Within

Chapter Seventeen

“This is fun,” I told Arthur as our road trip continued on. “You and me, fighting demons--mostly you but kind of me too. I mean, I am awesome bait.” I leaned back, taking a swig from my tea that we had bought at a restop a while back. The stop hadn’t been for Arthur--who apparently didn’t require food, sleep, or potty breaks--but for me who did require food, sleep, and potty breaks. “I’m, like, so awake right now. Do you hear these sick jams?” I was referring to the boring classical music Arthur had playing. His tastes were so fourteenth century or whenever people actually liked this stuff. I mean, I didn’t have a problem with it in small doses. But after hours of it, I was getting pretty sick and tired.

Arthur glanced at me. “You said you were sleepy four hours ago.”

“That was four hours ago, this is now.”

“I don’t understand you.”

“Don’t sweat it, most don’t.”

He chuckled, shaking his head. “Camille Walker, the eighth mystery of the world.”

I was surprised by his reference to modern culture. Well, it wasn’t really modern, but Arthur didn’t reference anything. Nor did he seem to understand them.

“What?” He glanced over at me, probably sensing that I had been shocked.

I told him about why I was rattled.

He frowned a little. “I don’t watch movies or read books. The most I know about pop culture comes from what other people say, not that I understand it.”

“Seriously? Why? What do you do with your life?”

“I have other books that I read. And work.”

“That’s it? You don’t go out with friends--” I stopped speaking, realizing that I didn’t have friends either.

“I don’t really have friends. They can be counted on three fingers--and the third is a stretch.”

“Who are they?”

“You, Janaé, and another Nephilim.”

I felt kind of smug that I came first in the list. “Oh... Anyway, um... I learned most of it in school...” I trailed off, realizing that Arthur had probably never gone to school. He looked twenty-six, twenty-seven. There was no way that he’d be able to pass off as a student unless he went to college, but I hadn’t seen any degrees on his walls. But Arthur was pretty smart, or at least I figured that he was. He didn’t seem stupid.

I started to realize that I didn’t really know anything about him. It made me sad because I wanted to. I wanted to know everything about him and more. I wanted to be the person that knew him better than he knew himself. Yeah, it was selfish. Yeah, it was stupid. I didn’t care. That was just how I felt. And I’d probably never get to.

“What’s wrong?” Arthur questioned, sensing my sadness and probably being unable to comprehend why I was upset. He didn’t care much that he didn’t have friends or understand pop culture. “Are you all right?”

“Yeah, I’m fine, just remembered some things.” I rubbed my hands on my thighs. “Anyway! Tell me about that Nephilim.”

“Oh, his name is William. It’s been a long time since we last saw each other. Maybe six hundred years or so,” Arthur said. “He was the first Nephilim that I had met other than myself. He introduced me to others but they all... died. Killed. Had their glory stolen.”

I cringed at the dark turn.

“We were pretty close. Brothers, even though we weren’t related through blood. Sometimes, he sends me letters if he manages to get my location. I do the same.”

“Why don’t you just get each other’s phone numbers?” I mean, if they liked each other so much, why bother keeping the distance? “Get in touch now! You can meet up, chat, recollect the old days...”

“It’s not that easy,” Arthur said curtly, tone dismissing.

It stung a little when I realized that Arthur deemed me unworthy of telling the information to. “Sorry.” What I said probably was inappropriate because I didn’t know the full situation.

“It’s all right.” We both knew that it wasn’t. “Are you sure you don’t want to go to sleep?” He wanted me to go to sleep.

I hesitated, thinking about the man that might still be there. But I didn’t want to grate on Arthur’s nerves either; we had a good thing going. “Yeah, I think that I will.”

Almost immediately, I was in another lucid dream--nightmare being the better term.

I was caught in a maelstrom, the abyss dragging me towards it with violent force. I tried to scream, but my voice was yanked out of my throat and thrown to the screeching wind. I was pulled down into the whirlpool, feeling my flesh and bone being torn to shreds by the savage black water.

It rushed into my mouth, drowning me yet tasting sweet on my tongue. I squeezed my eyes tightly shut, instincts telling to protect my precious eyeballs. Then the pain was gone, I found myself feeling light and airy.

I opened my eyes, taking in my surroundings. Everything was cast in a warm, amber light, soothing me to the deepest depths of my soul.

Hands felt over my naked body, skimming over my breast and down my stomach until they drifted to there. I gasped at the touch, pleasurable vibrations pulsing throughout my body.

I had never felt so good. Not simply physically, but emotionally too. I felt as if I had been purified and reborn; my senses more alive and clearer than ever before.

“Cam,” a deep voice murmured into my ears. I turned my head slightly to see Arthur there--the hands were his! My cheeks heated. I wasn’t a virgin, but the thought of Arthur touching me so intimately made me blush like one.

What was even going on? Why was I here right now? Oh, who the hell cared? Thoughts were too much work; I just had to feel.

“My sweet, sweet, Cam,” he cooed, words slightly distorting like two voices were speaking at once. “Do you enjoy it? Do you wish for more? I can give you so much more.”

My eyes rolled back; I was unable to formulate sentences as he trailed hot kisses along my jaw and down my throat. “Mmm...” I moaned, brain fuzzy.

“Just give yourself to me; give it all to me.” The hands tightened a little, almost painfully. “Hurry, before it’s too late.” The grip was getting tighter--enough to leave bruises.

This made me open my eyes, gaze meeting with Arthur’s through the corners of my peripheral. His eyes... what had happened to the steely blue that I found myself so often lost in? Instead, they were an abysmal shade of black that devoured the light and made me feel kind of sick. They were just so... so wrong. Unreal. Unnatural. Evil, almost. Something even darker lurked behind them, that’s how it felt.

