Dreamwalk r-3

by Paul Ruoitis

  «Okay," Jason replied.

  Instead of placing his hand back in the handhold he had taken it from, Max stretched as far as he could to the right to get another grip into the wall. He followed that

  with his right foot. Then, he placed his left hand and left foot in the holes he had just vacated. The beam was now only about five or six feet away. Removing his right hand from the wall again, Max repeated his move, but instead of creating a small handhold, the dirt wall started to fall away in large chunks.

  Throwing his weight back to the left, Max regained his balance, but the wall continued to crumble. Focusing his power through his hands, he tried to will the wall back into place, but he could not stop the natural displacement of dirt.

  Both Max and Jason followed the dirt avalanche with their eyes wide as it slid closer to the point where the wooden beams met the wall.

  «Jason, hold on!» Max yelled as he went back to the position he had been in before he started moving to the side.

  Jason lay on his stomach and tightly hugged the beam he was on.

  The dirt wall deteriorated at an alarming rate.

  The end of the beam began to slide down the wall.

  Max aimed his hand at a point several inches beneath the beam, readying himself to use his force field. He hoped he wouldn't have to deploy it in front of Jason, but he knew that exposing his powers to the boy was far more preferable to watching him fall to his death.

  One of the wooden beams behind Jason slipped out of the wall and started a long fall to the bottom. Max could hear it hit ground, and agreed that Jason was right when he'd said it had been a considerable drop.

  Fortunately the wall stopped crumbling and the beam

  Jason was on came to rest after only sliding a few inches. Max stayed where he was, afraid to move either left or right. He knew that the part of the wall he was on was stable. He had seen to it as he climbed down by using his powers to manipulate the molecular structure of the wall, but he was afraid to touch the loose dirt to the side of him for fear of it all falling away once again.

  «Okay, we're going to have to go to Plan B.» Max reached out his arm to check the distance between himself and Jason.

  «I'm not going to like this, am I?» the boy asked.

  «You'll be fine.» Max paused to convince himself that Plan B was, in fact, a viable option. He realized that there really was no other choice. «I'm going to need you to jump to me.»

  «Are you crazy?»

  Max tried to keep his voice calm, although his entire body was trembling as he considered what they were about to do. «It's only a couple feet. I've got a good hold on the wall. It will be okay.» He wasn't entirely telling the truth, because his body was beginning to tire from the strenuous activity, but he knew that he would have to keep going for Jason's sake as well as his own.

  Jason looked down beneath them. Although Max knew the boy couldn't see the bottom, they both were aware of the minimum distance the drop had to be based on the length of time it had taken for the beam to crash to the ground. When Jason looked back up, Max could see even more fear in his eyes.

  «I can't do it," Jason said, still hugging the beam and shaking his head vigorously.

  As if to help Max convince him, the beam slid another inch.

  «You've got to," Max said in a forced calm voice. «Trust me.»

  Jason looked up at the teen he had hardly even met.

  Max could only meet his gaze, trying to be both forceful and calming at the same time. He hoped that his face showed the look of someone Jason could trust.

  «Okay," Jason resolved. «I'll do it.»

  Max let out a sigh of relief. «Good. Now, I need you to stand up slowly.»

  Jason did as he was told, balancing himself on the unstable beam.

  «All right," Max said, continuing to use the ultra calming voice. «When you jump to me, you're going to have to use the wood to push yourself off. That means you're going to be adding extra pressure.»

  «Which means the beam is going to collapse.» Jason completed the thought with his voice shaking.

  «So you're going to have to move quickly," Max concurred. «No hesitation. No turning back.»

  «I can do it," Jason said firmly as he obviously tried to convince himself to believe what he was saying. Although Max could still hear the hesitation, he knew that Jason was ready.

  Max removed his right hand and foot from the wall and leaned back to the left so he could form a pocket for Jason to jump into. «I want you to throw yourself into my body. I'll grab you as soon as you hit.»

