The Dark One

And Isabel knew Michael would need Maria. Especially if-Isabel let the thought slip away.

Of all the humans, Maria was the one he'd really let in. Isabel suspected that he might have revealed even more to Maria than he had to Isabel and Max. Things about his foster homes. He'd never talked about his foster homes to Isabel, close as they were.

"She loves… you," Isabel repeated.

Michael rubbed his spiky black hair with his free hand. "I don't know what I'm supposed to say to that," he muttered. He leaned closer until his face was inches from hers. "Look, Isabel, I don't know how much longer… I think I should teleport and get the crystals. Just in case."

"No!" Isabel cried. Then she started to cough so hard, she feared she'd shake her body apart.

"Maybe there was something Trevor had to do to survive the akino. Neither of us thought of that," Michael exploded when her coughing fit had passed. "You can't expect me to let you die."

Isabel reached up and cupped his face with her hands. "You have to. Do you hear me?" she demanded fiercely. She sucked as much breath as she could into her withered lungs. "It's my decision."

She looked him in the eye to make sure he absolutely understood her.

"Mine."

"They're gone," Max a

"Michael's car is gone, too," Adam volunteered. He pulled his chair closer to the kitchen table, moving it closer to Liz's chair at the same time. She was glad he had. Now she could feel the warmth of his body radiating into hers, although their shoulders weren't quite touching.

Max let out a harsh laugh. "Oh, good. Then we should have no problem finding them. There are so few places you can drive."

Liz reached over and touched Adam's arm lightly, trying to signal him that he shouldn't take what Max said personally. She thought she caught a flicker of emotion on Max's face as he noticed the touch, but who knew what had caused it? Maybe the consciousness had expressed a need to know the composition of her nail polish or what the significance of her silver snake bracelet was.

Or maybe, just maybe, in that moment Max had been Max enough to experience a twinge of jealousy. She always used to know what he was thinking, but lately she had no idea. It was as if he existed in two worlds at the same time, and any reaction he had could be to something she couldn't see or hear or really understand.

"Michael won't let anything happen to her," Maria said. She twined one of her curls around her fingers so tightly, Liz expected her to give a yelp of pain. "If she gets too bad, he'll teleport back for the crystals."

"You're forgetting he's as terrified of joining the consciousness as she is," Max said. He tilted back his chair and snagged the plastic bottle of dish-washing soap off the counter. He squirted a little bit onto his finger and rubbed it into his skin. Liz and Maria exchanged a worried glance.

"Could you contact Michael on the dream plane?" Liz asked Max. He raised his finger and sniffed the soap. "Max! I said could you-"

"I heard you," Max answered. "But what would I tell him? He knows what's going to happen. He knows Isabel's going to die." Max jerked to his feet, knocking over the chair. "If that's not enough to convince him, what would?"

"What about Trevor?" Maria asked. She reached down and righted Max's chair. "If we could contact him-"

"Yeah, Maria, let's go find the guy who tried to kill me," Max snapped, his eyes flashing. Liz had never seen him so angry. It was almost comforting to see that he was so emotionally involved in something on this planet.

"We're all just trying to come up with some way-any way-to help Isabel," Liz reminded him firmly.

"I know," Max answered. He sounded so exhausted, so hopeless, that Liz longed to rush over and wrap her arms around him. But that wasn't possible. Not anymore. And anyway, it might end up being the consciousness that felt most of the embrace, and Liz couldn't deal with that.

Max wandered over to the fridge, opened the freezer door, and stuck his head inside.

"What is he doing?" Adam whispered. Liz shrugged, her heart heavy. The consciousness probably wanted to feel winter.

"The only reason I suggested Trevor is that there's at least a chance he was telling the truth about surviving the akino without making the co

"Wait a second!" Liz exclaimed, suddenly seeing everything perfectly clearly. "That's where they'd go. To Trevor."

"Michael hates Trevor," Max said, his voice coming out distorted by the freezer.

"I know. But Michael won't let Isabel die. And he won't force her to join the consciousness," Liz answered in a rush. "Trevor is his only alternative."

Max banged his head on the top of the freezer as he turned to face her. "That just leaves us with one little problem-we have no idea how to find Trevor, either," he said. "Adam, do you know if they've been in contact?"

"I don't think so," Adam answered, looking at the floor.

Silence filled the kitchen.

"Where is Alex, anyway?" Maria suddenly demanded.

"Um, I think he's at the movies with some girl," Liz answered, piling her long hair on top of her head and then letting it coil down her back.

Maria stood up and grabbed her coat. "I'll be back," she told them, attempting an Arnold accent. She picked up the keys to Max's Jeep from the table and rushed out of the kitchen.

"Where is she going?" Max asked, sitting down again.

"Don't look at me," Liz replied quietly, acutely aware that she was now alone with Max and Adam.

"So what do we do now?" Adam asked, his gaze flicking from Max to Liz.

"There's nothing we can do," Liz said, hating to admit it. At that moment all she really wanted to do was run after Maria-get the heck out of here ASAP. "We just have to wait and hope Michael decides to contact us."

Adam took her hand and twined her fingers with his. Liz caught another flash of emotion from Max. She automatically started to pull her hand away. Max had enough to deal with right now.

But as she watched, his eyes went dull and lifeless, his mouth slackening. Liz tightened her fingers around Adam's and tried to think only about the feeling of his warm hand.

Maria pulled the Jeep up to the mall entrance closest to the movie theater, tires squealing.

"That's not a parking place," someone shouted. She didn't answer. She ran to the doors and burst into the mall, then raced down the walkway to the movie theater, through those doors, and straight past the usher.

"I didn't see a ticket," he called after her.

"I don't have one," Maria answered, heading toward the closest of the multiplex's screens. The usher snagged her by the elbow.

"You're not going anywhere without a ticket," he said.

Why couldn't it be someone from school? she thought. Why did it have to be some Guffman High guy who acted like having a flashlight was only one step down from a badge and a gun?

"Here's what's going to happen," Maria told him, going into full Arnold mode. "I'm checking each theater until I find my friend, then we are both leaving."

"You are not-" the movie cop began.

"If you don't let go of my arm, I'm going to start screaming about roaches in my popcorn and a rat tail in my Twizzlers and-"

The Guffman kid turned a red that perfectly matched his cheesy uniform vest. "Fine. Okay. You can go in," he said quickly, releasing her elbow. "But don't bother any of the other paying customers."