All three dashed as fast as they could through the woods. Daniel's thoughts repeated the same thing over and over – Eunike. He worried about what would happen to him. If Eunike said for them not to return, no matter what, something bad must've been about to happen. The desire to turn back was strong, he could've helped Eunike in some way, but he fought through it and continued on.

--

Eunike quickly organized a breakfast of toast and juice along with a newspaper then sat at the kitchen table, just as the cars slammed their doors. He calmed himself down, prepared to act as natural as possible. He didn't want them to suspect he knew anything if they really were after them. He listened to the footsteps as they came up the stairs and stopped at the door.

They knocked.

Eunike slowly got up and walked to the door. He opened it. In front of him stood three men in dark suits. The one in front was obviously in charge. Eunike grinned his typical grin and said, "May I help you, gentlemen?"

"Yes, may we come inside?" The man in front spoke.

"Of course, of course, it's not often that I have guests," Eunike replied as he welcomed them inside. As they came in, he saw more men standing by the three parked cars. He shut the door behind them as they walked in and stopped in the middle of the room. "As you can see, you caught me during breakfast. No problem though, no interesting stories in the newspaper anyway," he chuckled to himself. The three men just stared at him. "So, what I can I do you for?" he said as he sat back down and took a bit of his toast.

The one in charge stepped forward as the others glanced around the house. "We are looking for a few particular persons. We have reason to believe that they are in the area." Eunike nodded as he took a sip of his drink, understanding that his suspicions were correct and hoped that the kids were far enough away to be safe before anything were to happen.

"Well," Eunike started. "I haven't seen any suspicious persons lately, or really any persons, well, aside from you lot. You see, it's not often I go out so I'm usually by myself up here in these mountains."

"These people do not look suspicious, they are high schoolers. They may appear normal, but we assure you there are very dangerous."

Eunike sipped his drink again before replying. "Is that so? Well, I haven't seen anyone around, especially not any high schoolers." The two men behind the one in front exchanged glances. The man in front grinned.

"May I have your name, sir?" he asked.

"Thompson," Eunike replied. "And may I have yours?"

"You may call me John, Mr. Thompson."

"Well, John," Eunike said as he leaned back in his chair, "I'm afraid I can't be of any help to you."

--

Daniel, Kim and Nathan took a break somewhere in the middle of the woods, exhausted. Each of them breathed fairly heavily.

"All this running is getting pretty old," Nathan half joked.

"Least it'll get us in shape," Kim laughed. Daniel was not as chipper as they seemed to be. He had to stay alert, if Eunike failed in distracting those people, he'd have to protect Kim and Nathan as he was the only one with a decent control of his powers. He just hoped that it wouldn't have to come to that and that Eunike would be all right.

--

"Now, if there is nothing else, I kindly ask you to leave so I may happily finish my breakfast in peace and get on with my day," Eunike said.

John started slowly walking around Eunike's kitchen. "Unfortunately for you, Mr. Thompson, we have some sources that have told us a few interesting things about you." He stopped by the sink and turned to him. "Some very interesting things." Eunike half smiled as he noticed things were getting intriguing.

"Oh, and how unfortunate am I that you know said interesting things?" Eunike stated calmly as he took another drink. John came up behind him and rested his hands on the wooden chair then leaned down to Eunike's ear.

"I know who you are and I know what you're doing, Mr. Thompson." Eunike glared at him out of the corner of his eye. John then stood back up and placed his hand on the table, staring down at Eunike. "Where are they?" He demanded. Eunike took a bite of his toast and another sip of his drink before replying as John stood waiting.

"If you are to know me as you claim, then you should know that I will not tell you anything that you desire to hear," he looked up into John's face with a grin. John began to get agitated, though he huffed a laugh and crossed his arms. He walked to the two other men and he cocked his head toward Eunike. Both men quickly dashed for Eunike, but before they could attempt to hold him down, Eunike leaped out of his chair, picked it up and smashed it into one man then kicked the other down and into the wall, slamming his head on the hard wood. The first groggily got up, stumbling, while the other laid unconscious. "You're going to want to try a bit harder than that," he laughed. John just smiled and shook his head.

