Elements

Chapter 2

Cam

         Someone was shaking Cam awake gently. She mumbled something incomprehensible, hoping whoever it was would go away.

         “Cam,” a voice said, “get up. We have to go.”

         “Dnwna…” she mumbled sleepily. The warmth of the bed felt so nice. As soon as she stepped out of it, she would freeze to death. If there was one thing she couldn’t stand, it was the cold. If it was really, really cold, she couldn’t even call on fire. That was the worst feeling in the world.

         She heard a sigh, and the voice she now recognized as Sean spoke. “Cam,” it said quietly, “This is big. I don’t know what’s going on, but everyone’s freaking out. And Aaron’s acting even stranger than usual.” When she didn’t say anything he added, “And I’m scared. I’ve never seen Boss like this…” he trailed off with a sigh.

         Cam peeked at him from under the covers. He really did look distraught. His usually combed hair was disheveled and flopping down into his eyes, which had a lost expression about them. All of this, plus the pleading expression on his face, was what finally got her to cave in.

         “Fine,” she grumbled, “just give me a minute to get changed.”

         He grinned and nodded quickly, but she noticed that the panic hadn’t quite left his eyes. So he hadn’t been making all that stuff up. Something big was happening.

         With a sigh, Cam got out of bed. The plush carpet was warm from the constantly burning fire in the fireplace.

         Walking over to her beat-up dresser with mismatched knobs, Cam rummaged around until she found what she was looking for: black skinny jeans and a black tank-top. Perfect. She slipped them on and started walking for the door before she realized that she had forgotten shoes. With a laugh, she walked over to her closet and dug around in the enormous pile of crap until she pulled out a pair of black converse. She pulled them on quickly and walked towards the door, stopping only when she realized that Sean wasn’t following her.

         Turning around, she saw that he was sitting on her futon, completely spacing out. “Sean.” She called. No response. “Earth to Sean…?” she said again. After an agonizing moment, his eyes refocused. “Everything all right?” Cam asked.

         “Yeah…” he said slowly, “everything’s fine. I’m just thinking…”

         When he didn’t continue, Cam said, “About what specifically?”

         He stared at her for a moment before responding, almost as if he was weighing whether or not to tell her. Finally he said, “About how I have a very bad feeling about this.”

         Sean directed Cam to the meeting room and then said he’d meet her there.

         “What?” Cam squawked, at least, that’s how it sounded to her. She wrestled her voice under control and continued, “Where are you going?”

         “Nowhere.” He replied smoothly. “I’ll meet you there in a few minutes, okay?” Cam didn’t by a word of it, but she nodded anyway.

         The walk to the meeting was a quiet one. Cam hated quiet. That’s why she listened to music so much. Quiet left you alone with your thought and that was a place Cam didn’t like to be in for a long time. Thoughts are dangerous. If you focus on the wrong thought for too long, it’ll drive you crazy.

         Before she knew it, Cam found herself standing outside a plain white wooden door. She paused for a moment to gather her thoughts before pushing open the door and walking inside