The rest of the LYOKO warriors were hiding in an abandoned warehouse. Jeremy was watching the sky for any sign of William. With his visor he could see everything in the dark. The others were taking turns sleeping.

Kayla got up and stood beside Jeremy. "I'm getting worried. She hasn't called and she's hurt; I could hear it in her voice. Do you think William got to her?"

"No," said Jeremy. "Eva's full of surprises. I wouldn't be surprised if she found a way out of the hospital without anyone seeing her."

Kayla smiled. "I should have thought of that. Eva's smart."

Aelita tapped Jeremy on the shoulder. "I don't think it's a good idea stay together. I think we should split up."

"If we split up, XANA may find one of us," said Kayla.

"At the same time, a group of six teens will attract attention," said Jeremy. "What were you thinking, Aelita?"

"We split into twos," said Aelita. "We stay in constant contact and we try to find Eva."

"Who goes with who?" asked Jeremy.

"I'll go with you," said Aelita. "Kayla, you go with Yumi. Odd and Ulrich will be the final team. We'll each take a separate section of Manhattan. Kayla, do you have any idea where Eva would go if she was in trouble?"

"There are a few places," said Kayla. "She likes dark, quiet places where she can see people, but no one can see her. She likes libraries, museums, or any place outside with a lot of cover."

"Just about anywhere in Manhattan," said Jeremy.

"You should check the parks first," said Kayla. "If she is hurt, she doesn't want anyone to see that she is."

"Okay," said Jeremy. "Wake everyone up. We need to move while we still have some dark."

Odd, Ulrich, and Yumi were filled in about the plan and they went their separate ways. Odd and Ulrich took Battery Park and Jeremy and Aelita took Madison and Washington Square parks and Yumi and Kayla took Central Park.

"What do you think Eva's doing right now?" Yumi called to Kayla over the sound of the wind.

"Surviving," Kayla answered. "It's what she does best."

"Something tells me something like this has happened before," said Yumi.

Kayla nodded. "Not too long ago," Kayla answered. "It was right before we came to Kadic. Remember those stitches? She told me her mother gave them to her for staying out too long without telling her. Eva's always out late and her parents usually didn't notice. That night her mother did and beat her senseless. When Eva came to, her mother hit her with a meat cleaver. I didn't see her until the next day, when most of the blood had clotted and the rag she had used to stop the bleeding was completely crimson. She spent the night hiding in the shadows like a criminal."

"She's either brave or crazy," said Yumi.

"Crazy is what she is," said Kayla. "She lives up to her name."

Yumi's band flashed red. "Yeah, Ulrich?"

"I think we may have found something," Ulrich said. "I'm not sure. We're going to check it out."

"What is it?" asked Yumi.

"A castle," Ulrich answered. "Odd thinks this one may be the one he saw in his vision."

"Be careful," said Yumi. "And call us if there's any trouble."

"We will," said Ulrich.

"At least they are having some luck," Kayla said, scouting the ground below for any sign of Eva.

Odd and Ulrich landed in the tree line in front of the castle.

"Is this it?" asked Ulrich.

Odd shook his head. "Let's check it out anyway," he said. "Eva may be hiding here. It's dark, secluded. I think it's a safe bet she may be here."

"From Manhattan General all the way to Battery Park," Ulrich said thoughtfully. "She could do it if she had her board."

"Let's go," said Odd.

The two of them quietly dashed from the trees and climbed the castle wall. On the roof they began to search for a door.

"I don't take kindly to trespassers," came a man's voice with a Scottish accent.

"Oh, boy," said Odd. "Not good."

Turning around they saw a man in his fifties with silver hair and beard.

Ulrich reached for a saber but the man quickly drew a gun.

"I wouldn't if I were you," the man said.

"This is definitely not good," Odd said, raising his hands.

"Any ideas?" Ulrich whispered to Odd.

"You're asking me?" Odd chuckled nervously.

"My idea could get us killed," said Ulrich. "I was hoping for another option. It would be one thing getting bumped off by XANA, but this guy? I think I rather bend over and let William have a free shot."

"Shut up!" came another voice from behind.

"Banquo, be kind," said the man. "You two, walk." He motioned with his gun the direction that Odd and Ulrich were to walk.

"On three?" Odd asked.

