" ... we gotta make this better,
gotta make this right,
ain't no peace in the valley baby,
'til the darkness turns to light ... "

Isabelle Evans tilted her head to the side and gazed at her reflection in the mirror
above her bureau. What was it that Alex had told her? That she was beautiful?
Isabelle frowned and her eyes travelled across the image in front of her. She didn't
look so wonderful today, her eyes were dull, dark circles underlined them, and her
hair was flat and lifeless. She sighed to herself, not that she cared either way really.

Who was she trying to impress, Michael? Her mouth twisted into a half smile and
she swallowed a bitter laugh. This whole destiny thing bites! There wasn't anything
between her and Michael and as much as Tess kept trying to convince them all of
the parts they had to play, she just couldn't find any enthusiasm or interest in going
along with it. It was getting more difficult as time went by to stick to their plan and it
was especially hard to see the anguish their actions were causing. Everyone was
miserable.

It just didn't feel right. Isabelle closed her eyes and forced back another bout of tears.
She would not cry, it wasn't going to change anything and besides, a red blotchy face
wasn't going to improve her looks. Just then, there was a knock at her door and Max
opened it and step inside her room. "Iz, you got a minute?" Isabelle took one last
glance at her reflection and turned her attention to her brother. "Sure, that seems like
all I have these days, time." She sighed and continued, "What's up?"

Max took a moment to look at his sister, she looked about as good as he felt. Once
again he cursed the powers that be for pushing them in their current direction and
walked over to sit beside his sister on the bed. "Michael called, he's on his way over."
Isabelle looked at Max with concern. "Is something wrong?" Max shrugged his
shoulders, "I'm not sure, but he said there was something he wanted to talk to us
about." Isabelle fiddled nervously with the bracelet wrapped around her left wrist and
asked "Is Tess coming too?" Max's face tightened at the mention of her name and
replied. "No. It's just us."

Isabelle sighed in relief. "I know I shouldn't say it Max, but I'm just not up to going
toe to toe with her today." Isabelle stood and walked over to her window. "I can't
keep doing this Max. I can't pretend to be something I'm not, feel something I don't."
She turned around and faced her brother who was now standing on the other side
of the bed. "I love Michael you know that, but I don't love him like I'm being told to."

Max took a moment and studied his feet, thinking through Isabelle's words. He
knew exactly what she was talking about, he didn't love Tess either and every fibre
of his being knew that was never going to change. It was Liz he loved. Liz he spent
every moment of every day thinking about, wishing and hoping for. She was still
keeping her distance, giving him space to fulfil his so called destiny, but it wasn't
what he wanted, what he needed. She was everything to him.

"I know Isabelle. I'm tired of it too. Everything in me is screaming that this isn't
right and I just don't know what to do about it." Max looked passed Isabelle to
see Michael approach the window. "Hey Michael." Isabelle turned around and
motion for him to come inside. "Hey Maxwell, Iz", he nodded in her direction before
climbing into the room. "So Michael, what did you want to talk to us about?"
Isabelle wasted no time with pleasantries and looked at him keenly, noticing not
for the first time the tiredness around his eyes. He wasn't doing any better then
the rest of them.

Michael looked at Max and Isabelle and ran the speech he had formulated on the
walk over, through his head. Taking a deep breath he sat down on Isabelle's bed
and motion for them to join him. After everybody was comfortable, he began.
"I had a dream last night. Only I'm not sure it was just a dream, it was so real
and I felt something." Max and Isabelle gave each other a look and turned their
attention back to Michael as he continued. "There was this guy. He was tall and
dark and ..." He paused and swallowed over the lump that formed in his throat
"... and he had Maria, out in the desert."

Isabelle raised an eyebrow but stayed silent. Max prompted Michael when he
paused. "What happened?" Michael got up from the bed, unable to sit still as
he finished telling the story. "He grabbed her and, and he killed her." Michael
stopped pacing and turned to look at them both. "He killed her", he repeated.
Both Max and Isabelle noticed the involuntary tremble that accompanied his
words and their breaths caught in their throats. Max stood up and approached
him. "Michael, what do you mean he killed her?"

Michael swallowed again and continued. "He slit her throat, right in front of me
and he laughed and laughed. It was so real Max, I felt her pain, her fear, and
there was so much blood. I thought she was dead. I woke up and was so
convinced something was wrong I ran all the way over to her house to make
sure she was ok." Isabelle spoke "And is she? Ok I mean?" Michael nodded
and sat back down on the bed. "She was asleep."

He looked at the two of them as they shared a look. Isabelle wrapped her arms
around herself and shivered. "What do you think it means Michael? Do you think
it's a message? A vision?" Her eyes widened when a thought occurred to her.
"You don't think somebody is after her do you? No, it's probably just you're
overactive imagination. We've all been under a lot of stress lately and what with
your feelings for her, maybe ..." Michael jump up suddenly and turned to face
them, hands clenched into fists at his sides. "I know it sounds insane, but I can't
explain it to you. It was so real. I had convinced myself that it was just a
nightmare. But I'm not so sure. There was something about it, something about
that man." He stopped and turned to look out the window, thinking. "He felt,
I don't know, familiar somehow ... "

Max frowned at Isabelle and took note of her worried expression. He knew as
well as she that Michael's visions or dreams often held an element of truth. There
was a distinct possibility that what he'd seen was some sort of warning. Max
swallowed passed the quick shot of fear that ran through him and tried to think
rationally. "Michael, what was familiar about him? " Michael shrugged, "I have
no idea Maxwell. I know I've never seen him before, but there was just something
about him. He didn't look familiar, he felt familiar."

Isabelle remained silent and continued to play nervously with her bracelet. Michael
broke the silence by asking, "What do you think Max? You think I'm imagining
things?" He was silently hoping that Max would confirm his last statement, but knew
that he wouldn't. He wasn't disappointed. "No Michael, I don't think so. We both
know you wouldn't be here if this had just been a dream. I know you care about
Maria and are afraid of her getting hurt, and this might just have been your mind
playing tricks on you, but as much as I want to believe that, I doubt that's true."
Max moved over next to Michael and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Your instincts,
however much trouble they get you into, rarely do you wrong."

Isabelle stood up, "So what are we going to do then Max?" Max turned to face his
sister and sighed. "I don't know Iz, I guess we keep an eye on her. Make sure
she's ok and keep an eye out for this guy." He turned to Michael, "Do you think
you could do a sketch of what the guy looks like? It might be all a figment of your
imagination, but then again, it might not." Michael nodded, "I don't think I will
be able to forget it Max. I don't think I can." Michael's eyes clouded over as he
once again ran the particulars of his dream through his mind and Max was
reminded of a much younger Michael, standing alone out in the desert, scared and
alone.

"It'll be alright Michael, we won't let anything happen to her. We'll keep her safe"
Michael glanced at Max and struggled to keep the desperation out of his voice as
he spoke softly "I hope you're right Max. I can't get the image of her face, white,
bloody, lifeless, out of my head." His was barely audible when he added, "I can't
let that happen Max. I can't breath when I think about her laying there, dead." His
eyes glinted in the mid morning light, "I won't."

TBC