“Ali!” Alonzo burst into their room. “I found it!”

Ali looked up, his eyes unfocused, shoulders slumped. “Found what?” He mumbled.

“I found the secret! How to destroy Zane.”

Ali came alive. “You found it?” He jumped off his bed, coming to look at the text Alonzo was reading.

“Yeah.” Alonzo allowed himself a small smile before explaining. “It’s a chink in the armor, so to speak. We can’t kill him regardless of the form, unless we hit him in this spot…” He pointed to a spot on a picture of a dragon. “Behind the ear.”

Ali whistled, raising an eyebrow. “Is that even possible?”

“We’d better hope so. Because it also says in here that the only way for Hanna to get any memory back is for him to die.”

“Good thing that’s in our plan anyway.” Ali muttered.

His eyes fell on the picture again. “Hey, any chance this thing has any pictures of the other forms he can assume? Or… Common ones?”

“Well… Zane can take any shape he wants, really… He just has to know about it. Obviously, he can’t form into something he’s never seen or heard of. So it won’t have pictures of every form. But… It does have pictures of the common forms.” Alonzo flipped a few pages back. “Mostly, he assumes human form, dragon, and wolf forms.” He showed Ali a picture of a black-furred, snarling wolf with brilliant sapphire eyes.

“You know, sapphire eyes on a wolf with fur that black… That’s just creepy…” Ali noted.

Alonzo scowled. “Yeah… Well… That’s sort of what’s expected of a monster like him.”

Ali shrugged. “Sort of. So his human form?”

Alonzo made a sour face.

“What? Jealous or something? Any guy with eyes like that in wolf form has got to be ugly in human form. Here, let me see this!” Ali took the book out of Alonzo’s hands. “I bet the only reason…” He flipped back a page more, and then he stopped, whistling. “Whoa! If you or I looked like that, we’d never get the girls to leave us alone! I mean, this dude’s got it all. Raven black hair… Cocky grin… And the eyes… They’re not weird. They’re mesmerizing. Even in a picture.”

Alonzo shoved his hands into his pockets, looking away. “Yeah… You don’t say.”

“I do say… Hey…” Ali looked over at Alonzo. “What’s wrong? You look like you haven’t been sleeping. Alonzo, why didn’t I notice this before? Why didn’t you say something?”

“Because! You were too busy in your own world of pain to pay attention.” Alonzo’s voice was bitter; even to him it sounded harsh. “Sorry…” He whispered. “I just… You were so filled with your own pain that I couldn’t bear to add my own to it. So I didn’t say anything.”

Ali made his friend sit on one of the beds. “Alonzo, why aren’t you sleeping? It’s got to be more than just worry… I mean, I’m sick with worry over Hanna, over this whole thing, but I’m out at night. If anything, I’m happy to fall asleep because it means an escape from all this most of the time.”

Alonzo sighed, rubbing his temples. “I… It’s just…”

Ali’s gaze narrowed. “Dreams? Someone said something about Zane being able to project images into people’s minds while they’re dreaming. Alonzo, is that why you don’t sleep?”

Alonzo looked up, eyes hard. “Ali, it doesn’t matter if I’m sleeping anymore! I see his mental pictures waking and sleeping!” He spat. “Zane’s always with her. Last night… I finally fell asleep because I just couldn’t stay awake, and I dreamed about them! He asked her to marry him. You know that? No, I bet you don’t. Because he only targets me!” His voice dropped to a whisper, and his eyes welled up with tears. “And you know the worst part?”

Ali shook his head, sitting on the bed next to Alonzo.

“She said yes. It’s like… She doesn’t remember anything about us. Zane told her about me, you know. And she didn’t even blink. Didn’t care. I thought she loved me back. I guess I was wrong!” Alonzo dropped his head back into his hands.

Ali laid a hand on Alonzo’s back. “Alonzo, I don’t think that those things are real. I mean, Zane can project anything he wants, right… So, he could just make up images to crack you. Hanna does love you. I could see it in the way her eyes lit up around you. You always seemed to get a smile from her… Even when no one else could.” He laughed softly. “I never did. And… Honestly, it made me a bit jealous.”

Alonzo looked up. “Why?”

“I wanted to be the one evoking that response of joy.” He admitted, blushing.

Alonzo laughed. “Sorry…”

Ali shook his head. “Nah… Don’t worry about it. Actually, those moments were fleeting. Usually, I was just happy someone could bring her out of that mood.”

Alonzo looked at him. “I can’t stand it… Ali, I’ll go mad if I have to live through anymore of Zane’s little shows. Him with her… Kissing her… It makes me sick. And she doesn’t seem unhappy either.” A tear slid down his cheek. “He’s a monster. He took the only thing holding us together. He took her… If she dies, I don’t think I can keep living…”

“Alonzo! He won’t kill her… Besides, if we kill him, you’ll have her back. We both will. It’ll be okay.” Ali whispered.

“Yeah… Well, I need sleep. So, I’m going to ask the doc to give me something to knock me out. That way, if I have dreams, at least they won’t wake me up.” Alonzo griped.

Ali smiled. “Sounds like a good idea, ‘Lonzo.”

Alonzo grinned back. “Yeah… See you later, Ali.  I have to go show this to Indri. We need to start making plans. Meet me in the mess hall at 0800 hours tomorrow morning.”

“Will do. See you later, Alonzo.” Ali gave his friend a quick hug before Alonzo got up and left.

Once Alonzo was gone, Ali sat there awhile, rubbing his forehead. Was it possible that Alonzo was dreaming the reality of what was happening down in the dungeon? Could Zane truly have asked Hanna to marry him? Would she seriously be dumb enough to say yes?  Ali asked himself. Unfortunately, he couldn’t be sure. That part of Alonzo’s dream didn’t make sense.

True, Zane was something of a looker. Well, actually, if Ali was honest with himself, Zane was one of the most attractive looking guys he’d ever seen. In a girl’s standard, he’d probably be irresistible. For some reason, that annoyed Ali. He wasn’t sure why. It really shouldn’t. If anyone should be annoyed at that, it should be Alonzo, since Alonzo was the one who was in love with Hanna.

Maybe it was just the fact it was his sister Zane was tricking.  Regardless, he still hadn’t answered his question. Would Hanna be dumb enough to agree to marry Zane?

He stretched out on the bed. Still no answer. He looked over at the clock. With nothing further to do until 0800, he figured he might as well sleep. Despite what he’d told Alonzo, he hadn’t gotten enough sleep the last few weeks either.

As he dozed off, the question continued to bounce around his mind. Would she be fool enough to agree to Zane’s proposal? Would she?

When he finally dropped off, he still couldn’t answer the question.