[center][sub][h3]Kayla[/h3][/sub][/center][hr]
Kayla didn't remember much, between fading in and out. She remembered being carried, and jostled around some. She remembered the hum of an engine being brought to life. But the thing that really brought her back was the water. Sweet fucking live bringing water that made her feel like she [i]wasnt[/i] a mummy. She desperately snatched it when it was passed to her and downed the thing in what felt like record time.

She felt better then. Not quite one hundred percent, but better. Not catatonic, which was always a good start. She had pushed the envelope again, because of course she had- that's what she always did, but what really rubbed her the wrong way was why she had to do it. Competition, inspiration, resolve to improve strengthened the muscle and fired the will, but having to give something her all as to not be killed was not something she was planning on doing this evening. It'd be different had she walked into that forest knowing that she was going into combat of some sort. Kayla was uncharacteristically quiet for the rest of the drive, and a part of her was happy they had seen how dehydrated she was. They would think she wasn't talking because of that.

When they pulled into DQ, Kayla had placed her order, a bottle of water and an Oreo Blizzard as always, and excused herself into the restroom. She walked into one of the stalls, locked the door, and cried. She cradled her legs against her chest, and buried her face in her knees, making herself as small as possible as she sobbed into her dirty smoke-smelling jeans. She had almost [i]died[/i] tonight. She had walked into the forest without Oleander, without mentioning anything to her Uncle, and she would've never been seen or heard from again had things gone any different. Had that Hound decided to pursue them, had she not held out as long as she had, it could've found her through the smoke and fire and taken her soul with it to hell. She wasn't ready to die.

Kayla remained in that stall for several minutes to just... unwind. Allowing all that nervous, fight or flight energy to leave her body. She shuddered after a while, realizing she had no more tears left to cry, and forced herself to get up and stand up and go make herself at least somewhat presentable. She spent another few minutes hosing the dried blood off her lip and plugging her nose with a paper towel to stop the bleeding, and running water over her hands and feet to wash away the dirt and grime that had accumulated from stumbling through the burning woodland so that she didn't dirty her clothes further or infect the many cuts she had given herself. She ran her hands under the sink, and splashed the water on her face to wipe away any other crap she had built up.

[i]"...After a freak earth quake caused a landslide. Tonight's storm seems to have created a wildfire in the forest over by..."[/i] A news anchor droned in the background from one of the TVs when Kayla walked out of the bathroom. She noticed that Madison was holding Molly in the air by her neck [i]using her abstraction.[/i] These fucking women couldn't keep it in their pants for ten minutes without supervision, could they? They just survived being turned to ash and dust by death's hound and they were fighting [i]each other?[/i]. Kayla walked up to the table, too emotionally and physically drained to deal with The Coven's bullshit, and  grabbed her ice cream and her water.

"Madison," she said, giving the group a cursory glance and not a second more of attention despite the show they were putting on. "Outside. When you're done."

It was more of a command than it was a request, and she would know that. Kayla didn't wait for a reply, or to find out who Molly was. At the moment she didn't care. Stepping out of the Dairy Queen and into the humid Florida evening air was a welcome rush of warmth. A subtle comfort. She sat down on the curb and ate her ice cream, content for now on counting how many fire trucks passed by on the way to the woods.