CHAPTER 10 ~*SARA*~

I spit in his face. "You're lying!" I snarl. "He was a good man! Don't foul his good name with your-your-your talk!" I can't believe this stupid man is trying to convince me that my dad was an evil mastermind. Well, first he tried to convince me that he had the power to manipulate metal, but I continued not to believe him, so eventually he got bored and switched to this. What a wacko.

He just laughs. What a wacko. "Oh, I remember when I was just as naïve," he says, taking off his stupid helmet. White hair. Interesting. "But I know you're going to find out more about yourself. Things that will scare you. Things that will make you angry. Things that will make you want answers. Eventually, you'll come over to my side, if you're smart enough," He grins. It's sickening.

"Never!" I scream. It doesn't shock him as much as I hope, but I don't care. Not what I was going for, anyway. "I'd rather have no answers than to side with a crazy person! I'm fine on my own!" As long as I have Kurt by my side. But I don't mention that part.

He just stood there, unfazed. What a wacko. "Alright," he raises his hand. I'm sure nothing will happen, so I'm pretty surprised when some spare coins fly out of my pocket and into his hand. No. This must be some trick. He rigged it up when I was out.

He stares at them a moment, fascinated, before saying, "This is you," Then the coins fly out of his hand, out an open window, fly back in, and suddenly land- splat! -on the ground. "This is you if you don't join me."

That was at least a buck in change! I want to say, but decide against it. "I'm going to fly?" I ask instead, smirking. "Yey,"

He glares at me. That's one of the best feelings in the world, pissing someone off who deserves it. "You're just like your father. That's the worst part," he sighs. "However, he was open to believing almost anything. Unknown to a lot of people, he joined me for a while... well, that's probably unknown cos he's so good at faking his own death,"

My eyelids are drooping, and soon everything goes black again...

BEAUTY~BEAUTY~BEAUTY~BEAUTY

I wake up to find Penny, of all people, standing over me, staring at me. At first I think it's a dream.

"Penny?" I ask, getting up.

She steps away. She looks almost shocked to see me up, and if I didn't know better, looks like she didn't think I'd catch her in the act. "I... that man captured me," she says in a strange voice. If I didn't know her, I'd think she was lying. Her next words sound normal. "I was trying to fight that guy off, and the next thing I know... I'm here," she spreads out her arms.

"Yeah, sorry 'bout that," I say, frustrated that I can't do anything more for her. It's one thing to have a fan. It's quite another to have a fan who's willing to do anything for you. Didn't think I would ever have a fan like that. I look around the large room. "So, where the hell are we?"

"Why would I know?!" she sounds very nervous, and she's shaking. Why is she acting so... weird? Does this place turn people into weirdos and I'm immune? Pretty good thing to be immune from, if you ask me.

"Hey, it was just a question," I start walking around, trying to get a good grasp of my surroundings. By the extra set of footsteps, I can tell Penny is close behind me. Or an enemy who wants to konk me on the head the first chance he gets. Either way, it's better than being alone.

All of a sudden, everything goes dark. Even though my night vision is great, I stumble from the shock, and almost fall to the floor.

"Penny?" I call, scared. I'm a bit afraid of the dark- sue me. I reach out, but my fingers touch nothing. Great. This is just great. Right when I need her, she disappears... or did she bump into something and pass out? Now I'm never gonna find her and I won't see her ever again and it's not my fault for not making sure she stayed close and-

"HEADS UP!" I hear a guy's voice yell.

As much as that weirds me out, I can't help but yell back, "HEARTS DOWN!" Hey, I'm kinda a nerd, but I have a good taste in music.

All of a sudden, I see a red beam coming toward me. I react a little too late, but it only ends up barely brushing my shoulder. The beam apparently cut through a wall, and outside light is now flooding in. A male figure is standing behind the giant hole. Deja-vu... my mind flashes back to when I first saw Kurt. Why must it always start this way?

"Come on!" the guy yells, so I run toward him. As I near him, my eyes adjust to the light and I begin to make out details about him- brunette, tall, muscled, red sunglasses. He almost look like... no, it couldn't be... is it...?

"The boy from the pictures..." I mutter when I reach the hole.

He cocks his head at me. "What?" he asks.

My response is "Nothing," but that's a lie. Man, I can't believe I'm seeing him in person. He looks older, but I thought those pictures came with the frame. And that kid was a popular model. And my dad modeled with him sometimes...

...Okay, I was a stupid little kid. I should have asked Dad about it when I had the chance. Well, then again, Dad was very secretive, so I think I would've been lied to.

Arg, that weirdo guy? Why'd he have to say all that stuff? Now I let him get in my head, and thanks to that, my thinking is twisted. I'm questioning my own dad! 'He was very good at faking his own death'... What the hell does that mean?! Or should I even trust him? Or my dad? Or anybody?

The boy holds out his hand. "Come with me!" he exclaims.

I grab it, and run with him. This is it. I'm trusting Picture-Boy.