My eyes are closed, but I was not asleep. After Jane crashed into the cabin scaring and confusing me about a devil and saviour, I could do anything but relax. My thoughts scramble, unsure If I should believe her. It sounds naive to believe her. How exactly can I make sure she is telling me the truth and not trying to trick me? A horn blares from outside, signalling everyone to wake up and get changed. Dust flies in the light from the morning sky. I change into my long sleeved shirt and blue shorts from yesterday. Tom told us yesterday that the horn would be our wake up call. Some of the girls in the cabin wake up through groans, pulling out their clothes. I walk to pick up my tall converse, slipping them on my feet.

—

The morning sky looks gorgeous, yellow and orange painting it as the sun shines on everyone. I stand by the flag pole as kids surround the field. Some Demi-Humans, sharp-toothed, and some normal humans. Tom stands on the wood block, greeting us with a smile. 

"G'morning everyone! Hope you all had a great sleep! It's a Brenew day today! Jenna's unable to join us for this morning, but she'll be here soon. Your schedules are posted on your cabins. They're different for all the cabins. But right now, we're off to eat breakfast! As are all of you. I'm pretty sure you all know where the mess hall is, right?"

The crowd responds 'yes' in unison.

"Great! Go off and enjoy your breakfast! See ya later at noon. Meet back here!"

Turning beside me, Sky is standing farther away from me. We walk to the mess hall, shuffling like zombies. Some girls were still wearing their pyjamas. Walking into the alley of food, the scents of bacon fill my nose. 

Smells great.

I scoop some bacon and eggs from the trays in front of me on my plastic plate and grab a small cup of strawberry yogurt. Holding my plate, I make my way to the same spot I sat at lunch yesterday. The crowd fills with happy children; not a single table looked sad. In the table I had lunch at yesterday, Only a boy sits there. He notices me, giving me a glance the moment I sit. I give a questionable wave. He does the same, pursing his lips awkwardly. I settle to open my yogurt cup and scoop some into my mouth. It's delicious. 

"Um, I don't believe we've met."

The boy states after I take a few bites of yogurt. I shake my head. He has black hair, red eyes and was wearing a black shirt.

"Nope. I don't think so."

"I'm Phoenix. Nice to meet ya."

He holds his hand out for me to shake. I do so as he smiles softly. He seems kind, even though we just met.

"I'm Justice."

I reply.

After I stare at my breakfast for a bit, Phoenix taps my rested arm. My chin darts up.

"That's a cool name."

"Thank you."

"Hey, would you mind if I ask what your next activity is?

He asks as my lips purse.

"Nature walk."

I reply with a full mouth, covering it in embarrassment.

"Hey, same!"

He replies.

"You wanna come with me? You seem pretty cool."

My eyes widen a bit as I look down at my lap. My trust issues and curiosity about the boy keep me thinking about what I should say. I look back up at him with a small smile.

—

Everyone escorts from their tables as I do the same, placing my dirty kitchenware in the soapy water bin at the front of the table. Phoenix is in front of me, doing the same.

Shaking my hands to let the water out, I catch up beside him, both of us trailing outside of the mess hall, searching for our way to the rocky pathway leading to the forest. The moment the dark haired boy and I reach the path, right beside the boys' cabin. Jenna is there along with some other kids, mostly teenagers. As we pass through the hall of tall green trees, violet flowers and long streams of lakes, Jenna explains the ages of trees and other activity areas nearby. My eyes traveled around. It was beautiful. The pale blue sky finished it off. Phoenix steps in with a question.

"Hey, Justice, sorry if this sounds too weird, but do you know anyone named Sky Reid?"

I whip my head to face him, pausing to tap my coiled fingers to my chin, trying to think.

"Um, I don't think so? Why?"

I reply questionably.

"Um..."

He looks down pursing his lips, blushing a bit.

"Hey, are you ok?"

I tap his shoulder, looking at him with worry. His head whips back at me.

"Yeah. Sorry, It's just cause you look like someone who she'd be friends with. With your personality and she mentioned that she met a girl with champagne rose hair and Blue eyes. I think she was talking about you."

My eyes widened at him again. 

