"So where are we going?"

I glance to my left to see Piper sitting between me and Starling, slouched back in her seat and her arms crossed across her chest; clearly not happy at the lack of information she was receiving.

"You'll see." Was all Finn replied, whilst he hung over her chair, from his seat at the back. Grinning widely at her obvious discomfort.

I smiled to myself and turned back to the window. After school we all hopped into James' 4WD for Piper's "inauguration" or so we'd dubbed it. James was driving us through the winding roads and dense trees whilst Seth rode shotgun.

Starling suddenly leant forward, "We're here!"

James pulled over and parked the car. As the last hum of the engine died down we all opened the doors and jumped out.

"Here? Where's here?" Piper asked, I looked back to see her sliding ever so slowly out of the back seat.

Seth walked toward to the massive building that loomed in front of us and threw open the huge sliding doors. "Welcome to the Hanger Bay." He announced, while throwing his hands grandly into the air. Starling turned to look at me and we shared a smile at Seth's dramatics.

We all moved inside, ushering Piper to follow us as we wound our way around the semi-constructed aircraft and spare parts lying around, until we reached the set-up we'd created; voluminous couches seated around a wide-screen television along with surround sound speakers, multiple games consoles and even a fridge off to the side.

Finn quickly threw himself down onto a couch, Starling soon following, whilst James went off to grab a snack from the fridge. Seth and I stood back and watched as Piper gradually came to join us, slowly spinning around as if trying to take everything in. "What is the place?" She finally asked.

Seth smiled at her, "The Hanger, my Dad used to store his aircraft here but now instead he does so at a warehouse on the other side of town, so he gave this place to me."

Seeing Piper's mystified expression I decided to elaborate, "Seth's dad's a pilot. Seth uses this place to work on planes, cars, and basically every other piece of machinery you can imagine. He lets us hang out here whenever we want."

"Wow, that's pretty amazing." Piper responded.

"Oh you aint see nothing yet." Starling called from her place over on the couch.

I glanced sideways to see Seth eyeing me with an eyebrow raised, silently asking me. I smiled and gave him a little nod as confirmation. He nodded back in understanding and disappeared further into the hanger.

I looked back towards where the rest of them were lounging. "Come on guys- let's show Piper the main attraction." I yelled.

They all quickly stood up and made their way toward where Seth had disappeared.

I turned back to Piper, "Come on, you're not gonna want to miss this!"

Without thinking I grabbed her hand and started to pull her in the direction everyone else had gone. She quickly pulled her hand away. I tried to make it seem as if it didn't affect me but while I could control my expression I couldn't stop the stab of pain I felt in my heart.

We reached the back of the hanger just in time to see Seth sliding open the runway doors, letting the sunlight shine in and illuminate the magnificent jet sitting at the beginning of the runway that had been paved through the trees.

Seth proudly made his way over to it and ran his hand along the jet with his trademark dreamy expression plastered all over his face. "This is my baby, the Condor."

Piper stepped forward until she was right beside where Seth stood. "What is it?" I heard her ask.

"It's a hybrid Pilatus PC-12; capable of running on both battery and fuel, seats up to 8 people, goes up to speed of 280 knots, is sound-proof and contains both ejector seats & cup-holders!" Seth shot out, unable to contain his excitement.

"He's very proud of it." Starling commented from where she was leaning against the nose of the jet.

"SHE! The Condor is a she, Starling- not an it!" Seth shouted at her, momentarily taking his eyes off the Condor to glare at Starling.

Seeing Seth was oblivious to the conversation once he turned his attention back to the Condor, James continued the explanation Seth had lost interest in, "Seth rebuilt the Condor from a skeleton using spare and used parts. He's very proud of it- her, I mean her."

I stepped forward, making my way around the jet from the tail to the nose, in order to ensure we were all good to go. Just as I crossed in front of the nose I felt my foot get caught on something, before I could right myself I felt my knee give out on me and my body heading towards the ground.

"Woah Aerrow!" I sense someone's arms wrapped around me, holding me up.