“Oh, God,” I squeaked. This wasn’t my Arthur. I started to fight against Fake Arthur, but quickly found that my efforts were in vain.

One of his hands gripped my neck while the other wrapped around my waist tightly. “Aw, you had to end it there, didn’t you?”

“I’m gonna puke,” I informed the demon. “And stop touching me, you perverted freak!”

“That wasn’t nice.”

“This is rape. s****l harassment.” I gagged, thinking about how I had been enjoying it, too. “I’m going to kill myself when I wake up.”

Fake Arthur and his oppressive grip disappeared, along with the pretty sky. Now, I was in the darkness again.

We could’ve had lots of fun.

“Are you going to kill me?”

Oh, no. I realized my grave mistake. You have more uses than one, I suppose. But you really are limiting yourself... there’s so much potential in you.

“I’ll stay on the morally just side, thanks.” I had slightly more confidence than I had before. Especially knowing that he wasn’t going to kill me (even though it could’ve been a lie) and the fact that he couldn’t touch me when except for when I was dreaming. I’d just... freak out and make Arthur wake me up again. I opened my mouth to start screaming, hoping that it’d translate to my corporeal body.

Did you want to know more about the boy William? Or perhaps learn who I truly am and why Arthur’s fighting so desperately to hide it from you? I could even be kind and grant your wish.

I wasn’t going to lie and say that his offer wasn’t tempting. But there was one serious flaw: he was a demon. A super evil one, I’d bet. So there was no way in Hell that I was going to do anything with or for him because he might try and take my soul or something.

Interesting. But, no. I do really just want to talk.

“No.”

I opened my mouth to scream. But I didn’t need to. I suddenly snapped back into consciousness. I jolted, leaping forward (well, as far as the seat belt allowed me to) before falling back against my seat.

Arthur, with his normal eye color, peered at me through the corners of his eyes. “You all right?”

“Feelin’ spiffy.” I didn’t see the need to tell him about the dream because it was sort of embarrassing and I knew that Arthur would just shut down the topic anyway. But was that creep seriously going to crawl into my dreams every time I tried to sleep? Because I definitely wasn’t feeling that. “How long was I out?”

He looked at the clock. It was pretty late--or early--nearing six AM. “Three hours.”

I did the quick math in my head. Three hours from when we had left from Janaé’s, I had said I was sleepy. Four hours later, I slept. Then another three, I was awake. So... ten hours. Plus an hour in total from the breaks. California was probably twenty-four, give or take, hours from Ohio. Meaning that we had a lot of time left.

“Did I... make any strange noises? Moans? Groans? Talking?”

“No. Why, are you the type to do so?”

“I’ve been told that when I get really tired I can make sounds, sometimes.”

“Oh.” He shrugged. “Well, you didn’t.”

I nodded my head, holding in a sigh of relief. That would’ve been a very, very awkward conversation if I had called out his name.

“Do you need to take another break?”

I shook my head, yawning a little. “No, I’m fine for now. I’ll let you know when.” I took out my phone to play games.

“s**t,” Arthur said.

“What?”

“Turn it off. Throw it out the window. I forgot to dispose of it, too.”

I stared down at my brand new smartphone. “Why?”

“Because it’s traceable.”

“It’s been in airplane mode this entire time so I could save my battery.”

“That’s good. Throw it out the window.”

I stared at him. “Will you buy me a new one when we get there?”

“Yes, now throw it!” Annoyance.

“O-kay!” I rolled down the window, blinking out tears as I tossed my baby out. “Are you happy with yourself now?”

He ignored me.

I pursed my lips, not wanting to think about the dream or my long gone cellphone now. “Okay, serious question though... can I smoke weed in Cali? It’s legal there.”

“Are you for real?”

“I said serious question.”

He stared at me, agape.

“Eyes on the road, bub.” I noted his single hand gripping the wheel. “Nine and three.”

“Ten and two.”

“No, they changed it. It’s nine and three now. Eight and four if you’re a real go-getter...” I gave him a look. “Airbags can do harm, Arthur. Keep up.”

“Are you trying to change the topic?”

“Yeah, is it working?”

“No.”

I casually changed the station to generic pop music, which I preferred over the droning classical. “I figured you’d say no. To both questions.”

“Then why ask?” he sounded confused.

“Just wanted to talk. Laugh a little. You’re pretty funny when you’re serious.”

He paid the jab no mind. “Is something bothering you?”

“Shouldn’t there be something bothering you?”

“Valid.”

I leaned my seat back as far as it could go. “I’m glad that it was you,” I told him honestly.

“Hmm?”

“That you’re the one I’m here with. That you’re the one bonded to me. That you’re the one that I fell in love with.” I smiled to myself. “I really am.”

Arthur nodded his quietly, unsure of how to respond to me.

“Thanks for saving me.”

“Anytime.”

I turned my gaze out the window. “Is California where we’re staying? For how long?” Arthur didn’t seem to want to continue the previous conversation, so I figured that I would change the topic.

“It’s another stop. Since it’s not just me anymore... it’ll be hard to stay in one place while trying to mask us both. They’ll find us eventually. It’s better if we keep moving, keep changing.”

“For how long?”

“I don’t know.”

I fell silent. Becoming a nomad was something that I never actually thought about. I mean, I didn’t think that most people did. Moving... being on the run. It seemed... tiresome.

“I--sorry.”

“No,” I said hurriedly, “it’s fine.”no, I’m not upset or anything. Just thinking. Contemplating.”

“Okay.”

More silence. I just listened to the sound of the car as we sped across the highway.