Kat awoke the next morning at the break of dawn. She had a mild headache, a few shallow cuts, and only a faint sore throughout her legs, which was a much better condition than she had expected to be in this morning. Though, emotionally she felt completely drained. Across the room Logan was peacefully sleeping, which, lately, was an aberration.

As quietly as she could, to not wake Logan, Kat lifted herself out of bed. On her way towards the bathroom she stopped in her tracks, her breath catching. Someone had knocked on the door. Kat stood frozen, then bolted to one of the two nightstands and picked up a dagger. One deep breath and a few steps later she was in front of the door, reaching the handle to throw it open. She held up her dagger, prepared for self-defense, but was relieved when she registered who it was standing on the threshold. Hayden.

“I didn’t know the sight of me was so threatening to you,” she joked. Kat lowered the dagger to her side. Hayden, who had somehow managed to bring plenty of different outfits on their spontaneous journey, wore a short summer dress and smelled of sweet perfume. Obviously, Kat could tell, she had woken up long before.

“Hayden, I am so glad to see you. How did you find us?”

“Well,” she said, “It wasn’t very hard. I had a feeling you guys would be here. Also, Logan called me.” She smiled, and leaned against the door frame. “Listen,” Hayden continued, “we have to go soon. We have to keep moving. So, gather your things, get Logan and let’s go. You guys follow Russell and me in Logan’s car.”

“Where are we going?”

“I don’t know. Where ever the road takes us. Though, we have to call Keri sometime today to tell her everything. Let’s lay low for now.” With that she backed away, telling Kat to meet her outside in ten minutes.

Before waking Logan, Kat gussied herself up, since she didn’t want him to see her so messy. While shrugging on her shirt she turned towards Logan, she caught his eyes, a smirk played out across his face.

“We have to go,” Kat told him, as if unaware that he had been watching her change. “Hayden and Russell are waiting.” He propped himself up on his elbows and looked around the room. The covers slipped down a bit, and Kat could see the shadows of the muscles on his bare chest, sending tingles throughout her body. Without saying anything, he stood up, shrugged on a light blue shirt, and pushed back his hair with his hands. He looked around the room; deciding that he had all that he would need, he moved across the room and opened the door.

“Shall we go,” he said groggily. His eyes squinted while he still tried to adjust to the light outside.

“That’s it? No early morning self-maintenance?”

“If you insist,” he said. He handed her the keys from his pocket and went to the bathroom. Kat collected her things and went downstairs to get into Logan’s car, signaling to Hayden that they were almost ready to go.

A few minutes later Logan sat down in the car next to Kate. “How long are we going to run for?” Kate asked.

“I don’t know,” he said sympathetically. He looked at her with shining hazel eyes, and grabbed her hand tightly. “But don’t worry, okay? Everything will be fine,” he said, sounding as if even he may have not entirely believed in what he was saying. “Kat?”

“Yeah,” she said softly. “What?”

“I’m not going to let Collin get to you.”






*********

Kat gained consciousness and found herself to be in a large room, lying on a bed that she never recalled crawling into. Then she remembered how she had been hit roughly across the head and passing out from the pain. Though, she only felt the faintest of throbbing, like it was days ago that she had been hit. How long was I passed out?, she wondered.

“Finally, you’re awake. Even as divine as you look while sleeping, it gets a little boring to watch you for such a long time.” A handsome boy, probably eighteen or so, sat on a chair next to the bed. He looked at her as if he knew her, with kind blue eyes. He had dark hair, and was dressed in dark colors.

Kat held her breath. “Who the hell are you?” Kat demanded. “Where am I?”

“I’m Collin. You’re sister led me to you. It’s amazing what people would do to save their own lives these days. I can say the same about your mother,” he said grinning.

“You don’t know my mother. And I don’t have a sister, so you must have me confused for someone else,” Kat told him.

“No, no. I couldn’t have been mistaken. After all, that necklace is what gives you away. You should be more careful in the future,” he sat down on the bed, “But then again, you didn’t know what to be careful about. It’s a shame your mother never told you how important you are, Kat.” Kat looked at him, terrified. She couldn’t move as he softly brushed his fingers across her cheek. “Let’s make a deal,” he said. “Let’s go have dinner—just us two—and I’ll tell you why you’re here.”