Twelve Days

Day four

"We're finally there!", Alec exclaimed as we finally arrived at the Garden of the Gods camping space. "Thank God.", I sighed and jumped out of the car. We got stuck in traffic for eternities but with good music, ice tea and a beautiful sunset no traffic could have killed our vibe. "Wow, I am so tired.", Alec sighed and opened the back door of our camper where I already prepared our beds while driving. It actually was pretty comfortable- while one was driving, the other one could prepare everything in order to go to bed. The smell of fire tickled my nose- when I looked around I quickly saw where it came from. There was a little fireplace next to the camper on our opposite. "Are we going to bed or do you have anything you got to do?", Alec yawned from inside of the camper. "Nope, I'll be right there.", I said. Quickly I snug behind the camper and changed into shirts and a tank top- it was surprisingly hot inside the camper but outside, the weather was refreshingly mild. After I laid down next to Alec, we both made sure the camper was locked and the car was switched off properly. "I have never seen stars so bright", Alec sighed in astonishment. I nodded- through the glass deck of the camper they had a breathtaking view on the stars and the moon. "I want to look at this forever.", Alec sighed and made himself comfortable. "Me too.", I sighed but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't resist but let my soul travel to the city of dreams.

"Come on, no time to lose!", Alec said as he woke me up. He already prepared breakfast- toast with peanut butter and jelly- a classic. I fidgeted for my water and the pills right besides it- I quickly took one and felt the well known wave of energy, flushing all the symptoms of my illness out of my body. "Here you go.", Alec said and passed me my plate. I could see how desperately he was trying to act as if whatever was happening was completely normal but the wrinkles on his forehead told me the truth. I couldn't blame Alec for being worried. If it was Alec, not me, I would be worried to. "Did you figure out the route yet?", I asked. Alec nodded:" I have it right on my phone."

An hour later we both showered, changed and packed our backpacks to get ready for a full day of hiking. The sun was burning our skin, especially Alec being as pale as he is would have to expect quite a sunburn. I wasn't as pale as Alec, my skin had a goldish undertone and would probably get a nice tan during this roadtrip- A tanned corpse. I giggled. "What are you laughing about?", Alec asked but I shook my head:" Nevermind." He wouldn't get it anyways. The parking lot was full with campers and cars but most people seemed to be gone already. "This is gorgeous!", Alec sighed and I couldn't agree more. The reddish stone looked like pure copper under the sun and the little grass there was looked unrealisticly green in contrast to the stones. Slowly we started climbing up a mountain that would lead us to the actual garden of the gods. I could feel the sweat running down my back and it wasn't long until both Alec and I took our shirts off. "Have some sun protection, otherwise you will look like a crab by the end of the day.", I said to Alec and he smirked but did what he was told. I breathed in the air- it smelled different than it did in New York. Despite the pressuring hotness, the cool breeze made the weather bearable. For two hours we just walked besides each other, completely in silence. Both him and I were just living in the moment and enjoying the landscape. Suddenly we heard someone scream. "Help!", a ladies voice echoed. "What the-", Alec frowned and got going. "Help! Please!", the woman screamed and I yelled back:" We're coming! Keep screaming so we can find you!" "Okay!", the woman cried. "She must be right over there.", Alec suggested and pointed at a big stone a couple of steps far away. We both started running. "Keep screaming!", Alec yelled and got a 'here!' in return. Only few minutes later we finally saw the woman- she was approximately our age, rather short and had a ton of red hair. She was on the ground and her foot was stuck under a smaller rock. "Hey, what's your name?", I asked. "I'm Clary.", she said out of breath. "I'm Jace and this is Alec. Can you tell us what happened?", I asked worriedly. "It's a stupid story.", she chuckled, "I'm a photographer and there was this snake that I wanted to take a picture of but I slipped and my foot slipped under that rock and now I can't get it out." Alec grinned:" Good thing we are here to help you out- Jace can you help me try to move that thing?" I nodded:" Sure." "Wow, I mean this could be a movie- stupid girl falls and get's rescued by two hot shirtless guys.", Clary joked and I smirked- probably the last time someone would call me hot. It coming from a girl as pretty as that Clary girl made me feel pretty confident about myself. It was funny to me how normal thinking about my own death on a daily basis has become. "One, two, three, push!", Alec commanded and I leant in with all my power. "Thank you!", Clary sighed in relief. "No problem.", Alec said and I knelt down next to her, examining her foot. It looked pretty swollen. "That looks nasty.", Alec stated, "Do you need help getting back to the camping place?" She smiled:" That would be great, actually." "Okay, let's get you down, then.", I said and stretched out my arm. When I looked down on my hands I realized it was shaking. Unfortunately, I wasn't the only one who noticed. "It's a stupid tremor, don't worry about it.", I said to break the silence and she took my hand so I pulled her up. When I looked to the side, I saw Alec, paler than usual, giving me the 'are you okay'- stare. "Are you going to just stand there or what?", I asked and Alec rushed by my side. "I got her.", he said. "I can badge myself on Alec if you're not feeling well.", Clary suggested insecurely. I frowned:" I'm good- why is everyone so worried?" "Don't-", Alec said and I stared at him in disbelief:" Don't what?" "What is going on?", Clary asked. "I don't know either. Let's just go.", I said and put her arm around my neck.