"Adie." I hear Henry calling my name.

"Mmmmm."

I push my head further into the pillow.

"Adie wake up."

"Just give me another hour."

"Adie."

I open my eyes. It's no Henry. "Get out! Get out! Get out, get out!" Aiden steps back, hands up in surrender but he doesn't leave. The sun peeks through the crack in the curtains; the clock reads 9:17.

"Listen-"

I hold the blankets with one hand and grab a pillow with the other. I throw it at his head but he ducks and it hits the wall instead. "-out!"

"Adie-"

"Out!" Another pillow flies.

"Doug won't wake up!" He shouts, grabbing my hand before I can throw the alarm clock at him.

"-what?" I ask, still clutching the blanket tightly. Aiden is looking me straight and intensely in the eyes.

"Doug's not waking up."

Doug's not...? Oh my God.

"He's dead?" I demand and yank my wrist from Aiden's hand and jump out of bed. Aiden jerks his eyes to the ceiling and turns his back on me. I look down and blush. I grab a blanket from the bed and wrap it around myself. My cheeks flame.

"He's still breathing." Aiden says, talking to the ceiling intently.

"So what's wrong?" I ask.

"I'm not sure," Aiden says.

"Let me get dressed. Don't you dare turn around." I edge me way to the bathroom. Aiden doesn't move, he hardly breathes. I grab my clothes from the shower rack and pull out whatever water is left from them and dress. It feels strange and wonderful to wear clean clothes. But my thoughts are full of Doug. What does Aiden mean he won't wake up? Is he dying? Is he a heavy sleeper? My heart start to race and I grab my bag off the floor.

"Ready."

Aiden opens the door and I follow him next door. He pulls out a key and unlocks their room. "How did you get in?" I ask narrowing my eyes.

"Locks really aren't a problem for people like us Adie." He holds the door open and I step into the room.

It's identical to mine only flipped. Doug is laying in the bed near the bathroom, his chest rises and lowers and I walk over to him. I sit on the edge and touch his wrist. "Doug?" I shake him gently but he doesn't stir.

I look to Aiden. "What happened?"

He shrugs. "I don't know, I tried waking him several times, he just won't get up." Aiden stands near the window, one arm crossed over his stomach, supporting his other elbow. He chews on the nail of his thumb and stares at Doug as though he's a ghost come to life. "He won't wake up." He says again, quieter, I watch his eyes glaze over, gaining a far off look about them, a look that I saw when he wasn't awake, when he was broken. I stand from the bed and step towards him, on hand outstretched, careful.

"Aiden?"

"They never wake up." He whispers, whatever he's seeing I know it's not this hotel room.

"Aiden." I say firmer.

"We all disappear," He says. "What's the point in fighting when we will all disappear?"

I grab his shoulders and looks up at me. "Aiden," I shout and slap him.

He blinks, his eyes start focusing. I nod. "That's right, stay with me, I....I can't do this alone OK? I need you to teach me remember? You have to make sure I can kick your ass whenever I want to."

He blinks again and drops his head into his hand. "I'm sorry," He says.

"Just don't do that again." My heart is in my throat, I can't deal with him and Doug. Not at the same time. I return to Doug and hold his hand, something scratches my palm. I open his fingers to find a piece of paper crumbled in his fist. I smooth it out and walk over to the light.

The writing is messy and I can tell that every word must have been a struggle. I cry as I struggle to read his note.

I lied.

Condition worse than let on. Feel body slipping.

Go on without me.

Aiden takes the note from me when I finish and I drop my forehead onto Doug's shoulder. "Adie we have to go."

Just like that, he's ready to leave.

"We can't just leave him here."

"We have to, he told us to Adie."

"No!" I shout, turning to him. "You go ahead and leave, I don't care if you don't give a damn or don't feel any emotion but Doug was our friend. So I'm going to try to help him. I go to the bathroom sink and turn the faucet on. Water gushes out and splashes onto the tile.

"What are you doing?" Aiden asks cautiously. The world is black and white, and I pull a stream of water into my palms. I walk to Doug. Aiden grabs my shoulders. "Adie no."

