Celine was unable to break the barrier that kept her out and us within. She popped in and out of existence in front of my eyes. It looked as if she was trying to use her teleportation to enter the barrier, but that wasn’t working either. She shouted and shouted, but this was becoming fainter to my ears as the trap drained me. I started to feel faint, and my surroundings started to dim. If I was able to move, I would have surely fallen on the floor. My arms and legs tingled and eventually everything went blank as I lost consciousness.

My mind wandered from dream to dream. I no longer had any recollection of how I was brought into this sleep. No longer conscious, an unknown amount of time passed. It wasn’t until I begun to wake that I regained a sense of self. I could feel warmth all over my body, and as I opened my eyes I squinted in the bright light. I quickly realised I was laid on a bed and tried to sit myself up. My body felt slow and weak, as if I had been laid there for quite some time. I was in a small room I didn’t recognise. There was a window just to the left of the bed, the curtains were drawn, and the sunlight was pouring in.

“Where am I?” I asked out loud.

The memories of my last moments conscious flooded back to me, and I tried to get out the bed to find the others. Then the door flung open and someone I recognised well, ran inside.

“You’re finally awake!” She said excitedly as she realised, I was sat up in bed.

She ran around the side of the bed and flung herself towards me. I backed away as much as I could until I hit the wall.

“Lillia… What, why?” I said as I pushed away.

“Oh… Of course, you haven’t seen me since then. It’s normal that you’d react like that.”

The look on her face told me she was upset to see me react like this, but the last time I saw her she was trying to kill me and Altria. This kind of reaction was only natural. I was holding back the desire to try and flee. I couldn’t sense any hostility coming from her though.

“How are you here? Actually, where is here? Where are the others?” I asked in a word jumble as my mind raced.

She looked confused as she tried to decide where to start.

“I was rescued, I wasn’t myself before…”

“You were rescued, but how?”

“Siofra.”

“Siofra did. Is she here?”

“She isn’t, she’ll be back soon though.”

“What happened, and where are the others?”

“Look Theo, I’m sorry…”

“You couldn’t help it could you though? You were being controlled somehow. I knew you would never do something like that if you could help it.”

“Yes… But that isn’t what I mean.” She took in a deep breath and looked as if she was trying to brace herself before she spoke. “The thing is, you were the only one still alive when we found you and only barely. You’ve been asleep like that for two weeks…”

“What? No, no, no, no, they’re all dead? No, they can’t be. I was just with them!”

“I’m sorry, I couldn’t believe it either. I still haven’t come to terms with it.” She said tears already streaming down her face.

I couldn’t believe it, everyone was dead. To me I was only just with them moments before. I didn’t want to believe her. I looked into her face. Her lips were trembling, and she looked like she was in pain. If she was deceiving me, it was some brilliant acting.

“What happened? How were you able to find us?”

“You were caught in some kind of trap. It was set to drain the life out of anything that set it off… We had been following your group.”

“Following us? Why didn’t you just reveal yourselves?”

“We were worried about how you would receive me, after what happened… We stayed just out of sight and planned to help if you were all in danger, but we were too late... I’m so sorry.”

They were following us. I was surprised that Celine hadn’t picked them up. I was just about to ask what had become of her, but for some reason thought better of it. She hadn’t been caught in the trap, but she wasn’t here either.

“I need some fresh air.”

It was all too much, everything I had just been told. I didn’t want to believe nearly all my friends had been killed. I lifted the covers and swung out my feet.

“Take it easy.” Lillia said worried.

I climbed out of the bed and tried to walk but my legs started to give way as soon as I put any weight on them. I would have collapsed on the floor if Lillia hadn’t caught me in time.

“I told you to be careful! You haven’t moved in weeks.” She said holding me in her arms. She pressed me against her.

“Thanks…” I still wasn’t sure about this situation at all. “Please, help me walk outside.”

“Okay, but you really shouldn’t be up and about for too long. You’re still weak.”

“Thanks.”

With the help of Lillia I slowly made my way out of the room and into the main living room of the small house. From there we went outside. There was a small bench just to the side of the front door and Lillia helped me onto it. I didn’t recognise these surroundings at all. This place was a cabin and we were at the edge of a wood, with mountains in the background.

“Where is this?” I asked.

“We’re back over the border, in the human territory. Don’t worry no one is going to come for you here. No one knows about this place.”

“Siofra, you said she would be back soon?”

“Yes, in a day or two. She’s gone to get food and supplies. We’re in the middle of nowhere here. The nearest village is more than a day’s walk from here. Are you missing her?”

“Yes… I missed both of you. I’m really glad that you two are both okay. I don’t know what I would have done if anything had happened to you both as well…”

“I’m just sorry that we didn’t get there sooner, and what I did, if I had known I was being controlled like that, if I’d done something, then none of this would have happened!” Lillia said with tears running down her face again.

“None of this is your fault. Don’t be stupid! That could have happened to anyone. If anything, you are a victim here.”

I put my arm around her, and she sobbed away. I felt awful about everything that had happened. I still couldn’t wrap my head around the death of my friends. Right now, I just felt empty. There was just a big hole eating me up from the inside out, but I couldn’t help but feel that this must be that much worse for Lillia. We stayed like that for some time, eventually Lillia pulled herself upright and wiped the tears from her eyes.

“We should head back inside. You’re supposed to be resting not comforting me!” She said forcing a smile.

I was going to argue and say I felt fine, but it just didn’t feel right.

“Sure.”

I was still unsteady on my feet, and she had to help me back inside to the bed. I glanced at the window as we stepped inside and for a fleeting moment, I thought I saw a reflection. It almost seemed to be Celine, it looked as if she was trying to mouth something to me. I stopped and quickly turned to look behind me. Nothing. I glanced back at the window only to see my own face looking back at me. Was I imagining things?

“What is it?” Asked Lillia.

“I just thought I saw someone…”

“There’s no one else here… I knew I shouldn’t have let you out of bed for that long. You need to rest come on.” Lillia said clearly concerned.

“Okay.”

Lillia led me through the cabin and back into the bedroom. She helped me back onto the bed and placed the pillow behind my back so I could sit up comfortably.

“You shouldn’t try to push yourself to be up and about yet. You were barely alive before and I couldn’t bear it if you…”

“I know, I’ll rest. Sorry.”

“Good! I’m going to start getting dinner ready. You must be starving you haven’t eaten for days!”

“I think I am.”

I wasn’t sure if I was, but my stomach did feel empty, and I was definitely weak. Being asleep for that long had really messed with my senses.

“You just stay there. Don’t worry if you fall asleep, I’ll wake you when it’s ready.”

“Thanks.”

Lillia looked satisfied that I wasn’t going to try and get out of bed again. She left me there to rest while she went into the next room to prepare the dinner. I could hear her clanging around with pots and pans. I was determined that I was going to fall back asleep, I had apparently been out for well over a week, but I just felt so drained… Before I knew it my eyes were staring to close. I slid down the pillow and closed them.