Adam ran and ran until he could not run anymore. He collapsed in a heap in an open field near the bluffs that aligned the coastline just south of town. All of those haunting voices were playing over and over in his head like a broken record. As the tears streamed down his face, he glanced up and towards the ocean. Life had dealt him a bad hand and he was simply at his breaking point. He knew that his family and friends loved him dearly, but he could not help but think what a mess he had made of their lives. The accident, the hidden secret, the seizures and now dealing with the death of a good family friend, all of those things he had brought on to his family. He thought of his father, deciding to stay home to be closer to him instead of being out in the field. Doing paper work and computer links were just not the things his father joined the state department to do. Then there was his mother, who loved to go out on digs. She turned down the dig of a lifetime in Egypt to stay home with him and be closer to home. Jason, who had really been investing a lot of tutor time into Adam, had missed out on a lot of his school life. Instead of going out with Kara or playing with the chess club, Jason stayed home and helped Adam with his school work. He had stood by his side the entire time. Adam knew he was blessed with a great older brother, but he found it unfair to see Jason miss out on so many things during his senior year because of him. Alyssa was also in his thoughts. He knew that she was hurt, but he could not bear to take a chance in hurting her again. It seemed like he had messed up a lot of lives with his stupid brain. All of these thoughts taunted him as he stood at the edge of a three-story drop to the ocean below. The slightly mild winds went through his medium length hair as he stood there contemplating things of the past and events of the future.

Meanwhile, Jason and his mother were crouched together in the basement of an abandoned farmhouse. Laura had asked Jason of Adam's whereabouts, but he simply said he did not know.

"I hope your father gets back soon. He should possibly be back by now," Laura said as she moved about the underground prison.

"Don't worry, Dad will take care of everything," Jason reassured her as he was still pacing around the room, looking for a way out. But he could not find any way out of their predicament. He just hoped that he could get his mother through this alive and find Adam before it was too late.

"What are you thinking about?" Laura asked her son. She knew that he was acting very strange even for their situation. "I get this feeling that you are not telling me everything."

"What do you mean Mom?" Jason asked, trying to hide his face. Laura could always scope her sons out of the truth and she had very good gut instincts. "I know that you are not telling me something and I know it has to do with Adam," she said, sitting down on a wooden chair in the middle of the empty room. There was a single light in the middle of the room.

"I don't know where Adam is. I swear I don't," he said. But his mother's silence and gaze wore into him and he felt guilty. "He ran off from Alyssa this afternoon out near the bluffs. She said that he just went a little crazy and ran off into the woods."

"I knew it. I have had this feeling for the past hour that one of my babies was in trouble."

Jason frowned at the thought of being called a baby, but he knew that his mother's instincts were very reliable. "He will be okay."

"I hope so, he has been so depressed lately. It really worries me," She said tearfully. "Now we are stuck here with these people."

"We will be fine. Alyssa has probably discovered that I am not coming and I am sure she will get into contact with Dad," Jason said, walking over to his mother and hugging her gently. But Jason's hopes were dashed the minute the words came out of his mouth. They both heard the door unlock and the sound of scuffling feet. Soon Jason and Laura were standing face to face with a very beaten Carl Kramer. Carl collapsed at his wife's feet. Laura instantly cradled him in her arms.

"What do you want?" She exclaimed with anger at the two men dressed in black. Both men had guns and were very large men. "Who are you?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" a female voice spoke up. It was then that an average sized female with short brown hair came from around the other side of the door. "I know that Carl here probably does not know me, so my guess is that you would not know me either. I am---"

But Carl interrupted her. "Tarah Fisher."

The woman looked down at him with amazement, but then carried on with her explanation. "You are correct Carl. I am Tarah Fisher, the daughter of Roger Fisher."

"I don't know Roger Fisher," Laura said, still soothing her husband wiping the cut on his head with her dress skirt.

"I imagine that you don't so I will tell you or should I let Carl do the honors," Tarah said with a sneer.

"Her father was a cop killer. He killed five FBI agents after they cornered him. He had been involved with the syndicate as a hit man and the agency finally tracked him down. Roger was put in a maximum state prison for life without parole," Carl replied with a grimace.

