I don't see Aiden for the rest of the day. Sometimes I hear a branch snap but otherwise he's good about keeping his distance and giving me plenty of space. When evening comes I find a place to sleep for the night and eat a can of cold beans. I pull the hood of my jacket over my head and curl up on the ground to sleep. Aiden finds me not long after I've lain down. He doesn't make a sound, he simply exists and a part of me hates him for it, even though he's doing exactly what I told him to.

A part of me wants him to mess up so I have an excuse to blow up. But the rational side admits that he's still useful to have around. I push the world away and fall asleep.

"I want you to know something," the woman whispers softly. "I want you to know this because I'm afraid that I won't have the chance to tell you. And I'm afraid that if I do ever get the chance that you'll hate me. You have to know, we've made this decision for you and I'm sorry. We've never given you the chance to choose your own life. It's unfair but I know that you'll be strong enough for the task."

She's sad, I can hear it in her voice, I feel like crying to but I can't.

"We knew that if we continued on our path that you would be in danger, and that your life would never be normal. We know you'll never have the opportunity or the choice to live in ignorance or find a peaceful love. We knew we were pregnant when we started this journey and I'm sorry that we weren't selfish enough to offer you a better life. I'm so sorry."

She takes a deep breath and when she speaks her voice shakes. "If this actually works, if this memory comes to you then it means I am most likely dead. It also means you don't know the truth and the truth, my little love, is that your father and I started the war.

"We saw what the government was doing and we knew. We knew we had the power to stop it. But we weren't strong enough to rally the others together, we tried, but we failed to convince enough of them. We underestimated what fear does and now we hide and run for our lives. My little love, they will not have mercy on you because of what we've done, because of who we are. But perhaps you will find the strength to do what we couldn't. Perhaps you will be the one to show the world what it means to be afraid and to face your fear despite it. Perhaps my little love, you will be the one to have the courage we could not muster."

The world turns black and I feel like I'm falling. I hit concrete and hands grab my shoulders. "Adie," Mr. Hander shakes me. His hands burn my skin and I scream. "Adie," he says again. "Wake up, Adie." He shakes harder and my bones break under his fingers. I scream louder as the smell of burning flesh fills my noise. "Wake up!" he shouts.

"Adie, wake up!" Mr. Handler's hands are shaking my shoulders. I'm screaming when I come to consciousness.

"Get off!" I lash out and connect with Mr. Handlers flesh. His hands drop away with a grunt and I roll to the side and scramble to my feet. I'm sweating despite the cold air and I blink rapidly as my consciousness catches up with me. I call to the water and hold it ready, waiting for Mr. Handler to recover and attack. Only he doesn't move from his crouches position on the ground.

I blink a few more times. It's still dark out, so I push the water toward the crouched figure to better see. The metallic light dances off his features and his eyes glance up to me, hand is pressed against his nose.

I focus on his face. "Aiden?" I ask surprised.

"Here," his voice sounds hollow from pinching his nose. A few drops of blood drizzle off his chin in rapid succession.

"Where is Mr. Handler?" I look around for the Handlers but there is nothing but the night and the sounds of the sleeping forest.

"You were dreaming. More accurately you were dreaming and calling out to the water." He points to where I was sleeping. There is a glowing puddle of water and I looked down and see that my pants are soaked. I curse and drop the water I had ready to attack with. I pull the water from my pants until I'm dry again.

"What were you dreaming about?" he asks.

I rub my forehead and shiver. "Mr. Handler and something else I can't remember." I know there was more to my dream than Mr. Handler but the memory is as delicate as a spider's web and it breaks away when I try to recall.

"You're doing it again," Aiden points out.

I sigh. I'm too exhausted to be angry. "Doing what?" I just want to curl up and go back to sleep. I sit back down after I get rid of the puddle of water from where I was sleeping.

"You keep rubbing your head," he says and sits down. He pulls handful water toward him and pushes it to his nose.

"Is it broken?" I ask him.

"No." He shakes his head and when he pulls the water away from his face the blood is gone and his voice sounds more normal. "You were mumbling something in your sleep," Aiden says and looks at me. "And then you started pulling the water to you. Whatever you were dreaming about it was connected to the same part of your brain that makes us Misfits."

"So what?" I ask.

"So I think you should try to remember what you were dreaming about," he says.

I drop my head onto my knees. "Aiden, it was just a dream... a nightmare. I don't want to remember what happened." I shiver violently. Mr. Handler's hands had felt all too real. I can't relive that.

"You're already haunted by them, Adie. We will be for the rest of our lives but I think there might be something more to this. Listen, you woke up the other day suddenly wanting to go north because of a dream and a feeling that you should, right?"

"Yes," I say begrudgingly.

"What if there is something trapped in that part of your mind? What if there's something you're supposed to find? What if there's something worth digging up?" he asks.

I close my eyes, "Is that even possible?"

"I'm not sure," he admits. "But I think we should try, don't you? I for one would like to not be walking blind."

