I took a few moments to catch my breath, Miriam had woken up. Opal, Mckensie, and Peneloep had not…bums. I reached for Miriam's hand, grasping it tightly. "Are you alright? What's wrong?" Miriam's voice was a fast and nervous whisper. "I-I'm fine…just a nightmare" I matched her quiet tone, better to wake up the others. Miriam moved to sit in front of me, her eyes scanning over my body. She still seemed rather nervous. We were just…quiet for a few moments sitting there together with my hand in hers. It was…nice, just a few calm moments. Miriam looked up at the ceiling, smiling softly "You might want to see this". I followed her gaze, looking curiously at the ceiling. I watched as the intricate patterns on the ceiling lit up with a golden glow one swirl and sun at a time. It was so beautiful, I wish it stretched back to the fountain so we could show Basil…Honestly I also wish Basil wasn't such a coward so he could be here right now. Miriam moved to sit next to me, resting her head on my shoulder. I didn't let go of her hand and Miriam didn't let go of mine. We sat in a calming silence before the others awoke. Opal woke up very very loudly. She was screaming too, this place must just be a breeding ground for nightmares or something. This, unlike my screaming for some reason, woke Penelope up. Still not Mckensie though, I hope she's still alive. Opal practically lunged at Penelope who seemed unaffected, the younger girl physically checked her over to make sure she was alright. Penelope gently ran a hand through her sister's black hair, "Are you alright?". Opal sputtered for a bit, tears in her eyes. Opal never got around to actually finishing her sentence instead burying her head in her sister's chest and crying harder. Miriam stood, her hand falling out of mine...I stood as Miriam and I made our way to Opal and Penelope. Miriam put a gentle hand on Opal's shoulder. I just kind of…stood there awkwardly. I was never very good with children. I looked at Mckensie who was still asleep. I'm not sure whether I should be jealous that she's able to sleep, concerned that all this screaming hasn't woken her up, or offended that our screaming didn't wake her up? I went with offended and gently kicked Mckensie in the ribs, not enough to hurt her too badly but enough to wake her up. "Ow! What the h-" I shushed Mckensie pretty quickly, gesturing over at Opal and Penelope. "Seriously Mckensie? You didn't hear any of that screaming? What if someone was getting hurt?!" I snapped, I mean come on. "Addie, quit it. We have bigger problems right now" Miriam spoke up, standing in between us. Mckensie got up, looking down at her own shoes. I sighed. Okay, maybe that was a little harsh. But someone could've gotten hurt. I let out a few grumbled apologies, looking back and Opal and Penelope. The two had stood up as well. Opal had brushed away her tears but her face was red from crying and a bit of snot was left on Penelope's dress. "You had a nightmare too?" I guess, Opal nodded, giving me a questioning look. "Wait, you too?" Mckensie looked around at the group. None of us had to say anything to know something was very very wrong. "We need to keep moving, something is…clearly wrong about this place. Mckensie," Miriam looked over to Mckensie "How much longer do you think it'll be?". Mckensie thought for a moment "Another day or so? If we push it we could make it soon" She decided. Miriam nodded. We didn't speak for a while, Miriam passed out a few pieces of the dried fruit and we all walked and ate in silence. I used to love dried mangos. Dad would buy these strips of dried mango for me as a treat sometimes. I would always hide them from Basil and eat them in the garden with Miriam while she rambled on and on about whatever interest she had at the time. I could never see dried mango the same after. Mom started buying it to leave at his grave. It was nice. I haven't eaten it since he died, not until now. It tasted just as I remembered but the usually sweet dried fruit was tainted by bittersweet memories. I moved a little bit closer to Miria, slipping my hand into hers. Miriam's hand was smaller than mine, everything about her was, but we always just…fit. Like peanut butter and jelly, y'know? Wait, no. That's corny, and overused. We can be like cheese and macaroni, I like mac and cheese. "It's weird we all had nightmares" Mckensie said, thanks for stating the obvious I had no idea it was weird. "Probably just another maze thing, I have no doubt after whatever that fire was that they have all sorts of tricks up their sleeves" I mumbled, trying to shut down the conversation. "Wait? What fire?" I'd almost forgotten nobody had told Mckensie about the fire. What a great time to have this conversation. "Oh yeah. Before you showed up we were looking around and there was this giant fire, I would've died if it weren't for Addie" Miriam chuckled softly, I could hear a little bit of that spark in her tone again. I'd never noticed how much I'd missed it. "It was pretty wild" Opal agreed, skipping along with that little hop in her step. Mckensie paled, turning to face us and stopping in her tracks "Hold on what?!". "Yeah, Penelope was screwing around and they started a fire to stop her. I almost forgot Bear when we-..." I'd picked up the conversation but quickly stopped talking. We all silence rather quickly after that except for Mckenzie. "Bear was with you?" She questioned us. "Drop it, keep walking" Penelope said sharply, she shoved her way past Mckensie and kept walking until we all followed. The walk was even quieter after that. It was a somber silence filled with an air of regret and unanswered questions. I didn't like the silence but I think I liked it more than what would come next. I heard the snorting and huffing of a bull, or a bull man. Great, how fun. I stopped the group, shushing as Penelope began to argue. "I think I hear it" I whispered, peeking around the corner cautiously. I shot back as soon as I saw that hairy man beast. I could feel my arm shaking and tried to steady it. "Seriously? Now?" Opal let out a few annoyed grumbles. "Do you want to wait for it to leave or…?" Mckensie looked around the group nervously, picking at the beds of her nails. "We should stay, we don't have the power or weapons to fight it" Penelope decided. I nodded, sitting down. Miriam sat next to me looking visibly annoyed. She needed to sit down anyways, putting too much pressure on herself wouldn't help anyone. This would be fine, we could wait.
