Maybe it was the heat in the hallway or the rough chairs in the waiting room. There was a single chair in the hallway and sweat defiantly dripped down Brent's face. Why had the hallway become so hot all of a sudden? He wondered how Flint was doing in the room. The doctor had been in there for FOUR whole hours. Brent, being the listener that he was, listened to the sound coming from the room. There were absolute silence, except when a scream came from the room and Brent sprang up. An ear-blasting gunshot came from the room and cold fear gripped Brent. What the hell is going on in there? He widened his eyes and ran over to the room. His began to tug on the doorknob, but it was locked.

"FLINT!" Brent pounded his fists on the door. Another gunshot exploded and another scream came. Brent knew that scream anywhere. He had heard the same scream when Flint science report was ripped up in 5th grade. It was the scream that erupted through ChewandSwallow when Fran Lockwood died and Flint was told the news. It was Flint. Brent then kicked the door with all his might and the door fell open.

Orange smoke filled the room and it was hard to see anything. Blindly, Brent located Flint's bed. Flint was wide awake shaking. It was good that Flint had not been harmed, but where the heck was Dr. Jetts.

"He's dead. I think." Flint shook and pointed to a body flung across the floor. The smoke detectors in the room sucked up the smoke and now the room was clear. The doctor was lying across the floor. He lay on his back and his eyes were wide open.

"G-get F-flint out of here!" the doctor rasped and then sat up. His eyes were wide, until they shut closed and the doctor stopped breathing entirely. Brent turned to Flint and nodded at him.

"You heard what the guy said. We gotta get of here. We gotta find Sam. She must in danger." Brent told him and planted his hands on his hips. Closing his eyes and holding his head, Flint sat up for the first time in a long time. A ragged breath came out of him and he nodded slowly. Then he swung his legs over the bed and wincing stood on two legs. Brent came over and helped him.

"I'm fine." Flint opened his eyes and his head spun with dizziness. After he took a few wobbly steps, he was able to walk on his own and followed Brent out of the room. Worried, Brent looked over at Flint. His arm had a cast on it and his head was bandaged too. His shoulder was too. But his legs worked fine and that was the most important thing of all. If they had to run, he would have to run.

"What happened in the room?" Brent demanded as they entered the elevator. Sighing, Flint leaned against the walls of the elevator.

"I awoke and I heard gunshot. A bullet had whizzed past me. One shot the doctor. The person who had entered the room wasn't the man in the dark blue trench coat. Well yeah it was, but he was… shorter. I saw his mouth too. He had a blood-thirsty grin on his face. His eyes were brown. But the rest of his face was a shadow. I'm sure it's not the same man who tried to kill me earlier. He was different in a way. The orange smoke smelled of tomato sauce. It reminded me off the spaghetti tornado." Flint mumbled into the wall and he felt dizzy again.

"It's probably some henchman." Brent waved him off and they reached the first floor. The doors pinged open and they came into the main waiting room. The lady behind the counter watched them as they left the building. But Flint didn't think it was a henchman. It was familiar. Like he had seen the grin before. The smell had also hinted something. He knew it did, but what? Ideas buzzed around in his head, but things didn't click together. His mind still hurt. What happened during the spaghetti tornado that tied with this? Something was going to happen.

xxx

Night had fallen and Sam Sparks slept in her bed. In the other beds slept Esto, Reg and Jag. Jag was snoring loudly so it was hard to concentrate on sleep. But then, Sam was also much too afraid to sleep. Right in the next room, slept the man in the dark blue trench coat. How could you sleep when a killer was right next door? Maybe she just needed to get a glass of water and take a deep breath. That's all.

Rolling over in her bed, she got up opened the door to their sleeping room. She came out of the room and closed the door quietly. The main room was dark, except for a small light shining down on one of the couches. Gulping, Sam approached the couch and peeked. There was the New York Times spread across the couch. Slowly, she picked up the newspaper. And began to read the article. It was about the man in the dark blue trench coat. About how he murdered Lucio and the shooting. She wondered who was reading this.

"Find anything interesting?" came a crackling low voice behind her. Gulping she turned around and found the man in the dark blue trench coat standing there. In his coat and hat, as usual. Suddenly she remembered she was one of his henchmen. Act calm, Sam. She told herself.

"Not really, boss." She replied in a slightly low voice.

