"Ray, do you really love me?" I looked up at him, his breath hitched, "You overheard, didn't you?" He averted his eyes, "Do you think of me any differently now? After all, I am the traitor," He looks down at me, I shake my head, "I love you Ray, so much, it just hurts me to think that you did all this to make sure I didn't get shipped away, you risked your own life for this," I hugged him, "Hey, I did tell you I was your guardian angel didn't I? I was protecting you, for more than six years, and I plan on protecting you for the rest of my life," He pets my hair, I was silently crying, "Hey, it's okay to cry, you can let them spill," He says gently, "Ray... Ray..." I kept calling his name out and I felt my tears soak into his shirt, he just kept petting my hair and rubbing my back, "I'm here, I'll always be here for you," He props himself up with his elbow, I tackled him in a hug, my head was on his chest and I heard the familiar beating of his heart, the up and down of his chest, he was alive, "Is it okay if I sleep with you tonight?" I asked him, he chuckled lightly, "You're always welcome to sleep here." He pulls some of the blanket wrapped under him and tucked it under me so we were wrapped in the blanket together, "I just realised, does that mean we're you know... a thing?" I looked at him, he hid his mouth when he silently laughed, "It depends on you, do you want it to be?" He rests his head back down on his pillow, "Well I guess I do then," I hugged him, "Thank God, you don't know how long I've wanted to hear those three words come out of your mouth. I love you too Nat," He wraps his arms around my waist and i leant my head on his chest where I heard his heart, "I love you too Ray," We both leant in and kissed, for the first time in forever, I didn't have any nightmares of dying or any night terrors of demons.
"Come on wake up, why are you sleeping in Ray's bed?" Sherry was bouncing up and down on me, she saw my ebony black hair peeking out from the blankets, "Oh well, Ray was keeping me company, I was a little worried about something was all," I smiled, she nods, "Now you two sleep together like a married couple!" Phil climbs onto our bed, I buried further into the blankets, "I don't wanna get up," I snuggled closer to Ray's warmth, "Come on, let's get up," He pulls the blankets off us and I felt the shiver of cold air prickle my skin. "Morning Nat, morning Ray!" Emma waved at us, Norman tapped Ray's shoulder as he walked into the dining hall. "So, what happened to the rope? Did you find out who the informant is?" Emma asks Norman, the four of us went back into the forest, "Actually..." Norman averts his eyes, "Oh that, it's me. I'm the one who's been leaking info." Ray points at himself, Emma had to take a moment, "It was you!" She jumps back, "Oh, sorry for that reaction but can someone please tell me what's happening?" Emma held her head in confusion, Ray snickered and Norman frantically tried to explain what was going on, "So Ray's Mum's spy but he isn't our enemy, and the reason he's been helping Mum out this entire time was for our sake and for Nat not to get shipped?" Emma pieces it together, "Yeah, the truth is I was gonna tell you as soon as you got back from the Gate in fact. But you left Little Bunny behind, and mentioned bringing everyone with so I had to hold off. Then Mum found out which meant I had to work around all that while also handling your reckless actions, I figured it was better to stay quiet and keep things under control," Ray explains, "So you were trying to cover up the mistake Norman, Nat and I made, are you still against escaping with everyone? Cause we could use your help," Emma says, "I had a change of heart, literally, so I will help you escape with everyone," Ray holds his hand out, "That's unlike you," Emma says, "Do you think he's lying?" Norman asks, Emma shakes her head, "Mm-mm I'm glad, having Ray there to help everyone escape's gonna be great, and now we have all kinds of info so we can trick Mum from the inside, we're at an advantage!" Emma stands up, "Although, that means, you've know for a long time, didn't you? I bet it was tough, knowing and sending them all off, so many of our siblings. Hey, about the tracking devices, they were tested on our siblings weren't they? So then, tell me, what happened to all those kids? You didn't let them get shipped out early did you? I sincerely hope you didn't sacrifice someone for us. Actually, I should thank you, because of that, all of us can run away, but you have to promise me, you'll never do that again. You're not alone, you've got us now so..." Emma says, she grips onto Ray's hand tightly, "Alright, I give you my word, let's all escape from here together." Ray takes his other hand out and puts it up in defence, we began walking back to the hill where Don and Gilda were, "Oh yeah, I just realised I had to report something," I said to Norman, Ray and Emma.
