"C'mon, Sera! They're catching up!" I yelled over my shoulder.

"I'm trying! Geez, you're fast!" Sera pants.

"Sera?" called a voice in the darkness.

"Shawn!"

I slowed down a little, searching the area for the source of the voice.

Sera ran up to a tree and began to climb it.

I swallowed hard. I took a deep breath and began to climb.

I tried to go as fast as I could, but it was hard trying to find footholds.

I could hear the soldiers' heavy, running footsteps.

They were getting louder.

My breaths grew short.

My throat closed up.

"Ariane! Hurry!" said the male voice.

Seriously, how do these people know my name?

A shot went off and it hit the trunk, mere millimeters from my foot.

I shrieked, climbing faster.

I reached for a thick branch and pulled myself up.

I hid in the foliage along with Sera and Shawn. I could see his coal black skin shining in the moonlight.

"You need to be more careful, Sera!" the man scolded.

Sera scoffed. "Well I'm sorry if her mother got shot!"

"Well you shoulda held her back! Better yet, ran!" the man retorted.

I watched them bicker back and forth until a bullet whizzes past my ear.

I nearly fell off the branch.

I gripped the thick branch and pulled myself back up.

More bullets ravaged through the foliage.

"If you don't shut up we'll get shot!" I barked.

"Right," Sera and Shawn said in unison.

I looked down. We were at least 10 feet up.

"Cause of death: jumped from a tree branch." I muttered to myself.

I swung my feet over and began to feel myself fall. My breath caught as I neared the ground. I braced myself and closed my eyes.

I flashed back to my dream. I woke up from that dream 10 minutes ago. It felt like a lifetime.

I can feel myself falling again. Suddenly, the wind picks me up and sets me gently on the ground.

I open my eyes and take off sprinting.

I didn't think about how I landed without a scratch on me and neither did I care.

I needed to run away. I needed to escape.

I was starting to get tired. I'd never ran this much before. But I need to focus on surviving. Dad doesn't deserve to lose me and Mom on the same night, let alone minutes of each other.

I saw Shawn speeding ahead of me.

Sera was slacking.

I guess speed didn't matter right now. We need to make sure we don't end up with a bullet in our brains.

Shawn began to run in zig-zag formation, as did Sera.

Moving target.

Unless they're really good, we should be okay.

I started running in zig-zag formation.

There were six soldiers, and three targets. Three moving targets. I found myself working out our chances of surviving. I shook my head and found some stamina and ran faster.

My legs were screaming in agony. They were running only on pure adrenaline and fear as bullets whizzed past my ear. I felt one brush my hair.

Everything was happening so quickly. The nightmare, Sera showing up at my window, my mother's murder, now I'm being chased by the military, being led by two people. All I knew about them was their names. I don't even know what they look like. It's too dark.

"This way!" Shawn says loud enough for me to hear, but not loud enough for the soldiers to hear.

We slunk into the shadows of the abandoned subway from hundreds of years ago.

I blindly rushed down the stairs, carelessly taking them two at a time. I think.

When the stairs stopped, the tears finally came out. I sank to my knees, sobbing.

A light switched on, but I didn't notice. My face was buried in my hands.

I'm safe.

But Mom isn't. Mom is gone. She's gone and I've disappeared.

I cried for Mom, for Dad, and for myself. I've been keeping these emotions in the entire trip here. I needed to cry.

I feel a hand on my shoulder.

"Ariane?" coos Sera.

I sniffle and look up.

Sera's hair was tied back in a long, fishtail braid. Her hair was jet black, a hint of dark blue at her roots in the light. Her skin was like porcelain, her eyes pieces of jade. Her lips were full, colored a bright red. She had on a black jumpsuit that flattered her perfect figure.

It felt comforting knowing what Sera looks like. I wasn't following a faceless girl in the middle of the night to who knows where.

Sera gave me a sad smile. I returned it, wiping my eyes.

I look over at Shawn. He was also dressed in black, but he had on a casual shirt and jeans. He had on Converses.

His hair was cut close to his head, wispy stubble on his chin. His eyes were black and round, set crooked in their sockets.

He gave me a sympathetic glance and was suddenly inadvertently staring at the graffiti.

