Why in the hell are you doing that now?"

"Obsessive compulsive, I don't know."

I was about to obsessively strangle her if she didn't stop. Deciding there was no point in going back to sleep, I sat up again and went to my closet to get my stuff. As I walked out the room I yelled to her that I was taking a shower.

I let the steamy water run down my back and shut my eyes to try and relax. This was the only time I could just relish in silence. It was hard to get a moment of piece in a college dorm. People were always up at different hours of the night doing something or other. You would think, me being a senior, that I would have better housing. But that didn't matter much to me. One roommate was enough and if I lived anywhere else I would probably have about five. My nerves couldn't take it.

My moment of solitude was shortly lived when I heard Ashley call out to me as she got in. These were times when I wish I had my own place. The times when I couldn't even shower in peace.

When I was done I went back to the room and blew my hair dry. Ashley walked back in just as I finished and asked if I wanted to order take out before we went to the party. I called in the order and then put on my makeup. After doing the mascara and eyeliner thing I threw on some sweatpants and a sweatshirt before heading downstairs to meet the delivery guy.

I walked outside and sat on a bench to wait. It was already dark and I didn't like sitting out here. There were still people walking about campus but I doubt any of them would come to my rescue if someone jumped out of the bushes and tried to slit my throat.

Off in the distance, I saw the small end of a cigarette light up. I tried to strain my eyes to see who the person was behind it but it was too dark to tell. Whoever it was started to move and was about to step under the light of the street lamp to give me a good look. Everything was suddenly blocked from my view as a boy stepped in front of me with a wide grin across his pimply face. It was the delivery guy.

"You Cam?" he asked goofily.

"Yeah." I stood up and handed him the money in exchange for the bag. I gave him a tip and quick thanks before he left.

My eyes immediately went back to the open space under the street lamp. There was nothing there. No shadow, no cigarette light, nothing.

Forgetting about it, I went back up to my room and ate while I started on my hair. I used the curling iron to make random loose curls throughout my hair and shot on a small amount of hair spray. I slipped on my dress and shoes before turning to Ashley. She had just hung up the phone and was waiting for me patiently.

"Are you ready?"

"Yeah," I grabbed my phone and keys and headed for the door.

I used to have a car but sold it when I came to BU. Everything I needed was pretty much in walking distance. Lance had a Yukon that I would borrow every once in a while when I needed it.

Lowell house wasn't too far from our dorm so we decided to walk. Two girls who went to school with us, Rachel and Beth, met up with us while we were on our way. The second they joined us they started gibbering away as usual. Rachel had blindingly red hair and was exceedingly tan, it looked a little orange though, I guess this was because of the color of her hair and the many freckles she had.

Beth had shoulder length bleach blonde hair that looked almost white and her skin was fair which made her seem washed out. She almost reminded me of a baby doll, especially with her bright red lips.

I stared off into the trees that lined the pathway and paid no attention to anything they were talking about. I was in my own thoughts when Callie ran up beside me in her deep red dress.

"Hey chick."

"Hey."

I felt her elbow tap mine. "I like your dress."

"I like yours too," I told her honestly.

Callie wasn't so bad. Sometimes she could be a little annoying and touchy, but she wasn't as fake as Beth and Rachel. She had brown hair and wasn't as thin as me but she wasn't fat either.

"There's my girl!"

We all looked up to the voice that came from the house. There was a load of people standing outside but the voice belonged to Beth's boyfriend, Jack. He was a little weird in my opinion. He kind of reminded me of Chester the child molester.

Beth let out a squeal before running over to him.

"That's a dream couple for you," Callie mumbled in my ear. I stifled a laugh as I went up the front steps and my ears started pounding against the loud music.

"Come take a shot with me." Callie pulled my hand through the throng of people. I reluctantly let her as she drug me to the make-shift bar. My brother's friend, Brad, gave me and Callie a shot of tequila. I took it without even blinking.

The burn traveling down my throat was actually kind of soothing. To tell the truth, I'd rather have a bottle of this and be locked up in my down room alone than be here.

I felt a tap on my shoulder and turned to see Lance behind me. He poked me in the side. I sucked on a lime and threw the wedge at him.

He held up three fingers to Brad. He gave us each another shot. After taking it I slammed my glass on the bar and turned to him.

"Are you trying to get me drunk little bro?"

"Nah, I'd never do something like that." He waved his hand at me innocently with a grin.

"Right..." I blew him a kiss as he turned away. Callie was talking with Brad and I was getting ready to walk away myself when Ashley pulled at my arm.

"Come dance with me," she squealed.

"You know I don't dance," I told her. If I was drunk enough, I might, but right now I wasn't about to go out there and make a fool of myself. It took a special person to get me to dance, and Ashley definitely wasn't it.

"I'll watch from the sidelines."

Her eyes traveled behind me before widened instantaneously. "Oh my God, Cam. That guy from the crosswalk is standing right over there."

"Huh?"

"The guy!" she said pointedly. "The amazingly hot one." She grabbed my arm again, spinning me around in the opposite direction.

My eyes searched the area across the room. It didn't take long before I found him. He was leaning against the wall on the far side of the room with a beer in his hand. Several girls were standing by him talking him up, obviously trying to fight for his attention. He had on faded jeans and a black button up with the sleeves rolled up to just below his elbow. Even though he was in mid conversation, his green eyes started to slowly wonder over to mine. It was like he knew I was watching him, just like the first time I saw him.

I immediately drew my eyes away and turned back to Ashley. "See, he's a player. He's got five girls standing around him begging to be the one he takes home."

"Who are you talking about?" Lance butted in out of nowhere.

"That guy back there. We saw him today and he was giving Cam the eyes."

In my opinion Ashley was filling him in a little too much. And he wasn't giving me the eyes. Hardly...

"That's Eric."

Ashley's mouth dropped slightly. "That's the new guy?"

"Yeah, you want me to introduce you?" He was using the same tone he had at lunch.

I shook my head adamantly, grabbing Ashley's hand. "Oh, no. You are not going to talk to him. I told you, I have a feeling he's nothing but a jerk and–"

I started to drag her away from Lance's bad influence. Unfortunately, I turned around right into a solid chest. My eyes raked up the black shirt and found Eric's green eyes. God, they were really green.

"Hey." His voice was all deep and masculine.

Oh great, he probably heard me call him a jerk. Actually, I really didn't care because it was more than likely true.

My lips tightened into a thin smile, "Hi."

Lance squeezed himself beside us. "Eric, this is my sister, Cam. Cam, this is Eric."

I cut my eyes over at him, suddenly having the urge to smack him upside his pretty little head again.

"This is your sister?" Eric asked almost disbelievingly.

"Yes, his older sister," I corrected.

Ashley's hand shot out beside me and Eric grabbed a hold of it.

"I'm Ashley, Cam's roommate."

Eric nodded slightly before glancing back to me. I wasn't sure exactly what he was waiting for but I didn't like the way he looked at me. I felt heat rising up from my chest and wanted to force it back down immediately.

"Well, it was nice to meet you," I said dryly. With those parting words I turned back to the bar, snatching up the mixed drink that Brad had waiting for me. As I started into another room I slyly cut my eyes to the right. Ashley still standing there talking to Eric. Typical, I thought with a small shake of my head.

I stopped and randomly talked to a few people I knew. A couple hours later I had to admit, I was a little drunk. My feet were killing me and I really wanted to take off my shoes. Unfortunately, I could. Who knew when the last time was they cleaned this floor. If these frat boys were anything like Lance then the answer would be never.

When I finally made my way back outside, I spotted Callie sitting in a lawn chair by the covered pool. I sat down beside her, propping up my aching feet.

"Hey!" She all but screamed in my ear. I shook my head and laughed to myself at how intoxicated she was. My gaze traveled around, glancing through the French doors. Some of the guys setting up for a game of beer pong. You could definitely tell we were in college. You'd think they would get tired of it after all this time. Sometimes the games lasted all night. Trust me, I knew, I took part in a few of them.

"I don't think you like me very much."

My head whipped around to the deep voice that spoke from beside me. Eric was knelt down next to my knees, grinning. My heart started to race and I tried my best to calm it down. Of course, it was no use.

I raised an eyebrow at him. "What made you think that?"

"Just a feeling."

I shrugged and went to stand up. "I really don't know you well enough to say I don't like you."

He straightened up next to me but continued to stare me down with those intense green eyes. "You're friend talks a lot. Ashley, right?"

"She thinks you're hot," I said rather blatantly. I would like to say that my running off at the mouth was because I had been drinking, but it wasn't.

He grinned wider. This time I was able to see his perfect white teeth. "You don't think I'm hot?"

I didn't need to tell him that – he already knew. But I could tell he just wanted to hear the words come out of my mouth, so, not wanting to give him the satisfaction, I intentionally ignored the question,.

"Yeah, you think I'm hot," he concluded from my silence.

I slightly rolled my eyes as I started to walk away. "Are you really that full of yourself?"

"No, but if it makes up for it, I think you're the most beautiful girl here tonight."

"Well, thanks," I said, with no enthusiasm what so ever.

Eric caught up to me with little effort. "I think you should give me a chance to prove I'm not a jerk."

So I guess he did hear my little comment earlier. I stopped just outside the French doors and cut my eyes at him. "And why would I do that?"

"Because I'm not a jerk." He tilted his head back and forth as if he was now contemplating what he just said. "Well, sometimes."

I pointed a finger at him, a small smile pulling at my lips. "See, right there, you just admitted it."

"I said sometimes. I would never be a jerk to you, though." He was still grinning and I really wish he would stop.

"Yeah, that's what they all say."

Did he really think I was that gullible? I wasn't one of those girls he was going to take home to screw, only to leave me hanging the next morning.

I started to go back in the house but abruptly stopped when I saw Chris, my stalker ex-boyfriend. At one point I was a phone call away from getting a restraining order on his crazy ass.

It was like he was trying to make his presence known as he attempted to buff himself up in front of me.

"Hey, Cam. How are you?"

My heart was stuck at the bottom of my stomach and was having a hard time coming back up to my chest. "Um, good." I tried to side step him but he was taking up almost the whole doorway.

He had shaggy blonde hair with beady eyes, and was muscular, very muscular. Looking at him now, I can't believe I ever dated him. Hell, I can't believe I used to screw him. He was such a douche bag.

His eyes went to Eric, who towered over him, and narrowed slightly. "I'm Chris," he held out his thick hand. Eric didn't grab it but nodded and said his name in reply.

For some reason, Eric didn't look too happy. I swear his eyes seemed to be getting brighter. I didn't think it was even possible for them to get any brighter. I told myself it was just the alcohol and took advantage of the quick exit, leaving them both standing there in the doorway glaring at each other.

I was just getting ready to walk by the beer pong table when I felt a hand slide into mine and spin me around to the table. Lance draped his arm around my shoulders, putting all his weight against me. "Come on, Cammy, be my partner."

He only called me Cammy when he was wasted. My mom had a bad habit of calling me Cammy, which I hated. Her and Lance were the only people I would ever let call me that.

I decided to be his partner and played a game. One game led to two more. Lance and I were pretty good when we teamed up. The more I drank the better I got.

After winning the third game, the next two people walked up to play against us. I looked to see who it was and saw Beth's boyfriend, Jack, along with some guy I didn't know. Whoever this guy was, he wasn't bad looking. I was surprised when he winked a crystal blue eye my way. And for some insane reason, I winked back.

A wide grin spread on his face in response.

He had very light brown hair that was almost blonde. His muscles were very noticeable in the tight white t-shirt he wore. Bu the best part was his eyes. They seemed to sparkle and I liked it.

"Cammy!" Lance screamed in my ear.

"Huh?"

"It's your turn. Jeez, I can't take you anywhere. Every time I turn around there's some dude trying to undress you with his eyes."

I smacked his arm and gave him a look of disgust. "You're stupid."

He shrugged with a laugh. "What, I'm serious."

I shook off his comment and threw the ball right into the cup. The blue eyed guy chugged the drink and I gave him a little smirk in response.

After that, we were at war. It seemed like we were playing for about an hour, but was really only half that. The game was so close and each team was down to one cup on each side. My head was dizzy from all the drinking and I was a little wobbly on top of it. Callie was standing beside me cheering me on as I was about to attempt a shot. I turned to her and put a finger to my lips to shut her up. Lance started waving his hands around trying to get everyone to be quiet so I could concentrate. It didn't help because I missed completely.

The whole room let out a groan as I smacked my hand on the table in frustration. Blue Eyes (that's what I called him in my head) was up next. It felt like I was standing there forever waiting for him to take his shot. This game was becoming too stressful. I brought my hand up to rest over my mouth and waited patiently as he threw the ball and made it in perfectly.

I stomped my foot, snatching up the cup to drink it. The room broke out in cheers and groans as the game ended. I looked over at Blue Eyes and saw him laughing with Jack as they watched me down my drink. He laughed even harder as I childishly stuck my tongue out at him.

"God that was the longest game of beer pong I've ever seen," Callie said beside me.

"I know," I mumbled absently. I looked back over to where Blue Eyes had been standing, but he was already gone.

"You were good."

I turned around at the smooth voice that spoke in my ear. A smile pulled at my lips when I saw it was Blue Eyes. He smiled in return. His teeth were almost as perfect as Eric's.

"You were good too. You had to be good to beat me and him." I nodded to my brother.

"Yeah, Jack told me that you all were good. I had to shut you down though, sorry about that."

"Its fine," I pointed my finger at him playfully. "I got you next time though."

"I'm Seth," he held out his hand.

I grabbed it, and to my surprise, it was overly warm. "Cam," I replied.

"Is that short for anything?"

"Camron. My parents just knew they were having a boy. When I came out a girl they decided to stick with the name."

"I don't think it sounds bad. I like Camron."

I usually wasn't very talkative with guys I just met, but he brought it out in me for some reason. I think a part of me was welcoming the distraction he gave. Chris was the last guy I had dated in a while, and after the debacle that turned out to be, I was trying to steer clear of something messy.

"So, tell me about yourself. Do you go to school here?"

He leaned against the now empty beer pong table and crossed his arms, causing his shirt to tighten around his massive biceps. "No, schools not my thing. I'm more of a work guy."

"How'd you know about the party?" I asked trying to keep my eyes focused on his and not the protruding muscle that was just begging to be licked.

"My roommate. He goes to school here."

"Do I know him?"

"Probably not," he said brusquely. I took that as a hint that he didn't want to talk about his roommate, so I changed the subject.

I stood there and talked to him for about another half hour. He told me he was a bouncer at a club in the city.

Every time he laughed it made me laugh and I was amazed with his smile. Everything about him was so well put together and breathtaking.

It was getting late. After a while I figured it was time to end the conversation.

"Well, it was nice talking to you. I think I'm gonna head out." I started to turn away but stopped when his extremely warm hand touched my elbow. I spun back around and was surprised to see he looked slightly nervous. "Cam, um..." he cleared his throat. "Did you maybe want to go out with me sometime?"

"Sure," I said automatically. If I wasn't in his presence I probably would have smack myself in the forehead for answering to quickly and sounding so girly and excited.

His eyes sparkled again as he took out his phone to get my number. I gave it to him before throwing him a small wave and almost stumbling away.

I started to make my way over to the bar where I knew Callie or Ashley would be. My eyes randomly went around the room as I went through the house. That's when I saw Eric again. He was talking to one of the frat boys, Collin. Just like before, his lips stopped moving as he brought his eyes around my way. The second his eyes caught mine I looked away and continued my walk to the bar.

Eventually I found Callie, who was back at the bar talking to Brad. Ashley was next to her, leaning on her elbows. She looked about ready to fall into a pile in the floor.

I poked her in her side. She shot up, mumbling something incoherently.

"Aw honey," I patted her head. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, I'm fine. Ready for another shot?"

"I don't think you need another one. I think it's time for us to go home." I leaned down, pulling her arm around my shoulders. After yelling bye to my brother, I made the short walk back to our dorm. It seemed longer since I was almost dragging Ashley along with me. Her dead weight was a killer. Every once in a while she would mutter something else incoherently and I would laugh to myself.

After what felt like an hour of trekking through campus trails, we finally made it up to the dorm. I yanked her shoes off before tucking her in. When I was done with my roommate duties I put on my sweatpants and a tank top before lying in bed and drifting off into a drunken sleep.
Chapter 2

I had weird dreams all night long but could barely remember them the next morning. All I could remember was seeing the same two eyes popping up: a pair of blue ones and a pair of green ones. They were both vibrant and blinding. There were no faces though. It was strange. They seemed to get brighter and brighter before eventually both faded away into nothing.

My phone starting ringing. I didn't answer it and let it ring until whoever it was finally hung up.

My head had a slight throb to it. I didn't think I drank that much, but I guess it was enough to give me a little bit of a headache.

There was a small fridge between mine and Ashley's bed. I leaned up and opened it to get a bottle of water. After downing half of it I sat it on the floor and reached under my pillow where my phone was. The time said it was noon but I still felt like I could sleep for another couple of hours.

I checked the missed call. It was a number I didn't know. I hit send and let it ring a few times before a guys' voice answered.

"Hi. Did someone just call my phone?" My voice was still raspy with sleep.

"Hey, it's Seth. Did I wake you up?"

I was suddenly wide awake and smacked myself in the forehead, which only made it throb worse. "Um, no, no. Sorry, I didn't know it was you. What are you doing?"

"Well, I'm actually going to look for a new truck today. I was wondering if maybe you wanted to come with me. You'll make it less boring."

"Yeah, I'll go with you."

"Alright, well I'll pick you up in about an hour. Is that okay?"

"Just come to the South parking lot and I'll be waiting there for you."

I hung up and lay back against my pillow. Ashley spoke up from her bed, "Who was that? Eric?"

My stomach plummeted slightly. I ignored it and turned to look at her, throwing her a look of revolt. "No, why would he be calling me?"

"He was staring at you all night. I was sure he got your number." She sighed almost disappointedly. Why doesn't she just go sleep with him? I'm sure he would probably do it.

"I told you, he seemed like an ass. Yeah, he definitely looks good but I'm not going to try and go there."

"So, who was it then?"

"Seth, the guy who I played beer pong against."

"You mean the one that beat you and Lance?" Even though I couldn't see her face I knew she was smiling.

"Shush it," I snapped playfully.

I stood up and went to the closet, pulling out a pair of skinny jeans and some black knee high boots. I wasn't going for a very showy look. I slid them both on before throwing on a long sleeve, grey, v-neck shirt. After throwing my hair up into a pony tail I went to the bathroom, washing my face and brushing my teeth. When I got back to the room I redid my eye makeup and pulled on a light black jacket. I told Ashley I'd be back later and snatched up my keys, phone, and another bottle of water before heading out.

I sat on the same bench as I did the night before while I waited for Seth. For some reason I started thinking about the mystery person who was smoking a cigarette by the bushes. I would probably never know who it was. I don't know why I even cared, it's not like they were watching me or anything. At least I hoped not.

My legs were crossed, bobbing up and down nervously, when I saw a brand new shiny black Mustang pull up. The blacked out passenger window rolled down. Seth threw his head back, motioning for me to get in.

I slid into the front seat all the while eying the inside of the car. "And you need a new truck because...?"

"This isn't mine. It's my roommates."

"Oh, you don't have a car?" I tried not to sound judgmental.

"I did, but that's a long story."

"Well shorten it up for me," I said, pulling on my seat belt in the process.

"My truck got totaled."

I nodded, trying really hard to hide the fact that I was suddenly filled with fear. I was in a car with someone who had already totaled one car. Lovely. Just freaking lovely.

Seth must have seen the fear in my eyes because he started laughing. "I'm a good driver. Yeah, I was driving when the truck was totaled, but it was my roommates fault. He can be an ass."

My chest lightened up a little, but I was still a tad bit nervous. "Well, that's nice. Just keep your eyes on the road, buddy." I pointed out the windshield to emphasize my point further.

"You can trust me," he smiled.

My nerves slightly left my body at seeing his smile. I forced myself to refocus out the window and tried to think of something to say.

"So if your roommate is such as ass, why are you his roommate?" I was hoping that wasn't too deep of a question. Last night he didn't seem to want to talk about his roommate and he still might not want to.

He sighed heavily, "He's my oldest friend. We're like oil and water, two completely different people. But he's always been my best friend. I can count on him for anything." The way he spoke told me what kind of person he really was. He was devoted to his friend, no matter what. In my opinion that said a lot about him.

"Well that's good." I turned to him with a faint smile. "At least you have someone you can say that about."

"Do you have a best friend?"

I thought about it a minute before answering. I probably didn't even need that long because already knew the answer.

"No not really. I mean, I have friends, but no one I would call my best friend."

"It's better to be that way. Trusting someone can be a dangerous thing."

I laughed a little, shifting slightly in my seat. "It's odd you say that."

"Why?"

"Just a second ago you told me to trust you. You just completely contradicted what you said."

He shook his head, amused. "I did, didn't I?"

The rest of the ride he asked me more about myself and I reluctantly answered all his questions the best I could. Like I said, I wasn't an open book. Eventually we pulled up to the car dealership and I was spared anymore questions.

I put my hands in my back pockets and sauntered up beside him to look around at all the different cars and trucks that were lined up.

"What are you looking for?"

"Don't know yet. What do you like?"

I glanced around, looking at everything my eyes could reach.

"I like the Hummer and the F150."

"Hummer? You've got to be kidding me." He started towards the F150 and began walking around it. I leaned against one of the trucks and watched as he studied each and every one that was lined up. I didn't understand what the difference was between them. They all looked the same except for the color.

Pretty soon a dealer walked out and started talking to Seth. I watched them discussing everything and stayed out of the conversation. My eyes traveled to Seth and looked him up and down. He was wearing a pair of jeans and a tight white t-shirt that had black graffiti writing on it. His light brown hair glistened in the sun making it almost look completely blond. God, he was sexy.

He caught me staring and threw me a small wink. I cleared my throat and looked away, embarrassed.

"Do you like the grey one?" he yelled out to me.

I nodded, walking a little closer to him. As I got closer I heard him tell the dealer he wanted it. I was a little taken back by his quick decision. Didn't he want to test drive it first or something? And what about the price? It looked expensive. I didn't think bouncers got paid that much.

I waited as he went inside to do the paper work, and a little while later he walked out with a new set of keys.

"Well, that was quick."

"Yeah, I'm not very decisive when it comes to this kind of stuff."

He threw me the keys to the Mustang and I caught them.

"You can follow me back to my house. Then, if you want, we can go get something to eat."

"Okay." I headed towards the Mustang. Excitement welled up inside of me. I loved Mustangs. I had one in high school and was so depressed when I sold it before college. I needed the money though and didn't want to mooch off mom and dad. It was definitely a sad day for me.

Luckily, Seth had a heavy foot like me, so I was able to soar down the road as fast as I wanted to. I followed him for about fifteen minutes till we got to a small development on the outskirts of the city. The houses weren't that bad. It looked like any old run of the mill development that you saw on Pleasantville or something. He pulled up to a grey house with black shutters. It was small, but quaint, with a massive porch and one car garage.

I parked the car next to his truck and got out.

"Nice house."

He shrugged, "It's alright. I have to run inside real quick. Did you want to come in for a minute?"

I nodded, jingling the keys in my hand as I followed him inside. The house didn't have much in it and there were no decorations of any kind, just a couch, a recliner, and a big wooden entertainment center with a flat screen TV.

"I'll be right back. Just sit down or whatever you want to do." He pointed to the dark brown, suede.

I chose to stand and wait patiently. I realized I still had the keys and went to sit them on the small kitchen room table that was adjacent to the dark red kitchen. The kitchen had more in it than the rest of the house. It was actually pretty cozy looking.

As I turned to head back in the living room I was stopped by a solid body. I bounced back from the sudden wall that was blocking my way and looked up into Eric's bright green eyes.

He grinned that same mischievous, sexy grin. "Hey, Cam."

My heart was suddenly pounding in my chest like a jack hammer. One, he had scared the shit out me. Two, why the hell was he here?

Trying to ignore the rapid beat of my heart, I quickly recovered. "What are you doing here? Did you break in or something?"

The grin didn't fade from his face as he took a small step closer. "I should be asking you the same thing. You're in my house after all."

"Your house? You're his roommate?" I barely noticed Seth walk in behind Eric and glanced at him with wide eyes as I pointed at Eric. "He's your roommate?"

"Yeah, why?" He looked between the both of us with a somewhat worried look on his face.

Eric answered before I could with an inquiring glance my way. "Cam isn't too fond of me. I haven't figured out why though."

"What did you do to her?" Seth asked, well, more like demanded. It was almost like he was expecting the worst.

The truth was...Eric never did anything to me. I just chose to not like him the minute I saw him.

"He didn't do anything to me," I told him. "Why would you think he did something?"

His eyes shifted back to me, turning softer. "Nothing, I just figured he probably said something appalling to you or something." He quickly looked back at Eric and I turned to look at him as well.

Eric, however, was looking at me. "So are you going to tell me why you hate me so much, or am I just going to have to find a way to make it up to you?"

"Don't waste your time." I brushed by him and stood next to Seth, who was trying to hold back a smile. Eric didn't look phased by anything, which made it all the more obvious he was a jerk.

"I'll see you tonight?" Eric asked.

For a second I thought he was talking to me but Seth was the one who answered. He told him that he would see him later and grabbed my hand to walk out.

It wasn't till we got to the truck that he finally let go of my hand. I had to pull myself up into the lifted truck and Seth, who had gotten into the truck with no problem, watched me struggle with an amused grin on his face.

When I finally got in I let out a huge sigh. "You're going to have to get me a step ladder or something." My legs were long but not that long.

"I'll see what I can do." Resting his hand on the back of my seat, he turned around and started backing out of the driveway.

We rode in silence for a few minutes till Seth broke it with the obvious question I was waiting for.

"So, why don't you like Eric?"

I shrugged, not meeting his eyes. "I saw him yesterday in the city and just decided I didn't like him." That was the truth.

For some reason he looked like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. "Not many girls shy away from him."

I laughed lightly. "I'll take that as a compliment."

"You should."

We didn't talk for the rest of the drive until we pulled into the parking lot of a bar and grill I had been to a few times before. Seth jumped out the truck without problem and when I opened my door he was standing just outside of it waiting to help me down. His hands slid around my waist and I braced my own on his shoulders as he pulled me down.

My feet hit the ground and he threw me a smile, "Better?"

I nodded slowly as his hand slid from my waist and into my hand.

As we ate I found out that Seth and Eric were both from Chicago and grew up together. Since I started college I barely even talked to any of the people I grew up with, so I thought it was pretty neat that they were still friends for so long. You didn't see that much in guys. The fact that Seth was even friends with someone like Eric to begin with was a mystery all by itself. So far I couldn't see anything that linked the two of them together besides the fact that they were both gorgeous.

"So do you have any family?" I asked as we walked back to the truck.

"Nah, we both lost our family when we were young."

I felt bad for him and even found myself feeling a little bad for Eric too. He didn't look too bothered by it and I didn't want to get all sappy with him so I just let it go.

"What about you? Are you close with your family?"

"Not so much. I mean, I talk to them when I can. I barely talk to my older brother, Shane. He lives in New York. I'm really close with my younger brother, Lance, though. He goes to BU too."

"He was the one playing beer pong with you last night, right?"

I nodded as he followed me around to the passenger side. Before I knew it he had the door open and both hands around my waist, lifting me up into the truck.

"Wow, I didn't expect you to do all that," I laughed.

"What, you think I'm weak and can't lift a girl into a truck?" he teased. He closed the door and headed around to the driver side.

Definitely not weak, I thought to myself. He could probably bench press my entire body. And I needed to stop thinking about that...

When we left we headed back to my dorm. I felt comfortable enough with him to change his radio station and flipped it to rock music.

"Rock?" he said skeptically.

"What? I like it."

"You look like more of a country music kind of girl."

"I like country. I like pretty much everything, but rock is my favorite."

"You're a strange, strange girl."

I took that as a compliment. Anyone else might take it differently but I didn't. I looked out the window as we pulled to where he had picked me up earlier. As I went to reach for the door handle I looked back at him. "I had fun."

"Yeah, next time I won't drag you to a car dealership. Maybe we can do something later on this week?"

"Yeah, if you want. Just give me a call or text me."

"I will." He gave me a wink of his incredible blue eyes and I opened the door. I let out a sigh as I looked down at the far away ground below me.

"Maybe I shouldn't have suggested you buy the F150," I grumbled.

I decided what the hell and took a big leap out of the truck, landing on my feet.

"There ya go!" he yelled from behind me.

"Have fun with the devil." I closed the door and heard him let out a laugh from inside the truck as I turned to go back up to my dorm.
Chapter 3

The next couple days went by very slowly. It was only the second week into the second semester and things were already getting piled onto me. Ashley was freaking out over school, as usual. She was one of those people who would pass out or have a panic attack during a big exam. Her parents pressured her to do well in college and it was a lot for her to live up to sometimes.

I was sitting at my desk on Wednesday afternoon when my cell phone buzzed; it was still on vibrate from being in class all day. When I saw Seth's name, I smiled a little.

"Hey," I answered.

"What are you doing?" His voice sounded like he was in a really good mood.

"Nothing, just finished some homework. What are you doing?"

"Finished as in you can come and hang out with me for a while?"

"What are we going to do?"

"I don't know. I'm hungry though."

I shook my head to myself. "If I keep hanging out with you I'm going to end up turning into a fat cow."

"That'll never happen. I'll see you soon."

I hung up and went to get dressed. Ashley was at the library and probably would be there all night. I would just text her and tell her where I was at.

When I got outside a little while later I saw Seth leaned up against the side of his truck waiting for me. He was wearing his usual jeans and a t-shirt. He always wore simple things and reminded me of a model.

After he lifted me in, we headed to some steakhouse that was in the city. Seth asked me how school was going and I kept up with the conversation even though the topic was not my favorite. When we got to the restaurant it was so packed we decided to eat up to the bar.

Halfway through eating his phone rang. He said nothing but hello and didn't speak for the rest of the call.

When he hung up he let out a long sigh. "We gotta go."

"Anything wrong?"

"The fact that I put up with him is wrong," he said stiffly.

I didn't even have to ask who he was talking about. It was obvious it was Eric.

I was expecting him to take me back to the dorm so he could go deal with Eric but he missed the turn to the college. I looked over at him, confused.

"You're taking me with you?"

"Yeah, you don't mind do you? I just have to pick him up and take him to his car. That's if he can even drive."

"What, is he drunk or something?"

"More than likely."

"Oh boy, this should be fun," I mumbled to myself. A drunk Eric.

We pulled up to a club called Snatch. There was a line of people wrapped around the entire building. Just outside, leaning against the brick building, was Eric, smoking a cigarette.

Seth got out of the truck as Eric leaned off the wall, stumbling, to meet Seth halfway. They talked for a minute before Eric started making his way to the truck. Seth went off inside the club. The bouncer nodded to him before lifting up the red rope, letting him inside.

Maybe this was the club he worked at.

The door opened and I gave Eric a forceful smile. "Get in back."

A cheesy smile broke out on his handsome face. "There's my girl."

"Dream on, Alice."

He apparently heard me because I heard him let out a small chuckle. "You're a firecracker. Tell me why you'll go out with Seth, who you've known less time than me, but you won't go out with me?"

I turned in my seat to look at him. Even when he was wasted he looked good. That still didn't make up for the fact I knew how he really was. "Because Seth doesn't seem to be a dickhead like you."

His hand waved absently through the air. "Oh, well you obviously don't know him that well. Who do you think I learned it all from?"

I turned back around in my seat to face front before I jumped back there and punched him.

Eric leaned up beside the head rest, which didn't help matters any. "You know what? I hope you stick around. I like you."

"Yeah, I like you too," I said with heavy sarcasm.

The headlights shined on Seth as he walked in front of the truck. As soon as he jumped in he turned around to Eric. "You're fucking ridiculous. Yet again, I have to go in there and clean up your mess."

Eric threw up his hands before letting them rest on the back of my seat. "What? I was doing my job."

"It didn't look like it to me! You had a hundred and twenty dollar bar tab. The only job it looked like you were doing was trying to be the first one to drink yourself under the table."

I tried to hold in my laugh. I didn't know what job they were talking about, the only thing I was listening to was Eric getting his ego bruised.

"Just take me to my car," Eric mumbled.

"Yeah, right, then I'll have to go pick your ass up from jail for getting a DWI. Cam can drive your car home."

"You're going to let her drive my car?"

"I drove your car the other day," I cut in.

"She drove my car?!" he yelled loudly.

Good lord, he acted like I ran it into a ditch.

"Quit being a baby." I turned around to face him. "I don't know why you're being so whiny. If there's anyone who shouldn't be driving, it's you. You're the reason he had to get a new truck in the first place."

I heard Seth laughing beside me. Eric, however, drew his mouth into a tight line.

"Don't worry. I won't hurt your precious car. I wouldn't want to have to owe you anything."

Eric mumbled something again but it was too low for me to hear.

Seth dropped me off in a vacant parking lot where the Mustang was parked. I thought I was going to have to hold Eric down to get the keys from him. He eventually relented and handed them over sulkily.

As soon as I got in the car I cranked up the rock music in the stereo. Right now I could only imagine what Eric's face looked like. I bet he was seething. Just the thought of it put a smile on my face.

The last time I drove the Mustang I had no idea whose it was, so I didn't even think about snooping. Now that I knew it was Eric's, I had no problem with it. I reached in the small console to see if there was anything interesting in there but there was nothing but a few CD's, a pair of sunglasses, and a pack of cigarettes. I checked all the places I could think of but there was nothing. My hand ran under the visor above my head. I felt what I thought was a piece of paper. When I pulled it out I saw it was a picture.

I didn't want to turn on the light because, knowing Eric, he was probably watching me from the truck the whole time. Instead, I pulled out my phone and lit it up so I could see the picture clearly. It was of a girl with long, wavy blonde hair. She wasn't posing for the picture or anything, but getting into a red sedan. This picture looked more like it was taken without her knowing it, like one a private detective would take or something. I turned the picture over. On the back was written: Lauren Steinman, 23 Snatch Đ.

It was weird. I was mostly confused by the symbol that was beside her name. It was pretty strange.

I shoved the picture back into the visor as we pulled into the housing development. As soon as I parked in the drive way, Eric was out of Seth's truck, standing by my door with his hand open for the keys.

"Not a scratch on her." I smiled smugly as I dropped them in his hand.

He ignored my snide comment and took off into the house. Seth was waiting for me by his truck with a proud grin on his face.

"I like how you talk to him."

"And how do I talk to him?"

"Any other person besides me always tries their hardest to please him. Especially girls. You're different, though. I think you're the only girl who's ever treated him like that."

"Good. I'm glad I get to be that lucky one." I went to reach for the handle of the door but Seth grabbed my hand to stop me.

"I'm glad you are too." His blue eyes started to sparkle like they always seemed to do. My stomach fluttered as I moved my eyes slowly down to his lips.

He stepped forward, placing one firm hand at my waist and moving the other to the base of my neck. His hands were very warm, but I still shivered beneath his touch. I didn't want to seem too eager, but if he didn't kiss me right now I was going to die.

He finally closed what little space was left between us. His full mouth met mine softly. I like to have melted right there as I pressed my mouth slowly against his. It was like everything was moving slowly. His hand tightened on my waist as I pushed myself closer to him. His tongue lightly traced the edge of my mouth and I opened up to let him inside. It moved with mine gradually, making me sink deeper into the kiss. God, it was mind numbing.