"Let go of me." I try pushing him away but he doesn't budge, the water swirls around both of our arms. Unsure of who is in control.

"Adie listen to me, this is dangerous. You can't do this."

"I have to try." He doesn't budge.

"Remember the cop Adie. Please, don't do it."

I hesitate and look at Doug. I remember the cop collapsing to the pavement. The water drops into the rug at my feet and my body shakes. "I don't want to leave him."

"I know, but Adie...we have to."

Aiden goes to grab the bags but I reach out my hand and stop him. "Wait..." I look at Doug. "I won't...I won't try to wake him up but...let me leave him a message."

"Adie, if they find a not they'll know we we're here."

I shake my head. "They won't be able to find it."

"Do you think it worked?" The truck feels too big, too open without Doug. No one's leg is pressed against mine and I have room to move my arms. There is no buffer between Aiden and me.

"I don't know," I say. "I think I felt a connection but..." Was that the sensation my mother and father felt? Did they wonder if their words were truly reaching their daughter? I feel hopeless. If Doug wakes up and doesn't receive my memory...I shake my head. I can't think about it. I look at Aiden, both hands grip the steering wheel and he goes just a little over the posted speed limit.

"So what do we do when we reach the mountains?"

He glances at me. "We'll search your memories again, and then we'll look for anything familiar." He leans forward and looks up to the grey sky the sun has disappeared behind. "We better pray we find that cabin sooner than later, this winter looks like it will be brutal. I don't want to get trapped up in the mountains without Doug."

Silence builds between us, laying down brick and mortar until it's near impossible for me to even look at Aiden. What is there to say anyway? So I close my eyes, I count my breaths, and I picture the ocean and the way the tide rolls in and slaps the shoreline. I can almost feel the wet sand between my toes.

"Count?"

"Thirty two." I open my eyes, the wall shatters and I look at Aiden. He leans one arm against the window and rests his head on his hand.

He lets out a small breath. "I'm impressed."

"Yeah?"

He nods. "You've only been practicing for a few days and already you've improved exponentially."

His beard is growing in, covering his straight jaw line and curved lips. "Is there anything else I should be practicing?"

He shakes his head. "Not right now, just keep working on keeping your attention in two places. If you want to keep stretching yourself you can picture different bodies of water, maybe at a small detail like waves or fish and try to hold the image and count."

I nod. "Alright." I close my eyes.

"Adie?"

I open my eyes. "Yeah?"

"I...I didn't see anything this morning."I blush and look out the widow. I have nothing to say. That's a surprise. First time a man has been alone with you in a private room and you weren't wearing any clothes. "I just needed you to know that."

Silence.

I take a deep breath.

"Thanks." I must be going soft. Even to me the words sound...sincere.

Early that evening, the clouds pull away from the sun and the mountains loom before us. Dusted in the snow everything shines brilliant and bright. The mountains aren't as large as I pictured them, but they will still be difficult to traverse if we don't know where we are going. Aiden stops at a gas station and fills the tank while I buy us a local map and a compass.

We sit behind the store with the heat on and pour over the maps and stare at the mountains in the distance. Each one of them has a different ridge line and suddenly I know that's how we're going to find it.

"We're wasting time looking at maps. My parents showed me images. That's how we're going to find it. Look." I point through the windshield. "See the mountain there with the rock face that looks like a hooked claw? And that one there that looks like a person's profile? My parents chose these mountains for a reason, what if they choice them because they each have their own characteristic? What if they chose them because they would be identifiable?"I pull the map open and point to the ridge line that we're staring at. We're only a few minutes' drive to the last town on this map. From here there is nothing but the north woodlands which are all protected and practically deserted."

Aiden looks at the mountains, his eyes trail over every ridgeline then he looks at me. "Then let's see if you're good parents gave us what we need."

He opens the door and scoops some snow in his hand and then closes the door again. The snow melts into a pool in his hand. I scoot closer and close my eyes. The sensation is still just as strange, only this time I know what to expect. I focus on the memory my parents left me and it comes rushing back.

