He seems to feel uncomfortable with my request, rightfully so, but he slowly steps back into the tent.
"Okay." He says watching me, trying to figure out his next steps. I can tell he is unsure of what to do, and honestly now so am I. I decide to just scoot over for him to have room to sit.

Night had fallen fast upon the camp. No more than an hour ago the sky was painted with hues of red, orange and pink, but all colour had faded leaving only a matte black canvas with no stars to be looked upon. The darkness was thick and within it I could hear the sounds of Colby's even breathing. My eyes were adjusted to the dark and I was only able to see at most an arm's reach in front of myself, and the even blacker silhouette of the angel lying in front of me. Other than the darkness all that seemed to exist was the chilly wind that's harsh bite could be felt through my mud coated jeans. I could feel the hairs on my arm begin to raise and the bite of the wind had left its mark in the form of small bumps that were tingling on my arms, but its bite was more than flesh deep. My blood ran cold through my veins and I could feel my bones chill. The flames of Colby's body may have radiated off of him, but the heat did not reach my skin. The cold was the only reason I wasn't asleep, although I longed to be.
The past couple of days were exhausting: mentally, physically, emotionally. Sleep shouldn't have been eluding me I was that exhausted, but this cold was one that I have never known: it was not only physical, it was a  metaphorical chill. One that, when felt, affected every part of your being, and as I lay there and watched Colby sleep, which only surprised me for a few moments that angel even slept, I grew immensely envious. Of his peacefulness that was so carelessly displayed when he only slept. While I lay here scared and unsure about my future despite his and Sam's reassuring. Of his belonging to something bigger. While I fit nowhere, or actually that's a lie. Apparently I belonged with demons. I thought anything was better than that haunting, vague nowhere, but I was wrong. There is a fate worse than solitude, I could be a demon.  Jealous is an ugly thing and would only prove what they say about me to be true, so I was only going to allow myself to wallow in self pity for a second longer, jealous of his warmth. While I lay here, frozen to the core.
Maybe, just maybe I could scoot a little closer? I dismiss the thought as soon as I've irrationally thought it. It doesn't matter how biting the cold was, I don't dare scoot closer to him. I've already asked too much to begin with. I didn't want to push any more boundaries, my already weaning luck. I was already on thin ice where angels are concerned, and well... I'd rather face this cold than the cold of being kicked out or traded with the demons. Of being all alone again. Maybe that made me weak. So what? I was only human. An extremely tired and very cold, cold human. I wish I could just migrate towards him, but my body gives out finally to the aching exhaustion who has gripped me tightly.

Much like my other restless and nightmare filled nights, I'm running from a hoard of demons. I'm trapped in a house, much like the extravagant one I was held hostage in. The stretch of the hallway is infinite, and gives me a headache and sense of helplessness. I shake out my dizziness. I haven't got much time.
I'm frantically running down the hallway, trying every damned door. My hopes are crushed as I run further into this never ending maze of a house and with every twist of every knob: all locked. As I hear their tragic stomping steps as they grow closer, I'm thinking I'm surely doomed, and in tremendous anger I kick the blasted doors that have never been open in my waking and sleeping life. Why can't I get away just this once?

Finally, I find an unlocked door. I'm hiding in a bathroom, and I feel I've finally eluded them. There's nothing quite like feeling a fraction of safety to only have it torn from your bloody fingers, so I try not to get used to it. But maybe this time will be different? Maybe they'll give up? Maybe this time I'll win?
I'm thinking all is fine. Until I look in the mirror. Fear takes over my body. Not directed at the demons now beating at the door, clawing to get in. I'm scared of myself.
Black eyes look back at me. My black eyes. And before I know it I'm falling in them. I'm drowning in a sea of black, going down down down in a never ending void. There's nothing I can do to stop it, to save myself. No one to hear me scream.
Until suddenly... It stops. I'm not alone? A small voice is heard whispering to me. I'm not familiar with the language. I don't understand it, but I know enough to understand it doesn't want to hurt me. The way the words are strung together and how they sound have me looking for the owner they belong to. It's a harmony I've never heard before, so why does it sound so familiar? I search for the source. I can't see them, and the voice recognizes my slight uneasiness at that and immediately calms me down again. The words are soft like a barely there caress, promising to transport me somewhere pleasant. Along with the promises that comes with it, a calmness washes over me.
The black morphs and fades into a soothing and deep blue. An ocean. I've never even been to the ocean, but at least I can always dream about it. I haven't escaped to it in the imagination of my mind in a while, since the demons took me. At least I know they have never and will never take this away from me.  The voice tells me not to think about them right now. Just this. The ocean waves moving me, the sun warming areas of my body that weren't underwater. This delicate and fragile mirage was all that mattered, and I soaked it in. Every second of it until it ended, and I inevitably woke up.

