It was nice to think about something other than the crisis at hand, but a few minutes later, talk reverted back to Shawn, and everyone was on edge again. I had no idea how I was going to help. I needed to find a way to project myself into Shawn's body again and find out where he was. I knew he felt me when I was there, and if I could communicate with him, maybe he could tell me.
I was sitting on the edge of Victoria's bed, deep in thought, when Dani came and perched next to me. "Penny for your thoughts?" she whispered.
I looked up into her beautiful emerald green eyes and sighed. A plan was taking shape, but I knew I needed her help to pull it off. "Dani, I've got a crazy idea, but you're not going to like it."
She narrowed her eyes at me. "What do you have cooking in that impulsive head of yours?"
I stood up and grabbed her arm. "We need to distract Dustin, and we need Victoria."
She gave me a nervous look. "Katie, if your planning on doing something without telling Dustin, you might want to reconsider. In case you hadn't noticed, he's a little tightly strung right now. If anything were to happen to you..."
"Do you want Shawn back or not?" I lowered my voice. "Get all these people out of here, except Victoria. Send Dustin and Jeremy out for food or something. I don't care what you have to do but get them out of here."
The plan was taking shape in my mind, but I had a lot of preparations to make if I wanted to pull it off.  I watched Dani weave her way to Victoria and whisper something in her ear. Victoria looked over at me, confused, but headed my way.
"Everyone, I hate to be rude, but Katie isn't feeling good. The visions took a lot of her energy, and since we may need her to do it again, I think it's best if she rests for a while," Dani announced.
Victoria sat on the bed next to me, and I linked my eyes with hers. "Can you hear me? Just nod if you can." I projected my voice into her mind.
She nodded, almost imperceptibly, and I could tell she was struggling not to show her surprise at my unannounced presence in her head.
"I have a plan," I continued. "But I need your help."
I looked around and realized that people were starting to file out of the room. Dustin moved towards me, a look of concern on his handsome face. "I thought you were feeling better." Victoria shifted over, so he could sit next to me.
"I just need to get my energy back up. Maybe you could get me something to eat." I kept my eyes verted from his.
"Katie, I don't know. I don't really want to leave you alone right now. I'm sure Kellan's people are still around, and they want to get to Dani and me. They already have Shawn, and I'm sure you are their next target."
"But I'll be here with Dani and Victoria, so nothing will happen. You could leave one of the guys at the end of the hall if you want, just in case. I'm hungry." I threw a little whininess in my voice.
He met my eyes with his, so I tried to block him by thinking of mindless chatter. "Okay, I'll run down to the student union and grab you something, but I'm leaving Jeremy outside just in case."
It was as good as I was going to get. At least I could talk to Dani and Victoria telepathically. The real challenge would come later. "Okay, but make sure you get something for Dani and Victoria too."
He leaned down and kissed me. "Stay here and keep away from the windows. If anything goes wrong, Jeremy can hear you even if you whisper. I'll be right back."
He headed out the door, followed by Jeremy. As soon as they were gone, I grabbed Victoria and linked my eyes to hers again. "We have to go over this quickly. Can you still hear me?"
She nodded, keeping her eyes firmly on mine.
"All you have to do is think your answers and I can hear you too."
Her eyes were wide, but she understood.
"I need to get to Shawn within the next 24 hours, and I have an idea. It will put us both in danger, but I think it's our only chance to get to him before they kill him."
"What do you want to do?"Â she asked, answering me in her head.
"Well, the plan hinges on your willingness to shift into a tiny insect of some kind and hide in my pocket while I use myself as bait to get Kellan to kidnap me and take me to where he's keeping Shawn."
Her eyes bugged out of her head. "Are you kidding me?!"
"Has anyone come up with a better plan? We have less than 24 hours before Kellan kills him. We have to act now!"
Dani tapped me on the arm and looked into my eyes. "Tell me what's going on."
I told her my plan, and she shook her head. "That's suicide, Katie. Dustin would never make it through this if he lost you."
"Victoria can escape and get help. I only have to hold on until you guys rescue us."
Victoria sat back, deep in thought, chewing on her lip.
I tapped her arm and shrugged my shoulders.
"What should I change into? It has to be something very little, but something that won't get squished when you get roughed up. As soon as they leave you alone, I can sneak out and shift into a bird, so I can get back here as fast as possible. We know they have to be within a fifty-mile radius, and as an eagle, I can cover that quickly."
Dani grabbed my arm and spun me back to face her. "Please tell me you guys aren't really considering this!"
I hugged her and turned back to Victoria. "I need an answer before Dustin gets back. I'm going to have to figure out how to get away from him a second time, and we need to have our plan down before that."