My breath was slow and harsh as I finally pulled away. His hand was at the side of my face, his fingers running slowly over my skin. He leaned down, kissing me softly once more before lifting me up in his arms to set me in the truck.

I let out a tiny squeal and he chuckled in response. "I gotta get you back to your dorm. You have school tomorrow."

"I'm twenty-two, not twelve," I joked as he got in the truck.

He didn't say anything but smiled as he backed out of the driveway. Halfway back to the dorm I figured I would ask him what was on my mind.

"What job was Eric supposed to be doing at the club?"

"What?" Apparently he was off in lala land when I asked my question.

"You said that he wasn't doing his job. What job was that? Does he work for the club or something?"

Seth brought his hand to the back of his head and rubbed it slowly like he was thinking about his answer. I didn't know what was so hard about the question.

He finally answered, "Something like that."

His answer did nothing but confuse me. "So, he does work for the club, or he doesn't?"

"Not for the club exactly, but he works for the security that the club hired."

"Okay..." I drifted my gaze out the window and felt his hand on my thigh. Warmth spread up my leg and into the pit of my stomach...I could get used to this.

The rest of the drive went by pretty quickly, and before I knew it, we were in front of my building. Seth got out before I did and came around to my side. I opened the door and there he stood, ready to pull me from the truck. As I slid down he grabbed my hips, setting me down gently in front of him.

"I'll call you tomorrow?"

"Call me tomorrow," I said with a nod.

He tilted his head down and placed one long, hard kiss on my mouth that made me moan. I gave him a small wave as he let me go and I made my way up to my dorm room.

So far I liked the way things were between me and Seth. He wasn't pushy or needy in any kind of way. Everything about him was perfect. Well, besides his roommate.

Ashley was lying on her stomach across the bed listening to her iPod. I shut the door and she looked up, yanking the plugs from her ears.

"And where have you been missy?" she asked in a motherly tone.

Oh crap, I forgot to text her.

"With Seth," I answered honestly.

"Did you see Eric?"

I told her the other day that Seth and Eric were roommates. This excited her, and even after I told her how big of an ass he was, she still wanted to hear about him.

"Yeah," I groaned. I wasn't about to go into detail about my whole night and I definitely didn't want to talk about Eric, so I was hoping she would let it go at that.
Chapter 4

I got up early the next morning and made coffee in our old, beat up coffee pot that Ashley brought from home. Our dorm room was one of the newer ones that had recently been remodeled. Luckily, upper classmen got the first pick and we were able to move out of the musty, moldy dorm room we had last year. The whole room was covered in dark oak and the beds were wrought iron. The only thing I wished we had was our own bathrooms. We didn't have that much luck, though.

Ashley sat up quickly in the bed. "What time is it?"

"Seven-thirty."

"Oh." She gradually leaned back in the bed before I heard her start to snore again.

I moved around the room carefully so I wouldn't wake her up again. I knew she had to be awake at least by quarter after eight. I started to get ready and pack up my lime green school bag I carried my books in. My first class was at eight thirty so before I left I threw a pen at Ashley to finally get her up. She sat up quickly and squint her sleepy eyes at me. "Time to get up?"

"Yeah, I'll see you later on."

I left and made my way out of the dorm and into the quad. Image incorporating was my first class and I tried my hardest to seem interested, but just wasn't feeling it today. I caught myself twirling my pen in and out of my hoop earrings and thinking about Seth. It had been eight months since my last relationship so I had forgotten what it was like to be in one.

Several classes later I was still crabby. I had forty-five minutes till my last class started so I walked out to the campus café to get another coffee hoping that would lift me up a little.

I was walking around the massive water fountain sipping my hot coffee when I felt a hand grasp tightly around my upper arm.

"What the –"

I looked over my shoulder and saw Chris staring at me with wild eyes. My stomach dropped as I felt my face start to get red.

"I saw you last night with that guy. Who was he?"

I ripped my arm from his hand. If I talked I knew voice would come out shaky and inaudible. I was never one to be scared of anybody but I knew when Chris held this look in his eyes that he wasn't in his right mind.

"I saw you with him. Don't you think that's a little too soon to be moving on from what we had?"

My mouth went dry as I swallowed harshly. "Chris, we broke up last May. That was eight months ago."

His hand smacked back on my arm rather hard. His grip was tighter than before. I suddenly felt nauseous. I used to always see stories on TV about people having stalkers. How crazy they acted and the sick things they did. I never thought it would happen to me. Over the past eight months I had been dealing with this psycho. Every time I thought he had given up he would always came back and do something else even creepier.

"Do you think that guy will ever love you like I did? Do you think he will ever make you feel like I did?"

I cringed, feeling even more nauseous at his words. I can't believe I used to sleep with this guy. "Chris –"

I stopped mid-sentence. A large hand appeared on Chris' shoulder and squeezed hard. My eyes went up the strong arm, landing on Eric's face.

"Is there a problem?" Eric asked. His jaw was clenched tight and his eyes seemed to get brighter just like they did the other night at the party.

"No," Chris answered in almost a whisper. I could tell he was fighting the pain in his shoulder so Eric wouldn't see him crumble.

"Then I think you need to leave Cam alone. If you come near her again I'll make sure you're never able to grab her or anyone else like that ever again. Are we clear?"

My mouth dropped open slightly at hearing the venom in his voice. He was being dead serious.

Chris didn't respond as he let go and threw me an unpleasant glare before sauntering away.

Eric watched Chris walk out of the quad and into the nearest building. "If he comes near you again I want you to tell me."

I turned back to him, suddenly remembering what he said to Chris. I smacked his arm lightly. "Why did you threaten him like that?"

"You're going to take up for that crazy person?" he jerked his thumb behind him in disbelief.

"No, but what if he tries to get you in trouble for threatening him. You could get arrested all because of him saying something to me."

"I'm not just gonna stand there and watch him grab you like that. I may be an asshole but I'm not that fucking common."

I shook my head and looked away from him. Just the sight of him was irritating me.

"You want to head out of here and go back to the house. I'm sure your boy toy will be there." He added a sly grin as his hand came up and brushed a stray strand of hair off my cheek. It was so innocent that I didn't dare think anything of it.

"I don't know..." It definitely sounded tempting. After the day I've had it might be relaxing. Then again, it was the beginning of the semester and I shouldn't miss class so soon.

Eric lifted his hand again, this time jingling the keys. "Come on. You know you want to. I'll even let you drive."

That was enough for me. I snatched the keys from his hands and stomped off towards the beautiful black Mustang that was calling my name.

I lifted my hair into a pony tail before turning the key in the ignition. Eric leaned back in the seat and lit up a cigarette as I pealed out of the parking lot. His hands jerked up to the ceiling in surprise. "We aren't drag racing. You burn up my clutch and you'll be paying for a new one."

I cut my eyes over at him and smiled. I don't know why but I felt a little different...free. I was never one to skip out on the day but it suddenly didn't seem as horrible as I thought it would be.

The picture that was in the visor the night before came to mind. When I slowed down to a red light I flipped down the visor, acting like I was looking at myself in the mirror. There was nothing there, though. The picture was gone.

"The lights green, princess."

"Don't call me princess."

I noticed him shift slightly in his seat as he turned to look at me. "So, what was up with Chris?"

I tried focusing more on the road rather than answering his question.

After a minute of silence he tapped me on the elbow lightly. "Don't be all evasive. Tell me what's up."

"Chris is my ex. I dated him for four months last year. He got weird and obsessive so I broke up with him. Or at least I tried to. At first I didn't take it that serious, but then he got worse, calling me, sending me stuff. He showed up at my dorm the beginning of October acting like nothing had changed, like we were still dating. When I told him to leave, he flipped out. I thought he was going to hit me. It freaked me out. My brother finally found out about it and said something to him. He stopped for a while but I guess it's started again."

He let out a laugh. "I guess you just have that effect on people. Making them crazy."

I sighed, ignoring his comment. "I broke up with him last May. It's been almost a year and he's still at it."

"He comes near you again, I want you to tell me."

I looked over at him curiously. He was looking straight ahead with a murderous glare in his eyes.

"Don't worry about it. He's my problem, not yours. I think I can handle it."

I didn't want anyone else to deal with my baggage. Especially Eric. He already helped me out of a jam today with Chris. I'd hate to see what he would ask for in return if he had to help me again.

"I know you don't like me. And I still don't know why exactly, but I just want you to know that if you ever need anything...don't be afraid to ask."

I didn't say anything as I pulled into the driveway and parked next to Seth's grey truck. Leaving all of my stuff in the car, I got out and headed in behind Eric.

Eric's voice immediately filled the house, "Bro! Your woman's here!"

"His woman? Are you a heathen or something?"

Eric rolled his eyes before going into the kitchen. I followed him in, sitting down at the table. A few second later Seth came up behind me. Both his arms went around my shoulders as he kissed my temple. "What are you doing here?"

"Bad day. Eric talked me into leaving and coming here."

"What happened?"

Eric leaned back against the counter, taking a swig of a soda he had cracked open. He nodded for me to tell Seth about Chris but I was afraid to tell him in fear I was going to scare him away.

Seth looked back and forth between us as he sat down.

"Camron, tell me what happened." There was a little strictness in his tone, and he had used my full first name, something I had never heard him do.

I started telling him the same thing I told Eric on the way here and then proceeded to tell him about what happened at school. He looked a little pissed by the time I was finished.

"What's his name?"

"Chris."

"Chris?"

"Powell."

He nodded, looking off in the distance. I didn't know what he was thinking but I really wanted to know. I moved my glance over to Eric. He was watching Seth intently.

"You're not going to do anything stupid are you?" I asked Seth wearily.

"What?" he looked back at me. "No. No. Just let Eric or me know if he bothers you again."

I agreed grudgingly before getting up and going into the living room. Seth yelled to me he was going to take a shower and that he'd be right out.

There were four remotes sitting in front of me. I had no idea which one did what. I picked them all up and tried to turn on the TV as Eric came and sat beside me.

"Are we remote control illiterate?"

"Shut up," I chunked one at him. He swatted it away and grabbed the one that was in my left hand. With a push of a button the TV was on.

He held up the one I had just thrown at him. "This one changes the channel."

I grabbed it and started to flip through the channels as Eric got up and disappeared out the front door. How could someone who looked so fucking good be so annoying?

I stopped flipping when I saw something that caught my eye and turned the volume up a little. It was the news and there was a picture of a girl on TV with her name written underneath: Lauren Steinman.

I started to listen intently to what the news anchor said.

"Last night a body was found in the alley between Twenty-fifth and Mason. The body has been identified as Lauren Steinman, twenty-three, of Boston. There is no word on what the exact cause of death was but investigators are saying that foul play was involved. If you have any information on this case please call the hotline number."

I looked back at the picture of Lauren Steinman. She had wavy blonde hair framed around her heart shaped faced and dark brown eyes. She was actually very pretty now that I got to see a real photo of her. A noise sounded out beside me and I quickly changed the channel.

Eric head popped in the door. My nerves were on edge and I was suddenly paranoid that he knew what I was doing.

"You left your bag in my car. I put it in Seth's truck."

At first I had no idea what he was talking about. Then everything suddenly came back to me and I nodded nonchalantly. I let out a breath of relief as his head vanished back out the door.

"You ready?" Seth asked from the hall.

"Yeah." My mind was back on Lauren. I know it was crazy to think, but I suddenly thought of Eric and wondered if he had something to do with this. Yeah, he was an ass and really aggravated me, but I didn't think he was a murderer. Then again, I didn't think Chris would be a crazy stalker and look where that got me.

"Where are we going?" I asked as we made our way to the truck. Secretly, I prayed we weren't going out to eat.

"I'll tell you on the way." He got in and reached across the seat to pull me up.

"I was serious about what I said earlier," he said out of nowhere.

"Hm?" I brought my attention around to him.

"About Chris. I want you to tell me if he comes near you again."

"I will," I assured him.

God, he and Eric were serious when it came to this kind of stuff.

A little while later the truck came to a halt. I looked out the window at a big white building. It was the Fountain Arts building. I came here about once a month for an art or photography showing.

"What are we doing here?" I asked skeptically.

"There's a show tonight and I'm taking you to it."

"How do you know about stuff like this?"

"I know a lot." He got out, making his way around the front of the truck. I didn't expect him to lift me out so I slid out on my own, waiting for the heel of my boots to hit the pavement. I looked up and Seth was standing in front of me looking a bit perturbed.

"I would have helped you."

"I figured I'd give you a break."

His body got closer to mine. I suddenly felt like I couldn't breathe anymore.

"I'd never want a break from you." His face was suddenly closer. I opened my mouth slightly to say something but couldn't think of anything. The closer he got the more my stomach fluttered. His mouth came down on mine and I let everything else take over. My fingers went through his hair and my body erupted in goose bumps as I felt his hand rub up my arm all the way to my neck. I plunged my tongue in his mouth, letting out a soft moan. He kissed me back frantically like I was his last breath of air.

"We need to go inside," he mumbled against my mouth. I could still feel his lips smiling on mine.

"In a minute." I pulled him back to me and crushed my mouth on his. I felt a pull towards him and I never wanted to be pulled away. His grip tightened on the back of my head as the other slid up the back of my shirt, the tips of his fingers sliding deliciously across my skin. I felt myself going backwards into the truck when, unfortunately, my heel slipped off the curb and I tripped. Seth laughed against my mouth and I laughed with him.

"Okay, let's go inside."

I grudgingly followed him in. If anything, I wanted to stay outside with him. He opened the doors for me as I stepped inside the brightly lit room. Random groups of people were gathered around the pictures that hung on the walls. Seth followed me around, staying close to my side as I started to make my way around. Every once in a while when he looked lost I would explain something about the photograph and what all the different angles and scenes meant.

Most of the pictures were of broken buildings and fallen down structures. I thought they were amazing, but could tell Seth was completely confused as to why anyone would want to photograph a random building.

"You know I don't think I've ever seen you with a camera." He poked my side causing me to giggle before coming to a stop at another wall.

"I have one. I haven't used it in a while though. I usually only use it when I have a project for class, or when I did my hours last semester."

"Well, I think you should. You might be the next one in one of these places."

"Yeah, right," I laughed. It would be nice, but I knew it would never happen.

As I turned away to go to the next piece I noticed an older man staring at me. He had black and grey hair with a thin mustache. I got a strange feeling when I looked at him. His eyes were so cold, almost black. A shiver ran up my spine. For some reason, as hard as I tried to look away, my eyes wouldn't let me.

"Hey." Seth placed one of his hands on my back to get my attention.

"Yeah?" I slowly turned back to him and came out of my trance.

"What's up?"

"There was a man. He was watching me."

"Where?" He snapped his head up and his eyes looked electrifying as they scanned every inch of the room.

I looked back to the statue where I last saw the man, but he was gone.

"He's gone now. He was probably nobody."

I glanced back at Seth, who was still looking around for any sight of the man. I placed my hand on his arm and noticed he was a little warmer than usual.

I tilted my head a little in concern. "You okay?"

"Yeah," he brought his mouth into a tight smile, "Let's get out of here."

The whole ride back to my dorm was silent. His demeanor had changed and I could tell something was up with him.

"Well, thanks for taking me." I went to jump out of the truck. I wasn't going to let him help me and something already told me he wasn't planning on helping me anyway.

"I'm going to be working a lot for the next couple days. I'll give you a call when I'm not as busy."

I turned around to look at him. "That's fine. I'll see you."

With those words, I jumped from the truck and walked back to my dorm. I didn't even look back to see him pull away. The way that just went, I was pretty sure I was never going to talk to him again. That's just the way things went I guess.
Chapter 5

Ashley wasn't in the room when I got up there. More than likely, she was at the library. I figured I would study and try and do some homework until I fell asleep.

Seth was still slightly on my mind but I wanted to forget about him. Things like this usually happened. You meet someone, you get to know them for about a week, and then you decide their not your type and move on. The only difference was that Seth was my type. I really did like him. Until tonight at the gallery, he acted like he liked me too. It was probably Chris. What guy would want to start seeing a girl who had a crazy psycho ex-boyfriend? Then again, maybe it was better that we didn't start a real relationship. As attracted as I was to him, there was another reason I was drawing myself to him. But that was something I wasn't going to think about.

I threw on a long sleeve shirt and some sweat pants before lying down with my advanced art history book. As soon as I sat down there was a knock at my door. I let out an agitated groan before pulling myself back out of the bed.

As I swung the door open, all I saw was a pair of blue eyes before I was suddenly pulled forward into the most mind numbing kiss I'd ever had. I moaned as he yanked me closer, his growing arousal pressing into my stomach. Our mouths were still locked together as he walked me backwards into the room. I faintly heard the door being kicked shut as I grabbed onto his neck, holding myself to him. My leg bumped into the desk but I didn't pay any attention because his lips started moving lightly down my neck. My eyes closed as bit my lip, trying to learn how to think again.

Seth's face finally came back up to mine. He grinned, "What, you think I was just going to leave without kissing you?"

It was hard for me to catch my breath as I spoke, "Um, I didn't know..."

His warm hand went up the back of my shirt. "I saw that look in your eyes before you got out of the truck. I couldn't just leave you like that." He hitched my leg up to his hip. I moaned as his hips pushed against me. His erection rubbed me in all the right places as his mouth lowered back onto mine, searing my lips. My hand ran up his chest feeling every muscle through his tight grey shirt. I tightened my knees around his hips as he lifted me and spun around to lay me on the bed. Heat pooled between my legs as he pushed his erection at the seam of my pants. Needing more, I started to tug at his shirt. He leaned up, lifting it off.

"Oh God!"

Seth leapt off me quickly. That's when I saw Ashley standing in the doorway. I felt my face get red as Seth threw his shirt back on.

"I didn't – You should have told me he was coming and I would have stayed gone." She sounded exasperated. I stood up, trying to act normal. "No, it's fine. Ashley, this is Seth. Seth, this is my roommate, Ashley."

Seth rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably. He gave her a nod with a strained smile. Ashley returned the smile nervously.

"I'm gonna go. It was nice to meet you, Ashley."

She said the same and gave him a little wave as I followed Seth out to the hall and closed the door behind me.

"Well, that was a fun way to meet your roommate," he laughed uncomfortably.

"She's probably more embarrassed than you are right now."

"Doubt that."

I glanced around the empty hallway. "So, I guess I'll talk to you later." My eyes hesitantly came back to him as he took a couple steps forward.

"I'm sorry I was acting weird earlier. I had a lot on my mind."

"It's no big deal."

"Alright, well you be careful. Promise me you'll be careful."

It was a weird request and I didn't understand the meaning behind it, but I made my promise as he gave me another earth shattering kiss and left.

I took a deep breath before walking into my room where I was sure to be bombarded with questions by Ashley. I peeked around the door and there she was, sitting on the bed with her extremely curly blond hair piled on top of her head and a sly grin on her face.

"So, I'm guessing I walked in at a bad time."

"No, what you saw was as far as we've gone and nothing probably would have happened if you didn't show up."

"Right..."

I threw a pillow at her. "Oh, be quiet. Like I've never walked in on you with some guy."

"Yeah, but never one who looked like that. Good God he looks like one of those underwear models. He's in about the same category as Eric."

I didn't comment on what she said but silently agreed. Eric was definitely hot, but what else he was, I wasn't sure. He was hiding something, though.

The next couple of days were filled with nothing but classes. Every time I walked down the halls or went through campus I always kept an eye out for Chris. I knew him like the back of my hand. He would always pop out of nowhere. One of these times it wasn't going to be him just saying a bunch of crazy words. These types of things always progressed and I was beginning to get scared as to what the next level might be. I thought about going to the police but I didn't have any evidence against him. Until the day came when he physically attacked me or anything remotely close to that, I would have nothing to use against him. The law just sucked like that sometimes.

I was walking across the lawn in front of my dorm when I saw a friendly face. Lance. He was talking to one of his friends and waved me over. I zipped up my green jacket and threw my hood up to stop the horrid wind that was blowing rapidly.

"What are you doing, slacker?"

He raised an eyebrow, looking a bit stern. I knew these looks. He was about to say something not so pleasant.

"Were you even going to tell me about Chris grabbing you the other day?"

"How do you know about that?" I snapped.

"That's not the point. The point is he's still saying shit to you and stalking you. One of these times he's not going to be so subtle about it. I'll tell you one damn thing, though, I'm gonna break his neck next time I see him."

"No! You're not going to get in trouble and get kicked out of school because of me. I'll handle it."

"It's been almost a year, Cam! You should have done something about it last summer."

I let out a long breath and looked everywhere but at my brother. "Who told you?"

"Eric. And it's a good thing he was there too."

I snapped my head back in his direction. "Eric? What are you two like best buds now or something?"

"He's not that bad of a guy. I like him."

"Well that makes one of us," I grumbled out.

Lance wrapped his arm around me. I could tell his mood had done a complete one-eighty.

"You going to the Tai Delta mixer tonight?"

"Probably." I hadn't heard from Seth in two days and was planning on going if I didn't hear from him today. Which I was pretty sure I wouldn't because he said he would be working for a while. I never knew being a bouncer made you have to work all hours for days on end, but I wasn't going to question it. I wasn't one of those girls.

"Well, I can drive us over there. I don't want you walking all the way across campus. Especially if you're drunk. You're little friend that's obsessed with me can come too if she wants."

I busted out laughing as poked him in the cheek with my finger. "She thinks you're a cutie."

"She's not too bad herself," he responded smugly. His face came up in a bright smile as mine faded away at his words. At seeing the expression on my face he laughed even harder than I just was.

"I'm just kidding with you. Jeez. She's cute, but a little nuts if you ask me."

I breathed easy and laughed it off.

"You know, one day I'm going to get a girlfriend and you're going to have to deal with it."

I groaned at the thought of it. It scared me that some prissy little Barbie doll was going to snatch him up and he would turn into a completely different person who didn't come around anymore. I guess I was just overly protective of him. It was inevitable that one day he would get in a serious relationship. But I really hoped it wouldn't be any time soon, and when it did happen, it would be with a really nice girl.

"So what time are we leaving?" I asked, changing the subject.

"Meet me out to the truck around eight-thirty."

His arm dropped from around me as I agreed and started off to my dorm. I was going to throttle Eric next time I saw him. Then again, I might not because he might actually kill me instead.

My hood kept blowing down from my head making my hair look separate from my body. I tried to control it the best I could but it was no use. The dorm was only a few yards away so I took off towards it at a run. When I finally made my way in, I closed the door gently so it wouldn't slam against the wind. Before I turned around, I took one last glance out the glass doors. Chris was leaning against a tree with his book bag slung over his shoulder. As usual, he was watching me. My stomach churned at the thought of what was going through his mind right now. What could he possibly be thinking about? Did he think this kind of behavior was normal?

Ashley was ten ways of excited to be riding with my brother to the party. It was still windy and cold outside. I put on a pair of skinny jeans and brown knee high boots with a loose fit, brown top. When eight-thirty rolled around we headed out to the parking lot to my brothers' white Yukon. The windows were blacked out which made it impossible to see who was sitting in the truck. When I opened the door, to my surprise, I saw Eric.

"Oh God, what are you doing here?" There was a tad bit of disgust in my voice.

"Good to see you too, baby." He threw me a bright smile that showed his perfect teeth. I shut the door and hopped in back with Ashley. My brother was talking on his cell phone so he didn't hear my greeting to Eric. Ashley looked a little nervous but was still grinning from ear to ear to be in the car with the two of them.

"Why are you here?" I asked again.

"Lance asked me if I wanted a ride to the party. I couldn't pass it up knowing you were going to be here too." He gave me a wink and I rolled my eyes.

"Have you seen Seth?" I asked him.

"He's working."

I wasn't sure if I liked my brother hanging out with Eric. Until I found out more about him I was going to be very cautious about their little friendship.

Lance dropped his phone in the cup holder before looking over at Eric. "So, tell me about this Seth character. Is he a good guy?"

"Yeah, you don't have to worry about him. A little nerve wracking sometimes but I'm allowed to say that because I've lived with him for about eight years. Probably more, I've lost count."

Lance kept it coming with the questions. "He's not a player or anything is he?"

"Nah, he's alright, trust me. I've known him my whole life and you couldn't find a better guy."

I think that's the first positive thing I've ever heard come out of Eric's mouth that I actually believed. It was enlightening to hear him talk about Seth like that.

"So are you two serious?" Lance asked, glancing at me in the rear view mirror.

"I don't know. I've only been talking to him for like a week." I tried to act like it was no big deal.

"It looked serious the other night," Ashley mumbled beside me.

"Ashley!" I whispered harshly.

She mouthed a 'sorry' to me at the same time Lance asked what she was talking about.

I tried to smooth over her comment the best I could. "Nothing, it was nothing."

Lance looked at me again, "Ya'll weren't getting ready to do it or anything, were you?"

I reached forward and whacked him upside the head.

"What?" he leaned closer to the steering wheel to get away from my abuse. "It was just a question."

I burned a hole through the back of his head.

Eric turned his head slightly, but enough for me to see the muscle that was throbbing in his tightly clenched jaw. "Glad to see she isn't this hostel with just me."

"By the end of the night we'll be rolling around beating the shit out of each other, and tomorrow morning she'll be a nice loving sister again."

I ignored them both and turned my gaze out the window. I seriously needed a drink right about now.

When we pulled up to the house I got out quickly and went inside to the "bar". I took two shots of tequila with Ashley and then got a rum and coke.

I started scanning the crowd, making sure there weren't any stalker ex-boyfriends lurking around. Ashley grabbed my hand and started walking around the room with me in tow. It was actually welcomed for once since I didn't want to be anywhere alone tonight. Usually, I would walk around and talk to everyone on my own, but right now I decided to be a tag along.

Two hours and a few shots later, I was sitting at the bar in the kitchen next to Callie. She got up to use the bathroom and I was left alone for the first time tonight.

A feeling crept over me that I didn't like. It was the same sensation I got when that man was staring at me the other night at the art gallery. I whipped my head around, trying to see where the feeling came from, when Eric stepped in front of me.

"Paranoid are we?"

"I have good reason to be. Freaks like you keep popping up in my life." I couldn't help but smile at my little jab.

"Speaking of freaks...Chris hasn't bothered you anymore, has he?"

I looked away and got another shot of tequila. "Nope."

His eyes cut sharply at me. "I hope you would tell me."

"What are you going to do, murder him?" I threw my shot back and hated myself for what I just said. I should have kept my mouth shut on that one. It was the alcohol talking.

"What did you just say?"

"Nothing, just a joke." I gave him the cheesiest smile I could muster and tried to get up. His warm hand grabbed my arm as he held me on the stool. This was the first time he had ever touched me and his touch was just as warm as Seth's was, probably warmer.

"Tell me what you just meant."

I let out a sigh. We were in a public place with about a hundred people...he wouldn't kill me for just asking one little question. At least I hoped he wouldn't.

"I found a picture in your car of that Lauren girl. Ironically, that same night she was murdered. It just seemed a little eerie to me."

At any second he looked like he was going to bust a gut laughing. "So, you think I murdered her because I had a picture of her in my car?"

I crossed my arms and glared. "Well, would you care to explain why you had a weird picture like that?"

He took a swig of his beer. "There are certain aspects of my job where I need pictures of people. It's just a coincidence that I happened to have a picture of a girl that was murdered."

"Your job? Seth said you worked for some type of security or something. If she was someone you were supposed to be protecting, it doesn't look to me like you did a good job."

He leaned forward, getting closer to me. "Is this the reason you don't like me? You think I'm a murderer?"

"I didn't like you before I found that picture. And I'm not about to tell you why I don't like you. But right now I don't like how secretive you are."

He shook his head back and forth, laughing quietly to himself. His hard gaze slammed on mine and I cringed inside at how intense it was. "Secretive? Why don't you ask Seth if he has any secrets? When he comes clean, so will I."

With those words, he left. It was a good thing too because I wouldn't of had a response. I was so confused. It was obvious he was telling me that there were things Seth was keeping from me.

I was starting to get severely annoyed. Things weren't adding up and I was tired of all the questions. Since Seth and Eric slam dunked into my life it's been one thing after another.

I got up and took another shot before heading outside into the cold. I pulled myself up on the concrete wall that was wrapped around the house and leaned against the wrought iron bars attached to it. Everything was a little fuzzy. I could feel the alcohol running through out me, making me light headed.

"Why do I always attract crazy people?" I mumbled aloud to myself.

I wasn't expecting a response but I got one anyway.

"Maybe it's because you might be crazy yourself."

I opened my eyes. A tell figure was leaning against a tree a little ways away. I jumped down from the wall unsteadily and tried to focus my eyes on whoever it was. Very slowly, whoever it was started to come out into the light. When I saw him, I felt my heart constrict into my chest. It was the same black and grey haired man from the art gallery. He got closer and I started to side step towards the house thinking maybe I could be quick and get away.

"I wouldn't go back in there, Camron." He spoke in an Irish accent. But that wasn't what made me stop. He knew my name.

"How do you –"

"I know a lot of things. Like I know you're going to come with me quietly."

I didn't want to laugh but a small one escaped me anyway. It almost seemed like he was so sure I would comply with him. Little did he know, I would beat every inch of him I could, or die trying, if he came near me.

He brought out a knife. That put a small kink in my plan of fighting him. I was pretty sure he wouldn't think twice about slicing me open.

I swallowed hard as he got closer. A million thoughts went through my head: him raping me, stabbing me, strangling me, throwing me in a ditch.

More movement came out of the corner of my eye. Seth came out of nowhere. I think I heard him say the name Charlie as he decked the man, sending him flying back against the tree like he was nothing. I thought this would knock him out, but the man got up quickly, dusting himself off as if it didn't faze him at all.

"Seth, this doesn't concern you," the man, who I assumed was Charlie, said.

"The hell it doesn't. You go near her again and I swear to God I will kill you."

Apparently they knew each other. If I wasn't confused before, I was definitely confused now.

"He wants her and it's my job to bring her to him."

"She's not going anywhere. You'll have to go through me to get to her and I don't think you want to do that."

Something brushed against my arm and I looked up to see Eric standing beside me. Shit. People were just popping up out of nowhere.

I was too drunk to handle all of this!

Charlie started forwards but stopped when he saw Eric beside me. He looked back and forth between them before finally starting to back down. "If I were you, I would be careful about being with her in public. You know they will use her against you."

When he was done speaking, he walked backwards, disappearing into the darkness. Seth and Eric both looked at me. I tried to look at both of them simultaneously but it was too much.

Instead, I pointed my finger at each of them. "You better tell me what the fuck is going on!"
Chapter 6

My mind was whirling for two reasons. One: because I was drunk. Two: because someone had just attempted to kidnap me and Seth sent him flying into a tree like he was pebble.

I leaned my head against the window as we made the drive back to Seth and Eric's house. After much coaxing and promising they weren't going to kill me, I agreed to go with them so they could explain. I was beginning to get a headache and listening to Seth and Eric bicker back and forth like two old ladies wasn't helping.

"I told you to watch her!" Seth yelled out him.

"I was. She was there one minute and then, poof, gone the next."

"You think this is a joke. What if I hadn't showed up? She'd be half way to him by now."

"Don't be so dramatic. He's all the way in Chicago. I doubt they would be halfway there."

I straightened up, throwing them both a venomous glare. "If you all don't shut the hell up I'll make you wish you were in Chicago!"

They went silent after my little outburst. I don't know why I even agreed to come with them. A sane person would have run screaming. But not me. I had to be the dumbass who thought just maybe there was a reasonable explanation for everything in hopes that they were still normal.

We pulled up to the house minutes later. I went to jump out of the truck but paused when I realized how far away the ground looked. I was positive that if I even attempted to get out I would probably face plant on the asphalt.

Eric stood by the door and held out his hand to help me.

"I think I'd rather crack my head open and have to get stitches than let you help me," I snapped at him.

His jaw tightened as his voice dropped. "You're being rather snippy tonight. What the hell has gotten into you?"

"Nothing, sorry." I reached out for his hand and he guided me down.

"Did you really just apologize to me?"

I rolled my eyes and wished I didn't because it made the headache worse. When I looked up I saw Seth standing by the open door waiting for us. I walked in beside them both before going to the couch to sit down.

Seth sat beside me and Eric went to the recliner, plopping down like he had a rough day.

"So are you two going to tell me what's going on?"

"It's really hard to explain," Seth spoke slowly.

"Will you just tell me? I'm here aren't I?"

Seth looked nervously over at Eric before redirecting his eyes back to me. "Me and Eric...we're...different."

"Obviously," I blurted out.

Eric sat up in the recliner with his eyes directed at his hands. "I don't think you understand. We're very different. We're not human."

"I'm sorry, what?" They had to be high or something.

"We're not human," he repeated. "We're demons."

I let out a laugh, throwing my hands drastically in the air. "Oh God, I was right. I attract crazy people."

Eric shook his head in irritation as Seth moved a little closer to me. "I know it sounds nuts, but we are. There are a lot of things you don't know about what goes on the world and we're one of them."

"This is ridiculous," I breathed out. Why? Why me? There wasn't anything I wanted more right now than just to be in my own dorm room with my head under the blankets, sleeping off my alcohol.

Eric shot up out of his chair and headed to the kitchen. He returned seconds later with a big butcher knife. I jumped up in a panic, wondering what the hell he was planning on doing with it.

Before I got a chance to say anything, he slid the knife across his hand. I cringed as blood started to gush out. But then, just as suddenly, the bleeding stopped. He wiped his hand on a towel to remove the blood before showing me his perfectly normal hand.

"I'm gonna be sick," I blurted, rushing down the hall.

I ran to the first door I saw, and luckily, it was the bathroom. I could still hear Seth yelling at Eric back in the living room as I shut the door behind me. When I made it to the toilet I realized I wasn't really going to be sick. I leaned against the wall, resting my head on my knees.

What had I gotten myself into? This was more than any one person could handle. Maybe someone slipped something in my drink and I was passed out in a drug haze or whatever.

I dug my nails into my arms and felt the pinch. No, I was awake, and this was all real.

Nothing made sense anymore. I had so many questions that I was getting ready to blow up. I wished I was sober. Actually, I could probably use another shot.

There was a soft knock at the door. I popped my head up from my knees.  
"Cam, are you okay?" Seth asked through the door.

I crawled across the tile and unlocked the door. Seth stood on the other side with a somber look on his face.

"Do you want me to take you home?"

"No, I want you to tell me the rest." I braced my hands underneath of me as I pushed myself off the cold, hard floor.

He came forward as if he was going to help me up, but backed away at the last second like he was afraid to touch me.

"Seth, I don't hate you or anything, I'm just really confused right now. I know you would never hurt me. At least, I don't think you would."

His eyes widened very slightly. "I wouldn't. I swear. You're the one person I would never hurt."

It was nice to hear him say that but things between us were still a bit awkward. Making my way by him, I went back to the living room. Eric was sitting back in the recliner with his hands resting on his thighs. He looked so calm.

"You alright?"

I nodded, taking a seat. Seth sat beside me so our knees touched. You would think just the sight of him would be repulsive after what they just told me but I was still attracted to him just as much as I was before.

"So what is it you guys do exactly?"

"We work for another demon, a much older and more powerful one. There are other demons and things out there that are trying to take over certain cities by killing humans, dealing drugs, gambling. We get rid of them, or at least we try to get rid of as many of them we can."