"For what?" asked Ulrich.

Odd shrugged. "Go for broke," answered Odd.

The men had heard and took careful aim.

"Three!" Odd shouted, jumping off the roof.

"Nutcase!" Ulrich shouted, following Odd.

Their vehicles appeared below them and the floored it out of there.

"I never want to do anything like that again," Ulrich yelled to Odd as the castle disappeared from sight.

Odd laughed. "I hope the others are having better luck than we are."

Jeremy and Aelita flew above the clouds to keep from being seen. Jeremy was becoming well acquainted with the physics of flying with his jet pack. Aelita flapped her angel wings to keep up with him.

"Wait a minute!" Aelita stopped and hovered for a long moment. "Jeremy, do you see that?"

Jeremy looked down expecting to see a skyscraper. What he saw was something unexpected. It was a castle built on top of a skyscraper.

"The castle in Odd's vision?" Aelita said hopefully.

"Maybe," said Jeremy.

"We should check it out," said Aelita, preparing to descend for a closer look.

"Wait!" Jeremy said. He pointed to the tower. "Look. Do you see that?"

Aelita squinted. She could see someone or something moving on the tower. "I can't tell what's there."

Jeremy tapped the side of his helmet. His visor showed him a magnified view. Whatever it was wasn't human. It looked like it had wings.

"A winged monster," said Jeremy. "This is the castle. This is the castle from Odd's vision."

"Let's go for now," said Aelita. "There may be others and there are only the two of us."

Jeremy and Aelita turned and began flying away from the castle. Jeremy felt something behind them and looked over his shoulder.

"Oh, no! William!" Jeremy cried. "Let's go, Aelita!"

The two of them climbed high above the clouds. Did William see them? Was he following?

"We need to find a place to land," said Aelita.

"Uh," muttered Jeremy. "There!" He pointed to a residential section of the city. "We can hide there."

Jeremy and Aelita dove down and landed in a backyard.

"We should tell the others," said Jeremy. He tapped his specter band to activate his communicator, broadcasting to all the other specter bands. "Guys, we found the castle in Odd's vision."

"That's great," came Yumi's voice.

"Has anyone heard anything from Eva?" asked Kayla.

"I'm here," came Eva's rough voice.

"Hey, sis," said Odd. "Sounds like you were sleeping."

"I was," Eva whispered. "Keep it down. Where I am, the walls have ears and very good hearing."

"Are you hurt?" asked Kayla.

"Nothing I can't handle," Eva replied. "What's up?"

"William may have been chasing us," said Aelita. "We're hiding out in someone's backyard at the moment."

"We're close to the hotel," said Yumi. "It doesn't look like that XANA has sent anyone looking for us."

"XANA doesn't know where to look," said Jeremy. "Remember that Yin put the suite in a different name."

"That's good news," said Ulrich. "At least we have somewhere safe we can rely on."

"Don't jinx it," said Eva.

"Kayla and I are going to head back to the hotel," said Yumi.

"Be careful," said Jeremy. "Odd, Ulrich, where are you?"

"Lower Manhattan," answered Ulrich. "Where do you want us to go?"

"I'm not entirely sure where I am," said Eva. "If I was, I would tell you to meet up with me."

"Go back to the hotel with Yumi and Kayla," said Jeremy.

"What about you?" asked Ulrich.

"Hey, who's out there?" someone yelled.

Aelita and Jeremy gasped.

"What's going on?" Eva asked. "Jeremy? Aelita?"

"We gotta go," said Jeremy and he and Aelita turned their specter bands off.

Aelita and Jeremy hid in the bushes. A man came out with a shotgun. He was an older gentleman, slim with dark skin and gray hair.

"What should we do?" Aelita whispered.

"Not get shot sounds like a good idea," Jeremy replied with a nervous laugh.

The man came closer. Jeremy pushed Aelita back and she tripped and tumbled back into the bush.

"Come out!" shouted the man.

"Don't shoot!" Jeremy said, slowly emerging from the shadows.

Aelita followed Jeremy and stood behind him.

"Peter, put that gun down!" shouted a woman from the house.

The man lowered the gun. "What are you doing back there?"

"Hiding," answered Jeremy with a slight stutter.

"Uh-huh. From what?" the man asked.

