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"Oh god how long?"

All of us looked to Bonnie with a smile. "Literally now."

We all dropped from the sky slowly. We'd been flying for over two hours to the outskirts of the salt dessert. The town had disappeared a mile back but we were flying over a few mountains. Now it was flat ground. Bonnie was getting tired. I could see Cameron was as well. Kim and Jack also looked tired. As they dropped I hovered slightly to get a look around. Nothing but dead land. The skies were empty of angels too. 

I dropped next to Bonnie and sighed. I didn't want to retract my wings just yet. "Are we walking now?"
"There's a tree close to here. I saw it a moment ago. We can rest there for the night."

Bonnie shuddered slightly so I wrapped my arms around her shoulders as well as my wings and heated myself up. "I'm fine, Lon."

"You're cold."

"So is everyone else here."

I glanced at the rest of them as we walked.Jackson had his arms around Kimberly and Cameron was in the middle of putting his backpack on his back after retracting his wings into his back. I could barely see his shudders but it was enough.

"I didn't know it'd be this cold." I shouted to Jackson who was a little in front. "Near this tree, are there other scraps of wood?"

Jack turned around. "I saw a large log, I assume so."

We'd been walking for what seemed like ages. The first moon rose. It was large; almost red. It lit the way which was helpful. Bonnie was shuddering horribly now. And so was Cameron. He was a fair distance away and I felt bad. He was the only one without someone.

I pushed back the sympathy. But then it resurfaced.

I shuffled closer to Cameron and slowly, cautiously, grabbed his wrist. I tugged him slightly closer and let him inside the cocoon of warmth letting my wings circle around us as I heated myself up a little more.

"Thank you." He said.

I nodded my head without looking at him and sighed. "Jackson. Bonnie is going to freeze, are we almost there?"

"Yes," His voice was shuddering. "The tree is there."

I let go of Bonnie and stepped away from both of them. I let the fire inside me consume my hands, and out the large log alight.

They all ran to the flame and say beside it with a sigh. I on the other hand, threw my bag beside everyone and flew upwards to let my mind relax. I looked around. Nothing. No life. Well, I could feel a few demons around but I couldn't see it. I swam around in the air above as everyone settled. My wings fluttered around me and I sighed. I glided on my back as I thought about the last two days. How things had changed so quickly. How Cameron was back into my life. How Kimberly was back but in a completely different form. 

I hovered briefly before rocketing further up. I shut my eyes and tried to see if I could feel Gabriel. Not even a buzz. Not a bell. Nothing. I wiped a fallen tear off my cheek and went further up just to glide easily back down. I let myself stay in the air until the second moon rose. This one a creamy white. I knew I'd been up here for too long.

I went back to the dimming fire and found everyone asleep by the log that had grown smaller. Kim and Jackson were bundled under one blanket. I turned to Bonnie who had two blankets and Cameron who had none.

I tilted my head toward him. He was curled into a ball right beside the flames. I glanced at Bonnie again and then back at him. He gave her his blanket. 

I stretched my wings out one more time and flinched. I turned from the group and walked a little away from them to flap them.

I grunted. There was a slight pain on both sides near my shoulder blades.

"I can help you."

I jumped back and spun around to see Cameron looking at my wings. "I'm fine." I lied.

He shook his head with a small smile. "No, you're not. Turn around."

He stepped forward but I curled my wings into my back and stepped away. "No, I'm fine."

"Lonny. Stop being stubborn." He put his hands on my shoulder and spun me around. "Spread your wings out. Slowly."

I did as he said as I unfurled my wings to stretch them to their furthest. 

"Are you cramping?"

I nodded. "A little."

I felt his hands and flinched at how cold they were. His hand slipped into the slits in my shirt and touched my skin. I shuddered under his touch. I blamed his cold hands. But my body disagreed.
"Right." He mumbled. His hands delicately gathered my waist length hair and moved it over my shoulder. "May I?"

After a moment of silence, I nodded reluctantly.

His hands moved to my shoulder blade and I had to contain my giggle. Stupid ticklish spot. He pressed down and I flinched a little. 

"Almost..."

