Man: (Isabel senses his communication.) Please…wait…my brother's back in there too. Don't bring the sheriff…please.

(Isabel stops the car and looks at the man. Somehow, she's not as afraid as she was.)

Man: (Aloud) Please…my brother's back in there too!

Isabel: (Rolls window down a crack.) I heard you the first time.

Man: What?

Isabel: I heard you say your brother's back there too. What's going on…where has he taken my friend?

Man: There's a tunnel from the cabin over to a large cavern inside the cliff. I don't think he's in any immediate danger.

(Wondering why she sensed his thoughts earlier and against her better judgement…she rolls down the window further. For some reason, she doesn't think this man will harm her.)

Isabel: What are you doing out here by yourself? How did you get here?

Man: I've got a motorcycle parked over there behind the cabin. I'm surprised you didn't see it.

Isabel: But why are you here…and what about my friend.

Man: My brother and two of his friends come here a lot. They invite others to come too. I don't know why they took your friend…usually they only let people they invite go into the tunnel. My brother and his friends are doing something down there they probably shouldn't be…and I'm trying to keep tabs on them.

Isabel: Why would they invite anyone to go down there?

Man: I don't think you'd understand…but before you bring the sheriff…let me see if I can convince them to let your friend go. If the law were to try to force their way in there, something precious to both my brother and me might be lost.

Isabel: And if they harm my friend, something precious to me will be lost.

Man: I understand…I'll see what I can do…but my brother and I disagree about what they're doing so he may not let me back there. He doesn't know I'm out here…but I knew he had several people scheduled to go in there today and I try to keep track of anyone who visits here. Two of his visitors left shortly before you drove in. I thought you were some more invitees.

Isabel: You are talking nonsense…I don't understand.

(Just then, Isabel gets a connection from Alex.)

Alex: (Silent connection.) Iz…they've taken me to a large blasted out area in the cliff. They've tied my hands. Are you getting help?

Isabel: (Silent response to Alex) I haven't left yet. There's a man here who says one of the men back there is his brother and they're doing something illegal.

Man: (Aloud) I didn't say illegal.

(Isabel is stunned that he was reading her connection to Alex)

Isabel: (In connection.) Alex, if you're OK for the moment…I got to check something here…it's important.

Alex: (In connection) I'm important too, I think. They just told me to sit on the floor and be quiet. Right now they are not paying much attention to me.... but I have this feeling of de-ja vu. You won't believe what this looks like.

Isabel: (In connection) If there is any sign of a problem…call. Otherwise…I'll contact you again in a few minutes. I'm glad you're balanced for this connection thing.

Alex: (In connection.) Me too!

Isabel: (To man) There is something strange going on here. You responded to something I only thought about.

Man: You were communicating with your friend, weren't you?

Isabel: How do you know what I was doing?

Man: Uh…I don't know…this is quite unexpected. I think we need to talk. Can I persuade you to get out of your car? I promise, I'm not armed and I won't hurt you.

(She unlocks the car doors. She feels like she can trust this man.)

Isabel: Why don't you get in the car on the other side…I don't see any place to sit and talk anywhere else.

Man: I hear another car coming. Pull down the road like we're leaving. If these are people my brother invited, he'll be up to meet them. I don't want him to see us here. We can come back when we're sure they've gone back down through the tunnel.

Isabel: This is all very strange.

(The man thinks to himself: "You'll never know how strange".

Isabel reads that thought and is startled once again. She thinks to herself: "Try me". The man appears surprised…Isabel wonders if he just read her. She's now beginning to get frightened again, but for a different reason.)

Man: My name is Matthew. My brother's name is Milan.

Isabel: My name is Isabel. My friends' name is Alex. What do you think they are going to do to him?

Matthew: My brother's not a violent person…but I know he won't want your friend to see what they're doing. I don't understand why they are holding him.

Isabel: So what are they doing back there?

Matthew: I guess some would call it witchcraft. I'm not sure that's what it is…it's something in the realm of the paranormal. It's not harmful…in fact quite the opposite…but I not sure about the powers involved.

Isabel: Powers?

Matthew: I'm not sure how to explain any of this…it's too weird. (Pause) Can I ask you something?

Isabel: I guess.