"Will you finally leave me alone and let me sleep if I say yes?" I ask.

"Yes," he says firmly.

"Fine," I straighten my legs and lift my head. "So what do we do?"

Aiden pulls water out of thin air until there is a small ball of it about his palm.

"How did you do that?" I demand curiously.

He shakes his head. "That's another lesson, you ready?" I take a deep breath and shake myself awake.

I nod, "Yes."

"Good. Lay down," he points to the ground and I lay flat on my back. Aiden positions himself near my head. "This is going to feel strange, but just close your eyes and relax. Can you do that?"

"I think I can manage," I tell him and close my eyes. I focus on breathing evenly and listen to my calming heart. Aiden places his hands over my ears and the water fills my ears. It drowns out the outside sounds. I try not to think about it but I can feel it making its way deeper and deeper into my ears.

Stay calm and breathe. Aiden's voice is in my head. I remember this before. In the dark cell I remember a voice filling my head and yet my ears are empty of sound.

I can hear you, I think surprised.

It's the connection with water. It connects us as well. Another lesson for another day, I need you to relax. Empty your mind and recall the feeling and emotions that urged you to go north. Try to reach for what you lost.

I focus on the scent of pine trees and wood smoke, the feeling of loss and surprising hope. Something tugs me down into the darkness of my subconscious. Images flash across the backs of my eyelids. I have the sensation of dreaming but I can still feel Aiden's presence and I am aware of my body. It all rushes to me, my dreams, the voices in my head, the pictures showing me the way to a cabin in the woods far to the north. A voice singing to me, a voice telling me that they were responsible for starting the war.

I remember.

These voices are the voices of my parents.

I sit up abruptly. Tears are running down my face and my lungs heave with a loud sob. "Did you-?" I get to my feet and take gulps of air. I'm shaking violently. My parents, my real parents, I know their voices even though I can't recall their faces. I pace a few steps while I work to regain my composer. "Did you see that?" I finally manage.

"I did," he says. His voice is tight, like he's holding back tears but when I search his face there is nothing there. "That was..." he shakes his head. "Adie do you realize what this means?"

"No," I admit, because I'm not sure I do. I feel as though I'm standing on the edge of a great ocean and I'm about to be swallowed by it.

"These dreams are actual memories stored where your power lies. It means that they took a risk that if you weren't actually a Misfit and you never actually developed your power that these memories would never come to you. They would have been lost and locked away inside your head. But it also means they risked them being discovered, if the Handlers ever found out they would have been able to get it from you. This is information your parents didn't want anyone else seeing, this safe haven, whatever else it is it's a secret first. Even your father said as much in your memory. If we are going to find this place we must be careful."

I push the sweaty strands of hair away from my face. "This is crazy. This is absolutely insane."

"I agree," Aiden rubs his hands against the back of his neck and lets out a deep breath.

"So why didn't I remember them? These memories came to me in my dream, so why didn't they stick? Why couldn't I recall them when I woke up?"

"I can't be sure but if I had to guess I'd say it's because you're still not focused. You've discovered your power and you've consciously made the connection and accepted it but you haven't refined it. When you're asleep your mind is raw, there is nothing to get in the way of you and your power so you are able to catch glimpses of the iceberg," he shrugs. "This is as new to me as it is to you. I've never seen this before."

"So how did you know what to do?" I ask him.

"I did, I just helped you focus by allowing both our minds to connect. The memories were there I just helped you pull them to the surface."

"Can you do it again? There might be more that my parents left me to find," I say eagerly.

"I don't think so," he shakes his head. "I can help you keep focused but only you can access your power and in turn your memories. I can observe and help you but only you can make the initial connection. Whatever you have left of your parents is yours to discover. "I kick the trunk of the tree and curse when it jams my toe. "Do you know where the cabin is located?" Aiden asks. "I didn't recognize the terrain."

I shake my head, "I've never been that far north."

He sighs. "Well, we'll just have to keep reliving the memory. There must be something more specific that we're missing. You're farther said something about burying it deep, so there might be more that we aren't seeing."

I shrug, beginning to feel the exhaustion again. I'm not sure what time it is, there's no hint of light in the sky. I lie down and look into the branches of the tree above my head. "Why can't I see their faces?" I ask quietly.

Silence.

"Aiden?" I think maybe he did hear me but then he takes an uneven breath.

"I think it's because they gave you these memories while you were still in your mother's womb," he says.

My eyes widen and turn to look at his silhouette. "Is that even possible?"

"It seems your parents had doubts that it was, but obviously you're proof that it worked," he lays down and laces his hands underneath his head. "They knew they were being hunted, they knew they didn't have time on their side. They must have been desperate indeed to attempt such a thing."

Minutes pass.

Silence.

"Aiden?" I whisper.

"Hmmm?" He mumbles half asleep.

"Do you...do you think I ever got to meet my parents?" I ask feeling foolish. I knew my mother had to have given birth to me, but were they captured before I was born? Did she ever get to hold me? Did my father ever kiss my forehead?