Then I see the mountains, similar to the way I see them with Aiden, but from different eyes. I see them the way my parents see them, from the woods. I recognize the mountain with the hooked claw. But they pass by it, and over a river, and they follow a gorge and they walk along the top of a mountain until it dips down and there before my eyes, is a cabin with the scent of wood smoke and pine trees.

I open my eyes and look at Aiden. He pulls the map off the floor where it fell. "Here," His finger trails a river that runs along the base of a mountain before pulling away. "That's where we need to head, and it looks like there is an old fire road that will take us in the right direction." He puts the truck into drive.

"Aren't those sorts of roads normally locked?"

"Locks aren't a problem."

"So you've said."

I buckle my seat belt and give him directions. We pull off the main road and onto a gravel road. I can't help but keep my eyes on the tops of the mountains.

My parents were here once. Maybe even on this very road. Technically that means that I was here too, in my mother's womb. I wish I could remember.

"This is it." Aiden slows the truck down and pulls off onto a locked road that looks more like an old wagon trail. "Wait here a moment." The door swings open and the cold air rushes into the cabin. Making me shiver, I am not looking forward to facing the cold. I've just begun to adjust to the warmth.

Aiden walks up to the padlock that keep the gate shut, he bends over it and a few seconds later he pulls the padlock off and swings the gate open. He waves for me to pull the truck through. I slide over and drive forward. Aiden closes the gate and locks it again.

"All set." He says and then we're on our way again. Aiden keeps the truck in a lower gear and moves slowly and steadily up the mountain. In some spots there is only a foot between us and a horrible death. But the road, despite being more of a trail, isn't in terrible condition and we make it to the top without incident. "And here the road ends." Before us the trees spring from the ground like walls of wood and together we sit and stare in silence and warmth. "It's getting dark," Aiden says, looking to the sky, "I say we find a place to park and conceal the truck then spend the night with it. No sense it hiking in the dark and cold before we get our bearings. Besides, it might be our last chance to sleep in some shape of warmth."

"Alright." I nod.

I wonder if my parents walked along this very road, or if they stayed away from all forms of civilization. I try to picture them in my mind, but I can't see their faces. Aiden pulls off the road and finds a place between two pine trees. Branches scrape along the sides but I can still open the door and squeeze out. We both use the bathroom and get supplies from our bags. Aiden walks back to the road and faces the truck. "Well have to move some branches to conceal the back end, but no one will see it unless they're looking for it.

That's comforting. Seeing how we're wanted fugitives. Of course people will be looking.

"Yeah."

Aiden frowns. "No smart remarks? You've been quiet all day."

"Whatever, I'm going to stretch my legs a little bit. Don't eat all the food."

I pass him and walk back along the road, listening to the crunch of snow under my feet and the air through my lungs. It feels good to clear my head and move my legs. When I return to the truck I slip into the passenger's seat and put my hands over the vents. Aiden has a sleeping bag opened up and I move under it and take some trail mix from the open bag. The radio plays music and we watch at the world darkens around us.

"Doug has his rifle in the back. I had forgotten about it."

I swallow. "Do you know how to use it?"

"Yes." He doesn't look at me when he says it so I can't help but feel that he's not proud of the fact.

"We can use it to hunt."

"We can...though I don't know the first thing about skinning and hunting deer or getting meat off them."

"Good point."

A person's voice interrupts the music and announces the sponsors of the show. It takes me a minute to realize what he's saying when he keeps talking"-authorities are still searching for two fugitives. The two Misfits are considered very dangerous, if you have any information of their whereabouts please call-" Aiden flips the radio off and the low hum of the truck fills our ears. I eat more trail mix and stare at my reflection in the window.

"We're going to be OK," he whispers.

There is silence for a few seconds.

"Yeah...I know," I reply.

We don't say a word. I pull my legs onto the seat and cover part of the sleeping bag over my body. I roll up my jacket and lean against it like a pillow. I close my eyes.

"Good night." Aiden says softly and I don't reply.