I watched her as she threw each knife with accuracy; each one was embedded deeply into each tree trunk. She balanced the knife so well it seemed to be an extension of her body, effortless to control and free flowing as air. I tried my best to hide my expression but I felt surprise creeping in my face. She never handled a weapon like that. Heck, I don't know anybody who can handle a knife like that. The weapons seem to come out of nowhere and harpoon out of her arm, covering the length of one hundred meters easily.

Usually she wouldn't let me watch her train. She would dump me at a hotel or a group home and wouldn't come back till dawn, symbolizing another day on the run was beginning. She never told me where she had gone for or why, and I never asked her, and for the right reasons. The girl probably knew twenty different ways to kill you, with or without a weapon. When the thought of following her finally hit me it seemed to be the most obvious solution ever. I would finally be able to escape all the sleepless nights I've been getting, my brain working out the worst-case-scenarios and the horribly realistic nightmares I got right after. She was going to better explain what the heck was happening and why we were getting attacked by monsters ever other turn. Better yet, explain why they seem so eager to kill me of all people…

A cold breeze passed by and I shivered, pulling the large hunting jacket closer to my body. It was still ridiculously early to be up, the cold of late February made my fingers stiff and numb, sending needles of pain through my arms and legs.

Aura didn't miss a beat. She threw her dagger in the same exact tree as the last one. My eyebrow shot sky high. Wasn't that dangerous, throwing a knife at a knife? Wasn't that the best way to destroy your hilt, throwing what she called a celestial bronze blade at it? Was she that stupid?

Miraculously, a gust of wind blew the blade slightly off course and when the blade made contact with the tree it was adjacent to the original knife, almost a millimeter of difference. My mouth fell open in shock. Aura on the other hand, smoothly walked over to each tree and yanked knife after knife and pocketed them in various sheaths all over her jacket. At this point my eyes were bugging out of their sockets. Forget the monsters; she is the most dangerous thing here hands down. I've got to watch my back around here if she's going to carry that much knifes.

Once she got her last blade she turned exactly where I was. She smiled coldly like, oh look, someone is trying to spy on me, how cute. I froze. She could NOT see me. There is no way that she could possibly-

"Fuse, just how stupid do you think I am?"

Shoot.

I stepped out in the clearing, mad and a little embarrassed. I had to be at least two hundred meters away, behind a tree that could have hid a car out of view. That alone should have let me pass scot free.

But then again, this is AURA were talking about.

Smiling pleasantly, she walked over to me. Had it been anyone else you would think that they were coming over to you for a friendly chat. Not her. She may have looked like a normal person but her eyes screamed bloody murder. She cocked her head to one side in the annoying way she does and tapped her foot on the hard frozen ground.

"Let's see, I remember telling you pacifically to wait for me at the shelter, not follow me in weathers below zero." She dropped the nice girl act and rolled her eyes. "Its three A.M stalker, go back to sleep"

I tried the honest approach. "I wasn't stalking you. I tried to go to sleep, and you know that. I've been having nightmares since we left Ohio"

"And so you came out here to catch hypothermia. Oh joy." Thick Sarcasm colored her voice. I clenched my teeth in anguish. How did I get stuck with this girl? The least she could do was be nice. Or run me over with a truck and get over with it. That works too.

She sighed. "look, if you don't want the nightmares, I totally understand. You can use some of my sleep tonic if you want, just leave me alone"

Well I totally snapped "I don't want your voodoo witchcraft; I want to know what's going on here and why we're going to New York!"

Her eyes harden dangerously "watch your tongue; there are more forces at play then you may think"

"So then tell me!"

She raised her chin defiantly "the more you know, the more dangerous the trail becomes"

I grind my teeth "you will tell me"

"I will" she said simply "someday." She held up here hand. Suddenly, I felt a wave of sleepiness come over me. Panic overtook my system. No! Not again! She won't get away with that! She will not….She…. She won't…

She laughed coolly "Oh, yes I will"