Dawn was beginning to break. Wesley was pulling Matthew along the street, running anywhere that could provide some sort of safety. He could feel his brother slowing down with every step. Matthew was breathing very heavily and had a slight limp. As they approached the corner of an old street, Wesley looked around, searching for a place to rest.

"We need to stop," Matthew said in between breaths. "I can't go any further…"

"Just hang tight, Matt," Wesley said. "We'll find a place soon, then we can stop and rest for a while."

"Why don't we just rest here," Matthew suggested, pointing down the old street. It appeared to be unused and was littered with cardboard boxes and garbage bags.

"Fine," Wesley said. "We can hide under these boxes."

Wesley and Matthew walked towards a rather large box, big enough for both of them to sit in comfortably, and repositioned it to accommodate them. To their surprise, an old woman and a baby were already inside, hugging each other tightly for warmth. She gasped loudly, catching the attention of other people nearby. Soon, others began emerging from boxes of their own. The street wasn't empty at all; it was home to many homeless people.

"Oh my God," Wesley said. "I'm so sorry. I didn't know…"

"It's alright," the woman said. "You two just scared me. It's okay, everybody."

"Thank you," Matthew said slowly.

"Are you alright?" the woman asked Matthew, who was obviously having a hard time.

"No," Wesley said. "He's sick. We were hoping to hide out here for a while to rest. But I don't think that…"

"What are you hiding from?" the woman asked.

"It's…complicated," Wesley answered.

"Please," the woman insisted, "stay here with us. It's not much, but at least you'll be safer here than you would be roaming the streets."

"Are you sure?" Matthew asked.

"You're not really in any condition to go anywhere else right now," she replied, looking at Matthew.

"Thank you," Wesley said, then turned to Matthew. "Listen, Matt, I'm gonna go to a store and get you some medicine or something. I don't know where the hell Jimmy is. I hope he didn't get a…"

"A cold!" Matthew yelled suddenly.

"Oh yeah," Wesley said, catching himself. He didn't want to say too much around innocent people. "That's what I meant."

"Hurry back," Matthew said.

"Okay," Wesley responded. "You take care and I'll be back in no time."

Wesley jogged out of the street and found a convenience store just a couple minutes away. He quickly searched through the aisles and found some cold and flu medicine. He was almost out of the door when he saw Thomas pacing the street. He gasped, turned back, and ran to the last row of shelves to hide. He felt a hand tap his shoulder and he jumped, instinctively freezing time in the process. He sighed when he saw that it was the store clerk. Angry with the clerk for scaring him, Wesley decided to leave his there.

He carefully sneaked out of the store and slithered down the street in the opposite direction of Thomas, making sure to keep completely quiet. Suddenly, a pair of hands reached out and grabbed him. Wesley would have yelled, but one of the hands quickly covered his mouth. He was dragged, kicking and thrashing about, behind some bushes. He put up a strong struggle, but stopped when he heard his brother's voice urging him to calm down.

"It's me," James whispered.

"You need to…not ever do that again!" Wesley whispered back angrily. "I almost hit you!"

"Stop dreaming," James said.

"I just saw Thomas walking the streets," Wesley said.

"I saw him, too," James added. "That's why I've been hiding here. I went back to the inn, but y'all were gone and everything was broken."

"Good thing we paid cash for the room," Wesley commented. "He attacked us and we had to make a run for it. Were you scared?"

"Were you?" James countered.

"We need to get back to Matt," Wesley said, ignoring James. "I left him to get some medicine that you should've been back with."

"Don't start," James said as they peeked through the bushes.

Thomas didn't look like he was going anywhere any time soon. He walked up and down the street patiently, as if he was waiting for his enemies to come to him. Unfortunately, he stood between where James and Wesley were and where Matthew was. There was no way for them to get back there undetected.

"What are we gonna do?" Wesley asked. "Matt's over on that street on the other side of Thomas. We can't get by him."

"Yes, we can," James said. "We go out fighting hard."

"No!" Wesley beckoned, pulling James back behind the bushes. "We need to get him out of the way, but a fight won't do anything for either of us except get us hurt. Besides, the sun's coming up. Somebody might see us."

"Well then," James said, "what do you think we should do?"

"I don't know," Wesley said before a light bulb flashed inside his head. "Wait! I know! Do you remember the spell?"

"Yeah," James said, "but that's not going to work. He keeps coming back, remember?"

"Yes," Wesley replied, "but if we can get him out of the way for a little while, that would give us enough time to get back to Matt."

"You think it would work from way back here?" James asked.

"We won't know unless we try," Wesley said.

"Abolish his powers.
Banish his hours.
Within this time and space,
Send him away forever from this place!"

Without warning, Thomas fell to the floor, affected by the spell. There was no time for him to yell as he disintegrated into nothingness. James and Wesley came from behind their hiding spot, satisfied with the outcome. They ran back to the street where Matthew was, only to find that he was gone.

"Where is he?" Wesley asked. "I left him right here!"

"Are you looking for your friend?" the woman from before asked.

"Yes," Wesley answered. "Did you see where he went?"

"He was taken by…by," she struggled to find the right words to use, "by an angel."

An angel!? My word! These angels are just a-poppin' out every which a-way! Oh boy! Coming up next chapter: Who exactly is this angel who came to take Matthew away?