Sky. The green-haired girl who was sketching. Why would she want to talk about me? She looked so angry at me when we met yesterday .

"What did she say about me?"

I ask out of curiosity. 

"She said she was curious. Curious about you. And, she wanted to tell you something."

He blushes again, scratching the back of his neck. 

It's almost as if they were working together. But why am I involved? Is Sky still mad with me or do they think I'm sketchy? 

My mind rambles on so much about this that I held my head as if I had a headache. 

"But, why would she want to tell me something? Not that it's a bad thing or anything. I'm just curious."

"She didn't tell me exactly why, but only said that you seem like an interesting person." 

"Whoa. That's sweet of her to say. Believe it or not, but I wanted to talk to her too."

I respond. 

"Hm?'

"In that intro game yesterday, I ran into her. I told her that her art was great, but she asked if I was stalking her. I felt like a creep and an idiot so I got nervous and started stuttering. I don't see any reason why she would want to talk to me."

Phoenix stares at me in a bit of pity but resumes to explain.

"That's like her. Whenever I'm around her, she's so annoyed and we've been friends since middle school. She always wants to be alone and has been a serious art nerd for as long as I've known her."

"I want to apologize, but I'm too nervous."

I respond shyly.

"What's stopping you?"

"You don't get it. I'm super awkward. And-"

I cut off myself, Avoiding to give Phoenix the information of my eye power.

"I get how you feel. But maybe she'll be ok. Or not. You never know. You didn't do anything horrible, So I wouldn't even say anything. But if it bothers you that much, I guess there's nothing wrong with apologizing."

I pause for a moment, then give him a smile as my thanks. Hopefully my next attempt talking to the girl will go smoother. 

"Hope you don't mind me asking, but what's she like? Sky."

He looks over at me when I finish my question.

"She's uh... Tough. And really talented. When I was in middle school, she was always alone drawing or studying. I actually saw her beat up someone once."

My eyes immediately dart towards him in surprise. 

"Oh, but It wasn't her fault. She got her lunch stolen and I guess talking didn't work, and the guy pushed her instead."

"Oh."

I reply in realization.

Phoenix finishes blushing more. I snicker a little, hiding my face from him. As we trail down the path more, the sun dims.

We keep chatting, the farther we walk. 

Phoenix halts as we share faces of worry. The forest looked darker and there was barely any path left. 

"Um... where are we?" 

I hesitate. We look around, examining the trees passing us and the wet mud under our shoes. 

"I don't know." 

He responds. 

"Crap. We're lost." 

I turn to glance over my shoulder. We scurry around, searching for the nature hike group. Jogging backwards from where we came. I can't help but feel somewhat bad for getting me and Phoenix lost. As we keep on running, there is no sign of the group or Jenna. Not even a camp volunteer. Some clouds shield the blue sky, changing the mood of the day. 

"I'm sorry."

Phoenix responds, looking disappointed in himself.

"Hm?"

"For getting us lost. It's my fault for rambling so much about Sky. I'm sorry."

I look at him in pity. 

"It's fine. We're gonna find our way back soon."

I reassure him. 

We get back to running. Eventually, we eye a still object. Flies flutter above it, buzzing. It seems tipped, and it looks to be in the shape of a human, only with paler skin. I halt to a stiff position, signalling phoenix by his name fearfully. He pauses to meet my disturbed eyes. 

"What? Something wrong?" 

I point to the being slowly. As soon as his eyes land on it, his face turns fearful. At least he can still move, walking slowly towards it. I reach my hand to stop him, yelping, but he doesn't seem to notice me. I sprint to him, shuffling slower as we get closer to the object, or being, or animal. Looking down at it, I am frozen.

A fairy corpse. 

Her legs seemed chopped off as did her wings. Her upper body was painted with blood and her skin pale as snow. Phoenix and I stared and trembled in fear at it. My body would not let me move. The only clothing the fairy had was a white ragged dress. Is this what Jane was talking about? No. This is probably something different. Maybe you're dreaming. I blink my eyes, hoping that this was all a dream, that when I open them again I would be in my mattress. I found myself in the same position, same place, same time. Fiery sensations boil in my head and eyes, causing me to flinch and hold my head. 

