Reversal (Camren/Norminah)

Chapter 31: The Hours

"Aw, but it's only midnight." I motioned up to where the moon was high in the sky. "What's wrong with doing a few more rounds? Just don't cut me next time."

"No Camila." The girl turned around, retrieving her knife from the ground and starting towards the road. "I said that's enough."

I took the liberty of kneeling down and grabbing a nearby pebble, then tossing it through the air and watching in amusement as it hit the small of Lauren's back and bounced to the ground. The girl turned around, one eyebrow arched.

"Camila, enough."

I began to pout. "Why?"

Turning around, Lauren didn't reply, only stared at me as if she was trying to analyze something on my face. My pout turned into a frown.

"Please Camz." Her voice turned hoarse. "Let's just go back. I'm tired, and all I want to do is shower and sleep... we're going to leave tomorrow."

Not making a sound, I nodded and fell in step with her back to the car, hands in my pockets and head down.

That night, I stepped out of the shower to see that Lauren had already dried off and was nestled under the covers. Hair splayed lazily across her face, the girl looked at peace when she was asleep, with the exception of the subtle trembling the still resided in her fingers. Drying myself off and throwing on a some light clothing to sleep in, I crawled into bed and pressed the back of my hand to her forehead, praying she didn't have a temperature.

Her skin was cool, but something still looked off.

I didn't get much sleep that night, for too much of my mind was occupied by watching Lauren murmur in her own restless slumber. Combined with my shimmering doppelgänger that had been reoccurring in my head, I logged Lauren's strange behaviour as the second odd occurrence that had happened during our trip.

***

The next day, we made the executive decision to continue on our journey and leave Cincinnati for the next major town. Lauren seemed to have her spirit back, considering we started the day with a larger than normal buffet breakfast which she was more than happy to partake in.

I admitted to being tired, letting Lauren take the wheel for the two hour drive to Columbus for our first stop. Taking a break halfway to blow off some steam, Lauren stopped the car in the lot of a state park after paying a seemingly hefty fee for entry. She relaxed with her art while I stood ankle deep in the ice cold local lake and listened to the gentle lap of the waves against the pebbled shore.

Departing, the two of us then arrived in Columbus and took a bit of a break among the hustle of the city. It was far colder there than I anticipated, giving me the perfect chance to wear my army green jacket, and this time for a good reason.

"I'm not built for the cold." I muttered, rolling my sleeves down and sliding my fingers into the given slots at the end of the fitted cuffs. It made my hands look like they are in ripped gloves, giving me a rather satisfying badass air.

"I noticed." Lauren grinned, sliding her hands into the pockets of her bomber jacket. Somewhere through one of our stops she had bought herself a purple beanie, and now nearly lived in the thing. "And you still haven't thanked me for getting the heat in your car fixed."

"Oh yeah, thanks for that." I linked my arm in hers as we left the largest mall in the city and began to follow some local signs to a well known farmer's market. A half an hour later, I had a glass of bubble tea and a bowl of pasta with homemade marinara sauce, while Lauren was going to town on a cup of bourbon salted pecan ice cream, most of which I was stealing from her.