In the far-off town of Greyhamel, in the country of Falconland… In a regular house with a well-trimmed lawn and a picket fence, in the middle of the suburbs…

It is three days before the fateful events that took place in the first part of the prologue.

Sasha awoke to the sound of her alarm clock, an annoying, blaring sound that made her wish she were still asleep. It was 6:30 AM.
Feeling too tired to move, she hit the snooze button and went back to sleep.
Soon enough, it went off again. Sasha knew she should get up, but she could barely move. She hit the snooze button again.
Shortly after, it began blaring a third time. Becoming irritated, Sasha slammed her hand on the snooze button.
The alarm clock froze into a block of ice and shattered.
Sasha's sleepy eyes widened in surprise. "...Oops..."
She was too tired to do anything about it. Soon, she drifted back into sleep.

She suddenly heard her mother's voice. "Sasha, it's time to get up already! It's 7:00! If you don't get up, you'll miss breakfast! Didn't your alarm go off?"
Her mother came into the room, and saw what had happened. She turned to her daughter, annoyed. "You froze another alarm clock! That's the third one this week!"
Sasha didn't respond, having fallen asleep again.
Irritated, her mother dragged her out of the bed. "Get UP, Sasha!"
Sasha sighed, and finally woke up, despite her best efforts. "Okay, Mom, I'm up," she said, still extremely tired.

After getting ready for school, Sasha came downstairs and sat down at the table to have breakfast with her family.
Her mother placed some sausage and eggs on the table for the family to eat, and then she sat down at the end. Her brother and sister, Shiloh and Shyla, sat next to each other on one side; they were fraternal twins, both 10 years old. Trying to clear the sleep from her eyes, Sasha sat down on the other side.
Noticing her daughter's fatigue, Sasha's mother got up and brought her a strong espresso. "Here, you've been drinking this for days now, and it looks like today won't be any different."
"Thank you, Mom," said Sasha gratefully.
Her mother sighed and sat back down, looking at Sasha with concern. "Sasha, I'm worried about you," she said. "You're more and more tired every day. You've accidentally frozen 3 alarm clocks this week. What's wrong?"
"I can't sleep, Mom," Sasha replied. "Whenever I try, I have these strange dreams. They keep waking me up, and I've been getting barely any sleep at all."
She sighed. "I'm so tired, Mom. I get so tired that I lose control of my PSI sometimes." It was true; that was why she kept accidentally freezing the clocks.
Her mother shook her head sadly. "Well, if this keeps up, we're going to have to find some help for you."
"I know," Sasha replied. "Maybe that's for the best..."
Their conversation was suddenly interrupted by a loud wail from Shyla. "Mom! Shiloh froze my orange juice!" Shiloh snickered.
Their mother whirled on Shiloh. "Shiloh, you know you're not allowed to use your PSI against other people!" she scolded.
"But it's fun!" Shiloh protested. He extended his hand at Shyla's food. "PSI Fre--"
"If you do that again," warned their mother, "you'll be grounded for a week."
Reluctantly, Shiloh quit. "Awwwwww..."

The family finished breakfast, and then Shiloh and Shyla left to go to elementary school.
Shortly after, Sasha went out the door to go to high school. Her mother came out behind her and stood in the doorway. "Sasha," she called, "I know you're tired, but please try to do well in school today. And be careful, okay?"
Sasha could hear her mother's unspoken request: Don't lose control of your PSI, okay? "I'll be careful, Mom," she replied with a smile. "Don't worry."
Her mother nodded, and Sasha turned and headed off to school.

