Under the exit lights《camren》

"maybe they're trying to tell us something."

Camila was hurting.

She couldn't shake that pit in her stomach that scratched at her, like there were rats in her chest clawing at her lungs, her stomach, her spine, anything they could reach. They were slowly eating away at her. It was like her whole world was crashing down, and all she could do was watch and cry. Like she was seeing the world in black and white, and her world was burning.

Normani sat next to Camila, who was sitting hunched over on a fallen tree as if protecting herself from all the dangers of the outside world. She felt bad for the girl, because she knew the connection the girl felt toward her best friend. She knew she missed her as much as Normani did, and that made Normani want to help her.

"I'm so sorry." Camila whispered, her hair falling over her face.

Normani sighed, leaning forward and watching the birds fly over the trees, a view of the lake visible from where they sat. The sun was falling over the horizon, and this brought the daunting reality that a night will pass and Lauren, even Shawn, wasn't there with them. They were somewhere they didn't want to be, they were somewhere cold and scared, or... they were dead.

Normani was so guilty; she felt like everyone was feeling that way. She could have cast a spell to stop them from attacking Lauren, but she had frozen up. She had hesitated, and she regretted it so much her conscience was eating her up. She kept trying to call on the spirits, asking for anything... any information they could give her at all about the green-eyed girl and the dark-haired boy. But all she came up with was radio silence.

"I know what you're thinking..." Normani said, still watching the sun set. "She's not dead." Camila's head shot up, eyebrows flying upwards.

"How do you know?" Camila asked, trying not to let herself too hopeful.

"You're still talking to me... you're still talking at all." Normani said dejectedly, finding it bitterly sweet.

"I don't understand..."

"You touched her, you made the first connection... broke the first seal, you could say." Normani explained. "You guys are connected. If she dies, you'd feel it... hard."

Camila ingested this, not feeling very much better, but easing her worries slightly.

She's not dead.

She's not dead.

She's not dead.

That's all that raced through Camila's head. 

Camila's eyes shifted back and forth as she thought through it all, making sure she wasn't getting too ahead of herself before she got too excited. The worst thing that could've happened at that moment was if she was given false hope, only to be crushed by the sad reality that was shoved in their faces.

Camila looked at her fists, the product of her rage, and felt a sense of shame as the blood shone red in the evening light. She was the alpha, she was supposed to keep a level head. She was supposed to lead her pack in the right direction, but she let her emotions get the better of her.

"You know, I was so sure..." Normani pondered out loud, but didn't elaborate. 

A few seconds passed where Camila watched the dark skinned girl. This was the girl Lauren had grown up with, the girl that knew Lauren the best. She wondered if Normani was hurting as much as she was. 

Camila decided that... yes. She was probably hurting just as much as Camila was, maybe even more. She had known Lauren as long as Camila had hoped she'd get the chance to. 

She had hoped for a future with the lone wolf, and she saw no other future that didn't include the green eyes of the girl she loved, but what Normani saw was the past. Normani probably saw everything that had ever happened with those same green eyes. She probably saw good times and bad times, moments of worry and moments of clarity, all of it burning like a family picture in a house fire.