9: Black on White

In life there are some things that can be perceived in multiple ways. What is good for one can be bad for another, for instance. Something that frightens one may not frighten another, as the first may not properly understand it, unlike the second.

However, sometimes in life it's a good idea to look into mixed perceptions. The worst often happens, whether we want it to or not. We can't always assume that the good will happen, or that nothing wrong will be the end result. We must always assume that the worst case scenario is possible for us, for what it is that we are thinking about.

We have to also be ready for it.

"Come on Declan, don't you think it's a little odd that neither of them are answering our calls?" Lori was questioning Declan, "I can't get to Mark – dad hasn't seen him – and you can't get Jackie. Obviously something is wrong."

"I don't want to think that," Declan said, "Not after all the stuff that's happened with Kyle. I mean, I don't mind helping him, but I don't want to have two fronts of my life consumed with thoughts like that."

"Well, you're going to have to, because there's no doubt that something is wrong!" Lori told him.

"If you're so passionate about it, then why haven't you gone looking for Mark?" he asked her "You could go to his house, or apartment, or whatever."

"Because…," she had no answer to give him.

Kyle was walking by Lori's bedroom when he heard the two of them. He walked inside, "Something's wrong?" he asked.

"We can't get in contact with Mark or Jackie," Lori told Kyle.

"I'm sure it's just a coincidence," Declan told Kyle.

"They were both part of Latnok," Kyle said, having no need to further explain himself. That in itself was explanation as to what could be wrong.

"You think Latnok did something? Like kill them?" Lori questioned him.

"I don't think they would do something that extreme, but it's very likely to me that Latnok could be doing something," Kyle told Lori, "It's something we should look into."

"You have you own problems," Lori told him.

"If we're going to look into it, you can stay out of it," Declan told Kyle, "Your business is more important."

"No matter what, this is Latnok," Kyle said, "I have to be ready to stop them anywhere. If Mark and Jackie are missing because of them, I have to be ready to stop them, don't I? Finding those two – if abducted by Latnok, but regardless – is something I have to do."

"Ok, but what if they weren't abducted?" Declan posed the question, "What if Latnok just moved everyone, and they complied?"

"I don't think Mark would," Kyle said, "Not after I ran into him. He didn't seem like he would be a problem. I don't know Jackie well enough."

"She wouldn't," Declan said, "I don't think she would, anyway."

"Well, regardless, it's a matter that we should look into," Kyle said, "If for no other reason than I need to see what Latnok is doing. Even if this has nothing to do with them, I'd like to know what we can find at the lab."

"Ok, I think it's decided," Lori said, "The three of us are going to go to the college."

"You're bringing me?" Declan questioned.

"You're our driver," she said, getting off her bed, "Well, should we go now?"

"Trager, come on, we can't just drop everything and go right now to look into something that's probably nothing," Declan said.

"I'm not doing anything," Kyle said.

"Neither were we," Lori said, about herself and Declan, "There, now let's go."

Lori went out ahead of Kyle, who stopped Declan, "Is there some reason you don't want to go?" he asked the other man.

"No," Declan said, shaking his head, "It's not that."

"Then what?"

"Nothing," he replied, walking out.

Kyle watched him go, then followed quickly behind.

After their drive, and nearly half an hour of searching, nobody knew anything. Kyle had checked the Latnok labs and other areas used by them, but they were all cleaned out. They checked classes that the Latnok students should be in, but no records of attendance for the month in some case, two in others, and for others yet, only a few weeks to a few days. It was sporadic, but yet, they were all gone.

And nobody – not even friends – knew where they had gone, nor had they seen nor heard anything strange.

"Well that's great, nobody knows anything," Lori said when they met back up, "Unless?"

"No," Declan said.

"I didn't find anything," Kyle told her, "It's…disturbing, that they're all gone. Latnok is doing something, and I want to know what it is."

"Our best bet of finding out is to find the students, then," Lori said.

"Easier said than done," Declan put in.

"I wouldn't know where to start," Kyle admitted, "I don't have any ideas. Unless we get pretty lucky, I don't think we have anywhere to start."

"Well…let's keep asking around," Lori suggested.

"I don't think that's going to work, Trager," Declan told her.

"It should work," Lori told him, "I can't believe nobody we've talked to knows anything. Someone who knows what happened is here, or going to classes, or something. There's no way nobody was on campus that day and noticed anything."

