Dwelling Inland

Seraphina, Enna, Nate and I arrived at Camp Camael a few days ago. It's a Tuesday morning, now, and I swear I slept for about thirty-two hours the day I got here. Besides for wasting a lot of time sleeping at first, a lot has happened. Everything seems so surreal still and I'm not sure if that feeling is ever going to go away.

Camp Camael is in a secluded location in the depths of the mountains in Nevada. There is a layer of protection surrounding the camp like a force field; which not only protects us but causes the camp to be unseen to the average eye. C.C. has a massive forest in the vicinity and, not to lie, I was shocked that a desert could withstand such a thing. You don't normally run across much natural wildlife in the desert, but it sure meshes well. Enna was throwing around some fun facts about the camp and informed me that the desert was chosen as the perfect location for each of the Guardians ability and the optimum training grounds.

The scenery is quite flawless; takes my breath away each time I walk out of my quarters. The mountains stem with towering trees that shine a vibrant lime green and there's a variation of feathered friends that constantly fly across the celestial sphere. The season has shifted over to autumn and the branches are bare, but the ground is camouflaged with a tinge of orange and yellow leaves that fray off into a golden brown.

The camp is located at the center of the captivating view and while the forest is huge – the camp is fairly compact. An elegant fountain flows inside the middle of the camp and the ground lays nothing but grains of dirt. There are several different living quarters spread apart in a perfect circle. The camp director, Jude, has the main living quarter up against a rocky mountain with his wife Isadora. They are retired guardians but still play a huge role in the community. Then, to the left is where Seraphina stays. I've been bunking with her since I got here. I'm not sure why everyone else has roommates except Seraphina but maybe she likes it that way. Next to our quarters are the twins, Gabriel and Nathaniel. Maybe Gabriel hates being called his full name like Nate does; I should check into that. Raine, Enna and Willow stay at the cottage next to the twins, and then Griffin, Crimson and Jinx are next to them. Last, but not least, Liam and Luna make the final circle. Rumors have it that Luna and Gabriel used to be "in love" because of their abilities together. Gabriel has advanced sight that made Luna's invisibility not work on him. Then, certain happenings came up that made Liam come to Luna's rescue.

There's a pathway between the three girls' and boys' living quarters that leads into a squared field. The field consists of resourceful buildings that lay on top of more dry land. To the very left of the path is the kitchen and dining area. Everyone pitches in during the week with the kitchen and everyone eats as a family at the tables. There seems to be no exception unless you're ill or injured. To the left of the kitchen is an exquisite library that has any title you can think of. It's not massive with moving ladders or anything, but it's still quite impressive. Then, taking our way back to the pathway, on the right-hand side of it, there's an enormous building made just for relaxing and having a good time. Anything and everything you can think of, that place has it. Besides the jumbo couches and recliners there's anything from foosball tables to air hockey tables, pool tables, poker tables, darts, pinball machines and even more that I haven't been able to witness yet. All the guys escape into there after their training for the day and won't be seen for hours long.

After the main buildings in the squared field, there's the living area for the rest of the community in camp. Half of the community out in the field have been resurrected like me but are waiting to be processed through to their test. The process has no exact length of time; it's all when your soul is ready to continue, so pretty much you decide. The other half of the community is the help that constructs and keeps the camp up to par. The living area is the exact same quarters that the Guardians have but the quarters are connected and split in half between male and female.

Behind the community is the forest that wraps around the entire camp. When you travel into the forest for about a mile, to the left is the vast training grounds. The training grounds have ten main obstacle courses and then each of the ten courses are three mini obstacles. It looks like one big jungle gym – finally a jungle gym for the big kids! Endurance is the key for every course; without it, you'll do nothing but fall flat on your face. The Guardians have created tournaments within the courses and anyone in camp is able to enter. The tournaments are held every other weekend and winners get the title of being the absolute best which comes with major bragging rights.

"Hey, you okay?" Nathaniel interrupts my train of thought, not that I mind, but it's very surprising.

"Huh? Oh, yeah just thinking," I respond in a shocked but honest manner.

"What about?" He asks

"How beautiful it is to be here and how it seems like I'm in some kind of dream.

"Well, it's not a dream but you're right on the beauty part.

"Yeah…

"But the view sure doesn't compare to you," Nate smirks into the void trying not to make eye contact after such a corny but cute statement. "Gotta go. See you around." He says before taking off to the kitchen.

That was unexpected but really nice. I would have never seen that happening. He hasn't talked to me since the day in the woods after my, well, test. Even then he didn't speak directly to me – just about me being there. Nate seems like such a withdrawn guy and he's always so serious; I haven't been able to figure out the story behind him yet.

It's almost time for breakfast so I head over to the kitchen watching Gabriel tackle Nate into the building and can only imagine it's about the conversation we just had. Once I enter the building, I sit down at a table in the back of the dining area. I've had a lot of interaction lately and I think I'm feening for some alone time. I at least want some time alone before the big meeting that's planned in a few hours. The meeting is about me and what my duties are supposed to be, but I'm nervous. I know it's going to be something major and I need to prepare myself for all the possibilities that'll come flying my way.

