They'd been out on the desert road for a few hours when Alex spoke up.

"Uh, you guys?" he said. "I didn't really want to say anything before, but do you think that car is following us?"

Max slammed on the brakes. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"That car, behind us." Alex pointed to a blue VW bug in the distance. Tess' mind was nagging at her, trying to to tell her something, but she couldn't tell what.

"I don't know, if they're leaving the town, this is the only way..." Isabel offered.

The car. It was blue. Bright, shiny blue, though dimmed in the dark. A Volkswagen-

"That's Taylor's car!" Tess exclaimed, nearly jumping out of her seat.

Four pairs of eyes immediately zeroed in on hers.

"Taylor Richardson?" Isabel asked.

Tess nodded. "I was in it yesterday. We went to the mall. It might not be her, but how many people in this town have that car?"

The car was approaching quickly.

"Should we stay here and talk to her?" Alex asked.

"I think we should get out of here," Isabel said. "What does she know?"

"She saw the Nebula," Tess informed her. She turned to Max. "You did tell Isabel, right?"

He nodded at the same time as Maria and Alex said, "What nebula?"

"It's an erasing fog," Tess explained. "The Nebula Inductio." Seeing their blank faces, she added, "It's Latin."

"You mean they speak LATIN on your home planet?" Maria interrupted, totally serious.

"No, it's a translation. Anyway, it's a pale blue fog and it targets anyone from our species--a specific person every time, though. They invented it to take us over. Anyway, when the fog evaporates, it reappears in front of them with the victim paralyzed for a few minutes. So they've got Michael trapped there as bait."

"Shit," Alex cursed.

"They're slowing down!" Maria announced.

In fact, the car WAS coming to a stop, a few feet behind them. And to their suprise, not one, but TWO figures were emerging from the car.

"Kyle!" Maria exclaimed.

It was Kyle, along with Taylor, who were walking towards them.

"Max, go!" Isabel whispered franctically.

"We can't NOW," Tess pointed out. "Kyle knows already anyway, and we have to find out what Taylor knows. Or what he told her."

They walked up, and Max got out of the car. Tess followed him, with Maria, Alex, and finally Isabel behind her.

The seven of them stood there for a while, five against two. Nobody talked for what seemed like hours. The tension was so thick it almost smothered Tess.

Finally, Max spoke. "What are you doing here?"

"We're coming with you," Taylor replied evenly.

"Where?" Maria asked, playing dumb.

"To find the 'Dark Angels' who took Michael," Taylor answered.

"How do you know who the Dark Angels are?" Isabel challenged, stepping up. She didn't even pretend she had no idea what a Dark Angel was.

"We heard you at the party," Kyle responded. "You should be more careful about that."

"You told her?" Max accused him, advancing menacingly.

"No," Kyle denied. "She figured it out."

"I was the one who dragged him out here in the first place," Taylor added. "I didn't even know he knew until we got out here. He only told me when he realized he wasn't going to convince me to turn back."

"Why did you come?" Tess asked; not coldly, just curiously. "Michael means nothing to you."

"I owe Evans one," Kyle laughed bitterly. "For saving my life. He has too much pride to let me pay him back by helping him. This was my only chance."

Taylor was looking at the ground, presumably thinking. When Kyle finished talking, she began. "I know Michael a little. Not that well, but I know him. And what I know, I can't afford to lose. Even if I didn't know him, I couldn't hear about someone whose life was in peril and not do anything."

Tess saw Max looking at Taylor in a new light. She was, too. They probably all were. Beforehand, Tess had thought of her as funny, outgoing, headstrong, and not all that deep. In other words, popular. Sure, there were hints of her being more than that, like when she'd said she wouldn't go after Max if Tess liked him--but wasn't that in the popularity guidebook?

Now, she realized what Taylor REALLY was. Loyal, brave, emotionally strong, stubborn, and basically everything Tess had always wished she were. Because that's what Max needed in a soulmate.

"Okay," Max finally decided, "you guys can come."

Taylor smiled, now that she'd gotten her way. "We can't travel all night, you know. We have to sleep. Tess, does that thing say how far away they are?"

Tess looked at it. No, it didn't say it in numbers. But she felt it somehow. "It's at least a two days trip."

"Two days?!?" Isabel shrieked frantically. "Michael could be dead by then!"

"No, he won't be," Tess assured them. "They have to keep him alive, as bait for us."

"That's great, that's just great," Kyle said, shaking his hair out of his eyes. "We're fish, is that it?"

"Valenti..." Max warned.

"Fine, I can take a hint." Kyle looked slightly dejected, but shrugged it off. "So what, we drive to the nearest motel and sleep there?"

"I can live with that," Maria replied. "Does anyone have any money?"

No one answered. Finally, Taylor said, "I have about a hundred dollars and I owe Tess half of it."

"Well, if that's the only money we have, that's what we're using," Tess declared, stating the obvious. "I only hope we'll find two places cheap enough."

"Yeah, well, we'll see what that can get us," Max said, taking charge. "Everyone get back in their cars, and let's continue."

Tess got back into the car with everyone else. She leaned her head against the window and, in a matter of minutes, fell into a light sleep.