I quickly put my feet back beneath me and stand back up, breaking the hold they have on me. I rub my hand across my eyes to rid it of the fuzziness that was playing across my vision. Once I open them again I see Finn standing right next to me with his hand on my shoulder, as if to catch me should I fall again.

"I'm okay." I say to reassure them, seeing an array of worried expressions, even Seth's who had managed to peel his attention away from the Condor. I understood why they were worrying, usually should I trip or stumble I was quick to right myself or at least flip or handspring myself upright again before I hit the floor. I couldn't help it though, it was if my limbs were too slow and heavy, like everything was in slow motion and the fatigue I felt swell up within me was dragging me down.

"Is it the nightmares again Aerrow?" Starling asked quietly.

I was shocked for a moment before I remembered I had confided into my friends a few weeks ago when the nightmares had returned with a vengeance, knowing I couldn't avoid it anymore.

I winced as I remembered the nightmare that had woke me up in a cold sweat this morning.

My nightmares were clearer now, most likely due to the same nightmares replaying every few nights. It wasn't the first time I had had this nightmare, which was why I was able to notice things I hadn't before. Whilst I was able to feel, see and hear what was happening, it was if I wasn't in my own body, like I was merely an observer.

My body was running, I could feel terror and horror escalating with every breath I took. It was nighttime but there was not even the slightest light to go by, the stars were obscured by the black clouds that were causing a light misting of rain to fall down around me.
Trees surrounded me on all sides, shadows looming out of the darkness that felt as if it were suffocating me.

Suddenly a ray of light broke through the trees, I shield away from it. I kept running close to the very edge of the light but staying within the trees. Looking more closely I could see it was a street light, one of the few lining a road that was running alongside the woods.

I could feel my bare feet hitting the ground but the pain in my feet was insignificant compared to the overwhelming desperation I felt. Somehow I knew I was trying to find something and nothing was more important than doing so.

My lungs were burning but the pain didn't slow me down, I was running faster then I'd ever run before, the trees seemed to blur around me.

Suddenly my body came to a halt, I could feel where my feet had dug into the ground in order come to a stop so fast.

Two shadowy figures stood before me, a short distance away. From the little light there was I couldn't see their features, the shadows seemed to dance around their frames. I didn't know who these people were- but somehow my body did, the fear in my body coming to a crescendo.

I couldn't see it but I could feel the slightly smaller figure smiling. Vivid purple eyes glinted in what little light there was. "You're too late." came a female voice, the like of which I had never heard before but yet was horrifyingly familiar.

"No!" I thrust my hand up in front of me- but it wasn't my hand, the long tapered fingers did not belong to me, neither did the feminine cry that came from my lips.

The shadows receded, just enough to allow me to see that the vivid purple eyes belonged to a young woman, whose head was shrouded with hair so black it blended into the shadows around it. As well as a man standing to her side, whose crimson red eyes leered at me from behind a cruel smirk.

"You should have joined me when you had the chance." She smirked which caused the madness in her eyes to increase.

My vision blurred as my head thrashed back and forth. I realized whoever possessed this body was vehemently denying what was being said. I ran past them trying to put as much distance between us as possible, I emerged from the trees when what felt like an instinctive pull lead me on to the road. I knew what I was about to see, the nightmare never changed.

Firelight streamed from the windows of the car, its shell dented and twisted beyond recognition. Nothing moved inside except for the inferno that blazed within.

I screamed.

Coming back to reality I shook my head so as to clear it of the nightmare. I forced myself back to the situation at hand, "Yeah, I had a hard time getting back to sleep last night." I finally replied. That was a lie, after that nightmare I didn't go back to sleep at all.

I looked away from their faces unable to stand the guilt that stemmed from lying to them but I couldn't burden them with anymore of my problems. As I looked away though my eyes involuntarily sought out Piper, I tried to make it seem as though my eyes had only momentarily landed on her but that notion died when I saw the look on her face.

Her eyes were wide, swimming with what seemed to be disbelief and her mouth hung open, as if she had just experienced a shock. Seeing my gaze she schooled her expression back into a placid mask and turned her head away but it was only a few seconds later she looked back at me, as if it were involuntary for her as well, with her eyebrows furrowed unable to completely remove the worry from her face.

