Leaving Laurabelle Falls

Chapter 22

"Are you okay?" Deacon asked, shaking Clyde's shoulder. Clyde shook himself out of sleep, perking his head up. Flicker made a noise of dissatisfaction as she slipped several inches down his chest. He looked down, in confusion, at the sleeping dragon.

"Um," Clyde said, wincing as he tried to stretch. "I feel a little tense. Other than that, I'll survive."

I flashed back to his moaning and shouting, the visceral fear that he had displayed the night before. I knew that he was lying.

"You kept saying my name." I said, from where I sat. I was already up, in the rocking chair. I don't know how much sleep I had actually gotten, but I knew that it wasn't enough. I was worried about Clyde the entire time.

"I did." He confirmed. Flicker crawled up his chest, and jumped onto his shoulder as he fully sat up. He reached up, giving her an affectionate rub to the side of the face.

"Is there anything I can do?" I asked, looking down.

"You're alive." He said. "That's more than enough for me right now."

"Did you see it?" Deacon asked, his voice low.

Clyde flinched. It was almost loud, in its violence.

"I'd really rather not talk about it." He elaborated, shaking his head. "I also saw her die a dozen different ways afterwards. Some of them were, um. Really creative."

I could hear the pain in his voice, and decided I didn't want to know what they were talking about. I quickly got up, shedding my blanket on the ground. My clothes were hard from getting wet and not-quite drying yesterday, which had caused me to chafe in my sleep.

I walked over to the bed, and immediately leaned over him. His tight grip around me was enough of an indication that he was telling the truth.

"Thank you," He breathed. He smelled like the dankness of the mist, and somehow, I had simultaneously never cared more or less in my life. I felt the sharp awareness of the contradiction wash over me.

"You're welcome." I said. I didn't want to pull away, but knew that I had to at some point. I pulled back, and Flicker jumped from his shoulder to mine.

She gave a soft, concerned sound.

"This place is going to be really beautiful once we purge it of evil." Deacon said, offering a little beacon of hope in the darkness of our reality. "The Goddess said that the safehouse would be a hint as to what we were saving. I guess there was some sort of lake or ocean here, before it became the wasteland."

"That does make me feel better," I confessed. Then, realizing that I was not the one that made the sacrifice last night, I quickly added, "Although I'm more concerned with how Clyde feels about it."

"I'm not worried." Clyde said. "I know how you meant that."

I felt myself slump, full of relief.

"Thank you," I said. I hadn't realized how much I had needed the benefit of the doubt before that moment. It was not often that people trusted I meant well, when my words came out wrong.

I felt a strong surge of affection for him.

"Well, we're going to have to leave here soon." Deacon said. "The Goddess said that this was right on the edge of the end of the wasteland. We shouldn't have that much further to go."

Everyone was woken up, some resisting more than others. Bethany had smeared eyeliner from two days ago crusted to her lashes, her lipstick had long ago faded. Her hair had turned into something resembling a nest in her sleep. She simply let it down, and put it back up again.