"So, you're like, protectors?" I was trying to get the idea and understand everything he was telling me.

A small smile came on his face like he was hopeful. "I guess you could look at it like that. But there's still a lot more to it. A lot more going on."

I turned to Eric. "What about that girl that died? Lauren? Were you lying to me when I asked you about her earlier?"

"Not really. She was a demon. I went back there after you left that night and took care of her." His eyes shifted almost uncomfortably like he was trying to hide something. I didn't dwell on it though because that was the least of my worries.

Surprisingly, I felt better. But at the same time, I thought I was losing my mind because I found myself believing everything they were telling me and I was okay with it all.

"What about that guy tonight? He was the same one I saw at the gallery."

Seth let out a heavy sigh. I could tell this was the part he was going to have a hard time telling me and I didn't know if I wanted to hear it.

"That was Charlie. He works for Declan back in Chicago. Declan is a demon but...he's a little different. I don't know why Charlie came for you. At first I thought they were trying to use you to get to me, but after hearing what he said tonight I'm not so sure. It might be another reason altogether."

"And that would be?"

"I don't know. That's what I'm confused about. You're human, there should be no reason he needs or wants you."

I wasn't too happy about what he just said but I bypassed that for the time being. "Why would they use me to get to you?"

"Some of them aren't very happy with us. That's part of the reason we had to leave Chicago. Since it's hard to kill us they like to use other people, people we care about, to hurt us. I thought they were going to try and use you to get to me."

"Is that why he told you to watch being with me in public?"

He nodded.

I turned and looked back at Eric who was still sitting there like we weren't having a serious conversation.

He leaned forward on his knees and gave me a grin. "I guess you're lucky you met us. If you hadn't you'd already be in Chicago. Who knows, you might even be dead." Another glint of something flashed through his eyes. I may have only known him a few weeks but I was able to tell when he was hiding something.

"Well, thanks for being so subtle about it."

He smacked his hands on his legs before he stood up. "I'd love to sit here and go back and forth with you, but I have some stuff to do. I'll see you all later." He gave me a wink before sliding out the front door.

There was still a lot I didn't know and I would probably never know everything. Eric was right about one thing: if I hadn't met them I would probably be in Chicago right now.

"Did you want me to take you home yet?"

"Do you want to take me home?" I asked a little skeptically. The way he asked made me think he wanted to. For some reason I didn't want to leave. Nothing about this whole scenario scared me away, even though it should.

"I don't want to, but if you don't want anything to do with me anymore, I understand." His eyes looked a little sad and the vibrant blue they usually were was sort of dulled out.

"I should be scared, but I'm not. I guess I'm just as crazy as you all are. Any other person would run away screaming, but for some reason I trust you. Don't make me regret it though." I tried to lighten the mood by poking him in the chest playfully.

"Are you serious?"

"Why wouldn't I be? Yeah, it's a little weird, but I think I can handle it. I would have been drug into this situation one way or another. I'm just lucky I met you before it got too bad."

Every time I spoke I surprised myself more and more. I don't know where all of this was coming from. Seth seemed just as surprised by it. His eyes had gone back to their bright, vibrant color.

I leaned, forward getting closer to his face. "What's with the eyes?"

He looked down almost like he was embarrassed. "Sorry, it's just a thing."

"A demonic thing?"

"Yeah. Usually when I get mad or really happy they start to get brighter. It goes by my mood basically."

I laughed. "Is there anything else about you that I should know?"

He grinned slyly. "I'm twenty-three."

I could tell he didn't really want to talk about this anymore. There were so many questions I had running through my mind but decided it could wait for another time. I got the most important part out of him and that was all that mattered.

"Do you think I could stay here tonight?" I blurted out.

"Yeah," he nodded. "You can sleep in my room and I'll just sleep out here."

I was a little aggravated that he would even suggest that. But I guess if he wanted to sleep out here that was fine.

Seth got up and I stood too, maybe a little too quickly. My head spun and I clutched it to try and make it stop.

Seth placed his hand on the small of my back to steady me. "Still drunk?"

"Just a tad," I said, measuring with my fingers.

He started to lead me down the hall to the second door on the right.

"You'll probably have a different reaction to everything in the morning when you're sober."

"You almost act like you don't want me to be okay with this." I stopped in the door way causing his to pause beside me. He ran a hand through his dirty blond hair. "No, I'm just a little startled that you're taking this so well."

"You don't seem that different to me. I don't know what it is, but I just can't see you any other way then how I see you right now."

The blue in his eyes got a little brighter. His eyes swept down to my lips very briefly before sliding back up my face. "Can I kiss you?"

He shouldn't even have to ask me. I nodded slowly as he came forward, wrapping his arms tightly around my waist. His mouth and tongue moved in perfect motion with mine. He lifted my feet from the floor, spinning me around to the bed. I shut my eyes tighter so I wouldn't feel the dizziness that started.

My back hit the bed. All his weight lifted off me as he pulled away, hovering over top me.

"So you can do this? You can be with me even though I'm a little different?"

Well I wouldn't say he was a little different, but to me it didn't matter.

"Yeah," I said with a small smile.

His face nuzzled into my neck. "I promise it's not as bad as it sounds."

He kissed my neck several times before resting beside me. I turned away from him and was suddenly very tired.

"Stay with me," I mumbled. My eyes shut and I fell asleep.

Horrible dreams invaded my sleep. All I could remember was blue and green eyes staring back at me. It was the same dream I had last week and was just as strange as before. There was one thing different though...the green eyes turned to red. And that's when I woke up.

My head was pounding. It felt like I was being hit in the head with a hammer over and over again. I was afraid to sit up and make it worse.

I noticed my boots were off and I was under the covers. I didn't remember doing it so I guess Seth did all that. Remembering Seth, I rolled over in the bed. But I was alone.

Grudgingly, I sat up. Right away I smelled food. That's what gave me the strength to finally pull myself out of the bed. My muscles were stiff and my hair was a crazy mess. I put it up in a messy bun to get it off my shoulders. I felt icky and needed nothing more than a hot shower and a toothbrush.

I rounded the corner of the hall and saw Seth and Eric sitting at the kitchen table.

A groan escaped me as I plopped down at the empty wooden chair. Eric's hand slid a small glass filled with an amber liquid towards me.

"What's that?" I asked eying it wearily.

"Tequila. Drink it, you'll feel better."

I dropped my head on my arm, feeling sick at just the thought of drinking tequila. "Pour it in my coffee."

I didn't know even they even had coffee but I was hoping they'd make me some. A glass clinked beside my head. I looked up to see him pour two shots of tequila in a coffee cup. I cringed just seeing it.

"Drink up." He scooted the cup closer, giving me small whiff of the caffeine. I put cream and sugar in it before taking a few sips. Seth gave me a wink and it made me feel a little better.

There was food all over the table. Eggs, bacon, sausage, pancakes, and what looked to be home fries.

I looked up surprised. "Did you cook all this?"

I was actually talking to Seth but Eric was the one who answered me. "I did. Seth doesn't cook."

"You?"

"Yes, I cook. Is that such a surprise?"

I ignored him as I started filling my plate up with everything, grabbing the ketchup and syrup. I probably looked like I hadn't eaten in weeks. It was all amazingly good. I felt so much better after eating and drinking my tequila coffee. I think I had just found the best hangover cure ever invented.

Seth and Eric were having a conversation as I sat there and watched both of them. They looked like two normal guys. Maybe I dreamed everything they told me.

Eric suddenly looked over at me. "So, I take that you spending the night is a good thing. You're not running down the street telling the whole city that there's an underworld."

Apparently I wasn't dreaming. I swallowed harshly at the new information. "An underworld? I think I missed that part of the conversation."

Seth looked a little worried. "It's nothing. There are just other things out there besides us. You don't have to worry about them though."

"Yeah, you just have to worry about me and him," Eric said with a smile.

"Yeah and this Declan, or whatever his name is," I threw out there.

Eric head shook. "Don't worry about him either."

Well I'm glad they were all so calm about this. I played with what little food was left on my plate and thought about what I was going to do now.

"I need to call my brother. He's probably having a heart attack wondering where I am. You know, since somebody told him about Chris." I cut my eyes at Eric to let it be known I was talking about him.

"He's your brother. I figured he had a right to know. If me or Seth aren't around you need someone else to watch your back."

"Yeah, but Lance has a temper. If he sees Chris even looking at me he's gonna to flip out. I don't want him to get in trouble over something stupid."

His eyes flashed dangerously. "It's not stupid. You'll thank me in the long run so just shut up and deal with it."

Seth reached over, punching him hard in the arm. "Watch it."

"I'm just sayin'." He threw his hands up in the air defensively.

I appreciate that he was trying to help, but it was also a little aggravating. They were acting more freaked out than I was about this whole Chris thing. I decided I wasn't going to tell them about seeing Chris outside my dorm the day before. They would all just flip out and run back to the school ready to pummel him, which would end with them all in jail. I wondered if they could even be put in jail.

I stood up from the table. "I need to go back to my dorm."

Seth turned to me. "I gotta go with Eric to take care of some things. If you want you can just drive my truck and bring it back later."

"You want me to drive that thing? I can barely get in and out of it." I moved my gaze to Eric. A greedy smile spread across my face.

At first he looked confused at my expression. It took him a second to catch on before he started shaking his head vigorously. "Oh no. No, no, no. You are not taking my car for the day."

I kept the smile on my face, batting my eyelashes. He looked at me like I was crazy.

Ten minutes later I was driving down the road in the black Mustang. Eric caved eventually. Before I left he gave me a long lecture about driving his car. I didn't know what the big deal was. It's not like I hadn't driven it before.

It was strange how life took these odd turns. Last week my life was normal. I was a senior in college, living my life the way any twenty-two year old should. Now, I was strung into a world that I still had no idea how to fully comprehend. I should have been scared to death, but I wasn't. Instead, what really scared me was my own reaction to everything.
Chapter 7

Ashley wasn't in the room when I got back. I was able to take a shower and get dressed in silence. If Ashley was here she would probably bombard me with questions about where I was last night. I could pull off lying to her with no problem but didn't have enough energy right now to attempt it.

When I was finally ready I headed out the door. When it closed I noticed a yellow post-it stuck over the peep hole. I snatched it down and scanned it over.

Don't make me hurt you, it said.

My heart started hammering in my chest as I crumpled it up and threw it in the trash can across the hall. I didn't want to look at it anymore. Chris immediately came to my mind. But then I thought of Charlie. He backed down pretty quickly last night but that was only because Seth and Eric were there. I was alone now and had no one here to protect me.

I brought out my phone and dialed Seth's number. It rang and rang but no one answered. Awesome. The one time I was going to ask someone for help and they didn't even answer. I didn't have Eric's number and calling Lance was definitely out of the question. There wasn't much I could do so I pulled myself together and tried to forget about it.

I headed outside and went to the car, immediately locking the doors. As soon as I started the ignition a green Jeep pull in front of the car. The way it was parked, there was no way for me to exit. I was surrounded by nothing but cars.

The driver door swung open. I didn't have to look to know who it was. Chris's tall muscled form started to approach the car with a vicious gleam in his eyes. The second he reached the car he started pounding his fist on the window, screaming. I couldn't make out anything he was saying. His face was red and his eyes were empty. Was he seriously trying to break the window with his fist? I had subconsciously dialed Seth's number again and tried to strain my ears to listen if he had picked up.

"Hello?"

"I need you, now!" I screamed into the phone.

"What's wrong?"

"Chris is trying to break the window of the car and I can't leave."

His voice rose in a panic. "Where are you?"

Chris's face came closer to the window and I tried to avoid his gaze. "Cam, open the door. I just want to talk to you."

"Go away!" I screamed at him.

"Don't make me hurt you."

After hearing his words it was obvious he was the one who left the note on my door.

"Camron, where are you!" Seth's voice shouted from the phone.

"The dorm parking lot."

Chris backed away from the window, which now had small smears of blood on it from his fist hitting the window so hard. He started towards his car and I felt a small wave of relief.

"I think he's leaving," I told Seth.

"I'm on my way, just stay in the car."

I was about to respond to him when I saw Chris pull a crow bar from behind the front seat and start back towards me.

"Oh my God!"

"What?"

I didn't have enough time to respond when the crow bar slammed into the window. It didn't bust, but left a deep crack down the middle.

"What was that?" Seth shouted.

"He's –"

I didn't get to finish before Chris struck the window again. This time it shattered. The glass flew over me. I covered my face with my arms, dropping the phone in my lap.

Chris reached in and unlocked the door before swinging it wide open. "I told you I didn't want to hurt you! Why are you doing this to me?"

I looked up and saw his hands start to come for me. I tried to swat them away and grab the crow bar from him but he shoved me back in the seat before backhanding me right in the mouth.

My tooth cut the inside of my lip. I could taste the blood already. I forgot about it as he grabbed both my arms and yanked me out of the car.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" I screamed.

He pushed my back against the hood with his hand at my throat. My adrenaline started pumping and I reflexively brought my knee up between his legs. A groan escaped him as he hunched over on top my body. I tried to push him off me but he was too heavy, so I balled up my fist and started punching every inch of him I could reach. He didn't seem too fazed by it because he leaned back up and grabbed both of my wrists. I was able to snatch one of them away and slammed it against the side of his head causing him to stumble to the side a little.

When he regained his stance he brought his fist up to hit me again. I cringed, preparing for the blow that was about to strike me. But before he could hit me, someone tackled him, sending him to the ground.

I sat up, startled trying to see what happened. A pair of warm hands grabbed my face and I was suddenly looking into wild blue eyes.

"Are you okay?" Seth asked, alarmed.

I grabbed his wrist and nodded as he kissed my forehead, hugging me to him. There was a scuffle going on beside me and I looked to see Eric beating the pulp out of Chris. His fist was almost a blur as he pounded it into Chris's head numerous times.

I shut my eyes trying to drown out the awful noises coming from Chris. Lance came out of nowhere and grabbed me, pulling me into a bone crushing hug.

Once Lance got here Seth left my side and tried to pull Eric off Chris. It was no use though. Eric was in a rage and nothing could stop him. If he didn't stop soon he was going to end up killing him.

"Eric!" I screamed his name as loud as I could.

And just like that, he stopped.

Seth took a step back as Eric slowly turned around to look at me. His eyes were crazy. I don't think I've ever seen anyone's eyes look the way his did. They were just as empty as Chris's were.

Lance turned me back to face him. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," I answered absentmindedly.

"Did he hit you?"

I nodded and touched my lip. I was out of it. The fact that Chris had actually attacked me was mind blowing. I never thought he would go that far. Sirens sounded from the distance and I was brought out of my thoughts long enough to see two police cars skidding to a halt on each side of Chris's Jeep.

The next two hours we all spent giving statements and I was checked out by a paramedic. I tried to tell them I was fine but Seth and Lance bullied me into it. Chris ended up having to be taken to the hospital because he was beaten so badly. His face wasn't even recognizable. Eric didn't get in trouble for what he did to Chris because he was protecting me. Chris, on the other hand, was going to be arrested at the hospital for stalking, battery, and assault.

Eric hadn't said one word to anyone about anything. I imagined he was probably upset that his window had been shattered. He was never going to let me drive that car again.

There was a small crowd formed around all the commotion. It would have been nice if there were people around earlier to stop Chris from attacking me. It figures they show up now, after everything was over.

Something caught my eye and I glanced over to see Ashley jumping up and down trying to get my attention. I made my way to her. She looked traumatized, like she was the one who was attacked.

"I'm so sorry! Maybe if I would have been home none of this would have happened."

I shook my head. "It wasn't your fault. Don't even think that." If it was anyone's fault it was mine for dating a crazy loser.

"I know, but still. I'm your roommate." It almost looked like she was going to bust out crying.

I touched her arm lightly, trying to calm her down. "Ashley, I'm fine."

Seth came up behind me and wrapped one arm around my waist. I felt a little better when he touched me and turned into him so my head was against his chest.

"Do you want to stay with me tonight?"

"Yeah, let me go up to my room and get some stuff." I started to walk away. Lance ran up beside me.

"I'll go with you to your room."

I gave him a weird look but let him come with. I grabbed a duffle bag and shoved some clothes, my tooth brush, and something to wear to bed.

"Can you not tell mom and dad about this?" I gave him a stern look as he leaned against my door frame.

"If you don't want me to, I won't. But the school might call them anyway and tell them what happened. You know they'll give me hell for not telling them first."

"Come on, Lance," I whined stressfully. "I don't feel like hearing their crap. It's over now. Chris is gone. I don't want to have to deal with all their drama."

He let out a sigh. "Fine, I won't tell them."

"Thanks." I leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek. "How did you know what was going on to begin with?"

"Eric called me."

"Of course he did."

He shoved me playfully. "If I didn't know any better I would think he had a thing for you."

"Yeah, right. We despise each other." I laughed it off like it was the most ridiculous thing ever.

"That's why he beat the shit out of Chris? Because he despises you?"

"He beat Chris because he broke his window. Trust me, that car is the love of his life. He probably busted a vein when he saw the damage."

He shook his head and held the door open for me to go back outside. "For a smart girl, you're not too bright sometimes."

I rolled my eyes and started back towards the parking lot. Ashley stood by Seth as they waited for us to come back. As we got closer I saw Eric was nowhere to be found. I noticed his car was gone.

Seth took my duffle bag and threw it into his truck as I gave my brother and Ashley a small wave. I leaned back in the seat, shutting my eyes.

When we got to the house, Eric's car wasn't in the driveway. I guess maybe he didn't want to talk to me. Seth slung my duffle bag over his shoulder and came around to help me out of his truck. I followed him into the house and back to his bedroom.

As soon as we were both in the room, my duffle bag slid from his shoulder and he grabbed me around the middle. His mouth went right on mine and I almost lost my balance. I brought my arms around his neck holding myself to him as his mouth moved heatedly with mine. All that happened today was erased from my mind. The only thing I could think about was how amazing it felt kissing him. He brushed the side of my face with his hand as he pulled away, his breathing heavy. "I'm glad you're okay."

"If this is the kind of reaction I get from being attacked, I might do it more often."

He let out a sarcastic laugh. "I'd rather you didn't."

"What were you all doing when I called you?" I remembered that he didn't answer the first time I called.

He hesitated slightly before answering, "Trying to find out what Declan wants with you. We didn't find out much, though. Bunch of dead ends."

"Oh," I bit my lip and looked away.

"Don't worry. As long as you're with me or Eric, you'll be fine." He brushed my hair out of my face, his lips brushing mine once more.

"I can't be with you both every minute of every day. I'll feel like a burden."

"You're definitely not a burden to me. I care about you...a lot. I'm not about to let something happen to you. I'll do everything I can to make sure no one comes near you."

I smiled slightly feeling my cheeks burn. "You care about me?"

"Very much."

"Well, I highly doubt Eric cares about what happens to me. He'd probably throw me under the bus in a heartbeat."

"Nah. Trust me, he won't let anything happen to you." He sounded so sure that Eric would do anything he could to make sure I didn't get hurt. I, on the other hand, wasn't as sure. I guess I would have to take another leap and hope that Seth was right.

We spent the rest of the day at the house. After all the drama we had been through, Seth thought it would be better if we just stayed in. I agreed.

Eric didn't show up all day either. It got dark out when I started to get hungry. Seth didn't cook and neither did I, so we ordered carry out and only left the house when we had to go get it.

I forgot what it was like to just sit home and do nothing. Since my junior year of high school I had been constantly going nonstop. Now my mind was plagued with thoughts of demons and other creatures that Eric had mentioned. I never wanted to meet any of them and hoped I wouldn't have to.

Another good thing about staying in the house all day and night was how close Seth and I got. He seemed more comfortable around me and I was just as comfortable around him. I got in a few questions about demons and he gave me the best answers he could. Apparently you could die if you were bit by a demon. I jokingly told him not to get kinky and bite me, but inside I was a little freaked out.

"What made you want to do this?" I asked randomly. We were lying in his bed watching TV and I was sitting between his legs wrapped up in a blanket.

"Do what?"

"Be with me. It can't be easy for you to have a girlfriend."

"Yeah, it's hard. I've dated a little. I do have an ex-girlfriend who's a demon, but that wasn't anything serious."

That's not something you hear every day. I tried to lighten the mood and said, "She's not psychotic is she? Because I think I've had enough crazy ex's trying to kill me for a lifetime."

"No, I don't know where she is. And as to why I want to be with you – you are the most beautiful person I have ever seen in my entire life. That's what drew me to you. Then I talked to you and I instantly knew I wanted to be with you. Everything about you amazes me."

I stiffened in his arms.

"Is that not what you wanted to hear?" he whispered in my ear.

My voice was a little off as I answered. "No, that's what I wanted to hear."

Chills ran throughout my body as he kissed my neck, working his way down my shoulder. My breathing got shallow as I turned my head to meet his mouth. I shuddered as his hands made their way inside my blanket and up my shirt, rubbing back and forth over my stomach.

In the blink of an eye I was turned around in his arms, straddling him. He sat up to meet me with his fingers grasped tightly in my hair. My hands slowly ran down his chest and lifted his shirt up over his head. His soft mouth moved up my neck as he rolled me over till he was above me. He tackled my mouth again and that's when his phone let out a loud ring. I groaned as he leaned up off me, sitting on his knees to pull his phone out of his jeans. He answered the phone in a huff while running his hand through his unruly hair.

I like to have died right there seeing him shirtless before me. His skin was so smooth and muscular. I had to fight the urge to break his phone in half and snatch him back down on me.

Because I was so transfixed on his body I missed everything he said on the phone.

He ended the call and gave me a frustrated look. "We have to go."

"Where?" I asked, disappointed.

"To find Eric. He's in trouble."

I thought the point was to keep me out of trouble and safe.

"And I have to go with you because...?"

"You're probably going to have to drive his car back here. Plus, I'm not leaving you alone."

I let out a whoosh of air and flipped over, smacking the pillow in frustration. Seth threw his shirt back on and I changed into jeans and a t-shirt. I flipped my hair out of my face and headed out the front door with Seth in front me.

"Does he get in trouble a lot?" I asked on the way to God knows where.

"He's a hot head. But even when he tries to stay out of trouble it seems to always find him. He kind of reminds me of you actually."

"Me?" I was slightly offended but tried not to let it get to me.

"You're a hot head. I can tell. You might not get set off as easy but if someone pushes the wrong buttons you'll probably tear them a new one. And trouble seems to find you a lot."

"I've only had trouble since I met you." I poked him in the arm playfully.

He pulled into the parking lot behind a different club than before. I saw Eric's Mustang parked crooked with its driver window still busted out. Seth reached in his pocket and pulled out a set of spare keys to the Mustang.

"Here," he handed them to me. "Get in the car and drive around the block a few times. I'll call you and tell you when to head back to the house."

"Okay?" I mumbled, a little confused. I jumped out in a rush and hopped in the car. As I pulled out of the parking lot I realized I didn't feel very safe driving in a car with a busted out window. It was also freezing, so I cranked up the heat to full blast.

I was on my third trip around the block when I saw something lying in the road that hadn't been there the last go round. I got closer and the head lights shined on what appeared to be a body. I guess the lights scared whoever it was because they started to move. I could tell they were hurt because their movements were slow. As I got a closer look I realized it was Eric and slammed on the breaks. As soon as I got out he collapsed back to the ground. Panicked flooded through me as I ran forward, kneeling down beside him.

"What's wrong?"

"Get me in the car," his voice was strained and full of pain. He lifted his hand for me to grab. That when I saw it was covered in blood. I let out a small gasp and touched his black shirt. It was soaked with something. When I brought my hand back up to the light it was just as bloody.

"What happened to you?"

"Just get me in the car." He tried to stand back up. I grabbed a hold of his arm as he leaned against me. I reached forward to open the passenger door just as he collapsed again. A painful groan escaped him as I got behind him and dragged his body into the car. I had to crawl over the center console all the while dragging him to make sure he was in all the way. After I closed the driver door I reached over top Eric to close his door. As soon as his door was shut I heard a whole bunch of yelling. Looking up, I saw the noise was coming from the two men who were running towards the car.

I quickly put the car in reverse and spun around to face the other direction. Eric slid against the window and started coughing noisily. I flew down the street, not having any idea where I was going. I took one last glance into the rearview mirror and saw the men were gone.

"What happened to you? I thought you could heal quickly or something."

He groaned painfully, "When I'm basically gutted it's a lot harder to heal than a simple scratch."

My phone rang. I answered it with a shaky hand, trying not to take my eyes off the road. "Hello?"

It was Seth. "Where are you?"

"I found Eric. He's been stabbed."

He let out a long sigh. "Head over to the house and I'll meet you there. Are you okay?"

"A little freaked out, but that's nothing new. I'll see you at the house." My voice was a little snappy as I ended the call and dropped the phone in the cup holder.

Eric let out a shaky breath. "Don't be mad at him. It's my fault."

"I'm not mad." It sounded like I was trying to make myself believe it more than Eric.

Fifteen minutes later, I pulled into the driveway. Seth wasn't here yet so I was on my own getting Eric into the house. He tried to do it himself, but could barely walk, so I had to hold him up the best I could.

I gently lay him on the couch before going to the kitchen to get a wet rag and a bowl of water. Eric already had his shirt off when I got back. My insides turned as I saw two open gashes on his stomach. One looked like a clean cut but the other looked like it had been slashed there deeply.

I took his disgusting shirt to the trash and came back to sit next to him. He was leaned back on the arm of the couch with his eyes closed and his chest heaving up and down heavily. I tried to concentrate on anything other than his chest. Even though he was all bloody his body was still amazing.

"Do you want me to get the blood off of you?" I asked, trying not to startle him.

"You don't have to," he replied with his eyes still closed.

"It might make it feel better."

If anything, it would make it look not as grotesque. I took the rag and ran it over his stomach. He sucked in against the pain. I pulled back, afraid he was going to start screaming at me. He didn't so I just kept wiping off as much as I could without getting to close to his wound. When I was done I thought it looked a lot better. The cuts didn't look as bad so maybe he was starting to heal.

I didn't want to bother him so I got up and took the bowl to the sink and threw the rag in the trash. My hands were all blood stained so I washed them off. While I was making my way back to the living room I heard a key in the door and saw Seth come in.

His eyes lit up a little but he kept a serious look on his face. Eric sat up slowly and glanced at Seth. "Did you get any of them?"

"One. How many were there?"

"Three," he winced a little as he sat up the rest of the way.

I spoke up, "I saw the other two. They came back for him. I got him in the car and when we were driving away they came out of an alley."

Seth looked at me briefly before throwing a glare at Eric. "What were you even doing going with them? See what happens went you go off by yourself. What if something happened to her?"

"I wouldn't have let anything happen to her. You know that."

"You wouldn't have been able to fight off an old lady with a walker with the shape you were in!" I could tell he was pissed. I also didn't like that they were talking about me like I wasn't there. If they wanted to sit here and yell at each other then it was fine by me. I turned and took off down the hall to the bedroom, leaving them to their argument.

After changing back in to my sweat pants and tank top, I wrapped up in the comforter and lay down on the bed. I was the one who said I was okay with everything so it was hard to be mad at Seth. It wasn't his fault that Eric got stabbed. Truthfully, it was Eric's fault, but I still didn't want to blame him either.

I took a deep breath. I can handle this. I knew things were going to be a little hectic when I found out what they were.

The door opened and I looked over at Seth. He closed it behind him and came to sit by me on the bed. When he spoke he didn't look at me. "If you want out you can just tell me. I won't be mad or anything."

"If I wanted out I wouldn't be here. I would have just left Eric lying in the middle of the road."

"I don't want to bring you into something that's going to be hard for you to get out of."

"I don't want out. I'm fine, really." I trailed my hand up his arm lightly. He leaned over and gave me a kiss before getting up and going to the other side of the bed. I closed my eyes as he wrapped his arm around my stomach and fell fast asleep.
Chapter 8

Sunday was about the same as Saturday. Luckily, I brought some of my books over with me and got to do some school work.

Seth and I went out to eat before he took me back to my dorm room. He made me call Ashley to make sure she was there before dropping me off. I made a point to ask him if I would be safe on my own and he said I should be fine for right now.

For right now.

He might not have thought those words would frighten me, but they did. That was probably the worst possible thing he could have said to me.

Ashley was still in her fruity pajamas when I walked in. She had the music blaring. I turned it off and she jumped about a foot in the air.

"Jesus Christ, you scared the shit out of me." Her hand was placed across her heaving chest.

"Sorry. What have you been doing?" I emptied out my duffle as she told me about the test she had tomorrow and how she spent most of yesterday in the library studying and doing research.

"Has anyone said anything about what happened with Chris?" I asked nonchalantly.

"A few people asked me if you were okay. Brad said he could tell Chris was going to snap soon. He said he was fidgeting a lot in class and always talking to himself. Girl, let me tell you, you know how to pick em."

I groaned. "Don't remind me. I can't believe I dated him. It was the worst mistake of my life."

I lay down on my bed and turned out my light.

"So did you have fun with Seth last night?"

I didn't have to see her face to know she was smiling.

"Yeah, I guess. We really didn't do anything."

"I bet..."

I rolled my eyes but thankfully she didn't see me. If she only knew what I really did last night...

Most of the week I was bombarded with people coming up to me asking if I was okay from Chris' attack. Eventually it got pretty annoying and I swore if one more person came up to me I was going to throttle them.

Seth came by a couple nights with something to eat for both me and Ashley. She took a quick liking to him. I'm sure if she knew as much as I did about him she would think twice about that.

I wanted to be alone with him but every time he came by Ashley was there. Seth told me the other day that he really wasn't a bouncer. I pretty much figured that much out on my own. But I never got around to asking him what he really did during the day. I figured it was something demonic. After thinking this I realized how crazy I sounded. If I voiced any of this to another person I would surely be put in an insane asylum.

It was Thursday night and I was sitting on my bed cramming for a test I had the next morning in my unnecessary Pre Calculus class when my phone vibrated on the night stand. I answered it without looking to see who it was.

"Hello?"

"Hey." It was Lance.

"What you doing?" I asked absently.

"I just got off the phone with mom. We're leaving Saturday morning at nine."

My mind processed what he just said. At the same time there was a knock at the door and Ashley went to answer it. Seth walked in and I gave him a quick smile before going back to my phone conversation.

"Where are we going?" I asked with a little confusion.

"Mom's birthday remember? I told you this already."

"Crap, I forgot."

"I figured you would. You're not backing out though. If you do I'm going to tell them about Chris."

I knew he really wouldn't but I had already said I was going so I guess I had to. "Fine, I'll see you bright and early Saturday." I threw on a fake smile that he obviously couldn't see.

"Love you, bye"

"Yeah, love you too," I said sarcastically.

I ended the call and looked up at Seth who seemed a little bewildered and worried at the same time.

I sat up on the bed and started to explain, "I have to go home for the weekend. It's my mom's birthday."

I waited for him to tell me I couldn't go, or something along those lines, but he did nothing but nod and lay back on my bed with his hands behind his head.

Ashley said she was going to get a shower and walked out of the room. Now that she was gone I crawled up next to him and rested my head by his. "Alright, tell me what you're thinking."

He turned on his side to face me. "I want to kiss you."

I smiled and leaned forward, giving him a long, intense kiss. After I got my fix I pulled away and eyed him curiously. "That's not what I was talking about. How do you really feel about me going to Maine? You don't think I should go, do you?"

"I think you'll be okay. Eric has a friend who said Declan is backing off for a little while. I still don't know what he wants with you, which makes me a little uneasy, but I think you should take the chance to go home while you can."

"What do you mean 'while I can'?" I started to panic. "Is there going to come a point where I can't go back there?" My nerves were suddenly on end. I felt like I did the other day when he told me I should be safe – for right now.

"I don't know. Right now it's up in the air. Don't worry about it until you have to."

I started chewing on the inside of my cheek out of nerves. Seth's hand went up the back of my shirt as he got closer. "I said don't worry about it. Now kiss me while your friend is gone because this will probably be the last time we're alone till you get back."

I let out a laugh and did what he asked as he brought his mouth on mine and rolled over on top of me.

Saturday came quick. I rolled out of bed grouchy and not in any kind of mood. I had been up all night with a project I had to do for Photography. It wasn't due until next week but I wanted to get it out of the way. Everything was so hectic I didn't even get a chance to pack the night before so I was up earlier than I had to be.

I threw on a pair of ripped up skinny jeans, my Converse sneakers, and a long sleeve, lime green shirt. After doing my makeup I put in my diamond hoop earrings and started to pack my duffle bag. When it hit nine I said bye to Ashley, who probably didn't even hear me, but grunted all the same. It was freezing outside so I slipped on my brown North Face jacket as I searched the parking lot for my brothers Yukon.

I was surprised when I noticed Seth's truck parked next to my brothers. As I got closer I saw Seth leaning in the driver window talking to Lance. He gave me a wink when he saw me walking up and I smiled in response.

"What are you doing here?"

The expression on his face changed at my question. I stopped beside him and looked in the truck. There was one other person in there besides my brother.

"Oh God no. You are not coming with us." I knew there had to be a look of horror on my face.

Eric was sitting in the passenger seat with a fucking smile on his face. My comment did nothing but make the smile on his face grow wider. I turned to Seth with wild eyes as he dragged me away to the back of the truck.

"Why in the hell is he coming with us? Why can't you come?"

"There's some stuff I have to take care of that only I can do. Your brother asked us both to go but seeing as I have to do this we figured Eric should still go with you. It'll be a lot safer."

"No it won't, we'll end up killing each other!" I snapped back.

He placed both his hands on my shoulders. "No you won't. You'll be fine, just ignore him."

I let out a sigh as he kissed my forehead.

"You better give me a better kiss than that. It might be the last time you see me."

Even though my brother was probably watching, I didn't care. I snatched him to me and kissed him till my knees grew weak. Lance honked the horn and I started laughing against Seth's mouth.

He buried his face in my neck. "I don't want you to go now."

I sulked inwardly as well as outwardly. "Then don't let me."

"You have to. I'll be right here waiting for you when you get back tomorrow night."

I kissed him one more time before walking back to the truck. Seth stood at the open door as I hopped in and he shut it behind me. "You guys have fun."

I slid my sunglasses over my eyes and gave him a fake smile. He waved bye to Eric and Lance as we pulled out of the parking lot.

"I'm going to need a lot of coffee to put up with you for a six hour car ride," I grunted with obvious irritation. I was cranky enough without coffee. If I was going to be around him I would be extra cranky.

Eric laughed and turned to look out the window. "Aw, come on, Cam. We get to spend some quality time together."

"Yippy."

After I saved him last weekend, I hadn't seen him at all. I didn't get a thank you or anything. It made me mad that he was so shallow and self-centered to not even say, 'Hey Cam, thanks for picking me up off the road and cleaning my bloody, gutted stomach.' Nope, I got nothin'. Thinking about it, I don't even think I told him thank you for what he did when Chris attacked me. Maybe that's why he didn't thank me. I wasn't going to let it bother me, though. He would probably do enough of that in the next forty-eight hours.

Four hours into the ride I was feeling a little ill. I had a tendency to get motion sickness when it came to long car rides. Lance glanced back at me in the rear view mirror and could instantly tell what was wrong.

"Oh no, do I need to pull over?" He looked panicked as the car started to slow down.

I nodded without a word as he pulled the car to the side of the road. I quickly slid to the other side and opened the door just in time to get sick. The passenger door opened and I saw the tip of Eric's Timberlands underneath my door. Of all people, I didn't want him to see me getting sick.