Sasha was 16 years old. She was attractive, with long brown hair and eyes the color of a clear sky. Around other people, though, she tended to be timid and withdrawn. She didn't have many friends, but the ones she did have were steadfast and truly cared about her.
She lived in the suburbs of Greyhamel with her family. Her father, Samuel Maybee, was a high-ranking official for a major corporation based in multiple countries. It was strange, because even after 16 years, Sasha still didn't know exactly what he did at his job. Right now, he was working in the company's base of operations in Hawkland. He had been there for almost 3 months now; they were waiting for him to be finished and come home, but he didn't know when that would be.
Her father's family all possessed PSI; it was something that her mother had had to learn to live with. Sasha had first exhibited PSI abilities when she was a baby; her mother said that when Sasha was upset, the milk in her baby bottle had suddenly frozen solid. It had developed from there, becoming steadily more powerful and focused. Shiloh and Shyla also had the gift, but Shyla's power hadn't properly developed yet. Even her father had PSI, but Sasha rarely ever saw him use it. Her father told them to never use their PSI in public, because it would bring unwanted attention to their household.
Lately, as she had just told her mother, she had been having strange dreams that kept her awake at night. The dreams were frightening; in them, she was chased by evil creatures that existed only in nightmares. Then, when they finally had her cornered, a dark shadowy figure loomed over her and said, "You are mine, Sasha. It is only a matter of time before you are mine. I will have you for all eternity." She shuddered even to remember it.
But the dreams weren't all bad. Throughout them, six people tried to help her escape from the things that chased her, but they always failed. She never was able to see their faces, but she knew instinctively that they were friends. And sometimes in the dream, a boy about her age would appear and drive back the evil ones with an incredible power. Then he would turn to her and smile, as if everything was going to be alright.
Most of the time, her dream would end with the dark one cornering her and claiming her with his voice of pure evil; it kept her from sleeping at night. But once in a while, the dream would end with the boy helping her. He had blond hair, bright green eyes, and he strangely wore a pair of aviator goggles on his head. In the rare times when her dreams ended that way, Sasha was actually able to sleep, if only for a while.
She knew that if the dreams didn't stop, she was going to need help. But she didn't know who could possibly help her with this.

On the way to school, she met up with her friend Lora. "Good morning, Sasha!" said Lora.
"Good morning, Lora," Sasha replied, feeling a bit better. She always brightened up around Lora; her friend was the only one outside of Sasha's family that knew about their PSI.
They walked to school together. "Have you been sleeping any better?" asked Lora. Sasha shook her head. "It's the dreams again?"
"I froze another alarm clock..." said Sasha.
"Another one? You must really be losing control."
"I know," said Sasha sadly.
"Do you think it'll get worse?"
"I don't know," Sasha replied. She turned to look at her friend as they walked. "I'm really getting scared, Lora. If this keeps happening, I'm going to need help. But I don't know who can help with something like this."
"What about your father?" Lora suggested. "Doesn't he have PSI too?"
Sasha blinked; she had never even considered that. "He's had it all his life, so he might know something," she agreed. "But he's been in Hawkland for three months now, and I don't know when he's coming home."
"Can't you call him?"
"Mom and I have tried before, but we can never reach him. He calls us, but it's been more than a week since he called last time."
Lora smiled, trying to make Sasha feel better. "Well, if it's been that long, then it can't be much longer before he calls again. When he does, you can ask him for help."
"I hope so," said Sasha.
Lora decided to change the subject, to take her friend's mind off of it. "What's that bratty brother of yours been up to?"
Sasha laughed. "He's as mischievous as ever," she replied. "This morning, he froze Shyla's orange juice. He would have frozen her food too, if Mom hadn't stopped him." She smiled. "He can't play tricks on me, because I can retaliate; my power's stronger than his right now. So he picks on Shyla instead. But just wait until her power develops... When it does, Shiloh's going to be a very sorry boy."
They both laughed. Sasha felt considerably better.

