Kaylea heard voices. They were distant and she couldn’t make out what they were saying. Her head felt heavy and hurt. When opening her eyes, a bright light stung them and she closed them quickly. Something had awakened, she had felt something, it had made her body tingle.

“I didn’t do anything; I was just checking her for wounds. I found her lying like this, so I was worried something had happened.”

She recognized that voice, but the name wouldn’t come to mind. She could tell it was a guy and by what he said, it was his hand that she had felt on her body. Suddenly her eyes shot open and she sat up straight.

Three pairs of eyes were staring at her. She slowly turned her head to Mark and looked at him.

“You touched me.”

Her cheeks were burning and she felt dizzy. She tried to stand up and swayed on her legs. Jamie, who was closest to her, stepped forward and slid his arm around her waist,

“Careful. You knocked your head on something. Can you tell us what happened?”

Everything was fuzzy around the edges. What had happened? Kaylea looked around at the ground. Something had scared her. Then she remembered,

“A snake! I saw a huge snake; it slithered through the trees and dropped down right in front of me.”

Kami’s eyes widened; she hated snakes. She unknowingly stepped closer to Mark and placed a hand on his arm.

“I hate snakes.”

She whispered and looked up, just to make sure there were no snakes above her. Mark smiled down at her and wrapped his arm around her.

“I’ll protect you against snakes. I’m not scared of them at all.”

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