"From what we can gather, it happened over the course of months," Kyle said, "Maybe there was nothing to see, since it was so gradual."

"I'm not willing to accept that," Lori told him, "I'm not giving up until we find something!"

"Is Mark that important to you?" Declan asked her.

"Of course he is! You were that important to me too, when we were together," she told him, "I take my relationships seriously."

They shared a silent moment, looking at each other, both remembering when they were together, and no doubt remembering the recent times they had had together, since neither could find the person they were dating.

Kyle looked at the two of them, then interrupted, "I hate to break this moment, but if we're going to keep looking, then we should get on that. We don't know if someone here knows, or how long they could be around for today."

"Kyle's right," Declan agreed, "Ok, let's keep looking."

After continual questioning and finding new people to ask, Declan found somebody and called the other two to find him. When they were all there, Declan spoke to the man, "Ok, tell them what you told me."

"I was driving around the other day, up the ridge that way," he pointed north, "for the scenic views, to show my girlfriend, then I happened to look down and saw students I had seen around before. They were…I don't know what they were doing, but they were there."

"How recently had you seen them prior to that?" Kyle asked.

"I never had them in class," the man replied, "Some I remember seeing days before, others I had seen, but don't remember. I mean, they weren't that memorable of faces or people to me."

"Ok, so can you give me directions?" Declan asked him.

"Yeah, it's easy," he replied, giving Declan directions while Lori pulled Kyle away for a moment.

"Is he telling the truth?" she whispered to Kyle in question.

"Yeah," Kyle replied, "I mean, I wasn't doing it right away, but I should still be able to pick up on something, by the time I started to read him. Nothing seems to be wrong," he told her.

"Good. The sooner we find them, the better," she said.

"Thanks!" Declan walked towards them with a slip of paper covered in writing, "Directions. Ok, let's go."

"But…what if they're not there?" Lori posed, now that they were together, "I mean, they were a few days ago, and I don't want to just suddenly bring us down, but now that we're going…what if they are gone? What if not all of them are there, and we can't find Mark and Jackie?"

"We'll find them," Kyle assured her, "And if nobody is there when we get there, I might be able to pick up on something."

"Thanks, Kyle," Lori told him.

As they drove away from the campus, the man who gave them directions walked towards another building where a man waited for him.

"I told them just what you wanted me to," he said.

The man walked out of his hiding place, "Excellent work, mate. Seems either Kyle's losing it, or you're a good liar."

"What?" he asked.

"Nothing. The less you know, the better," Cassidy told him, not explaining who and what Kyle was.

"Just like when you told me the reason for giving these directions?" he asked.

"Exactly."

"You're not planning on anything…dangerous, are you?" he asked Cassidy.

"Don't worry, your hands will always be clean of this," Cassidy assured him, though he was lying. When it was over, he would tell Latnok that it was this man's doing, and he would feel the wrath of the organization upon him.

Cassidy wouldn't inform them that he had been the actual cause of Kyle's death; that he had paid off a man to give them bad directions to ensure death.

They wanted Kyle alive; they couldn't have him alive. That's what Cassidy decided, no matter how much it cost him.

"How much farther?" Lori asked Declan.

He glanced to the GPS, "Looks like…"

"What?" she asked, looking at it to get her own answer.

"It's dead," he stated, "That can't be right."

"Let me try something," Lori said, hitting the small machine. It flickered back on, "No, it's not dead."

"I've never seen it do that before," Declan admitted. Then it went out again.

"Whatever, I'll keep making sure it works," she told him, hitting it again, but it didn't work this time. She started to fiddle with it, while Kyle, in the back seat, leaned forward.

"Do you know this area?" he asked Declan.

"No," Declan replied, glancing back, "Why?"

"Well, you should keep your eyes on the road, if there are ridges around here," Kyle said, "And it's a confusing terrain."

"Directions and GPS," he reminded.

"Your GPS isn't working, and the directions might not be perfect," Kyle told Declan, "You should stop looking back here."

"There's a car that followed us off the main road," Declan replied.

"What?" Lori asked, glancing back in the rearview mirror, "Maybe its coincidence."

"Oh, so now who's citing coincidence?" Declan questioned.

"Well it could be," she told him.

Kyle glanced back in the rearview from his spot. How did Declan notice first? Sure, Declan was driving, but Kyle was usually so careful. Even if not looking for something like a car following them in such an odd place, he should have noticed.

