‘Dammit!’ he cursed to himself. How could Michael do this to Maria? How could he do this to all of them?

Max closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

“Michael, we’re leaving.” He opened his eyes again to find three cautious onlookers. “NOW.”

He turned to Liz to apologize but found her already leading Maria to the back. Pulling Michael after him, he left the restaurant.

“Damn Max! What’s up with you?”

“What’s up with me? What’s up with ME?!” He climbed into the jeep and gripped the steering wheel tightly, trying to let his anger and frustration subside.

“Michael,” Max began once his friend had joined him in the jeep. “I don’t want you near Maria or Liz ever again.”

“What?”

“This is getting out of control! You threatening and scaring Maria is just going to hurt us in the end.”

There was a tense silence between the two. Max started the car and began to drive to Michael’s apartment.

“Stop the car,” Michael said, terrifyingly calm.

“No.” Max held his ground.

“Stop the car, Max.” He did not answer him. “I’ll jump out if I have to.”

Admitting defeat, he slowed the car to a crawl and then finally to a stop. Max looked over just in time to see his best friend disappear into the dark.

***

“Maria, are you okay? Do you want to talk about it?”

“I’m fine.” Maria flashed Liz a confused look. She wondered what Liz thought had happened. “Liz…” she began, but she didn’t finish because a blanket of exhaustion overwhelmed her. She saw her friend’s expectant face and realized she needed to say something. “I'm tired. Can you finish up cleaning?”

Liz looked at her carefully before agreeing. “Sure. Go home and get some sleep. We’ll talk in the morning.”

“Thanks babe. See you in school tomorrow.”

***

Maria locked her car door and headed to the house. The cold air soothed her hot skin so she paused, enjoying the feel of the moonlight washing over her.

Wanting to prolong this calm feeling, she sat down and stretched out in the soft, cool grass and relaxed. Straight above her, the stars twinkled and she wondered which one the three aliens were from, where Michael was from.

“Michael,” she whispered, letting the word rest upon her lips. She longed to go back to the moment when he held her hand and she felt that peace. Maria closed her eyes and felt her fatigue take over.

**flash**

She was searching for something. It didn’t seem to be something she lost but instead, something that had yet to be found. Her surroundings were blurred but Maria knew that it wasn’t important. The only thing that mattered was finding the… the… what WAS she looking for?

“This,” a voice said from behind her. She turned around and faced Michael.

She wanted to ask what he was doing there but was distracted by a glinting in his hand.

“A key…” she whispered and she reached out to take it from him. Michael quickly pulled it out of her reach and leaned in close to her face.

“You can't have it yet. Neither of us are ready,” he whispered into her mouth, which was only centimeters from his.

Maria leaned in closer and brushed her lips against—

**flash**

“Maria? Is that you?”

She sat up, shaking the sleep away. “Yeah, mom.”

“What are you doing out there?”

‘Letting my skin feel the night. Feeling it seep into my pores and into my soul. Letting the darkness consume me. Dreaming about an alien… a key,’ she thought.

“Just thinking,” she answered.

***

Maria put her hand on the doorknob and paused. She took one last deep breath before finally entering her house.

Michael slipped out of the shadows and wandered down the street.

‘Why am I drawn to her?’ he questioned. It was almost as if her very life force was calling him. He felt out of control. He hated that feeling.

When he had held her hand earlier, he had a flash. Max talked about his flashes with Liz and this seemed nothing like what he talked about. This wasn’t of some childhood experience, this was just a vision of Maria smiling. And this Maria didn’t look that much different than how she did now.

Another thing odd about this vision as opposed to the scarce few he’d had before, was that it was crisp and clear. His previous ones were fuzzy and hard to make out.

‘Maybe Max is right,’ he sighed. ‘Maybe I should stay as far away from Maria as possible.’

***

Maria lit the candle and breathed in its musky scent. The smoke tendrils curled in the air in front of her and she was reminded of water for a moment.

Wondering where that thought had come from, she felt the urge to doodle. A pad and paper were always on the floor next to her bed. Ever since she was little, drawing had been her nervous habit. Her hand seemed to take over as it scribbled away. When she was finished, Maria stared at the intricately drawn key.

“Why a key?” she pondered aloud.

Maria reached into her purse and counted those on her key chain to make sure all five were there. Check.

She walked downstairs and made sure all the windows and doors were locked. Check.

Next, she picked up the phone and dialed Liz.

“Hello?”

“Liz, it’s me.”

“Hey Maria. Are you alright?”

“Yeah, I'm fine. Could you make sure that The Crashdown is all locked up?”

“It is, I just locked it. Why?”

“Could you please go down and check?”

“Um… okay. Hold on a sec.”

Maria waited impatiently.

“It’s locked. What’s going on?” Her voice portrayed the worry that she obviously felt.

“Nothing.” Maria shook her head, feeling silly. “I think I'm going crazy, that’s all.”

“Whatever you say. Are you sure you don’t want to talk?”

“Nah. I'll see you in school tomorrow.”

“Sure. Bye.”

“Bye.”

Maria was stumped. She knew that the key meant something. Impulsively, she dug into one of her desk drawers until she found the book.

“I knew this thing would come in handy one day,” she muttered as she opened the Dream Symbology Dictionary to “K.”

Maria flipped through the pages until she came upon “key.”

She read the meaning to the empty room.