"That's right, I forgot you hated "tent smell," Lynn said, climbing in behind me. "Are you going to be okay sleeping in here?"
"Yeah, I'll be fine, besides I'm not sure how much sleeping I'll be doing anyway. The nightmares so don't make sleeping worth it," I said, smoothing out the second sleeping bag.
"Nightmares?" Lynn asked concerned.
"Yeah, I pretty much have them every night," I said, aggravated that I had let it slip out I was having them.
"What are they about?" Lynn asked with concern laced through her words.
"They're always the same. I'm in some kind of pitch black chamber. I can't see anything and I'm petrified to move because I'm afraid I might fall into oblivion. Then, when I finally work up the nerve to move, I realize I'm not alone," I said, shivering slightly as I recalled the terrible oppressive darkness and voices from my dreams.
"Krista, have you told Haniel."
"No way, I just know he would have used it as an excuse to make me stay at home," I said defiantly.
"I'm not so sure about that," Lynn said, smoothing out one of the sleeping bags with her hands.
"What do you mean by that?" I asked curiously.
"Well, let's face it Krista. We all try to act blasé about it, but there's no denying you got some serious kickass powers now. We all know it, including our see-all-know-it-all Archangel. We definitely need you here. Haven't you noticed how protective Haniel is of you, like, hiking beside you the entire afternoon?"
"I thought he was just doing that because he didn't want me to feel like the odd man out," I said, trying to analyze her words. My new powers were no secret, but were they really all that spectacular?
"I don't know Lynn. So what if I can now change over Forgotten Souls without even trying anymore. I'm not sure how that skill will be able to help us in this situation, especially if Victor is using nothing but Daemons…"
"Hey, why wasn't I invited to this party?" Sam asked, crawling under the flap of the tent to join us and settling on the stretched out sleeping bag beside me.
"What, you didn't get the secret party vibe I was trying to send your way?" Lynn mocked.
"I must have missed that one. Anyhoo, I agree with Lynn, your powers are something else."
"Oh great, can anyone else hear us too?" I asked self-consciously, not crazy about everyone in camp knowing about my bad dreams.
"Nah, it was just me. I was moving all our packs of clothes closer to the appropriate tents and I caught Lynn talking about your steroid powers," she quipped.
"Nice, steroid powers?" I asked, giving her a nudge.
"Hehehe, yeah, that's what I call them! You put the rest of us 'Olympians' to shame," she said, still giggling.
"Well, I would prefer to be like the rest of you," I said, quietly picking at a stray string that had pulled free from the material of the sleeping bag I was perched on.
"Dinner." Kieran called, interrupting any further conversation.
Sam, Lynn and I crawled out of the tent and joined the others around the campfire. The guys had dragged boulders and downed tree trunks for all of us to perch on while we ate. Super strength was a definite perk when camping, I couldn't help thinking as I sat beside Sam and Shawn with my loaded plate balanced on my knees.
"Wow, you girls outdid yourself," John said between a bite full of beans.
I had to agree with him as I took a big bite out of my burger. How they constructed such great tasting hamburgers in the middle of nowhere was beyond me. I had thought they were crazy when they were packing up the insulated backpack cooler with meats and condiments, but I was so glad they had insisted.
After I finished my meal, I stood up completely stuffed. I threw away my plate and noticed the bag of sour cream and onion chips had been accidently knocked over. I bent over and picked them up, placing them in the trash receptacle we had sat up beside the netted wall. Still a little nervous about bugs, I ran my fingers along the netting, testing its tautness. I was relieved of course to discover that the guys had outdone themselves making our campsite as secure as possible.
The rest of my friends finished their dinner and we spent the next hour discussing what all the other Band members had been up to.
"How's Timmy doing?" I asked Jaime while the others chatted.
"He's doing well. He still asks for his mom and dad a lot, but Logan and Ruthie have instantly taken to him and have helped take his mind off his loss. He prefers to hang out with Reagan, Kieran's little girl, but we all know why that is," she added with a small laugh.
"So Reagan will be Timmy's Link?" I asked, trying to understand the logistics of how we were created to complete each other.