I cried for a few minutes until I calmed down.

Shawn motioned us over.

I got to my feet and stood at the edge.

Shawn leaps from the edge and lands on the track. "Be careful with that line," He warns, pointing at a rail. "It's live. This station may be abandoned, but that doesn't mean no one passes through it." He sighs. "That rail took so many Lucid..." He cursed the third rail and spat on it.

That word.

Lucid.

That's what that soldier called my mother before he blasted her brains out.

I carefully leapt from the edge. I followed Sera and Shawn, the tunnel getting darker.

They suddenly stopped. There was a loose brick in the wall. Shawn grabbed it and pulled, revealing a door.

I cringed as the brick ground against each other. Shawn let us in first.

Sera turns on a light. "Why are you alseep?!" She yelled.

I heard a groan. "Seraaaa," The voice moaned. "What time is it?"

"It's 12:45 in the morning."

"Oh, I was about to say," The voice said with a chuckle. "Who's that?"

A shiver went up my spine.

Sera sighs and unzips one of her pockets.

"Walk up to her and read from this card." There's a creaking sound and I see a boy standing in front of Sera.

My heart nearly stopped.

He had on a plain white, baggy shirt and sweat pants. His hair was a sandy blond color, his bangs tickling his eyelashes. His eyes were a warm brown, like coffee. His face was dirty, circles under his eyes. Could it be...?

The boy faces me. He sighs and says monotone, "Good evening, Ariane," He shook his head. "It's not even evening,"

Sera shoulders him.

"OK, OK, sheesh," He sighs and continues reading from the card. "Good evening, Ariane. I am M."

My jaw dropped. "You're one of the street urchins from this morning!" I exclaimed. "You jumped that kid!"

M blinked, then rubbed his eyes. He studied me intently. His eyes lit up with realization. "Oh, yeah! I remember you! You're Lucid?"

"That word again!" I said with a groan.

"She doesn't know who she is?" M whispers to Sera.

She shook her head.

M pursed his lips. "Who was it passed on from?" He asks, facing Sera.

"Her mother."

M nodded. "It's usually the mother. How did you know she was Lucid?"

Sera rolled her eyes. "You did a neural scan on the wrong kid. Idiot,"

"Hey!" M snaps.

"Hold up. When did you have time to do a neural scan on me?" I asked.

Sera and M started. They must've forgotten I was there.

They look at each other.

"Ariane," Sera says, taking a step towards me. "You know about all that's going on in all the other countries, right? The civil war in the UK, the slave trade in Egypt, the earthquakes in China, the anarchy in Australia?"

I nodded. "Of course. Why shouldn't I?"

"The President has been--"

"A lazy, incompetent, soggy lamp?" M interjects.

Sera rolls her eyes. "He's been having trouble dealing with all these problems.

"There's been some trouble in the past with the people having their own opinions and taking them a bit more seriously. Hundreds of years ago, there was this big debate about gun control. There had been hundreds of mass shootings with at least 4 dead in each shooting. A mass shooting occurred every two weeks. Then there was this big civil war in the Middle East. Then an epidemic spread like wildfire in Africa. People debated about plants for heaven's sakes! Everyone had their own opinions, and they all wanted to be right."

"So," M replied. "once Congress, the Senate, and the House of Representatives were dissolved, the President at the time got a team of scientists together to find a way to make the American people oblivious to all that was going on. They found a way to give the people dreams. It was propaganda really. But it worked on everyone, except for a few. They were called the Lucid."

"So? What was so special about them?" I asked.

"They could manipulate those dreams. They could control them. Eventually, scientists found a way to make them sick if they tried to do so." Sera replies.

I rubbed my stomach, thinking of all the queasiness and hours retching into the toilet.

"Which is why Sera got onto me about sleeping. After a while, the manipulation becomes instinctive. We've actually lost three Lucid from these illnesses. The only way we stay awake is medication, and lots and lots of coffee.

"For you, you're still learning how to manipulate your dreams. You could still sleep, but I wouldn't risk it if the military is nipping at your heels."

I scoffed. "Gee, thanks M."

M smiles a little. "Please. Call me Micah."