I sat up when I thought I was done. Eric's hand shoved a napkin through the crack of the door. I grabbed it without a thank you and leaned my head back on the head rest.

"You want to sit up front?" he asked.

"No it's fine. It'll be better if I stay back here to lie down." I shut the door behind me.

Lance turned around in his seat. "Are we good to go or do you think we need to sit here a while?"

I lay down in the seat and rested my head on my duffle bag. "We can go. Stop by the next store you see so I can get a bottle of water."

I went in and out of sleep till the car came to another stop. Someone tapped my leg and I sat up to get out of the car. Lance was on the phone in the driver seat, I figured with our mom to tell her we were close. Eric stood outside smoking a cigarette.

I got in line after quickly snatching up a bottle of water. There were four people ahead of me in line and the cashier was taking her merry old time like it was her first day on the job. I still felt a little queasy and didn't have the patience for this. As I looked around to pass the time I saw a guy that looked around my age watching me from behind a chip aisle. The second I looked at him he looked back down at the chips. Real subtle, I thought to myself.

A few minutes later I looked over and saw the same guy talking to an older man. I swear he nodded in my direction. I kept my gaze on them as the older man looked right at me and stared like he was burning a hole through me. I didn't like it. I walked out of the line and set my water on a random shelf before leaving the store. Eric was still standing outside as I made my way to him.

"Where's your water?" he asked, eying at my empty hands.

"There were two guys staring at me in there," I pointed at the door.

He shrugged indifferently. "Well, you're beautiful. Who wouldn't stare at you?"

I was a little startled but brushed it off and gave him a stern look. "No, I mean they were staring, staring. It was like they were watching me or something."

"What'd they look like?"

"One was around my age with wavy blonde hair and the other was an older man with brown hair and big, thick, black glasses."

Before I got a chance to say anything else he disappeared inside the store. I didn't want to be standing here by myself so I went back to the car and got in. Lance was still on the phone. My mom was probably asking him a hundred questions about the drive. She was a worry wart.

In no time Eric hopped back in the car and I leaned up to him. "Did you see them?"

"No and I didn't see them walk out the front either. They must've left out the back. We'll have to keep an eye out."

I sat back in my seat, a little flustered. Maybe I was just being paranoid. Eric didn't seem too bothered by them. I was turning into a nut case who couldn't even walk into a store without thinking someone was stalking me. The worst part was I didn't even get my water.

"Here." Eric's hand came from the front holding a bottle of water.

I looked up at him, confused.

"You didn't get your water so I got one for you." He shook the bottle in his hand till I grabbed it.

"Thanks."

"Bout time you said thanks for something," he mumbled from the front seat.

If I didn't really want this water I would have chunked it at the back of his head. But I did, so I just ignored him.

The last hour was the worst. Lance tried explaining to Eric the concept of Lacrosse but he said it sounded stupid. As I figured, Eric was into football. His favorite team was the Giants and the Ravens. I liked football but didn't have a favorite team. Unfortunately, sports were the main topic of conversation for the rest of the ride. I kept quiet the whole time and laughed to myself every once in a while when they said something stupid. When we finally turned onto the road where my parent's house was I sat up between the two front seats.

I leaned up to Eric before we made it into the driveway. "Don't mention Chris to my mom and dad. They don't know about it."

"Alright, are there any other rules this weekend?"

"Don't be rude," I added.

He looked at me like I had three heads. "When am I ever rude?"

I pointed a finger at my chest. "You're rude to me all the time."

"No, you're rude to me, I just put up with it."

I opened my mouth to argue back but Lance cut me off. "Will you two give it a rest? Good lord, you're like an old married couple."

I shut my mouth at his ridiculous comment and just sat back in the seat. Eric's shoulders were jumping up and down laughter and I wanted nothing more than to reach forward and smack him.

The truck came to a stop in the driveway and I grabbed my duffle bag to get out. I glanced up at the two story Victorian house. I had just been here a little over a month ago for Christmas but it felt like longer. I was glad I didn't live here anymore. It's not like I had a bad child hood or anything, my life here was great, but I had completely out grown it.

We all three walked up the winding sidewalk that was lined with flowers. The glass door swung open and there stood my mom with her shoulder length wavy blond hair and her hourglass figure. An excited squeal escaped her as she hopped down the steps in a hurry and bound in Lance's arm. You would think she hadn't seen him in years. She put a big kiss on his cheek and then came to me with a wide smile. I hugged her just as tight as she hugged me before she turned to Eric.

"And who's this?" she said with a grin.

"Eric," he said holding out his hand. She swatted his hand away and pulled him in for a hug. Her body looked so tiny in his big arms. I had to stifle the giggles. I bet Eric was dying inside at this stranger hugging him. Then again, he probably liked it.

"Are you friends with Lance or Cammy?" She was looking between all three of us, her eyes landing on me last. I knew what she was getting at and to me it was crazy that she would even consider it.

"Both, but Cammy is dating my roommate." He looked at me with a sly grin and I glared at him, seething.

My mom looked at me almost appallingly. "You have a boyfriend? Why didn't he come?"

Eric answered for me. "He had to work."

"Well that's too bad," she pouted.

We all headed for the house. My dad was in the kitchen sitting at the island. He had dark brown hair that was always untidy and thin wire glasses. I went to him and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"Hey, dad."

"Hey, Cam, how's school?"

"Stressful."

I plopped down beside him as Lance introduced him to Eric. My mom bounced around the kitchen as my dad talked to Eric about random stuff. I don't know what exactly because I wasn't listening. At least he was being friendly. I guess he knew how to put on a front to normal people.

"So what are we doing for your birthday?" I asked my mom.

She leaned beside me with her elbows on the counter. "We're going to Lagoon for dinner."

"Shane isn't coming home?" I asked. Shane was my older brother. It was weird. We barely ever talked – much like how I was with my mom and dad. Lance was the only one in my family I talked to. My connection with him was deeper. He was the only one I think I really cared about.

"No, he couldn't get off work." She seemed a little disappointed by this, but in my opinion she shouldn't be. Shane and I got along for the most part, but he took life way too seriously. Everything was work, work, work all the time.

"He said he would be here for Easter though. Are you all going to come home for Spring Break?"

I thought back to what Seth said...that I better enjoy being here while I was because he didn't know if it would be safe for me to come back.

"Maybe, I don't see why not." I threw a little white lie out there. You never know, I might be able to come back.

"Good. Well, we're going to leave around seven for dinner."

I looked back at the clock on the microwave – it was four. Reaching down beside my chair, I grabbed my duffle bag to head up to my old room. My feet pounded against the oak stairs, something I didn't miss at all. I remember trying to sneak home after curfew when I was a teenager and the squeakiness of the stairs always gave me away. Shane, Lance, and mines' senior pictures were lining the wall up the stairs. I glanced at them all thinking how dorky we looked. It was weird how much people changed after only a few years.

I walked into my old room. It had red walls and black and white orchid blossoms painted all over. My mom loved to decorate. The whole house was filled with pictures and different kinds of art.

I threw my duffle bag in the corner and pulled out my cell phone before falling on the bed. My finger slid down to Seth's number and I put it to my ear.

"Hey," he answered.

"Hey there."

I heard him let out a little laugh. "You still alive?"

"For now," I breathed out heavily.

"Everything going okay? Nothing strange happen?"

"I got car sick on the way up here. And then when we stopped at the store I thought people were staring at me."

"What do you mean?"

"I thought these two men were watching me. Eric went back in to check them out but they were gone. I guess it was nothing."

"Well, call me if anything else happens."

"I will." I pulled the phone away and was getting ready to hang up when I heard Seth say my name.

"Yeah?" I brought the phone back to my ear

"I miss you."

A wide grin spread across my face. "I miss you too."

With that, I hung up and tossed the phone beside me on the bed. The grin was still on my face when I heard a knock on my door. I sat up to see Eric leaning against the door jam, watching me.

"Was that Seth?"

"Yeah."

"Did he say anything?"

"I told him about the guys I saw at the store. He said to call him if anything happens."

His eyes rolled. "Yeah, because there's a lot he can do six hours away."

"Go mingle with my family or something." I waved my hand like he was an annoying fly buzzing around my head.

"They're not my family, they're yours. You should be down there with them."

I got up and walked by him. "Who are you? Dr. Drew?"

I didn't want to admit to him that he was right. It was my mom's birthday and who knows when the next time I was going to see her. Then something occurred to me and I stopped dead at the top of the stairs. Eric ran into the back of me.

"What are you doing?"

My hand shot up over my mouth. "I forgot to get my mom a birthday present!"

He looked horrified and I'm pretty sure he even cringed. "You're not telling me we have to go shopping, are you?"

"You don't have to go with me."

"You know I can't let you go by yourself."

"Fine, but we have to hurry up." I ran back to my room to get my purse. When I returned, I grabbed Eric's arm and I flew down the stairs. Lance's keys were on the table next to the front door. I snatched them up before yelling out everyone that we would be right back.

My house wasn't too far from the mall. It would only take around fifteen minutes to get there. I couldn't believe I forgot to get my mom a present. Lance had reminded me of everything but that. First, I forgot her birthday (twice), and now I forgot to get her a present. Some daughter I was.

Eric kept gazing out the window like he was taking in all that was around him. I knew that's not what he was really doing because he looked too interested.

"Does it bother you, what we are?"

I looked over at him oddly. "No, I'm fine with it."

Everything was silent for about a minute before he spoke again. "He really likes you."

I figured he was talking about Seth. "Well, I really like him too."

"Yeah, I figured that. You wouldn't be going through all this if you didn't."

I inwardly sighed to myself. "Well it's not your all's fault this is happening. You said it yourself, if I met you guys or not, I would be dragged into this."

"Yeah, but it's not just that. You knowing about us is dangerous. They can use you against us."

"I know," I replied solemnly. Wait? Us?

He let out a long, loud sigh and went back to the window. The rest of the ride was silent. When we got to the mall Eric followed me around wherever I went. Like me, my mom loved art and photography. She was always taking pictures and drawing things. There was a photograph and art shop somewhere in this place; if I could only remember where it was. We wondered around for what seemed like forever till I finally found the store.

Eric leaned in close to me as we walked in. "For someone who lived here for eighteen years of her life, you seem a little lost."

"Shut up," I snapped.

I started browsing around the store. Eventually, I found a black and white picture of a peacock in a field. It was so beautiful. I liked it so much I got two, one for my mom and one for myself. When we left there I made a stop at the Hallmark store to get a gift bag and a card. After I checked out I went to find Eric. He had wondered off by himself somewhere between the photography and hallmark store. I eventually found him by the fountain chatting up some girl.

Typical.

I stepped up beside him and threw him a smirk. "I'd hate to bust up your game but we need to get going, honey."

He looked like he wanted to strangle me. I was actually pretty amused.

"Cam?"

I turned to look at the girl he was talking to. After taking a good look at her I realized who it was.

"Amy? Hey, how are you?"

Amy was my best friend in high school. She had the same personality I did except she was a tad bit nicer. Her hair was dirty blonde and perfectly straight. I always thought she was really pretty with her light brown eyes and the little beauty mark she had on her chin. I don't think I had talked to her in two years.

"I'm good. Is this your boyfriend?" She looked embarrassed as she glanced between me and Eric.

"Him? No, definitely not. He's just a friend of mine from school. Well, he's more of Lance's friend than mine. We're here till tomorrow for my mom's birthday."

"Oh, what are you guys doing?"

"We're going to Lagoon for dinner."

Her face lit up. "I'm the bartender there. I'm actually working tonight."

"That's great. Well, we'll see you there."

"Yeah, come see me. I'll give you all a free drink...or ten."

I gave her a smile and a small wave before heading out of the mall with Eric. When we got to the car he hopped in with a grin on his face. "She's a cute one. What was her name? Amanda?"

My jaw clenched. "Her name is Amy. And she's a nice girl so don't go getting any crazy ideas."

Eric started laughing but abruptly stopped and looked out the windshield. Even from this angle I could see his green eyes start to slowly grow brighter and brighter.

"What is it?"

"Get out of here. Now."

I threw the truck in drive and pulled out quickly. My knuckles were starting to whiten on the steering wheel from clenching it so tight. If he had a look like that on his face then something had to be wrong. I didn't know what it could have been but my nerves couldn't take much more.

After five minutes of silence he pointed to a random road. "Turn up here."

I did what he said and turned left at the next intersection. He had never been here before so I didn't understand what he was doing, or if he even knew where we were going.

Eric suddenly spun around in his seat and looked out the back window. His arm came back up and he pointed absently out the windshield. "Park right here."

After parking the truck I turned to see what he was looking at. There were a bunch of cars passing by on the street we just came from but that was all I saw. Then I saw a red Suburban with blacked out windows had its blinker on and started to turn down our street, but then swerved back around at the last minute and kept back to the road it was originally on.

Eric smacked my thigh, "Do and U-turn and go back to your parent's house."

I pulled the car back around like he said and went back the other way. "What's going on?"

He ignored me and put his phone to his ear. I hated being ignored. If anything I was going to eavesdrop on his conversation because I was pretty sure he was calling Seth.

"I think they're here," he said in the phone.

There was a couple seconds pause before he replied. "Yeah, we went to the mall and when we were leaving I saw their car. I got her to pull into an alley and drove by...Yeah I know...Alright...Call me when you're close."

I waited a minute for him to tell me what was going on but he didn't.

"So..." I was trying to start the conversation.

"So what?"

I nearly shouted at him. "Are you kidding me? What the hell is going on?"

"It's obvious isn't it? They know you're here. Seth is on his way. He's going to take you back and I'm going to drive back with your brother tomorrow."

"Is it the men I saw at the store?"

"I don't know. I didn't get to see them. You saw just as much as I did."

This was so confusing. All this was enough to make my head split. I decided to quit asking questions hoping it would make my life a little easier. I pulled into my parent's drive way and got out of the car.

A small jolt of electricity went up my arm as Eric grabbed it and pulled me back to him. "Listen, just act normal. They won't come after you in a public place. I think their just watching you right now. Seth will meet us at dinner and we'll all stay here tonight. Tomorrow Lance and I will leave and they'll think your still with us. Once we get far enough away you two will come. We just can't take the chance that they might try and take you."

"Okay, Eric. I'll do whatever." I yanked my arm from his grip and headed into the house.
Chapter 9

One of the perks about being the only daughter was that I had my own bathroom in my bedroom. I could overhear Lance and Eric bickering in the hall over who got to take a shower first. It was kind of amusing and pulled me out of my bad mood a little. The only good thing about the situation was that Seth was coming.

I took my time in getting ready. Even though Eric said they wouldn't attack in public I was still scared for my family. Seth was right; this would probably be my last visit here for a while.

I put on a skin tight, multi colored, striped dress that ended right above my knee and had quarter length sleeves. I kept in my diamond hoops and didn't feel like really doing my hair so I swept it up and a stylish but messy pony tail. After doing my little bit of makeup I slipped on my black heels and headed down stairs. My dad, Lance, and Eric were already down there waiting. Apparently the birthday girl was taking her merry old time too.  
"You look very nice, Cam," my dad said as I made my way down.

"Thanks," I forced a smile.

As we all stood down there waiting I directed my attention to Lance. "I saw Amy at the mall. She's the bartender at Lagoon."

His arm went around my shoulders as he leaned on me. "Oh, yeah, I remember her. Is she still hot?"

"Yeah," Eric answered before I could say anything. I rolled my eyes as he winked at me. "Did I tell you Seth was coming?" He brought his attention to Lance.

"No, what changed?"

"He had to go to Portland for work so he figured he would just come up here when he got done. He said he would meet us at dinner."

"Who's Seth again?" my dad piped up.

"Cam's boyfriend," Lance answered. I loved how people were answering all of my questions for me. It was like I was a mute and couldn't talk for myself.

My dad's eyebrows drew together. "Oh," he looked back and forth between me and Eric before shrugging.

My mom walked down the stairs and thankfully interrupted the conversation. She was very pretty – the female version of Lance. My dad went right to her and gave her a kiss. Twenty-four years of marriage and they were still as in love as ever. It was rare to see a marriage last like theirs did. You would think this would be a positive enforcement on my whole 'never fall in love' scenario. But it wasn't. I don't think I would ever really know what love was.

We all headed outside. My dad had a similar Yukon to Lance's so we were all able to fit comfortably. Unfortunately, I was stuck between my brother and Eric in the back.

Twenty minutes later we were at the restaurant. They must have built this since I moved away because I had never seen it before. The inside was huge. In the center of the room there was a waterfall with a tiny lagoon underneath. I never understood what the big deal was with making things so fancy.

It was surprisingly very loud in here. I could barely even think. Throughout dinner I noticed Eric looking around randomly eying certain people. He must be watching to see if there was anyone shady. I tried not to notice and kept my attention on my mom. Sometimes I could feel his eyes on me and that was another reason I kept my focus on her.

The food wasn't too bad but I was pretty sure my nerves were getting the best of me because I had six glasses of wine with dinner. After my mom opened up her presents I got up and started towards the bar. Eric caught up beside me and slipped his arm through mine.

"Hold up. Where you goin?"

"To the bar." I pointed across the room. My mood was slightly picking up, which I was glad of. I had a feeling it had something to do with the wine.

I slid on a bar stool next to Eric and waited for Amy to come up. After a few minutes she sauntered over and gave me a hug over the bar.

"Hey guys, what can I get you?"

"Captain and coke for me and he'll have a beer. Whatever kind you got, he doesn't care."

"Someone seems to be in a good mood tonight," Eric mumbled.

"Don't get used to it. I figured we could get along for ten minutes."

He grabbed his beer from Amy and took a swig. "Ten minutes is better than nothing."

Amy leaned over on the counter and I brought my attention to her. "So, Amy, what have you been up to?"

"Nothing really. I'm still going to school for nursing. What about you, how's your photography going?"

"Alright. A little hectic, but nothing I can't handle."

"Well, you always were an overachiever. Are you seeing anyone?"

"Yeah, his name is Seth. He's roommates with this one." I patted Eric lightly on the back.

Her gaze fell on Eric and I could tell she liked what she saw. "So why didn't he come home with you?"

Eric gave her one of his dazzling smiles. "He had to work, but he'll be here soon."

Lance came up and stood between me and Eric. I leaned over so he could reach across the bar and give her a hug. We all talked for about a half hour about random things. My brother was drinking like a fish as I started to slow down. I didn't want to get too intoxicated. Eric's eyes started to get a little glassy but something told me it took a lot to get him drunk. After a while Amy had to walk away to help more customers and Lance went over to a group of his friends. Even though she was working, Amy kept cutting her eyes our way, taking small glances as Eric.

"I think she likes you," I whispered to Eric.

"What's not to like?" He gestured to his whole body. He was in a white and blue striped button up with the sleeves rolled up his forearm and his short black hair lay perfect. It has a little bit of a wet look to it.

"Someone's full of themselves." I eyed him with a grin. If I looked like him I might be a bit full of myself too.

"I think the ten minute time limit on you being nice to me was up about an hour ago. Why are you still being nice? Do you have a fever?"  
"Oh shut it." I downed the rest of my drink in one gulp.

He let out a laugh. "There's my girl."

I ignored his comment and scooted closer. "So, tell me why you don't have a girlfriend. I don't think I've seen you with anyone yet. I figured there would be girls coming out of the wood work."

He shook his head. "I don't date. I have girls that I see occasionally but I never date seriously."

Man whore, just as I expected. Use them and lose them.

"And why don't you date?"

"Too complicated. I've thought about it but there's just too much to my...lifestyle...to involve anyone else. I've never cared about anyone enough to even try. I don't want to drag anyone through what I have to go through. It might end badly. I don't want to hurt anyone." He added the last part while looking sullenly down into his beer.

"Oh."

I didn't know if he was telling the truth, but if he was, then I felt a little bad for him.

"Besides, we can't all be like Seth and find a girl who understands and takes it all in like you do."

I nudged him with my arm. "You never know. You might find a girl one day who will understand. You just haven't met her yet."

"Maybe, I dunno. I'm not too worried about it." He shrugged and looked away from me.

I rolled my eyes behind his back. "Oh please, we may not be friends but I know you don't want to spend the rest of your life alone. No one deserves to be alone."

He didn't respond. I decided to just let it go. The alcohol was getting to me and making me say things I wouldn't normally say to him. I could feel my good mood slowly starting to disappear. But there was one thing I wanted to say to him before my good mood left and went back to despising him.

"Thank you," I blurted out.

He finally turned to me with a confused expression on his face. "For?"

"Taking care of Chris. I didn't get to thank you for it. So...thank you."

For a second he looked surprised. His eyes started to light up. "You're welcome. And I guess...thank you for picking me up off the side of the road and helping me."

"You're welcome."

I kept my eyes on him for a second. Something came creeping back to me – something I didn't like. I think it was time to go back to being mean to him. Nice with him wasn't easy. "Well, times up."

He let out a throaty laugh and shook his head. His eyes diverted from mine and went behind me.

He nodded over my shoulder. "There's your boy."

I whipped around in my seat and saw Seth walking up to the bar. Just seeing him helped clear my head. A smile came up on my face and his mirrored the same as I pushed myself off the bar stool and rushed to him. I wasn't the type of girl to run and jump on a guy, but that's exactly what I did. Seth didn't seem to have a problem with it because he caught me and gave me and long hard kiss that would have made me fall to the ground if he wasn't holding on to me.

"You're beautiful," he muttered as he pulled away.

"And you're sexy."

He laughed and kissed me on the forehead. "How much have you been drinking?"

"Eh, just a little. My friend from high school is the bartender."

"Ah, that explains it. Where did Eric go?" He looked behind me and I turned to the bar where I left Eric. He wasn't there anymore.

I yelled out across the bar, "Amy, where did Eric go?"

"I think he walked back to where your parent's are." She pointed to the table we had been at earlier. Her eyes fell on Seth and she gave me a smirk. "Is this the boyfriend?"

"Yeah, Seth this is Amy."

Seth nodded and she gave a little wave. As Amy went back to the bar I grabbed Seth's hand to lead him back to the table. My mom and dad were sitting with a few of their friends when they saw us. My mom stood up quickly to come over. I could tell, like me, that she'd had too much wine. She pulled Seth into a hug and kissed him on the cheek before calling my dad over to introduce them. We went and sat with my brother and Eric, who were with a few of Lance's friends from high school. As soon as I sat down, Amy walked over with two drinks and sat beside me. She set one of the drinks in front of me and started sipping on the other. "I just got off."

I grabbed up my drink. "Good, now we can catch up."

The rest of the night was a blur. I remember Amy getting shots and my brother passing out in a booth. After that it was sort of a blur.

When I woke up the next morning my head felt bigger than a basketball. After brushing the nastiness out of my mouth I headed down stairs and clutched my eyes shut against the sun that shined blindingly through the glass door.

Voices came from the kitchen. I went in to see everybody standing around the island. Well, everybody but Eric.

Seth came up to me holding a cup of coffee. "How you feeling?"

I grabbed the cup from him and downed half of it.

"Could be better."

Lance was sitting at the island with his head on the counter. For a second I thought he was asleep.

I grabbed a piece of bacon and shoved it in my mouth. "Is Eric still sleeping?"

"No, he went home with that friend of yours. Amy, I think her name was."

I choked on the bacon and it scratched my throat. "What?"

"Yeah, I just talked to him though. He said he was on his way back."

I shook my head, fuming. If he was in front of me right now I would kill him. I hope Amy didn't expect any more from him because, knowing him, he would never talk to her again. I can't believe I actually felt bad for him last night. Right then I made a promise to myself to never be nice to him again.

A clicking noise came from behind me and I turned to see Eric slipping through the front door and heading up the stairs. I took off down the hall and pounded up the stairs after him. In no time I pushed open the door to the guest room. He jumped at the sight of me.

"I can't believe you!"

"What?"

I pointed out the window at nothing in particular. "She's my friend and you're just going to sleep with her and never talk to her again."

"I might give her a call sometime." He shrugged innocently. He and I both knew it wasn't going to happen.

I reached forward and smacked him upside the head. His eyes started to get bright as he clenched his jaw. I could tell he was getting ready to say something but I cut him off before he did.

"I'm not even going to waste my breath on you anymore. You're not even worth it. I could care less what you do, just don't mess with my friend."

"Whatever, you can go now." He waved a hand to the door. I left with him slamming the door behind me as I stomped off towards my room.

Seth was sitting on my bed when I walked in. He looked like he wanted to burst out laughing.

"I can't believe that thing is your friend." I threw myself on the bed feel highly agitated.

"He's not that bad of a guy."

Ignoring what he said I got up to start packing my bag. I threw on jeans and a sweat shirt before putting my hair in some messy monstrosity. "I just want to go back to Boston."

"We're not going back to Boston. At least not right away."

"Excuse me?"

"I left my truck at the restaurant last night. Amy dropped Eric off at the truck and he drove it back. The guys who are after you don't know I'm here. Eric and your brother are going to leave and then he'll call us when they get far enough away to make sure they are following him. Then when we're clear you and I will head out."

Life was so complicated now. I shrugged and plopped back on the bed. "Okay."

A few minutes later Lance popped his head in the room looking rather ill. "Are you all ready to head out? I want to get back."

I looked at Seth for an answer. Anything I said would probably be the wrong thing.

"Yeah, we're ready." He grabbed my bag and started towards the door.

I stood up next to him, a little confused. Didn't he just say we weren't leaving at the same time? It was better for me to just go with the flow and not ask questions. I trusted Seth and Eric to know what they were doing. Well, I trusted Seth. Eric, not so much.

We all said goodbye to my mom and dad. I held on to them both longer than I should have and probably freaked them out, but I wanted to get one last good hug just in case I didn't see them for a while. Seth held tight to my hand as he led me to the truck. I noticed his eyes were scanning around the house while he lifted me in. My parent's house was in a big open area so there was thankfully nowhere for anyone to be hiding.

I shut the door and looked to see Eric sitting in the driver seat of my brothers Yukon. I guess Lance didn't feel well enough to drive. The windows were tinted so Eric couldn't see me cut my eyes over at him in disgust.

"Why are we leaving if we're not going back to Boston yet?" I asked when he got in the truck.

"We're going to Portland. We'll stay there for a while till Eric calls."

The Yukon started to pull out of the driveway but we continues to sit still. After waiting for what felt like ten minutes, Seth's phone beeped and he started to pull out of the driveway. We were moving at a snail's pace down the road. There had to be a reason for all this so I just didn't ask. Sometimes I felt like I asked too many questions and other times I didn't like the answers to the questions I did ask.

Eventually we got to the highway and were on the road once again. If I looked out the window I would probably get sick, so I did my best not to look and tried to keep my eyes on different things in the truck. At one point I focused on the speedometer and realized Seth was going the exact speed limit, no more, no less.

Two hours in I had my seat all the way back, staring at the ceiling of the truck as Seth had his hand on my thigh.

"So do they think I'm still with Lance and Eric?" I asked.

"Yeah."

"They must be some daft people. You don't think they'll attack them or anything, do you? I mean, my brother isn't going to get hurt is he?"

"No, Eric wouldn't let anything happen to your brother."

I laughed sarcastically. "I wouldn't be so sure about that."

"You don't know him like I do. He wouldn't let anything happen to him, trust me. You only see the bad in him, which I can't really blame you, but there is a lot of good in him too."

He looked a little perturbed or something. I squeezed his hand to try and let him know I was sorry. "I know he's your friend, and if you trust him then so do I."

He lifted my hand to his mouth and kissed it. "You hungry?"

I shrugged, "I could eat."

We made a very quick stop for something to eat and were back on the road quickly. Seth said we only had an hour left till we were in Portland. I was getting tired and still had a small headache. Within minutes of leaving the restaurant I was asleep and off in my own little world.

Voices were going off in my head and I had no idea where they were coming from. I tried to sort through them and figure out what they meant. My eyes slowly came open and I realized it was a TV. I went to roll over but was pinned down by Seth's solid arm across my back. Even though he was passed out he still had a good hold on me. I eventually got myself free and out of the bed. Looking around, I concluded that we were in a hotel. I must have been dead asleep to not have woken up when he carried me in here. The light through the window told me it must have been some time in the middle of the day.

One thing I did know for sure was it was stifling in here. I pulled at the neck of my sweatshirt trying to breathe. The thermostat was set at seventy-six and I pulled my sweatshirt off after turning it down. Good lord, did he think we were in the pits of hell?

That thought got me wondering. Did he go to hell when he died? And how was he created? I had these thoughts randomly when I first found out what he was but never asked.

Seth let out a groan. I watched him stretch out on the bed as he opened his eyes. "How long have you been awake?"

"Like, five minutes."

I got back in the bed with my back against the head board. Seth did the same as he rubbed his hands down his face.

"It's hot enough in here isn't it?" I let out a cool breath of air but it didn't help me at all.

"It's cold outside. I didn't want you to be cold. If you haven't noticed, I run a little hot. It's hard for me to tell when it's too hot or too cold."

Here was the chance for my questions. "Why is that exactly?"

"I'm a demon, I come from hell. Would you expect me to be cold?" he said this like I should already know the answer.

"So have you ever been to hell?" I bit my lip at the question. I was nervous to hear his answer.

"No, I was born like you were. Both of my parents were demons. I never met my dad though. Same thing with Eric."

"When you die where do you go?"

"Hell."

I swallowed hard. I knew the answer before he said it but it still made me uneasy after actually hearing it out loud. How could someone like him be damned to go to hell? It was impossible to even think about. I quickly pushed it out of my head. If I dwelled on it too much I was going to get upset.

"Don't worry about it. I don't. I'm a demon. For me, Hell is nothing. For a human it would be torture. It's hard to kill something like me so hopefully I'll have nothing to worry about. But my mom is there, so I have something to look forward to if I ever do go."

This confused me and frightened me at the same time.

"Your mom?"

"I told you, demons go to tell when they die. Eric's mom and mine were friends. They raised us but were killed when we were thirteen. That's why we've always been close. We came home one day and they were both dead."

"Someone killed them?"

"I guess. We've never found out who did it. For years we tried to find out but it's been so long that we just stopped looking."

A lump formed in my throat. They've been on their own since they were kids and had no one but each other. I guess I understand now why Seth always took up for Eric and why he trusts him.

"Sorry," I mumbled. I didn't know if it was a bad subject with him so I didn't delve into it any deeper. I turned to him with a smile on my face, trying to lighten the mood. "So if I took your temperature what would it say?"

"Probably around one hundred and one. It varies though."

I tried to hide how shocked I was so I said the first thing that sounded normal. "Interesting..."

"Interesting? It doesn't burn you does it?" He hesitantly placed his hand on my arm and left it there. I felt warmth spread up my arm and throughout my whole body.

"No," I shook my head. "It feels good."

Keeping his hand on my skin, he started going all the way up, making a light trail up my neck. I shivered as he ran his hand against the visible skin on my stomach. It slid back and forth before he got a grip on my hip and turned me to him.

"Do you really want to be with me?"

For some reason I couldn't get out any words. All I could do was nod my head.

Before I knew it, he was kissing me with such intensity it felt like everything was out of my control. His grip on my back tightened as I rolled on top of him, my knees squeezing his hips as I grinding myself onto his lap. His strong fingers went up the sides of my shirt, removing it from my body. Everything felt right in that moment. I wanted to forget all the thoughts that clouded my head and just let myself give in to him.

He sat up with me straddling him. I closed my eyes at as his mouth went down my neck. His tongue went lower, dipping into my bra so it flicked against my nipple. I let out a moan, feeling the pleasure between my legs. My fingers dung into the back of his hair as he tugged on my thighs, pressing my heat against his erection. I went backwards with him on top of me. His shirt came off, followed by my pants. The muscles on his chest rippled with every movement he made, causing each nerve in me to go off repeatedly. I couldn't help myself as I ran my hand up his chest and into his hair. Tilting his head to the side, he kissed the inside of my wrist. My other hand slid lower, gripping his belt as I tugged it off before his pants went flying to the floor. I felt his warm hands rubbing down my stomach till they reached between my legs. My breathing was shallow as I looked into his piercing blue eyes.

"God, you feel amazing." He groaned in my mouth all the while circling my nerves.

Lifting my hips, I started to grind against him. "Get a condom. I want you inside me."

This was what I needed. Him – no one else.

His weight lifted from my body as he reached towards his discarded pants and grabbed a condom. Kneeling before me, he rolled it over his very impressive length. I found myself panting as I waited.

He returned, lowering himself onto me. I felt the coolness of his breath rush over my skin as he licked his way over my flesh, tonguing my hardened nipple before reached my neck. Though we hadn't really even done anything yet, our bodies were slick with sweat. His scorching lips met mine, intensifying the heat that was pulsing off both our bodies. He started to enter me slowly before thrusting hard inside of me. I moaned into his mouth, wrapping my legs around his waist. He felt incredible as he pushed in and out of me with renowned force. Yes...this was exactly what I needed.
Chapter 10

Everyone goes through life thinking it's is the way it should be. Like their life is normal or some bullshit like that. Then one day you meet someone and they tell you the whole world is a lie. That's the way I sort of felt when I found out what Seth and Eric were. But even when the truth is staring you right in the face, it's still a little hard to believe. You know everything is different and you see things differently, but you still have to go through life and act like everything is normal.

Everything was totally messed up but I still kept going. Seth treated me good, and because of him, I was able to push away most of the negative and try my best to focus on the positive. But there was more negative going on in me than anyone knew about. To some people it might not be negative, but to me it was. It was something no one would understand and I promised myself I would never let anyone know. I would die before I ever let them know the truth.

I was resting my head on Seth's shoulder when I opened my eyes to find him watching me. I smiled sheepishly as I turned away from him. I didn't like to be watched, it made me feel vulnerable. And right now I was definitely that.

"What was that for?" He turned me back to him grudgingly.

"I feel like your judging me or something."

He let out a laugh. "I like to look at you. You have no idea what you do to me."

I lay my head back on him. "And what's that?"

"Just looking at you gives me a rush. I can't think about anything else. You're amazing to me, and I'm to the point where I don't want to be without you. It's hard to explain but you already mean everything to me."

I was lying down but it was like all the blood rushed from my head. My heart was pounding insanely in my chest. No one had ever said anything like that to me before. Sure, Chris had said some pretty off the wall stuff over the past year, but that was just the crazy rambling of a psycho.

"So this is serious to you?"

"Very serious."

I craned my head back to look at him. There was so much intensity in his eyes that I couldn't take it. I really did care about him, there was no denying that. Our relationship had spiraled into something I wasn't expecting. But as much as I liked what it had become I also wanted to shy away from it. There was so much he didn't know, so much I would never be able to tell him. But I did care about him; that was all that mattered and that was all I would think about. I was never one to throw those types of feelings out there so the only way I could respond was by my actions.

"Kiss me," I whispered.

Without hesitating, his mouth came down on mine. I kissed him with as much passion as I could. When I pulled away we were both breathing heavy.

He let out another deep breath and grinned. "You're trying to kill me, aren't you?"

I shook my head. "I would never do that."

He kissed me once more before pulling away with a worried expression on his face.

"What?"

"You don't regret what happened, do you?" There was a slight wince on his face like he was scared to hear my answer.

"No," rushed out. "Why would you think I regretted it?"

"We haven't been together that long. I didn't know if maybe you thought it was too soon."

I knitted my eyebrows together. "If I thought that then don't you think I wouldn't have done it? Besides, you're a demon. If that hasn't scared me away then I don't think having sex is."

