"Your sister. Michael."

Max winced, actually feeling pain inside his chest at the thought of his two best friends being tortured.

"And before them, another alien from the forties."

"Nasedo," Max breathed.

"I don't know what they called him," she admitted. "He escaped a few years ago. I guess he's a shapeshifter. You could meet him and never even know it."

"That's what I heard," Max admitted grudgingly.

"Anyway, they've been trying to inseminate your sister with seed from a human," she said. "But it isn't working. That's why they're watching you, and Liz. They want to see if anything will happen, or if it's just impossible."

"Why should I believe you? How do I even know my sister or Michael are really alive?"

"Because I've seen them," Topolsky said simply. "I've talked with your sister. I told her you were alive. She wanted to know if you were okay. I told her yes, and she gave me this to give to you."

From her pocket Topolsky produced a small, fragile-looking ring that Isabel often wore. Max grabbed it from her hands. The impressions he got from it were incredibly strong.

Isabel, awakening to smoke and two strong men who grabbed her and dragged her through the window. Seeing Michael in the back of a windowless van and feeling half joyous and half like screaming. Asking the men if her parents were okay, and receiving no answer.

Then the impressions faded out abruptly, becoming a jungle of pain and sorrow. Max realized that Isabel didn't want him to know what was being done to her.

Then the door opened and Max heard a scream.

****

He felt Liz grab his arm before he saw her. He turned around and saw her, shivering from the cold, a plastic bag in her other hand. "What is she doing here?" Liz demanded.

"She's...she's seen Isabel and Michael," Max managed. He held out Isabel's ring. He knew Liz had seen her wear it before.

"You don't believe what she's saying, do you? She could have stolen this from her room! She could have gotten it from...from Isabel's..."

"Dead body," Topolsky finished dryly. "But I didn't. You kids need to leave, and now. The sooner the better. Pack up, go east. Catch a plane across the ocean! Just get out of here before something happens."

"Something, like what?" Liz demanded. She couldn't believe the audacity of this woman, that she would just walk into their lives, as though she had the right.

Topolsky looked her over for a second, and then shrugged. "Your boyfriend will fill you in."

Max stopped her as she tried to leave. "Have they...has anyone raped Isabel?"

"I really can't say. Sorry."

She left and Liz yanked Max's arm to get his attention. "Max? What is going on here?"

Max swallowed. "Topolsky...she knows where Isabel and Michael are. She's talked to Izzy."

Liz sighed. "Max, you can't just believe what she says! She lies!"

"I got impressions of Izzy from this ring!"

Liz moaned and rubbed her eyes. "So maybe they stole it from her! Why would she track us down just to warn us?"

"She says that they've been experimenting on Izzy and Michael. They've been..." He shut his eyes, and then opened them after he was flooded with mental images. "They've been trying to make Izzy pregnant by a human, but it hasn't been working. So they're watching you. They want to see if you'll get sick or pregnant."

Liz stumbled a little. "Oh...oh." She walked over to their mattress and sat down heavily.

Max ran his fingers over the carved edges of Isabel's ring. Had it been the only thing they'd allowed her to keep? They couldn't have known its significance. Their parents had given it to Isabel on her thirteenth birthday. It was the only thing she had to remind herself of home. Max felt like crying, all over again.

"I think we should leave, Liz."

"No, Max. Not right now. For all we know it's some kind of trap. And besides, if they're watching us, won't they just try to keep us from leaving?"

Max moaned and buried his face in his hands. "I don't know! I don't know! It's just... I was so used to the idea of them being gone. And now, there's hope! I can't just throw that away!"

Liz got up and wrapped her arms around him, breathing in his scent. "Max, promise me. Promise me that you won't try to find them. At least not now."

"I can't do that, Liz."

"Max, if you go there, they'll probably kill you. And they will torture you, the same as they've supposedly been doing to Isabel and Michael."

"They're my family, Liz."

"I'm your family now, Max."

She felt his muscles turn to jello. "Yes, you are," he whispered, and kissed the top of her head.

"Promise me, Max."

He sighed. "I promise."

"Don't ever leave me. You can't."