"Oh, how much fun this would be to go on, sadly I'm in a rush." John swiftly reached into his jacket and pulled out a Glock. He aimed quickly then shot Eunike in his left leg. Eunike fell to the ground as he let out a short yell. Blood began oozing from the wound. Eunike held onto it tightly, his mind buzzing. It took him a few moments before he was able to return to the situation. He glared up into John's eyes. Getting shot was not what he was expecting to happen. This will make things more difficult…

--

"Pass me a water bottle, will ya'?" Kim said to Nathan as she rubbed her legs. They had traveled a lot farther down the mountain than they were before but their bodies called for a break. Nathan reached into his bag and tossed her a bottle. She opened it and drowned half of it. After she placed it down, she decided to bring up the topic they were all seemingly avoiding. "So," she stared. "What do you think that was all about? You know, Eunike having us leave like that? I mean, well, obviously to save us, but from what?" They both stared at her, surprised she suddenly mentioned it.

Nathan finally spoke up. "Do you think it could be those same people that chased us into the woods?" Kim felt a bit uncomfortable when he said that. She never ran with them when they were being chased, it was Her, and she did not want to think about that right now. But what Nathan mentioned could be a possibility, she admitted that to herself.

Daniel nodded. "It could be them. Or it could not." He paused. He didn't want to have to think what would happen to Eunike if it were those same people. But even then, could his original thoughts be right in that Eunike could somehow be involved with them? He shook his head, he was too paranoid.

"Maybe we should find a place to break for a bit?" Nathan suddenly proposed. He knew they must've been almost as tired as he was. Well, he knew at least he and Kim didn't get any sleep, he wasn't sure about Daniel. He assumed Daniel wouldn't mind letting them rest though, even if it was just for a little while.

"Yeah, we can rest for a bit," Daniel agreed then they each began setting up a little area to get comfortable.

--

John walked slowly over to Eunike as he was still bent over clutching his leg, hands stained red. Eunike stared up as John bent down beside him.

"I'm sorry it had to come to this, but as I said, I am in a rush. So the quicker you tell me the things I'd like to know, the less pain you have to go through," John said as he cocked his head then twisted his finger in the wound. Eunike grimaced in pain then glared into John's eyes. John released his finger then stood up and leaned on the table as he slid his finger across the top leaving choppy red streaks. Eunike, unwilling to look weak, stood up, though heavily leaning on his right leg. John watched as he did so then chuckled.

"So, where are they?" John asked light heartedly.

"I will tell you nothing," Eunike stated seriously. The time for games was over. John merely smiled and nodded then quickly swung his left arm and punched Eunike in the face, causing him to tumble and bend over as he held his tender cheek. Blood and spit dripped from his mouth. He spat.

"Wrong answer," John said as he shook his hand then returned to his original position. Eunike spat again before attempting to straighten back up. His leg burned as blood continued to flow out of him. It felt numb and weak. He didn't have much more time before he would pass out, at the very least, from the loss of blood. He wouldn't have been surprised if they decided to kill him before that happened.

"Do you really think I would tell you anything?" Eunike coughed out, having had to lean up against the wall. His vision went in and out of blurriness. He blinked trying to keep focus. He had to stall as long as possible, no matter what happened. John grinned, a face Eunike now found disgusting.

"Everyone cracks eventually," John said as he got off the table then placed his hand on Eunike's shoulder. "No matter how old they are," he whispered then impaled Eunikes side with his knee. Eunike collapsed to the floor with a loud moan. He lay in the fetal position as John began walking around the room. Each attempt Eunike made in getting up failed miserably as pain shot through his body causing him to rest back down again.

"This would be a lot easier if you just told me," John said as he watched Eunike. He then began focusing his attention on the window. Once he did so, Eunike was finally able to stand. John peered out the window then suddenly noticed something. There were a few broken branches leading out from the door along with a few footsteps. John chuckled then yelled as Eunike bashed a chair across his back. He stumbled over but still stood. Eunike was bent over but then stood up straight and stared directly into John's eyes. Angered, John front kicked Eunike in the chest causing him to fly backwards and slam onto the floor. As Eunike laid on the ground, John quickly walked to the front door. The men waiting outside looked up at him.

