Nightscape

8

Liz put the last log on the fire and stepped back. Max raised his hand, and the pile of logs began to smoke. Seconds later the fire was blazing, and Max put his hand down.

Reflexively, Liz turned back to check on Maria, who was sitting on one of the sofas they had moved in front of the fire. Maria was looking around nervously. She relaxed when Michael appeared from the hallway.

He was loaded down with the two bags that contained their one change of clothes each and their bathroom stuff. He also had Marias new guitar strapped to his back by the strap on its soft case.

"Where were you?" Maria said sharply.

Michaels face set and he held up the bags. "Is that a serious question, because if it is… "

Liz cut him off by stepping in front of him and took one of the bags. "Thanks, Michael," she said.

"You're welcome, Liz," he said in deliberate, even tones as he gave Maria a look. Then something softened on his

face, and he walked over to Maria and handed her the guitar.

"Here," he said, and then he turned quickly to Max before she could respond.

"Anything?" Max said.

"Nothing going on out there, but I think the rain is stopping," Michael said.

Liz realized it had been a while since she had heard any thunder. That was good; it would be hard enough to sleep without the periodic loud noise. She took her place on the sofa next to Max. They had moved three sofas from the large room into a semicircle and dragged a big Oriental rug in front of the fire. The result was surprisingly cozy.

Liz hadn't realized how tired she was until she sat down. The adrenaline of the chase and encounter with the Special Unit, then the strangeness of this house, had kept her alert. Now, she was feeling the effects of their long day. She was about to lean into Max when he started speaking.

"There's something we should talk about before we go to bed. We haven't had a chance to, but I don't think we can wait anymore," Max said.

"The Special Unit," Kyle said.

Max nodded. "They found us. Even if we've lost them temporarily, they'll be able to track us again."

"How do you think they did it?" Liz asked.

"Did anyone call home, or write a letter or anything?" Max asked the group.

"Of course not," Maria said. "We had an agreement."

"Yes, and I'm asking if anyone broke it," Max said.

Each one of them shook their heads.

"That's too bad," Michael said.

"Why?" Maria said.

"Because then at least we would know how they did it," Michael said.

Max nodded. "Now, we have no idea and no way to stop it from happening again."

"Maybe the incident in Stonewall got someone's attention," Kyle said. "I mean, you and Michael did take a few shots at that UFO, which blasted out of there pretty quick. Maybe that showed up on somebody's monitor somewhere."

"I thought about that, but that was days ago and hundreds of miles back," Max said. "They had plenty of time to pick us up before now."

"Maybe they tracked the diamonds somehow," Liz said, fingering the diamond Max had made for her.

"I think that's the most likely possibility," Max said. "I made those new ones recently."

"But how would they know about some diamonds we unloaded in a pawn shop in the middle of nowhere?" Michael said.

Max shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know for sure, but… Agent Pierce seemed to know a lot about our powers, and how they worked."

Liz cringed inside for Max. She knew he didn't like to talk about Agent Pierce and what that man had done to him in the White Room. There were very few people Liz had ever truly hated in her life, but Pierce was certainly one of them.

"They did have one of us in nineteen forty-seven that they experimented on. Maybe using our powers on something leaves a residue that they can trace," Max suggested.

"That makes as much sense as anything else, but what do we do about it?" Michael asked.

"That's what we need to talk about," Max said.

"Come on, Max," Michael said. "You know you already have a plan."

"I've told you before, I'm not…," Max began.

"I know, you're not the leader here, but why don't you tell us what you think, so we can put it up to the committee for a vote," Michael said.

"Okay, I think we have to stop using our powers for a while. No more diamonds. We'll have to earn money however we can," he said.

"That's dangerous, too, though. It puts us into close contact with other people over a period of time," Kyle said.

"True, but I think it's the only way to go," Max said.

Everyone nodded their agreement.

"Well, I for one will be happy to leave this house. Give me the Special Unit any day over Dracula's castle," Maria said.

"I think something happened here," Isabel broke in.

"Why do you say that?" Max asked.

Isabel shrugged. "I don't know, it's just a feeling. Nothing adds up. The place looked like a museum on the inside and is falling apart on the outside. It's like the house is waiting for something…" She shook her head. "I can't explain it."

Liz thought about it for a moment. She had also gotten a strange feeling from the house. But for her, it was more of a sense of being watched.

"Don't worry, we won't be staying long," Max said.

"I'm not sure we should be in a rush to go," Isabel said.

"What!?" Maria said.

"I think there's something going on in this house, something worth exploring," Isabel said.

"Why would we want to?" Maria said.

For a moment, Liz could see Isabel struggle to remain in control. And for her, that was a colossal emotional display.

"I just think there are forces at work here. We could learn something… about death. You know, the greatest mystery in the universe," Isabel said.

Liz knew she had almost died three years ago at the Crashdown, but Max had brought her back before she'd really felt anything. Max, however, had been dead for much longer. Whatever he had seen after he had passed still haunted him, she knew, and he refused to talk about it, even to her. Maybe Max's experience was why Isabel was so interested in the afterlife.