"Some man was chasing us," said Aelita. "We got lost and hid. We thought it would be safer to wait until morning to go back to our hotel."

"It's two in the morning," said the man. "Your parents must be worried sick. Get in here and call them."

Aelita and Jeremy hurried inside, passed the woman who had yelled at the man. She was very pretty. She was a little on the plump side, had darker skin than the man, and her dark hair was beginning to turn gray. She wore bright colors and a kind smile. Something that Jeremy and Aelita noticed was her blue eyes.

"The telephone is in the living room," she said.

Jeremy went into the living room and picked up the receiver. He dialed Kayla's mobile. She picked it up on the second ring.

"Hello?"

"It's me," said Jeremy.

"What happened?" Kayla asked.

"We just got caught by the owners of the house," said Jeremy. "We're okay though. I don't think they are going to hurt us. I'll call you when we leave tomorrow morning."

"See ya," said Kayla.

Jeremy replaced the receiver and took a deep breath to calm himself. This day was just getting crazier every minute.

"Michael." Jeremy turned to see Aelita standing in the doorway. "Do you want something to eat?"

"Sure," replied Jeremy. He walked over to Aelita. "Michael?"

"Eva said not to use our real names," Aelita quietly explained.

"So what name are you going by?" Jeremy asked.

Aelita smiled. "The name you gave me when we first met."

Jeremy frowned. "Artificial Intelligence?"

Aelita giggled. "No, silly. Maya. You called me Maya before I remembered my real name."

Jeremy slapped his forehead. "That's right."

"Come on. Mrs. Maza said she'll give us something to eat."

Twenty minutes later Jeremy and Aelita were sitting at the dining room table with their first hot meal of the day. After the incident at Belvedere Castle, none of the LYOKO warriors felt like eating anything. After eating, Jeremy fell asleep on the sofa and Aelita began to fall asleep in an armchair. However, her nightmares kept her awake and she heard the Mazas speaking in the kitchen.

"Diane, something's going on with these kids," said Peter.

"So be it, Peter, but it's too early in the morning to do anything," said Diane. "If you want to call Elisa and tell her, go ahead."

"It's her night off," said Peter. "She's probably at the Eyrie Building with Goliath. She's been going there a lot lately."

"I remember that you came over a lot when we began dating," said Diane.

"This is different. She can't be in love with him. Can she?"

"Peter, if there is one thing we have learned through our lives is that love is blind," Diane said. "At least we know that Goliath can be trusted."

Aelita got up and went into the kitchen. "Excuse me? Where's the bathroom?"

"Upstairs, first door on your right," answered Diane.

Aelita went upstairs to the bathroom. She activated her specter band, calling Eva.

"Eva, are you there?" Aelita whispered.

"I'm here," replied Eva. "What's up?"

"We found where the castle is," Aelita said. "The Eyrie Building."

"Are you sure?" asked Eva.

"The people we're staying with started talking about their daughter," said Aelita. "What they were saying probably has no significance to others, but I think they were talking about the winged monster we saw."

"Keep me posted," said Eva. "I'm going to see what I can find out."

"Okay," said Aelita.

Eva got up and went downstairs. It was very early in the morning now and it sounded like Robbins's guest had left. But where were Robbins and Gilly? Eva hadn't heard them come upstairs and she was sure she would have if they did.

Eva found a telephone book in Braille, but none in everyday print. She sighed in exasperation, but nevertheless began to search for the address. Eva sat on the floor with the book in her lap. She knew some Braille, but not enough to read it. After twenty minutes Eva gave up and put the telephone book back.

"Rats," she muttered.

There was someone talking outside. Eva turned to see the French door was ajar. She went to the door and peered outside. On the terrace was Robbins, Gilly, and a winged monster. Eva quickly moved away from the window.

"I will visit tomorrow night if I can, Robbins," said the monster. It had the same voice Eva heard upstairs.

"Good-bye, Hudson," said Robbins.

The winged monster, Hudson, got a running start and jumped onto the high wall surrounding the property and took to the air.

Robbins turned and started for the door. Eva dashed for the stairs, her legs protesting, but she got to the top of the steps before Robbins had the door properly shut.

At first, Eva thought about calling Aelita or one of the others to tell them what she had just seen. But they were probably asleep by now. Instead, Eva went back to her room and tried to get some sleep.