MAX

My scalp felt like it was on fire and adrenaline was surging through me. Without hesitation I brought my leg up into the guy who had grabbed me's groin. He sputtered and shrank, loosening his grip on me enough that I could wrench away.

There was two of them?

"Creep!" I snarled as I sized him up, then sprinted away.

The guy was actually—really good looking. It almost felt like my own thoughts were betraying me though. He was olive skinned with dark shaggy hair and dark eyes. Also he wore dark jeans, a grey fitted tee, and a beat-up leather jacket; surprisingly he didn't look any older than me or Iggy. He definitely achieved that "dark and mysterious" look.

Was he the one my dreams warned me about? If dreams could, you know, warn.

The bell rang before I reached Ari's class room and people began filling the hallway, on their way to their next class. I couldn't tell if that guy was still following me, but if he was that crowd was definitely making it hard for him. I spotted Ari and didn't stop to explain, I just grabbed his sleeve and continued to run.

Ari protested at first but eventually fell into step with me when he sensed my urgency. I combed through the rainbow mass, looking for a strawberry blonde head. Where the hell was Iggy?

Ari finally pulled me to a stop and breathlessly questioned me.

"What the hell is going on Max?"

"No time Ari. Where's Ig?"

"He should be downstairs." Ari replied, he seemed to adopt my urgency. Good boy.

We started racing towards the staircases until I spotted the scary ass blonde girl from earlier. She was anxiously scanning the herd of teens. I quickly pulled Ari and I back to where we were hidden and clinched my teeth in thought.

"Who's that?" Ari asked, catching my drift.

"Dunno," I replied as I peeked around the corner at her. "But she's bad news."

"Are you sure? She seems pretty harmless…" Ari murmured.

"I probably should have told you this earlier but I've been having these dreams recently—"

"Dreams?" Ari interrupted in disbelief. "All this is because of some dreams?"

"Shut up! Listen to me." I snarled at him, catching him off guard and making his eyes widen. "I know it sounds stupid, but I have this feeling. Trust me for once Ari."

Ari was silent for a moment and I could feel my heart pound in anticipation of his answer.

"Let's—go find Iggy." Ari said a few seconds before the blonde girl spotted us.

She came charging in our direction and I snatched Ari's arm and yanked him along as I ran. We took a sharp turn around the hall and circled back to the stairs. Blondie was still behind us as we started racing down them, four at a time. I nearly tripped and face planted twice.

"Split, meet at the spot if we have to." I huffed to Ari as I shoved him in the opposite direction of me.

Blondie hesitated before taking off after Ari. I slowed down and caught my breath for a moment, making sure the coast was clear. Hopefully my brother would be okay. I'd probably die if something happened to him. He was in much better shape than me though.

I turned to start looking for Iggy and slammed right into—you guessed it—Mr. DarkAndMysterious himself. We both stumbled back from the impact, startled. I realized who it was before he did and I quickly grabbed him and pinned him against the nearest row of lockers, pressing my elbow into his throat. He coughed hard.

I already knew I couldn't outrun him, and that was my plan A. If he tried anything, I would choke him out.

"Who are you?" I asked.

The other people around us stood back, confused. Probably thinking something along the lines of 'goody-goody Max in a fight? Has the sky fallen?'.

"I'm your past," He began menacingly. "Your present, and your future."

I rolled my eyes.

"That's original."

I wasn't sure what to do next. The hell are you supposed to do in a situation like this? Hold him against a locker for hours?

"Max? What're you doing?" Someone exclaimed, pushing their way through the crowd.

I glanced back for a second to see Jane with a wild expression on her face. A second too much I suppose. The guy grabbed the arm I had on his throat, twisted it behind me hard. He spun me and shoved me into the lockers. Every motion was executed with deadly, fluid precision.

Ow ow ow…

An eerie silence spread.

"Who the hell are you?" Someone in the crowd asked coldly.

Jane just stood there gaping as he twisted my arm even further behind my back. I bit my lip so that I wouldn't cry out in pain.

"I could snap your forearm right at this moment." He breathlessly whispered in my ear as he pulled it back even further.

Tears sprung to my eyes and my mouth opened in a whimper. I could feel the guy grin at the sound. I'm not a crier either. This guy was serious. Still, no one moved to stop him. What is wrong with people!

Jane suddenly broke out of her stupor and grabbed at the guy, yanking him away from me. The pressure was lifted from my arm and I nearly fell to my knees. I saw Iggy shoving through the crowd to get to me. He gingerly ushered me as fast as he could back into the mob.

There was a strange noise and people started screaming. I quickly looked back to see the guy with his hands around Jane's neck, which was at a sickening angle. People started to panic and began to stampede through the halls. Iggy and I were nearly knocked over in the rush. Someone pulled the fire alarm and flashing sirens screeched through the building, adding to the chaos.

It didn't hit me until Iggy and I were both nearly outside the building: Jane was dead. Dead.

ARI

I had lost the blonde girl and taken temporary refuge in the boy's locker room. That girl was seriously fast. If I wasn't in such good shape from lacrosse I don't think I could have outrun her. Whoever this chick was, Max was right. The vibes from her were worse than Iggy's bad side.

The fire alarm suddenly started to blare and I nearly fell over. Do they purposely design that shit to give people heart attacks? The fire alarm reminded me that I really needed to get my ass out of the school and back to our meeting point—the roof of the parking garage.

I tiptoed to the backdoor of the locker room and rushed out of it. No blonde in sight. I glanced around the side of the building and spotted a ladder leading towards the roof of the first floor and I started climbing it. I felt as if I was starring in a terminator movie and any moment some borg might jump out of nowhere and rip me apart.

When I got to the top I could see students flocking out into the front lawn, along with teachers. Sirens hinted that police and fire trucks were nearby. I wondered if Jeb would be with them. Problem was, I needed to fly to get to our destination and I couldn't take off from the ground yet. So I would have to do it from where I was now…where anyone could look over and see me.

I sighed and shrugged out of my shirt, tying it securely around my arm. I started running and waited to throw out my wings until I pushed off the very edge. Then I was up, up, up, gaining altitude fast. The the air higher up was uncomfortably cold but I needed to get home fast.

I landed on the roof near my window a few minutes later and jiggled it until it opened enough for me to slip inside. I grabbed a backpack and began filling it with things we would need. Money, pocketknife, matches, socks, sweaters, underwear, small snacks. I grabbed another bag and filled it with things for Max.

Yes, I had to dig through her bra drawer, and yes, it was scarring.

I quickly ran into my parent's room and opened the bottom drawer of their dresser. I reached in to find the clip of emergency money taped to the top. I think this qualified as an emergency. I ran back to my room and threw on another two pairs of clothing. I hesitated for a moment, then rushed to my closet. I shoved the football equipment out of the way and ran my hand along the underside of the shelf. I yanked off my package of brand new razerblades. I stared at them for a moment before stashing them in my jeans and climbed out my window. I was in the air again within seconds, which was comforting. I felt as if I was untouchable in the air. Nothing could reach me, except maybe a bird or something.

I landed smoothly on the roof of the parking garage and glanced around. Iggy and Max were nowhere in sight. I plopped down on the ground and leaned against one of the backpacks. Did this mean we'd have to leave town? I doubt our pursuers would just give up because we left school. If we stayed Mom and Dad might be in danger, not to mention us. I hoped they were all okay.

I didn't want to leave my friends or Erin or my life. Does personal safety even matter if you're unhappy? I don't think I could be happy ever again if I left. Would it be safe to call or text to check in.

I closed my eyes hard and waited for Iggy and Max.