Relief flashed over his face as his eyes turned a little bluer. "I don't regret it either."

I laughed. "Well I would hope not."

His arm slid under my back as he pulled me closer. He kissed me softly a few times before moving down to my neck, nuzzling his face into it. "I would love to do this for the rest of the day but we've got to get going."

I groaned as he pulled away and gave me one more quick kiss before getting out of the bed. I turned over and grabbed my duffle bag from the floor to find something to wear. My phone was blinking that I had a text message. When I looked it was from a number I didn't recognize. The question of who sent it was answered when I read it. It was from Amy and she wanted me to call her. I didn't think she had my number but maybe I gave it to her last night and just didn't remember. I hit send and waited for her to answer.

"Hey!" she yelled into the phone.

"Hey..." I answered a little less enthusiastically.

"What are you doing?"

I looked back at Seth. He had his jeans back on but was still shirtless. I bit my lip and tried to go back to the conversation with Amy. "Um...nothing. Just stopped for a bit on the way home."

"Oh, well, I was thinking, I have a few days off in a couple weeks. Maybe I could come down and see you. Since you started school we've kind of drifted apart and I would like to keep in touch more."

"That would be great. Yeah, just let me know when you can come." I slid a foot into my jeans and held the phone between my ear and my shoulder.

"Okay. Listen, did you all get into some trouble or something on your way here?"

I thought that was a weird question. "No."

"Well, I just came into work and there was this man outside waiting for me. He was asking me questions about you and Eric."

I fell to the floor as I tried to put my other leg in my pants. The phone dropped to the carpet and I fumbled around to get it.

"What are you talking about?" I asked frantically, putting the phone back to my face.

"I dunno. It was some young guy with blonde hair and he was asking random stuff about you two. I thought it was kind of strange. I didn't know if maybe he was a cop or something. Hey, has Eric said anything about me?"

My mind was out of the conversation now. I knelt up beside the bed and saw Seth looking at me like I was nuts. I kept my eyes on him and ignored the last question she asked. "Did you say anything? Anything about Seth?"

Seth's eyes got brighter as he started to catch on that something was wrong.

"I told him you were all leaving to go back today. You, Lance, Seth, and Eric."

I let out a groan and dropped my head into the bed. "Amy, I have to go. I'll call you later."

I didn't give her a chance to say anything before I ended the call.

Seth started on me the second I was off the phone. "What happened?"

I looked up from the bed. "She said she went into work today and a guy with blond hair was asking about me and Eric. She told him you were there too."

He threw his shirt on the bed, aggravated. "Damn it."

"One of the men I saw at the store had blonde hair. Do you think it could have been him?"

"I don't know. Eric said there were the two possible ones at the store and then whoever was in the truck that followed you all." His phone was out in a flash as he put it to his ear.

I got up and pulled my pants on the rest of the way. Most of my stuff was strewn all over the floor so I picked it up and shoved it messily in my bag.

"He's not answering." Seth threw his own bag on the bed. "We need to leave."

"What do you mean he's not answering?" I didn't know if it was like Eric to not answer a phone call but by the look on Seth's face I guess it wasn't. I pulled out my phone and called Lance but he didn't answer either.

"What time is it? Maybe they're back in Boston already."

He threw his shirt over his head and grabbed both of our duffle bags. "No, Eric would have called me."

This was unbelievable. If anything happened to my brother I was going to find out how to kill a demon and then do it to Eric. I couldn't put the blame on Eric though, this wasn't his fault; it was partially mine. I got in the truck by myself and thought of all the possible explanations as to why they weren't answering. Everything that went through my mind ended badly and was causing my blood pressure to go up.

Seth was flying down the highway. Every five minutes he would call Eric's phone and when no one answered he would cuss or slam his fist on something. His attitude was making mine ten times worse. It made me wonder if Seth had any idea as to what happened.

We didn't talk for at least an hour and it was putting me on edge. I was afraid that if I tried to say anything it would come out wrong and I would end up blowing up at him. I didn't want to get into a fight so I just kept my mouth shut.

I tried calling my brother a few more times but he didn't answer. I'd had enough. Screw arguing with him. My brother was way more important than he was.

"Why are you being so quiet? Is there something you're not telling me?"

He looked at me like I was crazy. "I tell you everything, why would I keep something like this from you?"

I let out a short laugh. "I highly doubt you tell me everything."

"Anytime you ask me something, I tell you. I don't ever plan on lying to you. There's no point in it."

"What do you mean?"

"What would I gain in lying to you? I'm lucky that you want to be with me, despite what's going on. If I lie to you about anything it would just add to the list of reasons why you shouldn't be with me."

I looked at him confused and a little taken back. "Are you saying that deep down you don't think we should be together?"

"I didn't say that." His teeth were clenched and he looked how I felt right now. Aggravated. "This is why I wasn't talking to you. We're both on edge and we'll say something we don't mean. I don't want to argue with you."

"Okay, so you did say that you don't think we should be together you just didn't mean it because you're on edge?"

"Cam, – "

His voice was stressful and I really wanted to hear what he said but his phone let out a loud ring causing him to almost jump to the center console to grab a hold of it. I sat back in the seat, listening to what he said.

He started talking the second the phone hit his ear. "Where are you at?"

A minute or two went by where he said nothing. It was irritating because I wanted to know what was going on.

Another minute had gone until he finally spoke. "Alright well I'll see you when I get back."

He dropped the phone in the cup holder and looked over at me. "They're fine."

I knew that wasn't all so I waited as patiently as I could till he told me the rest.

His eyes stayed glued to the road when he finally spoke. "They're at the hospital."

"The hospital?" I shrieked out.

"You're brother had to get stitches. He was stabbed in the hand."

I let out a breath of air and leaned my head on the head rest.

"They jumped them at a rest stop. There were four of them. I think they realized you weren't with Eric and didn't care anymore."

"Well that's just great."

I pulled out my phone and dialed Lance's number.

"Hey!" His voice seemed fine and he actually sounded a little cheery. Maybe it was the painkillers.

"What happened? Are you okay?"

"Yeah, it was just a little scratch. It was crazy. These guys came out of nowhere. I guess they were trying to steal the truck."

"Well I'm glad you're okay. What about Eric?"

"He's good, not a mark on him."

"That's good," I groaned out. I was kind of hoping he got a broken bone or something. Then again, he might have, but already healed.

"You should have seen him. He took on like three of them. He was like Rambo out there. I only had one and got stabbed in the hand."

"Well I'm glad you're okay. Are you guys close to home yet?"

"Yeah, we'll be there in about a half hour."

"Alright, well I'll see you tomorrow. Try not to get into any more trouble."

He agreed with a laugh and hung up the phone. My mood was slightly lifted but I was still a little irritated. Lance shouldn't have been put in that situation. What if they had gotten him like those men did Eric that one night? Another thing that was getting to me was what Seth said earlier. If he was having second thoughts about what we were doing then I wanted him to tell me up front. It was pointless to keep going if he was just going to change his mind in a few months. I contemplated everything the whole ride back to Boston.

We pulled up to the dorm and Seth's hand enclosed on my wrist to stop me from getting out. "I want you to stay with me tonight."

"I have school tomorrow," I pointed out.

"You can ride with Eric in the morning."

That's exactly what I wanted to do, ride to school with him.

"Fine, I need to get my books and stuff." I opened the door and jumped out. Seth followed me to the dorm but kept a few steps behind me. Well this was nice, one minute we were sleeping together and the next we could barely even talk.

I got to the room and noticed Ashley wasn't there. Her bed was made and her side was surprisingly very neat. That was a shocker. She never cleaned.

I grabbed up my bag with all my books and a few clothes. Seth asked to carry my bag but I shoved him off and headed out. I heard him let out a sigh behind me but just ignored him and kept going.

I pulled myself in the truck and we headed back to his house. Maybe I was being a little irrational and over dramatic with Seth but I had a good reason to be mad.

When we got back I headed into the house ahead of Seth. Eric jumped at the sound of the door closing. Without a word I went back to the bedroom and shut the door. I could hear Seth and Eric talking out in the living room but could care less what they were saying.

I pulled out a pair of sweat pants and a t-shirt before yanking my shirt off my head. I had just unbuttoned my pants when the door swung open and Seth walked in, slamming it behind him.

I was standing there in my bra and would have tried to cover myself up but was too mad to even care. Plus, he had seen me in less so there was no point.

"What is your problem?" He crossed his arms in front of him with a stony face.

I threw my hands in the air. "Oh, now you care? It took you three hours to ask."

"Your brother is fine. There's no reason for you to be pissed off."

I pointed my finger at him. "This isn't about my brother. This is about you and what you said earlier."

"We're still on that?" He rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably.

"Yes!" I shrilled out.

His hand dropped as he closed some of the space between us. "Alright, I'm not going to lie, at one point there was a small part of me that thought this wasn't a good idea." He pointed between the both of us. "But there is an even bigger part of me, way bigger, that doesn't care about any of that. I want this to work. I want you and nothing else. Even when you're being a little crazy, like right now for example."

"I'm not being crazy. The way you said it just rubbed me the wrong way."

He hesitantly took another step towards me. It was almost like he was scared I was going to hit him or something.

"I told you earlier how I felt about you. Why would I say that and then go back on it?"

"Because you're a guy and you live with the biggest man whore of all time. He's bound to rub off on you."

A smile almost touched his mouth. "You really think I'm like him?"

I was losing this argument. I felt stupid for even starting it. He was right. I was being a little crazy. Maybe I was just scared of losing him. I couldn't lose him. I needed him to keep myself together. Being with Seth made everything fade away.

"Well, no. I just...I don't know. I'm sorry. Forget I ever said anything."

I was hoping that he would drop it and let it go but I wasn't that lucky.

"No, tell me the real reason you made a big deal out of this." His eyes bore into mine and I tried to look away but it was hard to not look.

"It's nothing. I was just overreacting." I went to turn away but his arm quickly went around my waist and pulled me up against him. It all happened so fast it almost felt like the wind was knocked out of me.

The grin he had been holding back earlier finally surfaced. "You have a hard time with expressing your feelings don't you?"

I swallowed and looked down at his chest. "I'm afraid I'm going to lose you. I don't want to lose you."

He pressed his cheek next to mine. I felt the warmth spread throughout my entire body. Then he started to whisper in my ear causing me to go insane. "You'll never lose me."

I felt his mouth on my neck, kissing all the way down to my collarbone. My skin tingled and I thought I was going to lose it.

"Do you promise?" I breathed out.

He started pushing me backwards towards the bed, all the while looking into my eyes. "I promise."
Chapter 11

I got up early the next morning and took a shower. I had no soap or anything so I would have to smell like Dial for Men the whole day. It actually didn't smell that bad. I got dressed and looked over at the bed where Seth was still passed out. I didn't want to wake him so I walked out and shut the door quietly. When I got into the living room I saw Eric lying back in the recliner fully dressed and asleep.

I picked up the remote and threw it into his lap. The second it hit him, he jumped up looking like a crazy person.

"Are we leaving?"

"You know my first class isn't until eleven. I'm doing you a favor by getting up this early to take your ass to school."

"I didn't ask you for any favors. Go back to sleep for all I care. I can drive myself." I grabbed his keys from the table and started for the door.

This seemed to wake him up because he rushed over to me, snatching the keys out of my hand. His body pressed against mine as he towered over me. My heart pounded in my chest as I felt the heat from his body consume me.

"You know," his warm breath touched my face as he leaned closer. "One of these days you might regret saying half the stuff you say to me."

I forced a glare at him. "Oh please, I would love to see you try and do something to me."

"You should be nicer to me."

I pushed my hands against his chest till he was a few feet away. "Or what, you'll take me to Declan yourself?"

His face suddenly fell. I was about to say something when I heard Seth coming down the hall.

"What are you all fighting over? Who's going to drive? Or something else stupid?"

Eric pushed past me and headed towards the car as he yelled over his shoulder. "Nope. She's just being annoying as usual."

I gave Seth a small smile. "He's cranky."

"I wonder why," he said sarcastically. "As entertaining as it is to see you two go at it, do you think maybe you all could get along just a little."

"Nope."

I gave him a kiss on the cheek before walking out to the car. The driver window was fully restored. I guess Eric got it fixed while we went to Maine.

I made Eric take me to get a coffee before we went to school. It didn't seem to bother him because I think he needed it just as much as I did. After he had his coffee he seemed to lighten up a little bit. The little argument Eric and I had yesterday was already forgotten. I was still a tad bit pissed off but decided let it go. We were so hateful to each other that something like that was nothing but a regular day to day thing for us.

"What were you so pissed off about last night?" he asked randomly.

I glanced his way casually. "Nothing that concerns you. It was just a thing between me and Seth."

"I see you all made up. Or at least I heard you all make up." There was a hint of amusement on his face but his eyes didn't look amused at all.

I looked over at him and felt a little embarrassed. "You're such a jack ass."

"It's why you love me."

My stomach clenched so tight I thought I would vomit. "If you call this love than you are seriously warped."

He turned up the music and threw me a smile. I wanted to smack it off his pretty little face but we had just pulled into the school parking lot so I quickly hopped out instead. I heard him yell something to me as I closed the door but couldn't make it out over the blaring music.

I went to all my morning classes. During break I decided to head up to my dorm room. After all the fuss I got from Seth and Eric about being alone it didn't seem to bother them that I walk the campus during the day. I guess there were so many people around me in school that they thought I would be safe.

Ashley was unlocking the door to go in the same time I got there. I was afraid she was going to give me crap about being gone this whole weekend but when I came up beside her she gave me a bright smile and didn't say anything about me not being home last night.

I started to get a little suspicious of her when I noticed the extra bag she had with her. As I took a closer look I saw she had clothes in it. Looks like I wasn't the only one who was gone last night.

"So where have you been?" I asked slyly.

She gently tucked her hair behind her ear as her face got a little red. "Sorry I didn't come home last night. I stayed with a friend."

I cocked an eyebrow. "A friend? Like a girl friend or a guy friend?"

"Guy."

"Anyone I know?"

"No, I met him Saturday night at the bar. We hung out all day yesterday and he asked me if I would stay with him...so I did."

I could tell she was a little embarrassed that she had stayed with him after just meeting him, but it didn't matter to me. I wasn't going to judge. Plus, I wasn't really one to talk. Seth and I hadn't been together that long and things were already moving fast.

"Am I going to get to meet this mystery guy?"

"Maybe."

The conversation slowly dissipated. I got up to leave for my next class as I told her I didn't know what time I would be home and to not wait up for me. I wasn't sure if I was staying at Seth's again tonight or not. Even though I liked staying with him, I still missed my dorm room.

When I got out of my last class for the day Eric was leaning against the wall outside the classroom waiting for me. He started walking beside me and nudged me with his elbow. "How was your day, baby?"

"Bite me," I snapped.

He laughed rather hard. As his laughter died off, he leaned in close to my ear. "You really don't want me to do that, do you? Writhing in pain doesn't seem like it would suit you well."

A shiver raked through my body at feeling his lips that close to my ear. I pushed him away quickly. "You'd probably enjoy seeing that."

He started laughing again as we made it into the parking lot. The second we hit the asphalt his laughter ended. The expression on his face turned dark. I was about to ask what was wrong when he grabbed my hand to hold me back.

"What?"

I followed his gaze and saw a man leaning up against the hood of Eric's car. My stomach turned. I could hear my heart pounding in my ears. I had never seen this man before but after taking one look at him I knew he was bad news. Eric kept walking while still holding tight to my hand. Any other time I would have smacked him for it, but right now I welcomed him being this close.

The closer we got to the guy I was able to take a good look at him. He had light brown, almost gold, eyes. They were actually very mesmerizing. His brown hair was very messy and I could see tattoos of all kinds wrapped around his neck. They were endless as they kept going down under his shirt. There were words I couldn't read and dice, along with numbers and what looked like a small pin up of a naked lady. His arms and hands had even more tattoos. The only thing that wasn't covered was his face. I'd hate to say it but he was actually very attractive. The fact that I knew he was something otherworldly made me look past that.

Eric slightly shoved me behind him but never let go of my hand. The tattoo guy tilted his head slightly, giving Eric an amused grin that made his eyes glisten. "So is she yours or his?"

"What kind of question is that?" Eric asked, obviously irritated.

The grin grew wider on his face. "Oh, I get it."

I didn't. I was confused but tried to focus on the rest of the conversation.

"Why are you here?" Eric sounded agitated.

"You're boy made a mistake the other night. Tell him I want him back or she's next." He threw a nod my way.

Eric let go of my hand and got closer to him. "What are you talking about?"

The guy leaned off the hood and went up to Eric. "You all are close, right? Why don't you ask him? Maybe you're not the only one who's keeping secrets."

With those words, he walked away and headed towards the way me and Eric had come from. As he walked by me I glanced over and saw the wink he gave me. I should have been scared or maybe even repulsed, but I just stood there and watched him walk away like nothing fazed me.

"Get in the car."

I complied and slid in the passenger seat as he squealed tires out of the parking lot. I had never seen Eric deep in thought before. Hell, I didn't think he had a big enough brain to string two thoughts together. But right now I could see his mind was reeling.

I broke the silence. "So I take it that wasn't a good visit?"

"You're a smart one," he mumbled.  
I disregarded his snarky remark. "What was that about?"

"If I knew I probably wouldn't tell you."

"Well can you at least tell me who he was, seeing as he made it pretty clear that he was going to come after me?"

There were so many threats against me these days I wasn't fazed by another one added to the list. If I was any kind of normal I would have been but I felt like I was slowly losing my sanity and for some reason it didn't bother me one bit.

"His name is Graham. He's an apprentice."

"An apprentice?"

"Yeah, he works for an Alchemist who works for Declan."

An Alchemist's apprentice. Well, now I've heard it all.

"And what does an Alchemist do exactly?"

"They deal with potions. It's almost like magic. Dangerous stuff. They can pretty much do anything with it."

I cringed inside. "So is he a friend of yours?"

He let out a cold laugh. "As a matter of fact, he is."

It didn't surprise me one bit. I lifted my bag from the floor as he pulled into the driveway next to Seth's truck. In the blink of an eye, Eric was out of the car and bounding into the house. I jumped out and rushed in after him. Something was about to happen, something not good.

I ran into the back of Eric as he stopped dead just inside the door. He chunked his keys on the coffee table and stared Seth down with his bright green eyes.

I looked back and forth between them waiting for whatever was going to happen. Seth didn't seem bothered by the look Eric was giving him.

Eric started on him, "I ran into Graham."

"And?"

"What. Did. You. Do?"

"What I was told to do."

Eric's voice rose as he stepped forward. "You took him didn't you? I told you to give that job to someone else."

"There was no one else that could do it. You think just anybody could go in there and take him?"

Eric shook his head. "That's exactly why I didn't want you to do it. We agreed we weren't going to get dragged in any further. It's only making everything worse."

I had no idea what they were talking about. My head still hurt from trying to comprehend the conversation between Eric and Graham and now it was getting worse from this one. I noticed Seth's fist tighten at his side. I stepped back towards the wall in fear they were about to pummel each other.

"Cam was with me when I ran into him. He said if you didn't bring the man back that he was going to come after her."

Seth's fist loosened as he braced both his hands behind his head. After a minute he swung his arms back down to his sides. "I'll see what I can do but I don't think I'll be able to get him back."

"Well it's your girlfriend whose life's on the line," Eric spat out.

"Don't you think I know that?" Seth shouted.

"Well then act like you care!"

Seth went forward and grabbed Eric by the throat before slamming him down on the floor. The second Eric's back hit the ground he swung, his fist meeting the side of Seth's head. Seth went back for a second but quickly recovered and landed an equal blow to the side of Eric's face. It didn't seem to faze Eric as he knocked Seth down and went to snatch him up. I screamed for them to stop and they both turned to me breathing heavy.

"What is wrong with both of you?" I shouted.

Eric pointed his finger at Seth and opened his mouth to say something but I cut him off. "It was rhetorical!"

A grin slid up to Seth's face but faded when I glared at him too. "You're going to tell me right now what's going on."

Eric's hand reached forward to pull Seth up from the floor. Their fight seemed to be behind them and I realized it was probably something that happened often.

Seth started off explaining, "The job I had last weekend...I had to take an Alchemist. I dropped him off at the dock. What happened to him afterwards, I don't know."

"Okay, so why didn't Eric want you to take the job in the first place?" I threw a sideways glance Eric's way.

"Graham is the Alchemist's apprentice. He and Eric are friends. He's the one who gives Eric inside information."

"Plus, Alchemist's are very powerful and it would be stupid to even mess with one. Especially one that works for Declan," Eric added.

I looked back and forth between them both. "So, now what? You have to return this Alchemist person or Graham will come after me?"

They both nodded as Seth started towards me. "I didn't think Graham would take it personal. If I even thought for a second that he would come after you, I wouldn't have done it."

I grabbed his arm and held onto him. "We'll deal with it."

His hand brushed my cheek. He gave me a small smile before turning back to Eric. "If you ever imply again that I don't care about her, I'll beat the hell out of you. Literally."

Eric waved his hand as he headed for the kitchen. "I've heard that threat a hundred times before."

I dropped my bag and headed over to the couch to lie down. My head was still pounding for some reason. Maybe all the information I was trying to soak in was taking a toll on me. Seth came and sat at the other end of the couch, lifting my feet to rest on his legs.

"You alright?" he asked.

"Yeah, I just have a headache."

I closed my eyes, and before I knew it, I was out like a light.

I woke up hours later and was in the bed with Seth passed out beside. I tried not to wake him as I got out but his arm went around me and pulled me back to the bed.

"Where are you going?" he said to the back of my head.

I flipped over so we were face to face. "Nowhere now."

His hand came up and brushed the hair out of my eyes. "I'm sorry about Graham. I never thought he would come after you. You know I would never intentionally do that, right?"

"I know. I told you, its fine. Don't beat yourself up about it."

I scooted closer to him and gave him a kiss before leaning my head into his chest. All the danger I was in didn't bother me at all. I thought about Graham and what he had said when something occurred to me.

I craned my head back and looked at him. "Do you think there are things that Eric doesn't tell you, like he's keeping something from you?"

Seth didn't look bothered by my question as he rolled onto his back and looked up at the ceiling. "I don't know. I'm sure there's a lot he doesn't tell me but if it was anything serious or life threatening I know he wouldn't hide it from me. There are things I don't tell him sometimes, like when I took the Alchemist. It doesn't really bother me."

I kept silent and just looked at the side of his head. He turned to me and gave me a weird stare. "Why did you ask that?"

"I dunno, just something I heard Graham say. When Eric asked him what was going on he said to ask you. His exact words were, 'maybe you're not the only one keeping secrets'."

He shrugged. "Eric tells him stuff sometimes to get him to open up about Declan. I'm sure Graham was referring to something Eric told him."

Seth seemed to trust Eric implicitly so I shouldn't be questioning his motives. There was still a lot I didn't know or understand. I wanted to trust Eric, I really did. I guess I would have to let myself get to that point. If I didn't trust him then I was SOL because he was the only other person besides Seth that I spent any time with.

The next few days were boring. Wednesday night I was able to spend the night at my dorm but I had a feeling either Seth or Eric stayed nearby to watch and make sure I was okay.

Lance stopped me and Eric on Thursday after class to see if we wanted to go to a bar with him and a few other people that night. I didn't answer right away but looked to Eric for an answer. He said we would be there and it kind of stunned me.

"Do you think it'll be okay if we go?" I asked as we walked up to my dorm.

"Yeah it'll be fine. Besides, you need a night out. You've been cooped up in your dorm and our house all week."

"We went out last weekend," I pointed out.

"Do you always have to argue with me about everything? If you don't want to go then I guess you and Seth can stay home."

Eric opened the door for me.

"I want to go. I just want to make sure it'll be safe. And I don't argue with you about everything."

"Yes you do. If I attempted to do the dishes you would tell me I was doing it wrong."

I looked back at him and glared. "Do you ever shut up?"

Eric ignored me and leaned back against the wall waiting for me to unlock the door. When I finally opened it I saw Ashley at the foot of her bed going through her laundry. She held up an orange shirt and inspected it. "Hey, you going to Sparrows tonight?"

"Yeah, are you?"

"Yep."

"Am I going to meet your new boy toy?" I asked with a grin.

Her face got a little red as she threw the shirt back into the laundry. "He's supposed to be there."

"Good, I want to meet the dude that's been taking my roommate away from me."

She chunked a different t-shirt at me. "Oh please, like your ever here either."

A throaty noise came from the hall and I looked at Eric standing there with his arms spread wide on each side of the doorway.

"Hey Eric!" Ashley smiled brightly.

"Hi." He threw her a smile and then looked back at me with a stern expression. "Come on, pick out your little outfit to wear tonight, and let's go."

"I thought you were ignoring me." I walked to my closet, pulled out my bag, and shoved some stuff into it. When I turned around I saw Eric getting ready to jump on my bed.

"Oh, no you don't," I rushed out.

He stopped in mid jump and looked back at me puzzled.

"You're not lying on my bed. Are you crazy?"

"You can lie on my bed," Ashley said a little too cheerily. I looked at her dreamy expression and had to fight the urge to roll my eyes.

"Thank you, Ashley. You're so nice. You're not hateful like this one over here." Eric cocked his head my way.

"I'm not hateful."

Ashley spoke up causing me to poke my head back out of the closet. "Yes you are. Well, at least to him anyways. Why do you hate him so much?"

Eric smiled smugly as he sat up in the bed. "You know I still don't know the answer to that question."

I shut down completely. I had no idea what to do or say. Hating him just came so easy to me. It was a choice I made the second I saw him and was hard to explain to anyone. Truthfully, it was shallow and I knew no one would understand. So instead of answering I just went back in the closet and finished packing.

Ashley mumbled something to Eric and I just let it go without comment. I grabbed up a pair of random heels and a shirt to go with them. I had enough jeans at Seth's house to fill a warehouse so I didn't need any.

As I walked out of the closet I checked my bag to make sure I didn't need anything before zipping it up. Eric grabbed it out of my hand and went to sling it over his shoulder. I snatched it back quickly. He went to grab it again I gave up by chunking it at him hard in the chest.

He looked over at Ashley's bothered expression to our behavior, and grinned. "Don't worry. I'm used to it by now. If I don't show up tonight you know why." He pointed to me and then grabbed his throat, pretending to choke.

I rolled my eyes and shoved him out the door before telling Ashley I would see her tonight.

The car ride back to the house was nothing but silent. I cranked up the stereo so it wouldn't give Eric a chance to say anything that would get on my nerves.

Seth walked out from the hallway the same time we walked into the house. He had on a plain white Hanes t-shirt that was especially snug. I couldn't look anywhere past it because it zoned me in on him along with his eyes and that amazing face. As soon as I saw him I felt my face light up. I wrapped my arms loosely around his neck and kissed him hard on the mouth with my fingers grabbing at his hair.

"What was that for?" He looked kind of stunned.

I felt my face flush from the kiss. "That was hello."

"Well hello." He smiled and kissed me again.

Eric had dropped my duffle bag with a loud clunk by the front door. I grabbed it up before heading back to the bedroom.

I yelled to Seth over my shoulder. "We're going to Sparrows tonight."

"Sparrows?" He followed me down the hall and appeared behind me.

"Yeah, with my brother and a few other people. Ashley will be there with her new boyfriend too."

I didn't hear him respond so I turned around slowly on my heel. "We can go right?"

"Yeah, I don't see why not. Eric and I will both be there so you should be alright. Besides, Graham's giving me a little while to get Stephan back."

"Stephan?"

"The Alchemist."

My head nodded as I started to unpack my bag. A lot of my stuff was already here, sprawled throughout the room. It almost felt like I lived here. That definitely wasn't the case though. Even though me and Seth were getting hot and heavy, I would never want to move in with him. It would be too much too soon and that's how good relationships ended.

I took a shower first and started to get ready. Seth and Eric were out in the kitchen doing whatever it was they did as I unenthusiastically got dressed. My head was starting to hurt and it was putting me in a sour mood. The stress was getting to me, or at least that's what I was blaming it on.

After I got dressed, I went out to the kitchen looking for something to eat. Seth had just gotten in the shower and he always took forever. I rummaged through the fridge and found grilled barbeque chicken. I popped it in the microwave for a minute and then sat down to eat.

Halfway through eating I realized I hadn't thought this through all the way. My hands were a mess.

"You know that was mine." Eric sat down beside me crossing his arms over the table.

"What would you have said if I'd have asked beforehand?"

His head tilted back and forth. "I probably would have said yes."

I pushed myself from the table and headed for the sink. "So then what's the point of this conversation?"

Eric did say anything. I could hear his fingers tapping lightly on the table. I looked closer and saw his jaw was clenched tight like he was trying hard to stop himself from saying something to me.

I don't know why but I suddenly felt horrible and had the need to explain. "I'm sorry. I have a headache and it's making me overly evil."

I sat back in the chair next to him and rubbed my temples in a circle motion. Eric's chair scraped against the tile as he got up to grab something from above the fridge. He slid my empty glass to him and poured me a shot of Jack Daniels.

I grabbed it up and downed it quickly. It's a good thing I ate that chicken or I probably would have fell in the floor five minutes after taking the shot.

"You want another one?"

"Yeah," I let out a strangled cough.

He poured one more and I took it a little slower than I did the first. When I was done Eric clapped me hard on the back. He took a swig from the bottle before setting it back above the fridge.

Seth came up behind me and kissed my cheek. I could smell his scent from the shower and like to have died in it. He grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the chair against his chest. "You ready?"

"Yeah, I just want to take some Advil or something before I leave."

After trying to get my headache under control we all left in Seth's truck. Both Seth and Eric were in good moods. I would have been in one if it wasn't for my head pounding away.

My phone vibrated against my leg. I saw I had a message from Amy. She said she would be coming to visit the following Thursday. I was about to text her back to tell her it would be okay but looked up at Seth and figured I better check with him to make sure it was safe enough. After what happened when we went to Maine I didn't want to take any chances.

"Hey, Amy said she wanted to come down next Thursday to visit for the weekend. Do you think it will be okay?"

Eric said no and Seth said yes. I accepted Seth's answer and texted her that it was fine. When I was done I turned around in my seat to face Eric and felt a smug grin slide on my face.

"Why don't you think Amy should come visit next week?"

"I just don't think you should have visitors is all."

I could tell there was more there so I didn't stop poking at him. "Hmm, could it be that you've slept with her and now you don't want to deal with it?"

Seth started laughing beside me. Eric threw me a glare. "Don't you have a headache or something?"

I knew I had irked him so I turned back around, pleased. Seth's hand slid on my leg and I grabbed it with my own. When we got to the bar Lance was outside talking to his friends. I gave him a quick one armed hug before heading inside.

Seth kept his hand on my waist as we made our way to the table. Callie and Rachel were among some of the people there, along with Beth and Jack. It was weird being around all of them. Now that I knew about the 'underworld', granted I didn't know much, but just the fact I knew about it was what made hanging out with them seem so different. They knew nothing about the other troubles that were out there, and if they did it would make their perfect little heads spin.

Seth kept by my side constantly and Eric would bring me drinks. Everything trivial was put on hold and I was letting myself be free like I used to be.

"You look like you're having a good time," Seth whispered in my ear.

I got closer to him so no one would overhear the conversation we were having. Not like they could hear us anyway with all the yelling and craziness going on.

"I'm not letting anything bother me tonight. Everything demonic is out there." I waved my hand to the door.

"And what brought on this good mood?"

I shrugged and picked up my drink. "Nothing really. I just want to try and be normal. With you."

His cheek rested on mine as he whispered in my ear again, "We are normal, and things are going to get better. You're the only thing that matters to me and I'm going to fight like hell to make sure you're okay."

His mouth met the skin on my neck and a chill went through my body. It didn't stop as he kept lightly going up my neck, all the way to my jaw. I let out a giggle and pushed him away.

"You're a tease." I started to get up.

"You love it."

I grabbed up my glass and glanced back at him. "Do you want anything?"

His eyes went over to the bar to make sure Eric was still over there. "A beer I guess."

I pushed my way over to the bar and almost tripped on my own feet. My hand went forward and grabbed on to Eric's arm so I wouldn't fall.

Eric turned around at feeling my hand on him. "Whoa there, hateful, don't fall on your face. I'd hate for Seth to think I beat you."

"He'd never think you beat me." I steadied myself on the stool.

The bartender was caught up making drinks for someone else so I sat and waited. Eric had a tray full of shots sitting in front of him that he explained were all bought because the wait was so long they just ordered about twenty of them so they wouldn't have to wait.

Callie squeezed herself between me as Eric grabbed a shot. "He is so funny." She pointed a thumb at Eric.

"Oh yeah, he's a crack-up." I grabbed a shot and took one before continuing with the conversation. "Have you seen Ashley?"

"Yeah, she was just coming in. I think her new boyfriend is with her. Have you met him yet?"

I shook my head as the bartender finally came up and took my drink order.

"There she is," Callie said, and I turned around.

Ashley walked up looking cheery but a little out of it. She probably went to another bar before coming here.

"Hey, sorry we're late. Got caught up." She reached up to the tray and grabbed a shot. I grabbed one too.

"So where is he?" I asked, looking behind her.

"He was outside talking to Lance. I came in. It was too cold."

I put the shot glass to my mouth, getting ready to take it. "Oh, Lance knows him?"

"They met the other day. Oh, there he is," she held up her arm and waved it back and forth. "Graham! Over here!"
Chapter 12

The liquor shot back out of my mouth at hearing her yell. I looked up to see a tall, tattooed, brown haired guy walk over. My eyes widened in terror as I looked over at Eric, who was now watching Graham with a steady, heated gaze. I shot forward so I was almost sitting on Eric's lap. Without taking his eyes off Graham, he threw his arm behind me and laid it on the bar so I was partially caged in. The good mood I was in, the one where I was going to leave all the demonic bull crap out of my life, well that just got shot to shit in about ten seconds.

Graham looked like any normal guy walking into a bar. He didn't have the devilish look he did when I first met him. For a second I thought he was going to act like he didn't know us and play it natural. I was proved wrong when he rested his hand on Eric's shoulder and smiled. "Hey Eric, how you doin?"

Eric's face held no expression when he answered, "Been better."

When he was satisfied with Eric's response he looked over at me and gave me a nod. "And you, Cam?"

I gritted my teeth and smiled. "Awesome."

Ashley looked confused and pointed to all three of us in a swift motion. "You all know each other?"

I wasn't about to answer this question. Leave it to the two creatures of the underworld to handle this.

Graham answered with a look to Ashley. "I'm friends with Eric. I met Cam the other day."

"Do you know Seth too?"

"Yeah, is he here?" he looked at Eric.

Eric nodded and went to get up as Graham took a seat next to me. My eyes widened, making their way over to Eric. His face kept calm as he searched Graham over like he was trying to read him. Ashley was watching too. It was bad enough that she was witnessing any of this or that she was even involved at all. She needed to be as far away from here as humanly possible.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt her. I just want to talk to her," Graham said to Eric, the whole time his eyes were on me. He threw me a wink that, this time, made me cringe.

With that, Eric left and took off in search for Seth. I couldn't believe he just left me here with Graham. It was going to be World War III when I got him alone.

"So, Cam, how are things really?"

I faced him and began to feel enraged. Ashley just stood there staring off into nothing with a blank look on her face.

"What did you do to her?"

