Esme pushed past the languid leaves and meticulously moved across the muddy forest floor. Esme usually despised rainclouds but she imagined what an alien would think to see the ominous shapes rushing through the sky. Eliezer traveled quickly through the trees as well. She wondered if her run was his walk. At one point, it looked like he was speaking with someone on the phone but Esme did not want to get too close. Then, he abruptly slowed reaching the far side of a clearing.

“Esme!” A voice whisper shouted. Esme turned only to reel back at the mess of light brown coils poking out of a bush.

“Leo!” she scolded pulling him out from the berry bush. He just grinned plucking a berry from a twig stuck in his coarse coils. “Did you follow me?”

“Yeah, I went to the bathroom too and saw you leave. Where is he?” He asked peering over the sapling into the clearing. Esme surveyed the scene. Eliezer stood speaking with a man she had never seen before. The body language of the two told her they knew each other well. Then, the older man pulled a bag from a backpack lying against a tree. Unease coursed through her body.

“We should go,” Esme said turning towards the cafe.

“No, stay low. They'll see you.” Leo said pulling her down.

They watched as the young man opened the bag and pulled out ziplocs, inspected the pills inside, and nodded. The pair then began the walk back to the cafe. Esme and Leo looked at each other and then hurried over to the backpack still leaning against a tree.

“What if it’s a trap?” Leo whispered but the excitement in his posture was a harsh contrast to the inquiry.

“For what? They have no reason to set up a trap.” Esme said unzipping the leather bag.

“What’s that?”

“What’s what?” She said as Leo pulled a glowing pill from some obscure pocket. Esme shook her head as she pulled another one free. This one was inside a locket necklace. It was gorgeous. Despite its size, it did not look gaudy but was even lightweight. It seemed wrought from silver steel twisted and pulled to look like the roots of a tree. It was warm and glowed like the pills.

“It’s glowing, right? It’s not just me.” asked Leo.

“Oh, it’s glowing alright,” Esme said putting it in one of the few beams of sunlight. The glow seemed to flicker in and out. No. When she looked at it, it became dim and dull. Esme felt Leo’s gaze and looked down to see a device in his hands.

“Set that down Leo. I’m not sure-” A surge of power knocked her off her feet. Leo’s scream quivered through the air strangely slow and her body felt even slower. She pushed herself onto her knees. “Leo?” She said her eyes finally focusing. He lay across the massive roots of the tree with the device flung across the clearing. He wasn't conscious and a bloody wound on his head caused Esme to panic. She ripped off her hoodie and pressed it against the wound. His pulse was weak. She thought she heard someone running towards them but she continued to press the wound. She praised whatever God controlled the universe as the blood slowed.

“What are you doing here?” Esme whipped her head around to see the lanky young man running over to her. Disbelief was etched into his expression. “Why on earth were you following me?”

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“Why do you have an explosive in your bag?” She seethed.

“Not my bag and not an explosive.” He said picking up the device.

“What then? A fairy wand?”

“No. Don’t be ridiculous.” He said defensively. “It’s a-”

“He’s still unconscious,” Esme said pulling back the cloth. The wound was clotted now for the most part but she did not like the size of the wound. His pulse was weak too.

“Who is he?” He asked going pale and strange look entering his eyes.

“My brother.”

“What’s your name?”

“Why does that matter?”

“I’m going to help him but you have to trust me.” He said checking Leo’s pulse and picking him up.

“Wait a second where do you-” Esme said but as the wings of an aircraft blinked into view, she covered her mouth in shock at the design. The wings looked like they could retract and the door Eliezer entered slid without his bidding. Target doors might be able to do that but Esme did not care. It was futuristically small. Impossible. The hull gleaned black and the engines seemed inadequate for the size of the ship. She shook herself free from the spell the ship had placed on her and she rushed inside to see Eliezer had lain Leo on a bench. The bench was a strange material. “Is it reading his vitals?”

“Yeah.”

Then, Eliezer’s hand went limp as he read the vitals that appeared on a screen above. He stared at her his mouth thin.

“What?” She said slowly.

“I’m sorry. I- you know what there might be a way. He doesn’t have to die.” Eliezer said suddenly jumping into motion.

“Die!?”

“Sit down. No wait make sure he doesn't move. Malik oh Malik is going to kill me.”

“What are you doing? Eliezer?” Esme said frantically but he just ran to the cockpit room at the front of the ship sitting in what Esme assumed was a pilot’s chair. The door slid closed and a hum filled the ship. Esme came to the front but Eliezer continued to ignore her as he focused intently on a touch screen. She wanted to ask if he actually knew how to fly but the efficiency of his movements made her head to the back and crouch next to Leo accepting her fate.

When they arrived, Eliezer wanted her to stay behind. They had landed on some tropical island in the middle of a highly populated white-washed city. The landing area was in the center of it. White buildings with arches and terracotta tiles rose above them. Green vines decorated in bright flowers spilled from window boxes to wrap around the walls. When she peeked inside the cockpit earlier, she had seen a map that looked an awful lot like Hawaii. It looked like they had landed on Niihau. Esme knew about the privately owned island and felt pleased her suspicions had been correct. When she had first learned of it, she had imagined some secret hid on that island waiting to be uncovered. Sadly, Eliezer had swiped away the map and tried to distract her with conversation. But, Esme needed to walk those streets and see if those hills in the distance were the lush mountains she thought they were.

“You need to stay here,” Eliezer said opening one of the small ship’s closets.

“In the closet?”

“I can’t risk someone catching you here.”

“Why?”

“Please just get in the closet.” She cocked her head at him, “the faster you get in the closet the sooner I can help your brother.”

“You are not just taking him.”

“I am trying to help you. Get in the closet please.”

“Can’t this fancy technology detect me anyways?”

“Well right now there isn't a need to scan the skiffie but you-” He said. Suddenly, his eyes went wide. Esme turned to see the poised needle injected into her kneck. The needle looked more like an inhaler than an needle but there was not mistaking the pinch of the needle. Her limbs began to relax and her breathing slowed.

“It only knocks you unconscious,” A voice said helping her onto the bench.

“Malik? How did you get here?” Eliezer said surprise and relief flooding his stressed features.

“What were you thinking? Eliezer I can’t-” But, Esme did not get to hear the rest. Malik’s voice was the last thing she remembered before she drifted away.