"Hurry!" The blond kid was frantic.

"How... is this... not hurrying?" Even with my enhanced speed, I was out of breath. "Besides, what are we running from?"

"You don't wanna know!" He sped up, easily passing the speed limit for cars.

What the hell?

"Hey! Wait up!" I spread my wings. Flying low over the streets, I caught up to him.

When the boy saw me, his eyes almost popped out of his head. "Holy shit!"

"Yeah." I waved. "Hi. Would you mind telling me what we're running from?"

The boy made a sharp turn into a grove of trees, still freaking out over my wings. "Max," he asked, "what is going on? What-" He skidded to a halt. "Oh, great."

I slowed to a less perfect landing. "What is it?"

"Mogadorians."

"What?"

He pointed. "Them." Then he turned to me. "Max, you have to get away from here. They're not after you. If you leave now, they might not notice you."

"But I can fight."

He shook his head. "Not like they can. Now-"

BLAM! Something hit my back, and I fell face-first onto the cold grass.

"Max!" The boy's scream sounded like Fang's.

I tried to answer, but I couldn't move a muscle.

"Max!" It was definitely Fang's voice. "Wake up!"

My eyes closed, then opened again. Fang was kneeling over me. "What... happened?" I asked him.

"You fell off the bed," Fang said. "Then you started shaking like you were having a seizure."

I told Fang about my dream. "It felt so real," I said. "I thought it was."

"You think it was your Voice trying to tell you something?"

"Maybe." I shrugged. What? You don't have a Voice in your head, telling you what to do? You're lucky.

Max. Speak of the devil.

Fang was going to talk, but I held up one finger. 'Voice' I mouthed. He nodded.

Well, Voice, I thought. It's been a while.

Paradise, Ohio.

What?

The answers are in Paradise, Ohio. Look for John Smith. Watch him.

What do you mean?

The Voice was silent. Typical.

After hearing what the Voice had to say, Fang consulted his laptop. "Huh," he said. "I can't find anything on John Smith." He clicked the mouse a few times (what kind of name is that for a computer accessory?) scrolled a bit, and typed something. "Here." Fang showed me the screen. On it was a picture of the blond kid I had seen with the caption 'John Smith.'

"That's him," I said. "The guy from my dream."

Fang nodded. "I'll let the others know." He got up and left in search of the rest of the flock.

I stared at the image of John Smith. What did my dream mean? How did John run that fast? Was he good or bad? What other abilities did he have?

Patience, Max. That is the key.

Shut up, Voice.