"Don't worry about her, she'll be fine. I won't snap her neck until I absolutely have to. Or I could just slip her this and she'll be dead on the floor in less than two seconds." He held up a tiny, capped off vile that was filled with a purple liquid.

I suddenly felt sick and wanted nothing more than to hurl myself in front of a bus. This was just wrong.

"You can take me," I told him, "Just leave her alone."

He shoved the vile pack in his pocked with a smirk plastered across his face. "Now where would the fun in that be? And besides, you'll be with me eventually. Don't rush it."

"What do you mean?" I asked skeptically.

Reaching across the bar, he brushed his fingers lightly over my hand. "Be patient, love."

I snatched my hand back quick. Was he seriously telling me that he was going to take me whether or not Seth gave back Stephen?

A warm hand circled around my waist. "Why don't you go out to the truck with Eric?" Seth whispered to me.

I nodded and didn't look back at Graham as I made my way out of the bar. Eric was standing outside smoking a cigarette. The second I saw him I whacked him upside the head.

"What the hell was that for?".

"You left me alone with him you jack ass!" I went to smack him again but he ducked just in time.

Several people were laughing at us. I was about to turn around and tell them to mind their own damn business but Eric grabbed my wrist and started dragging me to the truck before I got a chance to.

A number of expletives flew from my mouth and I was still shouting at him when we got to the truck. As soon as he opened the door, he bent down and threw me over his shoulder to lift me into the back seat. I started kicking and hitting his back, screaming at him to put me down.

Eric hopped in the front and turned around to me. "Are you calm now, or am I going to have to restrain you?"

"I hate you!"

"What the hell did I do?"

"You left me in there with him. You may think he's your friend, but he's not."

"Cam, will you just trust me? He's giving Seth time to get Stephan. He's not going to hurt you because that will ruin his chances to get Stephan back. And as for Ashley, he's just using her to get to you."

I needed to do something to hold back from strangling him so I sat back and crossed my arms. "That's not the point. The point is that he told me he was going to take me whether he got Stephan back or not."

"What are you talking about?"

"God, you are the worst demon I have ever met. Do you not know anything?"

His eyes started to get darker. I sunk back in my seat a little. I was pretty sure I had pissed him off.

"I wouldn't be in this shit if I wasn't for you! Everything was fine until you showed up and screwed my life all to hell! If I was Seth I would have let you go a long time ago! I should have fucking killed you the moment I met you."

His words hit me hard. Nothing he had ever said to me hurt my feelings or barely even cracked my exterior. But for some reason, the words he just said cut through me like a knife. I looked away from him and out the window to see Seth walking to the truck.

Thank God, I thought to myself.

He got in the truck and looked at both of us, waiting for someone to say something. I definitely wasn't going to say anything.

"What did he say?" Eric spat out.

"We have till next Saturday."

I let out a laugh. Seth turned around to look at me. "What?"

I shook my head and looked back out the window. I decided I would tell Seth what Graham said when we got back to the house. I wasn't going to talk in front of Eric. Whatever he had to say I didn't want to hear.

"Just tell him, Cam," Eric said hastily from the front seat.

I stared angrily at the back of his head. Maybe if I punched the headrest it would hit him and cause him a little bit of pain. I nixed that plan when I remembered he would heal in about a millisecond.

I let out a huff and told him everything that Graham said to me. When I was done Seth and Eric got deep into conversation. I didn't pay attention but kept looking out the window at all the lights flying by. The lights slowly turned to trees as we got closer to the house.

I was still a little drunk and my head was starting to spin. To add to everything I was now worried about Ashley, she had nothing to do with this and yet she was brought in just because she was my roommate. Maybe I shouldn't have stayed with Seth; maybe I should have just let Charlie take me to Declan.

I was brought out of my thoughts by the car stopping and Eric opening my door. Without looking at him, I jumped out and brushed past his open hand that was meant to help me out of the truck. I know I said I was done with him many times before, but this time I actually meant it.

I went straight back to the bedroom and got ready for bed. Seth stayed out in the living room with Eric for a minute before he came back.

I was already in bed when he came in. I watched as he got down to his boxers and slid in beside me. I rested my head on his arm as he lightly trailed his fingers up my side.

"I think you should move in here," he said out of nowhere. Hearing his words sent me into shock and I sat up like a bolt of lightning.

"Excuse me?"

"I want you to move in," he repeated.

"Why?" I squeaked out.

He sat up on his elbows and started to explain. "Well, Graham is seeing Ashley, so he's going to be at the dorm a lot more. And after hearing what he told you, I would feel better if you just moved in here."

"Well, it's already like I live here anyway so why don't we just keep things the way they are and I just stay here like I have been."

"Wouldn't that be living here?" he pointed out.

I tilted my head back and forth, contemplating what he said. "Not really. I don't want to move in. I'll just be staying here a lot."

"And exactly why don't you want to move in? You don't like me enough?" he finished with a grin. Thank God he wasn't taking my answer the wrong way.

"A few reason's actually. One, I think it's too soon. Once people move in together it all goes down the drain. Two, my parents paid for me to have a dorm so I can't exactly just move out. And the main reason above all others: I'm not living with Eric. It's enough that I have to be around him so much but to actually say I'm living with him isn't something I could handle right now."

"Did you all get into another argument?"

"When don't we get into an argument?" I laid back in his arm and let out a huff of air.

"Well, this time it seems different. You didn't say one word to him the entire ride home. It's when you're not yelling at him that I'm worried."

"He said some things to me that I didn't like and now I don't want to talk to him. It's nothing, really." I turned on my side and looked up at his puzzled expression. I wanted to get off this topic.

"I'll tell you what. When school's over with I'll move in till I figure out where I'm going. That is, if we're still together." I threw him a grin as he rolled over on top of me.

He buried his head in my neck. "And why wouldn't we be together?"

"You might find someone else. Someone more boring."

"Never. You're perfect, and worth all the trouble. We can make it through this. Nothing will get in the way of us being together. I won't let it." He kissed me softly, running his hand down my cheek. Then he fully succeeded in making me forget all the bad that had been floating around inside me.

For the next few days Seth tried to stay with me as much as he could. I ignored Eric on the few occasions I had to be around him. He made dinner one night, and even though it was amazingly good, I didn't thank him or tell him how good it was. I wasn't going to give him that satisfaction. The few times he did speak to me I listened but never responded. If he did talk it was just to tell me things like he would be waiting in the parking lot after school or that he needed to make a stop somewhere on our way home.

When I left school on Wednesday I was surprised to see Seth waiting for me outside the art building. I smiled at seeing him, relieved that I didn't have to put up with Eric for the rest of the afternoon.

"What are you doing here?"

He kissed me. "I have a surprise for you."

"What is it?"

His head shook disbelievingly at me. "Seriously? That's why it's called a surprise."

"Where's Eric?"

"He's got some stuff to do and won't be at the house all night."

I felt a smile come to my face. "Is that the surprise?" I asked just to make sure. If it was, I would be just as happy with that.

"No, but if you want to think of it as part of the surprise, then go right on ahead."

When we got back to the house I sat my bag down next to the couch and headed back to the bedroom. Seth walked slowly behind me and I almost turned around to ask what his problem was. That was before I opened the door and was momentarily stunned.

I felt my jaw drop at the dozens and dozens of red roses and lilies that were in vases all around the room. There had to be at least a dozen vases. Seth arms went around my waist. I leaned back into him to hold myself up.

"What is this for?" I asked breathlessly.

"Happy Valentine's Day."

I scrunched my face in confusion. "But Valentine's Day is this weekend." As soon as I said it my brain clicked and it all started to make sense. I turned slightly, giving him a disappointed look. "You won't be here this weekend, will you?"

He shook his head. "I'm leaving in the morning."

I let out a sigh and rested my head on his. Well this just sucked up one way and down another. "You better make it up to me good. That's all I'm gonna say."

"That's what tonight is for."

I refocused on all the flowers before me. "Thank you. They're beautiful."

"Not as beautiful as you."

I craned my neck around to kiss him and smiled. "You're too good to me."

I felt his hands come underneath my knees and he lifted me in his arms. "Not really. I do this for all my girlfriends."

"And how many are there?"

His face scrunched up like he was thinking hard. "About six."

He gently laid me in the bed and crawled on top of me. I let out a small laugh as his hand went up my shirt and he grabbed my ribs.

"So are we just going to stay in here all night?" I asked slyly.

He got up off me and knelt between my legs. "Nope, we're going out to eat, so get dressed."

I flopped my arms on the bed and sat up. Luckily, I had brought a few more clothes over here from my dorm, so I had something to wear. I put on a pink top, a pair of dark jeans, and some black heals. I stood in the mirror putting on my earrings when Seth came up behind me and rested his chin on my shoulder.

"I'm almost ready." I looked at his reflection behind me in the mirror.

"I think you forgot something."

I looked myself over. "No...I'm pretty sure I didn't."

His held his fist up in front of me, and from it dropped a white gold necklace with three tear drop diamonds hanging from it. My eyes grew wide. A small noise came from my mouth.

"That's for me?" I squeaked out.

His reflection smiled back at me in the mirror. He draped it over my neck to fasten it. I touched it gently.

"I love it."

"I'm glad." He kissed the back of my neck. I spun around and grabbed his face, planting a kiss on his mouth.

"Thank you. You really are too good to me. I don't deserve it."

Goosebumps overcame my whole body as his hands ran lightly over my back. "Yeah you do. Don't ever think you don't."

As happy as I was in this moment, somewhere deep inside I felt so horrible. I really didn't deserve how good he was to me. If he knew the truth he would never look at me the same...

"Well if you think so then that's all that matters." I smiled and turned to grab my purse.

I let out a squeal as Seth smacked me in the butt. "Come on, hot mama. Let's go."

He grabbed my hand and dragged me out the room, down the hall, and to the truck. The whole night was simple. We went out to eat at some seafood restaurant I had never been to before and afterwards he took me to a wall where a woman had painted a life size mural of the city of Belize. It looked so real, and if you stood a ways back it looked like there was a whole other city on the other side of the wall.

When we were on our way back to the truck I saw an ice cream shop and pleaded with Seth to go in.

Eric wasn't at the house when we got back and I took it that Seth made sure he was gone so we could be alone.

I leaned my hand against the wall and took off my heels. "Thank you for tonight. I had a real good time."

"Oh, it's not over." He pulled me to him, my whole body resting against his hard stone muscle.

"There's more?"

"A lot more."

I felt a smile come to my mouth as he started kissing down my neck. His fingers went under my shirt, lifting it off me. I brought my arms down to rest on his shoulders.

"You have a lot to make up to me for going away this weekend," I whispered against his mouth.

He laughed, laying me on the bed. All laughter died out as he mouth trailed hot kisses down the center of my stomach. I felt the heat rising up inside of me like an electrical current.

"Lie back," his hot breath moved lower as his fingers pushed my heaving chest down. My back arched as he continued to kiss down my stomach, his tongue hot and wet as he licked every inch of exposed skin.

"Seth," I let out a moan as his tongue ran along the juncture of my thigh.

"Shhh," his breath ran over my center. "Let me make it up to you." And then his tongue touched me and I felt like I was going to explode.

The next morning Seth woke me up before the sun came up. I didn't understand what he was doing until he told me he was leaving. I threw a pillow at him and was extra grumpy because it was so early. He gave me a kiss and told me he would hopefully be back Saturday night, maybe Sunday morning. The worst part was that I knew Eric had to be home because Seth would never leave me here by myself.

I went back to sleep to escape my bad mood and when I woke up I smelled coffee and bacon. Well there were some perks on having Eric here in the morning: he made a bangin' breakfast.

I walked out into the kitchen to the sound of rock music playing over the radio. Eric was standing over the stove with no shirt on and some basketball shorts. He was holding a spatula, banging it lightly against the pan to the beat of the music. A smile pulled at my mouth as I watched him. If we were on speaking terms I would definitely have a comment for his behavior. I quickly stopped smiling and removed my eyes from his chest to go and pour myself a cup of coffee. Eric looked up at me for a second but went back to what he was doing. A few minutes later he set down a plate of eggs, bacon, and toast in front of me. Everything was good as always. I drained the last bit of my coffee and went to get up but stopped when I heard him talk.

"What time do we need to pick up your friend from the airport?"

The way he said 'your friend' irritated me. He acted as if he didn't sleep with 'my friend' and like he didn't know her name. I pointed my finger towards the fridge at the post-it I stuck there the other day. It said what time Amy's flight got in.

He looked back at it and rolled his eyes sarcastically. "Oh, I'm sorry. How stupid of me. I forgot to check the fridge for your hidden messages."

I almost said something but bit my tongue and headed back to the bathroom to shower. It was already past nine and the airport was about forty five minutes away. We had to be there at eleven thirty so I had to hurry up. But I also knew Eric had to shower too so I decided to take my merry old time just because I could. When I eventually got out he was standing in the hall leaning against the wall waiting for me with a glare.

"And you call me the asshole."

I smiled smugly and headed to the bedroom to get dressed. When I was finally ready I walked out and was surprised to see Eric already out there dressed and waiting for me. He was in timberlands, faded jeans, and a white hooded sweatshirt with a black fitted baseball hat pulled backwards on his head. Even though I hated him I still couldn't stop myself from thinking how sexy he looked every time I saw him.

"I don't understand why she didn't just drive," he said as we headed down the highway. There was no point in answering. I kept my mouth shut and my gaze out the window.

I came to the conclusion that as soon as this all was over with, I was going to invest in getting a car. That would make my life so much easier and I wouldn't have to rely on anyone else to take me anywhere. I might not use it a lot but it would be nice to have for situations like these.

Realizing I still wasn't going to talk to him, he cranked up the music. I didn't mind. It was better than listening to him ramble.

When we got to the airport Eric stood off to the side as I waited near the gate. After a while Amy walked through and I went up to her smiling.

"How was your flight?"

She groaned. "You know I hate to fly." I noticed her eyes scan around the airport and land on Eric. The real reason she probably wanted to come was to see him again. Well I had news for her...she was wasting her time.

"Well let's get going."

Her attention came back to me as we started walking out of the airport. Eric stayed a little ways behind which I didn't mind. He grabbed Amy's bag when we got to the car and threw it in the trunk before getting in.

He turned in his seat to face me, "Did you want to go back to the house or do something else?"

I looked back at Amy and she shrugged.

"We'll do whatever you want. Just tell him."

Amy shrugged. "I'm hungry, let's go get something to eat."

Eric started the car and we left. I named off a couple places for her to choose from and she picked some grill I had only been to once with Seth. Since being with him I had been to almost every restaurant in the city at least once. Neither of us cooked so it was the only way we could eat unless Eric was home to do so.

"So where's Seth at?" she asked.

"Working. He won't be back till Sunday at the latest."

Her head leaned up between the seats. "So it's just you two staying at the house?"

I sighed, "Unfortunately."

Amy looked quizzically back and forth between the both of us. "I thought you two got along."

Eric let out a big breath. I noticed his hand tighten on the steering wheel as he said, "She hasn't talked to me in about a week."

"Why?"

I turned around in my seat and gave her a fake, cheesy smile. "Because he's an ignorant, self-centered asshole who doesn't know when to keep his mouth shut."

Amy's eyes grew wide as she looked over at Eric for a reaction.

"Yeah, I'm self-centered," he said sarcastically.

I spoke directly to Amy, "I'd be careful with him, he only cares about himself."

I was surprised to hear Eric cut in loudly, "I only care about myself? Everything I do is for you. Ever since I met you I've done nothing but help you. There is nothing about me that is self-centered. If anything, it's all centered on you. Look at what I did to Chris for you."

"That wasn't for me. You were just pissed off because he busted your window." I pointed to his driver side window to emphasize my statement.

He whipped his head around and looked at me like I was crazy. "You think I did that because he busted out my window? You are the most ungrateful person I've ever met."

"Maybe I would act a little more grateful if you didn't go running off at the mouth telling me how messed up your life has been since you met me. Or did you already forget about the stuff you said?" I wasn't about to mention the whole killing me part. Amy would probably have a heart attack if said that aloud. He would know what I was talking about without even having to mention it.

"If you would talk to me then maybe I would have been able to apologize or even explain what I meant."

My hand waved lazily through the air. "You don't need to explain shit to me. I can comprehend what you said pretty well."

The car came to a stop at a red light and he turned to me again. "You've never listened to anything I said before, what makes what I said then any different?"

I realized he was right. God I was stupid. If anything, I was letting him see how upset he made me. I shouldn't even have been that upset in the first place and shouldn't even care what he said at all. He was a jerk. I shouldn't have expected anything more from him.

"You know what, you're right. Let's just go back to hating each other. Life was a lot easier then."

The light turned green. His focus went back out the windshield. "I don't hate you. You're the one who hates me, remember?"

I finally smiled, "Yep, and don't you forget it."

I turned back to Amy. She looked confused and a little flustered.

"Sorry about that. We have a very complex relationship."

She shook her head, her face scrunching up a little. "Why do you hate him?"

Eric chuckled deeply. "Don't ask. She'll never tell you. Even I don't know."

"Are you serious? You hate him and he doesn't even know why?" She looked back at me, waiting for my answer.

I was to the point that I didn't care if anyone thought badly of me for not telling him why I hated him.

"Yep, and you know what?" I turned to face Eric so he would know I was speaking directly to him. "I'm never going to tell you why I hate you. Just know I have a very good reason and leave it at that."

"Whatever, Cam. I'd probably be better off not knowing anyway."

What he said was truer than anything I've ever heard.
Chapter 13

Spending time with Amy made me remember all the easier times. The times when all that mattered was who was going to take you to prom, having acne, and what clothes to wear. I missed those days. They were long gone though. Eric was that reminder as he shadowed us all day in everything we did.

"I went on-line before I came and saw that the Boston Music Festival starts tonight. Did you all want to go?"

I looked over at Eric and he shrugged.

"Yeah, we can go. Maybe I'll call Lance and see if he wants to go too."

An excited smile went across her face. "Okay. What are we going to do for Valentine's Day?"

God, she was chipper. I almost forgot how overly excited she was about things. "Um, I'm not sure. I haven't really thought about it."

"It sucks Seth's won't be here to spend Valentine's Day with you."

"We celebrated last night. It's not a big deal." I grabbed my necklace, remembering the night before.

Her hand swiped mine away from my necklace as she picked it up, ogling it. "Ohhh, is that what he got you?"

"Yeah."

"Wow, it's pretty. You're lucky." She dropped my necklace and sat back in her seat.

"Yeah," I mumbled, so low that no one could hear. "Lucky."

I wished Seth was here. Without him I was weakening.

As soon as we got back to the house I headed straight to the bathroom and pulled out my cell phone. Seth didn't answer when I called and it just made me feel ten times worse.

As I walked back down the hall I saw Eric was in the kitchen getting a drink. Amy was standing near the end waiting for me to show her where to go.

"Hey, sorry. I had to pee really badly." I motioned for her to follow me back to Seth's room.

"This is our room. You can stay in here with me if you want, but there's the couch too if you'd rather do that."

She dropped her bag. "I'll just stay in here."

I gave her a playful look. "Or there's always Eric's room."

She let out a laugh and shook her head. "I don't think that's going to happen."

"Why not? You all – well I don't want to butt in your business but, you know..."

Her head shook. "That was a onetime thing. Don't get me wrong, it was amazing, but I have a feeling he's not that into me."

Well I guess she was smarter than I gave her credit for. I'm glad she wasn't looking for anything more because if I had to watch her unsuccessfully swoon over him all weekend I think I was going to be sick.

"Well, he's a jerk. And it's his loss."

Her eyebrows drew together like she was confused, or deep in thought. I really wasn't sure what she was thinking right now.

"What?"

"Nothing." She shook her head mechanically and started to unzip her bag. "Do you mind if I take a shower? I feel nasty after that plane ride."

After showing her where the bathroom was I went back to the bedroom to call Lance. I told him Amy was in town for the weekend and asked if he wanted to go with us tonight to the music festival. He said he would and that he would meet us there.

I hung up and turned to leave the room. Eric was standing in the doorway with his arms crossed. I jumped a little and looked at him curiously. "What?"

"If we're going to this music thing then there are some rules you should know."

"Of course there are."

"You stay by me at all times. Don't leave my side for anything. Do you understand?" He eyed me with a steely hard gaze, waiting for my answer

"Okay," I sighed, giving in because he was actually right. "Anything else?"

"Try not to get too wasted. You can drink, but not a lot."

I didn't really have a problem with that but decided to give him a hard time about it anyway. "Are you going to drink?"

"Does it matter if I drink or not? I just don't want you to get too drunk and do something stupid. You know, like beat on me or scream in my face like you did last weekend." He finished with a tiny smirk.

"I don't need to drink for that to happen. It just comes naturally."

"All the same, I'd rather you paced yourself. I don't want any crazy stuff to happen tonight. I'd like to just have one weekend where we don't have to fight."

"You and me? Or us and the underworld?"

"Both." His arms uncrossed as he turned and headed out of the room.

I rolled my eyes to myself and went to go find something to wear. I picked out a pair of ripped up jeans, a turquoise t-shirt, and my converses.

Amy came in from her shower and we both finished getting ready. We laughed and joked about all the times in high school when we used to get ready to go to parties thinking we were the shit. I remembered having to carry Amy up the front steps of her parent's house one night when we were both plastered. We tried to be as quiet as we could but the porch light came on and her dad came out causing me to drop her down the steps. She busted her head on the side walk and had to get seven stitches. Back then it wasn't as funny, but now that so many years had passed, we couldn't help but laugh. And she still had the scar to prove it.

Lance met us at the Boston Harbor Park where the music festival was taking place. Why they were having a music festival in February was a little odd, but there were hundreds of people here so they must not have minded the cold.

A huge blinking board was next to the even bigger stage. On the board it had a list of the bands that would be playing.

"Rock and Country music?" I wondered out loud.

Amy's head was moving around, searching for lord knows what. "Yeah, it's a nice mix don't you think?"

I shrugged, "What are you looking for?"

"Drink stand. I'm gonna need to get a lot of liquor in you if I want you to dance with me."

I patted her on the head. "Oh honey, I'm not dancing tonight."

"We'll see..." she muttered.

Lance pointed to a tent that was selling drinks and we all went over to it. A group of people we went to school with was standing by the table. We stopped to talk to them. Beth was there with Jack. I introduced her to Amy. I almost threw up in my mouth at how fake Beth was being towards her.

Eric got me two drinks. He said he didn't feel like going back and forth so he got me them just to get me started. Lance walked up to give Amy a drink and I eyed him suspiciously. I realized I was being a little too paranoid and brushed it off.

Twenty minutes later the first band had started playing. It was an Indie rock band called Silenced but was anything but that. Lance was head banging along with it and I like to have died watching him. I had no room to talk though because four drinks later I was doing the same thing. Amy got what she wanted and I was dancing and yelling right along with everybody else. Eric stayed by my side the whole time and was almost rolling around on the ground in laughter at my craziness.

The first country band eventually came on and Amy and Lance went to get more drinks. I watched them carefully as they walked away. The whole night they were getting a little too close for comfort, and even though I was drunk, I still noticed. When they returned Lance handed me my drink and I gave him a questionable look. He ignored it and went back to talking to Amy, Beth, and Jack.

Eric slid up beside me, his hand lightly pressing into my lower back. He had, in some way or another, kept a hand on me at all times. For some reason, it didn't bother me.

"What's the problem?"

I didn't take my eyes off Amy and Lance as I responded, "I don't like it."

"He's grown. He can do what he wants."

I turned and glared at him. My body had somehow pressed back into his so his arm was completely around my waist. "That's not the point. If he does what he wants then he could end up getting hurt. Or worse."

"You're a pushy little thing."

I downed my drink quickly just as a new song started. I think I drank it a little too fast because I was suddenly a little light headed. Eric watched me and took my empty cup to throw it away.

"Would you rather him be with some random girl, or your best friend who you know everything about?"

He had a point, but I still didn't like it. If it was any other girl I would think she was a skank for sleeping with Eric and then two weeks later hooking up with my brother. But it was Amy and I knew she was anything but that.

I gave in, deciding Eric was right. So I let it go. "Alright, I'll quit being pushy."

I turned back around. That's when I saw them dancing close together. It almost looked like they were about to have sex right here in the park. And that right there was my limit.

"Oh, hell no." I started towards them. Eric grabbed my hand and spun me back around to him.

"Oh, no you don't." He twirled me around, pulling me back up to his chest. "You're going to dance with me."

I felt a small smile come to my face and suddenly forgot all about my brother and Amy. "I am?"

"Yep."

"You're ridiculous." I held on to his bicep as he swayed me back and forth slowly to the music with his hands on my hips.

He smiled again, his eyes lowering to mine. "So are you."

I was getting ready to say something when he pushed me away from him and spun me back around in his arms. The park went upside down as he dipped me. I giggled at how goofy he was being. He must have thought so too because he was laughing right along with me. When he brought me back up I grabbed the back of his neck to steady myself.

He braced his warm hand on my back and looked down at me. My eyes locked on his for a long, heated moment. He let out a deep sigh before dropping his forehead on mine. "I don't see how you can hate me if we have this much fun when we get along."

"I don't want to talk about it," I whispered. "Not now." I shut my eyes for a brief second before glancing back up at him. Something flashed through his eyes briefly before he looked away from me. His expression hardened on whatever it was he saw across the park. I felt his hand fall from my back. I looked to where he was looking and saw a man with shoulder length black hair watching us. He looked mean. Very mean. Eric's eyes moved over to where Lance and Amy were, then back at me. "Go over there with them and stay there. I'll be right back."

"What?"

He dragged me over to them and leaned down to the side of my head. "Just stay here and don't move."

I grudgingly agreed and turned back to Amy and Lance, who were no longer all over each other. Jack, Beth, and a few other people were standing here. I ignored them and watched Eric go up to the guy who had been watching us. I was shocked to see them talking like they were friends or something. At first they looked to be having a normal conversation, then it seemed like they were arguing.

I heard Beth yell and suddenly Eric and his mystery friend weren't as interesting.

"Hey, Ashley!"

My stomach dropped. My second worst fear stood before me.

Graham.

He was next to Ashley, smiling like nothing in the world bothered him. His eyes slowly came to mine, his smile growing wider.

"Hey, Cam."

I forced myself to say hi. I didn't want anyone to be able to tell there was tension.

"Where's Seth?"

Like he didn't know. My insides were churning and I could have spit fire at him.

"Working," I said simply.

I wanted out of the conversation. I turned to Amy and introduced her to Ashley. I tried to focus more on them but my eyes kept traveling to Graham, who was now talking to my brother. My blood pressure rose as I saw him start to pat him on the back. I didn't know much about what he could do, but just seeing him touch my brother made me want to pummel him. Graham's gaze cut back over to me. A grin slid on his face.

"Hey," Eric's voice sounded in my ear and I jumped a little. In a split second my anger went from Graham to Eric. I had to hold back the urge to smack him.

"You son of a bitch," I muttered so only he could hear.

"I thought we agreed to not argue tonight."

I tilted my head over to Graham and Lance to show Eric part of the reason I was being so hostile. He saw my point and started over to them. My stomach twisted as I watched Eric and Graham talk silently. It only lasted about a minute before Graham nodded and Eric made his way back over to me.  
"You ready to go?"

I leaned into Amy. "You want to go?"

She looked a little taken back. I could tell she wasn't ready to leave yet.

"Um, I guess we can leave."

Lance heard us talking and cut in, "I can take her back to the house in a little bit."

The anger inside of me was about to boil over. Eric's hand went around my waist. He started to pull me away quickly. "That's fine. We're leaving. See you back at the house."

I stumbled a little as he continued to pull me towards the parking lot. I wanted to very forcefully grab Amy and bring her with us but Eric was stopping me from doing so. There was a part of me that wanted to start screaming at him but I held it back because I didn't want a repeat of what happened last weekend when he threw me into the truck.

I kept quiet the whole way home, which was a hard thing to do. My knee was bouncing crazily and I knew Eric could tell I was on edge.

"Just go ahead and yell at me. Get it over with."

I cut my eyes over at him and let out a cold laugh. "We're in too small of a space. I might kill you."

The car came to a stop in the driveway. I jumped out quickly. Eric was already out ahead of me, unlocking the front door open. He started to walk in when I shoved him hard. He stumbled the rest of the way inside.

He spun around, his eyes dark. "You're unbelievable. Every time something doesn't go your way you take it out on me. I'm fucking tired of it."

"You said to not leave your side all night and then you left me to go off with your demon friend. And to top it all off, Graham was there getting all chummy with Lance. He's going to do something to someone I care about and you all don't even care."

"The guy was a friend of mine. And as for Graham, I told you before he's just trying to get to you. A little while ago you said you didn't want to know the details about what was going on, so I'm doing my best to keep you out of it as much as I can."

"You could give two shits about what I want. And that guy you were talking to didn't look like a friend of yours. You all were arguing."

His arm went up as he gestured to me. "You're my friend and look at us right now. Arguing."

"What were you arguing about?"

He looked stressed at my question. His hands ran down his face. "I can't tell you."

I shook my head and started to walk by him. "God, I'm so stupid."

I felt him come up behind me, shouting, "What the hell does –"

He never got to finish because the front door suddenly opened. We both spun around to see Amy walk in. She was watching us with amusement. "Arguing again, are we?"

I rolled my eyes. I wasn't in the mood for her either. Without saying anything I walked back to the bedroom and stripped down to my bra and underwear before crawling into bed.

I hated my life. It was nothing but a crazy mess. Everything that was happening was my own doing and so was everything I was feeling. But the people in my life weren't helping matters any. What I needed right now was Seth. He would help clear my mind. I hadn't talked to him since he left, so I made a mental note to call him first thing in the morning.

Morning came quick. I woke up to muffled snoring and looked over to see Amy in the bed. Realizing I was still in my bra and underwear I got up and put on a pair of sweatpants and a sweatshirt. I snatched up my cell phone and went into the bathroom to call Seth.

"Hello?" he answered groggily like I woke him up or something.

"Hey."

"What are you doing?"

I sat down against the door and folded my legs. "Just sitting here. You didn't answer when I called yesterday."

He let out a yawn. I could just picture him lying in bed with his blond hair all messy and his shirt off.

"Sorry, I've been busy. Is everything okay?"

"Well, where to start. Amy hooked up with my brother. Eric left me alone to go argue with some demon. And Graham showed up at the music festival we went to and was getting awfully close to Lance. But other than that, things are just peachy on my end."

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, things are going just as shitty where I'm at. I'll be home soon, trust me."

My stomach tightened and I started to panic. "What do you mean things are going bad? And where are you at exactly?"

"Atlanta. Don't worry about anything just yet. Hopefully I'll be back tomorrow night."

His words did nothing to ease my panic. I didn't say anything so he kept talking. "Maybe you all should stay in tonight."

I tried to keep my voice even. "Alright."

"I miss you."

My stomach lightened up a little. I smiled to myself. "I miss you too."

I hung up and pulled myself off the floor. After brushing my teeth I walked out to the kitchen where Eric was sitting on the counter eating a banana. He watched me as I went over next to him and poured a cup of coffee.

"Not cooking this morning?"

"Don't feel like it. What do you want to do today?"

I leaned back against the counter holding my warm coffee cup close to my face. "Seth thinks we should stay in. He said things weren't going good."

"Did he say why?"

"Nope." I blew on my coffee before taking a sip.

"Well that sucks," he chunked the banana peel in the trash. "Now we have to sit in here all day. We'll kill each other within the hour."

I started laughing. Just then I noticed Amy walk in and brought my attention to her. She gave me a weak smile and plopped down at the table. Her head dropped down to the table with a loud clunk.

"Not feeling too well?" I asked. I tried to get the image of her and my brother groping each other out of my head. Unfortunately, it just kept popping in there.

"Not too bad. It's just a small headache." She looked up at me and I could tell her mind was reeling.

I pushed the dreadful thoughts aside for a second. "Well, I have bad news. Eric and I can't do anything today. But if you want you can take Eric's car to go do something."

Eric let out a fake cough beside me. "I believe the key word in that sentence was Eric's car, not Cam's car. You can't just go loaning my car out like that. What if we need it?"

He did have a point. I looked back at Amy apologetically. "Sorry, I know you don't want to stay cooped up in the house all day, but we have too."

A weird expression went across her face. She bit her lip nervously before looking down at her hands. "Well, actually...Lance asked if maybe I would want to hang out with him today."

I felt my eyes bulge out of my head. The grip on my scolding hot coffee cup tightened. The thought went through my head to throw it at her. Eric must have noticed my grip because he reached forward and pried the cup out of my hands.

"Remember what we talked about last night," he muttered so only I could hear.

I clenched my jaw and swallowed hard. "That's nice," I said with a little bite to my tone.

She stuttered nervously. "You – you don't mind?"

I gave her the fakest smile I had ever given anyone in my life. My teeth were so tightly clenched together I thought they might break off. "No. You all have fun."

Amy could probably tell how pissed I really was, but if she was smart she would keep her mouth shut and take my acceptance.

She really was smart because she automatically changed the subject. "So why do you all have to stay in the house all day?"

I looked to Eric for an answer. He was a good liar so I figured he could pull something out of his ass in no time.

"Seth's truck broke down and he's stuck in Portland. We might have to go get him."

Her eyes went back and forth between us, "Is that something you both have to do?"

Eric's lie was surprisingly very horrible. I cut in and tried to smooth it over. "Well, not really, but they have this thing where I can't be left alone. Last month my ex-boyfriend attacked me and now they think that I can't take care of myself. If one of them isn't there then the other one is."

Her eyes got wide. "What happened?"

I waved it off. It wasn't something I liked talking about. "Ask Lance. He was there too."

At the mention of Lance we all got quiet again. Eventually, Amy went back to the bedroom to get dressed and I took her spot at the table. Today was going to be a boring day. Boring with a capital B. I sat here for about twenty minutes, wondering how my life got to be this, way when I heard a knock at the door.

I opened it. Lance was standing there looking at me questionably. "Hey, Cam."

"Hi, Lance," I responded rather shortly.

"How ya doin?"

"Oh, just great. My best friend is going out on a date with my brother and I have to sit in the house all day with the one person I can't stand. Life is awesome."

"Well, isn't someone having a shitty Valentine's Day," he retorted.

I had completely forgotten it was Valentine's Day. I guess since I celebrated on Wednesday I thought everyone else did too. And what was even better – my brother and Amy were going out together on Valentine's Day.

Amy came up behind me. She seemed a tad bit nervous like before.

I wasn't going to freak. I was going to let them go and do what they wanted without interfering.

"I'm ready," she said in a small voice.

They both threw a wave my way as I stood behind the glass door and watched them pull away. I felt Eric's arm come around my shoulder as he stood next to me. We both watched the car go down the street.

"They grow up so fast," he said, trying to seem all choked up.

I turned and punched him in the side before walking away.

"Well, we lasted about twenty seconds without any violence."
Chapter 14

The rest of the day was dismal. I cleaned just about every square inch of the house except for Eric's bedroom. He told me that he wasn't going to cook me dinner since I refused clean his room. After I cleaned I tried to do some homework, but couldn't concentrate with Eric's rock music blaring from the entertainment center. Eric annoyed me into playing cards with him and I won three out of five games of Go Fish. It was the only card game I knew how to play. Sitting there watching him play Go Fish was actually quite amusing. I didn't want to think about what my brother and Amy were doing. It was too creepy. Eric took advantage of this and would randomly comment on what he thought they were doing, which was definitely X rated. This led us to a mini argument that ended with Eric slamming the front door as he went outside to "separate himself from me".

