The three of them listened to his pathetic excuses; then the man spoke. "Find her. She belongs to me, and I will not lose her. Do what you will with her, but be gentle. I want her alive." He listened quietly to these instructions, and nodded, rumbling agreement, and cut the communication feed.

The man switched off his end, then turned away and whispered, partly to himself, and partly to the girl running nearly half a world away from him. "You are mine, Aria. I will find you."

Q

I awoke to look down the barrel of a gun. "Get out!" a voice cried. Moving very slowly, I pulled a fifty-dollar bill out of my pocket and laid it down. "Thank you," I said quietly, grabbed my stuff, and left while the man was still staring at the fifty. Ah well, another day, another run. Has it really been six years since I escaped him? I had run form him, and eluded him successfully until six months ago, at that dratted high school. I should have known better than to stay so long.

I know he's still out there somewhere, looking for me. I can hear his angry roars in my dreams. You want to know why I don't name my hunter? "Because you idiot," I tell my mental self. "He is superhuman. If I speak his name, he will know it, and find me."

I kept driving, still wanting to keep as much space as possible between the two of us. I passed the state line: Welcome to New York. I had circled back and wanted to close down what was left of my life here. I pulled into a busy town and hid my 'cycle. I walked into a small diner, and ordered a burger. Then, out of thin air, I heard a derisive voice from my past.

"Hey Songbird! Long time, no see, eh?" I turned and saw my old high school enemy, Aaron Mitchell, still hanging out with the same crowd of perverts.

He crowded up against me, saying, "Where you been? I think we need to teach you about running away from us." I shoved him off me, drained my drink, and faced him. "Go ahead. You know you want to. Tom was the only reason you never did before. Besides, I wouldn't need to run away from you, you're not worth my time. I have bigger problems to worry about."

I pushed past them, and headed for my cycle. "When will you ever learn that towns are not good for you and lead to trouble?" I berated myself angrily. I pulled it out of the brush and was about to start it when they came, surrounding me and pulling me off the cycle. I kicked, bit, and scratched, trying to bring to bear the tactics I had seen my hunter use. It was no use.

They jerked me around to face Aaron who said, "Now what, girl, you gonna be smart now?" I opened my mouth to retort, and saw black eyes behind Aaron. I paled, and they turned to see what I saw. It was their last action against me.

He took out three with one swipe, and I ran. Forget the cycle, forget Aaron. All I could think about was not letting him near me. I started screaming when I saw him and never let up. I chanced a glance behind me, and fell. I rolled over and saw him staring down at me.

He reached down one massive hand, and clamped it over my screaming mouth, then started dragging me back out of sight. I was paralyzed with desperate fear. He reached my cycle and slung me over the back of it.

When I kept squirming and screaming, he cuffed me on the side of my head, and growled, "Shut up." The obedience reflex that he had beaten into me for eight years kicked in, and I lay in quiet despair. Suddenly, a storm began to blow up. Thunder rattled around us, and I saw a white-haired, white-eyed woman at the end of the clearing.

As he turned away to meet her, hands grabbed me and pulled me off the cycle. I opened my mouth to scream, (again), and a red-visored face appeared in front of me, laid a finger to my lips, and said, "Shhh. Wait here." He disappeared and I tried to lever myself to my feet and run, but I had no strength. Feebly, I tried to escape, but then Red Visor returned.

It dawned on me who he was, but I had to be sure. "What…?" He replied, "It's okay, you're safe now." I shook my head, feeling strength fade. "No, I'll never be safe. He'll hunt me, until he finds me. Who are you?" He smiled and said, "Scott Summers. They call me…"

I interrupted. "Cyclops? But you can't exist. You're just…a…myth……" I felt the blackness close in as the woman walked up.