  «Can't I just reach for your hand?» Jason asked.

  But Max had considered that option and was afraid that

  even if Jason did manage to clasp onto the small target, his skinny hand would slip right out of Max's grip. «This will work fine.»

  Jason looked unsure, but determined.

  «On three," Max said, preparing his body to take the impact when Jason hit. «One… two… three!»

  Jason launched himself off the beam.

  The beam tore away from the wall.

  The boy's body slammed into both Max and the wall at the same time.

  Max threw his right arm around Jason and turned his own body into the wall.

  The beam crashed down many, many feet below.

  Jason was cradled in Max's body and pressed up against the wall. They were both breathing heavily and holding tightly onto the wall. As the realization struck them that they had been successful in what they had just done, both boys started laughing uncontrollably.

  «Max! Jason! Is everything all right!» Liz screamed from above. Obviously she had heard the crash.

  «We're fine!» Max hollered back up to her as the laughing subsided.

  He looked to Jason to confirm that he was «fine," and found him to be shaking and breathing heavily, but surprisingly unscathed.

  «Time to make like Spider-Man," Max said with a look of relief. «The hard part's over. Let's get out of here.»

  Still cradling himself in Max's body,, Jason turned around to face the wall. Max instructed him on how to use the handholds and footholds that he had left behind on the way down, hoping that Jason just assumed they were a

  part of the original shaft design. Either way, he did not question their escape route as they slowly made their ascent to freedom, thirty feet above.

  «I don't know whether to hug you or hurt you," Liz said with relief as she saw Jason's head pop out of the hole.

  «I think he's been punished enough," Max said, pulling himself up onto solid ground, still shaking.

  As soon as Jason had found his footing and moved away from the hole, Liz wrapped him up in the biggest hug she could muster. Jason flinched as she squeezed, causing her to let go immediately.

  «Are you okay?» Her concern came back as she saw him nursing his shoulder.

  «Yes," he said quickly.

  «Let me see.» She leaned to him, attempting to pull the neck of his shirt aside, but he struggled against her. «Jason, hold still.» She held tightly to him and finally managed to tug the shirt away from his shoulder, revealing a huge bruise.

  Suddenly, all the pieces fell into place for Max.

  «We should get you to a doctor," Liz said.

  «It's okay," Jason replied. «Really.»

  «But you could have a serious injury from the fall," Liz said. «That bruise doesn't look good.»

  Jason said nothing in response.

  «That mark isn't from the fall, is it?» Max asked, almost rhetorically, since he suspected that he knew the answer.

  Jason sat on the ground, but still remained silent.

  «You had it last night, didn't you?» Max gently prodded.

  Liz looked at Max questioningly as they both sat on either side of their young friend. She had no idea what he was talking about.

  «You pulled away when I touched your shoulder last night too," Max recalled. «I thought it was because you just didn't like to be touched, but I had hurt you when I
grabbed the bruise.»

  «Is that true?» Liz asked, obviously concerned. «What happened?»

  «Was it George?» Max carefully continued the questioning, choosing the most likely suspect.

  Jason nodded, refusing to look at either of them.

  Liz looked to Max, afraid that the situation was out of their league, but too concerned to let her fears get in the way of helping her friend. «How long has this been going on?»

  Again, no answer came.

  «Jason, say something," Liz pleaded. She was obviously upset by the surprise revelation. «Please. I want to help you.»

  Max placed his hand on her shoulder as if to say, That's enough.

  Liz looked into her boyfriends eyes. He could tell that she was hurt and confused. Max knew that she was probably blaming herself for not realizing what was happening sooner. He gave her shoulder a supportive squeeze.

  «It's okay if you don't want to talk about it right now," Max said. «And it doesn't matter how long it's been going on. It won't happen anymore. We'll make sure of that.»

  Liz added to his sense of conviction. «I promise you.»

