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THE campfire proved to be a very reliable night light for y/n. she sat by the fire, listening to the soft crinkling of the flames along with the occasional crunchy sounds of the pages being turned. it was easy for her brain to get scrambled in the silence, and every little sound seemed to comfort the stress her thoughts brought to her. she had woken up late in the night from a nightmare, one that displayed the horrors of the crash all over again. it was a common reoccurrence and despite the many times y/n had relived the experience, she still couldn't get used to it and it would keep her up for the rest of the night. usually, during nights like these, y/n would go and sit with lottie, and if she was awake, they would talk until one or the other fell asleep first. but she didn't have lottie's voice to ease her nerves, so now she had to resort to the internal narration that came from reading her book.
she found herself missing lottie, longing for her company during such a silent night. lottie would know what to say, what to do. the only thing keeping her motivated for the trip home was getting back to her.
earlier that night, all of the girls sat around the fire and listened to van explain the whole plot of a movie she had seen—spoilers and all. she was an amazing storyteller, making the girls feel as if they were actually watching the movie more than only hearing the synopsis of it.
in retrospect, it made the group feel more comfortable with being in the wilderness with no solid shelter. y/n couldn't help but be grateful for her presence as she reflected on the past few hours without lottie. no offense to taissa, but she wasn't as comforting as van was.
speaking of taissa, y/n couldn't help but notice her absence. she had decided to take the the first watch of the night but she wasn't even actually there to watch. and due to her negligence, the fire had gone out. y/n didn't fault her for it, thinking she might be using the bathroom or patrolling the area. y/n just hoped taissa would come back as soon as she was done. maybe then, she'd take the next watch as taissa caught up on sleep.
her pondering was cut short when she heard a slight rustling in the bushes nearby, which instantly struck her with unease. she slowly turned to look for where the sound specifically came from. she hesitantly whispered out, "taissa? that you?" though her words only fell upon deaf ears. "tai—come on, this isn't funny." she called out again, her eyes darting around in different directions. she returned to her previous thought: where is taissa? it had been some time now and she was literally nowhere to be seen.
y/n didn't call back again, instead she just slowly moved closer to the fire. she kept herself from overthinking, making sure to stay calm and not jump to any conclusions. she handled things differently when she was in the wilderness, mostly because of the lack of shelter but also because of how unpredictable the area was. that single sound could've came from a bird, small animal, or even worse, a larger animal. but then again, it could've also been the wind. the weather was changing, and it had began to grow a little chilly during the night. for now, it was just a noise, one that has probably been heard a multitude of times.
