~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~She has the missing runes. We can finally translate. That's...incredible. We'll be able to stop the Conclave once and for all. Hehe...Ames is SO dead.~ Max thinks, sitting behind Alec. She wraps her arms around him tighter as he guns the engine. ~Why the hell did he get to drive? Ok, so driving my baby would be so much better, but the Sector Police have the license plate, so that's out. But still...I wanna drive!~

Alec looks back at Max, smirking at the pout that springs to her lips. ~So, we're really meant to be together. Guess it isn't just a summer fling.~ he muses, and smiles even broader. "Don't worry, Maxie, only twenty more miles." he shouts, and her scowl lessens a bit.

"So, about that girl...this is going to be interesting, isn't it?" he asks her, and she nods, smiling at him. ~God, I love that smile.~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~The High Place, Eden

Ah...the High Place. I found this place right after I came to the orphanage, and come here all the time. Ok, so it's not much- an old, unused railroad bridge with a few wooden planks missing. But if you don't care about looks much, and hop over a few pieces of rotting wood, you've got yourself a great view. At the very least, I can just be alone here and think. Something I need to do quite often.

I finish up the sketch that I started last night. It's of a princess that I promised Becca. She's totally obsessed with princesses, about as obsessed at Jill is with weapons. Which is no small wonder. She's always begging me to draw her pictures of princesses, whom she then pretends to be, taking on the manners of said princess for days at a time. Pretty flattering, actually.

I lay down right there, in the middle of the bridge, and close my eyes, letting the sun fall across my face, soaking it in. Hmm...maybe I have time to get a tan. I'm just getting comfortable when an irritating, shrill beeping fills the air. Damn. I glance down at my watch- 2:00. I quickly gather up my sketches and put on my backpack, walking carefully off of the bridge. Hopping onto solid land again, I start walking back on the sideroads, hoping I won't be late for our cleaning schedule. Mrs. Holmes better not give me dinner-duty again. I can't even cook-she just does it to drive me mad. God, she's a bitch! I mean, I know that Midol is hard to get a hold of in this messes up, post-Pulse world, but you'd think that she'd at least try.

I walk along the quiet roads, really wanting just to stay at the High Place and just sit and draw. A page flutters out of my sketchbook, and Becca's drawing floats away in the wind. Great, just great. Just my luck to have the drawing I promised Sara fly away. I throw my stuff down and run after it. I am not one to break a pinky swear, and I say that all those who do break pinky swears are just plain evil.

I run after the paper, the wind whistling through my ears and blowing my hair as I chase it. Blood pumps through my veins, and I smile lightly at the sport. It lands in a tree, so I climb up and grab the drawing. I smooth out any wrinkles from its flight and jump back down, heading back to the road.

Someone's there, and pulled over. Shit, my stuff! "Hey!"I yell, and the man in the suit looks up, dropping my sketchbook. "That's my stuff!" I tell him, furious that someone would touch my stuff, let alone look at my sketches without permission.

He walks over to the edge of the road as I step onto the pea-gravel. He smirks a bit. "Sorry. I was going to take it to the police station, but I needed to check for any identification first." he tells me, and I just glare at him. Yeah, right. More like Curious George. I know instantly that I don't like this guy. Something about him just feels...wrong, I guess. Evil almost.

"Just don't do it again. I have to go." I tell him, shouldering my backpack and grabbing my sketchbook from him roughly, to prove my point. Now I'm really late.

"I can give you a ride if you want." he offers, and I shake my head. NO WAY! How stupid does this dude think that I am? Oh, yeah, definitely evil.

"Sorry. Mommy told me never to take rides from strange men. Oh, candy, too. So if you're looking to give me a Snickers, mister, back off." I tell him, rolling my eyes and start walking down the road.

"Ames White." he introduces himself in a manner that makes it sound like I should only be too lucky to meet him. I continue to walk off, not paying any attention to him.

"Sara Martin. Pleasure, I'm sure." I bite out, really irked now. I turn around, "Can I...I don't know... go now?"

"Well, it was nice meeting you." he says, then his eyes go to the back of my neck. "You have something on your neck."

Ugh... I push my hair away and wipe at the skin on the base of my neck, hoping to get whatever it was off so that I can just leave. I turn around and keep walking, not really caring if the guy's still

there or not.

A motorcycle flies by, and I cling to my sketchbook, hoping that nothing flies out this time. Another drawing flies into a nearby field, but I just let it go this time. God, could this day get any worse? Oh, no, I jinxed myself-now I'll get dinner duty.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A/N: hey everyone! Thanks for the reviews! I'm really glad that you like it! Ok, some of you asked about the whole rune-thingy. Here goes...Max's runes don't have the whole message, only part of it. So Lana's runes are the other half. Therefore, with both Max and Lana's runes, the whole cryptic-cult-prophesy can be translated.

A big thanks to all you reviewers! You inspired me so much, I added another chapter! Two in two day! Am I good or am I good? Ok, so not much of a choice there, but still, I'm trying!!!!

Molly Jeane :D