  «Now, do you have a family doctor we can take you to?» Max asked. «I want to make sure you didn't hurt yourself in the fall.» Then, he silently added to himself, and to make sure Mr. Lyles hasn't done any permanent damage.

  Jason nodded his head.

  Max got up and gave a hand to both Liz and Jason to help them off the ground. Hopping onto the bike, he made sure there was room for Jason to fit behind him. Once the boy was safely on, Max turned back to him. «Keys?»

  Fishing in his pocket, Jason pulled out two sets of keys. «How did you…»

  Max flashed him a cryptic smile and took the keys out of Jason's hand, tossing one set to Liz and starting his own bike with the other.

  Grabbing the keys, Liz got on her bike and started it up. As the trio started back through the desert, neither Max nor Liz gave any thought to the cell phones in their pockets that were still out of the service area and storing some very important voice mail messages.

  15

  ”Hello," Kyle said, still holding on to the door, making sure the visitor could not see inside-not that there was anything to see, but just in case something odd happened. This was a valid concern, considering the group's history. They never knew when something strange could be going on behind them.

  Jesse was naturally surprised to see the stranger instead of Isabel opening the door, but he recovered quickly. «Hi, I'm looking for… for Phillip Evans. I work with him.»

  «Yeah," Kyle stalled while trying to come up with a good cover story. «I know. You're Jesse, right?»

  «Yes," Jesse replied.

  «I'm Kyle.» He held out a hand to the interloper while keeping the other hand firmly on the door. «I'm one of Isabel and Max's friends. How are you?»

  «Good," Jesse replied, trying discretely to peek through the partially open door. «Is Phillip home?»

  «Actually, no," Kyle responded abruptly, faced with at least one question he could easily answer. «He and Mrs. Evans are down in Santa Fe for the day.»

  Jesse feigned surprise. «That's right. I forgot. They went to that arts festival.»

  «Right.» Kyle hoped this piece of information would send the visitor on his way. «I can take a message for when they get back. Is there something you needed?»

  «I just wanted to talk about a case we're working on.» Jesse created his own cover story as he grew more concerned that Isabel had not come to the door yet to rescue him from this situation.

  «You couldn't have called?» Kyle asked, suddenly suspicious. Between being the son of a former sheriff and all the alien conspiracy stuff going on in recent history, Kyle's senses were honed to picking up on any kind of questionable behavior.

  «I was in the neighborhood," Jesse replied, growing suspicious himself that no one with the name Evans had come to see who was at the door yet. Odder still since Isabel was expecting him. «Since I'm here, I was wondering if I could just pop in and say hi to Isabel… and Max.»

  «Max isn't here," Kyle replied, grasping for some excuse. «And Isabel… is a little under the weather.»

  Jesse was instantly concerned, remembering that she had cancelled on him the previous evening to look after a friend she had said was really sick. Unaware of the fact that he was speaking to the sick friend, he tried not to appear too worried, especially since they were only supposed to be passing acquaintances. «I hope it's nothing serious.»

  «Not really," Kyle flat out lied.

  «Would it be okay if I stopped in to say hi?» Jesse moved toward the door.

  Kyle, however, stayed firmly planted in place. «Actually, she's resting right now. She said she didn't want to be disturbed.»

  «By anyone?» Jesse let the charade slip for a brief moment, confused that she hadn't called him to stop him from coming over or alerted this kid to the fact that he might be stopping by.

  «Yeah," Kyle said, growing even more suspicious. «If you don't mind, I should get back inside in case she wakes up and needs something.»

  «Are you sure it's not serious?» Jesse asked, his anxiety beginning to take over and push their whole hidden relationship out in the open.

  «Positive," Kyle said, trying not to stretch the lie too far. «We called the family doctor and he just said to let her get some rest. Nothing to worry about.»

  «Okay.» Jesse felt some minor relief. «When she wakes up, please let her know I was here… to say hi.»

