Don't Threaten Me With a Good Time

Over the next couple of days, Kenneth notices an influx of demons stumbling upon the rebellion. It was fairly interesting to watch Cloud persuade the fresh faces of the damned. From small cheers to uproars, the atmosphere in the room is electric and buzzing. What seems to be more exciting just by crowd reaction was the move from the cramped, dimly lit room to a larger space located near the exits; typically used for crossroad demons. Kenneth becomes fairly close to Cloud; doing various tasks like organizing and distributing information.

The leader becomes more lenient to Kenneth's labors. Out of all the black eyed demons, he considered this one a friend.

Through a vague sense of time, it was about the middle of another week and Cloud is on his soapbox. He preaches more about The Chosen One and what the apocalypse would bring. One thing is different however:

"I have a plan to find The Chosen One. More than half of you will be assigned to humans that may possibly be him or her. We have access to these exits, we should use them accordingly."

Kenneth has a suspicion that this plan is too vague, too tricky, and near impossible. As much as he now believes such an individual is out there, the amount of rebels seem to be small compared to how many humans there are on earth. He won't bother to mention it, however. He finds Cloud's optimism amusing.

He thinks about Earth again. There's an irritating feeling in the back of his mind like he's missing something from there. Oh right, his girlfriend. He can only assume she must miss him. He doesn't, though, but he's curious about what life would be like back on earth. As much as he feeds off of the energy this rebel council emits...

"Kenneth, what do you think?" Cloud says, throwing an arm around the black eyed demon.

"Definitely possible, sir." Kenneth replies.

"It will take time, and a hell of a lot more souls, but I just know this will work. It has to." Kenneth can feel the tension radiate off Cloud's body.

"Speaking of Earth, I recently recalled the fact that I have a girlfriend." Kenneth says.

Cloud removes his arm from around Kenneth and stands in front of him, a firm hand is placed on his shoulder, "She could be an asset. Maybe she'll have a connection to someone who could very well be The Chosen One. I like you, Kenny. I grant you access to Earth, you've worked hard. Come and go as you please, but I would strongly advise you to keep an eye out."

"Of course. Thank you, sir." Kenneth says.

Taking the nearest exit following a couple demons, he ends up back on Earth. The sun is bright and the air is fresh. As much as these things didn't seem foreign to him, the liveliness is extremely boring and terribly underwhelming. Maybe this isn't the greatest idea, Kenneth thinks.

He's not too sure where he is, but he takes a second and thinks of his apartment. He shuts his eyes and pictures the constant busy street. The smell of car exhaust and a hint of roses. The chattering of neighbours and the occasional siren or horn.

Not even a second passes as he feels the atmosphere change around him. His eyes open and he views the familiar street in front of him. How interesting, he thinks. The natural instinct to follow intuition caused him to... teleport? Convenient.

He walks up to his door and attempts to turn the knob. Locked. He has nothing in his pockets, and he's in the clothes he crashed in. No blood or visible abrasions. He ponders on the idea that there are different variations of solidifying in hell and on earth. Maybe it was the exit he took...

The door is soon opened with a very worried Victoria on the other side, "Where the hell have you been?"

Hell, actually, "I got in a crash." He says in a calm tone.

Her eyes grow wide, "A crash?! No wonder your clothes seem dirty and tattered. Are you bleeding? God, better question is where have you been?"

She leads him inside. He says, "I saw a doctor."

"Why didn't you call, it's been days."

"I..." He thinks hard about what he could say to make her feel a little better, "didn't want you to know I got in a crash. Something came over me, I'm sorry I didn't say anything."

"So your car is totaled? This is so much-" She covers her mouth with her hands.

She walks up and gently wraps her arms around him, "I'm glad you're home. It's just, it's been three days. The plane was delayed and I couldn't get a hold of you. I took a taxi home and I almost called the cops. God, I should be mad at you."

They remove from the hug. Kenneth notices tears in her eyes, "I should be furious."

Kenneth just stands there, not even sure how to react.

Victoria moves closer to him and places a kiss on his lips. He remembers how her kisses used to make him feel. Taking in the velvet softness of her lips used to warm him up inside, now, it's just skin against skin. He takes her in again, just to play the part of truly missing her.