They finally got to school, and separated to go to their respective classes.
School seemed to drag on for Sasha. Several times, she almost fell asleep in class, but managed to catch herself.
In her history class, though, her teacher, Mr. Julius, was so boring that she did fall asleep. The next thing she knew, Mr. Julius was standing over her, glaring indignantly. "I suppoze you think eet eez funny to fall asleep in my class," he said in his fake accent. "When you fall asleep, eet showz that you have no respect for me or the material I teach."
"I'm sorry, Mr. Julius," Sasha apologized. "I just can't sleep at night--"
"Excuzes will NOT be tolerated!" Mr. Julius yelled, snapping a pencil in half. "If you fall asleep in my class evair again, I'll take the maxeemum deescipleenary action against you!" He stormed back to the front of the room.
All of the other students laughed at her. Sasha looked down at her desk, embarrassed, and reached out to rearrange her things.
The desk was cold.
Alarmed, Sasha caught herself before it froze completely. The desk returned to room temperature. I'm really losing control! she thought, getting scared.
For the rest of class, Sasha kept rubbing her eyes, fighting to stay awake.

Finally school ended. Sasha sighed as she left the building. At least I didn't completely lose control of my PSI, she thought, trying to make the best of it.
She met up with Lora, and they walked home together.

At supper, her mother said, "I put another alarm clock in your room, Sasha. But it's the last one we have. Please don't break this one."
"I'll try not to, Mom," Sasha promised. Shiloh and Shyla had already finished eating, and were out playing (at least, if Shiloh freezing Shyla's dolls could be considered "playing").
Sasha and her mother ate silently for a while. After a moment, Sasha asked, "Mom, is there any way we can reach Dad?"
"I don't think so," her mother replied. "We tried before, and we couldn't get him. He's very busy."
Sasha sighed. "I know. I just thought that maybe since he might know something about how to keep better control of my PSI, or even something about the dreams."
Her mother's jaw dropped. "I never even thought of that," she said. "But we probably can't reach him until he calls us."
Then she remembered something else. "Also, I don't know why, but we received an airplane ticket in the mail today. It has your name on it, and the flight leaves tomorrow, to go to Troisemburg, Hawkland."
"Troisemburg?" said Sasha, surprised. "That's where Dad's working--"
At that moment, the phone rang in the living room. Sasha got up to answer it. "Hello?"
"Hi, sweetheart," said Samuel Maybee, on the other end.
"Dad!" Sasha cried happily. In the dining room, her mother started in surprise.
"I'm sorry I haven't called for a long time," said her father. "Things have been really busy around here. I've barely had time to even breathe."
"That's okay, Dad," said Sasha. "I'm just glad to hear from you again. When are you coming home?"
There was a pause on the other end. "I'm afraid I can't come home for at least another month," he finally replied.
Sasha's heart sank. This was the longest her father had been away from home.
"Did you get an airplane ticket in the mail?" her father asked.
"Yes," Sasha replied, confused.
"Good then," he said. "I sent that. Tomorrow, you have to go to Shean International Airport and take the flight to Troisemburg here in Hawkland. I thought you might like to come and visit me in Hawkland."
Sasha's eyes widened in surprise. "You mean, I get to go to another country, and visit you...?"
"That's right," her father answered. "It's your birthday present, since I wasn't there on your birthday two months ago."
"That's wonderful, Dad!" said Sasha, feeling very happy. "But don't I need a passport?"
"Normally, yes," her father answered. "However, I pulled a few corporate strings, so you won't need one."
"What about school?" Sasha asked. "School doesn't end for another month."
"Same thing," replied Samuel. "A few days ago, the school's money increased by a sizable amount. You'll find that you've finished this year with a really good GPA."
The ethics of the situation were completely overshadowed by the fact that Sasha was going to see her father again, and she was even going to another country. "What time does the flight leave?"
"It leaves at 4:30 PM," her father answered. "The ticket should say that, too. Your mom has to drive you to Shean beforehand, to the airport. I'll be waiting for you in Hawkland International Airport, when you get there."
"Okay," said Sasha. Then she suddenly remembered. "Dad... I've been having these strange dreams lately. I can't sleep at night, and I'm starting to lose control of my PSI."
"What!?" her father exclaimed. There was a long pause on the other end. Finally, he spoke again. "...I see. The same thing happened to my grandfather, your great-grandfather, a long time ago. Don't worry, I know what to do."
Sasha's spirits lifted even more. "You do?"
"Yes," her father replied. "When you get to Troisemburg, I'll help you."
She felt as if she could cry from sheer happiness. Not only was she going to another country, but her father knew what to do about her dreams and her PSI. "Thank you, Dad," she said gratefully.
"Okay. Now, I have to talk to your mother, so I can explain all of this to her."
Sasha called her mother, who entered the room instantly. "Here she is, Dad. I love you."
"I love you too, sweetheart," said her father. "I'll see you soon."
Sasha gave the phone to her mother, and walked back into the dining room. Suddenly, Shiloh came into the house, having tired of freezing the stray cat outside. "Who's on the phone, Sasha?"
"It's Dad," Sasha replied, in high spirits.
"Daddy!" Forgetting about his latest mischief, Shiloh ran into the living room.
Shyla came in next, carrying the hapless cat. "Sasha, Shiloh made a cat-sicle in the yard!"
Sasha sighed. "One of these times he's going to go too far..."
"Can you fix it?" asked Shyla. "My powers don't work yet..."
Sasha smiled sadly. "Shyla, our PSI can freeze things, but it can't warm things." She went upstairs into the bathroom, and brought the hair dryer downstairs. She then took the frozen cat from Shyla, took it into the kitchen, and set it in the sink.
She plugged in the hair dryer and began to thaw out the cat with the hot air. "I'll fix it, Shyla," she said. "Go into the living room; Dad's on the phone."
"Daddy called? Yay!" Shyla ran off into the living room.

