The Dark Hour

--------Astrid--------

I grabbed my bag and Vincent was going to check us out. I went over to Ridge's and Lalna's room and knocked on the door, and waited for an answer. Valerie opened the door and smiled a little.

"Hey Astrid, what's up?"

"How is Ridge doing? Ryan told me what happened last night."

"He's fine-ish, I guess. He's taking a shower and I ran out into town late last night and got him some new clothes since his are kinda stained and his shirt was cut in half." I nodded.

"Do you think that he should still travel with us? I don't want him to push too hard on this just cause he doesn't want anything to happen to Layla or Cas." She sighed.

"To be honest I don't think we can leave him here or sent him back at this point. We're already out numbered from the gang and it's not a good idea to have anyone go back with him alone or to really leave him alone. I kinda think he has to come with us."

"Let's just keep an eye on him. Please, meet us down in the lobby in 20 minutes please." She nodded.

"Alright, I'll tell Ridge to hurry up. Um Lalna's helping him out with his bandages after he gets out." I nodded and walked to Ryan's and Skyla's room. I knocked on the door and Ryan answered.

"Morning Astrid." I smiled.

"Morning Ryan we're meeting in the lobby in 20 minutes." He nodded and I walked down and got on my coat, gloves, hat and scarf. I looked out the window and we had snow this year. Which put a smile on my face. This is the first time in three years that we have had snow fall.

~~~~

After a while everyone was down and I think we were ready to leave.

"Are you guys ready? There's a little town between here and the next major town. I got us a few horses to help carry our things."

"Horses?" Skyla asked excitedly. "I love horses." I giggled.

"I was only able to get us three, so Skyla, Ridge, Lalna if you guys want to you can ride a horse. Ryan, Vincent and I will walk. Valerie if you want you can ride or walk."

"I'm fine with walking," She said softly. I nodded.

"Right well let's move out." I said walking outside, I untied the horses and held one steady so Skyla could get on. I put my bag on the side. Ryan helped Lalna get up on the one, and Vincent held the other one steady for Ridge.

We stayed on the road that was clear of snow as best as it could. Taking breaks once in awhile for the horses. I sneezed and shivered and looked up at Skyla.

"How are you doing?"

"Fine, I've been watching Lalna and Ridge. Lalna's used his inhaler twice in the last hour and Ridge is still holding his side," She said softly.

"I'll go talk to them." I handed her the reins and walked over and got in between Ridge and Lalna.

"Lalna how are you holding up? I know what the cold does to you."

"I'm ok," He said a bit muffled by his scarf. "My chest just feels a little bit tight, but I can handle it."

"Okay just say something if it gets worse. We just have a few more miles till the small town that I was talking about this morning, we can stop there and get something hot to drink." He nodded.

"Ok, I think I'll be ok until we get there."

"Okay." I said with a smile. Then I got close to Ridge. "Do you need anything?" He shook his head.

"N-No, I'm ok," He said softly.

"Ridge please don't lie Skyla has been watching you and you've been holding your side. Please if you need pain medication tell Ryan or me."

"I'll be fine, and I don't think it's safe to take any medication without having something in your stomach first," He sighed.

"Okay, well we aren't that far from the next small town just hang in there." I walked back over to Skyla.

"Ridge says that he is fine but I kinda don't believe him."

"I wouldn't either," Skyla sighed. "He scared the hell out of me last night and I'm not sure if it was a good idea to bring him in the first place."

"It's not like we couldn't of talked him out of it. I talked to Valerie about this and she said that it was kinda too late to take him back. We just have to keep an eye on him." She nodded.

"I guess, but he's crazy if he thinks I'll letting him fight anyone."

"I agree to be honest, but you know either way he is going to find his way in there."

"I know," She sighed softly. I sighed and walked in silence.

~~~~

We made it to the town, and we stopped outside of a coffee shop. We decided to take a break.

"Okay so after this town and the next one, if we leave after we get done drinking, we should get to the next town by nine-ish, hopefully. Then in the morning we can move out. The hideout is only five miles from Witch burrow." Ryan explained.

"Ok, are we staying in another hotel?" Valerie asked sipping her mint tea.

"Yeah, if you want you can have a room with Astrid or Skyla and I can stay with Ridge and Lalna for safety measure." She nodded.

"Sounds good to me."

"Okay." I glanced at Ridge and he was still holding his side. I sighed and got a cinnamon roll and handed it to Ridge.

"Here eat this so you can take some pain medication." He slowly took it and quietly ate it. I went outside and grabbed some pills and a water bottle and handed it to Ridge. He quickly took the pills then handed the water back to me. I sighed and went back outside and pulled out my phone.

Axel- idk if you lost your phone but I'm worried about you. I hope you're okay and I just want to say how much I love you and just stay safe.

I smiled and put my phone back in my pocket and made sure that we had everything that we needed and to see if I need to get more of things if needed.