Melinda Metz: The Vanished

"Are you okay?" she asked in a low, caring voice.

The pang to Adam's heart was almost as painful as the shock had been.

"We're losing the tour group," Adam said flatly. "Should we catch up?"

"No," Max said. "I think we're close to finding what we came here for. Could anyone tell where the power was coming from?"

Adam closed his eyes, blocking out the sight of Liz's concerned expression, and forced himself to remember the shock… to feel it again so that he could concentrate on which direction it had come from.

"That way," he said, pointing toward a path that led away from the Big Room. It was a walkway with a steep slope-so steep that the asphalt paved over it was made with textured ridges in it to help with traction. "It's down there."

"Let's go," Michael said, his tone grim.

Adam started down the path, his friends following close behind as they picked their way down the damp, slippery route. He braced himself for another sudden shock of stinging energy, but it never came.

Adam felt comfortable leading the group. He ducked under a low, misshapen overhang and skirted a stone "drapery" that ran down a wall, the rock patterned like hanging curtains. Then he came face-to-face with a swinging chain cordoning off a tunnel that led into darkness. The paved path ended there.

"What do we do?" Adam asked.

"We keep going," Max said. "We can't stop now."

Adam nodded. He swung his leg over the chain.

"Hey!" a deep voice shouted from up the corridor. "You can't go in there."

Adam yanked his leg back onto the asphalt path. A young ranger, dressed in his uniform of a brown shirt and green trousers, was hurrying toward them. His almost childlike features wore a stern expression.

Isabel stepped up to face the ranger, smiling flirtatiously and looking up at him with her big, blue eyes. "We're sorry," she said. "We didn't realize we weren't allowed in there. We'll stay on the path from now on."

"See that you do," the ranger said with less certainty. "It's dangerous in the back tunnels, and leaving the path is a felony."

"A felony?" Maria squeaked.

"These caves are a World Heritage Site and a natural preserve, miss," the ranger answered. "Foot traffic destroys them."

"No problem. We're not looking for trouble," Michael said, shooting Adam an ironic smile. Michael turned and started back up the slope.

Adam reluctantly followed the group back to the Big Room. They'd been so close. Why did that ranger guy have to wander along at that moment? But at least now they had reason to hope. They knew where DuPris was hiding.

And felony or no, Adam knew that his friends weren't about to give up that easily.

"Is it time yet?" Maria asked. She knew that she'd asked that question a dozen times in the last hour, but anticipating the showdown with DuPris was driving her crazy. Plus she was out of cedar oil to calm herself down.

Max glanced at his watch. "Yeah, we should be okay now," he said. "The last tour ended an hour and a half ago."

Maria nodded and tapped her foot nervously, staring out at the vastness of the desert.

She and her friends were standing a hundred or so yards from the cavern parking lot, behind a low mesa. It had taken them a few hours to walk out from the caves to this spot, but they wouldn't have to walk back. Not when they had Max around.

"Everyone ready?" Max asked.

Maria took a deep breath and reached out to grab Liz's hand. Adam took Maria's other hand, and Maria glanced across the circle at Michael. Part of Maria wanted to be holding hands with him, but that wouldn't do anything good for her resolve to be just friends. Touching him and still thinking of Michael as a friend was impossible.

"You okay with this?" Michael asked Max. "You've only moved us this way once before-"

"And you're still kind of weak," Liz pointed out.

"I can do it," Max said. His voice was so firm and sure that a tense knot of fear in Maria's shoulders loosened. She hadn't even realized how rigid she'd been holding them until the stiffness disappeared.

Michael nodded once, and then he grabbed Max's hand, completing the circle. The force of the connection surged through Maria, and she welcomed the comforting warmth that came with it.

Their auras-Max's emerald green, Michael's brick red, Maria's own sparkling blue, Liz's warm amber, Isabel's rich purple, and Adam's bright yellow-blended into one potent rainbow.

Maria wasn't sure what to call Max's bizarre method of transportation. She'd heard DuPris mention something called a lavila , which she'd assumed was a kind of teleportation, but Maria had no way of knowing if DuPris had been referring to the power Max possessed.

Then Maria silenced her chattering thoughts as she felt her body coming apart. Max was doing his thing.

He was disassembling them all, molecule by molecule.

For a long moment Maria felt like she was expanding, spreading like smoke dissipates in the air.

A disorienting sensation of vertigo overcame her as she realized she could see through the bodies of her friends. The feeling of her molecules drifting away was terrifying. Maria focused on Michael-on feeling his aura brushing against her own in the mixture-and felt calm.

A moment later she couldn't think at all.

Isabel heaved a sigh of relief when she'd re-formed in front of the chain deep in the caves. Max had pulled it off. Of course, she'd never doubted him for a moment. Still, it felt very good to have her body back in one piece.

"Good work," Michael said. He patted his body like he needed to make sure he was all there.

"Thanks," Max said, sounding tired. Isabel glanced at him, concerned. Max always seemed so in control of himself that it was easy to overlook how much he gave to their efforts. She was about to ask him how he was holding up but didn't. She knew he was sick of being asked.

"C'mon, you guys," Isabel said, rubbing her chilled hands together. "Let's find the maniacal twit and get this over with."

"Isabel, you never disappoint," Max said with a smile. Isabel grinned back, and Max turned to Adam. "You found this tunnel in the first place. Want to do the honors?"

Adam nodded, his eyes wary and alert as he stepped over the chain.

Maria and Liz flicked on their flashlights as soon as they entered the tunnel. Isabel smiled. She, Adam, Michael, and Max could actually see better in the dark, but she knew the trek was probably scary for her friends. She pulled out the flashlight she'd packed as an afterthought and turned it on to give them more light. Michael did the same.

"Does anyone feel anything?" Adam asked from the head of the group. "I'm not even getting the little twinges of power this time."

"Not a thing," Michael replied with a slight tremor in his voice.

Isabel could relate. She wasn't looking forward to another shock wave.

"The power surge came from this direction… generally," Adam said. "I think I'm going the right way, but I just don't know." He sounded frustrated, as if afraid to let the rest of them down.

"Just keep going," Isabel said. "We'll find him."

"Yeah." Max's voice was right behind her. "We have all night."

"Hey, you guys!" Michael called urgently. "Wait up a sec."

"You felt something?" Max asked.

"No, saw something," Michael said. He shined his flashlight on the damp, loamy path. "Look. Someone's been back here."

In the center of the beam of light was a footprint. Isabel's heart jumped to her throat.

"Good work, Sherlock," Maria joked nervously "Did you join the Boy Scouts while we weren't looking?"

"It could have been there for a while," Isabel said, glancing at Max. "There's no reason to think it's a fresh print. I've got a feeling stuff goes undisturbed back here for decades… maybe centuries."