After a while, the cat was finally thawed out. It jumped out of the sink and onto the floor, and started rubbing against her in gratitude. Sasha smiled, and let the cat out the back door.
Her mother came in. "The twins are talking to your father right now," she said. "I guess I'll have to take you to Shean International Airport tomorrow."
Sasha nodded. "Dad said he could help me with the dreams."
"That's great news," said her mother, sounding happier. "You'll be careful in Hawkland, won't you? There's something spreading over there called 'the Madness,' which is causing animals to go crazy."
"Yes, I'll be careful," Sasha promised.
Her mother nodded. "You'll be fine over there. You're old enough." She suddenly remembered something else. "Oh, and your father told me to tell you that when you go to sleep, to focus on the good outcome of the dream. I don't know what that means, but he said that it will be a little better if you do that."
Sasha understood what he meant. I have to focus on that boy with blond hair, she thought. The one who drives back the darkness.

That night, Sasha was able to get a little more sleep than normal. The dream's alternate ending, the one with the blond-haired man helping her, appeared a little bit more often, although it wasn't much.
The alarm clock woke her in the morning; since she wasn't going to school, she had set it to go off at 11:00 AM. Fortunately, she managed to avoid freezing the clock.
After she got up, Sasha packed her things into a backpack. She tried to pack everything she would need, because she didn't know how long she would be in Hawkland. After that, she called Lora and told her what was happening; her friend was envious of Sasha's premature end of the school year ("I wish MY Dad was a high-ranking executive of a major international corporation..."), but she wished Sasha luck on her trip.
Once she was all packed, Sasha's mother drove her to the airport. It took a few hours to get to Shean, so they talked a lot along the way. Sasha's mother told her everything she knew about the Madness that was spreading in Hawkland, and she kept warning Sasha to be careful.

Finally, they reached the airport. Sasha's mother dropped her off at the entrance. "I'd come with you further," her mother said, "but I have to get back home. There's no telling what Shiloh could be doing while I'm gone."
"Okay, Mom," said Sasha. "I'm going to miss you..."
"Just call home whenever you like, if you want to talk to me," said her mother. "But don't dwell on home. This is the first time you get to go to another country! You should have fun!"
"I will, Mom," Sasha promised; it wasn't as if having fun would be hard to do. "And I'll try to call a little more often than Dad does."
Her mother laughed. "That would be nice."
They hugged, and then Sasha's mother left to go back to Greyhamel. Sasha waved at the car receding into the distance, and then she turned and entered the airport.