My process of waking up was usually slow. Now being the exception. The shock I feel about the fact angels even slept is short lived as I feel his arm draped over my hip. How can I think of anything else? His grip tightens around me as I fight consciousness.  Surely this isn't real? I must still be sleeping,  but this feels very real. His tone arms around me, his breath tickling the back of my neck. His lips slightly touching my skin there. There's nothing more than I want than to stay like this: in his arms. The thought is bizarre and irrational, or maybe it isn't? I haven't slept this well in a long time. I feel so refreshed compared to my other sleepless nights, and I don't care how silly that makes me sound and feel right now. I'll go back to sleep and let him deal with this when he wakes up. I'm curious to see how he will react. Was it him whispering and creating beautiful dreams for me? How did he know to show me the ocean? He slightly stirs seeming affected by my internal battle. I freeze. All I do know is I don't want this to end just yet.
I purposely slow down my breathing, and it's then that I realize mine matches his: even. Inhale....exhale... Inhale...exhale. Before I doze off again a silver glint catches my eye. A ring encircling his pointer finger. I'm only able to make out an 'AR' before I feel his breathing shift as he begins to wake up. I shut my eyes trying to feign sleep and to avoid awkward confrontation.

He gently moves me from my "sleeping" position and gently places me back down against the dirt, and with the loss of warm contact I let out an involuntary whimper. He goes still, and then gently places my arm across my chest. As I hear him opening the tent, he pauses once more, "I know you're awake". With that, he leaves me a rather embarrassed heap on the ground. I decide to not sit there and mope in my tent all day as I have been for the past couple of days. I decide to go out and become more familiar with my surroundings and the camplife that hopefully isn't all still disrupted by the bloody message on the wall. I stop nervously at the opening of my tent. Can I do this? I could go find Sam, but I don't want to bother him more than I probably already have. He would be too nice to tell me, unlike Colby. I exit my tent and decide not to look for any familiar faces. I decide to just be. The first moment of normalcy, well as close to normal as I was going to get, in a while. 

As I was walking all I could notice was that the landscape was utterly alien. Yet made it all the more heartbreaking by the familiar debris under our shoes. I lost track of time as I walked, plagued with my thoughts. The entire world was in ruins. In America you can't even tell what state you were in anymore. Not that it matters. Soon I was thinking of my hometown in Atlanta and my friend that came along with it.

I never thought I would miss being on the city streets where I am a walking wallet, a consumer, a citizen. There were rules of conduct any way you go. I had to cross the street at the lights on command, I had to wait in line-ups in the stores and be courteous. But here in nature I am just another organism, another animal, no  one with fancy clothes and or cell a phone in pocket. There's something liberating in that. If I want to I can shout my lungs out, there is not a soul that I care about giving a disapproving glance or whisper doubts as to my sanity. I can run, walk or turn cartwheels. I can hike for an hour or an entire day. So long as... I keep myself safe from demons. I'm not really a camper, I like a nice soft bed, but perhaps the urge to keep on walking will get the better of me.