It could have just been Declan would have looked in the rearview at some point and noticed, but how did he know it was following from the main road? How did he know it was the same vehicle?

"I really don't like the looks of this," Declan said.

"Maybe that driver lives in this area, on this road," Lori suggested.

"Yeah, let's hope," Declan told her.

"Why, you think it's something bad?" Lori asked.

"I certainly don't think it's anything good," he replied.

They passed a speed limit sign. That was the cue that was written on the directions that Declan had, since there weren't many landmarks or anything else on this road. The speed limit sign was before a small hill, at which point they were to make a sharp right to make the turn. If they missed, they would cut through grass. That wasn't so bad, but the sharp right would lead them right onto the road.

They could see the trees to their right, obscured partially by the hill. At least they were there.

"Ok, let's see if he follows!" Declan sped up, swerving quickly to the right at the top of the hill…finding that it was a drop off, and the trees grew from the bottom of it up.

He slammed on the breaks, stopping them before they drove over the side. They all panted, catching their breaths, their hearts racing from that maneuver, from nearly going over the side.

"What were you doing?" Lori shouted at Declan, "You should have been more careful!"

"I followed the directions!" he defended, "There's nothing about a drop in here!"

"Of course not," Kyle said, "Because it was meant to kill us. The man following us is another part of that. One of us would be careful enough to be disturbed by it, and cause the fatal accident.

"We shouldn't have trusted that man. And that other car is still behind us. We have to do something, and fast."

There was nowhere to go. They could reverse, but the other car was there, blocking them in. There was the drop in front, and woods to the right that wove down into the drop, while the left had more barren land.

"What do we do?" Lori questioned.

Declan knew this was his time to take charge. Foss had trained him for such times. Before he could say anything, however, a gunshot went off. Another.

"Down!" Declan shouted, getting down as low as he could in his seat.

Another shot.

"Now what?" Lori shouted, her voice filled with fear.

"If we make a run for the woods we could lose him!" Declan realized, "Kyle?"

"I don't have any other ideas," Kyle admitted.

"We're going to try it," Declan said, "We need to open our doors, hide behind the car, and make a run for the woods. It's going to be dangerous, but it's better than sitting here, waiting to be shot."

"What if one of us doesn't make it?" Lori questioned him, "This isn't a game. This is real!"

"I know," Declan said, "Please, trust me."

He waited, then opened his door and got to the front as another shot went off. Lori found her resolve and did the same, evading the shot that came almost too late to hit her by the time she got around.

Kyle was last. He got out and ran, easily avoiding the single shot. They all put their backs to the front of the car, "Everyone ok?" Declan asked.

"I'm fine," Lori said.

"So am I," Kyle said, trying to glance back, but he couldn't see anyone.

Declan got down on his stomach and looked under the car, only seeing a single foot and part of that same leg due to where the assailant stood. He sat back up, "Only one, I think," he told them.

"Any ideas on how many bullets? Either of you?" Lori asked.

"No idea," Declan said.

"I don't know," Kyle agreed.

"Ok, then what? Should one of us be a decoy or distraction?" she questioned, "So the others can get to the woods?"

"I'll do it," Kyle said, before the debate if they should even began.

"No!" Declan almost shouted at him.

"I can go on top of the car. I'm faster than either of you. I can dodge him and jump off the ridge while you two run. It'll work," he asserted.

"I don't think so," Declan said.

"What other option do we have?" Kyle asked.

Declan picked up a decent sized rock, about the size of his palm. He came up into a standing crouch and then straightened up, throwing the rock over the car at where the man should be. He missed, but heard it hit the man's car.

"Go!" he urged softly, pushing them on and running beside them, putting himself in the middle of the two of them and the assailant, whom they didn't see.

What they did see was that their two back tires were shot out. But it didn't matter; they fled into the woods and on as the assailant no doubt pursued.

Cassidy saw them go and lowered his weapon, unloading two more bullets. Both missed. He watched them go for a bit longer, they were gone, out of sight. He started after them, only walking in pursuit. He was in no hurry; they couldn't get away.

"Someone's shooting at us!" Lori shouted at them, "Come on! One of you have to have an idea!"

"I don't want to have to take charge…but I will," Declan told them.

"You're going to take charge?" Lori questioned him.

