So tired

"Annie, we are done packing, are you guys ready?" asked Maddie as she walked to where Annie was sitting with Curtis as she was looking after him, she was not going to let him out of her sight, not at all.

"Alright, let's go now" said Annie as she stood up.

"Curtis are you alright? Can you stand, can you walk?" asked Annie as she looked at Curtis.

"I am fine Annie" said Curtis as he stood up, he did not like this weak, child treatment that he was being giving, this was what he did not want to happen at all.

"Alright Curtis, if you are sure, then let's go now" said Annie as she looked at Curtis, she used the back of her hand to check his temperature on his forehead.

"Your temperature is fine" said Annie as she compared his with hers and they felt the same, and then she touched Maddie's forehead just to double check.

Maddie knew that Annie was just very worried and stressed right now, and all she wanted was for Annie to feel better, she should not have to get worried and stress herself right now.

"We can go now" said Curtis as he walked ahead, he did not want Annie treating him like this, he was not a liability, he never wanted to be an liability to anyone, he was the one always taking care of people and not the other way around.

"Just leave him be Annie, he thinks that you are smothering him" said Maddie as she looked at Annie, she wanted her to just leave Curtis alone, or at least just for now, they were all as worried as she was.

"Fine, but he has no right to think that when all I want is for him to be better" said Annie.

"He is so difficult, he can't act all strong when he isn't, it won't do him any good" said Annie as she just felt so bad right now.

"Annie, you know how Curtis is, just let him cool down and relax for a while" said Maddie as Annie sighed, she knew that Maddie was right.

"Come on, let's go Annie, before we lose Curtis" said Maddie as she smiled.

"Okay" said Annie as she sighed and she walked ahead while Maddie just wondered what she could do or say to make Annie feel at least a little bit better.

"She's just worried… it's understandable" said Matt as he walked close to Maddie.

"I know, but it's not good for her to worry like this" said Maddie as she sighed.

"Anyway, come on, let's go" said Maddie as Matt followed after her and Ollie followed behind them.

…

"I think that we should stop now" said Annie as she looked up, the sky was getting dark, she hoped that they had covered some more ground, she had made sure to check on Curtis every single hour, and she made sure that he also drank lots of water, whether he like it or now.

"I think so too, the sun will set soon" said Ollie as he put down his bag.

"I will make a fire" said Matt as by now, he knew that was his duty, to make sure that they were warm.

"Alright, we are not going to set up camp today" said Annie as she had been thinking about this, they had to cut down the time that they wasted, and that involved setting tents are packing them up again.

"We will sleep in our sleeping bags, all of us, expect Curtis, he will sleep in his tent" said Annie as she had already made that decision, she was not going to ask for his opinion at all.

"And don't you dare argue with me Curtis, because that is final" said Annie as she turned to look at Curtis, and Curtis just looked at her, he knew that he had no choice or say here at all.

"Well I will set up his tent for him then" said Ollie.

"Thank you" said Annie as she smiled at Ollie and he smiled at her.

"I will make dinner, and you can rest Annie" said Maddie as she knew that Annie had been worked up a lot, she just needed to rest.

"Alright… fine" said Annie as she sighed and Maddie smiled at her.

…

After dinner, they all got ready to sleep, Curtis was in his tent, so that he would not feel cold, while Ollie, Maddie, Matt and Annie were in their sleeping bags.

Annie opened her eyes as she could not sleep, she looked up into the night sky, everywhere was dark, and Matt had put out the fire before they all went to bed.

Annie sighed… she just felt so tired, she was tired, of everything, it was just so horrible, she felt so horrible.

"Hey…" said Maddie as she whispered and Annie turned to look at her as Maddie moved closer to her.

"Hi" said Annie.

"You can't sleep?" asked Maddie as she looked at Annie and she whispered.

"Mhmm" said Annie as she nodded her head.

"Same, I can't sleep as well" said Maddie as silence reigned between them.

"What are you thinking about?" asked Maddie as she looked at Annie.

"Everything…" said Annie as she looked at Maddie and she whispered, she did not want to wake up the others, she was sure that Ollie was sleeping, but she did not know if Matt was, but regardless, she did not want to disturb anyone.

"Like what?" asked Maddie.

"Like how everything is my fault, and Curtis is the way he is, suffering because of me" said Annie.

"Oh Annie, don't think like that, please, that's not true, not at all" said Maddie.

"But it is Maddie, it is… if I had just done what I was supposed to do, if I faced Azazel on my own, none of this would not have happened" said Annie.

"I mean… I exchanged my powers to get Curtis back, this is just some sort of sick joke… I lost my powers to bring back Curtis, but he can't survive without my powers??" asked Annie as she scoffed.

"Just who did I offend? What did I do to deserve this? Just because I am a Grey, I didn't ask to be born a Grey, did I?" asked Annie as she felt like crying right now.

"Oh Annie, I'm sorry… I'm so sorry" said Maddie as she felt so bad, to think that all these problems were caused by one man, one man that happened to be her Father… it made her feel horrible that somehow, she was part of Annie's pain and suffering.

"Why are you sorry Maddie, you did nothing wrong?" asked Annie.

"I'm sorry because of Azazel I…" said Maddie.

"You don't need to be sorry for any reason Maddie, Azazel is… well he is who he is, and you, you are who you are" said Annie.

"I know that you feel bad, but don't, because you have nothing to do with this" said Annie.

"Thank you for that Annie" said Maddie as she sighed.

"But the same way that I am not responsible for what Azazel does, is the same way that you are not responsible for what is happening to Curtis" said Maddie as Annie was quiet.

"Don't blame yourself Annie, it's on Curtis for not telling you soon enough so that we could do something to help him" said Maddie.

"But I…" said Annie.

"But nothing Annie, you care about him, you love him, we all know that you do, and he does too, but you don't need to blame yourself" said Maddie.

"Things happen, we can't change them, we might regret them, but what is done, is already done, the best thing to do is to look forward, and looked for a way to fix things, and not to dwell on what you could have done differently" said Maddie.

"Maddie… it's hard to think like that, not when deep down you know that it is actually your fault" said Annie.

"But it's not Annie, it's not" said Maddie.

"Annie, why don't you think that if your entire family, have never been able to defeat Azazel, then it's okay that you could not do it as well" said Maddie.

"You don't have to hold a candle to anyone Annie, you don't have to prove yourself, it's not your fault that you could not defeat Azazel, there is a reason why all the realms are scared of him, and instead they sent a teenager to do what many adults could not do" said Maddie.

"It's not your fault Annie, no, not at all, it's not" said Maddie as Annie looked at her, and she started to cry, Maddie did not know how much she needed to hear those words, they made her feel better, so much better, she had been blaming herself all along.

"Are you crying Annie?" asked Maddie as she could not see Annie's face clearly in this great darkness.

"No" said Annie as she sniffed.

"Annie" said Maddie.

"Not anymore" replied Annie as she smiled.

"Awww Annie, I would give you hug right now, but it's too cold and I don't want to lose my heat" said Maddie as she laughed and Annie laughed as well.

"Thank you Maddie" said Annie as he smiled, she really needed this.

"Anytime Annie, anytime" said Maddie as she smiled.

"Now go to sleep, it's late" said Maddie.

"Goodnight Maddie" said Annie as she smiled.

"Goodnight Annie" said Maddie as she smiled at Annie.