The time I last saw my best friend, just one day in a lifetime in a camp, surrounded by a rush of others - I wanted to take her by the hand and lead her away, my only friend. I wanted to walk with her, talk with her, but we must follow the rules of social decorum. The panic and sheer terror. You are my friend... were my friend, a kindred spirit, but we were separated. The camps were spectators randomly in order to keep us all safe of what I know now are demons.
As I was walking, I passed a girl that reminded me exactly of my best friend, River. She had the exact same hair color and petite body, but her hair was much much shorter. However, as she turned I caught a glimpse of the side of her face... it was River. Quickly, I turned in the opposite direction making sure not to draw attention to myself. I loved River but now was not the time to reopen a wound that would need time to heal. Time is not something I can spare.
I look at her once more, unsure if I should approach her. It's been awhile since I saw her a long time ago. Things have changed: I know they especially have for me. If I leave before she notices me, then our friendship can stay an untainted memory.
"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry!" I say as I accidentally ran smack into someone as I was turning around.
"Oh no! You're totall-... Elizabeth?" I recognized his voice before his face. Rivers brother, Indie. Their parents were tree huggers, basically living off of junk food and weed. I missed them.
"Indie?" He's so much older now. Finally grew into himself. We used to always joke around with him about that. What I would do to go back to being kids. I just stare at him in astonishment and slight trepidation on how this will go. Will things be even remotely the same? My question is answered when he pulls me into his now toned arms. I'm hesitant at first, but his joyous bewilderment is rubbing off on me. And I momentarily forget why I was about to run away before River saw me. My heart aches for the familiarity of her arms as well. Sensing this, Indie calls her over.
"Indie, what did I tell you? Dad has been looking all over fo-" she stops mid sentence at the sight of me. I shrug my shoulders with a hesitant smile at her. She looks shellshocked, and I decide to give her a minute. 
"I think this would suffice as a good enough excuse."
"Oh my god- I mean... gosh," she warily looks around to see if any angels heard her, a small laugh escapes my lips. She hasn't changed a bit well except for her hair, "Elizabeth! Is it really you?! I can't believe this!" She pulls me into a quick hug before putting my at arms length for her interrogation. I answer each question fired at me as well as I can, caught up in the infectious joy of it all. Until the one question I dreaded having to answer immediately sobers me up.

"Where's Alec?" My heart constricts as she looks left and right for him. She assumes he must be close behind, ready to embrace her in a hug like old times.  I wonder if it will always hurt when I hear his name. Or even think it.  I can see the hope take over her soft features: she was always too kind for this world, I thought. She deserved way better than the cards she was dealt. She reminded me a lot, well, like me. Except she had her dad, too. She also had her brother, and I immediately squash down the jealousy I feel bubbling up. It isn't fair, but life wasn't fair, and I accepted that long ago. Her brother was still alive, and I will be grateful for that fact. Not spiteful. I tried to mask my hurt quickly. I'd rather tell her gently than her see the anguish on my face, but River was always good at picking up on emotions. She came from a family of eccentrics, and they totally believed in that sort of thing- reading people and such. I see the slight drop in her face, her happy smile twitching down. She fights it, though. The doubt that he's dead. Gone forever. She doesn't want to believe it. I know the exact myriad of emotions she's going through right now. Because, well, I went through them too.
"I don't know wh-... I'm s- " I'm struggling for words, fighting a losing battle when I go for the cliche and least bit helpful, " I'm sorry." I don't know what else to say, and I hate that she will now associate me with sadness. I'm the one who told her her childhood crush and love of her life has died. They didn't even make it further than a few lingering touches that they thought would go unnoticed. Flirtatious smiles thrown at each other when they thought I wasn't looking. That must make it harder, all the things left unsaid. The feelings and what-ifs buried with him, except for the fact he wasn't buried because his body was never recovered.
This is what I was worried about. Not even two minutes into our rekindling, and our friendship was no longer perfect reminiscent worthy memories. There was a bolded X, a heartbreak, a taint in it now. And forever. And being who she is as a person, she consoles me. I just delivered her terrible news, news that I had time to come to terms with- barely-. News that she was blindsided by. And here she is. Hugging me.
"Elizabeth," she whispers in my ear for just the two of us, "I know what you're thinking and stop it. The chances of us running into each other... Well they were impossible, yet here you are. Someone must surely be looking out for us. And now He has your brother. We must believe in that." She was never one to end the hug first, so I squeeze her to let her know I hear her words. I don't believe them, but I hear them.