"Can't sleep? Neither can I." he walked across the room and came over to one of the helicopter windows.

"No, sir." She stammered. Slowly, she placed the newspaper back on the couch and blew out a comforting sigh. He wasn't shooting anyone, or killing anyone. But he had possibly killed Flint. She hated him for that. Then a radio crackled from the helicopter controls and the man pressed a button.

"He's alive. The doctor is dead. I think he escaped." Came a familiar voice out of the radio and Sam almost jumped. There was something about this voice that sounded so familiar that she wished she could ask the man in the dark blue trench coat a few questions. But the voice had said someone was alive and that a doctor was dead. Was that Flint? Where had he escaped? But then where was Brent? Had they both ran off? What about Flint's injuries? Could he even walk?

Then she watched the man in the dark blue trench coat turn around and took a good long look at Sam. She felt goosebumps run down her arms. Then he came closer. They stood a few feet away from each other and Sam now saw his eyes. They were brown and narrowed to small slits. He pulled something out of his pocket and Sam watched him. It was a gun. Slowly, he dropped the gun on the other couch and then took a dagger out of his pocket. Still watching her, he dropped that on the couch too.

"I want to do this without harming you." The man in the dark blue trench coat whispered, "For now at least."

Sam watched him pace back and forth across the room. He stopped looking at her. Now he stared down at the floor. His pacing made Sam quiver.

"I know who you are, Miss Sam Sparks." He replied coldly. Now he looked up at her and approached her. As he passed her. He pulled her wool hat off and her hair fell out of the hat and fell around her face. Now she was frozen. He knew all along. All this time HE KNEW! She thought in her head. There was a silence until the man in the dark blue trench coat disappeared into his sleeping room and came back with a wooden chair and some rope. Horrified, Sam wondered what he was planning to do.

"Sit." He motioned at the chair.

"No." Sam took a step back. The chair had death written all over it.

"I promised to do this without any guns or dagger. If you want it to be the hard way, I won't mind." The man in the dark blue trench coat snapped. Taking another deep breath, Sam came over and sat down. Then the man's movement came down much sharper and quicker. He tied rope around Sam's waist to the chair. He tied her wrists together and her ankles together. Before she could scream, he gagged her with a grey cloth.

"If Flint is really alive, then he is probably searching for you right now. What a nice surprise it'll be if he comes here." The man in the dark blue trench coat laughed and switched off the lights. The room was plunged into darkness and Sam heard him walk away. The room was dark and frightening. Sam began to cry silently. Tears stained the cloth around her mouth and dripped down on her pants. What had she gotten herself into? She was supposed to help Esto, Reg and Jag over throw the man in the dark blue trench coat, but she ended up gagged and tied up.

What about the FLDSMDFR? Closing her eyes she listened closely. Then she heard it coming from the open window. A soft humming. It was a sad humming as the machine pumped out the food. What was it raining now? She then opened her eyes and turned her face to the moonlight shining from the open window across the room. The FLDSMDFR hung outside. It wasn't raining anything. Just hung there humming softly. She closed her eyes and just listened. It was all she needed now. The FLDSMDFR was the closest thing she had to Flint.

She wished this nightmare would end. She wished she could just open her eyes and find herself asleep in her apartment. But when she closed her eyes and opened them, all she saw was darkness. There was no escaping this nightmare.

xxx

"Brent?" Flint sat up in bed. They had stopped in a hotel for the night. For the rest of the day they had looked through every alley and corner in almost all of New York City.

"Flint, go to bed." Brent mumbled sleepily from the other side of the room, from his bed.

"I'm scared." Flint turned his head to the window. The curtains were closed, but a sliver of moonlight still managed to seep through the thin fabric.

"Of what! No one can get you in this hotel!" Brent grumbled and covered his ear with is pillow.

"He could find us." Flint lay back down and thought of Sam. Was she asleep in a hotel somewhere too? Earlier Brent had said that her phone's battery died. That was what worried Flint most. She could be in trouble and they never knew. But for tomorrow they had a plan. When it rained food, they would see from which part of the city it rained hardest and that was where the FLDSMDFR was. In the sky.

"Flint, I didn't sleep in a long time. Just get some sleep!" Brent pleaded.

"Fine." Flint nodded and lay down.

Tomorrow they had to find Sam. No matter what.