“Take it easy, Maxwell. No one is going to hurt anybody -- yet.”

Max slammed his fists against the glass. “What are you doing? What are you going to do with her? With us? Where’s Liz? Is Isabel here too?”

The man put his face up to the glass, his devilish grin now replaced with a menacing glare.

“Watch it, Mr. Evans,” he snapped. “You don’t know who you’re messing with. If you ever want to see the rest of your disgusting alien family again, I’d watch what you say to me, or anyone else here for that matter.”

Realization dawned on Max. Of course. Of course his abnormal background was causing everyone so much pain -- as usual.

Conway started walking away, with Anna Lisa in his arm.

Max banged on the glass again. “No. Don’t take her away. Do whatever you want to me. Don’t hurt her. Please. Please!” He couldn’t believe it. His precious daughter was now solely in the hands of some government maniac. If she was hurt, he would kill himself. She meant everything to him. She was the only reason he was able to live without Liz for so long. She was his life…

But it was useless. Conway was already at the other end of the hall. Max heard a loud slam. The lights went out in a flash. And then everything grew quiet once again.

Resting his forehead on the glass, Max squeezed his eyes shut. This could NOT be happening. Just hours ago, he had been sitting in his apartment, watching videos of Liz, as content as he could be under the tragic circumstances. Now, his entire family was being held hostage by some twisted operation.

He took deep breaths to calm himself down. He needed to get Anna Lisa away from Conway. But first, he needed to get out of here. What WAS ‘here,’ exactly?

Suddenly, Max heard a noise coming from somewhere near him. What was it? Max let his eyes adjust to the darkness, and turned around. He stopped, as faintly made out some kind of movement. He tried to remember what he had seen when the lights had been on in his cell. The lights had created a glare on the other window, so he didn’t know what was there.

As he listened more carefully, it sounded like someone was crying. Was it Isabel? Was she here? Or was it… Liz?

As soon as he heard it, it stopped. Maybe he was imagining it. Or maybe he wasn’t… He had felt the desperation. Where was it coming from? The next room? Max wracked his brain, trying to figure out what he could do to find out who, or what, was in there.

*****

Audra sighed in frustration. She knew she was crying, and that she should stop. She didn’t want to bring any more attention to herself than she needed to.

But what else could she be expected to do? She was trapped in a black cell, with no contact to anyone she knew. She didn’t know if Max was here. She didn’t even know if she was in California anymore.

Nothing made sense.

Audra had managed to get up. She had been lying down on the floor, her face to the ceiling. She must have been drugged so much that she couldn’t even lift an arm. But now, it seemed to be wearing off. She had gotten up, and had cautiously walked around the room. It was fairly small, and there were no lights. The surface of the walls was smooth. It was cold in the room, also. She was wearing a short-sleeved T-shirt and what seemed to be pajama pants -- not enough for the frigid climate of the room.

In defeat, she had sat down, and started crying into her hands. She wasn’t just crying about her predicament. It was more than that…

It was loneliness. For the first time, Audra was realizing how truly alone she was. She had no one. NO ONE. James had betrayed her. He was stalking her, following her -- whatever he was doing, he was not only untrustworthy, he was evil. He didn’t love her. He never did. He had been using her. Their engagement was a hoax. Audra was glad about one thing. She was glad that she had never actually slept with him. He had given her some excuse the one day they had come close -- that he was going to wait until after they got married. He had said it would have been more meaningful. Audra had thought he was being sweet and moral. Still, she never fully understood why, back then. And she didn’t understand now, either. But she was glad nonetheless. To think that he could have violated her in that way… She shuddered at the thought.

But the aloneness was consuming her. She had no family. She had no friends. She had nowhere to call home. She didn’t even REMEMBER what home was. Even after all these years, she couldn’t remember what her childhood had been like. She didn’t remember her first birthday party. She didn’t remember her first day of school. She didn’t remember her first kiss. She didn’t remember her first love. She didn’t remember anything.