Her hand lingers a little bit on my arm before she steps back to let her brother do the same. Their hugs feel like home, and I relish in it. He doesn't have to say it, I feel their genuine sorry for my loss, our loss, since we all grew up together. Their family practically took my brother and I in when we were young before we were forced apart by mandatory camp splitting. It felt good knowing we had people fighting for us. To grow up with none of that, it meant the world to us then. And although we were forcibly separated, there were people out there who loved us. They kept us going, the hope we would see them again. Well now my brother can rest easy wherever he was, knowing I found them. And it's all thanks to a certain angel..... My mind strays to Colby, and right on cue, his raised voice has me turning around.

Out of my whole stay here, I have never seen a disheveled angel. I recognize him as a scout, always roaming the immediate premises and miles surrounding. He approaches a questioning Colby quickly, urgency written over his features. Colby's eyes immediately darted from mine to the panic stricken angel. Again, against my better judgment, I head over that way. This can't be good. I look to the anxious angel then back to the calm Colby, and it's then that I realize I'm not the only one looking to him for what to do. Colby's demeanor quickly changes to concern for his comrade. I see him take a quick once over making sure he is free of any immediate injuries. He may be a firm leader, but he is also a fair one. My admiration of Colby is cut short when the angel proceeds to pant out his warning.
"We have to vacate the camp. Now. Demons, they're coming."
"You couldn't just take them out yourself or grab some back up?" I turn to Sam who has now made his way over to us. I also see a curious Indie and River, outsiders looking in. I've noticed around camp that the contact between angels and humans are limited to healing and yet here making my way right in the middle of their conversation. I give them an I'll explain later look. That seems to appease them.
The angel had no indicators that he was in a fight. Certainly an angel wouldn't flee from the chance of smiting a few nasty demons?
"You don't understand. It's an army." The familiar voice has Colby and I whipping around just in time to see an equally disheveled Corey as a pair of angels try to hoist him back. We stand there as he tries and fails to shake the angels off of him. The angels are yelling what they think we should with the demon, others are frantically whispering at what we should do with the camp. Indie is trying to console a shaking River who has retreated into herself after Corey's smirks at her. Learning that the things that were attacking us were demons was a lot to take in. Then having to be in one's presence? I can understand they're overwhelmed, but we need to place our focus on what needed to be done. Too much is going on, and I grow frustrated at my inability to hear my own thoughts.
"Stop!" I shock everyone with my intervention. Corey did save my life, albeit he did kidnap me in the first place. But now, looking into his eyes, he looks genuine. He almost looks human. Colby expression matches that of his brothers and sisters surrounding us.
"We don't have time for this!" Colby looks to Sam, and they have a quick exchange without even uttering words. Immediately Sam gets moving and orders the angels around to do the same. Indie and River begin following him once they realize I have no intention of leaving. Colby seems frustrated with that fact, but I don't care.  The definition of army is still lost on us, but it can't be good. We need to get these people out of here and quickly. Some people are still too injured to move, some too old to. The angels have their work cut out for them.
"She's right. We should hear him out. He wouldn't willingly wager his life by walking into a den of wolves. He wouldn't dare try anything." Colby annoyingly accepts that I don't plan on leaving then commands the pair, who also don't dare question his authority, all while not breaking his stare down with Corey. Colby's eyes are challenging Corey to prove him wrong. Just because they listen to their leader doesn't mean they have to be happy about it.The angels holding Corey push him forward roughly and quickly disperse with the others. "Tell us what you know." Even though Colby was lenient enough to let him go, doesn't mean he particularly cares for him. Corey rolls his eyes before lunging at me. He manages to tear a piece of my shirt off before I registered that I needed to move. Colby has him in a death grip, pushing up against the crumbling wall.
"What is your plan here, demon?"