"So tell me about you and Seth."

I had just walked in with the sandwich I had to make myself since no one would cook for me. "How about...no. I'd rather talk about my brother and Amy." I sat down on the other end of the couch and turned on the TV.

"Oh, come on. We live together. It's not like I don't hear what goes on in that room."

"First of all, we don't live together – I just stay here from time to time. Seth already asked me to move in and I said no."

He gave me a quizzical look. "Why? Isn't it like every girls dream to live with their boyfriend?"

"Not mine. I like things just the way they are. Serious, but not too serious." I kept my focus on the TV as I flipped through the channels. If we kept up with this conversation it would lead somewhere I didn't want to go.

"You're not one to tell your feelings are you?"

"Nope." I took a bite of my sandwich and smiled quirkily.

His voice lowered so I could barely hear it, "Do you think you'll ever stop hating me?"

The smile faded from my face as I looked down to my lap and then back to the TV. I really wasn't paying attention to what was on but I needed somewhere else to look. "Ask me some other time."

Eric didn't say anything and I didn't look at him to see his reaction. If I did it might make things worse.

About an hour later I was nodding off to sleep. We had been watching some baseball movie that was just as boring as the whole day. I had a dream my brother and Amy told me they were getting married and I was going to be the maid of honor. As I was getting ready to walk down the aisle in my horrible baby shit green dress, I was violently shaken awake. My eyes opened up and I saw a pair of wild green eyes staring at me.

"What the –"

Eric's hand went over my mouth. He held his finger against his lips to tell me to be quiet.

I was suddenly filled with fear. If Eric was acting this way then something had to be wrong. I sat up as his hand pulled away from my mouth and grabbed my arm to lead me back to the bedroom.

"What's going on?" We were in the dark and I could barely see him as he went to the window and looked out the blinds.

"They're here."

"Who's here?"

"Two men who work with Graham. One's out back and the other is right by the road." He turned around and I was pretty sure he was looking down at my sweatpants. "You need to change."

I went and blindly grabbed a pair of jeans and some tennis shoes before starting to pull off my sweatpants.

"Keep your back turned," I whispered.

He laughed and turned his gaze back out the window. I left my sweatshirt on as I changed. When I was done getting dressed I went up beside him and looked to where he was looking but didn't see anything.

"Where is he?"

"Next to that tree."

My eyes strained against the darkness but I still couldn't see anything. "What do you have night vision or something?"

"Yeah."

I looked back at him incredulously. I was actually kidding when I asked that. "You're joking, right?"

"No. You never noticed our eyes are a little different."

"Well, yeah, I noticed but I never knew you could see in the dark."

Why were we even having this conversation? There were two men outside who wanted to do us bodily harm and we were sitting here discussing his eyes.

I shook my head. "Never mind. What are we going to do?"

"Leave."

I leaned up from the window. "Just like that? Leave? Are they going to let us?"

"Only one way to find out." He grabbed my hand and headed out the room.

Oh God, we were going to get killed.

I grabbed my cell phone from the table and stood beside him at the door. My hand tightened around his instinctively. I was petrified.

Eric turned to me. "All we're going to do is walk out of here, get in the car, and leave. Just act normal."

I nodded nervously and headed out the house beside him. I tried to keep my gaze trained on the passenger door and nothing else. Eric walked me to the door and opened it for me to get in. I started to sit down when I was violently shoved in the car. It was so forceful that I almost made it to the driver seat but was stopped when my knee shoved painfully into the shifter. There was grunting from behind me. I heard the door slam shut. When I turned around I saw Eric on the other side of the window. Something was sticking out of his side. Something that looked like a knife.

I smashed my hand down on the lock of the door and looked back out the window to see a man was standing a little ways away from Eric. The man took a couple steps forward and then suddenly rushed at him. Before I could blink Eric reached in the back of his pants and pulled out a knife, shoving it repeatedly into the man's stomach. The man fell to the ground as Eric rushed around the hood of the car before getting in the driver seat. We flew out of the driveway, and just as we started down the street, I saw another man standing a ways away in the middle of the road. I started to wonder what we were going do when Eric gunned it, heading straight for the guy. My hands slapped over my eyes as I brought my knees up to my chest waiting for the impact. The car didn't slow down as a loud thumping beat against the hood. I heard the windshield crack. When I opened my eyes the car was speeding out of the development. I noticed a very tiny crack on the passenger side of the windshield. I looked in the side view mirror but didn't see any evidence of a man being run over.

Eric let out a shaky breath. I gasped seeing the knife still sticking out of his side.

"Pull it out," he said with gritted teeth.

I sat there and tried to comprehend what he was saying. He wanted me to pull a knife out of his side?

"Pull it out, Cam," he repeated.

Without thinking I reached forward and yanked it out. He sucked it a sharp breath through his teeth. I felt the car swerve a little bit. When I looked back to where the knife had been I saw a massive amount of blood starting to soak through his grey shirt. I pulled off my sweatshirt and lifted his shirt to put it against his side. Hopefully it would help stop the bleeding so he could heal.

"You don't have to do that," he said, keeping his eyes out the windshield.

"Either I do this or the whole interior of your car will be bloody."

The corner of his mouth turned up. "You got a good point."

"See, I'm good for something." I lifted the sweatshirt off to see if he was still bleeding. He was so I shoved it back on there.

Eric jerked away from me slightly. "Don't push so hard. It's still a little sore ya know."

"Sorry," I squealed.

My eyes went to the clock. It was after midnight. I remembered Amy wasn't at the house. She must still be with my brother. For a second I started to get mad, then quickly got over it. It was actually a good thing she wasn't at the house. If she was then I would have some major explaining to do, or worse, she might have gotten hurt. I looked at his side again. It wasn't bleeding anymore so I threw the sweatshirt on top of a duffle bag in the back. My phone was lying in the floor where it landed when Eric had pushed me in the car. I picked it up and dialed Amy's number. She didn't answer, which agitated me a little, so I called Lance instead. He didn't answer till almost the last ring.

"Hello?"

"Hey, is Amy still with you?"

He hesitated. "Yeah."

"I think she should stay with you tonight."

"Really?"

As much as it killed me to know they would be staying together, it was also the only way to keep her safe.

"It's past midnight. What would be the difference in her staying the night with you?" I sounded a little snippy but really didn't care.

"Alright, well I'll see you tomorrow then."

"Tell her to call me before you take her back to the house." I said the last part quick before he could hang up. He said he would and then I ended the call.

"Should I call Seth?" I asked.

"No, I'll call him when we figure out where we're going."

I set my phone in the cup holder and watched as we flew through the city.

"Why were they there?"

"They were there to watch you for Graham. It seems he has some sort of obsession with you. Seth thinks that maybe he was just trying to scare him into getting Stephan back faster when he said he would take you no matter what."

"But you think something else, don't you?" I asked, catching on slightly.

"I think that the obsession is serious and he wants you for the same reason Declan does."

I swallowed uncomfortably. "And that would be..."

"I don't know yet. Stephan works for Declan so Graham might know why Declan wants you."

"Wouldn't Graham tell you why?" I thought these two were friends and that Graham was the one telling Eric all the information on Declan.

"Not if he thinks he can get you all to himself and doesn't want me to know the reason. He probably thinks that by telling me that I'll want you too."

I looked back out the window. At least he was being honest about everything. This whole ordeal seemed to be getting worse. First I had Declan after me for lord knows what reason. And now I had Graham after me for the same exact reason. If I hadn't met Eric and Seth I had no idea where I would be right now.

I turned in my seat to face him. "Why are you protecting me? If it were me in your shoes I would care less what happened to me. You said so yourself last week, if you were Seth you would have let me go a long time ago."

His head shook a little. "I didn't mean what I said."

"Yes you did."

"I told you before...I don't date. What you all are going through right now is the exact reason why. In my opinion, Seth's being selfish staying with you. He won't let you go because he wants you with him and no one else. At the same time, having you with him isn't good. All it's going to do is hurt him."

I shook my head, "I knew that already. You're still not answering my question. Why are you helping me?"

He took a long time to answer. The whole time I just sat there and watched him, waiting.

"I'm not helping you. I'm helping Seth."

I nodded to myself and decided to accept his answer. Eric and I would never be real friends. I prayed for the day to come when he was no longer in my life. I sat there for what felt like forever just wishing my life were different in any kind of way. I wanted to have never gone to lunch that day with Lance and seen Eric on that crosswalk. I wish I never went to that party that night. I even wished I went with my second choice college, Old Dominion, and never came to BU. So many wishes I had...none of them would ever come true, though.

"Where are we going?" I asked. It had been about an hour and Eric hadn't talked to me since he basically told me he could care less what happened to me, he only cared about Seth.

"I don't know. I'm just driving."

I pointed my hands at the road dramatically. "Are you serious? How the hell are we going to get back if you're just driving off into nowhere?"

"I'll turn around at the next exit." I didn't like the tone in his voice. It was almost zombie like.

"What's the matter with you?"

"Nothing. Just call Seth and tell him what happened."

I kept my eyes on him as I grabbed my phone and dialed Seth's number. He answered almost immediately.

"Hey, is something wrong?"

I looked at the clock. It was almost three in the morning. "Yeah, they came to the house. Eric was stabbed again and now we're driving...to nowhere."

"You're okay though, right?"

"Yeah. Amy was with Lance so she wasn't there. But now I don't know where we're going."

"Let me talk to Eric," he said stressfully.

I tapped the phone on Eric's shoulder. He grabbed it all the while keeping his eyes on the road. I tried to listen to their conversation but there was no point. All he said was yeah and okay. When he was done he didn't even hand the phone back to me so I could talk to Seth. He just hung up and set it back in the cup holder.

I kept giving Eric sideways glances. He had barely moved an inch. Eventually, we pulled off an Exit into a gas station. Before I opened the door I held out my hand to him.

"What?" He was looking from my face to my hand, trying to understand what was going on.

"I need money. I'm hungry."

He hopped out of the car. "Do I look like an ATM?"

Well someone was in a shitty mood. I got out and walked around the car to the gas pump where Eric was sliding a credit card in and out of the machine.

I crossed my arms and leaned back against the hood of the car. "You know, I never thought I'd actually care if you were in a bad mood or not, but right now I'd really like you to get out of it."

"I'm not in a bad mood," he grumbled. "I just have a lot on my mind."

"Care to fill me in?"

He turned around and looked at me. It seemed like he was trying to look mad but wasn't doing a very good job of it. "It's none of your business."

"I would disagree with you, but I'm not too fond of getting left out in the middle of nowhere." I started to look around at my surroundings. The gas station was the only building for miles. It was just randomly placed right off the highway.

"You know I wouldn't leave you here," he mumbled.

I shook my head with a little humor. "I'm not too sure about that. I never thought you would let me starve to death, but look what you're doing right now."

He reached in his back pocket and rolled his eyes before throwing me his wallet. "Go. Eat."

I smiled and made my way in the store. After walking around a bit I picked up a bottle of water and some sort of pastry thing. They looked good so I grabbed four of them and a candy bar.

I opened Eric's wallet and pulled out a twenty to pay for everything. As the lady was getting my change I noticed Eric's license sitting there behind the little clear plastic film. I took a closer look and read his name. Eric Nathan Lawrence. I never knew what his last name was. Come to think of it, I didn't even know what Seth's last name was. That was just sad. I'd been dating him for over a month and didn't know his last name.

I took my change and headed back out to the car. Eric was sitting there waiting for me while looking a tad bit irritated. I handed him his wallet as he pulled out of the gas station and headed back in the direction we came from.

"What's Seth's last name?" I blurted out.

His irritation went away and he finally smiled. "You don't know your own boyfriend's last name?"

"Shut up. Just tell me what it is Eric Lawrence."

He laughed again, "I see someone went snooping in my wallet. Did you find my big wad of condoms too?"

"Must have missed those," I said with a smirk. "Really, what's his last name?"

"Donovan."

That sounded so...normal. Both their names sounded normal. I don't know what I was expecting. Something demonic like D' Angelo, or something strange like that.

"Is that good enough for you, Cameron Porter?"

I looked over at him. "How do you know my last name? I never told it to you before."

"We go to school together. It's pretty easy to know someone's whole name." He paused, cocking his head to the side. "Well, I guess it's not that easy for you. You didn't even know the last name of the guy you're sleeping with."

I slapped my hand to my mouth in shock. "Oh my God! That's horrible. I didn't look at it that way."

"It's not that bad. I was just joking."

"Maybe it's not that bad for you because you've slept with about fifty people."

This was just sad. How could I sleep with him and not even know his last name? I wasn't a slut or anything. I had only slept with two other people besides him.

"Seriously, Cam, it's not that bad. It's not like you slept with him and never talked to him again. You all are together so it doesn't count. And by the way, I have not slept with fifty people. It's fewer than twenty, just so you know."

I laughed. "What, nineteen?"

"No, less than that."

I tried to think of another number but realized I shouldn't care how many people he's slept with. It was none of my business.

I changed the subject to something more down to earth. "So what's your major?"

This was something I was actually interested in knowing. Eric wasn't someone I imagined going to college.

"You really want to know?"

I turned in my seat to face him again. "Yes, I really want to know."

"Philosophy and Psychology."

I didn't mean to laugh but it just came out. "Are you serious?"

"What? I'm smart."

My laugh had subsided and I tried to be serious. It was a little hard though. "So you transferred here?"

"Yeah. It's hard for me to go to school. With everything I do, I can never actually finish a semester. I've gone to three schools in the past five years."

It was a little shocking to find out he actually tried to go to school and be a little bit normal. There wasn't much else I could say on the subject and it didn't feel right to pick at him about it.

"So what did Seth say on the phone?"

"He's on his way back. Should be here tomorrow morning. What times does your friend leave tomorrow?"

"Eleven. And don't say 'your friend'. You slept with her, or don't you remember? She has a name. Amy. Though you probably don't know her last name."

He threw me a grin as he reached forward and turned up the radio. At least he wasn't in a shitty mood anymore.

One boring car ride and three hours later, we were back in Boston. I slept the last hour and woke up to Eric shaking me. When I opened my eyes I was yet again staring into his green eyes above me. He stepped back, standing outside the passenger door waiting on me. I sat up and expected to be at the house, but found myself sitting in the parking lot of my dorm.

"Why are we here?"

"It's better than sitting at the house waiting for them to show up. At least here we're around people."

I slunk bank in the seat trying to hide. "What if Graham's in there with Ashley?"

"He's not here."

I squinted my eyes and looked at him questionably. "How do you know that?"

"Will you just come on?" He pointed for me to get out of the car.

I grudgingly stepped out and snatched up my cell phone. This was one of those times I was sketchy about Eric. He was so secretive and knew things that I wouldn't think he would know. The other night when we saw Graham he went up to him and talked to him almost friendly-like. I was so mad at him that night for yet again leaving me alone that I never got to ask him what it was all about.

"What did you say to Graham the other night when we were at the park?"

We were walking up the steps to my floor. He rubbed the back of his head at my question. His eyes were a little bit dark, probably from the lack of sleep.

"Nothing. I just told him he needed to back off your brother and that he had nothing to do with this."

"And he just listened?"

"Yeah."

For some reason, I didn't trust him. A part of me thought it was ridiculous to think that he would lie to me, but at the same time it was so obvious he would. Maybe I was being blind and didn't want to think that he would betray me. There were so many reasons he would and so many reasons I should think so.

He didn't think Seth and I should be together and what if he did know the reason why Declan wanted me and that reason made him want me for himself. What would make him any different than Graham or Declan? Then there were the things he had done to make me think he wasn't so honest. One, he was friends with Graham. Two, the other night he was arguing with that other demon and wouldn't tell me what it was about. Ugh, there's too much going on in my brain and I can't handle it all.

"What's going on in that head of yours?" Eric asked as we came to a stop at my door.

"Nothing." I searched my pockets for my keys and then realized I didn't have them. The only thing I had was my cell. "I don't have my keys," I told him.

He reached in his pocket and pulled out a set of keys. The diamond Versace key chain dangling down from it told me they were mine. I have no idea how he had them but I just added it to my list of reasons not to trust him.

"I grabbed them before we left," he explained.

I snatched them up without commenting and unlocked the door. As Eric predicted, there wasn't anyone here. I hadn't talked to Ashley and it made me wonder what Graham was doing with her.

The clock on top the fridge between our beds showed it was almost seven in the morning. I was beat but was scared to go to sleep. Eric took a seat in my cushion chair in the corner and leaned back, rubbing his hands down his face. I watched him as I took off my shoes and sat down in my bed with my back against the wall.

"What are we going to do?"

"Stay here for a few more hours and then go back to the house. Seth should be back early in the morning. I don't know what we're going to do tonight. I'll have to think of something. I'd rather not stay at the house until Seth gets back."

I nodded, looking down at my hands. Seth was off trying to make things better – but I don't know if they would ever be that way. Eric said he didn't think Graham was going to leave me alone either way. This all started because Seth took Stephen. If he wouldn't have taken him then Graham would never have seen me. I wasn't going to blame Seth, though. He only did what he was told. But who told him to do it was another question. I had never asked them who it was they worked for. All I got out of it was it was someone very powerful.

Maybe now was a good time to ask. I didn't want to fall asleep and asking questions would be a good way to keep myself awake.

"Who do you work for?"

Eric looked at me a little perplexed. "What do you mean?"  
"You all told me that you work for someone. That's who you take orders from, right? Who is it?"

I could tell he was contemplating his answer carefully.

"His name is Xander. He's a demon. Declan's brother actually."

Hmm, that was interesting. "So, do they get along?"

He laughed, "No, they hate each other. It's more of a war than anything. A territory type thing. Every creature of the Underworld has to pick a side and Seth and I chose Xander."

I gulped to myself. "A war?"

"Yeah, it's been going on a couple hundred years. Probably longer. I'm not old enough to know why. Basically, it's just your good old family feud. Ridiculous if you ask me. But I'm just one demon stuck in the middle. My opinion doesn't matter."

"Can you ever get out?"

"It's not easy. You can try running, try to stay hidden...but something always finds you. A witch, werewolf, they're all out there and they won't hesitate to kill you when they find out what you are."

Oh God, I knew there were different things out there but I never knew what. Truthfully I didn't want to know. I'd rather be in and dark and not know what goes bump in the night.

"What makes Declan and Xander different than other demons?"

"They're old...like thousands of years old. And they come from hell. Seth and I were born on earth, but Declan and Xander were created in hell. They are the real deal. At one point they used to work together and built an army to take over the underworld. Then something happened and now they're at each other's throats."

Well that was more than I expected. It wasn't every day you were told that there were hellfire demons walking the earth at war with each other. I was still a little confused though, even after all the explaining.

"I thought when you died that you went to hell for good. How did they get here?"

"Earth bound demons go to hell when they die because we're tainted. A full blooded demon can come up from hell. I don't know how though. But Xander and Declan are the only two demons to ever come up from hell. That's what's so special about them."

Well, that's just great. Wonderful. I had one of the only two fully-fledged demons after me. I tried my best to shove that thought to the back of my head. There was one important question I had been thinking about a while, since I found out what they were.

I looked at him skeptically to see his expression when I asked. "How do you kill one of you?"

He did nothing but start laughing. "You think I'm going to tell you? The second I tell you you'll probably start hatching a plan to kill me."

I rolled my eyes, irritated. "I would never kill you. You should know that."

"That's the thing. I don't know that. I would like to hope you wouldn't. But then again, you hate me. Who's to say you don't hate me enough to kill me?"

This conversation was going nowhere. I leaned my head back against the wall and shut my eyes. Everything was so weird. I had no idea what I had to do with any of this but I was to the point where I wanted to know everything just to ease my mind and not question anything else in my life any more than I already had.

It felt like no time had passed when I snapped my eyes open instantly. Did I fall asleep? The room was brighter. I looked at the clock. It was ten thirty. I quickly sat up and looked around. Eric was passed out in the chair with his arm over his eyes. I got up and headed to my closet grabbing a pair of jeans, some boots, and a long sleeve shirt. I wasn't in a good mood already. My head had started to hurt again and it was making me feel evil. I needed coffee.

After I got dressed I picked up a book and threw it at Eric. He automatically jumped up out of the chair and drew his fist back. I reflexively put my arms over my face and almost fell back on the bed. I was waiting for the impact of his fist on my head when I felt his hands gently grab my wrist.

"Sorry. You scared me." He pulled my hands from my face and I looked at him wearily. His eyes looked sad and tired. When I realized he wasn't going to hit me I pushed him back with all the force I had.

"Scared you? What the hell is wrong with you? You tried to hit me!"

He rubbed his chest where I had just pushed him. Like it really hurt. Who was he kidding?

"I wasn't going to hit you. It was just a reaction. Can you blame me?"

"Whatever. Let's just go. I don't want to be here anymore." I grabbed my phone and headed for the door. Another reason I was pissed was the fact that I didn't have my tooth brush. Nothing was more irritating that not being able to brush your teeth.

Eric still had a huge dried up blood stain on his shirt. When we got to the car he went in the trunk and pulled out a red and white sweatshirt. We went for me to get coffee and some Advil to fight the blaring headache I was starting to get. As soon as we got back to the house I plopped on the couch, falling into a deep sleep.

There was so much noise that it was invading my dreams. I felt like I was at a rock concert. My eyes slowly pried open but kept falling shut as if wanting me to go back to sleep. After about ten more minutes I sat up and looked behind the couch. Eric, Amy, and Lance were sitting at the table playing cards.

Seriously? I thought cards was supposed to be a silent game. I got up and ran my fingers through my hair as I made my way to the table.

Lance looked up at me with a smile. "There you are. Sleep well?"

"No," I sat down and leaned my head on my arm. "What are you all doing? Starting a heavy metal rock band?"

He held up his hand, which was full of cards. "Texas Hold Em. Want me to deal you in?"

Eric started laughing. "Her expertise don't go past Go Fish. Trust me, I played about fifty times yesterday."

"Yeah, well I beat you almost every time," I mumbled.

They continued their game. I felt like I was going to fall asleep again but Eric nudged my arm causing me to come back to reality.

"You okay?"

"My head still hurts."

"You want to eat?" he actually seemed a little worried.

Amy looked up from her cards with wild eyes. "You can't eat now. We're getting ready to go out to dinner soon."

"We are?" I looked back at Eric who didn't look worried anymore. His face was quite blank actually.

"Yeah, we're going to eat and then we're going out for a while."

"Isn't out to eat considered out?" I asked with my eyebrow cocked.

"Come on, Cam. Don't be so grouchy. It'll be fun. It's my last night." She pouted her lip and leaned forward on the table.

Oh lord, just shoot me now.

"Fine. But I'm not staying out late."

Amy started clapping excitedly as I leaned my head back down and shut my eyes. I was tired of going out every weekend. Couldn't there just be one weekend where we stayed home in silence and no one tried to kill us?

I opened my eyes back up. Eric was staring down at me. He looked away as soon as I saw him and went back to his hand of cards.

Hours went by and eventually I took a shower and slowly started to get ready. I didn't want to be out late, but at the same time I didn't know what we were going to do about staying here tonight.

I guess I was really slow because when I got to the living room they were all out there ready and waiting for me. I made my way over to Eric. "When is Seth going to be back?"

"Probably around five in the morning or something like that." He placed his hand on my lower back, pulling me slightly to him. "Do you feel any better?"

I hated to admit it, but feeling his mouth that close to my neck sent a warm shiver through my body. I ignored it and responded, "Not really. Why is it taking him so long?"

He shrugged and went to follow Amy and Lance out the door. We agreed to drive separately. Eric and I went in his car and Amy and Lance went in Lance's Yukon.

"You seem to be taking Lance and Amy getting close a little better."

My head was leaning on the cool window with my eyes shut. "I have bigger things to worry about. Like my head exploding."

If my head wasn't hurting so bad then yeah, I might be a little irritated by their closeness. But right now I was more focused on my head.

Eventually, we made it to the restaurant. My head hurt so bad I could barely eat anything and all I drank was water. Unfortunately, the night wasn't over and we had to go to some bar afterwards. There were a ton of people here and I could barely even think. I tried hard to make it look like I was having a good time. When people were talking to me I had to struggle to listen.

Over an hour later, I was standing at the bar holding onto the same drink I had ordered when I first got here. Eric was beside me talking to someone but I wasn't paying attention to whom or what they were talking about.

There was a huge bright light by the small stage. My eyes caught it. For some reason it seemed to be getting dimmer and then brighter simultaneously. A small buzzing noise started in my head. It felt like my headache was getting more intense. I grabbed Eric's arm as my head started to sway. He slowly turned around to look at me.

"Eric, I think something's wrong." My eyes were still focused on the stage light. The buzzing sound in my head made my voice sound very far away.

"What do you mean?"

"My head...it hurts really bad." I blinked and it caused a shooting pain through my skull. My hand tightened on Eric arm. I dropped my drink as I went to clutch my head with my other hand. The glass shattered on the floor and I cringed at the ear slitting noise it made. It sounded like nails running down a chalkboard in my head. It was horrible.

Eric's arm tightened around my waist as he brought his other hand up to the side of my face. His warm touch made my face flush.

"Cam, look at me."

I opened my eyes. His face started to go in and out of my vision. Everything started to get blurry. And then I blacked out.
Chapter 15

My eyes hurt and I was really hot. I felt sweat all over my body. It was like I was suffocating. I opened my eyes, my head turning to the side. Straight ahead there was a big screen TV inside an entertainment center. That's when I realized I was in the living room at Seth and Eric's house.

I tried to get up. As I pushed my hand underneath me I realized there was a leg beneath me. When I looked up I saw Eric passed out. He was sitting on the couch and my head had been lying in his lap with his arm draped across my back. This must have been why I was sweating.

My mind was completely confused. I was getting ready to poke him in the side but then remembered what happened the last time I abruptly woke him up.

I stood up, grabbed the remote, and took a few steps back so I wouldn't be close enough for him to hit. I threw the remote in his lap and he shot up.

"Why was my head in your lap?" I asked while eying him suspiciously.

He blinked a few times and shrugged. "I didn't put it there. I was just sitting next to you making sure you were alright. You must have moved it there while you were sleeping."

I let it go and started on a more pressing matter. "What happened?"

"I don't know. When I told you to look at me your pupils started dilating and then you fainted."

My eyes were still a little sore so I shut them for a second.

"You must be really stressed out or something."

I started rubbing my temples. "Maybe." I really was stressed out lately. Between all the new drama in my life and graduating from college, I had a lot on my mind.

"What time is it?"

He pulled out his phone and lit it up. "A little after three in the morning." His eyes came slowly up to mine. "Do you feel better now?"

"Yeah. Have you talked to Seth?"

He nodded, "He'll be home in about an hour."

"What about Amy and Lance?"

The second I asked this question the front door opened and both Amy and Lance stumbled in. Her brown eyes were glassy and Lance looked like he could barely stand up. Thankfully they made it home in one piece. I was going to have to have a talk with Lance about drinking and driving when he sobered up.

Amy came unsteadily forward and touched my hair lightly. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, just stressed out. I'm all good now." I brushed it off like it was nothing and looked over at Lance, who was now in the kitchen holding himself up by the fridge.

"What's up, Lance? You feeling okay?"

He looked up slowly. "Oh, yeah. Awesome. Do you think I can stay here tonight?"

"Yeah." I looked back at Eric who had a questionable expression on his face. I couldn't read it and didn't know if I should have told Lance he could stay here or not. Even if it wasn't okay, I really didn't care. I wasn't going to let him drive. I'd rather him be here with me and maybe get attacked, rather than attempt to drive home and kill himself in a car accident.

The next hour was hilarious. Amy and Lance were so drunk they could barely hold a real conversation. Lance ended up getting sick in the sink and passing out on the kitchen table while Amy passed out on the couch.

After making sure they were both still breathing, I started towards the bedroom. As soon as I reached the hall the front door swung open and Seth stepped through. I was suddenly wide awake and let out a squeal as I ran up to him. I almost jumped on him as I wrapped my arms around him and squeezed his warm, buff body.

Before I let go of him I opened my eyes to see a very tall and skinny older man standing on the steps.

"Seth? Who is that?" I pulled away from him as he turned around to look at the man.

"Cam, this is Stephan. Stephan, this is Cam." He introduced us both and then looked at me hesitantly.

My heart started to race but not in a good way. Stephan? The Stephan he was supposed to take back to Graham? I so didn't need another headache right now.

"And he's here because...?" I braced myself for the answer to my question. I had a very strong feeling I wasn't going to like it.

"Seth, what's going on?" Eric had walked in from the kitchen. He looked at Seth like he was just as confused as I was.

Seth looked between the two of us before his eyes landed back on me. "Stephan is going to stay with us for a little while."

My eyes widened as I felt my pulse jump in my throat. "Um, no he's not. I have a friend visiting and a wasted brother to deal with. I don't have the stress level right now to play house with an Amethyst."

"Alchemist," Stephan corrected.

I looked back at him sharply. "Oh, whatever. Besides, you're supposed to go back with Graham."

My attention went to Seth, who was now looking away from me.

"He is going back to Graham... isn't he?"

"He doesn't want to," he mumbled.

"What the hell does that mean?" Eric yelled from behind me.

Seth snapped his head towards him. His eyes went brilliantly blue. "Exactly what I said. He. Doesn't. Want. To. Go. Back."

Eric made his way up beside me. He crossed his arms, making him look a lot taller. "Why the hell not?"

"Apparently he knew what was going to happen and let me kidnap him. When I went back to get him he was there with Xander. They had both planned it."

My attention went to Stephan. "Are you serious? Do you have any idea the amount of trouble you're causing me just because you wanted to switch sides?"

I felt Seth's hand squeeze on my arm. "How do you know about that?"

"Eric told me what was going on...somewhat." I looked back at Stephan and pointed my finger at him. "You are going to fix this right now. I mean it. Go to Graham and tell him to leave me alone. He's your assistant...or your secretary or something. He'll listen to you."

Seth squeezed on me again, this time trying to comfort me. "Cam, are you okay?"

Something in me was going off. My rage was building up and I couldn't take what was going on in my life anymore. I turned back to Seth and started shouting at him. "You were supposed to make my life easier, not harder!"

I didn't stop there as I turned to Eric next. "And you, you're the reason I'm even dealing with this shit to begin with!"

"What the hell did I do?" he yelled back, pointing at himself.

"Everything!" I shouted.

I didn't give any of them a chance to respond as I turned and made my way down the hall. When I got to the room I slammed the door shut and threw myself on the bed. I regretted everything I had just said. There was so much going on it was causing me to go insane and say things I shouldn't.

Seth came in like I knew he would and eyed me warily. I slid up the bed and sat up with my back against the headboard. If he was mad at me he had every right to be. What I said was wrong and he didn't deserve the way I was acting towards him.

The bed sank down as he sat in front of me and let out a heavy sigh.

"Do you feel better now?"

"No," I shook my head and looked down at my knees. "I'm sorry I said that. I didn't mean it. I was just mad."

"I know. You've been stressed. Eric told me you passed out."

"That's not an excuse, though. I shouldn't have said you made my life harder. If anything, you make my life easier. I don't think you realize how much easier you make it."

I looked back up at him. He was still watching me but not as intently as he was before. His eyes had softened up a little and he leaned forward, spreading my knees apart to lie between them. As his face got closer my heart rate sped up.

"It's fine. I'm not mad. You're allowed to have a little rant every now and then."

His warm hand brushed the side of my face as grasped the side of my neck. "Now kiss me because I haven't seen you in days."

A smile slowly crept to my mouth as I went forward. I felt better already the second he started to kiss me. I sat up and pushed him down on the bed before crawling on top of him. His hands grabbed at my waist to hold me tight to him. I was just getting ready to lift off my shirt when there was a knock at the door and a voice called out Seth's name.

I looked down at him as he let out a long breath and rubbed his forehead. "Stephan."

"I have a feeling he's going to get on my nerves," I told him.

"He's not that bad."

I rolled off him and lie on my back. "That's the same thing you said about Eric and look how much I can't stand him."

Seth got out of the bed and started towards the door. "Stephan is different. He really is a nice guy. He just got wrapped up in the wrong thing because of what he is."

The door swung open and there stood my new roomy. He was very skinny and very, very tall. Like, jolly green giant tall. There was barely any hair on top of his head but I could see a few wisps of bright red hair. For some reason I felt like he should be wearing glasses. Low and behold, he pulled a pair out of his front pocket and slid them up his nose.

"Seth, can I talk to you for a minute?" His tone was so proper and well put together.

I got off the bed. "I'll go out to the living room so you all can talk."

I didn't understand what they would need to talk about. They had been in a car together for a couple hours. Didn't they talk on their little road trip?

I made my way down the hall and out into the living room. Amy was still sprawled out on the couch and Lance's whole body was now on the kitchen table. There really wasn't anywhere for me to go. The front door was still open. Through the glass door I saw Eric sitting outside on the porch, smoking a cigarette. Hopefully he wasn't mad at me too. Then again, I really shouldn't care.

I stepped outside and sat down next to him on the steps. "Why do you smoke?" I asked randomly.

I had smoked a few times in high school and maybe a couple times in college. It was only if I was drinking and I always took one from someone else. I've never in my life bought a pack of cigarettes. I actually thought it was quite disgusting and didn't know why I even did it on the rare occasions I had.

"Truthfully," he held the cigarette out in front of his face and studied it. "I hate it. I've quit about fifty times but always seem to end up smoking again." He took another drag of if before staring out into the dark. The sun was coming up a little and you could faintly see the pink light above the trees.

"If you hate something then don't you think you should stay away from it?"

I felt his eyes come my way. I shut mine. Why did I say that? Of all the things I could have said, I said the one thing I shouldn't have.

He laughed humorlessly. "You know what, you're right." The cigarette flicked from his finger and into the lawn, orange embers flying everywhere. "I quit." He stood up in front of me, his eyes staring a hold right through me. "Maybe you should take your own advice and stay away from things you hate too."

As soon as the words were out of his mouth he took off inside. I wasn't going to apologize to him for what I said earlier or what I said just now. Things would be better if he started to hate me just like I hated him.

The next morning I woke up feeling better than I did the night before. Seth being back had a lot to do with that and I hoped he wasn't planning on having to go away again anytime soon.

After brushing my teeth I came out to the commotional kitchen. Seth was against the counter watching Eric and Lance argue over cooking. Like me, Lance had no idea how to cook, so I didn't know why he felt the need to put his two cents in. Eric looked like he was about ready to whack Lance upside the head but Lance didn't back down, even with the look Eric was giving him. He knew Eric wouldn't touch him.

Seth was bouncing with laughter. His eyes lit up when he saw me walk in. He pushed himself off the counter and came over, giving me a quick kiss. My eyes went over to the table where Amy and Stephen were having what looked like a friendly conversation. I was a little uneasy at seeing this. Seth said Stephan was an alright guy, but until he proved it to me I wasn't going to let my guard down around him.

I decided to go over and sit down next to them. "What are you all talking about?" I asked moving my eyes between them.

"Stephan was just telling me about his job. I didn't know that Seth worked with scientists."

I looked at Stephan with a forceful smile. Was he trying to make my brain hurt? How was I supposed to come up with a lie to go along with this?

"He works with all kinds of people," I said, trying like hell to survive this conversation.

Luckily, she changed the subject and I was let off the hook.