"Well you always said there was nothing better to help get rid of your worries then being up in the sky!" My head snapped back to Starling, with the easygoing smile she had I could tell she was trying to help with the un-comfortableness of the situation, I smiled gratefully in response. I quickly glanced around to see if anyone else realized that I had been staring at Piper again but they all seemed not to have noticed.

"Alright, let's get going then." Seth not one to waste time opened the Condor's door and lowered the retractable stairs, he then quickly climbed up and made his way into the cockpit, the others soon followed him up the stairs while I stood there, waiting for everyone to board before me.

I looked up from where I had been staring at my feet, in order to avoid eye contact with anyone, when I felt someone's presence in front of me. Piper stood at foot of the steps, hovering uncertainly.

My eyes furrowed in confusion for a moment before a thought as to why hit me, "Never flown before?" I asked.

Glancing to the side, I saw her uneasy expression. "Not in a jet, no."

I tilted my head curiously but smiled as I took a step forward, "Don't worry Seth is fully licensed and the best pilot you could ask for, trust me- you'll love it." I assured her.

I held out my hand.
She seemed to contemplate it for a few seconds before placing her hand in mine. From her touch I felt that strange but now vaguely familiar contentment rush through me.
I helped her up the stairs and once I had boarded knelt down, pulling the stairs back up and sealing the door shut. "All good to go Seth!" I called to the front.

"Everybody better buckle up, we're taking off!" Seth yelled back to us whilst he made some last minor adjustments. The seat closest to the door was still unoccupied so I quickly slid into it, rather than make my way to the extra seats at the back. When Seth says we're taking off, we're taking off.

I looked to the side to see Piper was in the seat across from me, Starling's usual spot, so that she could give Seth some assistance at any time should he need it, but I guess she had vacated it so that Piper could have a better view and more space.

The Condor started to vibrate and a high pitched humming filled the air as the engines started to pick up in pace. Within seconds Seth rolled the plane out onto the runway and shot the engines, taking us up into the sky.

After a few minutes admiring the view I looked back across at Piper to see her previous uneasiness gone and replaced with sheer wonder as she looked out her window. I don't know how long I did this for but before I knew it James was up and walking around, swiveling our chairs around to face each other and passing out 'refreshments' which was our fancy word for junk food whilst on a plane.

It was good to listen to everyone's stories and laugh, something which I felt like I hadn't done in a while. After what seemed like some time Seth, who had briefly joined us after switching on the auto pilot, said we ought to be heading back and retook his place in the cockpit. We all swiveled our chairs back around and were still laughing at Finn's admittance to his failed attempt to ask out Dove when we heard a beeping coming from the cockpit.

I felt the Condor briefly shudder beneath me, "Seth- what's going on?" I call out.

I could see his hands frantically darting about the dashboard. "It says we're out of fuel. But that can't be right, I remember filling it up- I don't understand!" He then looked back towards us. "Looks like we're going to make an impromptu landing, I'd buckle up, this should be interesting."

Starling rushed toward the front, disregarding his warning and took the co-pilot seat.

"I don't need your help Starling." From the tone of his voice I could tell Seth was rolling his eyes.

"Fine then think of me as back-up, I'm merely a spectator until you say so."

I couldn't contain my eye roll; an emergency landing and they still managed to bicker over the controls. After a relatively quick descent, we came to a suprisingly minor bumpy stop.
Before the rest of us could even unbuckle their seatbelts Seth was out the door, no doubt gone to check on what was wrong with his precious Condor.

I turned to see Piper watching curiously, for how uneasy she was before I'm surprised she took an emergency landing so well, I hadn't been worried due to the fact if there had been something to really worry about Seth would have started rambling about doom and will's, but perhaps she came to that conclusion on her own too. Either that or she was more familiar with possible life threatening situations than I thought. I felt my lips curve into a smile, 'Yeah, right'

"Oh no…"

I stood up and turned to locate Finn, who was looking out of his window so intently his hands were pressed up on either side of it.

