As the children climbed the next mountain, no one noticed at first that the group had become smaller.
Allen was gone.
Mimi was the first to realize it.
"Where's Allen?" she asked, panic rising in her voice.
Everyone stopped.
They looked around, but there was no sign of him.
Marko's face turned pale.
"We have to get to the top," he said quickly.
"What?" Kyler asked. "Allen's missing!"
"I know where he is," Marko replied. "But I need to get all of you to the top first."
The children stared at him in disbelief.
"I can't lose any of you."
Those words sent a chill through the group.
Without another choice, they continued climbing.
When they finally reached the top, Marko turned to face them.
"I'll be back with Allen."
"You know where he is?" Mimi asked.
Marko nodded.
"They took him back to the police station."
"The station?" Jack asked.
"There's a cave underneath it. That's where they're keeping him."
The children wanted to follow him.
"We're coming too," Jeff said.
Marko shook his head.
"No."
"But"
"I need you to stay here."
"Why?" Kyler asked.
"How do you know no one can get to us up here?"
Marko looked back toward the mountain.
"Because…"
He paused.
"I've lived here most of my life."
Before anyone could ask another question, Marko disappeared down the mountain.
Allen slowly opened his eyes.
His wrists were tied behind his back.
He was sitting on the cold stone floor beside a massive metal door.
Strange symbols covered its surface.
Every few seconds, the symbols glowed a different color.
Blue
Red
Green
Then darkness again.
Voices echoed from another room.
Allen stayed perfectly still and listened.
"When we get all the kids," one voice said, "we'll be able to go wherever we want."
"Different timelines…"
"Different universes…"
"We already caught one."
Another voice growled.
"But that stupid Marko took the others."
"What's his problem?"
Allen's heart pounded. He began to question
How did they know about Marko?
More importantly…
Who was Marko?