Kevin Ryan - Nightscape

"What is it?" Kyle asked.

"Nothing, just a bedroom," Max said.

"So is this," Michael said from the next door down.

They walked the hallway, trying each door. The entire floor seemed to be bedrooms. There were two more children's rooms… a nursery and a boy's room. There were also a number of large bathrooms and a children's library. Farther down were adult bedrooms, each with large, ornate beds and heavy curtains. Each room was in pristine condition.

"Creepsville," Michael said.

"I don't think so," Isabel said. They were the first words she had spoken since they had found the first bedroom. "It's all kind of… comfortable."

"A little over-the-top-gothic for me," Maria said.

They came to the end of the hallway, where there were ornate double doors. Isabel opened them and revealed what was by far the largest bedroom.

The room took up the entire rear of the house. There was a large bed against the wall, and a bank of windows that overlooked what must have been a beautiful garden.

Max could see an empty swimming pool as well. There were bookshelves, as well as sofas and chairs. The place

looked more like an apartment than a bedroom. Stepping inside, Isabel opened a door and disappeared inside. Max followed and saw that she was inside a large walk-in closet, still full of clothes. Through another door was a bathroom three times larger than his room at home.

"This is my room," Isabel declared. No one questioned her.

Max said, "Looks like there's no one here. Let's go downstairs and get what we need from the van and keep watch for a while before we go to bed."

They headed out to the hallway, but Maria stopped. "If it's all the same to you guys, why don't we take the back stairs."

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.