Anya flung open the heavy wooden double doors and bolted out of the factory, hardly caring about the fact that her heels were pounding against the hard concrete, sending shocks of pain up into her legs and through her spine.

“Anne, wait! Please...” Kevin slid through the doors before they slammed shut, trying to keep up with Anya’s pace. Luckily, his legs were longer than hers and he could run faster, but he wasn’t so sure she wanted to be followed. Still, he couldn’t give up, not when he’d finally found her. Grabbing her shoulder, he whipped her around to face him, only to see tears swelling up in her beautiful, perfect, eyes.

The second their eyes met, Anya felt the same captivation once again. It was if, time slowed, and nothing else existed. Colors were liquid, memories were tangible. The memories. For the second time, the anarchy of beautiful brilliance that was his eyes let loose a flood of images, stored somewhere... else, not in her, not in Kevin, but between them somehow, somewhere. Them running, away from something, something deadly. An odd symbol illuminating the night sky, two metallic stone held in someone’s jacket, protected, for fear of being lost. It was all too much.

“What are you doing to me? How do you know my name?” Anya’s voice cracked and she felt the tears she had learned long ago to control, never to show, flood over and work their way down the lines of her face, sparkling in the streetlight’s illumination.

“I didn’t know, you were, I mean, I never would have guessed-”

“Who ARE you?” She was on the brink of panic now. Not just because of the memories, but because of the amazing effect this guy had on her. She couldn’t hide her emotions now, put up a front of sheer confidence she’d come so accustomed to doing, so well, in fact, she almost believed herself. But not with Kevin, uh-uh, her front became unglued and diminished, no matter how hard she tried. Anya was only a hundred pure her. So she was scared, really to the bone, terrified. And running seemed the only solution. Fast and hard.

But Kevin grabbed at her arm and stopped her yet again. “Anne, please, listen to me!”

“Unless you’re going to tell me why I saw... why I saw those things about my life I don’t remember, and why you were part of it, don’t touch me!”

“I can explain. I’m not... we’re not like everyone else! You and me...” Kevin paused searching for the right words, “You know me, Anya. Remember me,” he begged, pleaded with all the strength in his heart, “Look at me.” He used the back of his hand to force her face to look up at him, for her eyes to bore into his. “You know me.”

The flashes came sudden and fast. Them running from a pair of flashlights. Her tripping and him helping her up. Anya crying pitifully and Kevin doing his best to comfort her. Anya understood, finally. He was trying to show her something. That he wasn’t going to hurt her, because it would be like hurting himself. The images continued, this time like a comforting, silent movie. All images of him and her together, laughing, playing, crying, running, escaping, all together.

She knows, she understands. The flood of understanding that rushed into her eyes still had a web of fear sketched over it, but for the most, she didn’t think he was an asylum escapee anymore. He lowered his hand slowly, as if it were being lowered by some other force, like a puppet on strings.

“How do I know you?” Anya whispered, almost afraid if she spoke louder the pressing silence would shatter into fragile bits.

“First, what do you know?”

“About what?”

“About... us.. our parents.”

“ I was adopted. I don’t know who my real parents are. And I’m not understanding how you do.” Some of her stubbornness had surfaced taking over the fear that had formerly encompassed her every word. If he knew something about her past, she was going to find out, none of this cryptic encoded conversations.

“I can tell you... everything about your past. Your parents.”

“You know them??!!”

Pure exhilaration washed over her web of fear for a few brief moments, and it had to be the most beautiful thing Kevin had ever witnessed. Her eyes had the power to completely mesmerize him. They were the color of Coke over ice, sparkling, catching each and every ray of light in its radiant circle and shining with the brilliance of it all. Almost too the point where they were too gleaming to stare at for long, but not quite, not yet.

And when she was this happy, even for a short time, everything seemed to go into overdrive. The colors, the emotions her eyes emitted. Reluctantly, he pulled himself away from them, focusing on her mouth, then found that a even more tempting place to focus on, and settled on the bridge of her nose. There, that was safe. But, god, even her nose was beautiful. You have to stop, just breathe. You’re being obsessive. “Let’s go talk at my house. It’ll be better than here. And my parents are there. They will explain better than I can.” He strode off in the direction of his car.

“No, wait, what about Chris? I can’t just leave!” Plus she was a little frightened of getting into a car with someone who couldn’t be a day older than fifteen. Not if they were both about the same age in the flashes.

“This is more important. Come on.” He took her by the arm and headed of to the Jeep parked somewhat erratically by a streetlight.

“I hope you’re driving is better than your parking.” Anya muttered under her breath as she shook her arm free of Kevin’s grip and tried to keep up with his gait.

Just as they were driving away, Chris eased out of the factory doors and looked at the quickly disappearing Jeep spew dust as it drove away. “Annnnnnyaaaaa!”