He started massaging the spot that was bothering me and I sighed out an involuntary moan. I didn't mean to. But it was like the tension was disappearing. His other hand did my other wing and I lowered my head with my eyes shut. His cool hands skilfully massaged my shoulder blades making me also involuntarily step back into him. My wings fell slightly slack at my sides feeling a lot less cramped. His thumbs pressed into the grooves of my wings and I shuddered once again but this time... It wasn't his cold hands.

He paused at my shudder and removed his hands from the inside of my shirt to stroke them. "Put your wings into your back."

I opened my eyes and sighed when I realised my back was pressed against his chest. I took a huge step away from him and briefly flapped my wings to stretch them. "Okay." I mumbled. I then returned them into my back and ignored the pain that always came when ever they needed to be put back in. 

His hands were at my back again but this time properly pressed right into my shoulder blades. I gritted my teeth at the knot in my back and grunted.

"Just a bit more." He mumbled then grabbed my arm and lifted it so my shoulder cracked. He let go and I felt a whole lot better.

I rolled my shoulders like I usually did and felt so much better. I smiled a little but hid it as I turned around. "Thank you,Cam."

His lips parted in reply but he paused. "You called me Cam."

"Yes..."

"Up until now you've called me Cameron."

Oh. "That's because I was angry." I said before passing him. "Now I'm not so mad."

"That's good."

I sat beside Bonnie. "You should get some rest. We have a long trip ahead of us."

"What about you?" He asked as he sat down near the flame. "Aren't you going to sleep?"

"I don't sleep a lot. I don't like sleeping."

"...Do you dream?"

I lay back and looked up to the sky. "Every time I shut my eyes. I sleep only when I haven't had any in weeks. And so far, I've slept too much."

"You can go without sleeping for weeks still?"

I turned from the sky to him. "Still?"

He smiled at me. "You used to go weeks without sleeping. Most of the time, months."

I sighed. "It's funny how I don't remember any of that." A sparkle of interest made me turn my whole body toward him. "Can I ask you something?"

His lip twitched a little as he looked toward me. "Anything."

"In the past... I had a human life before changing into this. Every how many years?"

"Well, it was three years before your soul found its next incarnation usually. But sometimes it was like the click of the fingers and you were born right after you died. But time always varied. After you grew to be nineteen or twenty, you usually changed. You die, and then you're reborn. You remember nothing from your human lives. And when you changed this time around we knew it was different."

"And these human lives. I had families, friends, life, and probably different loves if I lived to be nineteen and twenty." I saw him shuffle uncomfortably into an upright position. "What ever happened to them? All of my memories are of my life as what I am now. Never of my human lives. Do you remember me? Have you met me... In any of those lives?"

He stared at me with a flash of warmth and looked down at his hands. "Out of all of your human lives, I risked six. One life I remember vividly, your name was Allegra Lockwood, 1689. You were fifteen."

I smiled. The name did sound slightly familiar plus it resembled this life's name. "Allegra." I repeated.

"Yes. We were in Italy. I met you one day in a dress shop. I was with Brooke when you walked in. She had practically pulled me away from you because we weren't allowed to interfere with your human lives it wasn't just Gabriel. Your huge green eyes landed on me with a huge innocent smile. And I couldn't help but..." He glanced up at me and back down at his hands. "Formally introduce myself." He smiled. "Of course Gabriel wasn't happy although he couldn't do a thing about it. By this time you both hadn't admitted your love to each other but it was in that lifetime. You and your little sister, Marie, thought of me as your... angel. Because I looked after you both. You said you'd--"

"Marry you." I finished, a small flash of my human life in that century filled my vision. It was only a small flash. But it was enough. Cam and I were sat in my garden. I was only young, I didn't think much of the way we talked or played around. My past mother and father trusted him to protect my sister and I. As I grew older, Cameron remained in my life and I grew more and more infatuated with him. But more so that I fancied him than thought of him as a brother. He was a perfect 'suitor' for me, a quote from my past parents. Cam thought nothing of what my parents suggested. However, once I turned nineteen, my change came. I forgot everything. And having Cam in my human life meant absolutely nothing.

"I remember." I mumbled. "You were my best friend."

"For six different lives." He grinned. "All different to each other, but similar in many ways."