On the airplane, Sasha tried to get some sleep; she was still very tired, and she didn't want to arrive in Troisemburg exhausted. Once again, she tried to focus on the alternate ending of the dream, with the blond boy. She had begun to find that thinking about him even when she was awake calmed her and made her feel better. I wonder if he's real, Sasha thought. Who is he?

Finally she arrived in Troisemburg, Hawkland, the next day. She still felt extremely tired. But what happened next made her forget about it for a while.
As Sasha left the plane and entered Hawkland International Airport, she found someone waiting for her. He had the same color hair and eyes as she did, he was clean-shaven, and he wore a black trenchcoat with a high collar. As he saw her, he smiled warmly.
Sasha was overcome by happiness at seeing him for the first time in months. "Dad!"
She ran into his arms and hugged him tightly. "Hi, sweetheart," said Samuel Maybee. "How was the flight?"
"It was okay," Sasha answered.
"That's good," said her father. "Come on, let's go and get your luggage."
"But what about the dreams--" Sasha started.
"We'll get to those," her father promised. "But I can't do what needs to be done about them in public. I'm going to have to use my PSI."
Sasha blinked. Her father never used his PSI unless it was absolutely necessary, and only when there was no other way.

They went and retrieved her luggage, and then they drove in Samuel's car (which had been given to him by the corporation) back to the hotel he was staying at in Troisemburg. His room was the Presidential Suite, on the top floor. Sasha's father was a high-ranking executive, and the corporation took good care of its executives.
Once they were in the room, Sasha deposited her things off to the side and sat down on a sofa. Her father sat down on a comfortable armchair opposite her. "Before I do anything," he said, "I have to tell you what the dreams are."
He took a deep breath. "Sasha, you have inherited a power that only shows up in certain members of our family. The last person who had this power was your great-grandfather, Silas Maybee. He was the first person who named this power. He called it Premonition."
"Premonition?" Sasha repeated, confused.
Her father nodded. "The power of Premonition manifests in dreams, as you've experienced," he explained. "The dreams are actually visions of possible futures."
Sasha's eyes widened in surprise. "My dreams are the future?" She started to feel very frightened. That shadowy figure that looms over me at the end of the dream... Is that my future?
"Your dreams are of one possible future," said her father. "I'm sure that you've also had the dream a few times where it ended differently."
She calmed down somewhat upon hearing this, and nodded. The blond boy...
"The future is unwritten," said Samuel. "One can't simply predict exactly what is going to happen. But there are a few rare instances where the only possibilities are one way or the other; one of two possibilities. It is these instances that show up in the dreams of Premonition. One example of this is the war against Giygas that took place 30 years ago. There were only two possible outcomes of that war: either Giygas would win, or the four heroes would win. Because the heroes won, the future was set down a certain path. If Giygas had won, this world would be a very different place right now."
He leaned back in the chair. "So, Sasha," he said, "What have the dreams shown you?"