"Dude, you're not gonna believe where we are."

oOoOo

"The tank was almost completely empty but luckily we always carry a spare barrel. So I refilled it, it should only be a matter of time before we can fly back out of here." Seth said whilst he wiped his hands on his trousers.

I pushed myself off from where I'd been leaning against the Condor, and briefly glanced around where we landed, luckily even though we were still in the forest Seth had managed to find a clearing to land in, one at least a couple leagues long. However running through the clearing, just a few lengths of the Condor away from us, was a massive crevice in the ground, at least a 100 meters wide, its black depths at odds with the sunny weather that touched everything else.

"Is everyone okay?" I asked returning my gaze to the group.

"We're terrific. Crashing next to the Black Gorge suits us just fine" came Finn's sarcastic reply whilst crossing his arms. Everyone ignored Finn.

"I don't understand, what are we waiting for?" Piper asked.

"The battery needs to recharge." Seth replied.

"But I thought the Condor was a hybrid that ran on both fuel and battery. How were we flying before if the battery wasn't charged?" Piper tilted her head, a gesture I recognized from when she was trying to figure something out, a gesture that also made her look unbearably cute. 'Oh god, I did not just think that… And I recognize her gestures now? Can anyone say stalker?' I brought one hand up from where my arms were crossed across my chest, to rub my eyes.
I really needed to cut back on the attention I was giving Piper. Somehow though, the mere thought of that caused me discomfort and anxiety.
I was snapped out of my thoughts when Seth spoke up again.

"Exactly both, we had both when we took off but when the fuel tank runs empty, the battery overcompensates draining it completely, luckily its rechargeable. So even though the tanks now full we're waiting on the battery to recharge." He explained.

"Well its looks like we're going to be late back," Starling said, I noticed her hand disappearing into her pocket before it reappeared with her cell phone in hand, she glanced at its screen before looking back at us, "Uhh..Does anyone have a signal? Because I've got nothing."

My eyes widened in alarm, we all quickly checked our cells. Nothing.
I glance around the group but as always my eyes quickly focused on Piper, only to see Piper facing away from us, her eyes glazed over as if her mind was somewhere else.

"It's sunset in a couple hours, people might start to worry." James stated but before any of us could say something to reassure James, Piper suddenly whirled back around to face us.

"I'm going to walk back. And let everyone know what's happening so they don't worry."

"No-"
"Piper!"

Piper crossed her arms and waited for everyone to finish speaking, it was mainly Starling and James doing all the talking, with Finn throwing in a few comments. Seth and I had both realized as soon as the others started, that this was not the way to go about deterring her.

Once everyone settled down Piper finally spoke again. "You're not going to change my mind. It's the most logical solution. It would spare everyone the worry at home and it beats all of us waiting around here doing nothing. And I won't get lost, as long as I keep heading due south I'll hit the town sometime- If you're really that worried I can take a map. Plus the lighter load will make it easier to take off on an unpaved runway."

Everyone was silent, trying to find a loophole in her logic but when none came to mind everyone realized there was nothing they could do to stop her. The gloominess amongst the group was almost tangible.

"I'm going with you." I said.

Piper's eyes snapped to mine. "Aerrow-"

I held up my hand, "There is no way I am letting you walk through who know how many leagues of forest alone. Plus you're still new here and don't know your way around, I on the other hand walk through these woods all the time."

When she refused to relent I reiterated to her, "You're not going to change my mind."

Before she could stop herself a small smile quirked up the right corner of her lips.

"Okay fine, you win." And before anyone else could attempt to change her mind, she whirled around and started to make her way toward the tree line.

I turned back to face the others. All of them not looking pleased with the situation but not as dejected as before either. "Good luck." Finn said.

I smiled and gave them a two-finger salute before taking off running to catch up with Piper.

I'm so sorry if any of you are plane fans and were horribly offended by what I wrote. I did very little research, the Pilatus PC-12 is a real plane for any of you who didn't know but I'm pretty sure I made half of those features up. Although I recommend looking at some pictures, it's bit more luxurious than the original Condor :)