"They're in the woods," John exclaimed. "Go get them!" At once all the men dashed into the woods behind the cabin. He then closed the door and turned to Eunike. "Cute, but it won't stop me. We'll get them, don't you fret." He went to the window and watched as they all disappeared into the forest.

--

The sun slowly rose overhead as all three were asleep. Nathan twitched a bit then woke up. He sat up, yawned and saw that the other two were still out. He stood up and stretched and looked around. Something seemed off but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. He glanced down at his feet. The ground? Nathan thought as he leaned down and placed his hand on the dirt floor. He felt something, as if something were channeling through the ground into him. Footsteps…people.... He pondered. It suddenly hit him, he understood. People were coming and they were coming fast. He jumped up almost immediately and his heart beat quickened. He turned to Kim and Daniel who were still sound asleep. He had to tell them. He reached over to Kim and poked her shoulder. Nothing. He tried again to no avail. He was becoming anxious and shook her. Kim jumped then sat up staring at him.

"Wha, what?" Kim mumbled as she rubbed her eyes.

"I think there are people coming, like, really fast towards us," Nathan said slightly shaking. Kim still appeared in a dazed state.

"What are you talking about?" Kim said then yawned. Nathan sighed.

"People are running in our direction, I think it might be the same people from earlier, the ones who chased us from before," he explained. Kim scratched her head as her mind slowly put together the pieces. As she did so, Nathan crawled over to Daniel and shook him awake as well. Daniel stirred then opened his eyes. He sat up and saw Kim was awake too.

"What's going on?" Daniel asked.

"There are a bunch of people running down the mountain, towards us," Nathan explained again. Daniel's eyes grew wide then he stood up.

"How do you know?" Kim said. Nathan looked at her and said, "I, I don't know exactly, it's like I felt them coming from the ground." All three exchanged glances and then Nathan and Kim stood.

"We need to move, quickly," Daniel said in a low voice. Nathan and Kim nodded. "You two go ahead first." They both looked at him – shocked.

"What? Why? What are you going to do?" Kim demanded. Nathan grew more worried by the second. He knew they were getting closer and closer and the more they delayed here the worse off things would have gotten.

"I'll hold them off, you two just go!" Daniel pushed both of them and they both then started off further down the mountain. Daniel watched for a few moments before he turned the other direction and started heading up.

Nathan and Kim were nearly skipping as they traveled downwards trying their best avoiding trees and rocks. The further down they went the more uneasy Kim became. She thought that if there were people coming for them, then they must have gotten past Eunike, and if that happened…. She shook her head. She didn't want to think about it, though she stopped for a moment and stared back. She was unable to see anything through the thickness of the forest and Eunike's house was fairly far back. She hesitated, not sure whether or not to continue onward or go back. Before making any decision, she looked back downhill and saw Nathan was gone. Shit. Her few moments of inattentiveness caused her to fall behind. Shit shit shit. She repeated in her head.

Nathan kept running finding it extremely easy to travel through the forest. Before he knew it, he was long ahead of Kim. He looked back and saw she was gone. He peered around and called her name a few times with no results. He started to travel back up in the hopes that he'd find her.

Daniel lurked around as quiet as he could, paying extra attention to any sound he heard. It was a few minutes before he started to hear voices. Two of them. Daniel thought. He hid behind a large oak and waited for them to get closer. He knew he couldn't use his abilities at full strength else he would burn down the forest. He had to be careful, it would be difficult. They were coming closer and closer until finally they were right behind him. He slid around the opposite side of the tree to catch them off guard.

Kim ran as quickly as she could, hoping she was traveling in the right direction. In front of her the trees slowly got brighter and thinner and the sound of running water grew louder. She suddenly reached the end of the woods. She looked out in front of her. There was a small clearing of short grass between the forest and the river that flowed about twenty feet away from her. She walked toward the river and stood beside it and followed the direction it ran. It looked as if it went on for quite a while. The river itself, about 15 feet in width, flowed fairly fast and she guessed it was about five or so feet deep. Across it was another batch of trees that seemed to go a few miles back up another mountain.

"Hey you!" a voice shouted. Kim jumped then turned to see a man in a suit standing a few yards to her left. Who, who is that?! Kim took a few steps back, afraid. "Hold it right there," the man said as he stepped forward and reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a gun. Kim's face turned white as she was frozen still. Oh no…