Three days later.

Kyle:

On the top floor of the clock tower, we all sat, Jessica, myself, and Xao. Allen had just let us know that he had smoothed things over with the other werewolves. He had told them that Gregory was dead and as to Darius, he gave everyone a distinct impression he would no longer be an issue. Myself, I wasn't so confident in that. Darius wasn't dead, and with Pharaoh technology, there was always a chance that no matter how much damage Xao had done to him, he could still come back fully restored.

As to Tyrin... truth be told none of us knew what to do about him so we kinda left that detail out to Allen. It was possible Allen suspected there was more to the story, but he didn't question us when we said dropping off Thomas went off completely without a snag. We believed for the moment he wouldn't be an issue anyway, as he had admitted defeat. Again, however, something in my gut told me our struggle with Jacobson had only begun. Still, we didn't want to have to deal with arguing whether we could step outside again, so we left that bridge to be crossed when we came to it and kept our meeting with Tyrin under wraps.

Jessica and I both sat on the mattress we had earlier designated as mine. Xao stood in the room and looked down at us. "So now what are we thinking about doing?"

"Are you kidding?" Jessica asked. "We already established we're gonna keep looking for lost kids, so let's get back out there!" she jumped up.

"Um," Xao began as she ran to the elevator.

I raised a hand to stop him, "Don't worry, she's slow, but it'll occur to her soon enough."

"And..." Jessica said, with her finger just above the button to call the lift. "I have absolutely no idea where I'm going."

"That's what we're getting at Jess," I said, grinning.

Jessica spun around.  "Well then, let's all get with the plan-making..." She paused. "That's what we were doing wasn't it?" I just nodded.

Xao cocked his head to me. "So... I mean you know she's smarter than this... so are you just going along with her or..."

I shrugged. "Good question, not sure, Jess?"

Jessica shrugged. "He's Kyle, not like anyone understands him."

"How did I get with you guys again?" Xao said, shaking his head.

Jessica zipped over to me, her eyes wide with anticipation. I looked around, scanning the room, not sure what she was waiting for. She started tapping her foot and finally, I asked, "What?"

"You had a picture earlier right?" she asked.

"I did?" I asked.

Jessica sighed and then fished through a blanket at the foot of my bed. She pulled out a picture on a white piece of thin cardboard. "You think I forgot about this?" she asked. "You told me about a little kid named Justin who went missing in Oklahoma and asked if we should go looking for him."

"I just got that to suggest a different mission for us and..." I began, but I saw her now folding her hands and staring me straight in the eye with a wild grin. "I guess we can go look for him too."

"Goody!" Jessica shouted, jumping in the air.

"How do you stay with her without losing your mind?" Xao asked.

"I've been with her twenty years, who says I haven't lost my mind?" I asked, giving Xao a crossed-eyed grin and awkwardly standing up.

Jessica grabbed my hand and pulled me forward. "Right. You said he was in Oklahoma City," she pointed ahead. "To Oklahoma!"

"Where is that anyway?" I asked.

"Not sure, but I figure we start walking south and we'll get there eventually."

I shrugged. "Works for me."

Xao grabbed us both by the shoulder. "Something tells me it's a good thing I'll be on this trip too."

"It's possible," Jessica quickly admitted. She then held up her finger, "AAAAnnnnd, dramatic exit!" She pushed the button to call the elevator. She then looked back at Xao and me with a huge grin. She then looked back at the elevator for a few seconds. Then back at us. Back at the elevator. "Okay, seriously we need stairs."

The end.