Silence.

"I don't know," he whispers back.

The next day Aiden and I find an old dirt logging road that roughly heads north. We both agree it's worth the risk to cover faster ground. If we stay quiet we'll be able to hear cars coming from a long way off. Our food supply is running low so while I think about the cabin Aiden uses the water and the map to try and figure out where some form of civilization resides on the way.

I don't sleep well. Every time I shut my eyes I dream that I am trapped in my mother's womb forever cursed to hear her voice and never see her face. No new memories come. I simply replay what I already have, my mother signing to me, my father's worried tone. I both cherish and curse the memories.

Perhaps my little love, you will be the one to have the courage we could not muster.

Courage for what? Why couldn't they just have run far away and told me this themselves when I was old enough? I wipe angry tears off my face. I didn't even realize I wanted to cry for them but now that I've started I can't stop. I think about Steven's crinkled photo. I want to remember my parents like he remembered his. I want to have memories and pictures. I want more.

"Adie?" Aiden asks, brining me back to the present.

"I'm fine," I say wiping my nose on the sleeve of my jacket. The tears feel frozen against my cheeks in the cold air. "Did you find anything?"

He nods, "I think so."

"Good, I'm starving."

"You're sure that you're-"

"-I'm fine," I repeat firmly.

"Alright," he says unconvinced but drops the subject. Ever since Aiden saw inside my head I have an uneasy fear that he can read my thoughts at any given moment. He assured me that it only works if we're both connected to the same source of water.

We hike to what looks to be a hunter's cabin. It's an ordinary cabin but Aiden points out the places to hang deer and dry furs. "I don't think stealing from a man with a gun is a smart idea." I say after a few minutes. I glance at the pulleys to hang deer and imagine myself being strung up. I shiver violently at the memories it triggers. Each scar is like a hot brand to my mind and I find that I am grateful for the necessity of long sleeves. "This is the only place you found?"

He nods, "We're in the middle of nowhere. This was the only place I found that didn't take us a long way in the opposite direction. We'll be fine."

"Well if you feel that way then you can do the stealing and I'll wait back here," I cross my arms.

"Fine," he says.

"Good."

"OK."

"Great."

He sprints across the small yard and when he reaches the cabin he presses himself flat against it. A moment later the front door of the cabin bursts open and a man with a beard and a bright red cap steps onto the porch with a rifle cradled in his hands. "I don't like people sneaking around my private property! Especially idiots who don't take care to speak softly!" he shouts.

"Shit," I curse under my breath and drop to the ground. I hope the underbrush is enough to conceal me from his view. From here I watch Aiden keep his back against the house and out of sight. If the man looks around the house he'll find Aiden. This isn't a good situation. Even if we manage to knock the man out he'll still remember this, it's too much of a risk that he'll report something. I need to get a message to Aiden but there's nothing here to help me. So I do the only thing I can think to do. "If I come out do you promise not to shoot me?" I yell as loud as I can from my place on the ground.

I see Aiden stiffen at my voice and look towards my direction but he doesn't move. The man on the porch narrows his eyes in my general direction, but he doesn't lift the gun to shoo. "I promise so long as you don't threaten me," he shouts back.

I swallow and stand, slowly walking from the forest with my hands in the air. "Come closer," the man says. Aiden doesn't move but he's shaking his head, trying to tell me not to do something stupid.

I stop in front of the porch. The man looks me up and down and rests the butt of the rifle on the ground next to his foot, one hand around the barrel. "You're just a girl," he says. "What are you doing sneaking around my property? And where's the other one you're with?" he asks looking over my shoulder to the woods.

I swallow. "The other one?" I ask.

"I heard you arguing, louder than crows you two were and you can put your hands down," I slowly lower my hands.

"We didn't know this was private property," I tell him. At least I didn't think about it much, Aiden probably knew but it wouldn't have stopped us anyway.

He grunts, "Likely story. I have signs posted all around the property."

"I swear," I tell him.

"Well you best come inside before you catch a cold. You can tell your friend he can stop hugging my cabin like he's invisible, he's welcome to come too." The man steps inside, leaving the door open. Aiden slips around the corner of the cabin, glaring at me.

"What do you think you're doing?" he walks over to me.

"You know how I had that feeling to go north?" I ask him quietly.

"What about it?" he asks keeping his eyes on the door like he expects the man to burst out of it and start shooting at us. He's tense like I've only ever seen him before a fight.

"Well I'm having a similar feeling that we need some supplies to get there," I tell him. Since the moment I ran and condemned myself I have never put faith in another human. I kept to myself and avoided civilization.

"This man is not our friend. In case you've forgotten we're Misfit exiles on the most wanted list," Aiden reminds me.

"I know who the enemy is," I tell him sharply. "But it doesn't change that we need help if we're going to make it north."

I leave Aiden outside, glaring at me with fierce blue eyes that are colder than the air that bites at my exposed neck.