The Trip

Chapter 16 Healing Reunion

I was lying in a bed. The blanket was warm and cozy. The pillow was as soft as a cloud. Am I dead? I thought to myself.

I slowly opened my eyes and saw that I was in a room. Judging by the design of the ceiling and the stone walls, I was most likely still in the town, but there is no way I could still be in the tavern. I could hear people talking so I sat up to see who else was in the room with me.

"Good afternoon, Amara," I heard a voice say. It was Gabriel; he smiled warmly at me.

"Hey Gabriel," I said, rubbing my eyes. He came close and touched my face with his warm hand.

He smiled again then turned back to the window next to the bed. I could tell his mind was occupied with something, so I looked around the room. It was a big bedroom; it was like a hotel setup but larger. The beds were paired side by side with space in between each pair. They were all twin size beds and had fluffy blankets on them. Across from the beds there were tables and chairs, and the wall was decorated with bookshelves. In the far left of the room I could see people sitting around at a table. They looked familiar. Wait. Was that...? I thought to myself, but my train of thought was interrupted when someone yelled.

"She's up!" came an excited scream.

It was Kara and Trina. They were running towards me, about to dive on top of me when I hurriedly stopped them.

"Wait, wait, wait!" I screamed, but it was too late. They both laid on top of me hugging the life out of me.

"I'm so glad you're okay! I made Terry go and check on you when we saw the smoke," Kara said.

"Sonya left before I could even say anything about you, even though I was too drunk to actually form words," Trina said in between sobs.

"Can't.... breath," I said gasping for air.

"Sorry," they said simultaneously.

"We are just glad you're okay," Kara stated as she got off the bed.

"I know we didn't talk much, but I'm glad you're okay too," Trina said with a warm smile sitting on the other side of the bed. "The more friends I make here, the saner I can be," Trina said attempting to sound happy.

"Wait. Is that why you aggressively tried to be my friend while we were at the bar?" Kara said, shaking her head.

Trina shrugged. "It worked, didn't it?" She giggled a little.

"I am glad you're okay, squirt!" Terry chimed in. He patted my head and smiled down at me.

"Oh yeah," I smiled up at him, "Thank you, Terry, for saving me from that thing."

"Actually, I had help doing it," he said moving back to reveal the man with the red eyes who had been in the tavern. He moved over to the bed and took Terry's place and stared at me. His eyes were gold now.

"I'm, uh," he looked to the floor then swallowed hard and met my eyes. "I'm glad you're safe," he said in a rush. Was he being shy?

"You'll have to excuse him, Amara. Salem is not used to talking to girls," Gabriel said with a smirk.

"Shut the hell up, you mailman asshole!" Salem yelled at Gabriel.

Terry laughed. "I know it's a joke, but it looks like it's true," he said.

"You can go to hell too!" Salem snapped.

I giggled and he turned towards me, his anger deflating. "Thank you, Salem," I said with a warm smile.

"Yeah, yeah," he said quietly before walking away towards a table.

"Aye, I saw your ass blushing," Terry said with a chuckle, following Salem to the table.