Matthew: You didn't answer my question. Were you communicating with your friend?

Isabel: (Not ready to admit anything.) What do you mean…he's back there…we're out here.

Matthew: I know you told him something illegal was going on. Before I realized that you didn't verbalize that, I told you I didn't say "illegal".

Isabel: What makes you think I said that?

Matthew: This may sound weird to you…but my brother and I can sometimes communicate with each other via some type of thought path. We're twins…that may have something to do with it. There may be another reason…I'm not sure. Anyway…I picked up your thought communication just like I sometimes do with my brother. I didn't get your friend though. I don't know if you were really communicating with…Alex is it…or just wishing you were.

Isabel: (Long silence) I…I don't know what to tell you. (Pause) I've never told anyone this…please…don't tell anyone…but my family (thinks to herself: Alex is as much family as anyone) can sometimes connect with each other too.

Matthew: Are you a witch?

Isabel: No! No way!

Matthew: My dad told Milan and me that the reason we can do that is our mother was a witch. When my dad found out about her, he got a divorce. He told us she could do some unnatural things and that they were all of the devil. He forbade us to do it, but we did it anyway and never told him. Now today, I discover someone else that can do something similar and I can sense it. This is very strange. Don't worry; I don't want to ever be labeled as anything but normal and I'm sure you don't either. This is between us.

Isabel: I don't think the ability has anything to do with witchcraft. I think it's just something some people can do.

Matthew: If you can, you better warn Alex. Since he's back near my brother, Milan may be able to sense him like I sensed you. Alex better be careful what he thinks.

Isabel: Thanks for the idea…sounds like we all need to be careful. What is it that your brother's doing that you think is bad?

Matthew: I was afraid you were going to ask that. This is going to sound crazy. There is more to our mother's legacy than I've told you.

Isabel: Before you go on, let me try to warn Alex.

(Isabel and Alex communicate briefly. She warns him about the possible party line. He tells her he's uncomfortable but OK. He's still tied up.)

Isabel: OK, I warned him. He's tied up but not harmed.

Matthew: I didn't think Milan would hurt him.

Isabel: You were telling me about your mother.

Matthew: Dad divorced her while we were still less than a year old. Somehow he got custody of us and we didn't meet her until we were about 8. She sought us out at school one day. Dad never knew about it. She told us that we were special and to not be surprised if some unusual things happened to us. She said despite what dad had told us, she was not a witch. She gave us some stones she said were magic and would protect us. She gave Milan three and me three…but she said for the magic to work they had to be together...all six of them. We put them together a few times, but nothing ever happened. We kept them however, as it was all we really had of our mother. We never saw her again.

Isabel: I'm sorry.

Matthew: About four months ago, Milan was moving and he stored some of his stuff at my place while his new house was being finished. Somehow…our stone sets wound up together for the first time in many years. As we sat staring at them…something happened. The stones started to glow and we began to feel very strange. That lasted for a few minutes when the phone rang and everything went back to normal. We didn't know what happened…but after that, Milan was different. He says I'm different too, but I don't know how.

Isabel: Is that when he started doing bad stuff?

Matthew: What he's doing isn't bad per se. But he took my stones and wouldn't give them back. He's doing something with them. I talked to one of the people he invited to go through the tunnel. Apparently, he's figured out how to make them glow on command. That person told me that Milan was offering the rays from the magic stones in exchange for money. He tells people it will make them lucky. He pledges them to secrecy, then takes them to the cliffs. Milan's got two others helping him, which means they know about the stones and that's something I don't like. He's going to ruin us both if word gets around about this witchcraft. Around here, people might even gossip that we're aliens or something. From what follow up I've been able to do…most of his clients are happy, but sooner or later someone's going to not be pleased and blow the whistle. I think it's all nothing myself…but I also think it's wrong to use our mother's magic, if that's what it is, to con people.

Isabel: No matter what it is, it doesn't sound right to me either.

Matthew: I think we can go back up to the cabin now.

Isabel: I'll drop you there…then I'm going to go get some help. Don't worry, I won't bring the sheriff. I don't want Alex hurt. See if you can get Milan to let him go.

Matthew: I'll do what I can, but I'll have to wait until the latest clients leave.