"I'm sorry, Iz, I don't think we can afford to stay past tonight," Max said.

"Why not? You're not actually afraid of ghosts, are you Max?" Before he could respond, she continued. "And if the Special Unit knows where we are, nothing we try to do now matters, anyway."

"I really think we lost them, or they would have caught up with us by now. But we have to put as much distance as we can between ourselves and the last place they tracked us to," Max said.

"And whoever has been in here to clean up and stock the place with food has to come back sooner or later. Better if we're gone when they do," Liz said.

Isabel looked around the room. "Is that how you all feel?" she asked.

The others nodded.

"I'm sorry, Isabel," Kyle said.

She stood up quickly. "I'm going to bed," she said. Then she rubbed her arms and said, "It's freezing in here."

She was right, Liz realized. They were sitting in front of the warm fire, and it was still chilly.

"That would be the ghosts," Maria said.

Everyone shot her the same questioning look at the same time.

"What? Don't you know anything? Ghosts draw on thermal energy when they act on the physical world. You know, chasing girls over balconies, that sort of thing," Maria said.

"Really?" Liz found herself saying.

Maria nodded. "My mom and I used to watch that show, Haunted Places," Maria said.

"Sounds like a crock to me," Michael said.

"I wouldn't expect…," Maria began.

A loud crash suddenly sounded from the back of the house, startling all of them. It was such a shock that even Maria was too surprised to scream. The next thing they heard was a loud thumping noise.

For a long moment, no one spoke.

"Well, we can't stand here forever staring at one another. I'm going to check that out. Anyone coming with me?" Isabel said.

Isabel followed the sound toward the back of the house, the others just a few steps behind her. The thumping

continued and got louder the closer they got to the kitchen. When she was only a few feet from the kitchen, Max stopped and said, "Hold on."

Isabel didn't hesitate, then she felt Max's hand on her arm.

"Let's at least check it out together," Max said.

"Okay," Isabel said.

Max and Michael stepped forward to either side of her, and the three of them entered the large kitchen. Once again, Isabel couldn't help thinking it was… comfortable.

The loud noise felt like an intruder in the house and was much louder in the kitchen.

"There," Michael said, pointing to a door on the side wall. Isabel had thought before that it was another pantry and hadn't bothered to investigate it. Now they approached it carefully, and peered inside.

It was a hospital room. No, not a hospital room, more like an infirmary. The walls were white, though they had yellowed with age. There were five hospital beds, three on one side and two on the other.

There was I.V equipment, curtains between the beds, and trays full of old-fashioned medical equipment that Isabel did not recognize. As she took in the room, she was vaguely aware of Max and Michael closing a window. They also wrestled with a shutter or something that must have been making the noise.

The room could not have looked more out of place in the house, which for all of its dark wood, heavy drapes, and thick carpet was still a place that Isabel could imagine a family living in. Suddenly she realized something and felt a sharp stab in her stomach.

"They died here," Isabel said.

"Who died?" Liz said from beside her.

"The family, I think they all died in here," she answered. Though she had used the word "think," she meant "know." She felt it somehow, with a dread certainty that pained her. Suddenly she didn't want to be in this room anymore, and quickly stepped back into the kitchen.

"Well, mystery solved," Michael said, his voice light. Isabel couldn't understand it. Hadn't he felt anything in there? How could he have missed it?

She felt Max's hand on her shoulder. "Iz, are you okay?" he asked.

"I'm going to sleep," she said. She was looking forward to going back into the master bedroom. The feeling she had gotten there had been good… the opposite of the feeling she had gotten in the infirmary.

She started toward the front of the house.

"Wait, we'll all go," Max said, following her.

When they reached the fireplace, Isabel found herself putting more logs on the fire.

"Isabel, what are you doing?" Max asked. "We're going to sleep."

"Oh, just a habit," she said.

Max gave her a strange look. Of course, it couldn't have been a habit. They didn't have a fireplace at home. Still, to her it had felt like a natural thing to do, like something she had done before.

Silly, she thought. I must be tired.

Isabel collected her things and was about to go when Max said, "I don't think we should sleep alone."

"Right, that's how the teenagers always get it in the movies. They separate and then, WHAM," Maria said.

"First of all," Isabel said, "this is not some stupid movie. And second, we've been sharing a single motel room for how many days now? Well, extra rooms won't cost us anything tonight. I'm sleeping alone."

"I was thinking we could all pair up," Max said.

Maria sighed and shook her head.

"Kyle could bunk with you. I just think it would be safer if none of us were alone," Max said to Isabel. "Okay?" he asked, turning to Kyle.

Kyle looked uncomfortable and said, "Sure." Then noticed the look on Isabel's face and said, "Look, Max is right. I'll sleep on the floor."

"No," Isabel said firmly. "I'm sleeping alone tonight, for the first time in two weeks. I'm sorry if that bothers you Max, but this isn't something we're going to vote on."

Isabel turned and headed up the stairs.