Dark Trail

We're Fine.

Ember shivered, but didn't open her eyes. She could see the yellow light of the morning sun through her lids. When she remembered her dream, her eyes snapped open. Her heart started to pound when she saw that she was surrounded by trees and definitely not in the tent. Ember gripped her arms and started trying to figure out which way was back to camp.

"Ember?" She whipped around and stared at Salem. "Where are we?"

"How did you get here?" Ember asked him, feeling jumpy and quite honestly, frightened. His dark brows shoved together.

"I-I don't know. I had a really weird dream last night and when I woke up, I was in the middle of nowhere. I started running around like a chicken with its head chopped off. That's when I-"

"You said you had a weird dream? Explain it," Ember ordered.

"I was in the middle of these woods. It was foggy. I couldn't see where I was walking. I stepped in this puddle of water and I couldn't move. It felt like teeth had a hold of me and the more I moved. the tighter these teeth got. Then... This girl... It sounds crazy. At first, I thought it was you. Then I realized it was-"

"Eira," Ember finished.

"Yeah. She told me that only you and I could leave these woods unharmed. That we are descendants of some Greek mythological God or Goddess. A Polo? And Hydrate?"

"Apollo and Hecate," Ember told him, honestly annoyed at this boy's unwillingness to pay attention even when his life depended on it.

"Yes, them. She told me that she was the one who got us to come here, and the whole time we believed that she didn't want to come." After this he got quiet before he said, "She said that we have to leave everyone here to die."

To this Ember said nothing. What were the odds that they both had relatively the same dream?

"Hey! I found them!" Somebody yelled from somewhere behind them. Ember looked over her shoulder to see Oliver waving them over. The two exchanged glances before making their way over to Oliver.

"Now what were you two up to?" Oliver wiggled his eyebrows at her, hinting at something sinister. Neither Ember nor Salem were in the mood to joke around. Oliver's smile melted when he realized this. "Hey... Are you guys okay?"

"We're fine," Ember said before Salem could say anything they would both regret.

Back at camp, both Ember and Salem remained silent, only making eye contact with each other. Eventually, Ember spoke to Alena. "Did... Did you have any odd dreams last night?" Alena pursed her lips and looked up, as if looking for her memories.

"Not that I can think of, no. I actually slept pretty good last night," she said proudly. Being silent and on the outside of things, Ember could see how different people were reacting. Compared to yesterday, everyone seemed to be glowing with happiness, which struck Ember as odd. Nobody mentioned going out and looking for creatures or even spoke of the woods being haunted. Everyone claimed of a wonderful night of sleep although the Arkansas ground was hard and rocky. Even Max was acting strange. He wouldn't eat or drink. He wouldn't even sit down. He just kept pacing back in forth in front of Alena.

Eira had been missing since that morning and Jarvis claimed that she went exploring again. However, Ember was not about to go looking for her. Not this time. She was staying here so she could keep a close eye on her friends and make sure that they were safe.