The line for breakfast has dwindled down so I maneuver my way over to the food counter. The building is set up like a school cafeteria but much nicer. Instead of metal, almost everything was crafted with wood for the 'outdoors' feeling. I stand waiting behind a few people for my plate of food and I notice that Nate is the cook today.

"He's just as shy," I hear a man whisper into my ear. It was Liam. Liam has wavy black hair that is a medium length for a man. The hair on the sides is short but the hair on top flows with such volume. Liam also has sharp green eyes that enhance the little facial hair he has.

"What?" I reply trying to act confused. Maybe he saw me looking at the cook. I don't want anyone to suspect anything else about me. I'd like to have something for myself.

"Nate. Don't worry your secrets safe with me," Liam said quietly. "Oh, and the meeting will run smoothly. Nothing that you can't handle, I promise" he finishes before walking away with his plate of food. I was distracted by the conversation causing me to be completely oblivious to the fact that my food was on the counter waiting for me.

How did he know that I was worried about the meeting? This place bewilders me sometimes.

I make my way back over to the empty table and begin eating. The choice for breakfast today was between a zesty ham and cheese omelet with a side of bacon and hash browns, or a bowl of brown-sugar oatmeal with a banana on the side. Needless to say, I chose the oatmeal. My stomach isn't feeling too extravagant today.

"What, don't like omelets?" I hear Nate assume as he sits down across from me.

"I like them. Ham on the other hand—," I reply, and he chuckles while taking a gapping bite of his breakfast.

"You know you can make special requests with the cook as long as you cut him a deal.

"Oh yeah? What kind of deal are we talking about?

"It's a very easy one. You must sit with me for the remainder of breakfast.

"Only for breakfast?

"Yep! It's the only time I have to cook and when I'm done everyone else is either finishing up or already off doing their own thing," He confesses while taking another bite and I can't help but feel the need to eat breakfast with him every day; even if I don't make a 'special request'.

"So, you sat all the way over here to get me to eat breakfast with you, aye?" I accused him while smiling at my food.

"Actually, this is where I've always sat. Matter of fact, you're in my seat but I'll let it slide this time" He exclaimed after blushing for a moment. I'm such a dumbass. Yesterday, I ate breakfast with Seraphina, Enna and a few others. As I was cleaning up my breakfast, I noticed Nate finally sitting down able to enjoy his meal after cooking for everybody. He was sitting exactly where I'm sitting right now.

"I'm so sorry! I didn't even realize…" I blurt out in embarrassment after the last comment I made.

"Ava, it's okay. Out of everybody in the camp, I'm glad it's you who stole my seat." He reassures me with that handsome smirk of his.

"After wanting to ignore the fact that I was even alive, you're being quite flirtatious," I spill out in hopes it wasn't too bold of a statement.

"It's called being nice. Would you like me to go back to ignoring your existence?

"Oh, no! Sorry… I just thought, yeah.

"It's a joke, stop apologizing. You're not like the others here. Think of you being a breath of fresh air. It's nice." He continued, giving me a wink while getting up to throw away the remainder of his breakfast.

-An Hour Later-

Breakfast was actually fun with Nate. I know I really wanted to be alone, but his company felt rather comforting. Plus, I can't complain too much since I get my alone time after all. Nate had to finish his breakfast fast to be ready for the meeting. Our time seems to always be cut short and I find that quite ironic, but I was done with breakfast anyways, and it cut out the possibilities for me to be awkward. While everyone was getting the meeting set up at Jude's and Isadora's quarters, I ventured out into the woods.

I lay with my knees bent on the leaf-covered ground beginning to relax when out of nowhere the wind picks up. The trees are swaying so hard to the point of almost falling over and I can't swat away the leaves and excess from bushes fast enough that some become entangled in my hair and creep onto my tongue. As I bend over to spit out the residue of a leaf and small branch I feel a presence behind me right before I fall onto my hands and knees. The wind then blows in a circular motion around me as I'm crouched over on the ground. I can see through the mist of the tiny tornado at the trees falling over one by one in the distance. There he is – the man in the mask from the asylum.

It's not just him this time around. There's more like him that surrounds the force field of wind. He seems to be the leader of the pact as he steadily creeps on forward in front of me; looking me dead in the eyes.

"What do you want from me?!" I scream out while getting nothing in return. "Please," I beg for it all to stop while closing my eyes. I plead out over and over and over.

"AVALON!" I hear a familiar voice yell out through the forest. "AVALON, WHERE ARE YOU?" I hear the man scream out again and again.

The wind stops instantly and right after that moment, I feel Nathaniel's arms wrap around my shivering, toppled-over body. He stays holding me, telling me that everything is going to be okay as I rock back and forth in his grasp.