Donning Utopia

Chapter 4- Mortal Peril Called, He Wants A Date With Us

Welcome our new writer, Clo! She is also the artist of the cover for this story, and she is now helping write and edit for the book!

Enjoy!

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"For the umpteenth time, Daemon, wake up!"

I sit up so swiftly I almost fall off my tree. I feel my scruffy hair pasted onto my scalp with sweat. I gaze around, and everything starts to ache once I notice the large oak trees surrounding me. So I hadn't woken up earlier. It was all in my head. There go my two pennies.

I rub the sleep from my eyes as I squint at Azariel standing underneath me. "Good morning," I say, although the sun is high up in the sky, which means it is already noon.

Azariel huffs and creases his brow, which is the most adjacent I believe he'll ever get to being relatively angry. "Daemon! I've been calling out to you for approximately 13 minutes and 34 seconds now. 35, 36, 37, 38-"

"Yeah, yeah, okay, I get it," I interrupt, rising to my feet. Gently, I make my way down the tree. Those visions that had my two older sisters in them. I know I was still unconscious at the time, so were they solely dreams? No, surely they were flashbacks. I remember what happened in the living room, and I remember the cemetery. But that last one.

Natalie crying like that? I've never regarded those sorts of cries after Mom died.

I shudder, recalling how Autumn stared directly at me as if she could see me. I'm positive my mind only made that up. How could that have resulted in the past? Of course, under the assumption that occurred before I found myself in this forest. If that's not the case, then-

Azariel leans in at once and adjusts my glasses (which I forgot I was even wearing), and he smirks without humor. The sudden action jolts me away from my thoughts.
I open my mouth to say something, but he answers my question before I can even ask it.

"Your glasses were crooked," Azariel claims, a sideways smile on his face. "Emphasis on the were."

I blink a couple times out of confusion, processing what Azariel had just done. Why? Why did he fix my glasses? What purpose did he have? Was it simply because he wanted to? Was it because he noticed it and he was uncomfortable with how crooked they were? Why-?

Before I could think about this any further, I notice Cas and Bellami have already started packing up the camp so we could get moving. Oh. I was the last to wake up, then.

I decide to get up and help with what was left to pack. Once we finished, we put out the little embers that still glowed in the fire, and we were on our way. We were all reserved for quite some time while we walked. It was about an hour and a half before someone spoke.

"So, Bellami, how long have you been out here? Have you been alone this whole time?" Azariel inquires, appearing genuinely curious.

Bellami is placid at first, but she ends up answering his question softly. "It's been about three weeks on my own. The moment I saw your fire, I saw it as a beacon of hope." She speaks, a solemn tone in her voice. "I know I wouldn't have been able to survive on my own. That's why it was my goal to find people. Even if they weren't friendly."

We all remain withdrawn, allowing Bellami's words to sink in. Her words are deep - I know they're honest words, too. Being alone is a tough thing to go through.

"Well, now you have us!" Cas chirps and smiles at Bellami, his hazel eyes bright with excitement. "We'll get through this, I promise." His tone softens with his final words.