~*~

I wonder if I were actually dead.

Everything was so cold, and dark.

"She's not gonna make it."

"I can't Shadow Travel with her condition like this,"

I could hear them, Taeyong and Jaehyun, but my vision was black. 

It felt like a dream.

Not long after the bumpy run, I was placed on the ground.

"What the hell happened to her??"

Now that was Ten.

"Possibly Werewolf Venom." Taeyong said, somewhere next to me.

"She got bitten on both of her arms? They were really trying to kill her huh,"

"Jaehyun," Taeyong called. "Get out."

There was silence for a few seconds. Everyone was a bit shocked at the sudden outburst.

"You gotta chill man—"

"Jaehyun, you heard me. Get out." He cut Ten off.

"Why would I do that?"

"Get out!" Taeyong raised his voice.

I heard Jaehyun's light footsteps walking out of the tent.

"Man are you okay?" 

"Get Hendery."

"What—"

"Go—now!"

I heard Ten as he exited.

"Juli," I heard Taeyong next to my ears. "We have no choice but to tell Ten."

The T H I E F mark.

No.

No. No.

Not Ten.

"X-Xiaojun—" I managed to whisper back, maybe. I couldn't tell if I actually said it.

"He is a son of Apollo, Juli. One of the Olympians." Taeyong said.

How could I forget?

"Just trust me," Taeyong said.

I heard two running footsteps coming to us.

My vision was starting to make sense, but everything was dimly lit. Sometimes, it blurred away. It was extremely hard to keep my eyes opened.

Hendery came to my view.

"Hendery," I gasped. 

"I am here," he replied.

Ten extracted the water that was soaking my body and I was dried off. Taeyong held my other hand.

His hands were cold.

Hendery let out fire from his palm and moved them around my head and body.

Ten teared open the sleeve of my uniform. "Eeeeehhh—" he made a sound of disgust.

Not because of the ugly bite, but the mark. He kept staring at it with horror in his eyes.

Hendery grabbed the collar of his uniform. "Heal. Her." He said through his teeth.

"Why would I—"

Hendery's grip on his collar got stronger. "You will."

Ten's jaw tightened as he made water covering his entire palm. He then placed them on top of the bite.

I looked away. It stings like hell. 

Hendery stuffed a cloth into my mouth. It felt like forever, but I stifled the pain. 

After the tent got dark again because the glowing healing water stopped, the pain on my left hand also disappeared.

 

"What is happening in here??"

Our attention was drawn to the person who walked into the tent.

It was Yuta,

Taeyong got up immediately and stood to block his view of me.

He can't see me like this, not when my mark is exposed. He would suspect or decide that I was the Avatar.

"You can't be here right now,"

"What happened to her?"

"Just a severe infection from the bite." Ten said. "Nothing that can't be healed."

"Do you need Xiaojun to help—"

"No," Taeyong immediately said.

Then they kept arguing about something I couldn't decipher. 

Their voice faded out and kept going away. And I was slowly drifting away too.
 

~

 

As soon as my eyes opened, I jolted up and in deep breath.

I looked around, and I didn't recognized the place. Everything was dark, only a small fire lighting up cramped area. 

It smelled like wet soil.

It wasn't my room, because I couldn't be in Atlanta. It wasn't the dormitory either, or Hendery and Taeyong's room.

"Hey," 

I realized there was someone sitting next to me, leaning on the wall.

"Where are we?" I asked as I recognized Hendery's half-lit face.

"We never left the campsite." He said.

Right. We didn't know where we were.

"How long was I—"

"You passed out about fifty minutes ago." He said. "Are you cold?"

I sighed and I could see my breath. I shivered lightly and nodded as a yes.

Hendery then got up to his knees. He lifted my blanket making me shiver again. He got in with me under the blanket, sitting next to me.

I put my hand on his chest, and my freezing hand became warm.

It was nice. 

I inhaled a shaky breath, and exhaled. 

"Better?" He asked, softly.

"Better." I replied.

"How's your arm?"

I felt no sort of pain anymore. I let my arms out of the blanket and studied it. It was completely gone, the bite.

Then none of us said anything for the past few minutes. 

I could stay here forever, stay like this forever.

"It was hard to convince them that I should take the first watch." Hendery said and I felt the vibration on his chest as he spoke.

"Hmm?" 

I looked up at him from his chest and he looked back do