[i]"Your help will come to be as useful as a bullet in the stomach."[/i]

These words had replayed themselves in her mind a dozen times over on the flight and a dozen times more as she stared into the camp fire. Occasionally she would poke at it to keep the embers fresh or add more fuel as needed but for the most part she kept quiet and kept still. There was so much to think about. So much to sort through. Enough to make anybody lose their mind. Yet, in the end what could sorting through it all actually accomplish? Could anything even be done once she came to terms with her surroundings? The girl came to a begrudging conclusion. No. In the end she decided it best to not think about any of this insanity and focus on something as straight-forward as keeping flames alive.

Doubtful voices would continue to creep into her uneasy tranquility through the night leaving her to question if she was really as necessary as she had claimed to be in the bar. With no alcohol to fuel her confidence she was sinking under the pressure. Gabe seemed to believe there was some reason for her to be here, though he had hardly been clear as to what that reason was. The more she thought about what he had said to her the more he realized his opinions stemmed directly from the words in the old tome Sebastian had brought back. He was Tenau, she reminded herself. His opinions on her role in all of this came from the realm of the magical and unreasonably superstitious. Even then she had been replaced. They were no longer the four he had spoken about, but five she realized watching the lizard-like warrior that had joined them. Six if anyone cared to include the little robot. She was superfluous. Brooklyn ran her hands through her hair and left them on either side of her head as she stared at the ground.

[i]What are you doing?[/i] she struggled to answer herself, [i]Just keep the fire going,[/i] she decided.

---

Something, though he couldn't quite put his finger on it, about this place was giving him the creeps. Nothing seemed out of place or suspicious as it were, but he couldn't dismiss the feeling of being watched. Truth be told he had felt this way ever since before arriving on the island and the events that transpired had only set him more on edge. The fact that one of his comrades had been cavorting around with demons, willing or no, left a sour taste in his mouth. The lizardling newcomer didn't help. In the past Gabe had done his fare share of picking up extra hands for hard jobs off the streets and out of bars, but he had never allowed himself to trust such people from the start. He always kept an eye on them, treating them like loose cannons until they earned his trust. Sometimes the defensive stance was unneeded. Sometimes it saved his life and his wallet. His hand was never far from the blade at his side and Shalizar was never far from his sight.

"You should rest up," he told Annabelle, "I'll hold down the fort for the night. Wouldn't get much sleep anyhow."