"Declan, are you sure?" Kyle asked him.

"Do you think you could do better?" he asked Kyle, "I mean, you're smart and everything, but are you prepared for something like this?"

"Are you?" Kyle questioned him as they continued to run, dodging around trees, over logs and stones.

They stopped when Declan did, "Yeah. I've been trained for something like this."

"Trained?" Lori questioned him, "What are you talking about?"

He pulled his coat farther away, revealing the handgun that Foss had given him, "Tom Foss trained me," he told them, pulling the weapon, "I don't want to have to use this, but I will."

"How long have you had that?" Lori shouted at him in question.

"I carry it everywhere, except in your house," he told her.

"You had it at the college?" she demanded, "Do you know how stupid that was?"

"Lori, you have to be quiet," Kyle said, "Or we'll be found."

"Kyle's right," Declan said, "Ok, we have to be quiet. Then we have to sneak back around to the car. That's all we can do. I don't want to shoot whoever that is, and our best option is to just sneak around."

"Yeah, we shouldn't kill someone," Lori agreed.

Kyle didn't want anyone to die either, but didn't say anything as he too tried to think of a solution to their problem.

"Declan, Lori, I have an idea," Kyle said.

"What is it?" Declan questioned him.

"You two go ahead," Kyle told them, "I'll stay back here and stop that gunman."

"You're going to stop him?" Lori questioned him, "That's too dangerous!"

"This man is no doubt working for Latnok," Kyle said, "You two get away. I'm the target. I'll take care of it. I couldn't live with myself if one of you got hurt over this."

"You can't!" Lori protested.

"We're not going to let you do this. Foss wouldn't let me," Declan told him.

"I know that Foss wouldn't let me do this, but you're not him!" Kyle told Declan, "You're trying to be my protector like he is, right?"
"Yeah."

"Just because you're my protector doesn't mean you have to do things like he does," Kyle said, "I know that leaving me to do this isn't protecting me, but please, listen to me and let me do this!"

"…on one condition."

"Name it."

"We don't tell Foss that I left you unprotected like this," Declan said.

"Agreed," Kyle said.

Declan took Lori's arm, "Come on, let's go."

"Good luck! Stay safe!" Lori called back to Kyle, clearly terrified for him from her tone of voice.

Kyle watched the two of them go, and then turned back to look down the way that had just come from. He closed his eyes, listening, focusing only on listening.

There were the footsteps. The man would be there soon; perhaps three minutes. Enough time.

"Do you think Kyle will be ok?" Lori asked as they continue to run.

"He's Kyle." That's all Declan could say.

"I know what you mean; he's always ok. It always seems to work, because that's who he is," Lori said, "But what do you think about this? Cassidy was trying to kill him before – I think – but this is so much different! He fought Cassidy in the house to protect us. This guy is just going to shoot him!"

"We have to have faith," Declan said as they started to follow a small stream. He stopped, looking down the stream, "I think if we go this way we can get back to truck," he said, checking to be sure his gun was still ready, that the safety as off. He was constantly doing it, just in case the assailant came around this way instead.

"Declan…how good are you?" Lori asked.

"I could probably get him if he came at us," Declan answered, bringing her along the path of the stream.

"Could you…kill someone?" she asked.

He paused, "No." He didn't need to think about it, he just knew.

"But if you're going to shoot him, then what?" she asked, "Are you going to aim for his leg or something?"

"No."

"Then where?"

"His chest. Dead on," he told her.

"But you said…"

"If you shoot someone, it's not like in the movies or TV," he said, "You can't shoot them in the hand to drop their weapon, or in the knee to take them down. If you're in that scenario, you shoot to kill, no matter what."

"Then do you think you'll be able to do it?" she asked.

He stopped and holstered his weapon. He turned around to face her, resting a hand on each of her arms, near her shoulders, "For your safety, I would kill the man," he told her.

"Declan…"

"I know, you have Mark, I have Jackie," he said.

She reached up, gripping his shoulders and kissing him. The two stood there, aware that at any moment the assailant could come upon them and fire on them, but neither cared in that moment. They were lost in each other, in what they had lost in moving on to other people.

This was what they had. This is what they could have again.

Cassidy came down the small decline, looking around for the group of three, his gun in his right hand, the barrel down. He was moving slowly; they couldn't get away. Parked in, tires shot out, they were in basically a part of nowhere, so they couldn't get help.

