AN: Very sorry it's been so long, but unfortunately I do have a life that sometimes pulls me away from writing! Please review! Tell me if you like it or you hate it, it doesn't matter if your review is one word, just talk to me, people!

Enjoy!

-Outlaw

Ross Brody was a natural athlete. He was Castlewood High's starting left midfielder and one of the highest scorers on the soccer team. On a dirt track, he could run all day, and even on the unforgiving concrete Ross had outstripped everyone but Karen, whose legs churned even faster than his to keep up with his longer strides.

But Ross had never run under conditions like these. It was surreal. Orange light—the only light—beamed down from streetlamps, broken only by the bat-like shadow darkening the sidewalk ahead. Ross glanced up, but he could make out no more than the outline of Charlie, a darker patch against a dark sky. Turning his head slightly, he caught sight of Karen's pale face. Ross gulped. He had no idea what was going on, but the fear and worry had spread from the others to him, and now he couldn't get his mind off of it.

Up ahead, Charlie pulled his wings in close to his body and shot toward the ground. He landed hard, stumbling to his knees in the front yard of a darkened house. Ross and Karen followed moments later, and the three charged across the grass to the front door. As Charlie fumbled for his keys, Ross looked back. The rest of the group was just rounding the corner at the very end of the block, looking like nothing more than toy figurines from this distance.

Behind Ross, Charlie finally found the right key. Jamming the key into the lock, he shoved the door open, only to fall backwards with a surprised yell as a brown blur shot through the open door and knocked him over. Before Ross or Karen could move to pull what Ross now recognized as a large scruffy dog off of Charlie, the animal had bounded away.

Charlie ignored Ross's and Karen's helping hands and scrambled to his feet. Ross stepped back, shocked at the frantic look on Charlie's face. For as long as Ross had known him, which admittedly wasn't long, Charlie had always been a controlled, "whatever" kind of guy. In a way, it was good to see him care so much, but it was also kind of scary.

"Follow that dog!" Charlie barked, before once again thrusting himself into the air. What was so important about the dog? Ross wondered. Hesitating, he glanced back to see the others still a ways off, their confusion evident even from fifty yards away. He turned back around to demand that Karen tell him what exactly was going on, because there was obviously more to this than just Ben having sneaked off for a bit, but she was already running after the big brown dog.

Stifling a groan, Ross followed.

The muscles in his back twinged with every flap of his wings, but Charlie ignored the pain, pushing himself even harder. His own racking guilt was far worse than any physical pain. He was Ben's big brother. He was supposed to watch out for him, to protect him.

For weeks he had known that something was wrong with Ben. The kid had been sneaking off. There would be hours when no one seemed to know where exactly Ben was, a very strange thing for the usually social boy. Even when he was around, he seemed to be partly in another world. But just last week that had changed, and Ben started treating everyone oddly, almost…delicately, as if the world was ending and he was the only one who knew it. Several times Charlie had caught him watching his family with an inexpressibly sad look that was far too old for his young face.

He had noticed all of this, but he hadn't done a thing about it. He had been too busy wallowing in self-pity and making sure no one got past the walls he had built around himself to bother finding out what was wrong with Ben. But all of that had to change, and change fast. Because Charlie knew, deep in his gut, that this time was not the same as the other times Ben had sneaked away.

He couldn't have said how he knew, but he was certain that something was going to happen tonight. Something big, something to do with his baby brother. And Charlie had to get to Ben before it happened.

Charlie looked up, and saw that Clefspeare had finally come to a stop. The brown mutt jumped and scratched at the Foleys' front door, howling and making more noise than Charlie had ever heard him make. He dipped his wings sharply.

The moment his feet touched the ground, he was running for the door. He hoped it was unlocked; having to break in really wouldn't help his mood. The handle turned easily at his touch, and Charlie and Clefspeare sprinted through together. He heard the others coming up fast behind him, but didn't spare a glance over his shoulder, leaving the door open wide.

He charged up the stairs right behind the dog, his heart pounding. Please don't let me be too late!

At the top of the stairs Charlie took a half-second to let his eyes sweep the dark hallway. To his left, light pooled around the bottom of the first door. Ashley's workshop. Without another thought, Charlie banged through the door, the dog at his heels.

"Ben! No!"