I fell back into sleep, grinning.

   The beautiful boy, with periwinkle eyes, and strawberry-blonde hair, danced through my vision. His perfect dimple, was flashed in my face.

   The smile I loved, his witty jokes, his pranks. To put it plainly, I couldn't stop thinking about him. I was utterly, completely, in love with him.

   But soon, my dream changed. Darkness flowed through my sight. And everything became sad and sullen.

   The image of my dream turned into a room. It was the cell we had been held in. The fake cell. Where I had first woken up, after the chat we'd had with Gethen.

   Inside, there was an inhabitant. It was a cloaked figure.

   I recognized the figure's shape. It was the boy we had fought. The one who had been strangely weak. Who I had punched in the face. He was standing. Looking down.

   That was when I realized there was someone else inside of the cell. I tilted my imaginary head, and saw who it was. I recognized her face immediately.

   The figure on the floor, laying unconscious, was Kalila. The human girl I had talked with, when I had been waiting for Dex to get money from the electronic bank teller. The girl had cuts all over her, a trail of blood running down the side of her face from her nose, and a shabby bandage job done. Just as I looked, I saw the boy kneel down, and strap another bandage on. As he leaned down, his hood fell down. I was startled when I saw his face. It was scrunched up in anguish. As if he was in pain. Then I realized what it was. He was in mental pain.

   The guilt from seeing the unconscious girl, was breaking him. A tear slid down his face. I had to admit, I'd never expected that'd I would ever see a Neverseen member cry. But the first tear led to more, as he knelt on the stone floor, and strapped another bandage on. He blinked, and wiped his eyes.

   "You'll be fine," he murmured to Kalila. He stroked a strand of hair away from her face, to show a purple bruise on her forehead.

   Then the image blurred, and suddenly, I was in a blank room. Lounging in a pale sofa across the room, was Gethen.

   "Ah. Our little, Fiery Girl. How have you been?" he smiled. "You must be quite exhausted. You know, it was my idea to hijack the bus. Clever, wasn't it? Almost caught you."

   "Where am I?"

   "How should I know? I'm just contacting you through your mind. And yes, that vision that came just before this, it was real. Your dear human friend, is in our captivity." he laughed.

   "Let her go," I replied coldly.

   "How about you come over, and we can negotiate? We could talk over a nice cup of—oh what is that human drink?—tea. Maybe you wouldn't mind giving up your freedom for the girl's? We have no use or her, anyway. We've already erased her from her world, anyway. No one would ever notice. She wouldn't even be missed."

   My heart sank. I knew he could easily kill her. Then put his guilt into a cache. It would be no problem.

   "Who is the boy?" I asked, changing the subject.

   Gethen's face darkened.

   "Ah, I see you are finally asking reasonable questions. Yes, the disappointment. He is, well, a child, who we hoped to train. But he turned out Talentless. But we can't kill him, because—" he trailed off.

   "Go on," I said, raising an eyebrow.

   "His parents are rather influential people, in our noble organization." I want to snort at the last part.

   "So," Gethen continued. "How about you give up your location, and we can come find you. Then, once we are back to my place, we can talk." It wasn't a question. Immediately, my mind flicked to the road we were on, the hotel we were planning to stop at.

   Gethen's face twisted into an even bigger smile. "In case you've forgotten, I have complete access to your brain right now. I know exactly where you are. Thank you."

   I wanted to smack myself.

   A map appeared on the ground, with a moving X on the spot we were at. We were nearing the hotel, just beside the bus terminal. Where were going stop.

   Suddenly, Gethen's face contorted. He regained his composure quickly, only traces of pain remained.

   "Well, this was lovely talking, but I fear you are waking. Bye bye! See you soon." He paused. "And you'd better get up, and start running again."

   I awoke suddenly, bashing my head on the top of the car door's frame. Dex was holding me, pulling me out of the car. We were stopped in front of the hotel.

   "No!" I yelled, pushing him away, and collapsing back into the car. "No! We have to get away."

   "Marella?" Dex asked hesitantly. "Calm down. You just woke up. We are okay."

   "No!" I said for the third time. "We have to go. I had a talk with Gethen. He figured out where we were," I said, not taking the time elaborate.

   "What?" he asked, placing a hand on my shoulder, and pulling me back up in to a sitting position, and bent down to look at me from outside of the car.

   "The Neverseen are coming. We have to go now—" I stopped. We both looked at each other. The smell of smoke filled the air.

   Without another word, Dex got into the driver's seat. I climbed into the passenger's seat. He stepped the gas, and we roared forward. I hoped Dex's quick reflexes were quick enough, as we pulled into the rush of cars.

   His skills surprised me. He swerved through oncoming traffic. Sure, my ears were bleeding from the sound of continuous honking from other drivers. But I couldn't have done any better.

   Sadly, our opponents were even better. The smell of smoke got stronger. I heard the sirens of the same trucks that had came to the fire at the hotel.

   Then, I heard shattering glass. I looked back, and almost screamed. I undid the seat belt, and stood up on the seat.

   Because Fintan was hanging onto the back of the car. And the back window, was smashed.

   Carefully avoiding the glass shards, he started to climb in.

   "Just keep driving," I told Dex.

   That seemed to give him more panic than reassurance. "What—"

   "Hello children," Fintan said. He was sitting in the back seat. Dex's breathing got faster, but he didn't look back.

   "How lovely to see you!" I smiled back at my old mentor.

   "Yes, a pleasure."

  "I must say," I told him, climbing over the seat. I sat next to him. "That was quite unnecessary, the whole window-smashing business. We can stop, if that suits your needs."

   "Wouldn't that be lovely," he said.

   "Dex, pull over." He complied.

   So far, my plan was working.

   Once we were at a complete stop, I looked directly at Fintan, my face neutral.

   "I hear you are holding captive a harmless child. Human, might I add."

   "So you've heard. As a matter of fact, yes. We are holding her. And her life is at stake at this moment. I was sent here to bargain. So, let me start." He grinned malevolently. "You and the Technopath, come to us willingly, and we will release the human thing."

   "Two for one? That doesn't seem fair."

   "Indeed. But we hold the leverage. You have three options. Take the offer, make a counter offer—that is reasonable—, or the human dies."

   "But isn't there always another option?"

   "Not this time, young one."

   I nonchalantly put my hand behind my back. Quietly, I snapped my fingers. Nothing happened. I did it again, putting all of my thoughts. My emotions, my desperation, and my passion. I started sweating. And just like that, I was holding a handful of neon yellow flames.

   Without hesitation, I threw the fire at him. He screamed as Everblaze engulfed him. I opened the door, and pushed him out, still burning. Feeling my connection with the blaze, I moved the flames that had caught on the backseat, and moved it out of the car.

   Fintan's writhing body, ignited the pavement. The neon fire spread around the ground, making holes everywhere. He screamed again. Then, he found control. I felt my connection failing, as he took control of the fire. I watched, as he formed all the Everblaze, into a glowing ball, then shot it into the air. Once it was about a mile from the ground—but still burning a hole in my vision—it exploded. The detonation created a beautiful array of colours, flying through the air. Like fireworks.

   I'd seen them once before, when I was little, and gotten lost. I had left the city my parents and I had been visiting, and wandered too close to a Forbidden City. It was mid summer, and I had no idea what the bursts of light in the sky were. I was later told they were fireworks.

   As the bits of fire flew towards earth, they disintegrated into nothing. The little lights winked out. The Everblaze—deadly, and yet, indescribably beautiful—was gone.

   Fintan dropped into unconsciousness.