His EMP emitter that he now had with him had shorted out their GPS system, and had also probably disabled their cellphones. Disabled at the least, that was. It would be lucky if they had survived at all.

He was being thorough on this. Very thorough.

Before he realized anything, Kyle was dropping out of a tree behind him. He span around when he heard, lifting the weapon, but Kyle had an arm out, forcing the gun arm down, keeping the weapon pointed at the ground. He gripped Cassidy's arm, making Cassidy feel Kyle's strength.

Kyle lashed his other arm out, gripping Cassidy by the throat, "I'm going to get right to it," Kyle told him through gritted teeth, "What are you trying to do here, Cassidy?"

"Isn't it…obvious?" he gasped.

"You're trying to kill us. Why? Why them? Why not just me?" Kyle demanded.

"They were with you. No survivors, no witnesses."

"Witnesses? You were hiding yourself the entire time," Kyle told him, "I didn't even know it was you until now! I suspected, but didn't know."

"They could trace it back to that student, who could eventually tell you it was me. Or tell authorities, or someone," Cassidy hissed, "I was keeping myself out of…trouble."

"Then have Latnok bail you out," Kyle told him, "Don't involve the people I love!"

"Latnok wouldn't bail me out, don't you realize that?" he shouted, despite Kyle's grip on his throat.

"What do you mean?" Kyle demanded.

"Latnok sees you as the prize. I'm just here," Cassidy explained to him, "They wouldn't help me if I killed you. You're the prize; not me. They would let me rot in prison for killing you before they would lift a finger to help me."

"You're willing to risk that?" Kyle questioned him.

"To be my own man, yes."

"What do you mean by that?"

"To show Latnok that I am someone who can think and act on their own," he hissed in reply, "Right now I'm only a servant. I do as I'm told, slowly losing my own control. I used to be much more powerful, but ever since our…mishap at the Trager household, I've fallen out of favor with Latnok; even mum."

"That's your own fault," Kyle told him, "You went wild."

"I was following orders!" Cassidy shouted at him as best as he could. Kyle slackened the grip on the other man's throat, "I was told to go after you in your home! That those threats would work! But I knew better, Kyle. I knew you better than they did. I knew that you wouldn't react to those threats. I told them!

"They refused to listen. They had their own plans for you. Mum had her own plans for you. Their plans were never really my plans. I had control, but only over my own pawns; I was still being commanded by Latnok, forced to do as they told me, no matter how asinine it was. I would have preferred to avoid that confrontation in the Trager house."

"Then why did you do it?" Kyle demanded.

"I follow orders, no matter how much I dislike it," Cassidy stated.

"You said that Latnok would let you rot for killing me. So they don't want me dead. Wouldn't trying to kill me be disobeying the orders they gave you?" he demanded.

"I don't follow orders anymore. I have discipline troubles," Cassidy managed a small grin.

"Kyle!"

They both looked up the way that Cassidy had come. Declan was slowly approaching, gun raised and aimed at Cassidy, Lori behind.

"Declan, Lori!" Kyle called him, looking to Cassidy, then back, "I've got him! Don't worry!"

Declan lowered his weapon when he arrived, disarming Cassidy and sliding the other man's gun into his waistband, "You got this covered?"

"I do," Kyle said, pushing Cassidy away, "Go," Kyle told him.

"You're letting him go?" Declan shouted in outrage.

"What else can we do?" Kyle questioned, "I won't let him be killed. I don't know what we can do."

"Take him into our custody!" Lori said, "We can take him to the police!"

"What do we tell them?" Kyle questioned, "We've broken laws by just being with Declan as he went into the school with a gun. Cassidy has Latnok to help him."

"They don't have to know about my gun," Declan said.

"And if they find out?" Kyle questioned, "We aren't going to take that risk."

"Fine," Declan muttered.

Kyle looked to Cassidy, "Move your vehicle and leave so we can go," Kyle told him.

Cassidy shrugged, "Fine, as you say."

"Wait!" Lori shouted at him.

"What?" Cassidy questioned.

"Where are the Latnok students?" she demanded, "Where's Mark?" she shouted.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Cassidy said simply, walking off to do as he had been told.

"We'll find them," Declan assured Lori.

"I have a plan," Kyle said.

"A plan?" Declan asked him.

