by Kevin Ryan
"Well, we can't really drink, you know," Max said.
"Oh yeah," Kyle said. He had been with Max the first night Max had tried alcohol, and then the second. The
effect had been profound… and dangerous. Besides the disorientation Max had felt, his powers had gone crazy.
"I respect that the aliens among us must abstain, but that doesn't mean we mere mortals can't enjoy ourselves," Kyle said.
Max turned to Liz and said, "I don't think it would be safe for you now. Not with your developing powers."
"Well, I was never much of a drinker before," Liz said, a thin smile on her lips.
Max was glad for the smile. Though he hadn't intended it at the time, he knew he had changed her somehow when he had brought her back that day at the Crashdown. At first she had been terrified by the changes and the emergence of her powers. Max knew she was still scared, but maybe this was a good sign.
"Looks like it's just you and me, Maria," Kyle said.
"Yeah, that's what I need, because I'm not freaked out enough," Maria said.
"Leave it to our alien friends to spoil the party," Kyle said, frowning. As he looked back at the bar with disappointment, something caught his attention. "What the…?" Kyle said, bringing up something else from behind the bar.
"Great, Snapple," Michael said, reaching out to take the bottle from Kyle. He opened it and took a sip. "That's what I'm talking about."
"What will everybody have?" Kyle asked. "I've got soda, Snapple… you name it."
"Should we?" Liz asked.
"Come on, we can leave a few bucks on the bar when we go," Michael said.
Max nodded and Kyle passed out drinks.
"When we're finished our look around, I say we see what else they've got to eat around here," Kyle said.
"All the better to fatten you up with," Maria said.
"What?" Kyle said.
"You know, Hansel and Gretel? The witch that built a candy house? To attract kids that she could fatten up and then eat?" Maria raised her eyebrows with each question.
"And you think that's what's going on here?" Kyle asked.
"Makes as much sense as anything else we've come up with," Maria said.
"Not really," Isabel said, and walked on.
The group continued its tour of the mansion. They found a great room in the front of the house. It had another huge fireplace, sofas, and large windows that looked out over the front of the house.
Continuing, they found an actual gymnasium as well as a children's rec room full of old toys and early pinball machines.
"I am really starting to respect Old Man Benton," Kyle said.
Max looked at the toys and got a chill. Everything was in good condition, but bore the unmistakable look of age. The house looked like a museum without the red velvet ropes. He wondered what happened in this house that the owner kept it intact as the years and decades passed. He had no doubt that someone had been here recently to clean up. Still, long before that, someone must have lived here for years with the place frozen in time. He guessed that the outside had been neglected for maybe ten years. But the
inside was stuck in… what?… the fifties? The forties?
It didn't make sense. And behind it was a feeling that Max couldn't quite place. He saw Isabel taking in the room and thought she looked very absorbed. Something in this house was affecting her.
Suddenly, Liz was next to him. She took his hand. "Feels like they're still here," she said, whispering.
That was it. Intellectually, he knew they wouldn't find any people here tonight. Yet, he couldn't shake the feeling that they weren't alone here.
"Come on, it's after one," he said, checking his watch. They needed to finish and get to bed. He realized he would feel better when they were off in the morning. Away from here.
Isabel stared at the toys.
"Iz," he said. When she didn't turn around, he approached her and tapped her on the shoulder. "It's getting late," he said.
"Ahhh!" Isabel exclaimed as if he had given her an electric shock. She whirled around and looked at him. For a moment, her guard was down completely. She looked vulnerable and… what was it?… scared?
Max was immediately sorry he had scared her. An instant later, her control was back and her face was unreadable.
"Don't sneak up on people," she snapped, glaring at him.
"Sorry…," Max said, but she wasn't listening.
Isabel led the group down the main hallway and up the main staircase. Max felt Liz tense up and he guessed this
was the place from Liz's vision. He saw the balcony at the top. That must have been where Maria fell… would fall, unless they prevented it.
Maria clutched Michael as she headed up the stairs. Beyond the balcony was a long hallway with closed doors on each side. Isabel opened the first door. From behind, Max could see that something was wrong; she was holding her hand to her mouth.
"What is it?" Max said, sliding in behind her.
Then he saw inside the room. Like the rooms downstairs, the two large windows were covered in plastic. But this wasn't an extravagant living space, this was a child's room. A girl's room.
Against a far wall was a canopy bed with frilly pillows and a lace bedspread. In the center were a rocking horse, dollhouse, and doll collection.
"Are you okay, Iz?" Max asked softly.
"I thought I heard someone laughing, maybe a child," she said. Then she shook her head. "No. It's impossible. Must have been something else."
Max nodded, but he thought there was something odd about the room: It looked like someone still lived here. It was easy to imagine that the little girl might return any moment. That thought gave Max a chill.
Gently, he took Isabel by the arm and led her back outside. "I think this house is getting to us," he whispered to her when they were in the hallway.
"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."
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 h
and 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.