Why couldn’t she remember? Would she ever recover from her amnesia? Would she ever be able to recall her past?

The more she thought about it, the more frightened she became. James had just given her all the information whenever she had asked. By his story, though, he hadn’t grown up with her. So how did he know every minute detail of her past?

Audra started to hate herself. She hated herself for letting James take advantage of her. He had made her weak -- she was so dependent on him. Why had she never made friends with anyone else? Why had she no other romantic interests?

Because of James. The more she remembered of her college days, she could see how manipulative he was. He never let her go out with any potential friends. But he was out by himself -- a lot. He had always told her where to be, at what time. He had practically ordered her around. He had subtly taken over her life.

Audra had been molded by James. But without him, who was she?

*****

Max could see some movement in the next room. The silhouette was sitting down, head in hands, apparently crying. Who was it? His eyes, as adjusted to the dark as they could be, couldn’t see anymore.

Was it Isabel? Or could it be Liz?

Gently, he tapped on the glass divider. The figure couldn’t hear. Max tapped louder. Whoever it was couldn’t hear him. Maybe the rooms had been soundproofed. But then why had he been able to converse with Conway? Maybe it was controlled soundproofing?

From what Max could see, the figure seemed to take a deep breath, and then lifted their head.

Even in the dark, Max could feel her presence. Her eyes were directed at him…

It was Liz.

*****

As Audra lifted her head, she could see a figure standing about ten feet in front of her. Immediately, she felt fear. But there was nowhere she could hide. As she continued to look up, she realized that it wasn’t someone bad.

It was Max.

He was only a shadow to her. But she could make out his distinctive shape.

More importantly, she could feel another connection with his eyes. They had been trained on her. Even in the dark, the connection between their eyes was instant, and like a surge of power. It didn’t matter that they couldn’t actually SEE each other -- they could FEEL each other’s presence.

Audra slowly got up. What was she going to tell him? What was he going to say? Did he know why they were here? And the last nagging thought in Audra’s mind -- did he feel whatever it was she felt about him?

Audra slowly moved up to him. She was only inches from his face -- except for the glass. She didn’t know if he had said anything. She couldn’t form any words. She didn’t know what she was supposed to say to this man. This man who occupied every single one of her thoughts.

They stood in silence.

*****

“Liz?” Max called. She wasn’t replying. The rooms had to be soundproofed. He didn’t want to yell. But she was there. He could feel it in the air. It didn’t matter that they were separated by some transparent divider. It was her. He knew it. He could feel it in his soul. She was okay. Or at least, under the circumstances, she was.

“Liz?” he called again, louder.

He had to tell her, before anything else happened.

“Liz? I don’t think you can hear me,” he said sadly. “But I just, I NEED to tell you something.”

Still no visible response.

Max continued. “I love you. I LOVE you. And I’ll get you out of here -- I promise.”

“I don’t think so, Mr. Evans,” a voice boomed. Max whipped his head around. He couldn’t see anything, but two pairs of strong arms jerked on his shoulders, and he was pulled away.

*****

Audra could see frustrated movements on the other side of the glass. Something must have happened.

Something WAS happening. Max was moving away from her. Why?

“Max!” she yelled. “Wait! Wait! Don’t go!”

“Ms. Cristiensen, you are becoming quite a disturbance,” a deep male voice said. “I would advise you to keep your mouth shut and refrain from outbursts like that.” It sounded like he was next to her. She spun around. No one was there.

“Who was that, in the next room? Was it Max? Max Evans? Why do you have us here? What do you want?” Audra asked in a barrage of questions.

“Ms. Cristiensen,” the voice said condescendingly. “There is no other room. And there certainly isn’t anyone else here. You must be imagining it.”

“No. NO,” Audra said defiantly, struggling to hold back her tears of frustration. “He’s in there. Why can’t he hear me? What are you doing to him?”

The voice didn’t answer. Audra turned around again. Moving to the divider, she could see a shape lying on the floor.

“Max!” she called desperately. “Max! Please, get up.” But he wasn’t getting up.