"Justice? What's wrong?"

Phoenix asks, staring at me in worry. 

"N-Nothing. I- just..."

Footsteps tap coming to our direction, causing my head to dart to the right.

"We need to run."

I say sternly, in the manner of a soldier.

"Are you crazy? No. They'll sense something sketchy. Come here."

Phoenix grabs my wrist, leading me to bush above in the hill above us, It was fairly big, enough for both of us to fit behind comfortably. I gather some leaves to cover my side of the bush and kneel, peeking over the bush.

"Why are we hiding?!"

I whisper aggressively to him.

"We don't know who the person is!"

He whispers back.

"We may not be fast enough also."

He nods in agreement.

The footsteps came from a blonde girl. She kneels down towards it, swatting the flies and sniffing it. I stare in disgust. Leaning down further, she chomps off a bite from it. Her nails look a little sharper than usual, But her body was formed the same as a normal human female. The girl continues to chew off the remains of flesh on the corpse. Fear, disgust, sickness, and confusion holds me back from looking away. I can only freeze staring at the scene and the burning sensation in my head and eyes return. After a few bites, she jogs away, to the deeper part of the forest. When she runs away with blood painted all over her, Phoenix and I stand from the bush I inhale and exhale deeply. 

"We gotta run. Now!" 

I yell, tapping his shoulder, running towards the lighter direction of the trail. He follows me, only passing me. He's fast.

"Run!" Screams in my head. "RUN!" The last thing I want is to end up like that corpse. This can't be real. It's way too crazy. As we sprint, Two paths show up in front of us. I'm unsure of where to go. 

"This tree is 1,000 years old, and I daresay it's my favourite here. The lake is there on your left."

My flashback of Jenna. It's when Phoenix started talking to me about Sky. I remember the oddly shaped trees before that.

"Phoenix, this way!"

I steer left, running faster though the path through pants.

"Justice, do you even know where you're going?"

"Yes! Not too far from here was where Jenna's favourite tree was. And this was also where I saw the canoe deck view! We're getting close."

I reply, hopeful, but still worried.

"How the hell did you remember something like that?"

"I've got a strangely good memory."

He replies with a "huh." Jenna's favourite tree is right in front of us; tall with apple green leaves and a skirt of branches around it and I can faintly eye the canoe deck. I gasp out of relief. A branch stubs my foot. I tumble, rolling forward, mud spreading on my legs and cheeks with some scratches on my knees. 

Phoenix stops running ahead of me, reaching his arm out to me. I grab it, and thank him with a smile. Relief flows through me when we reach back to our starting point. All Phoenix and I can do is pant.

"A- Are- Are you ok?"

I hyperventilate, hands on my knees. He nods, panting. 

"Phoenix... what we saw... back there... what? What was that?" 

"I don't know. I don't want to talk about it."

The image of the fairy corpse and the girl consuming it is all that plays in my brain. This can't be real. What if it happens to me too? 

I drop down to my knees, placing my hand on my chest, trying to control myself. All the thoughts of Jane, the recent horror, my failure to live normally overwhelms me. Tears start to prick the edges of my eyes, but I try to swallow them back. The last thing I want is to embarrass myself in front of Phoenix. However, I could not help it. I cup my face.

"Justice?"

He kneels down, carefully grabbing my shoulder. I sniffle, releasing my face from my hands wall to meet his reassuring red eyes. 

"I- I'm sorry!"

I cover my face again, weeping and sniffling. He shyly brings me into a hug.

"Phoenix? What are you doing?"

"Don't apologize. I was also terrified. You looked like you needed a hug."

I only cry more, wrapping my arms around him as my tears soak his shoulder sleeve. Him hugging me is warm and comforting. I felt so safe. 

"No one's ever done this for me before. Thank you. Thanks so much."

"Anytime. What are friends for?"

My eyes widen. 

"You're gonna be ok. Just stay here until you're done crying."

He responds, still embracing me. 

"Ok."

I wrap my arms around him tighter, closing my eyes. Though we met today, him hugging me makes me want to know more about him.