  «Will do.» Kyle closed the door before anything else could be said in their odd little interaction. He would have to make sure to fill Isabel in on his lie when she woke up, so that no one would question her about it later. That's the problem with lies-even the simple ones require tremendous attention to detail. Of course, that's all assuming that Isabel would wake up. Don't even think like that.

  «Who was at the door?» Maria asked as Kyle came back into the bedroom. She was sitting beside Isabel, holding her hand and rubbing it in small circles with her thumb.

  «Someone from Mr. Evans's firm," Kyle replied. «Nothing important. Any change?»

  «No," Maria replied hopelessly. «And I still haven't been

  able to get in touch with Max or Liz. Meanwhile, Michael's still off God knows where. Have you tried your dad?»

  «He's pulled another one of his disappearing acts," Kyle said, wondering once again where his father was spending his time lately. «I've hardly seen him at all this week.»

  «What is it with the parents in this town?» Maria asked, frustrated. «They're never around when you need them.»

  Kyle nodded in agreement.

  «What do we do now?» she asked.

  «Wait," he replied, as his mind spun with possible plans of action but nothing came.

  «How I long for the day when waiting isn't our only plan of inaction.»

  Kyle bristled from Maria's comment. He knew she meant nothing by it, but it still bothered him that he didn't know what to do. He couldn't think clearly. His mind was full of confusing, unclear images. Not now, he thought. This is not the time for a flash.

  His fingers tapped against his leg for the first time that morning. This time, however, Kyle felt them pressing into his flesh and actually took notice of the action.

  Tap, tap, tap. Tap, tap.

  «I think I'm going to meditate for a while.» He left the room, hoping to calm his mind before things got out of hand. They certainly didn't need two crises to deal with.

  «Do you really think this is the right time to voluntarily make yourself unconscious?» Maria asked, following him into the living room. «You know, considering.»

  «I won't be unconscious," he explained, hoping he didn't sound condescending to the unenlightened. «Meditation allows me to perform a conscious exploration of my

  mind. It will give me the opportunity to organize my thoughts and purge any images that do not belong.» Kyle often felt that people had a tendency to listen to him explain his beli
efs as if they were humoring him because what he was saying was a joke somehow-especially his father. But he thought Maria of all people would understand. «Would you like to join me?»

  «Thanks, but I like my cluttered mind the way it is," she said, although at the same time she took a few drops of her calming cedar oil.

  Kyle took a seat on the floor, placing his body in the lotus position, with his legs crossed and folded over each other. He then closed his eyes and began his breathing exercises, trying to establish a sense of inner peace.

  «Great, Michael's going to come back to find two unconscious bodies," Maria said to herself as she went back to Isabel's room.

  Walking up to the bed to check on her friend, Marias foot kicked something on the floor. Bending to retrieve the item, she found a copy of their yearbook lying there, closed. Maria picked it up, flipping through the pages and settling on the familiar photo of herself. Her face scrunched up as she once again regretted the awful picture. What was I thinking? she thought. Talk about a bad hair day.

  Shutting the book so she no longer had to look at the offending picture, she placed it on Isabel's desk on top of another book that had been lying out. With' nothing else to do, Maria sat by Isabel's side once again, holding her friend's hand and wondering what could be going on.

  Isabel was banging against the door, frantically trying to break out of the room as if freedom from its confines would free her from Kyle's mind. Through the banging, she thought she had heard something on the other side. Putting her ear to the door, she listened and was able to make out faint voices, arguing. She assumed that it was just echoes of Tess and Alex.

  The memory of his murder sent chills through her.

  She almost yelled out for help before realizing how pointless that would have been since no one was really outside the door. Truth be told, she wasn't actually inside the room either, and it concerned her that her body was across town without a conscious mind inside. Will I ever be able to get back?

  The voices disappeared, and Isabel gave up on the door entirely.

  «Okay, Kyle.» She turned back to the little boy. «Let's be proactive. You want me to stay here. Tell me why.»