"So do you think you all are going to come back to Maine for Spring Break?" she asked.

This topic was just as horrid.

"Maybe. I'm not sure yet. Lance probably will but where I graduate in May I have to really concentrate on school."

"Oh, well are you going to come home this summer?"

I shook my head. "No, I think I'm just going to stay here till I figure out what I'm gonna do."

She laughed a little. "You're going to live here with Seth and Eric?"

The way she said it made me cringe inside. "I guess you could say that," I muttered just loud enough for her to hear.

She gave me a strange look that I didn't understand. The conversation ended as everyone else sat down and started to eat. As I looked around I realized we were a strange group sitting here around the table. There were two clueless humans who didn't have a care in the world; an alchemist who was in between two sides of war and didn't know which way to turn; two demons...one who was fighting like hell to make sure our lives were normal, and the other who could care less what happened. Then there was me. I was caught between the human world and the underworld not knowing what to do or who to trust. I think I was worse off than any of these people sitting here.

Amy spoke up, bringing my attention to her. "We have to get ready and go. My flight leaves at eleven."

"Alright well –"

"Why don't you get Lance to take you to the airport?" Seth asked from beside me.

I move my gaze over to him and tried to tell him with my eyes that I didn't think it was a good idea. He just ignored me and kept looking between Lance and Amy, waiting for their answer.

"I can take her. It's no problem."

I clenched my teeth and smiled. "Okay then, that's settled."

Seth's hand went to my thigh and squeezed it. I smacked his hand away but he just put it back on there like it didn't faze him.

A little while later Amy and Lance left for the airport. I was a little sad to see her go but it was a relief not having to hide anything and try to keep her out of the house.

Seth and Eric were in the kitchen discussing something to do with Graham so I walked out back to the deck. I really didn't feel like listening about the guy who wanted to kidnap me.

When I slid the glass door closed I turned around to see Stephan leaning over the railing looking out into the tree infested back yard.

I leaned against the railing beside him. "Having fun yet?"

"Life is never fun," he said humorlessly.

I cut my eyes at him and watched him skeptically. When he didn't clarify, I asked, "What do you mean?"

"Life is about decisions. Some decisions are hard to make." I kept quiet as his he turned to face at me. "But you know all about that. Don't you?"

I bit my lip as my heart started to race. "I don't know what you're talking about."

He let out a small chuckle before looking back towards the woods. I didn't know why he was saying this or how he even knew something so secretive, but I wanted him to stop.

"Why did you go to the good side?" I asked, trying to hide the fact that he had bothered me.

"There is no good side. There is only survival. We're all monsters just trying to survive. Sometimes you need to change things up a bit just to make it to the next day."

"So that's why you switched sides? To survive?"

"Something like that," he answered wryly. "Things were no longer in my favor working for Declan. I had to get out. Now I can't turn back no matter what."

"But you're here now," I pointed out.

"Only because it's my fault Graham is after you. It was planned for me to go to Xander's side. Seth is the one who came to get me and because of that, you are in danger."

Well I guess that was nice of him. He could have just stayed hidden with Xander and let Graham take me. Maybe he wasn't so bad after all. He had remorse.

"Do you know why Declan wants me?"

He shook his head. "I don't. Graham doesn't know either."

I looked at him, slightly taken back. "What? I thought –"

"He doesn't know why Declan wants you, but he doesn't care. He thinks he can figure it out on his own and keep you for himself. He always has been a little eccentric and self-centered."

Hearing this information did nothing but leave me confuse and frightened. Graham really must be crazy to come after me without knowing what was so special about me. For all he knew, I could just be a love interest of Declan's. Though I highly doubted that seeing as I've never met him.

"Cam?"

I turned around. Seth was standing at the open sliding door. He cocked his head for me to come in. I gave Stephan a small smile before heading into the house. Eric was waiting at the kitchen table. I take it I was supposed to sit down and join their conversation.

"What's going on?" I asked.

Seth sat down between me and Eric. "We just wanted to go over a few things with you."

I waited for either one of them to get the conversation started.

"Stephan and I are going to find Graham tomorrow. You're going to go to school like you normally do and hopefully everything will be over and done with by tomorrow night."

I looked to them both skeptically. "What are you going to do to him exactly?"

"Kill him," Eric answered.

"You're going to kill him?" There was a tiny squeal hidden in there somewhere.

Eric rolled his eyes. "He's been trying to get you for weeks to do God knows what with. Are you telling me you really care what happens to him?"

"No, but...just shut up. I don't need your opinion. Do whatever you want with him." I stood up and started down the hall. I heard Seth snap something at Eric but didn't stop to listen to what it was. It's not that I really cared if they killed Graham. They could kill him in the most painful way possible for all I cared. If he got a hold of me it's not like he would give me any mercy. The way they talked about killing someone was just cold. Like they didn't care.

As long as I no longer had Graham coming after me I would be happy. Hopefully after tomorrow it would all be over and I would only have to worry about one person. Declan.

Unfortunately, he was the worse of the two.
Chapter 16

The next morning I got up early to get ready for school. Seth got up with me and was acting a little strange. Then again, I might just be paranoid because of what was on his itinerary for the day. I was worried too, but at the same time, I couldn't help but feel a tab bit of relief. After today one of my problems would be over with. Dead to be exact.

I had just zipped up my boots and stood up to grab my bag when Seth snatched me around the middle and pulled me back to bed.

His hand came up, brushing the hair from my eyes. "You be careful today. I don't know if Graham has people watching you or not so I want you to listen to everything Eric says."

"Yes, sir." I gave him a tiny salute.

His eyes turned stern. "I'm serious. Don't argue with him about anything. At least for today."

"Kiss me and I'll do whatever you want."

He finally grinned before lowering his mouth on mine. "Whatever I want?"

"Don't get kinky," I laughed.

I shut my eyes as his mouth went down my neck. I felt his tongue trace lightly on my skin. An unsteady breath escaped my mouth as he reached the sensitive spot behind my ear. I was about to explode. His hand moved down to the top of my jeans before slipping a hand inside. I sucked in a sharp breath as his hand explored me.

"Are you going to be good today?"

I groaned. I would do anything he wanted as long as he kept touching me.

There was a knock on the door and Seth leapt off of me. I let out a pissed off groan and got up beside him. I could never catch a break.

Seth swung open the door to show a very somber looking Stephan. This guy interrupted everything. At least Eric knew when to leave us alone.

"We need to get going," he said. "It will take a while to find him."

Seth nodded as Stephan walked away. I came up beside him planting a kiss on his cheek. "I guess I'll see you later."

"Okay. Don't forget what I said," he reminded me.

"Yeah, yeah." I would be much more indulgent if he would have at least finished what he started earlier. Now I was going to be left all hot and bothered for the rest of the day.

We made our way out to the living room. Seth went out the front door with Stephan and I was alone again. This was the first time he had left me since he got back.

"You ready for school?" Eric asked, coming from the hall.

I grabbed up my bag as I passed him. "I guess."

I heard him behind me as we walked out to the car. "You don't need to worry about anything. They can handle him. It should be over with quick."

I slid in the car and shut the door as he got in the drive side. "Why don't I feel comforted by hearing you say that?"

"Fine, I'll just shut up for the rest of the day," he spat out.

Well, today was starting out just wonderfully. I leaned back in the seat and rolled my eyes. "Fine by me."

Like he promised, Eric didn't talk the rest of the ride. When I saw him sometimes between classes he still didn't speak to me. We ate lunch with Lance, who happened to be in an extra chipper mood. I think this had something to do with Amy but was secretly hoping it wasn't.

"So how are things?" Lance asked us both.

"Good I guess," Eric answered.

Lance looked to me and I shrugged. "Sure, everything's fine."

"Are you ready for graduation?"

"Yeah. I still don't know what I'm going to do afterwards but I'll figure something out."

His eyes searched me suspiciously. "Amy said you were moving in with Seth and Eric this summer?"

"Yeah, I was planning on it."

Eric let out a laugh beside me. My eyebrow cocked questionably as I turned to look at him. "What's so funny?"

He shook his head comically. "Nothing. I just remember you saying you didn't want to move in."

"Yeah, well I told Seth I would until I figured out what I wanted to do. Why do you care anyway?"

"I don't. Just forget I even said anything."

I did exactly what he said and brought my attention back to Lance. "I'd hate to cut this short but I need to run by the dorm before my next class. I'll see you later on."

"Alright," he stood up and threw us both a wave before heading out of the campus café.

We silently made our way to my dorm. Well, it was silent most of the way. Eric finally spoke after hours of ignoring me – not counting his little snide comment at lunch.

"So you're really going to move in this summer?"

I looked back at him. He had his hands in his pockets with his head down as he followed me up the stairs.

"Just for the summer."

I made my way down the hall and to my door before unlocking it. Ashley was here, standing in the middle of the room zipping up her backpack.

"Hey, you," I said excitedly. I hadn't seen her since the other night and it actually made me feel bad that I wasn't here as much. It was also a relief just to see she was alive.

"Hi," she replied. She seemed like she was off in another universe. And very calm. Too calm. It reminded me of the night at the bar when she was with Graham.

"Are you okay?" I asked a little skeptically.

"I have to go." She rushed out the room quickly. I noticed what looked like white paint on her hands as she passed by. Maybe she was doing something for her art class that involved paint. That was the only explanation I could think of.

When the door finally closed I looked over at Eric. "He's doing something to her. Will it stop when he's dead?"

"Yeah, she'll be alright. He's probably been slipping her something. They have all kinds of elixir's and stuff that do different things. I don't know much about it. It's very complicated."

I listened as I roamed around my room. Every chance I got I would come and get more stuff. The more I took each time I came the less I would have to take when the day would come that I actually moved in with them.

I had a backpack full of stuff and Eric picked it up by the top loop to carry it for me.

"I'm surprised you're letting me carry something for you. Usually you beat me a couple times before you give in."

I turned around and whacked him on the arm. "There. Happy?"

He grinned and shook his head as I opened the door and made my way out of the room. I faintly heard him mutter something behind me and turned back around in the middle of the hall about to ask him what he said.

He was still standing in the room looking at the doorway with a confused expression on his face.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"I can't get out of the room."

"What do mean you can't get out of the room?" This had to be a joke. He was dumb if he thought I would fall for something like that.

I saw him try to take a step forward but it was like there was an invisible wall keeping him inside. I started to say something but stopped when I saw symbols drawn all over the outside of the door in white paint. The whole outside frame of the door was thickly outlined in the same paint. It looked like the paint I had seen on Ashley's hands.

"What is that?"

Eric's gaze went to the door making their way all around the door jam. His eyes seemed to get greener as they slowly came back to me.

"Run!"

"Run?" I repeated stupidly.

He tossed his keys over the threshold of the door. "They're here! Go!"

"What about you?"

"Just listen to me! Go!"

As hard as I was for me to do, I turned around and ran down the hall. Just as I was about to hit the stairs I heard Eric yell again.

"Run, Cam!"

I turned around for a split second to see Graham coming down the hall at a slow pace. My feet started rushing down the steps. I jumped the last two trying to get away as fast as I could. I finally made it to the exit and ran out the front doors of the building.

As I was running across the lawn I felt my phone buzzing in my back pocket. I reached around to pull it out and saw it was a number I didn't know. I wasn't going to answer at first but then decided to. My legs kept on running as I put my phone to my ear.

"Hello?" I was out of breath and sounded exasperated.

It was Eric. "Cam? Where are you?"

"Almost to the parking lot."

"Where's Graham?"

I didn't want to look behind me because I might fall, or even worse, he might be right on my heels.

"I don't know."

"Get in the car and drive. Keep driving and don't stop the car for anything."

I had almost made it to the car and was close enough to hit the unlock button on the key chain.

"What are – "

I never got to finish what I was going to ask him because something slammed into the side of me and I hit the pavement hard. The back of my head smacked the ground sending a shooting pain through my head. My knee, which had tried to break my fall, felt like it was going to have a huge bruise, or worse.

When I opened my eyes it felt like they were shaking inside my head. Something weighed down heavily on my body and I realized there was a man lying on top of me. He grabbed my wrists and started to get up, all the while pulling me with him.

I was still out of it and wasn't able to attempt to fight him off. My phone lying by the tire of the Mustang and I noticed it was still lit up. The call to Eric was still connected.

"Eric!" I screamed his name hoping he could hear me. I knew there wasn't anything he could do but I still tried.

A hand went around my waist and I was lifted off my feet. The sound of tires squealing met my ears and I felt myself being lifted further in the air. When I finally got a good look I realized I was being put in the trunk of a car. I gazed above me and saw Graham step up beside the blonde headed, very butch, man who had tackled me. The last thing I saw was Graham smiling. Then the trunk slammed shut and I was in the dark.

I started pounding my fist against the roof of the trunk and screaming at the top of my lungs hoping someone would hear me. It was no use though. The car jerked forward and I knew we were moving. There was no way anyone would be able to stop him now. My hand hurt from hitting it repeatedly on the inside of the hood. I clutched it to my chest and hoped it would stop throbbing soon.

This was unbelievable. I couldn't wrap my head around the fact I was in a trunk and Graham had gotten me. I had no idea what to do or think. In just a few minutes I was put in the worst situation ever. A million thoughts went through my head, wondering what he was going to do with me. Was he going to slip me something to make me like Ashley?

After a while I was starting to panic even more. It was hot and I felt like I couldn't breathe. My hands had started to shake and my legs were having spasms from being cramped up for too long. Thoughts of me suffocating were starting to rush through my mind when the trunk suddenly popped open and cool air swept over me. The sun was bright and my eyes weren't adjusted to it from being held in the dark for so long. I brought my arm up to shield my face as a pair of hands grabbed at my wrists and pulled me out from the trunk forcefully. I finally pried my eyes open and saw the same blonde man who had stuffed me in the trunk. He shoved me to the side of the car and someone else grabbed me. It was Graham.

He smiled, "I told you that you'd be with me again one day."

"You're pathetic," I spat back at him.

"I'll grow on you. We're going to be together a very long time." He pulled at my arm and led me into a huge warehouse out in the middle of nowhere. I didn't get a good look at my surroundings because his words were running through my mind about a thousand times. We're going to be together a long time. For some reason it scared me to death.

When I looked inside of the warehouse my fear was tripled. There was nothing inside but a small airplane.

"Where are we going?" I asked with wide eyes.

"You'll see when we get there."

I dug my nails into his hand and pushed it away. "I'm not going anywhere with you!"

When I turned around, I smacked right into the tall blonde's chest. He spun me around to face Graham again, who got right up to my face. "You're going to shut up and do what I tell you."

"You don't even know what I am! Are you really that desperate?"

My arms strained against the man's grip. Before I knew it, Graham backhanded me causing my cheek to throb and burn.

"If your boyfriend would have left well enough alone then you wouldn't be here right now! I never would have known who you were if he wouldn't have taken Stephan. So if you want someone to blame – then blame him."

"I don't blame him," I shouted. "I blame Stephan!"

The anger slipped from his face. He looked confused. I quickly shut my mouth and hated myself for saying what I did.

"What does that mean?"

Graham watched me, waiting for my answer. I wasn't planning on giving him one though.

"Tell me what that means!" he screamed.

I still didn't say anything and he smacked me again, this time busting my lip open. I felt the blood running over my mouth and snatched one of my hands away from the man's grasp to wipe it off. He didn't try to grab my hand back as I looked up at Graham.

"He's with Seth. It was planned for him to be taken. He's done working for Declan and now he works for Xander."

A part of me was silently screaming at myself for telling him the truth. But I hoped maybe it would keep him from beating me to death.

I watched Graham intently, trying to decipher what he would do next. If he was a demon those golden eyes would be lit up like fire right now. I could tell he was pissed, but at the same time, he looked...hurt?

He was a cold person and seeing him like this was a shock. Especially for it to be over Stephan. I guess he really was devoted to him.

"You..." he whispered.

I stepped back a little at the weird tone in his voice. My back hit the blonde man's chest. "Me?"

His eyes narrowed in on mine. "You did this. This is your fault."

I scrunched my eyebrows in confusion as he came forward and grabbed both of my arms. "Since you showed up everything has gone to shit! This is all happening because of you!"

I was suddenly reminded of the night Eric told me his life had gotten worse because of me and that he wished Seth would let me go. Oh yeah, and he said he wished he killed me.

Hearing Graham say it didn't hurt like it did when Eric did. Instead, I felt a little happy inside that I had caused him a little bit of grief. At the same time, I was cringing because he looked like he was going to hit me again.

"I haven't done anything," I said in a small voice.

He started pushing me backwards till my head hit against a wall. The lump from earlier start to ache again.

"You better be worth all the trouble you're causing."

Personally, I didn't think I was worth it. I never really thought I was worth anything. For some reason all these new people in my life thought I was. I was still on the fence about it, though.

He backed away from me and looked at the blonde guy. "Put her in the plane."

This was the part I was scared of. If I got in that plane then no one would ever know where I was and I would probably never be found. Once that plane took off then all hope was gone. I would be condemned to stay with Graham for the rest of my life.

I was snatched up again for about the tenth time today. As we got closer to the plane I knew that I had to fight like hell to get away. I didn't know if it would be worth it in the end but I had to try.

I swung my fist around and punched the man right in the temple. His grip didn't loosen at all. The only thing it did was cause him to stagger a little. He brought his fist up and it came down right on my head. It hit me so hard I was flown from his grasp and into the floor.

As much pain as I was in I was still able to pry myself off the floor and take off running away from the plane. I made my way to the other side of the building and just as I thought I was getting away, I tripped and fell right back on the floor.

A pair of big hands grabbed me up and I knew I was done for. I looked up and was suddenly filled with relief. It was Seth. My knees went out and he caught me before I fell back to the ground.

"Cam, look at me." His voice was ringing through my head and I looked up at him again. His bright blue eyes zoned in on my green ones as he looked at me painfully. "Are you okay?"

"No," I mumbled weakly.

Something moved behind him and I saw Stephan and Eric come in. Stephen's gaze was focused in on what was behind me. He took off to where Graham was. Eric glanced my way. His eyes got bright but quickly looked away to where Stephan had gone.

"Let's get you out of here."

"No, I want to see him die." I was suddenly hit with a spurt of energy and wasn't going to let anyone take me out of here until I knew Graham was dead. The brightness in Seth's eyes faded.

"Alright."

Eric walked by me as I turned with Seth still grasping tightly onto my waist. When I looked back to where Graham and his friend were I saw them both standing there looking ready for the two men coming at them. Graham didn't take his eyes off Stephan. I could tell he was feeling the same anger he had earlier when I told him what Stephan was really up to.

I got closer and felt Seth let go of my waist to go up beside Eric and Stephan.

"Graham," Stephan said solemnly.

"Don't you talk to me!" Graham shouted. "I know what you did! I tried to get you back. I thought you needed help."

"I had to go. If I thought you would come with me, I would have told you."

Graham's head shook. "There's no need for you to explain. Why did you even come back?"

There was silence. Stephan didn't answer his question. I think a part of Stephan felt bad for having to kill Graham. I wasn't sure how long they had been working together but I think they had a close relationship.

Graham shook his head again and started to laugh a little when he realized why Stephan was here. "You came to kill me? You would kill you own son?"

Now I was definitely floored. I think my head was about to split open. From all the beatings I had endured today I was sure to have brain damage of some sort. But hearing this was enough to make me insane.

Stephan was Graham's father.

I guess they were closer than I thought.

I couldn't see Stephan's face to get a good read on what he must me thinking right now. The smile that appeared on Graham's face was enough to fill me in though.

"You can't, can you?" Graham taunted. "You're not going to kill me."

Seth looked over at Stephan and Stephan gave him a nod. I had no idea what it meant but then I saw Seth start towards Graham. The smile left Graham's face as he looked from Stephan to Eric like he was waiting for them to say something.

I went back to watching Seth who was almost nose to nose with Graham.

"He might not kill you, but I will."

In a split second Seth snatched Graham up by the throat and threw him up against the side of the plane. A small dent was left on its side as Graham went to a pile on the ground. Seth reached in his back pocket. I saw him pull out a knife with a silver handle. The blade of it seemed to glint green for a second.

Graham picked up his head slowly. When he saw the knife he looked petrified. I'm guessing there was something about the knife that wasn't good. At least not for Graham.

Something moved in the corner of my eye and I saw the blonde man start towards the exit. Eric took off after him and jumped on him before he could open the door. They started fighting and I cringed when I saw the huge guy punch Eric in the face.

Stephan started talking and I went back to watching what was happening to Graham. I noticed he was closer to Graham than he was the last time I saw him.

"I might not be able to kill you, but I'm not going to stop them from doing it."

Graham shot up from the floor and gave Stephan a deadly glare. "You aren't even a father. You never were." He started towards Stephan and was almost to him when Seth cut in and stabbed him right in the chest. I gasped as all the color drained from Graham's face and he started to turn black. Then he was nothing but ash. The knife that Seth used to stab him turned to ash too and there was nothing left but a big pile of dust.

A loud ear splitting scream sounded out beside me and I remembered Eric. I whipped my head around and saw him up against the wall breathing heavy with blood all over his mouth. At first I thought it was his. Then I saw the blonde man writhing on the floor with his hand to his neck, screaming. Blood was gushing from between his fingers and it dawned on me what happened. Eric bit him.

I had always wondered what happened when someone when they were bit by a demon. Seth explained that it would kill any human that was bit and that they would be in excruciating pain. But it would only incapacitate another underworld creature as long as they weren't a demon. Eric knelt down beside the man, pulled out a green knife, and stabbed him right in the chest. He disengaged within seconds. When it was finally over, Eric started to make his way back to us. He roughly wiped his mouth, trying to get all the blood from it. I couldn't believe he had actually sunk his teeth into someone and caused that much damage. All from just one bite.

"Fucking disgusting," he muttered before spitting out a stream of blood. "I need a damn toothbrush."

I felt Seth's hand on my cheek and he turned to him. His eyes searched my face looking at all the harm that had been done to it. I winced as his thumb brushed under my eye.

His jaw clenched and his eyes were undecipherable. I couldn't tell what he was thinking but right now all I wanted to do was go back to the house and go to sleep.

"Come on, let's go." He wrapped an arm around my waist and started to lead me out of the warehouse. When we got outside I saw Seth's big F150 parked crooked with the doors wide open. I had no idea how they found me but I had a feeling it had something to do with Stephan. He probably did some type of Alchemist mumbo jumbo to find us and get Eric out of my dorm room.

My head was still pounding and my knee hurt like hell. Seth tried to be gentle when he lifted me in the truck. No matter how many different ways he would have done it I would still hurt.

No one spoke the whole ride back to the house. I didn't mind the silence, though.

When we pulled in the driveway I opened the door and saw Eric standing there watching me carefully. I didn't care who helped me out as long as I got out. Eric reached forwards and I grabbed the back of his neck to hold on as he gently pulled me from the truck.

His eyes seemed to dull out as they searched my bruised face. "Are you okay?"

I looked away from his weary gaze and down to his chest. "I will be."

A small sigh left him as he carried me up the steps and didn't set me down until we made it to the living room.

Just being back at the house made me feel ten times better. I knew I was safe and Graham was no longer a threat.

"Are we going back tomorrow?" Stephan asked from behind me.

I wasn't quite sure what he meant and turned around to look at him questionably.

"Yeah," Seth answered. "I'll take you back tomorrow."

I was still confused. Did this mean he was going to be gone again for a couple days? Why couldn't Eric just take him back?

Stephan headed out the sliding glass door and out to the deck. Seth turned to look at me. I could see something in his eyes. It something different...something I didn't like.

"Cam, can I talk to you for a minute."

I nodded and started to follow him down the hall to the bedroom. I went in ahead of him and he closed the door behind me. When I turned to look at him his eyes were still the same and it started to freak me out a little.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"Yeah," I answered a little skeptically.

He went to the bed and sat down, leaning his elbows on his knees with his head in his hands. Something was definitely wrong. I went up to him and grabbed his wrist gently. "What's the matter?"

He let go of his head and looked up at me. The expression on his face was so serious. Almost tortured.

"Cam, I don't think we can do this anymore."

"What?"

He looked away from me and off to another part of the room. "It's too dangerous for us to be together. I thought it could work but there's just too much going on."

I realized he was being serious and instead of being upset I started to get mad...so mad that my splitting headache had disappeared. "After everything we've been through you're going to give up now?"

"I'm not giving up. I care about you too much to let anything happen to you."

I stepped back and looked at him ridiculously. "Are you kidding me? What makes this attack any different than the rest?"

He stood up and walked away from me, putting as much space as he could between us. "Because it's one too many. Almost everything that's happening to you is because of me. I can't stand the fact that something might happen to you."

I shook my head. "You're unbelievable."

"It's just for a little while. Once this is all over we can be together. Until then I think we should just stay away from each other...romantically. I'll still keep an eye out on Declan and make sure no one gets to you."

Was he seriously telling me he wanted me to wait around for him for God knows how long? I wasn't going to be the stupid girl who waited around for a guy. That wasn't me.

"I'm not waiting around for nothing. If this is what you want, then I'll give it to you. Don't worry about me anymore."

I reached under the bed and grabbed my duffle bag. My stuff was strewn all over the floor. I gathered it all up, shoving it in the bag. Some of it was on the dresser so I went over and slid it all in the open bag.

"Camron."

I slowly turned around. There was nothing but pain reflected in his beautiful blue eyes. Pain and regret.

"I don't want to hear anything else you have to say," I told him. "You've made it pretty clear we're done. Just let me leave here with a little bit of dignity. That's–"

"I love you."

I shut my eyes against the words. I should have known that this was going to happen. Tears started to form in my eyes but I fought against it. I wasn't going to let him see me cry.

"No you don't."

He started forward with his hands held out in front of him. "That's why I'm doing this. It's all because I love you."

I yanked the necklace he gave me from around my neck and tossed it on the bed. "Keep telling yourself that."

I zipped up my bag and started out the door. Seth just stood there, watching me walk away. That's how I knew it was over – he didn't even try to stop me.

Eric was still in the living room, leaning up against the wall next to the door.

"Will you give me a ride?"

"Yeah," he grabbed the duffle bag from my shoulder and headed out to the car. As I walked out the door I heard stuff breaking and banging from down the hall. I ignored it the best I could and just kept moving. I wasn't going to let it bother me.

My gaze never left the window as we headed down the road. After what seemed like forever, Eric finally spoke up.

"You okay?"

"Awesome," I bit out.

"Seriously," he put his hand on my thigh and squeezed it. "Are you really okay?"

I shook my head. "It wouldn't matter if I was okay or not. Life isn't about being happy, it's just about getting through it."

His hand left my thigh and I looked back out the window.

"What am I going to do about Declan?" I asked.

"Don't worry about that right now. If anything changes, I'll let you know when I know."

I looked back at him a little perplexed. "Why do you even care? If there's anyone who I thought would be glad we broke up, it would be you."

"Even though we have this hateful friendship or whatever you want to call it – I still don't want to see anything happen to you."

I carefully leaned my head back and let out a sigh. "I don't care anymore. I'm done with it all. I tried to make everything work. You have no idea how hard I tried." I swallowed. "But it doesn't matter. Maybe it'll be better this way." And that was the truth. Maybe it really would be better this way. I was basically living a lie and now I could let it all go and go back to the way my life was before – before these two guys barged in and made my life a living hell. Literally.

I know if I hadn't met them then I would already be in Chicago. But a part of me wondered if Chicago would be so bad. It couldn't be as bad as it was here. Being here and dealing with all that was going on inside of me was driving me insane. Chicago couldn't be much different.

Eric was quiet for the rest of the ride. Eventually, I felt the car come to a stop and grabbed my duffle bag. I hesitantly looked over at him with my hand on the door handle. He looked different. Kind of sad. Maybe it was worry. I wasn't really sure but I wasn't going to ask what his problem was. Whatever was going on in his life wasn't an issue to me anymore and it never would be again. I was finally getting away.

I glanced in his green eyes one last time and felt a small smile come to my face. "Thanks. I'll see you around."

He didn't say a word as I opened the door and got out of the car. I didn't hear him pull away. Knowing him, he would probably sit and wait till I got inside. For all I knew, he would sit out there the whole night just to make sure I was safe.

The paint that had been on my front door was smeared. It looked like there were some new markings on it. The only guess I had was that Stephan had done this in order to get Eric out. I figured I could just clean it tomorrow or something.

Ashley was in her bed asleep and I was so thankful for that. Now that Graham was dead, Ashley should go back to the way she was before he put his magic on her – or whatever it was he did.

In the end, I concluded that the past couple months of my life were nothing but a waste. I decided I was going to finish school and get out of here. Boston wasn't the place for me to be anymore. I had outgrown it just like I outgrew Maine. It would be the smartest thing to do. I needed to get out and not tell anyone where I'm at. It would probably be safer too.

Eventually, I fell asleep. Even though I was able to escape the real world for a few hours, the nightmare world was gladly awaiting me.

My head had started hurting again before I went to sleep. Even when I was asleep I could hear the pounding in my ears. As I opened my eyes I realized it wasn't my head that was making the pounding noise, it was someone knocking on my door. I grabbed my phone from under my pillow and lit it up. It was three in the morning.

Grudgingly, I got up and peered through my peep hole. This was the first time I had ever used it and I had a feeling I was going to be using it more often.

Eric stood in the hall looking the same strange way he did when I left him.

I sighed to myself. As far away as I wanted to be from it all, for some odd reason, it just kept coming back to haunt me.

The door swung open.

"What do you want? It's three in the morning."

He stepped in the doorway and looked down at me. "There's something I need to say."

The look in his eyes was a little confusing. I couldn't place it and it made me a little unsettled. "Okay? What do you want to say?"

"I'm sorry," he said in a low voice.

"For what?" I scrunched my forehead. "You haven't done anything."

He got closer. My heart started to race frantically. A tiny wall crumbled inside of me and for the first time I allowed myself to feel something more.

All went away when his hand covered my mouth. I inhaled a sweet almost volatile smell from the rag he was holding over my face.

I tried to move but his free arm came around my body keeping my arms tightly at my sides. I didn't fight anymore. I just let it happen. His piercing green eyes stared back into mine as my vision started to go in and out. I felt his lips came to my ear. "I'm so sorry," he whispered.

Everything went black after that.
Chapter 17

I used to think my life was alright. Then I met two people who turned my world upside down. They were different in so many ways and even though I desperately wanted to leave them alone, I never could. The one I needed to keep my life together was never around and the one I wanted to stay away was always there. I was the human that was caught in the middle of their war and now I felt like I was a part of their war.

The moment I saw Eric, I made the decision to hate him. I was secretly batting with myself on whether or not it was the right decision. Right now, I knew it was the right one.

I felt nauseous. My eyes creped open and I looked up to a wooden ceiling. Everything that happened before I woke up flooded through my mind and I suddenly sat up. My head swayed. I clutched it trying to make it stop.

"Son on a bitch," I muttered to myself. He chloroformed me.

My mouth tasted like I'd had a penny sitting in it for hours. It was disgusting. As I looked around I noticed I was lying in a huge, cushiony bed. The walls, floors, and everything in the room was made out of oak. There was an open door to my right that I could tell was a bathroom. Another was across from the foot of the bed. I got up to try an open it. As I figured, it was locked. I tried the windows next. They were all nailed shut and the glass unbreakable. All I could see from the window was a dirty alley below with dumpsters lined throughout it. I had no idea where I was at but I had a feeling I wasn't in Boston anymore.

A small noise got my attention. I twisted back around towards the door. The knob started to turn and I stood still waiting for whoever it was to come through. If it was Eric I was going to jump on him and do everything I could to beat the shit out of him. It was hard to admit to myself, but I was actually hurt by what he did to me. More hurt than I wanted to be.

The door finally opened and I saw a tall, well-built man enter. He had to be around fifty but aged very well. His hair was silver with a peppered look to it and his face was smooth with very little wrinkles. The black dress pants he had on didn't have a crease in them. Neither did the dark blue button up nor black dress jacket he wore. He looked almost perfect.

When he spoke, it was in an Irish accent. "You must be Camron. God, you're beautiful."

I threw him a not so pleasant look. I had no idea who this man was but he acted as if he knew me.

He held out a huge hand. "My name is Declan. I'm sure you've heard of me."

All the muscles in my stomach tightened and I suddenly felt faint. The thing I had been running scared from was now standing in front of me. I couldn't believe Eric brought me here. Why would he do that? Had he been working for Declan all this time? I had always been so skeptical of him; the things he knew, the people he always associated with. I should have taken my skepticism seriously. Now I was dearly paying for it.

I ignored Declan's out stretched hand and looked behind him to the two meat heads standing just outside the door.

I glared back at him. "Where's Eric?"

"I wouldn't worry about him."

"Where is he?" I nearly shouted. I was afraid to raise my voice too much. I didn't know this man, but from what I've heard he probably wouldn't think twice about killing me. If this encounter was anything like Graham's then he was one word away from punching me.

He had a dazzling look in his eyes. It was almost like he was looking right through me. "You don't have to worry about him or Seth ever again. You're here to stay with me."

My eyes widened. "For how long?"

"Indefinitely."

For a second I thought my knees would buckle. "What?"

"You are going to stay here with me...and love me."

I swallowed hard. If I wasn't nauseous before, I was definitely nauseous now. There had been a time when I thought to myself that Declan wanted me because he was romantically infatuated with me. I never took my thought seriously...until now.

"Where's Eric?" I repeated.

His head slowly shook from side to side as he looked down at the ground.

I didn't know what was going through my mind at that moment but I took off towards the door, shoving Declan aside. The second I touched him it felt like a fever rushed over me. I tried my best to ignore it. The two men in the doorway were huge. I was much smaller and squeezed my way through them easily.

Rough, warm hands grabbed for me. I felt my wrists being held behind me. Out of the corner of my eye I saw something move. It was Eric. He was leaning up against the wall with a pained expression on his face.

"Why would you do this to me?!" I shouted at him.

"I'm sorry." If I didn't know any better I swear I heard a break in his voice.

"You're sorry? Don't tell me you're sorry!" I ripped my arms from the hold the men had on them and lunged for Eric. He took hold of my waist and tried to fend me off as I swung and smacked him across the face.

It didn't seem to faze him as he tugged me to him and held me against his body. "I had to do it. I'm so sorry."

I could hear the plea in his voice but didn't care. I hated him more than anyone or anything I had ever hated in my entire life. I pushed myself away from him and smacked him again. The pained look never left his face. He looked like he was about to break down to his knees.

The men got a hold of me again dragged me back into the room kicking and screaming. Just watching Eric stand there as I was dragged helplessly away tore me up inside.

The door slammed shut and I was pushed down into a chair. Declan stood above me not looking too pleased. He slowly knelt down in front of me so we were eye to eye.

"I know you're upset, but you're here to stay."

My jaw tightened. "I want to go home."

Everything was a blur as he brought his hand up and smacked me across the face, busting my lip back open. It was so hard that the noise echoed off the walls.

There was a ringing in my head as I heard a loud boom coming from the hall. One of the men left to go see what was wrong. My eyes followed his movements. I tried to see what was going on but Declan's heated fingers grasped my face and brought my attention back to him. His touch was so hot that it caused me to get a little dizzy.

He gritted his teeth and stared me down with red eyes. "You will love me and you will share your power with me."

Smothered (Book 2)

now available on Amazon

Smoldering (Book 3)

now available on Amazon

Smashed (Book 4) – Coming Summer 2013
