Deep Down

Goodnight's Sleep

It felt as if we spent days crawling, but it's only really been a few hours. We could no longer hear the soldiers, but that doesn't mean that we were safe. Even though the situation was terrifying I had to keep myself together for the little one by my side. The temperatures have dropped and it was cold, especially on the ground.

"We-...guys...we need to find a tree that could hold us all for the night." Devina took a risk and whispered to us, "We can't crawl and have one of us fall asleep, we need the energy in case something...goes wrong."

We made our way a few more minutes before Devine slowly rose up and took her hands that were beaten up and carefully climbed up the tree, that had many crevices in it, perfect. Aiden slowly stood up, acting as a lookout. The male signaled that no one was near, Vale lifted Dakota up to Devina, since he was the youngest. Next Vale waved me over, he cupped his hands together.

I set my foot up there and took Devina's hand, and was up there with them. The three of us who were already up there moved over, there was a total of two crevices, and Devina sat in one. Dakota and I occupied the other. The two males that were left made their way up the tree, and Vale crawled in the crevice that Devina was in. It made sense because those two could build up barricades easier, in case we were discovered. And, of course, it was the smallest of the two.

Aiden looked at me and apologized as he crawled into the little groove, he took a seat next to Dakota. I moved to the other side. Dakota huddled next to me trying to keep warm, he was shivering.

"I'm sorry about this, but it seems it'll be for the best of us." Aiden apologized, but for what?

His arm stretched over Dakota's shoulders, and then mine. We were all now closer than before. Then I remembered, Vales power is ice, Aidens is fire. I looked over at him and those once blue eyes were now amber. He was keeping us all warm. I'm not sure how his body managed that heat, but we were toasty and that's all that matters.

Dakota then ended up snuggling closer to Aiden, which kind of made me jealous. The little one was asleep so I wasn't going to bother him, I would do the same if I were him and at his age. I closed my eyes and let out a deep sigh, filled with anxiety. I felt a hand rub my shoulder.

"Hey, I know it doesn't seem like it at the moment but we'll be alright." He quietly whispered to me.

"Don't make a promise you can't keep Aiden," I said, stressed out.

"Hey, open your eyes and look at me." He told me.

I opened my eyes and looked at his amber ones, we were now having a secret conversation, "Yes?"

"I'll protect you, I will make sure you and everyone else will get out of here alive." He rubbed his thumb against my shoulder in a comforting way and smiled.

"Aiden, thank you. For everything." I felt my face heat up, I figured it was just from his hand being so close to my face. Right?

"That's what we were made for. Survival."

"Huh, what do you mean by that?"

"They wiped out our memories, try and think before you ended up in that room. We were all once there."

I closed my eyes and did try to think. Nothing. I only remember counting the days in that horrid room. What was before that? Why don't I remember anything?

"It's in our DNA. The rest of us have been here for a long time and have seen a lot of things. We've been beaten, locked up, starved. We have watched other kids die in front of our eyes. You were there, we were all close once." He looked down, his face darkened.

"What do you mean by that?"

"They did some more...let's call them 'enhancements' on you, and that caused your loss of memory." He informed me.

"Do we know who our parents are?"

"No. For all, we know we could all just be made up DNA and really not from humans at all..."

My heart sunk. I've supposedly known them forever, but I lost my memory. I shut my eyes again and I felt his warm hand cup my cheek. I was tired and I was still taking everything in. I let my head rest into his hand and succumb to the stronghold of sleep.

Birds chirpings, movements, and by myself. I opened my eyes, blinking continuously so I could adjust to the bright morning light. I gave myself a minute to wake up and I stretched my arms up, taking in a deep breath. I looked over and saw a wall of trees that weren't there before. Thick plants of all sorts that looked unbreakable.

I jumped down from the tree, seeing Vale putting his hands on the plant life that Devina created, he must be deeply freezing it. Aiden was talking to Dakota, both of them shoving some sort of berries into their mouths. I chuckled.

"After Vale and I get this finished, we have to go." Devina let us know. We all nodded in agreement.

We had no idea where those soldiers were and we didn't know where to go. Last night after Dakota, Aiden, and I snuggled that was the best sleep I can say that I have had in a long time. It was embarrassing and thinking of it gave me butterflies in my stomach. Maybe I just haven't eaten right these past few days.

Right?