So Sasha told her father everything that she saw in the dreams, both good and bad.
After hearing all of it, her father frowned. "I see."
He thought for a moment, and then spoke. "From what you told me... I think that the world is going to be in danger again soon."
Sasha gasped in surprise. "You mean like the war against Giygas?"
Samuel nodded solemnly. "Yes. And no matter what happens in this war, the fact that dark creatures are after you suggests that you are important in some way in this war."
"I-Important? I'm important to this?"
"Yes. And the ending you told me about, with the dark figure at the end, suggests that we lose this war, and for whatever reason, he claims you as a prize."
Upon hearing this, Sasha hid her face in her hands and wanted to cry. "That's my future..."
"Sasha, look at me," said her father. She did so. "I told you before, sweetheart, that is only one possible future. You told me that there is another ending to the dream."
Sasha nodded. "The boy with the blond hair and green eyes..."
Her father smiled slightly. "This young man, whoever he is, is going to be a central part of what happens in this coming war. If he succeeds, then the world will be saved, but if he fails, then the first ending to your dream will become a reality. He is the world's salvation, and yours, too."
This made her feel better. At least there was a chance that she would be saved. I have to find this boy, she thought. Whoever he is, wherever he is, I have to find him.
She suddenly realized something. "Dad, how do you know how to interpret these dreams?"
Her father shrugged. "Intuition?"
It didn't make sense, but then there were some things in the world that didn't make sense. After all, she had heard a lot of things about the war against Giygas that didn't make sense...
"So now that I know what the dreams mean," she said, "can you do something about them?" She sighed, fatigued. "I'm so tired, Dad. I'm can't sleep at night, and I'm losing control of my PSI. I've accidentally frozen three alarm clocks over the last week, and in school two days ago, I almost froze my desk."
Her father nodded. "Your great-grandfather also suffered from these symptoms," he said. "He developed a way to make the dreams stop. He passed this method down to his son, and his son passed it down to me, in case anyone else in our family ever develops Premonition." He paused for a moment. "This method requires the use of PSI," he said.
Samuel raised his index finger, and to Sasha's surprise the tip of his finger began to glow. He reached out and lifted up Sasha's brown bangs with his other hand. "Now, this might sting a little," he warned her, "but that's normal." He pressed the tip of his finger to Sasha's forehead; it felt strangely warm.
Her father closed his eyes. "Prescient Pseal."
The tip of his finger suddenly shone brilliantly, and for an instant, Sasha felt a terrible burning sensation on her forehead. Then it was all over.
"There," said her father, leaning back in the armchair; he looked as if he had expended a great deal of energy.
"What did you do?" asked Sasha, confused.
"The method your great-grandfather developed to make the dreams stop," her father replied. "It's called a pseal. Basically, it seals your power of Premonition. You won't have any more dreams now except for normal dreams, so you'll be able to sleep now."
At the notion of being able to sleep again, Sasha hugged her father gratefully. "Thank you, Dad."
Samuel smiled. "You're welcome, sweetheart."
He got up off of the chair. "I'm going to go to the bar with some of my friends from work," he said. "You stay here and get some rest; you need it."
"Okay, Dad," Sasha agreed. She suddenly felt very sleepy.

Her father left, and Sasha sat on the sofa for a moment. Suddenly she thought of something.
She looked at herself in the mirror, and lifted her bangs with her hand. Burned into her forehead was a small letter "p".
That must be the pseal, she guessed. She let her hair fall back down, and her bangs covered the pseal; no one would see it unless they looked for it.
Feeling more tired than ever, she lay down on the comfortable bed. She was asleep instantly, and for the first time in more than a week, she was not plagued by the dreams. It was wonderful.

