When I awoke, Sebastian had everything packed up and ready to go. I stood and folded the blanket, then stretched and readied myself for the journey ahead.

"Feeling better?" Sebastian asked with his signature smile as he approached me to take my blanket from me.

I handed it to him, thinking. I was still shivering, and I felt some gunk in my throat, but other than that, I was doing better.

"A little," I finally answered.

Sebastian smiled. "Well, I suppose it is better than nothing."

I nodded, then watched as Sebastian picked up the bag of supplies and stomped out the fire. Eventually, he turned back to me.

"Are you ready?"

I nodded, wrapping my arms around myself in an attempt to help with my shivering. Sebastian turned for the exit, but not before giving me a look of either concern or sympathy.

I followed him out of the cave and into the dim moonlight. It was even colder outside, and I stole the blanket back from Sebastian and wrapped it around myself, then continued to follow him.

We walked in silence for a while. The whole time I couldn't get myself to talk about anything. I was too preoccupied listening to my surroundings, hoping to not be caught by surprise if something were to jump out of the shadows.

After a while, Sebastian stopped walking and turned to face me. I stopped as well, staring up at him.

"What is it?" I asked, clinging to the blanket even harder.

His gaze turned sympathetic. "Nothing. I was just making sure you were alright."

It was then I noticed that I had begun walking slower, shivering more, and not focusing as much as I should have been.

I let my gaze fall to my feet. "I'm fine. We have to keep going."

I felt Sebastian's gaze linger on me a moment longer, before he turned back to face front. "Very well," he said, beginning to walk again.

I sighed. I knew he didn't believe me, but we had to keep going, whether I was ill or not.

A few minutes later, the coughing started. The night air was chilly, and my lungs were having a hard time with it. I was getting worse.

Suddenly, Sebastian stopped walking.

I stopped once I caught up to him. He didn't continue once I'd reached him, but stayed still and quiet.

I glanced up at him. "What's wrong?" I asked, my voice slightly raspy from coughing.

He looked down at me, seeming to study my face. A moment later, he turned to face me completely.

"You are very flushed," he noted, putting his free gloved hand to my forehead. "You also seem to have quite a high fever."

I felt myself leaning into his touch. I was exhausted, sick, and I didn't want to move anymore. Sebastian lifted me up and held me in his arms for a moment, then wrapped my blanket around me again.

"Rest, Chrystal. You can't help your friends if you have a nasty cold, now can you?"

I nodded, then leaned my head on his shoulder and felt myself drift off to sleep.

*

I didn't sleep much on the way to our new temporary home. I awoke and grew restless, my mind going through all of the horrible things that could have happened to my friends, the manor, or my community. I'd been gone for quite some time. I'd lost track of the date days ago.

And whenever I did sleep, my dreams were filled with vivid details of my friends being beaten and slaughtered one by one. The dreams never got far, though; Sebastian always woke me.

One thing I did notice was that he seemed to be in no hurry to get us to our destination. He walked slowly and smoothly, as if he didn't want to disturb me, or he was trying to lull me back to sleep with his movements. I never wanted to go back to sleep after the nightmares, but something he did always made my eyelids heavy.

After what seemed like ages of horrific dreams and awakenings, I woke to find myself wrapped protectively in my blanket in a dark cave. I sat up to see Sebastian starting a fire. He looked to me and smiled.

I clutched the blanket in my fists, shivering.

His smile faded, and he pulled off his glove and put his hand by the firewood. Immediately, a fire crackled to life, brightening the cave and warming the air. I felt my chills subside, and I was left feeling more relaxed in the heat the fire brought to me. I leaned against the wall of the cave and closed my eyes.

"Are you feeling any better, My Lady?" I heard him ask.

I hesitated for a moment, wondering if I should just lie to him. But I knew he would see right through it, so I simply shook my head, feeling myself sink further down the wall.

"What's going to happen to them if I don't show up, Sebastian?" I asked quietly, my voice somewhat gravelly.

"You do not have to worry about that. I assure you that you will make it there before anything happens to them."

"I can't go and defend myself if I'm sick."

"That happens to be the main reason we switched locations. The air here is colder, but it is less damp than the other cave we were in. At the very least, you shouldn't get any sicker, which in theory means you will get well soon enough."

I sighed. I wasn't a doctor, or very good in health class. Whatever he was talking about, I couldn't disprove, so I just went along with it. He'd cared for others in the past, so surely he knew what he was talking about.

"Let's hope so," I mumbled, mostly to myself.

Sebastian stood. "You will. But, to ensure you do, you should get more rest. I'll go to get you some food. No one will be able to find you here."

"Sebastian," I said quickly, sitting up. "Please, don't leave."

He smiled and knelt in front of me. His crimson eyes shone bright in the dim light. I couldn't look away.

"Please sleep, Chrystal," he said, giving a warm smile. I reached out to him, and felt his ungloved hand take mine. "I will be back soon."

I couldn't move to fight him. His soothing voice was like a lullaby. I watched as he lay me on the ground, released my hand, and moved my hair out of my eyes. His cold fingers lingered on my cheek for a moment, then he pulled away and slipped his glove back onto his hand. He smiled down at me.

"Sleep."

And I slept.