"Hey, girls." He tried to breathe. "I don't know about you two, but I need oxygen to survive." He looked up at Isabel and wasn't surprised to feel her lips instantly on his. He felt Maria and Liz let go and Isabel's arms rap around his diameter. "Wow, okay." He gasped for breath.

"Well, uhh." Max cleared his throat, not too comfortable with the fact that his sister was making out right in front of him. "We're just gonna go in the kitchen." He put an arm around Liz and the other around Maria, pulling them into the kitchen.

"Boo!" He said in Liz's ear, making her jumped. "I can't believe this." He quickly waved a hand in front of Maria's face to see her flinch. "This is not right."

"What's not right?" Isabel, with her hair a mess came into the kitchen, followed by a satisfied Alex covered with smeared lipstick.

"You all got your-your missing senses back at the same time." He looked at everyone's not-following faces. "You called about five minutes after Alex started yelling in the car."

"You were yelling?" Isabel smiled at him and put her arm around his waste, glad to have him home.

"Yeah, we almost got in a wreck." He smiled back kissing the top of her nose.

"Wake up, this is important." Max barked, startling them all. "Isn't that a little weird? The exact same time? Like a timer went off or something." He was so into what he was saying he didn't bother taking his jacket off. "And why would Nesado go to all that trouble to get to you and not even kill you? He can kill with a touch and instead he took something from all of you."

"Maybe he just wanted to torture us." Maria's voice was far from peppy. "Try to teach us a lesson for getting in the way."

"What worries me now, is what's in store for us next? Our other problems are gone so wouldn't the next logical step be to just kill us?" Liz couldn't hold back what kept running through her mind.

"Maybe she's right, but all I know is we're not going to be here when they come for you." Isabel held Alex close.

"We're going to Aunt Becky's house." Max looked to Isabel's bizarre facial expression and mimicked it right back at her.

"Seriously?" She asked frowning at her brother. "Aunt Becky is dead."

"Exactly. No one will know we're there. The house is big. Her neighbors live miles away. We can all go there and hide out for a few days."

"Great idea." Maria chimed, liking the fact that they were leaving the small apartment, she'd been cooped up in. Max's face turned suspicious as he looked around at their faces then around the apartment.

"Where's Michael?"

*******************

"I don't think Mr. and Mrs. Parker are going to appreciate you keeping their daughter's whereabouts to yourself."

"Why do you think I know where she is?" Michael looked up at the officer, his eyes drooping with exhaustion.

"You were the last seen with her the night at the Crash Down before she disappeared. Her parents said they saw you talking to her."

"You're asking the wrong person." He propped his head up on his hands.

"And Maria De Luca, what about her?" Michael stared at the floor at just the mention of her name. "We know you kidnapped that poor girl." He set a paper cup full of water in front of Michael. "Where is she?"

"How should I know?" Michael lied, taking the paper cup in his hands. "Kidnap is not the right word. We both escaped together. We didn't want to be stuck in that hospital any longer. After we got out she took off and I had no reason to follow." The man's face softened, relieved that Michael was finally talking.

"We have witnesses that say they saw you with Miss De Luca not even three hours ago." He watched Michael gulp the cup of water.

"They're lying. I haven't done anything wrong." Was all Michael managed to blurt out, before crushing the plastic cup in his hand.

"Come on Michael. Tell us where she is." The man sat on the edge of the table sitting Maria's school record in front of Michael. "Is she okay? We just need to find her." Michael ran a finger over her school ID card and let out a ragged breath. Even though it wasn't really her, the things that the fake Maria had said to him before still made his heart ache. He needed her. He needed to get out of this jail and to get to her.

"I don't feel like talking any more." Michael crossed his arms over his chest. "I want a lawyer."

******************

"You've got to be joking!" Max yelled at his sister. "We can't leave him behind!"

"Keep your voice down, other people live in this building." Maria hushed.

"Max, we're not leaving him. You take the three of them to Aunt Becky's and I'll stay here until Michael gets out." She pleaded with her brother, secretly hoping it all went down the way she planned.

"I am not leaving any of you here." He looked at them all not budging. Max was no blow over and Isabel knew that. She was going to have press a few special buttons to get what she wanted.

"I talked to Michael and he told me he the police had no evidence that he kidnapped Maria and Liz."

"What?" Alex questioned, missing a few things.

"Yeah, what are you talking about?" Maria threw a sweater on, feeling nervous goose-bumps cover her arms.

"Liz's parents called the police and filed a missing persons report and when they got wind that Maria was missing, the police looked into it. It turns out Michael was the last person seen with them both, so the police think he had something to do with you 2 being missing." She looked to Maria and Liz.

"I have to tell my parents I'm okay. They're suffering, thinking that I'm dead." Liz pulled her jacket over her shoulders, ready to leave.

"Yeah, they probably think we're somewhere dead lying in a gutter in the street or in a dumpster or-." Max cut Maria's visual description off.

"You can't." He looked at Isabel meaning what he was going to say went for her too. "We can't tell anyone where we're going. We can't even say goodbye. Who knows, it might not really be your parent you're saying goodbye to." Everyone's faces went limp. Just when they thought the nightmare was over they realized it would never end.

"Okay, Michael." Isabel said needing something to change the subject. "You all go on ahead and when he gets out I'll bring him to Aunt Becky's house."

"No way Iz."

"Max, what are we going to do then? You stay here and I'll take everyone to Aunt Becky's house by myself?" She pulled her hair out of her face. "Or we can just all wait here for Nesado to come and get us, while we wait for Michael to get out of jail." She looked at her brother. His facial expression showed what he was feeling as all those scenarios flashed through his mind.

"So you tell him where we're going and when he gets out he'll meet us there."

"No, he doesn't know where Aunt Becky's house is. If we all go we'll leave him here and he'll never know where to find us if he needs help. This is the way it has to be. For once trust me."

********************

"Michael, listen to me." He looked up from his seat to see Isabel again.

"You're getting pretty good at this dream walking stuff." He forced a smile and waited for her news.

"Thanks, I guess." She smiled back. "Max is going to take Liz, Maria, and Alex to my Aunt Becky's house and I'm going to wait here until you get out."

"Fine." He almost hesitated to ask his next question. "How's Maria?"

Isabel kept her face the same, but underneath couldn't help but feel jealous. "She's okay. She says she loves you."

"Tell her I said I love her too." He looked at Isabel and took a deep breath.

"What?" She couldn't help but feel freaked as he looked up strangely at her.