I'd escaped from Dante's house easily enough and crawled into the bushes just a couple of houses down.

The whole hiding-in-plain-sight thing always seemed to work in movies so I didn't see any harm in trying.

I wasn't a kleptomaniac or anything, but if Clearwater's podium only worked for me then surely it should belong to me?

Especially if I wanted to use it for the right reasons.

I didn't dwell on the ethics because I didn't have time to fight the battle of good and evil in my head before I took it.

So instead I went with my gut.

I had no intention of using the pill on Dante when I'd asked for them. The idea had only struck me once Jake was out and I realised that I couldn't walk away from that machine.

So I toasted with Dante and shortly after that came his unexpected slumber which most people assumed was over-intoxication.

You want to know the worst part?
I didn't think twice.

I did feel bad about Jake though.
I even left him a note:

Dear Jake

I'm really sorry...

I promise not to drug you next time I see you.

-Pacem

I'd decided to wait until all law enforcement was gone and then I would start looking for Malvin. In the meantime I glanced down at the stolen item that I held in my arms. Someone snuck up behind me and caught me in the act.

"Boo!" A voice yelled.

I jumped so high I almost dropped the podium.

"Malvin," I breathed. "You need to be quiet."

He grinned and held his fingers to his lips to say he'd received the message. Then he glanced down at the item in my hand.

"Looks like someone's been a naughty girl."

"How did you find me?" I whispered.

"I always find you," he shrugged. "We need to keep moving."

Malvin grabbed my hand before I had time to protest. He me tugged so hard that my arm just about pulled out of its socket. Eventually we got far enough down the road and finally had time to ask Malvin why we were rushing.

Malvin just said,

"Veera".

Great.

We were running from the skinny-whining chick.

Suddenly Malvin came to a halt without warning. I jolted straight into his back and jerked away. I was about to yell at him (in hushed tones) but then I saw the expression on his face.

The easiest of Malvin's several flamboyant expressions to read was the one that screamed 'danger!'.

I took a step back from him and prepared myself. However, it wasn't very useful because someone grabbed me from behind and pinned me down. I felt something cold and hard touch my throat and immediately identified it as a knife.

"Nice try, Malvin." A cold bitter voice growled. "But now I have both of you."

I didn't know the first thing about Veera but the very way she conducted herself really pissed me off. She walked around like she was better than everyone else and she seemed to be the most screwed up.

"Maybe this was my plan all along." Malvin smirked.

Even I wasn't convinced by his words.
Until he fled.

He'd been slowly pacing backwards as the scene had played out, but I never would have thought his motivation was to leave me behind.

For a second I had believed we were a team.

Veera shared my confusion because she seemed to freeze for a moment before reacting. I'd put the pieces together long ago that Alluna needed me more than she needed Malvin.

From Jake's attitude, they seemed to think Malvin would just find his way back. I- on the other hand wasn't that simple.

That's why I was so surprised when Veera threw me away and chased after him.

I leapt to my feet and ran in the opposite direction.

Malvin and Veera had ended up back on to the road so I ran down the barren hill. There wasn't much on it except for a couple of dried up bushes.

I must have missed one and tripped over it because next thing I know, I was falling (or rather- tumbling).

The loose branches and sticks scratched at my face and with every wild turn something foreign caused yet another wound.

I tried to put my hands out and stop myself but the slant was too steep.
I got so dizzy that I decided to let it be.

Eventually everything went black.

The same boy from the same dream stood in front of me.

He was centred in the middle of a roaring crowd and was fighting a man three times his age.

I was sure he would lose. I even cried out to the child when the man swung forward to attack. But the boy gracefully caught his opponent's fist and twisted it around, causing the man to let out a painful howl.

The crowd cheered in amazement as the grown man fell to the ground, bowing before the innocent-looking child in front of him.

I bounced back and forth from the image and suddenly I caught sight of the blazing sun which I recognised as reality.

But soon he was back.

And the boy looked at me.
Directly at me.

His eyes were yellowy-orange and something familiar caught my attention. I couldn't quite put my finger on it. All I knew was it made me feel safe.

When I gained full consciousness I had another set of eyes peering down at me. These were more like a dog wanting a bone.

Malvin.

We were moving and I quickly realized that I was being carried in his arms. Above me were trees flourishing in the sunlight. I was beginning to think trees didn't exist around here.

"What's going on, Malvin?" I asked.

"You hit your head on a rock but you're fine now."

I tapped on his chest as I began to come to my senses again. "Put me down Malvin," I commanded.

He immediately came to a halt and helped me to my feet. When I was back on the ground, I touched my forehead.

I had a migraine.

Great.

"You were about to leave me with Veera!" I yelled through the pain.

"I would have never left you alone." He looked shocked. "I was just trying to distract her."

I rolled my eyes. "By running away?"

"It worked didn't it?"

"You couldn't have seriously known that she'd chase after you."

Malvin simply shrugged. "She doesn't like me very much."

I rubbed my temples.

You couldn't really help but forgive Malvin. He was so misguided and he needed me. I suppose in a way I need him too.

"Where were you taking me?"

He grinned. "Paradise."

When we were in the prison Malvin had promised me that he'd take me to some type of sanctuary and everyone would be like us.

"Nobody will be able to get to us there," he'd said with a sparkle in his eye. "And we'd have our very own family."

I had ruled the statement as a result of his delusions, but if he could get me to this fantasy, I wasn't in any position to complain.

I folded my arms.

"Well how long do we have to go before we get there?"

Malvin didn't say anything. Instead he just pointed behind me.

I turned to see a huge cliff. As far as I could see it didn't answer any of my questions. I walked closer to investigate and I realized it wasn't a cliff at all. It was an old amphitheatre buried halfway into the ground, leaving behind the reminisce of the stage and steps. It was definitely impressive, but not what I'd been expecting.

"Is that it?"

"Far from it," he replied. "Follow me."

He led me down the ruined steps of the amphitheatre and we attempted to make our way to the bottom of the stage. I say 'attempted' because the steps were huge and it certainly wasn't an easy climb.

Sweat dripped down my face by the time we got to the bottom and I struggled to catch up with Malvin as he headed centre stage.

The surprises only kept coming after that.

Suddenly Malvin screamed, "I brought her!"

Soon after that, a man came out who looked like he was wearing pyjamas (it was actually just poor fashion sense). He walked directly up to me and pointed a gun at my throbbing forehead.

I glanced at Malvin in the midst of his obvious betrayal.

"Malvin," I said with my eyes on the gun. "This is not my definition of paradise."

Who is the boy in Pacem's dreams?

And what is Malvin's 'Paradise' really like?

Any thoughts on the chapter?