"Wow." I mumbled as I rolled onto my back. "I do wish I could remember those lives."

"It could come back in pieces. I'll explain a few when you want."

I exhaled sharply. "Maybe. Anyway get some sleep. We need to get started before the sun comes up. Okay?"

There was silence for a moment; the only sound filling the air was the crackling of the fire. 
"Goodnight." He mumbled. 

I didn't reply and didn't need to because his heart had settled into a calming rhythm. I let my mind wander to what this journey would be like. At this point, the arrow could go in any direction. I didn't know what this portal or door would be like whether it moved around or not but what could come across is impossible to determine.

One could only imagine.


***


I'd changed from my jeans and t-shirt into my beige cargo shorts that stopped just above my knees and a white v-neck t-shirt. The sun wasn't up yet but I could see it peering over the horizon. Bonnie and Kim were already following Cam while I waited for Jack to finish packing the clothes he was previously wearing. Everyone had changed this morning from their warm jeans into a pair of shorts and a t-shirt. It was going to get pretty hot out here. But luckily, we were leaving when it was still cool.

"So, the plan?" Jackson asked as we started following everyone else.

I slung my bag over my shoulder and tied my long hair into a ponytail. "Well, Cam and I have an instinct feeling on where we think this door is. So we follow it. And from what I feel it is a long way away."

Jackson sighed. "Okay. We have enough water and drink in all of our bags to last us a few days."

"Excellent."

We caught up to the girls and Bonnie took her place beside me. "You think we'll be able to find it?"

"We have to try. I'm assuming there is no one else in this world looking for this door. So the quicker we find it he better. I don't want to risk anyone's lives."

"Alex," Kimberly popped up beside me. "We are here because we want to help you. We've practically vowed to risk our lives just by coming out here. Ever been in a salt desert in an immortal populated world? This desert is death."

"Reassuring." I mumbled. "Well, hopefully we won't come across anything like that."

"Unlikely." Cam shouted over his shoulder.

I rolled my eyes at him.

My watch still worked in this realm but I changed it to what I thought matched the time of day. So technically we left at five o'clock in the morning. And now it was ten. And it felt like we'd made no progress. All of us had slowed down. The only sound around us was our feet crunching into the salty white ground.

Kim let out a sigh and mumbled in a croaky voice, "Are we getting closer? I think we're all about to pass out."

"We're getting closer," Cam mumbled. "I can feel it."

Jackson spun around in a circle. "There is nothing here. Nothing at all."

"I can feel it too." I replied. I wiped my hand across my sweaty forehead. "But Jack is right there is nothing here at all. Maybe we're wrong. Maybe..."

Cameron stopped walking along with everyone else and turned to me. "If you want to stop then say the word. We'll give up. We'll go back to earth and wait another one hundred years before Gabriel has his tribunal, shall we?"

I clenched my jaw and looked down at my feet. "I didn't mean..."

He lifted his hand and pointed into the distance. "Look."

I leaned around him and narrowed my eyes. "What am I looking at?"

"There is a house."

"Where?" Bonnie asked. "I can't see..."

"Its there. If we walk a bit closer we'll see it."

I gave him a weary look. "And you know this because?"

"I'm unbelievably smart."

"Bullshit." I laughed. "Fine. If the house is there then, by all means, lead the way Cameron. My feeling is just as good as yours."

For another thirty minutes I walked beside Cameron until... "Well, I'll be damned. There is a house."

Cam gave me a crooked cocky grin. "We'll be there around midday."

"Oh thank god a house." Kimberly sighed out. "Somewhere to get out of this sweltering heat."

"Unfortunately..." I mumbled.

"What now?" Kim groaned.

"We don't know who lives there. With all the demon activity in this world it's hard to pin point certain ones. This desert doesn't change that."

"So what, we go in blind?" Bonnie asked.

"I'm sure Lonny will come up with something good to say to this."

I narrowed my eyes but ignored him. "Looks like it. If the portal is there, then this journey is quick and easy. But knowing my crappy luck, this journey isn't going to be quick and easy so let's get to that house and see what happens. Encouraging enough for you, Cameron?"

He chuckled. "Yes, those words were perfect."

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