She took a deep breath and nodded. "I'm in."
I turned to Dani. "You can't let on that you know what we are doing. I will figure out how Victoria and I will get away and bait Kellan. Whatever you do, wait until we are gone to tell them what we have done."
She looked like she was going to throw up, but she nodded, agreeing.
"Is everything okay in there?"Â Jeremy knocked on the door.
Dani looked at me and I nodded. "We're fine."
"Dustin's coming down the hall, so you may as well open the door."
She swung the door open and found them both about ready to knock. Dustin was carrying Subway sandwiches for everyone. "Here." He handed me one. "Are you feeling any better?"
I nodded, carefully avoiding his eyes. "Just tired. I think I need a nap."
"I thought you were hungry."
"I was, but now I'm tired."
He leaned in and tried to catch my eyes. "Katie, what's going on? You're acting strange."
"Strange? After what I have seen today, I'd say I'm handling it pretty well."
He sat next to me on the side of the bed. "We're going to find him, but right now, keeping you and Dani safe is extremely important."
I started having doubts about how to get alone long enough to tempt Kellan to snatch me. Then it dawned on me. Savannah had told me that there was nothing I couldn't do if I really wanted it.
"I need to go to the bathroom." I grabbed Dani and Victoria. "I'm sure we'll be fine peeing three doors down the hall."
Dustin stood up to walk with me.
"Dustin, this is too much! I want to go to the bathroom alone."
I stalked down the hallway and pushed the door open, Dani and Victoria trailing close behind. "I've figured it out." I told them as soon as we walked into the bathroom. "Victoria, I need you to shift now. I'll put you in my pocket and Dani and I will go back to the room. We'll tell the guys that you had to go somewhere. Then, I'll tell Dustin that I want us to be alone for a little bit, and Dani, you get Jeremy out of there. Once we are alone, I'll put Dustin to sleep, hopefully long enough for us to get out of the building and be spotted by Kellan's people."
"Katie I'm really nervous about this." Dani's face was a mask of fear. "What if something goes wrong?"
"We don't have time to worry about the trivial things. Shawn has less than 24 hours left. Let's go get him."
Victoria took a deep breath. "Okay, I think the smaller the better. I can always shift into something bigger but still undetectable, once we have gotten to where they are keeping Shawn. For now, I think it's best if I shift into a flea and hide in your hair. That way I have a large area to hide in, and my risk of getting squished is minimal."
I tried not to let my revulsion show at the thought of a flea in my hair. "Perfect."
She began removing her clothes and stacking them on the bench by the showers. "Once I have shifted, put your hand down so I can climb on. Then transfer me to your hair."
"Right."Â I nodded.
She stopped when she got down to her underwear. "We've got this." She hugged us both. "Don't let anyone smash me."
She took off her bra and panties and threw them with the rest of her clothes. A moment later, she was gone, and in her place, was a little speck of a bug. I put my hand down on the tile floor, and she scurried on to my finger. I carefully placed the finger on my hair, and she crawled into my blond ponytail.
I took Dani's arm and walked out of the bathroom, trying not to move my head too much while Victoria got herself safely immersed in my hair.
Jeremy and Dustin were standing by the window when we returned to the room.
I walked to Dustin and wrapped my arms around his waist. "I'm sorry I was being so grumpy, I'm just overwhelmed. I think I just need some down time. Can we be alone for a little while?"
He studied my face for a moment and nodded. "The search parties aren't supposed to check in again for another hour, so we can lay down and rest for a bit. We are going to need our strength when we head out in the morning."
Dani took her cue and grabbed Jeremy's arm. "Let's give them some privacy."
He looked at Dustin, expectantly.
"It's alright, man. Come back in about an hour."
They disappeared out the door, closing it quietly behind them.
"Better?"Â Dustin pulled me in for a kiss.
I cuddled into him for a moment, savoring the feel of his arms around me. I knew what I was doing was crazy, but I couldn't stop it now. "Let's lay down." I led him towards the bed.
He leaned into me, his lips finding mine. I knew if I didn't do it now, then Victoria was going to get one hell of a show, and we were going to miss our window of opportunity.
I looked up into his eyes and concentrated as hard as I could. I harnessed all my energy and projected it deep into his mind. "Sleep," I whispered.
His eyes closed, and his arms fell to his sides. He was asleep. I kissed him softly, staring down at his beautiful face. "I love you."
A/N- Oh lord! Is Katie really going to do this? What do you think Dustin will do when he wakes up? Leave me a comment below!! Luvs as always!! AM