The sound of birds and the crackle of the fire filled the desolate woods. Suddenly, Nea and Meg magically appeared in front of the campfire. Meg quickly ran towards Nea and hugged her. She apologized for not being able to save her during the trial.

"It's okay," Nea replied flatly. Being sacrificed to the entity was a terrible experience no matter how many times she had experienced it. How many times had it been? She had lost count.

She broke away from Meg's arms. "I just want to be alone right now," she said as she turned away and walked into the woods.

Meg just nodded and watched Nea as she disappeared into the woods. Nea's morale had steadily declined over time. Meg tried to get her to talk about whatever was bothering her, but whenever she tried, Nea would act cheerful and say she was fine. However, now when Meg asked Nea what was bothering her, she would just give her the silent treatment. She had a feeling that it might be the promise she had made to her when they survived their first trial. The blood ritual as she had called it. She wanted to tell her that she didn't need to sacrifice herself to save her anymore. She had more than her fulfilled her promise to Meg and she wanted her to stop.

In the woods, Nea walked aimlessly walked through the woods, staring at the ground. She subconsciously came to the spot where Meg and she had made love for the first time. She lay down on the floor on her side with her arms crossed. She remembered every detail of their encounter. She could even remember the way Meg had tasted. How long ago had it been though? She had no clue. She often wondered why she had been brought to this horrible place? Sure, she had done some bad things in her life, but she didn't deserve this…Meg did not deserve this. Often, she would wake up from sleep and hope this was just a nightmare. Sadly, this was her and Meg's reality now. Honestly, she would kill for a blunt right now just to find an escape from the reality of the situation. Nea had never been suicidal when she was alive, but now she truly wished she could kill herself. However, in this new reality death was not an escape from whatever it was that was holding them here. Nea's mental state felt like it was slowly deteriorating. Meg might be the only thing keeping her from completely losing her mind. It seemed funny to her to think about when they had first met. Nea had been the one giving Meg hope. Now it's the other way around. Meg had proven to be much more resilient than Nea had ever thought she would be. Nea remembered the promise she had made to Meg. It seemed so naïve now. How could she possibly keep a promise to save someone when she couldn't even save herself? She didn't always succeed at saving Meg, but she did her best to honor her promise. She honestly didn't know how much longer she could continue to do this.

Crunching of leaves in the distance broke her away from her thoughts. She did not bother to turn and look. As far as she knew, there was nothing in these woods, but Meg and her. Although she wished it was the entity coming to put an end to her misery, she knew nothing like that would ever happen. The entity needed his sacrificial lambs to play his little game. It would never show them such mercy. Death if there was such thing in the entity's world, would be too kind. The footsteps got closer and then stopped directly behind her. The person got on the floor next to her and wrapped their arm around her.

"Please tell me what's wrong?" she heard Meg say.

Nea said nothing.

"Let me help you…please?"

Tears began to fill her eyes until she could not hold them back anymore and they streamed down her face. She began to cry and sob. Meg was caught off guard by her reaction. She had never seen Nea cry before.

"It's alright," she said, "I am here for you. Don't forget that, okay?"

Nea turned around to face Meg and nodded, tears still streaming down her face. She buried her face in Meg's chest, feeling her warmth and her heartbeat. Meg hugged her tightly. She wished she could stay here like this with Meg forever, but she knew she couldn't. Sooner or later, the entity would call for them and they would have to play its game. However, in this moment she would seek solace in Meg's embrace.