"If I can hack into the Latnok servers, I can find them," he said, "I don't think they would move the students and have no information regarding it. I'm sure I can find something in their systems."

"But where are you going to go to get to their servers?" Lori questioned him.

"I don't know yet," he replied, "But Jessi and I can find a way."

"Jessi?" Lori asked him.

"She's the only one who can help me now," Kyle said.

["I Will Follow You Into The Dark" by Death Cab for Cutie .com/watch?v=HYF8cUlbs3I]

In a few minutes they were driving again, heading back towards Seattle. Declan was talking, "I didn't want to have to be away from you, Kyle."

"What?" Kyle asked him.

"I was saying that it was all a coincidence because I didn't want to be away from you," Declan stated again, "I knew that either you would go, and would try to keep me out of it for some reason, or Lori and I would go, and be unable to convince you. And Lori would make it hard for me to turn down.

"That's why I didn't want to look into this at all. I'm sorry guys; but now I can be honest with the two of you. Foss would have looked down on me for taking my eyes off of you, even for a short time in the unknown like this, Kyle."

"I understand," Kyle told him, "I do understand Foss; I understand what you had to go through."

"You don't have to be Tom Foss," Lori told him.

"I know," he told her, "I'm working on my own way. I just don't have it all figured out yet."

She smirked, "You had better hurry and figure it out."

Kyle looked out the window as they kept going, thinking.

We are no closer to finding answers about Mark and Jackie, along with all of the others, but at least now we know that Latnok is indeed doing something. Cassidy was lying when he said he didn't know anything. Latnok did something. Was this an attempt to get at me through the people I love?

Whatever is happening, it can't be good. We have to find those students, and soon. Who knows what could be happening to them. What could happen if we waited. We need to find them as soon as we can, and hopefully strike a blow to Latnok at the same time.

Or strike a blow against Cassidy. At this point, it's getting a bit more difficult to discern. Cassidy is mostly working on his own, or so it sounds. Is he more dangerous than Latnok? Or is Latnok the true danger, as it always has been?

"We've warned you not to act against Kyle," a voice on the other end of Cassidy's phone said.

"I didn't do anything," Cassidy stated again.

"We have camera footage of you at the college right when Kyle was," the voice replied, "You were paying someone off. You followed."

"How do you know this so quickly?" he demanded, "Are you watching me?"

"Your mother told us to," the voice replied.

"I'm sure you do everything for her," he muttered.

"She is our superior, as she is yours," the man stated, "Get used to following orders."

"I am the heir of Latnok!" he shouted, finally calling himself as he saw it, "I don't care about Kyle! He is no heir! I am! He may be seen as more important, but I'm the one who's here, aren't I? I'm the heir, the man with power! I don't have to keep following these foolish orders!"

There was a switch on the other end. The next speaker was Grace Kinsgly.

"Cassidy, you are nothing to Latnok. Kyle is the one we want. I'm sorry, but that's the way it is."

And then the line went dead. Cassidy dropped his phone and shouted, hitting his desk multiple times by pounding his fists. He shouted again and flipped it, shouting over and over again, cursing. Cursing Kyle, Latnok, even his own mother.

He was the important one. Not Kyle.

I hope that this will be the end of Latnok. If I can locate any server of theirs, I should be able to track them to wherever they are hiding. We will have Latnok where we want them; we can win and finally bring them down.

"If everything goes as planned, I can wipe out everything Latnok has," he told Declan and Lori, "It'll only be on one server, but with another malware, we can wipe out every backup they have, no matter where it is. Latnok won't be a problem anymore, if I can reach a server."

"But before you go crazy taking them down, you'll find Mark and the others right?" Lori questioned him.

"Of course," Kyle replied, "That's the first priority."

"I'll help plan it and come with you," Declan said.

"I don't want you to," he told Declan.

"Why? You can't keep me out of this!" Declan told him.

"I can, and have to," he said, "I can't put you in danger like this."

"I'm the one who can't let you go into the danger!" he argued.

"Jessi and I are going to do this alone," he said, "We'll be able to do it."

"Jessi? You're only taking her? Take me!" Declan urged.

"I'm sorry. But where we're going, it'll have to be Jessi and myself."

"Why?" Declan questioned him.

"Where are you going anyway?" Lori asked.

"I don't know where we're going," Kyle said, then to answer Declan, "I can't bring you along for one reason. We're going into the dark."

[Song ends]