31

I NO LONGER NOTICE I'm soaked because I've long since gone numb to the cold rain that coats every inch of my body. Ophelia shivers as she walks next to me.

Carter is a few dozen feet ahead of us, leading the way through this mysterious forest. Suddenly, he turns and begins running back to us, whisper-yelling that he's found something.

He runs off again in the direction of whatever it is he's found. I stay behind and walk with Ophelia. I would offer her my arm, but I'm not any warmer than she is.

Up ahead, there are scattered gravestones shrouded in mist. The rain is also lighter now. Once we get closer to the actual graveyard, the rain dissipates completely, becoming a thick, humid fog.

Much like the fog that shrouded the graveyard the day Moriah was buried.

"At least it's warmer here," I say softly to Ophelia.

She nods, still shivering.

Carter is studying each grave marker, looking for whatever it is we're supposed to find.

"What are we supposed to keep an eye out for?"

"The beasts."

"The what ?"

Carter glances up. "I've come close to finding the amulet before. Each time I get close, though, there's some horrific monster that comes to fight me. I lose. I wake up. And then, the next night when I fall asleep, I end up back here. But this time, it'll be different. This time, you'll be here to warn me of the beast."

Ophelia glances at me, then at Carter. "W-what do you m-mean, you lose?"

"I run away. I wake myself up before it can kill me."

I pace back and forth, trying to generate body heat. I'm soaked to the bone and my clothes aren't helping matters much. I peel my shirt off, laying it on one of the gravestones to dry. Ophelia's eyes widen and she quickly looks away from me. There's a flush on her cheeks, and I want to pull her closer, ask her why she's blushing. But I have work to do.

Carter continues searching every stone, though I can tell he's done this a number of times.

There's a roar in the distance, startling all of us. Carter pales at the sound. "That's the beast. We have to get out of here. Back to the cave."

He takes off, sprinting. Ophelia goes after him. I grab my shirt and run, back into the cold rain. It hits my bare back and chest like ice.

I try to keep a close eye on Ophelia, my vision blurring in the rain. We hear the roar again, closer this time. Ophelia trips and falls onto the muddy earth. She says something about her ankle that I barely register. Instinct kicks in and I pick her up and carry her the rest of the way, bridal style.

Once in the cave, we both collapse to the ground.

Carter is there already. He frowns, staring out the cave door into the open. "I have turned over every gravestone in that place. I know that graveyard like the back of my hand at this point. Yet I've not found the amulet."

"We almost died out there," I say roughly, catching my breath. "Maybe give us a second before you start your pity party."

"A-atlas." Ophelia's voice shakes with her body. "I-it's okay."

Carter looks absolutely grim when he sees the condition Ophelia is in.

"I shouldn't have made you come."

Ophelia shudders as she sits up against the cave wall. "Rook m-made us. N-not you."

Carter closes his eyes for a moment. Then a fire appears in the center of the cave.

I glance between the orange flames and him. "How did you do that?"

"It's my dream. I can manipulate it slightly to provide for me. I just can't change the bigger picture of it. We need warmth, so I thought of a nice fire. And some blankets. You two need to get out of your wet clothes. You can wrap yourselves in the blankets while your clothes dry."

Carter and I turn away, letting Ophelia strip down first. She wraps herself in a huge blanket and sits by the fire while her shirt and pants dry.

She closes her eyes when I go to take my pants off. I wrap another blanket around my shoulders and sit next to her. "It will warm us up faster if we get closer."

Carter shakes his head and rolls his eyes at me. "You have no game when it comes to women."

Ophelia blushes.

I quickly defend myself. "I don't mean like that. I'm trying to prevent us from dying."

Ophelia rests her head on my shoulder. "I know." She then turns her attention to my roommate. "Are you going to use the third blanket?"

He shakes his head. "The rain doesn't affect me like it did you two. Don't worry about me. We'll probably wake up soon, anyway."

Ophelia sighs softly, though I feel it more than hear it. Then she sits bolt upright. "Wait a second… Carter, before we left this cave, what did you say your fear was?"

"Death."

"Do you ever fight the beast, or do you retreat each time?"

"I wouldn't call it retreating to have a desire for self-preservation."

"He retreats," I say, not unkindly. I get it.

"Atlas feared the ocean and drowning," says Ophelia. "But when I fell off the ship in his nightmare, he dove in headfirst to save me. You have to face the beast, Carter. You have to die."

Everything she's saying makes sense, but I can tell it's all lost on Carter.

"I'm not ready to die. I have so much more to live for."

"You won't really die. This is a dream."

"How do you know? How do you know the beast won't kill me for real and I'll just die in my sleep?"

Ophelia smiles. "Because if you die, the Soul Eater won't have a soul to feast on. I didn't drown. I didn't wake up soaked in water. Atlas didn't either. The only time something came from our shared dream was—"

I elbow Ophelia and she stops, immediately understanding.

Carter doesn't seem to notice. He begins pacing back and forth in front of the mouth of the cave. "It sounds risky."

Ophelia leans her head on my shoulder again. "Sometimes you have to take risks to survive."