That night went by in a blur. Casey and I talked a little, but it was mostly silence, and looking at the full moon in the sky. Before I knew it, it was morning.
I felt a hand prod my shoulder, and I startled awake, only to find my head on Casey's shoulder. I jerked upwards, my face burning. Casey gave me an awkward smile.
"Sorry. You fell asleep around midnight, and slept through the whole night." he said sheepishly.
That just made my stomach twist, and my face burn even more. What was I thinking?! Why didn't I at least lay on the floor?!
I managed to say, "Oh, sorry", and scrambled back into the house before he said anything else. As I stepped inside, the only one up was Blair. Leon was still asleep, Kiana curled next to his ankle.
"Sleep well?" Blair said with a grin.
"Why are you smiling?" I asked, even though I already know.
"Oh, nothing. Just the fact that you and Casey were abnormally close to each other last night, don't ya think?" she replied, her grin even wider.
I can feel my face go red. Of course. "Oh, shut up." I said.
Soon, Kiana and Leon got up, and we started to gather supplies. We were able to find backpacks, lots more first aid kits, and we got fish and jugs of water from the lake. But, the best thing was that there was canned food in the pantry.
Later, we were all stocked up and ready to go.
"I have to say, the lake house is the best place we visited in a while." Casey exclaimed.
"Why can't we stay here, then?" Leon asked.
Blair raised an eyebrow at him.
"Oh, the Reapers. Right." Leon said.
Casey squinted at the map.
"Bad news is Amala Lake is way off the trail we were taking. It's going to take even longer to get back to the trail, and get to Syren. So, we can't take breaks unless it's absolutely necessary."
As we're getting ready, Kiana tugged on my pant leg. She then looked up at me, arms outstretched.
"She wants to ride on your back." Blair said after she noticed.
"I thought you usually do that." I replied.
"Yeah, but it'd be nice to take a break for once. My back's killing me, and Kiana riding on it makes it worse." she answered.
Finally, I reluctantly picked up Kiana, and put her on my back. Surprisingly, she was light. I remembered carrying Naomi on my back often, mostly for fun. With a pang of sadness, I wished that Naomi was here. She would love it in Syren. And, so would Mom and Dad.
"Hello? Earth to Nova!" Blair said, snapping her fingers.
I snapped out of my thoughts. "What?"
"I said, we're leaving now!" she exclaimed.
"Oh, sorry. Just thinking."
…
As we traveled through the forest, Blair walked next to me. After a long time of silence, she said, "Family."
"Huh?" I asked.
"You miss your family, right?"
There was no other answer. "Yeah." I admitted.
"I don't blame you. If I had family in Xera, I would miss them too."
"You don't have family?" I asked.
Blair was quiet. I suddenly realized I shouldn't have brought it up.
"You don't have to answer." I added.
"No, it's fine."
Blair took a deep breath. "You remember the Arson Ashes fire in Xera?"
I nodded.
"Well, that happened 13 years ago, when I was only 3 years old. My parents were killed, but I escaped with a burn mark."
She pulled back the collar of her shirt, showing a healing burn on her collarbone.
"After that, I was immediately put into the Grievance. The Grievance is a place for orphans, but we don't get adopted. We just live there until we are sacrificed.
"I remember I hated it there. The Grievance was basically a prison. They kept us confined in tiny rooms, and gave us food through a food slot. The only time we went outside was when the Blood Moon Sunset sacrifice ceremony was happening.
"I would often get into fights, mostly with other kids who would tease me. I'm not the kind of person that tolerates that kind of behavior. Getting into fights made me the least favorite, but I couldn't care less about what people thought of me."
Blair glanced at my concerned face, and smirked. "Don't worry. I care about what my actual friends think of me."
She continued. "When I got sacrificed, did you know that I fought the guards and almost won?"
"Really?" I asked, surprised.
She nodded. "I knocked out the teeth of one and gave the other a nosebleed," she said with a chuckle, "They both had to go to the infirmary. But, they called reinforcements, and I got escorted out of Xera by 4 guards instead of 2."
Blair looked up at the sky. "I'm kind of glad that I was sacrificed. Otherwise, I would've never met Casey, Kiana, and Leon. And, I wouldn't have found out about Syren. It's funny that bad things can lead you to good things, don't you think?"
I nodded with a smile. "Definitely."