The night air was cool against my skin as I walked down the narrow cobblestone path. I remembered this path. It was near Mary's house. The moonlight cast slivers of pale yellow on the trees, lighting the way in front of me. With each step I took, the trees on either side of the path became illuminated. Different colors were everywhere. It was magical. I felt like Alice in Wonderland. My hand trembled as I reached out to touch the branches. Suddenly, it was pitch black. The lights were gone. The trees were dark. Adrenaline coursed through my veins. My breath quicken. I could feel another presence. The Hunter was back.

"Esa, wake up."

Someone shook me. My eyes snapped open to find Theo sitting on the floor next to the chair. He tilted his head slightly before letting out a soft snort.

"That must have been some dream."

My entire body ached as I sat up and tried to get my bearings. It had all seemed so real. "It was a weird dream. I was walking down the path near Mary's house, but it was different. This time, there were lights all around. It was beautiful." I took a deep breath. "Before I could figure it out, the Hunter was back. I still couldn't see it, but I could feel its energy."

Theo looked at me with a quizzical expression. "Why do you call it 'the Hunter'?"

"I don't know." I slowly shook my head, unsure how to answer his question. "It's a feeling I get. Something is watching and waiting for me to be alone, like a hunter does when it stalks its prey."

Theo stared into the darkness. "I will find out whoever, or whatever, it is and protect you. I promise. You will be safe, Esa."

We sat together in silence for several minutes. It felt good to be near him. Then Theo's breathing grew more rapid and he pulled away.

"We should get back to our primary year. I need to talk to Samuel."

Before I could utter a response, we were back in the lab. The room looked in perfect order. Samuel had already fixed all of the mangled furniture. It was as if nothing had ever happened... but it had.

"I'm glad to see both of you again," he said glancing in our direction.

"Samuel, any idea what that thing was the other day?"

"It's not a what; it's who."

"Who is it?" I prodded, hoping he would give me a real answer for once.

"I'm not entirely sure, but I have a few guesses," Samuel responded, a serious expression on his face.

"Is it Troy or Luther?" I asked. Something told me it had to be one of them. Both had nothing but time on their hands.

"I don't know, but we ran some energy tests and slowed down some video footage. Whoever it was also attacked several of the normals living here and hid their bodies in a closet before coming after Esa."

"Why can't we see him?" Theo asked crossing to Samuel's desk and leaning closer to the computer screen. "It's so frustrating trying to fight something that's invisible."

"That's what I'm still working on." Samuel turned back to his computer.

At that moment, Audrina and Gave stumbled into the lab. Audrina's long white hair was dripping wet and clung to her wet jumpsuit. Gave didn't look any better.

"What happened?" Samuel pushed back his chair and hurried over to Audrina. When he reached her, she fell into his arms. "Aud, what's going on?"

Her eyes were wide. "I don't know. I don't know what happened to me, Samuel. It's all so weird. I think I may be going crazy." She began to shake uncontrollably. "One minute I was jumping off the line, getting ready to come back to our primary year, and the next something threw me into the water and pushed me toward the bottom."

Fresh tears ran down her already tear-streaked face as she sunk further into Samuel's arms. Through her sobs, she finally said, "It was so horrible. Everything happened so fast. Water filled my mouth and I thought I was going to die. Thankfully, Gave grabbed me and we were able to escape."

Samuel looked over at Gave. "What happened? What is Audrina talking about?"

Gave shook his head. "I don't know. I had just seen Audrina on the line, and then she disappeared. I started getting these images of her in the water and went to find her. It was like nothing I've ever experienced before. I was instantly able to find her. I still can't fully explain it."

Gave sank into a nearby chair. "Something is up. This isn't right. I've never had something like this happen to me, where I could see another team member."

Samuel nodded and pushed his glasses up the arch of his nose. "I'd like to run tests on the entire team. Something is happening and I need to know what's going on inside our bodies."

The main door to Samuel's lab suddenly burst open. Paul stood in the doorway with his dark black jacket pulled tightly shut. He scowled at each of us, one by one. "Stop what you all are doing. Follow me. Now."

Theo glared back and crossed his arms defiantly over his chest. "Why? What's going on Paul? It's not like you to barge into Samuel's lab and demand that we follow you."

"Like Captain Samuel James said, we need to run some tests," Paul sneered.

Theo stood his ground. "What kind of tests?"

"You do not have clearance for me to provide you with information on any of our testing methods." Paul responded back at Theo. "Do you want to obey my orders or do you want my soldiers to help you make your decision?"

"How do you know what we were talking about?" I turned toward the man who was supposed to be a member of this team...and my father. He seemed different. There was a definite change in his demeanor. He was more agitated now. The look on his face reminded me of the first time we met. He had that same cold expression then. Of course, I was well aware that Paul was always watching and listening. I just didn't think he would suddenly make it so obvious.

Paul turned on his heels and strode out of the room without answering. A dozen guards holding large guns walked over to us. In a deep voice, one of the guards barked, "Follow us or we will be forced to use these weapons on you."

Samuel looked at each of us, perplexed, and then finally shook his head. "I guess we have no choice but to follow them."