It's a good few days of Kenneth trying his best to play human. They make necessary payments for Kenneth's car, buy a new phone, and plan a dinner date. Ordinary tasks seem worse than usual, but it's a ping of boredom over an overwhelming frustration. He's thankful for lack of feeling in that aspect. Not necessarily in the moments where Victoria wants affection and asks questions he would rather google than spend five minutes attempting to fabricate.

In the midst of a fairly calm afternoon, Kenneth feels a buzz in his pocket. He takes out his phone with the caller ID "Jake" highlighted across the screen.

"Hello." Kenneth says.

"Kenny, hey dude. It's been a while! You know I've been out in LA, and I'm hoping I can fly you out here by, let's say this weekend? My buddy Brendon is looking for a guitarist and I was hoping that maybe you'd be interested!"

"Oh." Kenneth thinks. Job wise he hasn't had much of anything besides making a little money off of his music he put out a year ago. He can recall Victoria's slight pesterings on the subject of a job, anyway, "Sure."

"Ah, fantastic! I can text you more information later."

"Alright. See you this weekend." Kenneth finishes.

As he hangs up, Victoria walks into the living room, "Who were you talking with?"

"Jake Sinclair. He's flying me out to LA to meet his friend in need of a guitarist."

Her face lights up, "Job opportunity, I see."

"Yep." He puts on a small smile for her.

"That's great!" She comes over and sits next to him on the couch. They watch a movie for the evening. Throughout the time, Kenneth wonders what it will be like in LA. He hasn't seen that city in a long time.

~~~

One plane ride later and Kenneth finds himself in LAX. He doesn't have to walk long before he spots Jake walking in his direction. Or is it sprinting? Soon enough, Jake brings Kenny in for a tight hug.

"Dude, I missed you." Jake says.

"Missed you too." Kenneth replies. He can feel the corners of his lips rise, like a natural reaction. He used to be very close to him. Back in The Films where they all had hopes of making it big. Back when Jake was slowly making it out of the closet after being disowned by his parents years before. That's where the bond truly formed. Kenneth was always there for him through the ups and downs. They were as close as brothers. After The Films broke up, Jake found success producing some tracks for big name artists. He soon enough moved to California, leaving Kenneth to his solo career. As far as communication went, it was usually small phone calls or texts here and there and then a few months of silence.

Jake drives Kenneth back to his apartment and they catch up on what their lives have been like lately. A few hours later, Jake gets a call from Brendon and they both head to his house.

It's a petite single floor house in a fairly quiet neighborhood. Jake parks in the driveway and is quick to get out of the car. Kenneth questions Jake's enthusiasm, but assumes that means things may go well. The taller man rings the doorbell and it's only a few seconds before Brendon opens the door.

"Hey, dude!" The enthusiastic man says as he pulls Jake in for a brief hug. He turns to Kenneth, "You must be Kenny." He finishes with a warm smile and outstretched arm.

Kenneth shakes his hand. How interesting, the demon ponders. There's a likeness to the young musician. A lightness radiates off him, yet it's not as bright as it may seem. He briefly nods it off before him and Jake make their way into Brendon's house.

Brendon directs himself to Kenneth, "I got beer or Jack Daniel's if you want anything."

"No, thanks." He says. Usually he wouldn't pass up a drink, but there wouldn't be much satisfaction in it now.

"Alright, let's head into the studio, yeah?" Brendon says, with a smug smile.

"Yeah." Kenneth replies.

A few hours are spent talking about music and also playing it. Kenneth finds that he and Brendon have a fair amount in common. It doesn't take long for Brendon to make up his mind on hiring Kenneth.

~~~

A few months pass and they're scheduled to tour with Fall Out Boy. Plans soon enough fall through with the singer missing. Kenneth doesn't care too much, however. A short time arises between planning another tour and getting ready to do a couple festivals across the country and the UK. He goes back to New York and gives his girlfriend the news. The demon also makes a mental note to unofficially assign himself to Brendon. He decides to not bother checking in with Cloud as he originally thought this plan was a little far fetched. There did seem to be something a tad curious about the musician...