The next day, Sasha went with her father to see the place he was working at. She felt much better, now that she had finally gotten a good night's sleep.
Her father was a high-ranking executive for Orange Enterprises, Inc., which had several bases of operations in different locations over the entire world. Two years ago, her father had gone to work at the main base of operations in Twoson, Eagleland. Now, he worked at the Hawkland base of operations in Troisemburg.
The Troisemburg base of Orange Enterprises consisted of several office areas and several factory areas; it was very large.
"Did the pseal work?" Samuel asked her, when no one else was nearby.
"It worked perfectly," Sasha replied happily. "I haven't slept so well in a long time."
Her father smiled. "I'm glad."
A young man about Sasha's age came up to them. He had orange hair, and he wore a pair of hornrim glasses. He was dressed in black clothing, and when he looked at her, Sasha was surprised to see that one of his eyes was dark blue, while the other was bright orange. "Good morning, Mr. Maybee," he said.
"Good morning, Guy," said Samuel. "How have you been?"
"Well enough," replied the boy named Guy. He looked at Sasha. "Who have you brought with you today?"
"This is my daughter Sasha," Samuel answered. "She came to visit me in Hawkland, until I finish my work here."
Guy nodded, and turned to her. "So this is the famous Sasha," he said. "Your father never stops talking about you, and he says nothing but the best about you." Sasha blushed shyly.
He proffered his hand. "My name is Guy Orangere. I am the son of Orangeman Orangere, who is the owner of this corporation. Your father is a good friend of mine."
Sasha shook his hand. "Pleased to meet you, Guy."
"Likewise." Guy turned to her father. "Well, Mr. Maybee, I have things to do, so I will see you later, probably at the company Scrabble competition later today?"
"Of course," Sasha's father replied. "Between the two of us and Mark Wyrd, we'll blow the competition away."
Guy smiled, and then turned to Sasha. "Miss Sasha, it was a pleasure to meet you. Surely I will see you again in the future." He walked away.
Sasha turned to her father. "He was very polite."
"Guy is a very nice young man," her father agreed. "His father had no time for him, so he was raised by the best nannies that money can buy. He also received the best education from several different boarding schools, including Snow Wood."
Sasha looked in the direction that Guy had gone. There was something else about him, but she couldn't place it.
She turned to her father, and decided to ask something that she had been wondering about for a long time. "Dad," she said, "What exactly do you DO here?"
Her father frowned. "Well, sweetheart," he started, "my job is to--"
Suddenly a worker came up to him. "Mr. Maybee, thank goodness!" he exclaimed. "There's a situation in Area F!"
"Is it dangerous?" asked Samuel.
"Is it DANGEROUS?" the worker repeated. "There's this weird thing shaped like a star shooting beams at everyone and talking in really cheesy dialogue, and you ask me if it's DANGEROUS?"
"Cheesy dialogue?" Samuel repeated. "What did it say?"
"It was demanding that we give it some girl named Sasha, so that it could take her to its master."
Sasha froze, terrified. The dark one from her dream was after her!
She felt rather than saw her father stiffen. "That's what it said...?" he asked. There was an edge in his voice that could cut steel.
The worker nodded. "That's what it said, and that if we didn't give her up, it would blow up this place! But I don't know any girls named Sasha. Do you?"
Samuel's sky-blue eyes narrowed. "No."
"Then what are we going to do?"
"Go back and tell everyone that I will be there momentarily to deal with it," Sasha's father ordered. "Now."
"Yes, sir!" The worker ran off.
Sasha's father turned to her. He reached into the pocket of this trenchcoat and pulled out some money. "Here is 1000 dollars, Sasha," he said solemnly. "I want you to leave here immediately, and take the bus to the town of Primera; it's the farthest from here I can think of, that you can reach on land."
"But what about you?" Sasha asked, frightened.
"I am going to deal with this... thing, whatever it is, that is after you," her father replied.
"But what should I do in Primera?" Sasha asked. "I have no idea what to do!"
"Stay in Primera. At night, call my hotel room number. I will tell you when it's safe to come back."
Sasha had no idea what to do; this was happening too quickly. "But--"
"Go NOW!" her father ordered.
The edge in his voice was such that Sasha had no choice but to obey. "I love you, Dad." She turned and left the base as quickly as possible.

After she left the Orange Enterprises base, Sasha went to a bus stop. After a while, the bus came; it was headed for Primera. Sasha got on and paid the fare.
As the bus drove to Primera, Sasha had no idea what to do. Everything had happened so fast. Dad... I hope you're okay... she prayed.
She had known that the dark one was eventually going to try to take her, but she had had no idea that it would be so soon. Now she was on the way to another town, and she had no idea what to do.
Strangely, her thoughts shifted to the boy from her dream, with the blond hair. Her father had said that this boy would be her salvation. Now that the dark one had tried to take her, she HAD to find the boy. But where could he be? she thought. How will I find him? What if, before I find him, the dark one finds me?
She then wondered how the dark one had managed to locate her. Maybe he somehow located me through my power of Premonition, since I dreamed about him, she theorized. If he did, then I'm safe for now, because my Premonition is sealed. Still, it was an uncertain theory, and she didn't feel much better.
Sasha had no idea what she was supposed to do, or what was going to happen to her next. She looked out the bus window, and saw that it was a bright sunny day. At least she could take some comfort in that.

Little did she know that last night, destiny had been set in motion, and that she was one of eight people on whom the future of the world rested...

And so begins Sasha Maybee's part in the story...