"So what does that have to do with my family? Why are you terrorizing my family?" Laura asked with a stern voice.

"Your husband was the one who put him there. I had to grow up without my father and I was placed with a cousin who beat the tar out of me," Tarah yelled back. "While your sons were fed, I was hungry. While I wondered how I was going to keep warm, you sons were snug in their beds. While you loved and hugged your sons, I was beaten for stupid things. Well, I got out of there and found my father. I was about to go and visit him when I found out that he killed himself."

"I am sorry, but your father was a criminal. He should have thought about you before he did those horrible things," Laura spouted back. It was easy to see that the statement angered Tarah. "Where was your mother?"

"He killed her," Carl spoke up. "She was threatening to tell on him and divorce him. If they were married they could stop her from testifying, so he killed her the day after she filed for divorce."

"No he didn't. He said the FBI agents gunned her down," Tarah fired back.

"No the agents were coming to get you and her to protect the both of you from him."

"Whatever, I know the truth. You would lie for those pigs because you are one too."

"Tarah, it is the truth. I am sorry though, you did not deserve to suffer for his crimes," Carl said looking up at her.

"Well, I am going to get my revenge. You see, I see it this way. My father killed himself because of you. Well now it is time to take a life for a life," She said with a snicker as she held her gun up.

"So you are the one that has been messing with things," Jason said looking at her. This was the true person responsible for the death of Randall.

"My boys here are, but sometimes women have to do their own dirty work. Men have ways of complicating things," Tarah said with a grin. Both men made a face, but remained silent.

"Yeah, you killed an innocent man and left two teenagers without a father!" Jason said back with an attitude. Tarah walked up to him and looked him straight in the eyes.

"I said that my men messed up. It was your father that was supposed to have ended up at the bottom of that hill. It was just an even better event when your son was blamed for my doings," Tarah said looking back a Carl. "For which I guarantee you that you will be meeting him soon."

"We don't know where Adam is right now," Jason commented.

"You might not, but I do," Tarah said with a smart tone. "He is going to make my job even better from the sounds of it." She then looked down at Carl. "I want you to know what it is like to lose someone because of someone else. I want you to know what it is like to wonder about what could have been. Most of all I want you to be just as miserable for the rest of your life as I will be for the rest of mine. No where on this Earth will you be able to gain what you are going to lose back and you will be left with the biggest question of all. Why?"

With that she snapped her fingers and the two men followed her out of the door. As she locked the door, she snipped back, " Enjoy you last few minutes of being a normal four member family."

Meanwhile, Adam was still standing in the same place he had been standing in for what seemed like hours. He was emotionally drained, yet he just could not bring himself to leave. He wanted to stop the roller coaster ride that he had been on for the past few months. Looking out at the ocean, he could see the turbulent currents whipping around and the tide was coming in. The waves were crashing against the rocks and Adam could feel the mist from the water spray. If only he could turn back time. But he knew that he could not do that. Then he thought; maybe I should just disappear. Just go and start over where no one knows me. But then he thought of his devastated mother, wondering everyday where he was and if he was safe. His brother would no doubt come looking for him along with his father. With his father working for the state and having connections to other agencies, he knew that no matter where he went that they would find him. There was only one way out. However, something kept him on the top of that cliff. Adam was in such deep thought that he did not even notice that figure in black making his way towards him.

"God, I just do not know what to do," Adam finally muttered, tears filling his eyes. He began to tremble again. "Why can't I do it?"

"Because you are not meant to die today," a voice said behind him. Adam almost fell off of the cliff because he was so startled, but he quickly turned around to face the voice's owner. The man was a lot bigger than Adam and dressed entirely in black. He held his pistol very steady and had a grin that was visible through the mouth hole of the black facemask.

"What are you doing here?" Adam said, not really noticing or caring about the gun. Maybe this will be his answer. Someone will kill him and put him out of his misery.

"Coming to get you," The man said.

"You can go on ahead and shoot me. I really don't care, but I am not going with you," Adam said without any fear. He turned to face the ocean and thought one last time of his family.

"You will go with me. Trust me, you will get your wish in time, but for now you must come with me."

Adam turned and faced him again. "I told you that I am not going anywhere and I don't care if you kill me."