After about an hour of pinching and slapping themselves to see if the other would feel it - which worked every time, without fail - Finn and Ash decided they'd had enough trying out their phantom pain thingy. Somehow, despite the cuts and scrapes all over her face, Ash still glowed with beauty.

She looked down, pulling a strand of hair out of her face.

"Do you remember the story I told the creepy doctor about? About my phantom broken arm?"

He nodded. When she didn't say anything else, he spoke instead.

"Remember, I actually broke my arm."

"So the reason I was feeling it - was because of you?"

"After all the weird things that have happened, I believe it."

"Me too."

They walked longer in silence until Ash spoke.

"What were you doing in there again? Climbing on his book selves?"

Finn managed to laugh. He looked over at Ash, grinning from ear to ear. Her smile was gone, the look that replaced it with shock. He followed her gaze, his own smile melting away. Not too far away, the lights of a small town twinkled. It felt as if it was welcoming them, calling their names.

Ash laughed hysterically in utter disbelief.

The next moment, they were running towards the town at full speed, neither of them unable to let go of their smiles.

Five minutes later, they were walking through the place, looking for the right store to walk into. The black color of the night was turning gradually into a dark blue. A little glowing sign caught Finn's eye, he pointed it out to Ash and they walked cautiously inside.

A surprising amount of people lingered inside the place, dancing, talking, laughing, some of them sat by themselves, staring expressionless into their cups.

Finn and Ash tried to avoid them, not wanting any trouble or anything and hopeful that no one would recognize Finn -wherever they were.

They managed to find an empty booth in a darker spot of the building, the people around them either ignoring them or just not noticing they were there. Finn tried to catch his breath, the burn Ash had gained from the crash reminding him it was there. It was strange to feel something he knew didn't belong to him - even though he'd felt phantom pains all his life, it was still weird.

Ash looked nothing like she had when he'd first seen her. Her skin was stained with dirt and blood, her hair pressed against her forehead in some places because of sweat. What used to be a fancy high ponytail, now sagged down, strands flying all around. Her clothes were muddy and ripped. She looked perfect.

She looked up at him, taking in a breath with a hint of a smile in her features. Whatever faint smile had been there before though, melted away and her face grew serious.

"What do we do now?"

Finn looked around the place, thinking it over in his head.

"The truth is," the words were spilling out before he could stop them, "I admit, I've never been in any kind of situation like this. I've been under my father's thumb for my entire life, cared for, looked after, taken care of . . ."

He didn't know why he'd started the sentence, but now he didn't know how to finish.

"Hey, look on the bright side. Now you might lose some of that baby fat."

His expression changed into objection.

"Excuse me! I don't know what you're talking about," he turned away, holding his head high so that she'd get the joke. But when he turned back to her again, there was only a flash of a smile before it was gone, again.

Ash took in a sharp inhale, about to say something but she was cut off by a trio of people - teenagers - two girls and a guy.

They all looked similar - alburn hair, grey eyes, fair skin, the boy was dotted with freckles though, unlike his . . . sisters? - they were all different heights. One of the girls was short, like really short, the other girl was tallish and the boy stood about a head taller than her.

Each of them had the same expression - a smug and mysteriously knowing face.

"Come with us."

Finn coughed in surprise. "What?"

"You clearly need our help, and Bharam is probably after you two," the middle girl spoke, her hair stood straight, falling around her sloped shoulders.

"Yeah, right."

Finn turned back to Ash, pulling on his cuffs. The girl sighed. Without warning, the short girl reached out and grabbed his arm, pulling it towards her. He tried to pull away when he realized what was happening but she was surprisingly strong.

"Can't explain this, can you?"

Everyone at the small booth's eyes fell to Finn's wrist, still marked with the painful red bracelet. He pulled away, subconsciously rubbing it.

"Actually, we can."

"How did you know it was there?" The four of them all looked at Ash, who had her eyes narrowed inquisitively. She didn't wait for them to answer, rattling off with some more questions.

"Who's Bharam? Why is he after us? Where did you come from? What do you want? How do you know so much?"

The boy rubbed his forehead as the short girl sighed.

"We really need to act now - no time for questions. We can bring you in the hard way, or the easy way," the middle girl said the last few words with a purposely fake smile.

Finn glanced over to Ash, wondering if she was thinking the same thing he was. He couldn't tell by her expression, but what she said and did answer his question.

"Fine, we'll come with you."

The short girl narrowed her eyes, crossing her arms.

"Just like that?"

"Well, it's not like we have anywhere else to go and you already heard all the questions I have so . . . yeah. Just like that."

A smile passed over the middle girl's face, but her siblings only eyed Ash and Finn doubtfully.

"Maybe it's gonna be easy this time," she turned on her heels, gesturing them to follow.

The short girl rolled her eyes, reluctantly following. Before he went with them, the boy leaned closer to Ash and Finn.

"We're helping you. Don't make this hard on all of us."

Ash gave a small nod, clearly unshaken by his threatening tone of voice. He gave them both one last look before turning to follow his sisters.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Come on."

Finn and Ash stood up simultaneously, Finn knew they were thinking the same thing now. They both took one step to get the boy to turn around before bolting away from the group, pushing past bodies and strangely placed furniture. A shout rang out from the building - the voice of the boy - which urged the two of them to hurry up. Finn was close to the door, reaching for the handle, so close to freedom.

He was knocked sideways, into another booth, as the crowd around them suddenly started frantically screaming and running. He couldn't see Ash, frantically searching the place for her. Maybe she left without him. Maybe she was on her way home right-

"Finn!" As guilty as he felt about it, he relaxed at hearing her voice - she was still there. She made it to him, with a real struggle, scooting into the back of the booth they were in to get away from the careless rush of people.

Finn tried to get a good look at whatever had scared everyone, also keeping his eye out for a window to the exit, but every time he got close, someone got in front of him, held back by the people struggling to get out first. At the first opportunity he could get, he grabbed Ash's hand and bolted for the door.

For the second time, he was thrown back, but this time, it was on purpose.